Spring cleaning

You might remember the story of how I got my cat, as it all played out on OD. First I inherited my daughters Persian when she went to college. Sophie was a great cat, always perched on my desk, traveled well, etc. But unknown to us, she had kidney disease and died when she was about 7. That happened in January, 2004. By the time Mother's day rolled around in May, the family decided I needed a new cat. So my son and my husband went off to Petco where there were pet adoptions, and came home with two. They were siblings, and it was "buy one get one free..." Despite my husband not being a fan of cats, he couldn't resist these two. They were adorable as kittens, always wanting to crawl up on me together. By the time they were 2, they had divided the house and wouldn't speak to each other. He got the family room and the bedroom. She got upstairs, the living room and the office. It was kind of weird. A couple of years ago, we lost the girl. I'm not sure what killed her... it was very fast. One minute she was fine, by the evening she appeared to be shrinking, and by morning she was gone. Snakebite? poison? No clue. Now we just have Tubby... who earned his name as a baby.

The reason I started this story was to explain about "free" cats....with claws. And what they can do to furniture. They had scratching posts and all the other recommendations, but they took a liking to the way fabric on furniture felt. Expensive furniture. I have just "lived with it" for years, moving things out to the spare garage when I replaced them. I had three Ethan Allen Queen Anne chairs, a Pennsyvania House sofa, a "chair and a half" with matching ottoman all with great frames but shredded backs. I tried to get them recovered, but the cost of fabric and labor was more than a new chair. I tried to give them away, but none of the charities wanted damaged goods. I just don't have the skill to repair them myself, so yesterday I gave up. I called the Junk King and had them all hauled away. Along with old mattresses, a broken desk, etc. It was a full truck, equivalent to 4 pickups! When i saw it all in the truck, it occurred to me that I had finally gotten rid of the furniture I bought for the house in Michigan AND the house in Iowa. None of it had been right for the Texas house. It was all sentimental... and all getting old. I napped with the baby that turned 21 on Sunday on that couch!

Now the house feels delightfully uncluttered and as though it can breathe without all that shredded sentimentality hanging around. Might be time to clean out some of the old writing files in my computer, too. I'm very fond of shredded sentimentality, it seems.