Now that it's getting later in the year, cooler, with less pollen hanging out in the air and being possible provokers of allergic reaction, what does our little cat do? She goes and coughs again. Despite getting allergy medication already. Gah.

So we'll be off to the vet (again), trying to find out how bad it is and what we can do against it. Just what I needed to make my scheduling today a little more difficult.

Apart from the coughing, though, she's fine. A little stressed maybe, due to a red tom hanging out in our garden - he's obviously interested in getting to know her a little better, but she is not interested in him, it seems. We're very curious to see if it will develop into a cat friendship or not.

We had a vet appointment yesterday, and now we have another one for next week - our poor little cat (who seems to be older than she lets on) has bad teeth, and at least three of her molars have to go. There's an inflammation, and fistulas have already developed. Poor little sod - she must be in a lot of pain, but she does not let on at all.

Plus she's going to be on a diet from now on, not because she's too fat, but because she probably has food allergies. It's a little tricky and not totally efficient to put her on an elimination diet since she's an outdoor cat and would be devastated if she had to stay inside for several weeks, but we will try it nevertheless. If we are totally lucky, it's only a food allergy - if not, she's also allergic to something else and will have to be treated with cortisone.

Oh, and her age? The shelter that took her in when she was found in February had estimated her to be about seven years old. Yesterday's X-Ray showed skeletal signs that hint to an age somewhat more between 10 and 12 years of age. We have an elderly cat lady sharing our home!

I have found in the last two days not one, but two long-ish lists of online resources in the Internet. They may or may not hold links to pages that are utterly nice and helpful - I don't know yet, but I intend to find out and then post the links.

And while I am at that, and doing my bookkeeping (again! yes!), and a small-to-medium-sized bunch of other stuff that is writing-related, have a gratuitous cat picture.


That's Madonna, our cat, doing one of the things she (like all cats) does best: napping.

Calling stuff that one does not like or that seems outdated "medieval" is something that is... how shall I put it... not getting applauded very much by medievalists. Now, lots of snark can be released onto that topic, but I am not going to do it myself - instead, I am going to link you to Carl Pyrdum's blog, where you can read and laugh for yourselves.

In other and textile-related news, editing on our first Textile Forum Proceedings is going on - and I am utterly thankful that this work is done by somebody who is not me. I won't give an estimate of when it will come out, but I hope that there will be no unforeseen delays and that it is going to be not too far in the future.

The cat, by the way, has developed some sort of daily routine (well, routine in addition to meowing as if she were starving when it's feeding time). The part of her routine the most stable these past days? Her after-lunch nap. After lunch (and after the requisite bit of grooming), she settles down to take a little nap... which ends about an hour before her next meal, at six-ish in the evening. I am continuously astounded by cats' ability to sleep!

Every year, it's the same game with the taxes here. I get my stuff together... then I wait a few days. Then I check it again. Then I start filling out the forms. Then I check again.

Somehow, I have the feeling that checking again (and waiting a day or two inbetween) might lead to me catching all the glitches and stuff. Occasionally, this is true - but I could probably do with much less checking and re-checking. And thinking.

While last year's tax stuff was extra-interesting because of our wedding in 2010 (which in Germany can change how the whole year's taxes are calculated, and also how the paperwork looks that is getting handed in), this time it's extra-interesting because of the GbR that I founded together with Sabine Ringenberg - a common firm in addition to our own ones, for being able to better support each other. The good news: I've figured out what I need to hand in (I think so, at least). The bad news: I'm not quite finished with filling out the forms and checking them again. But soon...

And just in case you are not at all interested in hearing about my paperwork woes and much more interesting in hearing about the cat: She is well (and currently sleeping on a sheepskin in the study) and it looks as if she's really feeling at home here now. Catsitting by our upstairs neighbours has already worked very nicely as well, and we now know that she likes catnip. (Catnip-smelling hands get nibbled, as do catnip-smelling toys.)
This evening, we'll take her to the vet for a check-up and the final vaccinations she'll need to go outside, and then we can soon open the doors to the garden again and offer her the world. I'm a bit sorry to drag her into the car and to the vet, but it has to be done if she is to roam the garden (and probably the gardens beyond ours)...

The cat is getting more accustomed to her new life here - slowly getting used to the new feeding times (as we are), and occasionally doing something to figure out if it's ok or forbidden. She's also starting to play more, and without looking totally uninvolved when she thinks someone has seen her pawing against a ball. Now she's chasing them through the whole living room sometimes, and she's obviously enjoying it. Paper balls, by the way, seem to be the favourite toy for the moment - smallish, lightweight, they scoot over the laminated floors very nicely, and - bonus for the humans - they are really, really easy to replace with the reams of packing paper that I have here for the mail order stuff.

Meanwhile, my tax works preparation is almost finished, and it looks like I'll be able to start filling out the forms via the programme soon. Yay!

 As promised, some pictures. First of all, a tulip from our garden - most of them are done with their blooming now, but a few last ones - the black ones, mostly - are still holding their own.


And this is the current market stall setup, with the new banner in place. This is how the stall looked at Freienfels, and I'm very happy with it!


And finally... Madonna, hanging out on the living room carpet...