Three Mad Meows

Annie, a contemplative cat, trying to figure things out.

Friday, as you may recall, is Cat Blog Day. I think it was someone blogging Proust who first mentioned it. Grapeshot, writing as Odette, has a Proust blog (Reading Proust in Foxborough) as well as Suck It Up and a new blog, The Cheeseparer, is also up and running. As you may have intuited, The Cheeseparer is about money saving tips during times of recession and inflation. I have discovered the whole world is blogging this, and most newspapers also have articles about same. The Cheeseparer
looks for the most interesting and useful articles and provides links and commentary. Once I have a little more free time (ha! ha! ha! hysterical laughter!) I'll put in some el cheapo recipes that are a) tasty and b) nutricious.

Back to Cat Blogging. When S.O. came home from the hospital after a sojourn of 6 days, Annie came to greet him, but it was more like a dressing down. Meow! Meow! Meow! Each meow louder and more strident, angrier, as it were. Where were you? Why did you leave me? Don't let that happen again!

So all is still not quite forgiven, and S.O. is holed up in the bedroom, which is Thisbe's territory.
Thisbe, who took to the absence by following me all over the house and then refusing to leave the foot of the bed, has her own tale of woe. The bedroom is her safe refuge and under the bed
is the safest spot in the house.

Yikes! There has been a parade of visiting nurses and physical therapists and they all come into the bedroom, unlike most guests who gravitate to the living room. Where is a cat going to be safe?

Dare one comment on hospital food? Well, it ain't gourmet. Oddly enough, the cafeteria selections at the institution, were quite edible, in fact the Buffalo Chicken Wings were outtasight! But the poor patients: yech.

So here we are with some lovely bouquets adorning the house and two cats who are still out of sorts. Whatchagonna do?

I haven't written one word, not even a query. Later, later.

Grapeshot

Clothes Horse

Since leaving the work force, I have noticed that my wardrobe needs are simple: jeans and shirts or sweaters, work-out clothes, a couple "decent" outfits and one "good" outfit and one fancy dress and jacket tucked away for a New Year's Eve kind of event.

In spite of the fact that I haven't been a clothes horse since I stopped smoking and left the size sixes of this world to inhabit, shall we say, a roomier size, the closet still contains a fair amount of clothes, so many tops, for example, that I wear some only once or twice a season.

I am actually wondering how long I could survive without buying anything. Would it be six months? A year? Two years? This strikes me as an interesting and a money-saving experiment. Trying to decide if I am up for it. What would be the first garment? Undies? Pajamas? Socks?

Why do we have so many clothes? I have a friend who has so much stuff she'll buy something and not wear it for a few years. Naturally she is not terribly style conscious and wears so-called classic stuff, nothing too trendy. Some women have lots of cheap stuff, some have a few good items and others have whole closets full of clothes.

Did I mention that I still adhere to the seasons approach and in late-April and mid-October perform the seasonal wardrobe swap? A few things span the seasons, like jeans.

Good old jeans! What would we do without them? I am always horrified when I see jeans that aren't really jeans, say, they zip at the side or have the wrong cut. Too weird.

So let's see how long I can resist buying something. Daresay it won't be two years.

Sitting here in new Christmas robe and what passes for pajamas. Do you know what passes for pajamas these day? I refuse to spend $45 and up for "real" pajamas. Kmart has t-shirts for $6, and the Ocean State Job Lot has flannel "lounge pants", read p.m. bottoms for $7.00. Nice ones, too, from J. Crew. Cool pajamas for $13.00 instead of $45? Such a deal. I have also discovered "lounge socks" at Ocean State Job Lot. We ventured in for the cheap jam and saurkraut and came out with the damndest stuff.

Come the recession (is it here yet?), I'll blog money-saving tips, having been through various recessions before. So, stay tuned, as they say.

Grapeshot