Stray Cat Strut

While I was in Bulgaria, I missed my kitties dearly. Although I will admit it was nice getting to sleep in on the weekends and not getting a paw in the face to "get up and feed me". But having them around the rest of the time far outweighs that.

So I tried to make friends with the neighborhood kitties, which didn't go so well, as they're very skiddish!  Can you find the two black kitties in this photo? (before they ran away from me...)

This is the closest I got to a kitty in my neighborhood.

The country kitties were much friendlier. These two were at a gas station on the way to Veliko Tarnovo. I probably could have taken them home with me.

And this super relaxed (and dirty) kitty was at the guest house on my hike in the Rila Mountains

This next two were at the ski resort where we started our hike in the Rila Mountains

(this one was so pretty)

Plovdiv kitties

I saw cats pretty much everywhere I went in Sofia.

 

Most ran away shortly after I snapped my photo.

Or they were perched out of reach so they felt safe.

But the best kitties in the world were of course waiting for me in the states.

My Sweet Ginger

I had to say goodbye to my sweet, sweet Ginger over the weekend after yet another health complication. She almost made it to 18 purr-filled years, 13 of which she spent with me. It was probably the hardest thing I ever had to do. Who am I to say when her time has come? The guilt that you feel, I just can't describe it. But deep in my heart, I knew it was the right time. Before she started to suffer too much. I thank modern medicine for the additional 6 months I had with her and I know she appreciated it too. Still miss you every day, Ging!

 rare - all 3 cat photos... 

 

Florida Running

To cross his Florida race off the list, my brother decided to run the ultra at the Clearwater Running Festival.  Saying what the heck, I decided to run the 5 mile.

It was an early start...still dark out

A decent sized race, but not too big...here's the crowd at the start

The sun was just starting to come up as we started the race

I can take pictures behind me, and still get my head in the photo too!

My race basically ran across this bridge and back...it was a long bridge

I was able to run with my brother for the first 2.5 miles since all the races started together...but I think he was slumming it with me running only 8:30 min/mile pace (I was busting my butt, and he was jogging at his 31 mile race pace)

Thank goodness I got to turn around after 2.5 miles. He had 28.5 more to go!

The view of the sunrise on the way back was beautiful...

We ran down this curly-cue pedestrian ramp, which after 4.5 miles, made you a little dizzy

Yay - the finish line!

Then it was off to catch my brother...first stop was around Mile 15

Elmo waiting for him to approach around Mile 21

My new friend :-)

Elmo made it to the podium when my brother accepted his award for 3rd in his age group

Amazing...she's completed FOUR marathons in every state!

Well deserved post-race ice cream cone

My metal and bib

Lazy Rainy Saturday

Spent the afternoon indoors playing with my kitties...

Thank you to my former neighbors who gave us the laser pointer :-)

And for those of you who didn't believe me that Dilly has a teddy bear she carries around...check out this video:

And here's a photo w/Dilly carrying teddy bear around:

Aww, it's her security teddy bear that she's had since she was rescued as a little kitten on the side of the road.  The lady who found Dilly gave her this bear and then passed it along to me when I took Dilly in.