Saturday, February 27, 2010

Introducing Oliver



Where have I been for two weeks?  What have I been doing?  If you guessed "new kitten" you would be correct!  This post is about my cat, so bail out now if you are looking for quilting information, just sayin'.

With absolutely no plans whatsoever to even think about a new cat until perhaps in the spring when my first teaching trip is completed, when the cold and snow will be gone, and kittens are being born and needing homes---- what do we do but succomb to the charms of this little guy.

He is from the Wisconsin Humane Society where my husband had a bit of time before a meeting there and strolled through the cat condos and made eye contact with this charmer, named Oliver.  After a phone call with all the details, I said let's think about bringing Oliver home, they sent me photos and the rest is the gentle but compelling slide into new cat mom-hood. 

We brought him home after I spent a day vainly trying to cat proof the house, and he was a burst of pure joy in our lives.  He radiated energy and happiness. His purring is so loud you can hear it across a room.  He has springs in his legs.  He is a cat pretzel.  Anything and everything is entertainment. 

He is 6 months old, was surrendered because his first owner had health problems and could not care for him, and now he is our sweet and mischievous little cat, playing hard, sleeping it off, eating and playing once again, spending lots of time on my lap.

We have had geriatric cats for the last 6 years or so and before that mature cats, so all the ways of a young one are coming back to me!  How can they be so inventive, get into so much trouble, be so darn cute???

Yesterday, after a week here, I opened the sewing room door, the room to the forbidden city.  I had thought it was clean for him, but of course he could jump on the cutting table, pull the pins off the samples and notes on the wall and then kill with great delight anything he managed to knock down. 

I thought I had swept up all the loose threads.  How can he fit behind things in the narrowest places and come out with threads hanging? 

He loves to lie on the foot control of my sewing machine.  I see trouble brewing in that department.

All my pins, pincushions, threads, bobbins, are now in drawers.  He did knock over my little bottle of oil and kitty hockey it all over the room before I rescued it, lid still intact.  Whew.

His favorite is a label that was wrapped around a bundle of Cherrywood fabrics, see photo below.  It skitters nicely around the hard surface floors in our house.  He carries it around in his mouth, then drops it and proceeds to kill it, on the bed, under a chair, in the shower.  He takes it upstairs to play with, then downstairs.  Thanks Cherrywood for the great label, you could market it as an expensive cat toy!

He is beautiful.  His fur is short and like velvet.  He is a combination of our Hillary and Arnie in looks and temperament, naughty, but mellow and sweet and spunky.  He is smart as a whip.  He knows everything already, our routines, the name of the UPS guy, when the mail comes, what dogs go by on their walks. 

His litter is in the laundry room, his room now.  He was raised well, and yes he now jumps up on the kitchen island, but he is aware he is being naughty.  A raised eyebrow and he is down from there fast.

We are smiling, we love him, today I am going to try and quilt.  I think I might wait for his afternoon nap.


My trip is coming up fast to Asilomar in CA, for Empty Spools Seminars.  I have things organized, know what I'll teach, have samples, so if you are in my class there, do not worry, I will still remember how to quilt.  I'm so looking forward to my time there as usual, and know we are going to have a wonderful class.

If you have questions, please ask, and if I have any more info for you in the next two weeks I will post it here on my blog.

Meanwhile, keep on quilting, your work gets better every day!
Diane




26 comments:

SewCalGal said...

Oliver is so cute. Congratulations. What a fun addition to your family.

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Marty Bryant said...

Diane I am so delighted that you have a new fuzzy squeeze. I look forward to lots of entertaining comments about all the trouble he gets into over the next year or so. I love to hear stories about other people's pets and he's sure a lucky fellow that your husband made eye contact. So enjoy, you deserve to have a new kitty.

QuilterLaura said...

Ohhh, he is such a handsome devil! I can see why you had to adopt him, what a joy he will be.

Jocelyn said...

What a cutie!! And how wonderful that he was already litter trained. Enjoy your new companion. I hope he will be around for many years to come.

kathyg said...

How wonderful of you to rescue a beloved cat! They do make wonderful 'furry friends'! I have 10 that have adopted me and love each and everyone for the love they give and the joy they show for having a safe home. Quilting is a challenge but worth it. Enjoy all that Oliver is going to give you!
kathyg

kliaksa said...

Diane, congratulations on a new family member! Oliver looks great and I am sure you enjoy his company as well as he yours!

Laura said...

Oh, Diane, I am so happy to hear that Oliver has found a home with you. After reading about Arnie, I had a feeling that you wouldn’t be without a feline companion for too long. Isn’t amazing how just the right furry friend manages to find us? He is beautiful and it sounds like he is fitting into your home perfectly, as if he was always meant to be there.

I read your story about Oliver’s antics with a smile on my face as you could have been describing a typical day at our house these days…times two. The young cats certainly are quite the change from the geriatrics, but oh, the free entertainment they provide just cannot be beat. My sewing room is currently back under lock down due to a certain someone (Sassy) liberating numerous items and leaving them all over the house. I found my open seam ripper at the opposite end of the house in our bathroom, my cleaning brush in the hallway, a spool of thread in the dining room, etc. etc. etc. I could go on but you get the idea. She and Echo even took the lid of the trash and emptied it. Thankfully it had just been emptied so there wasn’t much in it and they managed to not eat the little bit of thread that was there, or if they did eat some, it didn’t hurt them thankfully. Unfortunately I don’t have drawers with my sewing table, so I need to come up with a different storage system before the two juvenile delinquents can once again be allowed access to the room.

Oh, and I came home with Tyrone 4 years ago after a trip to Petsmart for supplies ended up with me coming home with both the supplies and Tyrone, so I know how that goes too . They do have a way of charming there way right into your hearts, don’t they?

Renée's Country Crafts LLC said...

We got my daughter's cat from the animal shelter, were searching for a kitten, and was rather annoyed that she was trying to talk us into a 6 or 7 month old cat. To make a long story short, he was meant to be our cat, and the best one we ever had. He was black and white, and named Max, it was sad when our time was up with him a year ago. My daughter is devastated.. Looks like you have a keeper, and he will turn out to be the best cat over. Just by reading your story, he was meant to be yours.
Congratulations, and enjoy.
Renee

deborah said...

What a sweet little boy you have-he will bring endless joy into your life, and you've already given him a life of boundless love and joy.

Cheryl Gebhart said...

Congrats on the new addition to your home. He looks so sweet and full of mischief - I'm sure you'll love and enjoy him for a long long time.

Miriam said...

Oliver is beautiful!

Featheronawire Sally Bramald said...

So very pleased. A quilter without a cat just isn't the way the universe works.

Anonymous said...

Six months ago my cousin had a pregnant cat dropped off at her house in the country. Our cat had just left us and we weren't really looking for another just yet. Long story short, we ended up with 3! and my daughter took 2. They all have their own personalities and we are enjoying kitten-hood once more. I know you will enjoy Oliver. It's amazing how pets have a way of wrapping themselves around our hearts! ~Joyce in MI

Diane Gaudynski said...

Thanks for all your comments and stories - I love hearing the other cat tales! It is amazing how a little cat can change everything so quickly, and for the better. We have to be on our toes and keep up with him and his curiosity and energy at all times, but what a treat he is.

I did try quilting but he was getting way too close to the needle, so for now I will have to close the door until he gets more used to me and what I do in the Forbidden Zone. He jumped up on the machine as it booted up and stared at the screen. I wonder if I could train him as my ghost quilter and see what happens to my work??

FrancesB said...

Pretty kitty. Lucky Oliver.

Darlene said...

What fun! Oliver is a sweetheart, and such a handsome guy, too. He sounds perfect for you. I have to keep my pincushions, thread, and seam ripper where my Molly cat can't get them, or else she has a fine old time batting them all over the house. Kitties can make quilting a little challenging at times, but their antics make it all worthwhile.

Sandra said...

Cute kitty! His eyes look pretty intense...like he is full of mischief. He is sure to add excitement to your sewing room. Hope he brings you smiles!

Anonymous said...

Jubilation!!! Welcome Oliver. : ) Thanks for sharing his story and antic with us.

Sew Create It - Jane said...

He sounds adorable...and it sounds like fate stepped in to pull you two together..amazing when that happens.

I hope you'll share a bit more about him...he's so photogenic!

Diane Gaudynski said...

I think it was fate indeed, the timing was perfect. We survived the weekend well and he does better every day, establishing his routine with us. Actually, he is probably training us but we needed it! Yesterday I caught him with my Paducah fabric post card in his mouth carrying it around like the mailman. It had been 6' up on the wall......

I let him watch Nature on PBS last night, all about skunks. He was riveted.

Unknown said...

So thrilled for you and your new baby. My Trixie was a stray who found her way to us, and she is simply delightful. She does LOVE my batting scraps, especially the wool pieces, so I have learned to really protect the "good" pieces that I still would like to use. Enjoy all of the smiles that Oliver brings to your life, just as we enjoy hearing about the Oliver moments.

Unknown said...

Diane,
I am so happy for you. I can tell you are in love with your little mischievous Oliver!
Linda

Diane Doran said...

Congratulations, Diane! How wonderful that you have a new furry friend.

Mercy said...

Hi Diane - Oliver is sooooo cute! Congratulations - I imagine how happy all three of you must all be. Pets add so much to our lives. I look forward to hearing all about his adventures and how he trains you both over the coming months.

BTW - Oliver must be very smart wathcing PBS. Our puppy, Thaddues, only likes to watch cartoons. But, we love him just the same.

Diane Gaudynski said...

Oliver definitely prefers PBS, and sometimes Animal Planet. Cat food ads are also covertly studied. He is training us to his ways quite well, we are becoming cat staff once again. Every day he is discovering new things in the house to investigate, search and destroy. And then he returns to his angelic state!

Unknown said...

What a cutie, Diane. Welcome to Oliver! He is one lucky guy--can't think of a better household for a kitty to take up residence than yours.