My new friend Jamie took Lady home with her last night.

Jamie and her cousin Misty met me at my house and we rode to
Donna’s apartment for a first meeting. (I discovered I had a slight cat allergy
when Lady was in our home and had to move her back there for a few days.)
I warned Jamie that Lady would be skittish at first, taking a while to warm up to someone new. (I was thinking of the first time Ed and I met Lady in Donna’s Los Angeles apartment, when the elegant Siamese cat spent the entire time huddled inside the vanity under the bathroom sink.)

This was not the case this time. There was no sign of any skittishness or huddling in dark corners, and Lady couldn’t seem to get enough of her new friends! Lady seemed to forget all about me as she wrapped her body around her new friend’s legs, purring and rubbing as if her life depended on it.

Lady is entering a new world, life with Jamie and her 6 year old daughter. Oh, and she’ll have a kitty brother as well! I have been promised photographs and ongoing reports, and can’t wait to hear all about her progress.

It felt a little like sending a child off to boarding school.

After Jamie drove off with Lady, I wondered if I should’ve mentioned when and exactly how much to feed her, what her favorite game is (tearing up paper- something I’m afraid Jamie will find out about all too soon) and how early she wakes up in the morning.

But Lady has a new mom now!

For several days now Lady the snowshoe Siamese cat has been sharing
our home. It’s been years since I’ve been covered with cat hair and demands for
pets, and it’s all coming back to me now. I could really get used to this, if only I was a “stay-at-home” artist.

Lady shared her life with her beloved Donna, my husband’s
elderly cousin for the past several years. When Donna had a stroke in early
November, Lady’s future became uncertain

On November 22, Donna passed away. We all miss her deeply,
and that includes this beautiful cat. Sometimes I think Lady is searching for
Donna, anxious to check out all the closed and off limit spaces in my home.

She is very sweet with those crystal blue eyes gazing fondly
up at me while I work. When I relent and pick her up, all I can do is one
handed ineffectual pecking at the keyboard. All the while she diligently kneads
my unprotected lap with her claws.

I’m hoping to find her a new home this week. She is the
perfect lap cat (as long as the recipient of her affection wears something more
protective than a thin cotton skirt). With her soft voice and loud purr, she
deserves a human companion who has time for lots of loving.

Lady the cat is a beautiful snowshoe Siamese that has shared her life with my husband’s Cousin Donna for the past few years.

Donna is an elderly and much loved relative whom we moved from her single existence in Los Angeles to an apartment in Clearwater so she’d have family around her. This was a little over a year ago, and we’ve enjoyed having Donna and her beautiful cat in our lives.

Just about a week ago Cousin Donna suffered a serious
stroke. It’s been pretty tough, and for a dignified and intelligent woman like
Donna, especially trying.

Besides spending a lot of time at the hospital, Ed and I
have been visiting Lady twice a day, feeding her and giving her as many pets as
she can stand. She seems to be doing well amid her familiar surroundings and
smells, but soon the time will come to find her a new home. I love Lady, and
wish I could have her live with us. This is one of the tough things about being
an itinerant (traveling) artist. Lady is a very affectionate cat and needs a
human companion that stays put.

So tomorrow she’s going to visit the home of some dear
friends, willing to take her (if she gets along with their current cat, a
handsome gentleman named Joseph). The best part about this particular
arrangement is that if Donna recovers and can live independently again, our
friends could return her.)

This is what our lives have been about for over a week. Ed
and I are no strangers to sudden and shocking life changes. We’ve learned that
the best way to travel through them is with as much humor and grace as
possible, and, in this case, by making sure a beautiful cat finds a good home.

I read an article in USA TODAY recently about the latest wave in animal shelters.

These shelters of the future are upscale with not a cage in sight. The dogs relax in glass den-like boxes with doors that can be opened by the prospective new owner so the two can get to know each other.

Some of them even have piped in classical music, which is a wonderful idea. How about a little Mozart to calm down the stressed out dog or cat?

The dogs and cats have play areas and waterfalls for fresh water drinks, private litter boxes for the kitties and companionship for the dogs (They all have room mates!).

What really impressed me was the mention that these shelters have such a restful atmosphere that some office workers spend their lunch hours visiting them. That’s incredible!

I don’t know how many of these new animal shelters there are, but I think it’s a wonderful new standard. I’m sure a lot more animals are adopted just because so much anxiety is eliminated from both the pets and the new owners.

I couldn’t resist reading the story about Amos the donkey from Minnesota who fell into a well.
The funny thing was, when I typed it into the search engine to read more about it, the first several entries were about a famous parable of the same name- A donkey that fell in the well!

Of course I read the parable, which did go a little differently than Amo’s story. The basic outcome, however, was the same. Donkey safely out of the well and hopefully (per his owner) having learned a lesson.
The part I found the most charming was Amos’s owner giving him a little lecture about wandering off as he led him back on a rope. That and the bubble bath he gave Amos to sooth his shattered pride and sore bottom.
It sounds like Amos lives the good life.
I believe a donkey face is one of the most endearing in the animal kingdom, so of course I had to make some donkey jewelry. That’s one thing I especially enjoy about working as an artist – I have the option to make whatever suits my fancy. Donkeys happen to be one of the animals that do for me!