Last year on this day, we said goodbye to Corey, our cat of 13 years. Named Corazon, because as a kitten he came home with us after Amani and Marcus’ wedding in Greenbelt in 2010.

Corey was a gorgeous grey fireplug of a cat, with short legs and tail and big, round eyes. He used to remind me of James Cagney, in his more thuggish roles. He weighed almost twenty pounds and never met a situation he wasn’t confident he could bash through.

He was a surprise addition to our household and it took a while before the pecking order settled in with the older cats. But eventually they became friends, particularly him and Jer. But after he became a solo cat, Rudi and I made the reluctant decision that he might not appreciate a kitten, and decided to stay a trio for a while.

Because of that, and because of his very gregarious nature (he took after Rudi), he was a very doglike cat. My friend Neal, who catsit for us several times, expressed surprise that Corey would stop eating (his favorite activity) to stare at Neal in dismay if it seemed like he was going to leave too quickly. He liked being in the middle of a party, with a particular flair for stealing the lime tortilla chips. He’d demand to be spooned on the couch or to hang out draped over me. He wanted most to have Rudi and me both in sight, but if we were in separate places, he’d follow Rudi until he got settled and then come back to me until I finally took mercy on him and took us to bed.

I was very much his person, and it hurt tremendously that I got so little time with him after I got back from a caregiving hiatus last fall. But that time away meant that he got to have more intense bonding time with Rudi and that was good for them both. And he waited for me to come home before getting really sick, so at least I was able to be there at the end.

Because he’d been a street kitten for a bit, he had no interest in returning outside, so he was safe to let out into the entryway. We knew he wouldn’t try to escape. He’d run out and then when I clicked at him, he’d head right back inside.

He loved people food. In addition to the lime tortilla chips, he liked corn, greens from the garden or farmers market, oatmeal, popsicles, puff pastry, and candy corn.

He loved catnip toys, particularly a banana that he unstuffed, rendering it just a banana peel. He thought the little bugs that lived in the bathroom were fascinating and he’d try grabbing some of them, but never the pill bugs, much to my surprise. He enjoyed disabling and dispensing cockroaches, and my late-night squeals when I’d discover a gigantic one somewhere in the apartment (we live in an urban basement; they happen) never failed to bring him sprinting. He was also an early alert system for them because he’d hop on the counter only to hunt them, so we knew if he was up there we should be extra vigilant.

I miss him still, because he loved me so thoroughly and unconditionally. But we mourned him for ten months before we expanded our family again, and I think he’d be glad that we’d opened our hearts once more.

Love you, Corey. You were a very good kitten.

I had a laid-back weekend. Friday night we spent time up at the park, reading and enjoying the bats zooming inches over the grass and then soaring high into the air after their prey. We came home to eat supper and I found the Washington Mystics playing on tv. As a Connecticut girl, I’m a big fan of women’s basketball, and D.C.’s and Dallas’ teams put on a good show that went into overtime. We concluded the evening with homemade chocolate chip ice cream.

Yesterday, I did indeed get to sleep in. I also stopped by the local yarn shop just to browse for the first time since February (okay, I may have bought a new set of dpns made out of driftwood and some Soak, because one can always use more). I then headed down to the garden, where I put in a couple hours of weeding, yanking out the vines that had made the jump from the adjacent woods and pulling out some not-yet-budding milkweed (yes, monarchs… but weed is in the name and it grows like it; trust me, there’s still plenty left!) that was overshadowing plants I wanted to produce food for me. I then picked some figs from the tree by the garden and then did some grocery shopping, the combination thereof (grocery shopping itself is small potatoes compared to hauling three full bags all home by myself) I’m pretty sure justified eating as much pizza and ice cream as I wanted, which I did while watching the Chuck Brown Day anniversary concert, which was being livestreamed on YouTube.

Today, I went to the farmers market (no boxes of tomatoes this week, but plenty of other goodies), then had a pleasant brunch with Corey in the bedroom in front of the fan while listening to the Nationals game on the radio. I did a few chores around the house and then head over to Arlington to return the overdue book I had from their library. I celebrated finding my way to the library (Roads in Arlington move like staircases at Hogwarts. It’s best if you just don’t fight the concept.) by getting a cup of tea at a local coffeehouse and then taking a less circuitous route back to D.C. After a stop to water the garden and pick basil for our supper, I hightailed it for the park, where Rudi and I stayed until the sun turned in for the night.

It was a good weekend. How was yours?

Back in May, when it seemed like going back to the office might be the kind of thing we’d all do in the fall, I bought a suit.

I’d been stalking Betabrand* for months, because I’d heard great things about how they had managed to make dress pants that were actually comfortable to wear. But I hadn’t splurged, because it was buying clothes on the internet. I prefer not to do that, because I’m terrible at returning things that have to be shipped.

However, this time, not only did I buy it, but I bought it knowing that it hadn’t actually been made yet. Yes, I preordered a suit, knowing it wouldn’t arrive until July.

The blazer arrived earlier this week, and Rudi and I were impressed with the length of the sleeves. Since I have long arms, that’s often a problem area for me. I thought I might have been able to get away with a slightly smaller size, but since I might like to wear this in the winter, I’ll want the ability to wear it over a bulkier top without looking like a stuffed turkey.

I was worried about the pants. They were only offering the print in straight leg, rather than bootcut, which is what I prefer to wear. They had a long option, which I worried would be a smidge too long and tight, particularly if I weren’t wearing heels. But too short would be worse, since I’m tall. I mean, I like people to admire my hand-knit socks, but not because they can see several inches of my leg above my shoe.

Given I’ve put on some pandemic weight (no volleyball, no bike commuting, LOTS of couch sitting), I don’t think the whole thing looks too bad. (Please note, I was so excited that the pants arrived today that I just pulled off my shorts as soon as I walked in the door with the package and tried on the whole ensemble. This relaxed tshirt and weekend bra are not the most flattering, although they are comfortable. The color is good with it, so I’ll keep that in mind whenever we all go back to work. In the meantime I have a magenta-hued fitted tee I’ll pair with it if I’m going to Zoom while wearing it.)

The pants have two hand pockets in the back (my favorites — I often resort to sticking my hands behind my back) and three in the front — one with a zipper — all of which are deep enough to completely hide my cell phone. The blazer also has pockets, although I’ve left them stitched closed for the time being.

The real reason I really wanted this suit to fit? Check out a close-up of the pattern:

It’s Catstooth!

*That link gets me a referral credit. But feel free to ditch it if you find a better discount.

In his middle age, Corey has become a lap cat. Specifically my lap cat. (To be fair, Rudi’s lap is much leaner than mine.)

He will escort Rudi to bed but then come back out to the couch and bed down.

He prefers it when I am reclining more, so he can stretch out the length of my torso, but he’ll take what he can get. but he’s definitely grumpy if I curl up on my side.

He prefers to snooze on the couch, but he’s not above an evening nap snuggled on the bed curled up in the crook of my knees under a blanket or dozing off on my lap during a work video call in the rocking chair.

He doesn’t mind if I read or am on the computer, although he draws the line at two computers, which makes the work I need to finish before going to sleep a little challenging.

In Bout of Books news, earlier, I listened to some more of Yes, No, Maybe So while doing some chores. I don’t know if I’ll finish it this week, but it may happen if this is the only night where I’m working in the wee smalls.

Today’s challenge asks:

Which book(s) would you like to see made into a movie (or TV show)?

Ooh! Here are a half dozen off the top of my head:

Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series should definitely be adapted as a costume drama by the BBC. They’d need to a fundraiser, though, just to cover the dessert budget line. Also, I’m going to be super critical about casting in this film.

Jasper Fforde has said that he will not adapt his Thursday Next series for the screen, because it will never live up to what’s on the page. I know the BBC (or maybe ITV) adapted the first book of The Last Dragonslayer, though. I’d love to see that — and if it’s good to have them do the rest of the series.

Michael Scott’s The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series would make a fun series with its international settings and its cast of literary characters.

Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus was optioned, but I’m guessing it fell through. It would make an amazing movie, but should mostly be filmed in black and white, with only specific circus-themed scenes in color.

Brian Selznick’s two other prose-illustration tomes have been made into well-received films, so I definitely hope someone is working on one for The Marvels.

Finally (just because I need to finish that work and go to bed) speaking of Marvel, they keep pushing back their Ms. Marvel film adaptation. With so many of this summer’s films moving to a 2021 release and no work being done anywhere on new shoots, I can only assume this is going to push its release back even further. I mean, they did eventually film me a Black Widow movie before Scarlett Johansson totally aged out of the role, so here’s hoping…

This weekend I wove in the ends and wore for the first time my Posey socks. I’d finished the knitting — which I started back in January 2018 — this past spring, but had simply put them away for the season at the time.

I bought the yarn, Lollipop Yarn Quintessential Gripes in Purrfection, the day our cat Posey died back in 2017. I’d picked up the ball because the colors reminded me of her — she was white with grey and brown patches and had an adorable pink nose and pink ears that stood out through her fur — and then saw the name, and pretty much knew it was a sign.

The dark grey of the heel and toe was a mini skein from MarigoldJen Yarns that I picked up at the Homespun Yarn Party a couple years ago.

Much like Posey, the socks are soft and comfortable and adorable.

Corey has two modes when we’re home just the two of us — screaming at me for more food … and this:

I think he loves me…