Good Morning... Remember Me? now Meet Jazzy...

Good Morning! Is it really the end of May?! Has it really been that long since we've talked?! It doesn't feel like it, but I guess it is...

I'm still reading, still have the book club, still buy books, still read about books, still love authors...

AND I'm still retired... which gives me more time to read, but I'm totally disorganized with my time now. It's rather funny how when working full time you really need to organize your life so that you can fit everything you want to do into the 5 hours or so you have after work and before bed, or on your day off. But you don't feel like you're organizing it all, it just flows. It's not leisurely or wistful, it's practical. When you retire, it all changes... it is leisurely now... I can sip that cup of coffee without an alarm. I'm not on a schedule, BUT I SHOULD BE! And so, I think after writing this post I am putting myself on warning... there will be order out of chaos. 

SO, what have I been doing these few months?.... Meet Jazzy...

This is Jazzy, short for Jazzibelle, which was temporarily Jezebel, when we thought she was a pregnant kitten. We don't know how her life started, but one day in late October of 2021, while my husband, mom and I were sitting outside on our back porch, this little creature comes walking up to us meowing her head off... demanding attention. She was skinny as anything, hair a bit gruff and tiny. We had been feeding the strays that wander by, so we had kibble at the ready and I brought a dish out to her. She immediately went for it no questions asked. Then she jumped right up into my husbands lap, as though it was hers. This did not go over well with our resident old lady, Pepper, who had previously claimed that lap even though she was a Labradoodle and way too big to be in that lap. My Mom is petting Jazzy, my husband is, but I am saying out loud and to deaf ears, "we don't know where that kitten has been... we don't know if she has anything... like some disease..." I kept my distance... She was not coming in the house... she probably will disappear in the night... 

But she didn't... I watched her on the video doorbell sleeping on the porch railing... until morning. There she was still. For 2 nights she hung out with us. I ordered her a outdoor cat house from Amazon, just in case. Then I saw on the weather station that the temps were going to be in the 30's! OMG, we can't leave her out there! The cat house isn't here... I turned to my husband. Should we let her come inside? What about the dog? Where is she going to sleep inside? We can't just let her wander around the house! And that was that. Jazzy walked right inside like she lived there. We stayed up with her in the living room all night, sleeping on the couch with her. I was a goner. I snuggled up with the kitten that I had no idea where she came from or if she had any germs and slept.

I bought her a liter box and a cat bed. I bought her toys and a cat tree. I bought her a scratching post (yeah, right). I bought her canned food and a special dish. Yes, I was hooked... and finally I bought her a carry case and we made a visit to the vet. She looked pregnant because she had worms, so we brought home medicine for that. We got all her kitten shots and talked about spaying her. The vet guessed she was about 6 months old. We made an appointment to get her spayed and chipped. She was part of our family now.

We live in a very rural area. Lots of wildlife like bears, wild hogs, and other predators. We had originally thought of Jazzy as an indoor/outdoor cat, but after she was spayed, and we had to quarantine her for 2 weeks, we decided for her own safety she would remain an indoor cat... and she seems quite content with that. It's been 7 months since we met Jazz. Pepper was not happy about the situation and we slowly got them use to each other. Now Pepper is tolerant of Jazzy and every once in a while I do catch them almost playing. And as far as me and Jazzy... well, she's got me wrapped right around her paw. She usually sleeps right next to me in bed. I didn't give birth to her, but she is my baby. 

So, that's what's been happening here... What have you been up to since we've talked?

Stop by tomorrow for The Sunday Salon... and we'll talk about some of the books I've been reading!

Happy reading... Suzanne

Dewey's Nine Lives by Vicki Myron... A Review

The Legacy of Dewey The Small Town Library Cat...

A few weeks ago on Memoir Monday I shared a book about Dewey, the little kitten that someone threw away in a book deposit on one of the coldest days of the year in a small mid western town in Iowa. (Here's the LINK for the review if you missed it!) That book, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron was read by millions of animal lovers, and if you read it you know how touching the story was. Vicki toured the country to promote her book about Dewey, and in the course of that book tour, people shared their own stories with Vicki, the stories about the cats that they had shared their lives with... Vicki has taken some of those stories and added some new Dewey stories to bring us another wonderful testament to how the love of animals can make our lives better in her new book, Dewey's Nine Lives. Here's the blurb from the publisher...

"Dewey's Nine Lives is compromised of nine inspiring, funny and heartwarming stories about cats told from the perspective of "Dewey's Mom", librarian Vicki Myron. The amazing felines in this book include Dewey, of course, whose further never-before-told adventures and amazing legacy are chronicled, but several others whom Vicki found out about when their owners reached out to her. Vicki learned, through extensive interviews and story sharing, what made these cats special, and how they fit into Dewey's community of perseverance and love. From a divorced mother in Alaska who saved a drowning kitten on Christmas Eve to a post-traumatic-stress disorder-suffering veteran whose heart was opened by his long relationship with a rescued cat, these Dewey-style stories will inspire reades to laugh, cry, and, most important, believe in the magic of animals to touch individual lives."

In the same wonderful way Vicki shared her story of Dewey in her first book, animal lovers, and cat lovers in particular, will enjoy reading Dewey's Nine Lives. I know I did! Her writing style is easy going and relaxing. These are heartfelt stories that will have you hugging your furry friend. And like the people that shared their stories with Vicki along the way, the story of Dewey made me think of and be thankful for the special furry babies I've shared my life with.

There is also a I Believe in "Dewey's Magic" story contest, where you can submit a letter to Vicki telling her about a cat that has inspired you. The winner of the contest will have their story told in the paperback version of Dewey's Nine Lives. You can find all the details about the contest and how to enter at Penguin Books. The book will be available from your local bookstores starting Oct. 12th!

*I want to thank Dutton Publishing for sending along a review copy! Thank you!