Ailurophile

When I looked up 'ailurophile,' I found several definitions.  I especially liked this one: "A person who adores all things feline.  You don't have to be a crazy old cat lady (gattara) to be an ailurophile."  An ailurophile is a cat fancier; a lover of cats; a person who is fond of or enthusiastic about cats.  I prefer to consider myself an ailurophile rather than a gattara, although I am a little crazy, am getting up there in age, and have what some would consider more than enough cats.  But they are not strays, they only used to be.

When cleaning litter boxes or shopping for food and litter, I often wonder, do I really need four cats? ... Probably not, but I couldn't give away any one of them. 

Cats are one great refuge from the miseries of life, which I enjoy. 
I do also get solace, comfort, enjoyment, exercise, entertainment, and amusement from my horse, dog, family, friends, and dancing.

Saturday 1/16 - Joe was up an hour before I rolled out of bed at 6am.  So he had walked and fed the dog.

I am not sure why, but for some reason, I seem to be needing more sleep than usual.  (hibernation syndrome?)

As the snow fell, the world outside my window was turning white. 

It was a good plan to stay home and snuggle with kitties.

Later in the morning I took Maggie for her second walk.

As soon as Maggie and I got back to the house, I took corn out back.  My feathered friends were out of the water and indulging themselves immediately.


It snowed off and on all morning and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting here watching it while I got this blog post started.

We started our family Zoom, Face Time, video chat (whatever you call it) at noon.  Britney took this photo so is not pictured in it.  The conversation lasted till 1:30.  It is always so good to see and hear from everybody.

Babe is King of the tire.
I had eaten lunch before our call, so scurried off to the gym right after 'hanging up.'  I had pushed myself and added 30 minutes on the elliptical, so felt pooped out (like after a road race) when I got home.
Below, Monita had unsuccessfully challenged Babe on the tire, and was retreating.


As soon as I had gotten out of the shower, I noticed a herd of deer down back.  So out I went, with wet hair, to give them their corn.  I tried getting a photo of all eight of them, but it is difficult. 

I think you can see eight in this photo.

Joe watched football and I tried to improve my score on a Curio Collection game, but without success.  I had wasted way too much time doing so, and went to bed feeling (I don't know) frustrated, depressed, mad at myself for wasting so much time.  If I had improved my score, I might have felt differently.

Sunday 1/17 - It was to stay in the 30's all day, so I would not be going to the barn, doing yard work, and my walks have become very short this winter.  Also, the gym is closed on Sundays.  So I had no where to go, and never got out of my PJs all day.

Wow, how I can spend a whole day doing absolutely nothing is beyond me.  I spent a good part of the day on my computer just playing games.  I did finally beat my old score from the old computer on the 10 x 10 Block Puzzle.  Now I can give it a rest.

Mid-afternoon I had an hour Google Meet conversation with Carol, although I couldn’t figure out how to get the camera on my computer to work.  She walked me through the method to finish up some of the passport activities that have a surprise design that I didn’t know how to get into.  So as of now in my curio collection I have everything done except the marble game.  Just after I got off the phone with Carol, I gave another shot at the marble game and finally manage to clear the marbles off the board for one of the three designs.  But, unless you’re playing the curio games, and are competitive, none of this will be of any importance to you.

I did cut all of the cat's claws, which didn't go as badly as I always anticipate.  I guess they are getting used to it.

For dinner, Joe picked up carry-out from Reds.  He watched football and I listened to a pod cast on Covid and an infomercial on cat food.  I have been worried about Stevie who has seemed a little 'off' the past several weeks.  I may try changing her diet some, but need to do so carefully because she has a sensitive stomach and allergies to some cat foods.  The infomercial said fillers, preservatives, meat by-products, and pre-cooked food are all unnatural and bad for your cat.  It recommended raw meat including organ meat, Omega 3s, and prebiotics (especially flaxseed) which help the probiotics thrive in the digestive tract. 

Monday 1/18 - I slept till almost 7am in the morning.  Scheesh, what is the deal.  I probably need more fresh air, sunshine, and exercise. 

We had had a light dusting of snow overnight.  I saw cat paw prints on a rock down back when taking out corn.  And then when filling the bird feeder, there were a bunch of prints all around on the deck.

I even noticed the cat had come up the top steps and sat by the screen porch door.  These two photos were taken from inside the porch with the door open.  My first thought was that Stevie had gotten out, but that was not the case.  I do hope we have a stray in the neighborhood who can help reduce our chipmunk population.  I will keep an eye out for it and try to encourage it to come around by putting out a little cat food in the evenings.

I decided to get away from my computer and start a jigsaw puzzle.  I talked with Shirley on the phone while flipping over pieces (it only has 300) and I got all of the edging completed.

I pushed myself during the two hours at the gym so was kind of stiff and sore later in the afternoon, even though I had done some stretching.
 

I read in the sun, rested, and then returned to the puzzle table.  I was 'hooked' on this one because of all the detail in each of the Christmas stamps.

I worked until 5:00, when my light was getting bad and it was feeding time for the pets. 

Then I peeled, cooked, and mashed potatoes and heated up corn and left over turkey, dressing, and gravy for Joe and I.

Tuesday 1/19 - The cat food I had set out in two spots was untouched when I checked it upon rising, walking the dog, and setting out corn and bird seed.

I skipped gaming at my computer and instead finished the jigsaw puzzle.

After a big salad for an early lunch, I went to the barn, arriving shortly after noon.

It was a pretty day for January, and although it was fairly cloudy, it did make it to 50°.  The trails were the driest I have seen them in a long while, so I decided to take Amiga on the Holly trail into the Glade.  I rode her down the less steep hill and across the creek, then got off and walked her up the other side.  We both slipped a little bit in a few spots, but made it unscathed.

I decided to drop by Terry's since I hadn't seen her in awhile.  And because Joe was still talking of buying part of her property, I was  drawn there to see it again... part curiosity, part dreaming, and part to see what exactly we might be getting ourselves into.

Donkey and Sunny greeted Amiga and I.  I had a nice chat with Terry and as always, she very graciously let me ride Amiga around the property. 

Look at those ears!

After leaving Terry's I rode on several of the dirt and gravel roads.  We had a nice controlled (although kind of fast) canter up a gently inclining dirt rode.  Amiga was so smooth.  It is so much fun to go fast on her.  She slowed back down very well and I walked and then rested her because she was out of breath. 

When I started the Holly Trail back towards the barn, I dismounted and walked her down the step hill, then rode her across the creek and up the other hill.  She was so good on all of our ride together.

After untacking, I did a little trailer loading/unloading practice before calling it quits with Amiga.  She did very well the first 3 or 4 times.  Then when I had Patty rattle the butt bar, Amiga decided not to listen to me anymore and backed off the trailer before I asked her to.  She didn't zoom off, but she also didn't go real slowly, carefully placing each foot, as she had been doing.  We tried it a few more times, but she didn't go slow again until Patty was back away from the butt bar.  I still have more work with Amiga for sure.

Something I haven't done for quite awhile, I choose beer and popcorn for a 6:30 dinner while watching a movie (Tenet) with Joe.  It was a very complex, confusing plot.

Wednesday 1/20 - I was up from 1:30 to 4:30 reading, because I had too much on my mind to fall back to sleep after taking my usual (2:00ish) thyroid medication.  I was finally sleepy enough to get more, and then got up again at seven.  So I did have almost eight hours of sleep. 

I love my office/cattery/sun room!  I have no intentions of moving away from this.

I had a great workout (over two hours at the gym) and came home for a big lunch.

Joe and I went to Terry‘s about 2:30.  Actually we parked on Hathaway, a Fairfield Glade road that goes behind her property.  We walked along the backside of their fence line on some of the Fairfield Glade lots and then into her pasture.  We had Maggie with us, off leash, and the horses were somewhat curious, maybe a little bit shy, but also wanting to protect their turf it seemed. 
Smurf and Little Sweets keeping a close eye on us, especially on the (big bad wolf) dog.

We walked all of the fence line, around the barn and machine shed, and talked with Terry some.

We continue to be quite intrigued with the many thoughts of having country property once again.  There are so many possibilities and options with owning farmland.  And we feel real estate would be a safer investment than many other options right now.  This is one of the things that kept me up in the middle of the night.  Not only do I not want to move from our house, I don't want to leave a boarding barn.  It is nice to not have to care for my horse every single day and I love all the friendships (saddle sisters) and other horses at a boarding facility.

Maggie on the 'look out' in the sun room, which can be kind of cold when it is cloudy.

We about finished up the leftover turkey, gravy, potatoes, dressing and corn for dinner.

Joe was able to get Blue Bloods again, without pay, so we started watching back episodes we have not seen.  The commercials were very annoying, but something we have to put up with for free viewing I guess.

Thursday 1/21 - The rain had started in the middle of the night and I woke to it's sound after a full night of mostly uninterrupted sleep.

Joe and I continued to discuss, research, and ruminate on the possibility of buying country acreage.  Part of me thinks 'this is crazy' and another part says 'go for it.'  What to do, what to do?

I made a four hour shopping trip into Crossville.  I decided to skip all the thrift stores because I do not need to buy anymore 'junk' just because I like it.

I was researching cat foods, and one dry food (Purina Sensitive Skin and Stomach) I buy is actually quite good compared to many other types.  The other weight management one that I let the cats 'graze on' all day is not as healthy, so I switched to the 4-Health brand. 

I made purchases at Tractor Supply (including this $7.50 dog bed on sale).  I also shopped at Rural King, and then the bulk of my buying occurred at Walmart. 

Monita 'claimed' the dog bed when I set it on the dinner table, as I made several trips in from my car with hands full of bags. 
I had bought some black elastic and a little later used it to tie up the springy, coiled, tiger toy.  This photo with Monita was taken later than the two below with Stevie, Styx, and Babe checking out the new rigging.  The cats are always quick to explore any new items coming into the house, sometimes sticking their heads right into shopping bags.

I went to the gym and did an hour on the Elliptical, knowing I need more cardiovascular work because the weight workout alone (even though I row for 15 minutes to warm up) is not enough to get my body to drop the extra six pounds it recently picked up over the holidays.  I'd like to think some of it is increased muscle mass, but my tight pants around my waist tell me differently.

Friday 1/22 - I was awake again for three hours in the middle of the night.  My 'second morning' started at 7am, with just over six hours of sleep.  The morning was as foggy as my brain, and it was an effort to get moving.  I was also sore from the Elliptical work the day before.  When I went down back with corn and to take some photos, I noticed these daffodil starting to come up.  Oh there is hope with spring coming.

The fog lifted about 9:30, but not my motivation level.  It's so hard to move from my 'sanctuary' here at my computer, with my cats, and view of nature just outside, and while I am enjoying playing games.


It was weight lifting day so I drug myself to the gym.  Once I got going, I had one of the most energetic and hardworking workouts in a long time.  And I no longer felt stiff and sore.

I did need to re-fuel with a big salad for a late lunch, so didn't get to the barn until 2:45.  I always love the camaraderie of all the gals that are often out at the barn.  This is the number one reason I want to keep boarding Amiga there. 

Jan was already out riding Cash so a few of us decided to join her.  I was feeling cold, lazy, and short on time, so didn't bother with a saddle or leg wraps, planning to only walk around because the ground was so wet.

So it was Polly on Rio, Sharon on Merlin, and Amiga and I who joined Jan in the front yard (video).

Since I can't very well take a selfie of me on Amiga, here is a photo of our shadow. 

We all rode out in the front yard and made obstacles out of various things out there.

The Christmas photo backdrop was still there, so I  rotated two of the bales of straw so we could ride under and through the arrangement.  And then we decided to get photos of our faces in the wreath.  Polly was just the right height, Jan had to scrunch down, and I had to really stretch to get high enough.  Ha ha ha.  We girls do enjoy ourselves.

Once home, I did a little yard work, clearing some piles of sticks out and came in once it was too dark.  Joe and I watched another Blue Bloods after dinner.

Well, to all of you Ailurophiles out there, enjoy your kitties as we remain homebound from the cold and Covid.