Cathy from southern Ontario

Cathy, so near and yet so far :'(

Cathy - I loved my trip to NZ - especially the South Island. The hospitality was some of the best. While I took a tour (because I was on my own) In I had a couple of days on my own before the tour - price shoped, city tours & a day tour to the Glow Worm Caves. At the end of the tour, I took a couple days on my own in Christchurch - which I cherish (even if it rained most of the time there). The tour I had chosen had a couple of stays for 2 nights even 3 nights where you had time to yourself to do as you please with side trips like fijord cruise. Even though there were 50 people on the bus (crowded) some left the tour and different points - I chose to leave in Christchurch and fly back via Auckland (also did not take the optional 5 day tour north of Auckland at the begining - good think since my luggage did not arrive when I did). I was there for over 3 weeks in 1999 - on the tour there were only about 1/2 doz from USA and the same from Canada, 1/2 dozen from Europe the remainder were Brits & Aussies. I'm sure you will enjoy it - spring time should be beautiful - I was there in late summer.

Hello Cathy - I just read your comment about visiting New Zealand. It's a beautiful place to visit and I'm sure you will enjoy yourselves immensely. Have a great time!
Cheers,
Anne

Cathy, I hope I am not too late to add my best wishes for an enjoyable and safe journey. Hope you have a fantastic time in New Zealand...while you are there...it's really not that far... xoxo

Hi Cathy. I just wanted to stop by & welcome you back from your trip to New Zealand. I was too slow to wish you a Bon Voyage before you left. I'd love to hear more about what you saw so I can bring back memories of our visit there in 2005. We took a 2 week group tour with APT & enjoyed it so much. Most of the people in our group were Australians, but our leader was a young Kiwi gal who had a great sense of humor. Christchurch was our favorite city. We felt terrible seeing the photos of the main square & church tower after the earthquake hit there. We LOVED the botannical gardens there. There are so MANY things to love about NZ!!

Thank you, Cathy! I'm so grateful for all the animal lovers on this site. That is why I wanted to put it out there - at this point, prayer is the only thing I can do for this little on. If he survives I can't imagine not bringing him home. XXXOOO

Cathy!
Wishing you and your family a beautiful holiday and blessings the year long
Hugs to you and your kitty family!

Have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy, healthy 2012!!

Wishing you and yours the best in the New Year

Happy Birthday, Cathy. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Happy Birthday!!! I hope your day is everything you want it to be and more. I am also a cat lover and currently have way too many, all rescues.

, cathy many happy returns of the day. what a beautiful cat arther is, maybe he would like some with you too for you birthday. cheers

Cathy, it has been so long since we last chatted! I hope this greeting finds you well. Have a wonderful day xo

Cathy, the start of another festive week! Your birthday, followed by the hubby's birthday and shortly after the both of you get to celebrate your anniversary. Best wishes to both of you on your birthdays and the upcoming anniversary!

A very to you, Cathy!
Have a great day.

Cathy, may your day be wonderful.

I love making people happy and your birthday was a good one. and best wishes, kath

Were do I start! Ok, the Gail family synopsis in one quick paragraph...
Hubby and I are doing well, his birthday today, wonderful lunch and a lovely drive. As of April this year, we no longer had children, we have four adult offspring! Our youngest turned 18 but I am still resistant to the idea! Still have 4 cats, may have had 5 when we last spoke, but the old ginger fella crossed the bridge a couple of years ago. I have absolutely no intention of getting any more, love them but I am totally over having pets.
Next year hubby and I will be celebrating our 30th Anniversary, in fact there are a few big numbers next year. I would love to have a gathering of friends on a Yarra River dinner cruise here in Melbourne and then to go on a cruise. Unfortunately this isn't possible at the moment due to hubby,s health situation, but that could change at any time. Who knows what 'tomorrow' will bring... :)
Tell me about your recent holiday.

Hi Cathy! Nice to see you on Easy again. Happy 18th birthday to Holmes. Glad to hear all is well in Ontario. Likewise here in Florida except for where Hurrican Sandy is headed. We are very glad that our daughter Kyley's wedding in Ft. Lauderdale was last year at this time & not today! We are all safe & sound on the west coast of FL & looking forward to the arrival of grandie #8 in April. (See a photo of the announcement on my Page!)

It was nice seeing you on the site again, Cathy. We've missed you! How are your cats?

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas and nothing but the best for 2013. Merry Christmas!

Cathy, your New Year's greeting on the Sudoku 'easy' page was beautiful.
Wishing you the same, friend.

Cathy, with many more to come!

Cathy, wishing you and yours the best in the New Year.

Thanks Cathy! Actually that did cross my mind!
What a wonderful way to keep your mother close to your heart - she'll be wrapped in Those loving arms!

Hello, Cathy. Thank you so much for my warm birthday wishes!

Good luck with your renovations, been there a few times & back there again, now!!! Still doing internals on the new river house as well working on this house for selling!

Cathy - thank you so much for your lovely message on my page. She was such a funny little kitty. She was abandoned with several other cats when a family moved out of a home (happens more and more these days). Sammie's Friends took her to the vet and she was determined to be around 18 or so...and she had carcinomas all over her body. So I took her home to care for her until her time was up - I couldn't imagine her having to live out her life in a cage as I was pretty sure no one would adopt her. She turned out to be the best kitty. Funny old girl that hung tough with our 3 young boy kitties for the better part of a year. She will always live in our hearts as she touched us so deeply. Thanks again for your loving words.

Cathy,I'm so sorry for the loss of Holmes . I know it's very difficult right now, but things do get better with time. Isn't it great that we have good memories to help us heal? I hope yours, and the companionship of your other cats help you I notice that you have a Maine Coone cat. I had one for 18 years and I think they are wonderful.So gorgeous and wonderful characters.Be happy with him, and take care of yourself.

Hi Cathy. I was so sorry to read that you had to say a final goodbye to your sweet Holmes. It is such a hard thing to do, but it's good that you realized that it was more important to end her suffering than to avoid your grief. I also happened to notice one day that you are considering remodeling some bathrooms. I know how you & I BOTH struggled with kitchen remodeling, so I just wanted to let you know that after a kitchen the bathroom jobs will seem like a piece of cake! You might even find it enjoyable!

Hey Cathy...thanks for the shout out...hope you are moving on from loosing Holmes..its so hard to say goodbye to our furry children.
Your timing and sending good wishes my way was very helpful because I was mourning the loss of my niece who has just died...I say that because she has been brain dead since Saturday night, but because she was an organ donor, she remained on life support until yesterday... she gave life to others so we rejoice in her love and giving. I'm saddened of course, but am beginning to accept the fact that we no longer share the same world...that's harder to accept than just giving it voice...so thank you for your timely thoughts and wishes...blessing come in unexpected packages and yours was a good one. ♥

Thanks for asking, Cathy. You know how we feel about our cats... How are you and the cat family doing without Holmes?
Nigel is finally eating today - after three days of not eating. He is so thin as it is, so this is not good. With not eating it makes giving him his insulin very tricky. Often as it is with diabetes, his kidneys are not good, so it's all a balancing act at this point. The vet said that average life expectancy is 2 1/2 years after diagnosis and he's going on 5 1/2 years after diagnosis. He'll be 16 in May.

Cathy, Just dropped by to say thanks for all that you have given me in the way of love and support in recent days. I've been down in the dumps by the recent things life has thrown my way, but am unable to stay there with sweet gremlins like you running around spreading good cheer...you are so appreciated especially since I know you too have not been dealing with an uneventful time period either...Hope all of the poking and prodding is over for now and life for both of us runs a little smoother. May peace be with you always.♥

Cathy - so sorry to hear about your beloved Holmes. Our animal families are so dear to us. I look forward to seein all of mine again when I move on from here.

Cathy, Bathroom update time, things are going smoothly so far. One glitch was-is with the tiles, when they were ordered was told it would be almost 2 weeks, they should be here this coming Friday. Should be a week to do the tile, then the shower doors can be ordered. I see the vanity being the problem, the cabinet person is out of town until the end of the week. In two weeks Harry & I have to be out of town for 5 days so everything will stop while I am gone.

Maybe I have missed your update but do hope things are going well on your bath.

Cathy, I guess the bath is going alright, things would be better if people just listened to me. Another glitch with the tile, the wrong size was ordered for the floor. They thought the tile I wanted would be too big for the bath. The person who is doing the destruction, construction had at take a couple of days off because his child was sick has put things behind also. I am leaving on Wednesday for Harrys medical visit in St Louis, so three days next week will be lost. Oh, well the best laid plans....

Thanks Cathy.
My drama, is beyond my control, both situations, at the moment, is just waiting. Whoever said that the waiting was the easy part, should be slapped.
As for my step-brother, I am very concerned about a man I have never met and only talked to indirectly, it is a surreal feeling. We have been family for 18 years, yet are familiar strangers. I do know one of my step-sisters and step father, and they are stunned, right now. Step-sister-in-law, is an action woman and on her way to find her husband, I would like to be there for her.
Now, in reality, what I would love to do, is crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head, and wait for fun part of life. Can't do that, so must carry on.
Thanks for your supportive words, but we will come through this one way or another, and hopfully stronger.

Arthur!
Sending you lots of attention and hoping you get all of your favorite treats!

Thanks, Cathy! I am soooo glad the cat made it, too!
It was a bit worrisome when a cat that age has diarrhea for two of those days. She takes thyroid meds, probiotics, chondroitin, and miralax daily. After talking to her vet, I increased the probiotics. Luckily, it worked.