Nine Lives

My friend Babz has a wonderful cat named Ernie. She told me yesterday that Ernie has been diagnosed with cancer and is not long for this world. He is 13, has a big, puffy black coat and white sox. He is actually about half the size he appears. She has decided not to pursue radical treatment for Ernie but to keep him alive and comfortable as long as possible. I cannot imagine a more humane way to care for an
ailing pet. We had to deal with cancer of the nose and face with our
beloved cat Foster, and with hip displasia with our Old English. Not easy.

Despite this bad news, this was a good day for the Patient. He napped this
morning, as usual, but then bustled around, took a shower, then wanted
to go out shopping. He brought back the fixings for bean soup and a
luscious lamb chop for me. He chopped and mixed and stirred and came up with a pretty good soup for himself. I tasted it; too bland for my spice-loving palate, but if he can eat it, who cares.

I bought two bare root rose plants today for the front garden. My neighbor
helped me pick out the most healthy and well-formed plants. She has a
gorgeous rose garden in the front of her house. I am hoping that by the
time these bushes bloom Jim will be in full bloom as well. In the front
garden I found spears from the newly-planted rununcula poking up. I hope they don't freeze tonight. I think we lost both our big plumbago and two coreopsis bushes.

By the way, Aero California is back in the air and flying to Colima (and other out-of-the-way spots in Mexico), the closest airport to us. This company shut down a year ago because of safety issues. But they are up and flying again. If we decide that driving is too strenuous, we can fly down for a couple of months. We are, however, determined to drive, as usual. And determination counts for everything.