Tulip Today

You may be sick of reading about my wundercat, Tulip. Well, my life is pretty simple. 

Today in Entertainment News, Tulip raced around the living room, leapt over chairs, speed-walked in front of the TV...as if she was a parkour artist...all in an effort to capture an errant fly. 

It's been quiet for the last half hour, she must have caught her prey.

It's June...

 ...and what do I have to show for it?

Precious little, actually.

Writing comes to me in spurts. The dribs and drabs don't even add up to one blog post.

Depression has raised its ugly head the past few weeks. Therefore, fewer posts. You can find me in my recliner, playing games on my cell phone. If only the apps would stop their incessant advertising!

I've become more and more sedentary. 

• Watch a lot of Netflix movies. 
• I indulge in my sweet tooth's desire for tres leches cake. 
• I haven't gone to a movie theater in a while. They haven't shown anything worth the price of a ticket lately.

I listen to the drone of a neighbor's lawn mower; it's the sound of summer. I haven't seen any cicadas yet. 

Mowed the front lawn last week. The backyard has sporadic clumps of grass; I'll skip mowing for now. I haven't weed whacked in a month since I can't take the spool off to replace the spool of line.

Crabgrass and centipede grass keep appearing in the gravel driveway. I've been experimenting with white vinegar. I have to buy more vinegar to pour on new weeds.

Tulip's Trials

It seems that every day, fewer things are accessible to Tulip. The poor thing!

Miss Busybody is forever finding unexpected playthings.

My bathroom door remains shut unless I'm taking a shower. Tulip gets three-quarters of the way in while the water's running. Protected, of course, by the shower curtain.

Tulip uses a pellet-type of kitty litter. She plays with the stray pieces that fall to the floor. That includes putting the pellets in her mouth. (There's no accounting for taste). Now I wonder if she's been pulling them OUT of the litter box. I wouldn't put it past her.

Every morning I find scraps of paper on the floor. Normally, I keep a few paper towels near my recliner. Maybe Tulip got into that, or possibly the toilet paper roll in the guest bathroom.

Today I pulled a hot frying pan off the stove; my intent was not to put it in the sink until the pan cooled. Well, Tulip followed her breakfast with my breakfast. Mmm - scrambled eggs! 

On Sunday, I received a lovely bouquet of cut flowers from a neighbor. Strangely, Tulip sniffed but did not bite them. The vase smelled nasty a week later. Maybe she was onto something.

Tulip used to use a kitten-sized water dish. Twice last week the water bowl was pushed over the counter-height table edge. And, yeah, water was in it both times. In its place, I swapped an extra large dog bowl used for long weekends I'm away. This bowl features a rubber lip on the bottom, so hopefully, it will stay put. We'll have to see if this solution lasts.

At a street fair a few years back, a vet gave me a small plastic measuring cup. Stupidly, I left it on the kitchen counter. I heard it being batted to the floor. No big deal, right? Wrong! Tulip bit so many holes in it, it leaked like a sieve. I ended up trashing the thing.

My laptop sits on a rolling table in the living room. Anything movable (pen, paper, etc.) is toyed with. Tulip treats my digital mouse as the real thing. The same holds true for any electronics chargers left within her reach. Nothing is spared her inquisitiveness.

My girl's profile is quite long when she reaches up for things beyond her reach. She has a penchant for knocking lampshades off-kilter. Tulip likes to gnaw on the shade's rickrack bottom. Should I remove the shades or hide the lights themselves? Or is it time to replace the house's three brass lamps with a less-appealing-to-cats style? 

My pizza-making regime has totally changed because You-Know-Who taste-tests them. 

• While I wait for the oven to warm, I no longer leave the (uncooked) pizza pan on the counter. Now the pan goes straight into the fridge until the oven reaches 400℉. 

• Since I regularly eat half a pizza, I kept the uneaten half on the stove to cool. No can do; now it's immediately refrigerated. Tulip strikes whether the pizza's hot or cold.

So that's been this week's observation.

How My Life Has Changed

 

Before Tulip, I…	Until…	Now
Kept an unopened bag of Kitten Chow on the kitchen table.	Tulip shredded the bag to get at the food.	Cat chow is stored in Tupper- ware on the kitchen table.
Had a floor lamp in the living room.	Tulip attempted to climb it.	The floor lamp sits unused in my bedroom.
Slept with my cats.	Tulip, who was wide awake, wants to play at all hours.	My bedroom door is shut at bedtime.
Used a regular cat food bowl.	Tulip scarfed the food in seconds.	Bought a fast-eater bowl shaped like a fish. It now takes Tulip minutes to eat.
Kept two rows of pills on the kitchen bar-height moved.	Tulip kept walking on and rearranging the vials.	The pills are now in a closed plastic box. Tulip has dropped the box, trying to get at three cat mobiles hanging above.
Kept two potted plants on the kitchen table.	Tulip wouldn’t leave the plants alone.	Removed two bar-height stools; Tulip still got into the plants.
Moved the same indoor plants on the kitchen counter.	Tulip kept eating the plants.	Blocked off access to the plants with other items.
Put clean dishes in the drying rack; dirty dishes go in a dish pan in the kitchen sink.	Tulip jumped right in the sink, taste tested everything.	Placed a car window shade around clean and dirty dishes.
Left the main bathroom door open 24/7.	Tulip explores everything; the roll of toilet paper fascinates her.	Close the bathroom door when not in use.
Let bills and other paperwork pile up in the living room.	Tulip started to rearrange and chew loose papers. Bits of paper littered the floor.	I had to file everything away. Unread magazines now sit in a paper tray. So far, so good.
Had dozens of cat toys which sat unused by Spooky and her predecessors.	Tulip picks out her toys from their bin. She has tried everything at least once.	All toys are available and used regularly. They show up in every room.
Cat-proofed my bedroom for my previous cat, Spooky.	Are you kidding me?	Cat-proof measures still in effect, with the added step of keeping the door shut.
Had two bar-height stools flanking the kitchen table.	Tulip kept jumping up, getting into everything.	Moved the stools under the kitchen peninsula.
Placed a wooden cat statue overlooking the kitchen peninsula.	Tulip knocked it down twice.	Moved the statue to a higher shelf (Tulip hasn’t found it yet).
Displayed framed photos in the living room.	Tulip knocked two pictures down, breaking the glass and its stained glass frame.	Moved two pictures to the spare bedroom within a plastic tray.

JoCo Senior Games

Last night I learned that a poem I wrote, HANDS, won third place in the Johnston County Senior Games, in the Silver Arts Division. Not bad, considering the fact that I was a No-Show. If I went to the event,  I might have scored higher.