End of the Year, End of an Era (December 2019)

We had a good year!  Here are some pictures:

Hershey was sad when he realized that Pat and Henry were going away on a trip and that cat-sitters were moving in to live with us:

BUT everyone loved Liz and Larry!

And since Hershey and Monty are great friends, Hershey always has someone to play with:

Summer Cat (in center) with Hershey and Cocoa:

Natasha:

Summer with Boris:

Summer loves to play with toys!

 As does Monty:

Taffy enjoys the catio (with Dan in background):

 

 Monty on the deck:

Dan with his mom Tess:  

Tess with daughter Dolly:

Natasha:

BUT - although we are all healthy and happy and well-loved, we did experience some losses this year: The BACK GROVE and BOTH of our two cars -- the VOLVO and the KIA.

None of us remember life without the Volvo -- which Pat and Henry bought in Washington, DC in 1987:

We were particularly fond of the Volvo because when it was in the garage, Pat rolled down the windows so that we could sleep inside!

Now, however, the Volvo has gone to a new home where it will receive all the care that an "antique" needs and deserves.

Look again at the picture above, of Taffy on the Volvo.  Just to the side of the Volvo, you can see our silver-gray Kia, purchased in 2008.  Here is Cocoa on the Kia, with the Volvo next to it:

Both cars left us this year!  Now, we have two new cars (both Hondas).

But the departure of our beloved cars was not the biggest loss we experienced in 2019.

None of us knew Zaidman ("Zeddie"), who was born in Pennsylvania and then commuted back and forth for many years, with Pat and Henry, between Calgary and Charlottetown.  But we have heard many stories about what a great cat he was!  

So here is a picture of Zeddie in our back yard, taken in 2005, the last year of his life: 

Here are more pictures of the grove of trees in our back yard, taken in 2013. 

In the first picture, Taffy is on the left (CLICK the picture to enlarge it):

In the second picture, you can see Boris on the left, Farah in the center, and Natasha on the right:

 

And in this picture, from left: Farah, Taffy, Dandy, Tessa:

These next two pictures were taken from the upstairs of our house in the autumn of 2012:

A few months ago, Pat told us that a hurricane ("Dorian") was coming to Prince Edward Island. We were excited! So we didn't really pay much attention when Pat told us that the hurricane might blow down some trees, even some of the trees in our backyard.

Sadly .... the neighbor who lives behind us WAS concerned and decided that the trees should be taken down, before they fell on her house.

Pat said, "Hey Guys, no worries. we don't even go out there anymore.  We all just play in the catio!"

BUT from inside the catio, Boris and Natasha were shocked when they saw what was happening: 

So we have new cars ... but ... will we get new trees?

Oh well, on the whole, life is GOOD:  we had lots of fun in 2019, and we assume we will have lots more fun in 2020!

May 9, 2019