Most of you don't know, but we lost our beloved cat, Pongo, last month. He had some tests done and made it through with flying colors. The tests had shown great results and then, suddenly the next day, he must have had a delayed reaction to the anesthesia --and although I rushed him to the vet and they started aggressive treatment on IV -- we lost him that evening. At least that's all the vet can figure out.
We all miss him so much - Sweetie is on my desk as I type this, pawing at the mouse, pushing pens and papers off my desk and, if I'm not quick enough, she sticks her paw in my glass of water to get a drink. This might explain why there are usually about 3 glasses of water on my desk....
But Sweetie has been crying for a month now, Callie hides in the closet and Bruce and I keep waiting for Pongo to appear in his usual favorite spots.
If you've ever stayed in the Garden Suite, you know that Pongo felt that was his room. When he was outside (before we adopted him), I would often sit on the very top balcony with a glass of wine at sunset - Pongo would climb up the fire escape and join me and we would survey the Weaverland Valley. He was a great conversationalist without ever saying a word. If guests were sitting out on their balcony he would also visit them - and they, thinking he was our cat, would often let him inside. So he got used to having access to the Garden Suite. Which is why he learned to open the door knob I suppose.
So I should be learning Dreamweaver and trying to add pictures to the website and as I was looking through pictures, I came across this one. And I just knew I had to write my Tribute to Pongo. You'll probably have to click on it to enlarge it to find his little face - he had climbed onto the Garden Suite bed, and squished himself in between the pillows - I remember looking and looking for him that day and when I finally found him he was sound asleep and I was able to run for the camera and get this shot. Then I had to wash the pillow cases before guests arrived!
I am sure that we'll soon be acquiring another cat - they usually find us (it seems the word is out in the cat community that we are a bunch of softies) and hopefully Sweetie will have a new playmate. But there is no replacing Pongo and his antics.
We recently had guests from Istanbul, Turkey. Each morning that they were here, Charles was up and out before I had the table set for breakfast, catching the great morning light. He was trying out a new camera that he had purchased in New York City and I could tell it was going to take some dynamite pictures. I simply suggested several places to photograph, and, with his keen eye he caught some terrific pictures, which he has sent to us. Sometimes it takes the eyes of a visitor to remind us of the beauty all around. So take a little vacation from stress and enjoy this glimpse into our corner of the world. Or, better yet, come for a visit and capture your own memories.
On Monday we tasted our way through four different wineries; lunch was combined with a tour through a winery, and we learned a different component of wine-making all along the way.
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