Tulip is a wetback.
Daily, I arm myself with a spray bottle of water to scare Tulip away from messing around the television. Well, she'll step aside for a moment or two. Then she's right back at it.
So she gets a little wet, but not enough to make it mean anything. My jumping out of the recliner is the most of what you might call EXERCISE I've gotten lately.
When I think about it, I should really wear my smart watch. I'm curious to see if it's added to the number of steps I take each day....
Please ask your representatives to begin the impeachment process against Trump / Vance / Musk.
Since Day One, it has never been clearer that we are poised to become a much crueler US version of Hitler's regime. This time, there are so many "others" who will be targeted for extermination. The "enemies list," Jews, Muslims, atheists, Democrats, judges, Independents, non-whites, the handicapped, the homeless, the poor, and any persons who are Anti-Trump. 90% of the country might qualify to be the next list to "disappear."
Decent Americans of every race, religion, sexual orientation will become victims of the new police state run by the January 6th vigilantes just freed from their well-deserved jail time.
Trumpers want the USA to be white again. Does that mean a return to slavery? Are all poor and middle class citizens going to be rounded up, along with refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants?
Will our new country's motto become The Rich Rule; The Poor Drool?
Tulip looks so innocent when she's sleeping. No one would believe she can be such a little devil when she's hungry. 🙀 And when she's awake, she is always hungry.
When she's not rearranging my stovetop (yesterday inverting my black pepper shaker), Tulip is forever on the lookout for more places to explore.
Among the electric cords I try to hide from the cat are: cable modem, cable box, internet television wires, Amazon Alexa, my two Blink cameras. (Unplugged for now are my boom box and CDR player).
Tulip goads me into brandishing a water bottle when she gets behind the TV. She'll go through either side to walk amid the wires. She tries going under the television in a two-inch space; the plastic spikes there don't totally forestall her attempts to crawl through. If she sees an electric wire, she will play with it or bite it. (Bad kitty!)
Many times Tulip stretches her body across the whole height of the TV. Although I try to spritz her with water (without also dousing the wires), she often hops quickly over the top.
I'm completely frazzled by my kitten!
Seems that I should be mindful about things around the house when I'm talking on the phone.
Last night I took a call; usually when Tulip's at her worst "feed me" obnoxiousness. This time, all was quiet. Granted, I did feed her. When I hung up and turned around, I didn't realize that I left her (covered) food container on the kitchen counter. She was chowing down to her heart's content.
I do more floor inspections after I hear something land on the floor. In less than two minutes, she knocked over a tape measure, then a screwdriver I had put on the kitchen peninsula. Don't know where the tape measure landed; it may have ended up under my recliner.
Tulip knocked off a mini basket of four spice bottles from its perch on top of the stove. Luckily, nothing fell behind the stove.
My cat loves to mess with the living room venetian blinds. Once the sun goes down, I wrap a blanket over the lower part of the window. That way, she can't paw her way through the slats.
Tulip has taken to clearing my fridge of all papers and magnets. First, I emptied the left side of everything she liked to play with (or should I say, EVERYTHING). I tried moving the magnets a bit lower, but man, my kitten can s-t-r-e-t-c-h her body to reach farther down than I'd thought possible.
I'm using an old cookie tin to make "art" out of the relocated magnets. Right now, a pillow sham covers them. I need to pierce holes in the top to affix a string to hang it. Wherever the finished product goes, it'll need to be placed really high up or in a closed off room for safekeeping.
Dang! What won't I do to appease this cat?
See the tall blue cabinet to the right? Tulip likes to jump on the top to rub against the three glass vases stored there, which concerns me. This mantra repeats; "That's why we can't have nice things." I am already thinking about alternate storage places for them.
If nothing else, this cat is keeping my mind sharp. It's a battle of wits that, for now, she is winning.
🎙
This morning I was interviewed by Rose Cushing on her Carolina Writers Speak podcast. Although I flubbed some parts in it, those instances will get edited out (hopefully). I will update my readers when the interview becomes available (roughly three weeks from now). I'll add a link to it on various social media.
In my first podcast with Rose (two years ago), I was too jittery to speak fluently. There were plenty of "Ers" and "Ums." Although I knew the topic for discussion was my beloved polydactyl cat, Liberty, I was too new at being a published author to overcome my nerves.
Once the new interview is aired, I'll see if my speaking style has improved over the last two years. This time around, I felt comfortable talking about myself and my books. That may be due to these facts:
It's time to get your long johns on, bundle up your overcoats, and turn on your space heater! This bitter cold reminds me of life in New Jersey and Connecticut. Both are lovely states, but too cold for comfort. I'm not used to being this cold in North Carolina. Granted, it's January...
Shh - Tulip is sleeping. If I dare leave my recliner, she'll start begging for food.
My contractor visited today; Tulip gave Connie the once-over. My first Temu purchase (a bathroom rack) was assembled. It was definitely worth the cost of a service call to have her do it for me.
The next two house projects are:
Although I haven't written about certain events as they happened, it should surprise no one that my sweet Tulip has gotten into more trouble.
