NOW I NEED A PENSIEVE...

I have to confess I'm a Harry Potter fan - working in children's publishing does that to you. Lately not only do I feel I need a Time Turner but I find myself wishing for a Pensieve as well. 

Harry Potter Wiki defines a Pensieve as "...an object used to review memories. It has the appearance of a shallow stone basin, into which are carved runes and strange symbols. It is filled with a silvery substance that appears to be a cloud-like liquid/gas; the collected memories of people who have siphoned their recollections into it. Memories can then be viewed from a non-participant, third-person point of view."

Dumbledore certainly made good use of his Pensieve; I would make good use of mine. Such a magical object would allow me to retrieve Orphee and Annie's memories allowing me a third-party view of the incident that derailed all the progress we made in dog-cat relations sending our peaceful household careening like a runaway Hogwarts Express.

There, in the depths of memory swirled in the Pensieve, I would understand why Annie is running away from Orphee.  A senario to explain why Annie won't walk past him or go into a room he's in would surface from the mist and I would finally understand.  

It all began last weekend when Artie and I took a break from our chores to go for brunch. We decided to leave Annie and Orphee in the same apartment instead of relegating him to the front hallway. We went locally, gone for less than an hour. Later that evening we noticed the dynamics of their relationship had changed for the worse. 

Now Orphee is aggressive - staring at Annie, blocking her path and practically stalking her. Both of us caught him swiping and hissing at her. We reprimanded him and the behavior has improved somewhat but not completely.

Diligence and a watchful eye will help me put an end to this bullying- and plenty of patience.

CAN I HAVE A TIME TURNER?

The work week has gotten away from me as so many of my work weeks do.  There's never enough time for everything that needs to be done or everyone that needs my attention. Grateful as I am that Annie is healthy once again, Orphée is adjusting nicely and the outside gang keeps showing up regularly for meals the reality is tending to all their needs takes up quite a bit of time.

The remainder of my time is taken up with all the other chores one needs to tackle in life - cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, paying bills as well as projects we set for ourselves such as organizing paperwork, eliminating clutter and re-organizing our living space for efficiency's sake. None of these items are easy tasks nor are they accomplished in a short amount of time. So is it any wonder that I generally fall asleep in front of the TV while watching the news or a movie? Or worse yet, while reading a book? Sometimes I yearn for Hermione Granger's Time Turner so I can cram 48 hours into 24.

On the furry front we have had some definite progress. Orphée isn't hissing at Annie anymore nor is he taking any swipes at her. Yesterday evening was a definite milestone. While Annie was sprawled out on the couch, Orphée sniffed her, jumped up, settled down and used her forearm as a pillow. Annie decided to curl up when Orphée got up re-positioning himself by backing his butt into Annie's butt. They both fell asleep in that position. Neither of them pay attention to any food bowls except their own although they do sneak an occasional drink from the other's water.

The biggest breakthrough happened a few days ago when Annie started to play and broke out into a run. She ran right up to Orphée stopping dead in her tracks. Orphée held his ground; they both leaned in to smell each other's noses and that was it! Annie's bursts of energy are no longer an issue for Orphée.

This is great progress although Orphée has a long way to go before he's completely acclimated. There are many strange, unnerving sights and sounds that are part of indoor living. Just when I think we are on an even keel, something unexpected scares poor Orphée and I'm left to wonder what's going on. But those incidents are the subject of another post.