Vet Visit #1

Dr. Burnside came over today for the first vet visit for Grete Imke. (Pronounced “Gretta Imkah” but spelled auf Deutsch.) (Ok, we’re 95% sure...ok, I’M 100% sure but Ryan keeps trying out some other names for her. I suppose time will tell.) Alles gut!

Her poor lip, though, has been “degloved.” Sounds really gross but I think that when she was out in the wild she accidentally tried to hide in something that was too small for her (even though she is teeny -- 1 pound 1 ounce!) and it cut her face up, especially her lip, and chipped a tooth.

Here’s a look at what it was like last Sunday...it’s much better now.

She needs to put a lot of weight on, so our goal in the next few weeks is to fatten her up! We have her on a grain-free diet (the brand is call “Wellness” which reminds me of an Absolutely Fabulous episode) that is meat by-product free. Yay for health!

We bathed her twice and we are confident that she is flea-free! We did snap the below pic mid-way through her bath. Aweeee!!

We are also not going to de-claw her and instead work with her to get her scratching out on a myriad of scratch posts and horizontal scratchers (which she is sleeping on at the moment). Declawing cats is rather inhumane since you are cutting off the end of their fingers (not the nail bed, but the whole joint) and is illegal in most European countries. So, that’s a no-go!

OK, she’s resting and I better get
the day started. However...who
could resist such a cuddly babydoll?

Tschüss!

SaraCat Sent a Stork This Morning...

SaraCat sent a stork -- about one week to the day of Sara’s passing...we get a phone call from our neighbor Steve across the street. “I think God sent a little kitten to you, but had the house number wrong.”

We went over and hiding in their garage was the tiniest little kitten...we chased it around and then got our paws on it...so absolutely cute and we were in love within moments.

She is probably six weeks old and was starving...we put her in Sara’s old kennel and let her rest (after feeding her a bit) while we went about buying a smaller litterpan, more litter (we had run out), etc.

After we got back we found she had fleas...let me tell you, they don’t recommend many things for a six week old, but you can bathe them in Dawn soap (really!) and so we did and she was soooo good and appreciative. We’ll repeat the bath a little bit until we’re comfortable that the fleas are all gone.

Isaac is pretty comfy with her...a bit concerned, which we will be watching...but I think he’s going to be just fine.

What a surprise bundle of joy! We are certainly happy to know that all of our years of care for Sara will continue with another sweet girl. We’re trying a few names out...we’ll let you know how they stick!

OH -- another fantastic meal from the German cookbook...will tell you more later.

Tschüss!

Isaac Mourning SaraCat

I love giving Isaac his Saturday showers -- not only is he sweet and lovie, but he serenades me afterwards. Today, he gave a nice remembrance of SaraCat. Awww...

Goodbye Sweet Sara

She gave us 14 wonderful years -- and unfortunately gastrointestinal cancer took over far too much. We’ve had a tough past six months with medicine, force-feeding, puking, and so much more that we know she is in a happier, restful place. We will miss you Sara!!!!

www.germandeli.com

We discovered Germandeli.com a few months after our trip -- and found quite a few items that we either saw at grocery stores or consumed while there. They have tons of fun stuff and we’ve already done one large order.

I love their sauce mixes...I guess I could research and figure out how to recreate them...but they taste perfect out of the pouch. And the instructions are in German, of course, which is a fun exercise.

We started another order and it was up over $100...mixture of detergents, food, and much more...unfortunately we lost it when the browser closed. Suppose that’s a good thing for the wallet but I’m desperate for my Three-pepper sauce (pictured above)!

Tschüss!

I Heart Rick Steves

The last thing we needed was another Germany guidebook. Or a discounted one from Costco (discounted because it’s the 2007 edition...the 2008 one will be out this fall). And how do I know this? Because I’m tracking Rick’s 100-day summer trip through Europe to update his guidebooks.

I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed, yet (I don’t, like, leave comments on his blog), but I have a strong appreciation for him. Both of us do -- we’ve bought his DVDs, read information online, purchased items from his website before our trip, and watched his PBS specials for years.

It’s just hilarious that we now own our 4th guidebook to Germany and I am so going to relish every page of it.

Why not check out his blog? You’ll love it!

Tschüss!

Je vais ala Paris?

Last night, on Globe Trekker (a fantastic travel show on PBS and The Travel Channel that we’ve watched for years), they showed their Paris City Guide 2 -- an updated look at that fantastic city...I remember going there when I was 16 with my friend and his Dad...it was a magical, albeit short, trip.

I love European cities. The lack of skyrises. Bajillions of people walking on textures that are anything but grey concrete. History and the thought that someone like me -- perhaps even related to me -- stood on the same spot as me having the same thought as me. Ahhh...the romance of history.

Museums are some of the more popular sights in Paris, but we’re not totally museums types. In Deutschland, we went to Residenz and it was great. The Deutsches Uhrenmuseum (German Clock Museum) was a hoot. But after an hour or so, we lose interest. We’d rather walk, eat, drink, watch, and explore. Can you imagine the types of wandering we could have through the dozens of city “arrondissements”? Or, sitting at a sidewalk cafe (where all of the chairs face the street to watch the free show) sipping an espresso and anecdoting about the day? It sounds perfect to me...

Tschüss!