Igor at sunset near the Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Cancun, Mexico on November 11th.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Back from the dead!

We were originally supposed to be looking after two cats at our house sit. But when we arrived here, we were told that one of them, named Enke, had disappeared over a week ago. The homeowners were devastated, but by the time we got here, they had pretty much come to terms with the fact that Enke was gone and was probably no longer alive. He was an older cat and there are coyotes and foxes in this area.

They had put up "lost cat" posters on the community mailbox, but nobody had seen Enke.

We had just got up yesterday morning, and Ruth was about to sit down by the window with a cup of tea when she exclaimed "I think I just saw their cat!"

But it was only for a flash as it rounded the corner of the house. We jumped up and went out the front door, and sure enough there was a cat sitting at the front corner of the house. Ruth got some cat treats and tried to coax it towards us, but he wouldn't budge. And we didn't want to approach to close in case we scared him off.

And of course at this point, we weren't even sure it was their cat/ It could have been a neighbours cat. I went and grabbed the camera and snapped a photo...

Is this the lost cat??

There was a photo of the lost cat in the living room, and I went and compared this photo. Yes, they definitely matched up. This was their lost cat Enke!

But we didn't know how to get him inside. We both went back in and by the time we made it to the living room, Enke was at the back door. Ruth opened the door and he waltzed in as if he owned the place!

Enke the cat.

His fur was all matted and had a few burs in it. He definitely looked a little scruffy. Who knows where he's been for the last ten days! Hard to tell if he's lost weight because he has so much thick fur.

So I immediately fired off an email to the homeowners and of course they are overjoyed. They had given him up for dead! But apparently Enke was only using up another one of his nine lives.

Hopefully he has learned his lesson, but we aren't going to be letting him outside to give him a chance to repeat his disappearing act on our watch.

So, with that good news out of the way, we carried on with the day.

Our son Alex and his girlfriend CJ came over for breakfast. 

Me, Alex, and CJ.
Ruth made bacon and eggs and pancakes and maple syrup. Delicious!

And then we went and dropped off our $50 a day rental car. We had it for ten days and put 650 kms (400 miles) on it. It cost $46.50 CAD($37 USD) to fill up the gas tank so that was an expensive car. But, we needed a car so had no choice.

Now, we have the use of a 2014 Mazda 3 as part of our house sit. It's got low mileage and is fully loaded with all the toys just as our rental was. We're feeling kind of spoiled here!

And then it was time to drive up to Arnprior Cemetery for the graveside service for Ruth's dad. When he passed away last November, we were in Turkey and of course the whole Covid thing meant you couldn't really get together for a service anyhow. So we put it off until now, and we were able to get all of Ruth's brother and sister's families there as well. That doesn't happen very often!

Ruth's dad made a lot of wine, and he had a few bottles that had been around for many years. Some of them had actually gone bad and we had dumped them last year. But one bottle of peach wine (with a date sticker on the bottom of 1978) still looked like it was good. A little sediment, which is normal, but no mould that we could see. He always said he was saving it for a special occasion, so this was a good time to drink it.

But, was it any good??

We popped the cork that had been sealing the bottle for 43 years! I poured a little taste and it smelled okay. I tasted it, and it was pretty powerful stuff... tasted more like hard liquor than it did wine! So we poured out a small glass to everybody in attendance and had a toast to Ruth's dad.

Ruth's side of the family.

Our daughter Lindsey with her husband Justin and our grandkids Sadie (8) and Cameron (10).

They're a crazy bunch!

Us with our kids and their families.

So, a few tears and a few laughs shared at the graveside service but it was short and sweet and that was that. Nice to see everybody again, and hopefully the next time we are all together isn't because someone died!

Back at the house in the evening, I did something I haven't done in years. Sat down and watched a Blue Jays baseball game on the big screen TV. When we had a house and a normal life we were Blue Jays fans and would watch games regularly. I don't miss much about our old lifestyle but Blue Jays games and NASCAR are two things I wish I could watch more often. I will take advantage of our situation to get my fill while we are here!

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And in Canada...

14 comments:

  1. The new policy at the Ottawa Humane Society is to discourage people from bringing in 'stray' cats unless they are in obvious danger or distress. Many cats don't do well at the shelter and most will go home eventually. Glad to see that Enke made it home safely.

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    1. Seems to be a good policy, as you said, most cats make their way back home eventually.

      We are glad that Enke made it back home after about ten days of being "lost"! It sure would be nice to know what happened to him during that time.

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  2. Yeah, missing cat is back home! That was so nice that your family could gather together to honor Ruth’s dad. We always enjoy your family photos - awesome!! 😊

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    1. We were so surprised to see Enke show up at the house after being gone for about ten days. He must have had quite the adventure!

      It was lovely to have the whole family together for the weekend and be able to spend some quality time together. Our dad would have been happy about that. We were so happy that that bottle of wine was still good and that we could all raise a toast to him. :-)

      We are glad that you have been enjoying our family photos.

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  3. Mr.Crowe's commitment was much like my dear old Dad's. We served up a dram of Drambui at the conclusion. We think Dad would have loved that. RIP

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    1. Yep, sounds like they were very similar men! Nice that you were able to toast to your dad as well.

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  4. NASCAR? I would never have guessed it. We have always lived in the South and dh and I have been to many races at Charlotte, Darlington and Talladega. In fact, we spent most of the last 12 years living in Mooresville, NC home of Roush Yates, Kyle Busch Motorsports, DEI (when Dale Sr. Was still alive), JR Motorsports, etc... Used to see drivers around town all the time. The sport is not what it increase, but it still brings in the $$$.

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    1. I was a big Rusty Wallace fan back in the 1990's. I've only been to two races in person though... Pocono and Martinsville.

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  5. Our neutered male cat would disappear for weeks...probably chasing a female cat in heat, we believed. He always came back. We always thought he might have an adopted human family in the neighborhood but he came home without a collar LOL. Very nice family photos. RIP for Ruth's dad.

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    1. Unless the cat gets picked up by someone or is killed or injured too badly, I think most cats make their way back home. When I was growing up we had a cat that would sometimes disappear too, we think that she just got locked up somewhere by mistake and had to wait until the door opened up again.

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  6. Really glad the cat made it home! My mother has two cats and would be devastated if one went missing for that long. Glad you were able to have the gathering to honor Ruth's father and see so many family members. My father's celebration of life in 2005 was the last time I have seen many of my family on that side. Sad, isn't it?

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    1. We are so happy that Enke returned back home and the owners were ecstatic to hear the news. They were devastated at the time, just like you mother would have been.

      It was lovely to be able to have the whole family together for the weekend, We had some good quality time together and were able to say goodbye to my Dad in a fine manner with a proper toast to him with his special homemade wine. He would have loved that.

      Wow, that is sad! Sounds to me like it is time to get your family together for a nice weekend together.

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  7. Great news on Enke! Years ago, our cat, Elvis, escaped shortly after we adopted him and was gone for weeks. Never thought we'd see him again, but one day hubby heard a meow in the backyard and there he was! Hiding under the neighbor's wood pile. He had lost quite a bit of weight, but he never ventured very far after that. Cats are pretty resilient creatures!

    Nice family reunion in honor of your dad. I've been missing your posts as my email notifications haven't been coming in, but all of a sudden I started getting them again. Gotta love technology!

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    1. We are so happy for the people we are house sitting for, they are totally ecstatic about the news. Enke is doing well and eating nicely and is very friendly. I have managed to get most of the mats and burrs out of his long fur but there are still a few more to get though and be is not too happy about me working on them so I do a bit at a time so I don't stress him out too much. You are right cats are very resilient animals.

      We really enjoyed having all the family together, we had lots of mixed emotions but overall it was a wonderful weekend with lots of reminiscing.

      Glad to hear that you are getting your email notifications again. :-)

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