Friendships, strength and Magpie Murders

Today the mold and pollen counts are sky high as is the mosquito hunger level, so I decided instead of sneezing and gasping and scratching outside, I'd resume my long neglected indoor exercise.

April and Aiko showing me how. These days balance and fall prevention are big.  I'm fit enough to do the routine without holding onto anything, though I'm close to a chair just in case.

This is also a lift for the spirits, needed about now, too. 

I had a recent neighborly visit from a human bearing banana bread, and this morning one of my local mourning doves showed up to help with the ant problem outside. 

There's usually a pair, maybe the male is out on the nearby golf course this morning.

 

One of the issues weighing me down recently, which I hadn't mentioned, was the planned bathtub conversion 

Like this, a cut out to make it easier to step in. The contractor cuts down an opening in the side of the tub and installs the kit which covers the space between the tub inside and outside. I was very excited when I found they'd started making a kit, after I'd been looking for years for something like this.

So last January I arranged for my contractor friend to do it, and some painting and tiling, as soon as he could get to it. He's been slammed with work, some of which had been on hold and suddenly came through.

As the weeks have gone by and my reminders were met with reassurance but no action, and it's been getting harder to step into the tub to shower, I've been losing heart.

Then I checked again Friday and he tells me I'm in this week's roster, to measure, choose, order, yay. I instantly felt much better. 

Being able to shower solo is one of the markers enabling me to continue living here, like being able to be generally active, carrying and moving and making.  So it's a big deal.

In other exciting news now that I've finished All Creatures, I've embarked on

Lovely Horowitz, a murder mystery within a murder mystery..

I've been catching some discussion online about interspecies friendships and if they were real or ai.

I can vouch for their being real, because I've seen them, in my pet care and at home.

There was the big ginger cat whose friend was a hamster,  who used to run about playing on the cat's back and take a nap between his paws. 

The owner told me she was in a panic the first time her son's hamster took off from his cage, in case the cat hunted him down. He looked like a brown mouse. 

To her amazement, the cat gently touched Hammie, and rolled him softly about and the hamster ran onto his back quite confidently.

The owner was careful for ages before realizing it was safe and they were playing. 

I've known horses who loved having a cat in the stable, to sit on their neck, and got very restless if the cat wasn't around.

Nearer home there was the playtime between my tiny grey rescue cat Boud, hence my screen name in her honor, and my rescued lutino cockatiel Emily.  

No pictures of them but here's an idea, swiped from the Internet.

Emily was free flying all day, just caged at night or when I had visitors for safety.

So she and Boud developed various silly games, like lying side by side on the rug, daring me to step on them. And Emily would nibble gently on Boud's nose while Boud purred loudly. They were a dynamic duo.

Then there was Marigold the dumped Burmese kitten, and KC the dalmatian owned by Handsome Partner.  

HP took Marigold because I couldn't house one more animal, and she, tiny, maybe a pound weight, was completely taken over by KC, a large boned 60+ lb  Dalmatian, real picture of Marigold, swiped internet pic of a Dal.

KC groomed Marigold allll the time, swiping her giant tongue all over her till Marigold was pretty damp! She followed KC like her mom, slept between her paws and generally made a big nuisance of herself yanking on KCs ears and face, till KC like a patient nanny, pushed her gently away.  

We used to think they were the best thing that ever happened to each other. 

And then there are men and women, such  different species but you do see cases where they get along wonderfully...

Happy day everyone, here's today's little bouquet