A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/ballerina-fireman-astronaut-movie-star/ AND in non-avoidance of NaNoPoblano 2015 https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015.

It’s the last day of NaNoPoblano, and I think I’m back in the swing of my blogging – thanks Rarasaur, for helping me get my blog-groove back!!

And for today, what can I say?  Yesterday it was laundry day (while Kevin worked on his books) and then a few errands running out late in the afternoon…

Our errands included the grocery, where Christmas has been in evidence since November 1

But really, what yesterday was about was taking pictures of Elliot and Jasper to post on today’s final NaNoPoblano.  2/3s of our happy kitty family (Nico hiding as always under the couch).

Tomorrow – back to your regularly scheduled blog (which will look remarkably like the blog you have been watching for the past 30 days…)

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/bloggers-unplugged/ AND in non-avoidance of NaNoPoblano 2015 https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015.

Yes, the annual Christmas Parade.  The first of a few this year in Victoria.  Last night was the one that goes through Victoria itself.  Next week is both the Truck Parade, which starts nearby, but then head up through Oak Bay and then West of the city, as well as the Inner Harbour “boat parade”.  I think there is another one in Esquimalt sometime too.  We love our “parades” here in Victoria (and by parade, I mean mostly decorated cars and trucks, with a few dancers thrown in for the mix – a bit of a strange tradition for a city that spends a lot of time talking about the environment and emission standards).

Ah, but it’s not the season for sarcasm, is it.  And Kevin and I did stand in the freezing (for Victoria) cold last night so I could take pictures for y’all.  So, here you go!

This is on the way to the parade.  Assorted “floats” lined up waiting for the beginning.

Got to get a closeup of the big kahuna before he went off to the official float.

As we waited, we saw the strangest, and cutest, puppy we’ve ever seen.  Took a few looks to realize it was actually real!

And it began…

I was hoping superheros would be there.

But stormtroopers?    No Darth Vader though 🙁

Here are some of the cars and trucks lit up.

And buses

And horses

And trains

And boats

Nothing says Christmas parade like a marching band, and, of course, a bagpipe band.

And bicycles

Clowns

And pole walkers?

One float had a different kind of band on it.  One of them almost fell off when the truck lurched trying to turn the corner.

And, of course, lots of old friends, and new ones (and some I have never heard of before – PJ Mouse??)

Gotta say, I loved the beer truck, especially with the guy in a toque drinking a beer walking along beside it!

And here he comes!

Ok, we were freezing and left before Santa officially went on his way.  Shot these last two pics and then hurried home to a warm fireplace.  Will we venture out next week to the boat parade?  I’ll let you know then!

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/humble-pie/ AND in non-avoidance of NaNoPoblano 2015 https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015.

It was good to see my Cousin from Sequim, and my Aunt and Uncle (who actually live in New Hampshire, but were visiting my Cousin for that American Thanksgiving thing) yesterday (along with Mom and Dad – Kevin unfortunately had to work and was sad to miss everyone).  Turkey lasagne, asparagus, salad, gluten free bread, ice cream and sugar cookies, in case you were wondering.  As well as fizzy water, wine, and some fine local beer.

Also, no kitties escaped, which is kind of my current benchmark for a good day 🙂

And now, on this frosty November morning, the march into the holiday/Christmas/festive season truly begins.

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/the-luckiest-people/ AND in non-avoidance of NaNoPoblano 2015 https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015.

Yesterday after work I finished cleaning the house (the Americans are coming, the Americans are coming!!), got some things ready for today’s “luncheon”, and then decided, in the spur of the moment as it were, to decorate the house.  I love decorating the house for Christmas.  I don’t go overboard, but this house does look like a Christmas house (especially now that it’s red and green), so maybe I will have to get a few more decorations this year…we’ll see.

Anyway, it goes without saying that whenever you have boxes out, with decorations in them or not, kitties will come checking them out.  So, without further ado, here is Elliot in a box.

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/teach-your-bloggers-well/ AND in non-avoidance of NaNoPoblano 2015 https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015.

Someone suggested that it might not be nice that yesterday I called American Thanksgiving, Fake-Thanksgiving.   Sorry Americans.  Be thankful for everything you have today, for tomorrow you shall go forth and stand in insane lines to get more stuff (but at a discount).

Oh, and while I know this has been posted before, but I think no American Thanksgiving would be complete without this (don’t worry followers – there are kitty pictures at the end):

And now, kitties.

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/i-cant-stay-mad-at-you/ AND in non-avoidance of NaNoPoblano 2015 https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015.

So, it’s already Wednesday.  In two days some of my American relatives, Aunt and Uncle from New Hampshire and Cousin from Sequim in Washington State, come up for Fake-Thanksgiving.  They are only going to be here for a few hours (you know, you could stay longer!!), so I’m planning a Fake-Thanksgiving luncheon.  This also means I’ll be cleaning the house, and might I say that the house is thankful for this.  I’m so bad at keeping up with the vacuuming and dusting when it’s just us.  Other things to do, you know (well, really not, but there does always seem to be something “better” I want to be doing…imagine that.)

Yesterday I took a few non-kitty pictures, as we get back to normal here.  Thought you might like to see some of them.

Bob at work was given a couple of vintage Leica cameras – I thought they were cool, and here they are.

Then there was the moon off our back deck.  I saw it and couldn’t NOT take a picture of it, and then play with it in my Camera+ app.

But, have no fear.  Kitty pictures are, at last, here.

Jasper, content having completely forgotten his weekend adventure.

And Elliot still staying away from Jasper.

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/seat-guru/ AND in non-avoidance of NaNoPoblano 2015 https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015.

Back to normal.  And we are very grateful for normal!

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/literate-today/ AND in non-avoidance of NaNoPoblano 2015 https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015.

This was us last night.

I just was impressed with how many things have obviously been posted here…

And this is us this morning.  But wait, before I show you those pictures, let me tell you what happened.

So, last night, Kevin went on one final walk-around for the day.  Back to the street we saw Jasper left, behind our house.  He ran into one of the neighbours who lives right behind us and he told Kevin that last night he thought something came in and out of his bedroom window (which he always leaves open at night), but he wasn’t sure if it had been Jasper.  Kevin told him to call us anytime if it happened again.

So, this morning at 3:57 am, Kevin’s phone rang.  We knew it was something about Jasper – had to be.  And sure enough, our wonderful neighbour had heard something come in and had trapped it in a spare bedroom.  At 3:57 in the morning!  We rushed over with our cat carrier, knowing it might NOT be Jasper, but it WAS!!  We finally got him out from under the bed into our carrier, thanked our neighbour (in tears – him and his partner are SO going to get a gift certificate to the nicest restaurant in town!!!) and took Jasper home.  We immediately (to his consternation) threw him in the shower, checked him over (he is fine – a bit thinner, but no injuries), and then dried him off and let him go.  He chowed down and ran around the house like he never left.  He is so happy and affectionate, and we are SO relieved.  Elliot is not sure yet, but he’s not hissing so I think all will be ok.

Thanks for everyone’s good thoughts over the past couple of days.  I can honestly say I NEVER want to go through this again.  We will be coming and going out of the house through the basement (the cats aren’t allowed down there) for awhile to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

And now, a few pictures of Jasper happy to be home – really, it’s like he never left.  When we saw him at the neighbour’s house, it was like he didn’t know us at all.  Now that he’s home, he can’t get enough of us.

Elliot’s not so sure yet, but he’ll be ok.  I actually think he’s a bit jealous because he was getting ALL the attention for the past couple of days.  He’s not a sharing kind of kitty.

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/non-regional-diction/ AND in non-avoidance of NaNoPoblano 2015 https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015.

Jasper is still missing.

We started out the morning with a walk-about trying to find Jasper where we last saw him.  Then we came home and spent time contacting various organizations and getting the word out on their lost pet sites and various social media.  We also printed up flyers and pounded the pavement – hanging them up on telephone poles (still more to do today), and the local grocery store, and putting them in everyone’s mailboxes (and also talking to whoever was home to explain why we were creeping around yards).  We walked around at sunset, and Kevin went out again after 10:00 and again this morning at 7:00am.  Today we put out sardines and are getting a cat trap from Animal Control.

But let me just say that people are amazing.

Several friends came and pounded the pavement with us yesterday, looking for and calling Jasper, and talking to people.  If friends and family couldn’t walk about, they have been sharing sharing our lost cat posts with their friends, and keeping in touch with us to see if we need anything.  And I know friends farther away in Regina, Vancouver and other places would have joined the search if they had been here.

We also had people – strangers to us for the most part – take flyers and pound the pavement themselves, walk us to other houses to introduce us to people we didn’t know, call us back to see if we had found Jasper, encouraging us with their own experiences.  And all of you here posting with your thoughts and concerns.  I have renewed hope in the kindness of people today, and I can’t thanks everyone enough.

Come home Jasper – this is where you are meant to be!

A response in avoidance of the Daily Post’s Writing Prompt https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/a-tale-of-two-cities/ AND in non-avoidance of NaNoPoblano 2015 https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015.

The thing we have always dreaded, having indoor cats, happened last night.  We were bringing home takeout and Jasper dashed out the door into the dark and the cold.  We traced his meow for awhile, and then it stopped.  We wandered through dark backyards with flashlights (thankfully not attracting the police), but no luck.  Came home for a bit and posted notes on Used Victoria lost and found, and Facebook, then Kevin went out again.  He called at 1:00am saying he found him.  And he had.  He was under a car, but freaked out when we tried to hold him (should have brought the cat carrier, but we were too freaked out ourselves to think straight), scratched me, but Kevin, and ran away into a backyard.  He meowed for awhile, then stopped and we couldn’t find him in the dark.

Now, a sleepless night later, we have searched again, in the light this time, to no avail.  We’ve posted more lost notices and will shortly go out with posters in hand to hang, and give to neighbours.

Jasper has never been outside, so I hope he hasn’t gone far and is just holed up somewhere trying to keep warm.  Or perhaps some lovely soul took him in.  It’s cold, but not as cold as it would be in Saskatchewan, and it’s not raining.  So we will keep looking and hoping.  I’m going to go cry now because I am so afraid we just lost another one of our family.

Please come home Jasper.