Many years ago, Pat’s mother gave her the latest edition of Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book. Here’s a picture of a sample page, and it’s how a good old cookbook should look — well-worn, written in, stained and spotted, the starting point for family traditions and special treats.
After some quick checking, it’s interesting to find out that this particular book now sells for $75 to $100. Like-new copies are especially hard to find because, as one bookseller put it, “people use them to death.”
Late one afternoon, Pat’s back was aching, and she couldn’t figure out why. Not that the “why” part was as important as the “how-to-make-it-stop” part, but it added to her irritation. After all, if something was going to inconvenience you, it should have the courtesy to announce itself. “Oh, Pat,” the offending muscle could say, “I wouldn’t have picked up that box if I were you. Now you’ve left me no choice but to make you pay.” Instead, she was confronted with punishment without the right to face her accuser. It was downright unconstitutional.
Pat couldn’t put her finger on the cause, but knew who to ask to receive some amateur (although exceedingly caring) hands-on treatment. We went upstairs, she lay face down on the bed, and I started gently massaging the sore muscles.
As I worked my hands up and down her back, Kelly walked in the bedroom, hopped onto the bed and watched. Animals seem to understand when someone they care about is in pain. It’s possible our Good Cat was prepared with helpful suggestions, if only we had asked him. For that matter, the Big Guy is used to me petting him, stroking his fur while he purrs contentendly. Perhaps he wanted a little of that stroking action, too; maybe he was just waiting his turn.
With treatment and a little medication, Pat’s back eventually went back to normal. In case it acts up again, I gave Pat an electric heat massager for Christmas, but at the same time I reminded her I’d be only too happy to play John Henry to that machine anytime.
Four answers requested, four cats here… I did the math.
Credit where it’s due: Meme started by Bonnie Underfoot.
The Good Cats were tagged by: Yao-Lin in the Isle of Wight (where I hope it’s not too dear).
A. Name four places you have lived
1. Kelly: With some losers who dumped me off
2. Lizzie: Animals In Distress
3. Caitie: Foster mom Lorraine from Good Mews
4: Nicky: With my human mom’s brother and his wife
B. Four things I love to watch
1. Kelly: The insides of my eyelids
2. Lizzie: Art and colorful things
3. Caitie: Birds! And I’d do more than watch, if they’d let me…
4: Nicky: My human Mama. She calls me her black shadow.
C. Four places I have been outside my home (besides the v*t)
1. Kelly: I’ve gone around the block on a harness, once or twice.
2. Lizzie: Just in my yard. I don’t want to go any farther.
3. Caitie: When my humans were moving to a new house, I stayed overnight with Mama’s son and his wife. Kelly did too, and he hated it, but I was used to different foster homes, so it didn’t bother me.
4: Nicky: My real Mama carried me and my sisters to the human’s home, and hid us real good under the steps. It was so dark no one knew I was there until I opened my mouth and yelled “Maaa!”
D. Four websites I visit daily
1. Kelly: Cat Blogosphere
2. Lizzie: Google Mail
3. Caitie: Google Reader
4: Nicky: Blogs on the blogroll. (Can’t visit all of them, but as many as possible)
E. Four of my favorite foods.
1. Kelly: Baby Chicken!! (He means Beech-Nut chicken & chicken broth baby food)
2. Lizzie: Classic Seafood Supper, I guess
3. Caitie: I like lots of things, even cheese and lettuce and bologna.
4: Nicky: Not a lot. Remember, you can’t spell “finicky” without “N-I-C-K-Y.”
F. Four places I would rather be right now
1. Kelly: Rolled over on my back, with my human giving me a tummy rub…
2. Lizzie: In bed next to Mama
3. Caitie: On my human’s belly, kneading fleece
4: Nicky: On my human Mama’s lap!!
G. Four toys I have owned and played with
1. Kelly: Laser pointer, until I got bored with it.
2. Lizzie: A feather toy that Mama whizzes back and forth
3. Caitie: Catnip Carrot! Love it, love it, love it!
4: Nicky: Little balls of fluff — I fetch them!
H. Four nicknames people call me
1. Kelly: the Big Guy
2. Lizzie: Elizabeth Bennet Cat, Fizzie Lizzie
3. Caitie: the Calico Diva
4: Nicky: El Gatito Perfecto
I. Regarding catnip
1. Kelly: I like it, but afterward I get real aggressive.
2. Lizzie: It makes me feel all tingly and playful!
3. Caitie: I want to just run around and jump and play!
4: Nicky: When it’s around, I bite and bite and bite whatever it’s in
J. Regarding cat grass
1. Kelly: Give me wild rye grass any day.
2. Lizzie: I like it once in a while.
3. Caitie: Shrug. No big deal.
4: Nicky: I like just about anything green, so OK.
K. First things I buy after winning the lottery
1. Kelly: I dunno. Let my human staff handle it, I guess.
2. Lizzie: Lots of pretty, colorful things.
3. Caitie: A lot of space where I can roam around and hunt.
4: Nicky: A great big place for my human Mama so she doesn’t have to do anything but stay with me.
L. Four things I do besides eat sleep and litter box
1. Kelly: What else is there? Oh yeah, I have Quality Time with my human.
2. Lizzie: Me too, and I also go outside a little.
3. Caitie: Demand attention from my human Dad. First he has to brush me, then he has to let me knead fleece on his tummy.
4: Nicky: Chase my sisters!
M. Four things I want to do this summer
1. Kelly: Let me outside, and I’m happy.
2. Lizzie: Lie in the warm sunshine and think good thoughts
3. Caitie: Catch one of those birds that hangs around here
4: Nicky: Whatever, as long as my human Mama is with me
N. My four most prized possessions that have limited value to anyone else.
1. Kelly: My human dad seems to fit that description pretty well.
2. Lizzie: The knit mousies I bring upstairs every night after the lights are off. I meow and meow to let Mama know I’m on my way up!
3. Caitie: My hair brush. Only I use it. Only me!
4: Nicky: The brown toy mousie whose feet and tail I chewed off. It’s all mine.
O. What I am going to do before tomorrow
1. Kelly: Enjoy every moment.
2. Lizzie: Be happy.
3. Caitie: Get what I want when I want it!
4: Nicky: Keep my human Mama company wherever she goes.
P. Which of the following is your favorite place to hide and play
1. Kelly: I nap under my human Dad’s drawing table.
2. Lizzie: I hide under the bed. I guess I get scared easily.
3. Caitie: There’s a little table outside the bedroom and I hide under it when Nicky chases me.
4: Nicky: If I tell you where I hide, then everyone will know. I like to hide until my humans start to worry, and then I show up. Nobody knows where I hide!
Q. Four other pets that Mama (or Dad) has had with me
1. Kelly: Before I came along, they only had a stuffed rabbit named Beau Bunny.
2. Lizzie: My Mama had a big collie mix d*g named Samson.
3. Caitie: A long time ago, Mama also used to have a calico cat named Missy.
4: Nicky: In college, my human dad took care of a big black cat he called Gato. That’s why he calls me Gatito.
R. Four furiends I tag to respond: Each of the Good Cats tag four other multi-cat blogs. Everybody ought to get into the act!
1. Kelly: Daphne, Jazper, Spooker and Chloe at Purrchance to Dream
2. Lizzie: Maxie, Tuxie, Midnight, Dino, Egypt at Cat Crossings
3. Caitie: Missy, Monte and Munchkin at The Adventures of the M’s
4: Nicky: Orb, Jupiter, Mitten the Smitten Kitten, Princess Poppygirl and Teeny Tiny Tottie Mctabby at The Famous Five
And remember, you can also see Easy Like Sunday photos at Diva Kitty and the Fluffies and Cat Crossings.
The Good Cats also send purrs to their guests who are here via Carnival of the Cats #153, hosted this week at Scribblings.
I feel good today… among other reasons, because I wasn’t caught in the Valentine’s Day traffic nightmare on I-78. When Pat + I first moved here, we could take rides west on I-78 for fun, especially on warm nights, but when the huge warehouses went up, the truck traffic just exploded. It wasn’t much fun anymore, going for a ride with 18 Wheels of Death looming in your rear view mirror…
– I was impressed by some graphics recently on Luxor’s blog from Image Chef and made a couple for the Good Cats’ blog.
This one will probably stay on here… it’s only fair to warn blog-readers to beware, there’s self-indulgence ahead…
– Now that teams are reporting to spring training, here’s a baseball video. Even if you’re not interested in baseball, there’s still something that may be of interest to you about two minutes in. It sure got my attention — I smell a marketing opportunity!
– Speaking of baseball, Jeter Harris,as you might guess from his name, is a Yankees fan. However, his Valentine, Lilly Lu, follows the Red Sox. In a wonderful show of devotion to her man cat, Lilly Lu says she will wear the Yankees hat that Jeter sent her. If Jeter wants to impress Lilly Lu, he should obtain the license plate shown below:
– Have you seen the February 2007 issue of Cat Fancy? If nothing else, you should take a peekat the cover…
– Something I learned about this week: korfball. Korf is Dutch for ‘basket’ and like basketball, the object is to put a ball into a hoop high off the ground. Otherwise, forget basketball. There was a Flash-powered game loosely based on korfball at one team’s site. I don’t speak the language, but figured it out just enough to play. Choose your name, number, and color of shirt, and get started. Timing is everything…
– Sher at What Did You Eat? posted one of Ina Garten’s recipes this past week, and if you’re a recovering chocoholic like me, you’d better be ready before you click the link for Double Chocolate Cake.
– And now this word from our alternate sponsor:
– One more thing: on Wednesday, you might have seen the photo of rabbit tracks in the snow covering our back yard. Well, yesterday, I was outside with the cats and saw something that from a distance resembled a paw print. Getting closer, I saw it was actually something else a rabbit left behind… and with that, I’ll talk to you later…
