And happiness follows.
Category: Cat
Caturday
Just because she’s cute….
Pickles says hi.
Matilda writes back
Look at how well the Algonquin Hotel handles publicity… they have an email address for their cat! This is excellent PR. These are my email exchanges with Matilda… Start at the bottom and work your way up.
From: MAlgonquin Cat <MAlgonquinCat@algonquinhotel.com>
Date: March 21, 2013, 10:16:42 AM EDT
To: J
Subject: RE: My blog post about YOU
FURbulous! Thank you.
From: J
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 10:22 AM
To: MAlgonquin Cat
Subject: Re: My blog post about YOU
Thank you for the info… I’ve just updated my blog.
On Mar 20, 2013, at 10:12 AM, MAlgonquin Cat <MAlgonquinCat@algonquinhotel.com> wrote:
Very CATabulous – thank you but please note I am the 10th cat and the third Matilda – the first seven cats were all males named Hamlet.
Please come by anytime. I like making new FURiends
Have a PURRfect day
^..^
><
Matilda
From: j
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 8:57 AM
To: MAlgonquin Cat
Subject: My blog post about YOU
Hi Matilda,
I’m visiting NYC for a few days and dropped by to catch a glimpse of you. The concierge was so kind; he let me come in and get a picture. Thought you might like a link to my blog post:
https://auntjim.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/the-algonquins-most-famous-guest/
I had to stay somewhere else due to my conference in the city; hope to stay at your place next time I come to town.
J
The Algonquin’s most famous guest
Yesterday evening after classes at the Usability Seminar I walked the few blocks over to the famous Algonquin Hotel, home of the Round Table of wits and bon vivants during the 20s such as Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley.
I didn’t go to trade bon mots with whoever was hanging around the bar. I went for one reason only: to catch a glimpse of Matilda, the house kitty. The Algonquin has hosted a cat ever since the 1930s, when a wet and bedraggled cat wandered in looking for a warm spot. The generous hotelier provided a dish of milk and a new tradition was started. Ever since, a cat has lived at the hotel. When the cat is a male, he’s called Hamlet. When they have a female, she is Matilda.
This is the 10th cat and the 3rd Matilda in the line. I ducked into the lobby and asked the concierge where Matilda was; he laughed and took me over to the front desk.
From the hotel’s website:
Matilda, the current resident, is very popular with our guests. She has the run of the house (except in dining areas and the kitchen) but prefers to oversee the comings and goings of the many guests who cross her threshold.
Matilda receives mail weekly from friends around the world and has been the subject of countless stories. On one occasion, when her collar was stolen, the “Algonquin Cat-Burglary” was the talk of the town.
Hello fellow bloggers and everyone out in blogland….
….somehow that doesn’t sound as romantic as “and all the ships at sea!” That was the phrase radio announcers of yore would use in welcoming the listening audience to their program.
The past week and a half has shown me that if I don’t write down my blessings each day then my attitude takes a plunge. I’ve seen and experienced quite a few blessings over the last few days … but the time to write them down has been elusive. (One more whine, then I’m done kvetching: when I come home from work, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of another keyboard and monitor.)
But there have been many blessings. And it’s time to make lists again….because not doing so has made my last week and a half a grumpy, out-of-sorts experience.
Blessing 17: Stepping outside tonight on my way to run another errand, I stopped and truly saw the gorgeous deep blue sky, half-moon and stars. It looked like Van Gough flung his paintbrush around South Carolina.
Blessing 18: Today was a beautifully warm (79 degrees!) yet breezy day. About 3:30 I was tempted to tell my boss we all needed to shelve work and go outside to fly kites. It was that kind of day.
Blessing 19: Last week I was grateful for my 25-minute commute to work, cause it gives me a chance to sing along to the radio. When the drive is almost all Interstate at 65 mph, and practically no stop and go traffic, then commuting is a pleasure.
Blessing 20: Saturday, Feb. 25, I participated in my first 5K walk of the year. I was expecting to take 75 minutes to finish, since I’ve never been able to sustain 3.0 mph on the treadmill at the gym. But I finished in 55 minutes. Yea me!
Blessing 21: A purring kitty who loves to sit by you when you’re at home.
Caturday
Not now, I’m eating…
Early Start on “Caturday!”
Who is that hiding above the frig?
It’s Pickles, Queen of All She Surveys.
That’s my Grandmother Shuler’s vintage Waring mixer, which I inherited.
Just one more:
Did you hear the one about the cat with insomnia? He was only sleeping 18 hours a day…yuck yuck.
Please feed the kitty!
My cat wouldn’t stop at rattling her dish. She’d start knocking books off shelves and bottles off counters.
Cat in a box
Pickles enjoyed her recent stay over at Mom and Dad’s. Dad made her a nice sleeping nest. He put a heating pad in an old orange box and covered it with a dark cloth (you can just make out which part is the kitty):
Crazy temps here at Chez Aunt Jim
Yes, it is cold here at Aunt Jim’s house. The weatherman said it would be blustery cold at noon tomorrow, with a 20-mph wind making it feel more like 27 degrees than 39 degrees.
Today I and my neighbor Kim ventured out to the grocery store to restock. We decided to go together for safety in numbers. Or just company – I’m not sure what having both of us stranded would accomplish. The roads were pretty deserted and quite slushy. We felt like Yukon explorers. Everywhere we looked were white fields.
Later in the day Pickles and I took a nap on the couch.
Notes from Aunt Gem 