Magic Carpet Ride...

While my time in New York is still fresh in my mind (gee, it WAS only last weekend) a whole lot has been accomplished back here at the Furry Dance Cat House. New York was great, good food with good friends.

I would highly recommend

The Elephant & Castle www.elephantandcastle.com
and
Arno Ristorante www.arnoristorante.com

I did a little sightseeing, a little shopping and somehow resisted the urge to wander into the store that had these shoes in the window...



The cat show was huge, crowds non-stop and one leaves at the end of the day feeling a bit shell-shocked from all the frenzied activity and "networking". There was a lot of CRex competition and Pixie had 3 nice cats to compete against. While she didn't win, I would have ranked the cats as the judges did, with a handsome black and white boy coming in first in the breed, and Pixie coming in 2nd most of the time. I handed out lots of Cornish Rex information and chatted with many people who have or had a CRex at home and that is always easy and fun, to talk about something you love already! Here's a photo of Pixie at the show, and living it up in the hotel room, and sipping her Tuscan Milk!



I came home with a new Daddy-Cat, Angelwaves Sirius Black. He is going through the isolation and testing protocol I do when I bring a new cat into the house, but 99.9% of his tests have been clear and that's a relief. He is very handsome, all black (hence the name) and is very svelte and racy, only weighing in at 5# 7oz. He is 18 months old, and the next step is to have his heart ultrasounded and if he is clear, then in a few months, he can sire his first litter! Here's his first photo in his new home here!


The (magic) carpet went in on Friday and I love it! It has brownish-greenish tones (khaki to be precise) and so in the light rooms it looks more cafe aulait and in the darker room it looks more sage green. It's a shag (baby) but nowadays they call it Frisee, and it is sort of frizzy. The drywall repairs are complete and the painting almost done. I am now in the process of cleaning the walls and putting everything back in place. It's like I just moved in, with stuff in crates and boxes, but it's giving me a reason to do spring cleaning, get rid of some stuff I'll never wear again and to rearrange some furniture. One good thing about moving furniture around, I found some lighting in the bookshelves was overheating and looked a bit scary, so I didn't hook them back up again! Flood I can handle, fire I don't think so...

Momcats and babies are all doing great. My petsitter has been nurturing them over at her house since I went to New York and so I know they will be SUPER KITTEHS because of all their TLC. They are fat and sassy and in and out of their kitten tent, except at night or when they can't be watched and by the time they come back here tomorrow, they will be ready to move in to the kitten nursery...my newly redone master bathroom. They are not all spoken for yet, one is still up for grabs, but I am certain that he will find just the right home, too.

I'm off to dinner tonight with friends to Nando's Peri Peri Chicken! Mike and I found a Nando's in London when we were there and truly, it is amazing and very close to the Portuguese Piri Piri Chicken my mom has made since their stint in Portugal in the '70's. Here's a link to Nando's, so you can see what you are missing! http://www.nandosperiperi.com/index.cfm

Tomorrow, it's more "moving in" work, but if I put off working on it...I'll be in disarray forever and that's not good mentally or physically. I was behind on stuff before this all happened, but the filing and photo albums and yard work will just have to wait!

Well, just mostly wanted to post so I could show you the new pix, so that's it for today, anyway.

So New York!

Here we are in the Big Apple. Well, no, this cat isn't in NYC, but I thought it was a Hip, kind of CityKitty photo, so I thought I'd use it as an intro. It is a FurryDance cat though!

I had a friend coming with me, to share the fun (and the EXPENSES) but she had to have an unanticipated medical procedure and had to stay close to home. But, as they say "When life hands you lemons, you make Lemonade". I had a cheap vacation in Oregon in August, so I guess if I average these two get-aways together, it's not so bad...

Had an uneventful drive up, no traffic snarls and thanks to the nav system, got right to the hotel, no problems. It's always nice to have a co-pilot in NYC, but I managed it alone, and didn't hit any bike messengers as I worried I might.

The Affinia Manhattan, where I have stayed for the last 3 Madison Square Garden Cat Show, is very nice, right across the street from MSG and while 3 x the price of most hotels I frequent, it's part of being in NYC and the big plus is I can park the car and not have to deal with driving all weekend (though that privilege runs me $44 a day, MOL).

Pixie and I have down comforters, a full kitchen and for me, my beverages of choice (this weekend it's Pina Coladas, Long Island Iced Teas, and White Russians...remember, I had an Aussie coming with me initially!) and for Pixie, why, some Tuscan Milk, of course. 

ODE TO TUSCAN MILK

I couldn't hunt down any friends last night (had their phones turned off, duh) so went around the corner to an Italian place for a Campari and Veal Piccata. It wasn't up to my favorite as Carrabas Grill (I know that they are a chain but their Veal Piccata is excellent, as well as their white Sangria). I stopped at a market on the way back to the hotel and got some Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey, which went well with the White Russian for dessert.

Today, I slept in til 9, a real treat lately since with the home repairs, I have had to be up early for the work to begin. Then came bathing and grooming Pixie, then me, haha. Had my favorite yogurt (Fagi Greek yogurt with Honey) and Trader Joe's Ultimate Vanilla Wafers and some Starbucks and I was a happy camper.

Got out of the hotel about 1-ish and and actually made it to a museum on the way to Macy's, The Museum at FIT, and enjoyed their current exhibit, Arbiters of Style, Women at the Forefront of Fashion. I know my niece, Erin, would have enjoyed it! Then it was on to Macy's (and as usual, I couldn't find my way out and felt a little like a kid in a scary Fun House, laughing til it was "Get me out of here"!) I didn't buy anything there this year, but on the way back to the hotel, found a Whole Foods store (with it's own stand alone Whole Body shop) and bought some stuff for me--lip gloss, foot massager and a camera case. And for Pixie, two new collars for costumes (AKA hair scrunchies). She and I will be stylin'.

Tonight, I am meeting my friend, Tracy, who lives in the Village and visiting with her kitties, going out to eat (someplace fantastic she always picks out) and then sitting down with her and going over the new website she is designing for me, which might get up and running this weekend!

So, that's what me and Pixie have been up to the past couple of days. When I get back home, I'll have a few pix of this trip and Pixie living it up in the hotel room and at the show, so that'll be something for my next post...

Cutest Cat & Kids Winner!

Furry Dance Piskie and her proud owner, Ben Poulakos, entered The Cat Fanciers Associations “Cutest Cat and Kids Contest. They just got the news that they won third prize! I don't know how many photos were submitted, but it's a big "bird feather in their cap" to win. Pixie will be there, at the Cat Show and maybe we will even get on TV!

Ben and his family can't attend, but I will be there, with Pixie, the cute cat in the photo. I will proudly bring home the prizes and photos and fun stories to tell for Ben and his wonderful family (who are also my treasured pet sitters when I am away). They are also my dear friends and were the "first response team" when my house flooded! My cats sure give me some quality friends, don't they!

Here’s the photo they entered:

 

Kitten Movie

Thought you all might enjoy this relaxing Sunday morning video. I slept in til 10 am, awoke to this comforting scene, ran and got my camera and since I don't know how to add music, had to bring up the old boom box and look for a lullaby. If Coco looks a bit nervous, it's due to all my fumbling around. That and any noise momcats hear on the other side of the door or outside bring them to full alert.

I am off today to give Spooky (Nacho's previous housemate) a Spa Day and then over to Macchu & Picchu's to cat sit them (and they don't know it yet, but they have a day at the Spa planned, too). I have a feeling my house won't get reorganized this week, but I keep looking at the bare walls thinking I at least need to clean them up before I put the furniture & art back on the walls. Would love to paint, but that'll have to wait for some downtime and help from friends...

Enjoy your Sunday in some wonderful Fall way, it's my favorite season here...