....Possible Second Addition?

Sorry for the delay in posts.

So, you have all met Orson the octopus. He is fitting in quite nicely.

Now, onto the possible second addition. You all know I can never turn away a stray animal. Well, another stray cat has shown up in my yard for the past couple of months. I'm still not 100 percent convinced it is a stray, yet I've sent out an email to my neighborhood listserv about him/her, but have gotten no takers so far. The cat is in wonderful shape and has a shinier coat then some of my cats. He is all black except for a little white patch on his chest and some white on his belly.

I've named him Pyewacket. Quick! Does anyone know the history of that name? No Googling either!

Someone at work told me "if you are feeding it and you've named it...it is no longer a stray!" I used to have to put food down into the bushes but he now comes up to the front porch to eat. He will hiss and run away if I come near him though so sorry for the bad photo but it was taken through my storm door.

I've put out one of my covered cat beds that I've wrapped in a fleece blanket and also put a fleece blanket inside. I then heat up a Snuggle Disc (a great safe device that you heat in the microwave and it stays very HOT for 6-8 hours, then it will slowly lose heat but stays nice and toasty warm for 10-12 hours) and put that under the fleece blanket. I've seen him curled up and sleeping inside it during the day. But, he always leaves at night, which makes me think he belongs to someone. Lots, and LOTS of folks in my neighborhood have pet doors.

I'm hoping he will continue to get used to me so that I can eventually pet him and pick him up. That's how Greybeard became part of my family. My neighbor and I have put out a couple of cat traps but so far he has not gone near them. It's also been too cold lately (I feel) to try and trap him at night.

I certainly don't need another cat, so I'm hoping I can figure out if he does really belong to someone. But, I can't turn my back on him either. So, for now, Pyewacket will continue to get fed and have a warm place to sleep at Possumlady's Home for Wayward Animals.

From the Outside Looking In

Happy Inauguration Day!!!

I feel bittersweet waking up today. The biggest party of my lifetime is taking place less than six miles from my home, yet I feel all the precautions taken in DC have left those of us living close by very little options as to how to get to the Capitol or Mall. My office is within the 50 block radius that security has closed down so my initial thought of driving to my office. parking in our garage and walking from there is not possible. Every local television station (each one claiming to be THE inauguration station), has painted such a horrific painting of traffic congestion, crowds unable to move, standing for hours on end in bitter cold, and the dreaded port-a-potties! Only 5,000 for an estimated crowd of a million or more. I just don't like those odds. The cold always makes me have to go, so in the end that was the nail in the coffin. If I were 20 years younger I probably would have just not thought about it and gone.

But, as I was lying in bed last night watching Nightline I felt okay. They were showing folks getting off of Greyhound buses, each one coming from farther away, Detroit...Houston...Las Vegas. Each one feeling they HAD to make the pilgrimage here to witness this historic event. I thought "yes, let this be their day" I LIVE here and will have plenty of opportunity to see the Obamas as their motorcades whizz around the city. My association's mission was one of Obama's key interests during the campaign so we are already gearing up to ask him to be the keynote at our annual conference in November that will be right here in DC this year. Keep your fingers crossed for that!

So, welcome everyone to DC!!! Stay warm and enjoy this historic and uplifting day. Me, I will either watch it on a large screen at my community center or go to our local independent bookstore "Politics and Prose" and watch it there. Either way, I'm sure I'll be needing plenty of tissues.

New Additions to Possumlady Place?

Yes? No? Who knows.

Well, one definite yes. Confused? So am I.

Let me start out with the one certainty. We definitely have a new member at Possumlady Place. He is large and pink and goes by the name of Orson.

If you are addicted to the site icanhascheeseburger, you may have come across one of the ads on their site for squishables.com. As someone who has never outgrown her love of stuffed animals I was intrigued and clicked on the ad. Squishables are these enormous stuffed very round animals. Each one more adorable then the next. I thought of one of my sisters that was diagnosed with breast cancer last fall and had the idea that a squishable sheep might just be the thing to lift her spirits and keep her company during her journey through surgery and beyond.

So, through the miracle of the internet, I had a squishable sheep sent directly to her. I think she was a little shocked to open the box but she grew to love the little sheep and it even helped in her recovery as she was able to rest her arm on the fuzzy little lamb.

Since then, I started to have a yearning for a squishable of my very own. Specifically, a large pink octopus squishable. Low and behold my Christmas wish was granted.

Everyone…meet Orson.

Pictures do not do him justice. Orson is so big and so pink and so incredibly soft. He arrived in the mail last week when I came home very late after the first day and evening meetings with our governing board. I was NOT in a good mood. It was 9:30 at night and cold and rainy. I had cats to feed and clean up after and it was trash and recycling night. But the moment I opened the box and Orson popped his big pink head out, I squealed with delight. You see, they put them in boxes a wee bit too small for them so when you open up the box they literally POP out.

Right now Orson resides on the top of my bedroom armoire. I had initially thought he would hang out on my bed. But, with so many cats there is always someone throwing up, (or worse). Take note of the large water (yeah right…water) proof covering I have on my bed in the photos. So to be on the safe side and to keep Orson in his clean pinkish glow for a little longer, the cats will not have access to him.

Now, the possible second addition……….