Sophie's Story

     After several months of frustration, a few strong discussions with C and two hearing tests, I have had to face a fact. I am losing my hearing. The cause for this is unknown. It might be nerve damage. It could be Covid related auditory nerve damage. It has also been suggested that it could also be be a tumour in the auditory canal. At this point the cause isn't really important. The hearing loss isn't reversible. The only thing that can be done is to get hearing aids.    I've rebelled at this thought. I didn't want hearing aids. I really didn't think they would help. A lot of the trouble I have hearing is due to constant ringing in my ears and hearing aids will not correct that. All they do is amplify the sounds in the range of the ringing so I can hear them better. I didn't want them because they would cause my hearing be become gradually worse.    The truth was I didn't want them because I was ashamed. People my age don't need hearing aids unless t

     Christmas has come to our house once again. This year looks a lot different than last year. Our beloved Scamp is not posing under the Christmas tree. Instead our two new kittens are racing around, playing with their toys pausing to eat, drink or rest a little on their cat trees. There is no snow on the ground. Its been raining for the last few days and we may have hit a record high temperature yesterday.    We have a small tree on an old TV stand so that the kittens will not drink the tree water. The lights on the tree are a new set of LED lights that switch from coloured to all white. Our brightly coloured string of chaser lights doesn't work anymore. There is a large rug on the wood floor that wasn't there last year.     We do have familiar decorations on the tree including once that I got from my parents recently. It is a tree shaped ornament made of Styrofoam that I decorated in kindergarten or first grade. I made cookies as I usually do and C delivered plates of them

   For most of the month C and I have been in discussions about the Christmas tree. We were worried about the the kittens drinking the tree water. We were also worried about two rambunctious kittens knocking over the tree. For weeks we vacillated between a real tree and an artificial one. I wanted a real tree as I believed they are less able to be tipped and because I don't like artificial trees. On the other hand, I did understand that having an artificial tree would remove the danger of tree water although I do think the tipping issue would be worse.    We compromised by deciding to get a real tree, but a smaller one. We could put netting around the trunk the block the kittens from drinking the water.     When we went shopping for a tree, the selection was pretty picked over. That's not unusual, we don't put a tree up until a week or so before Christmas. Most of the tree were either too big or too expensive. I finally suggested we look at a large chain hardware store. The

     This weekend is the weekend where I get to do the one and possibly only thing I enjoy about the Christmas season. I get to make treats. Every year I have several kinds of treats that I make. This year I'm going to do a few different things.     I'm not making apple cider cookies anymore. This is partly because the mix is hard to find and partly because I don't think anyone really likes them. Instead I'm going to make ginger cookies. The scent of those cookies baking will make a really nice scent in the house. I also like the idea of changing up cookies now and again. I found a recipe for chocolate crinkle cookies. It s a chocolate cookie dough coated in powder sugar and baked. The result looks really nice. If they turn out I may also try adding peppermint to the dough for another batch.    This year I'm also going to attempt a little candy making. I was thinking of making buttermints, the little pastel candies that used to be found at weddings next to the mixed

     Hi! My name is Barnaby. I live here with Sophie and C and Willow. My middle name is Cosimo. It's a silly sounding middle name. Sophie wanted it to be my first name, but I don't look Italian. Barnaby fits much better since I was born in a barn.    Many of my siblings are going to be barn cats. They are tough and strong and like to hunt. I didn't really want to be a barn cat. I like to cuddle and purr. A nice lady said she would help me to find a home where I would be well cared for. I had to have some surgery and a shot before I could could go to a new home. Not long after that happened the lady told me she wanted me to meet some people who were looking for a kitten to love. I would have a sister to play with. She took me to her house where I met the people. There was a woman with dark curly hair. She looked tired. The lady handed me to the woman with the dark hair and I curled up and purred. I liked being held by her. There was a tall man with her and he held me too. T

        I had lunch with Dana, my friend/sister this week. It was the first time I've seen her her since my birthday. Earlier in the fall she went to England. Partly in jest I asked her to find a teacup for me. For some reason I think it's cool to drink tea from a cup that comes from a country know for tea drinking. I was expecting a plain stoneware cup, nothing fancy.    When we met for lunch she gave me the cup she had found for me. Inside the box was the most beautiful teacup I have ever seen. It was white with a lavender and gold design of flowers and leaves. It came with a lid that had a gold face on it. It was so far beyond what I had expected that I was stunned. Dana told me that she had been all over the place in various kitchen stores looking for a tea cup and couldn't find one. I she said she finally went to Harrods (I think) and found the teacup that was in the box before me. It has monetary value in that it's a limited edition cup that could increase in valu