Socks and Shoes

Yup.  My feet are in 'em.

Hear that faint voice?
That's my muffled toes trying to yell "No!  No!  Not 8 months of foot wear again!"

 As much as I dislike colder weather necessitating socks and shoes, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the autumn colours!  I swear I could die this winter and go out with a smile on my face thinking "it was the most beautiful autumn ever"!

That's my morning bus ... waiting for me!
LOVE the colours behind the bus shelter!

Just look at the amazing colours running down the centre of the avenue!  Same kind of tree, but each one unique!

And the size of the wild rose hips!  Wow!

It's been very foggy the past 10 days or so.
This was a fairly clear day - some days it's been like pea soup, you could barely see beyond your own nose!

The last rose(s) of summer?
Even these roses are spectacular in colour!

 On an entirely different topic, I thought I lost Miss Boots this past week!  Let me tell you, I was just HEART SICK!  I just plain do NOT want to imagine life without Miss Boots!

This is our balcony railing.
Those are the frozen remains of a late Morning Glory vine on the right.

This is our balcony railing ... and the balcony railing belonging to the apartment next door to us. 
That stucco wall between the two railings is 10 inches thick.
That's like ... um ... 25 centimeters in Metricspeak?

 You need to remember that our apartment is 3 floors up ... as in a LONG WAYS DOWN should you happen to fall!

You also need to remember that Miss Boots is an indoor kitty who has regular "manicures" to keep her claws short and my furniture in one piece.

Miss Boots and I were both out on the balcony about 8:30 pm, enjoying a last cup of tea and surveying "The Queendom" to make sure all was peaceful for the night, when my phone rang.  It happened THIS fast ... 3 steps inside to pick up the phone and I heard a frantic scrambling ... turned my head and NO CAT!

I grabbed my flashlight and peered over the balcony railing ... expecting to see a broken kitty lying on the ground ... but NO CAT!  So I ran downstairs (in my jammies and flip flops), around to the back of the building, thinking she was so scared that she just RAN in whatever direction she landed, and thinking about the pair of fox and the bear that frequents the green belt behind our building that would enjoy a quick snack of domestic kitty!

I spent an entire hour (in my jammies and flip flops) peering into every bush, every clump of grass, calling and calling ... and NO CAT!  Finally, with frozen toes and tears, I headed back in.  The hopeful part of me thought MAYBE she didn't fall, that she was still on our balcony, maybe hiding under the BBQ, so I shone the flashlight up the side of the building ... AND HEARD A VERY PLAINTIVE LITTLE meow.  It took a while, but I finally caught the reflection of her big green eyes in the balcony next door ... so I raced back upstairs, out onto our balcony, and CLIMBED ONTO OUR BALCONY RAILING.  No, I wasn't THINKING ... I was on adrenaline "must rescue kitty" mode!  I know, I know!  No lectures please!

She was crouched back against the wall, and NO amount of calling or cajoling was convincing her to come anywhere near the balcony railing!  Naturally, or maybe fortunately, the neighbours were not home ... and being Canadian Thanksgiving, might not be home for several more hours.  I didn't know if she was hurt, but I knew I couldn't leave her there.  Eventually, I managed to swing one of my dining room chairs over onto the neighbouring balcony and then coaxed her up onto the chair.  Once on the chair I could reach around that 10 inch stucco wall to grab her and bring her back.  Then I had one heck of a time retrieving my chair!  It was about that point that I realized I was hanging off my balcony railing (in my jammies and flip flops) 3 floors above the ground!  And I'm scared of heights!

"Not going out there.  Nope.  Not EVER again!"

 A week has gone by, and Miss Boots is still rather uninterested in the balcony.  She wasn't seriously injured ... just one scraped paw pad, probably from trying to catch a grip on the stucco.  No hu-moms were injured either.  Phew!

Since Miss Boots became an EVEN MORE INDOOR cat this past week, she decided the best place to be was in the hu-mom's lap.  And what can be better than a hu-mom's lap?  Why, a hu-mom's lap underneath some cozy knitting!  With her ... ahem ... "assistance", we finished this 72 inch long kid mohair and silk shawl.  It's hanging over a curtain rod in this picture ... I spritzed it generously to block it and bring up the fuzzy halo of the mohair.  I've already given it away, but I think I want one for myself now.

Have a great week y'all!  Enjoy the autumn colours ... and keep your cats safe!