Ms. Margaux Hemingway

I didn't get as much stitching done over the weekend as I would have liked to, but I did get some housework done. Clean floors and clean clothes went a long way toward making Monday morning more bearable. Tonight, while I watch Dancing with the Stars I will be working on that dadgum butterfly. Maybe I will triumph tonight and finish it.

I was watching the dogs and cat a few minutes ago, and I got to thinking about what an odd cat my Margaux is. I got her in 2005, just a month or so after Hurricane Rita had hit my home town. She and her sister, who also came to live with me, had weathered the storm outdoors, and after the storm, someone captured them and dropped them on my veterinarian's doorstep. Originally, Ellie (the sister) went home with a vet tech, but after she was disruptive in that household, she came to live with me, too.

When I took Margaux and Ellie in, I already had four cats. Yep, that's right--four other cats. The three older cats didn't last long after Rita. It seems that the stress of storms is often too much for old people and old pets to bear. That left me with Frankie, Margaux, and Ellie.

Now, I know that many people won't agree with my actions, but I do let my cats go outdoors. I live in a very quiet neighborhood, well away from a busy street, so the cats can wander around my house and a few neighbors' homes. Ellie went missing first, and Frankie followed her a few months later. I think that both of them moved in with neighbors. I thought that Margaux would probably get tired of life in the "poodle house" and join the others.

Well, apparently Margaux is enjoying being the queen of the household and the ruler of the poodles. As I watched them today, I was struck by how happy she looked as each one of the dogs stuck his or her nose in her face and gave her a good sniff. She particularly likes to cuddle up at night with Rory, my six-year-old female. The two of them bathe each other before finally falling asleep.