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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Dolly Channels Her Energy

 Dolly Gee Squeakers, formerly of the Humane Society Squeakers, having lost her rent money in a regrettable night of pull-tab revelry, has taken up a new hobby.

Crocheting.

She sits on the sofa, a hook clutched in one fuzzy paw, a tangle of yarn in the other.

“Whatcha makin’?”

The cat, a sturdily built Siamese/tabby mixture with a strict regimen of daily yakking, looks up from what is either a very wide scarf or a very small blanket.  She smiles, then shrugs. 

It’s good that she’s keeping busy.  Frankly, I was concerned for her that evening up at the Knight Cap.

Dolly was on a roll.  Five dollars here, ten dollars there.   The modern equivalent of a juke box played, the pull tab box beckoned, and the gin and tonics flowed like wine. 

The kitty was winning.  She had walked in with her paycheck (24 hours a week at a local coffee shop), bought a round of drinks for the cats she came in with, and since then she had nickeled and dimed herself to a pleasant little sum.

A pleasant little sum that she promptly rolled into one last, mad play for the remaining high-buck pull tabs left in the box.

A calculated risk that has left her without her rent money.

“Dolly.”

She looks up, her bright blue and ever-so-slightly-crossed eyes shining.

“I have some cigarettes left from the party last week,” I say.  “You want one?”

The cat shakes her head, choosing not to speak but rather to hold up her paws, hold up the yarn. 

I wasn’t really expecting an answer. It is rare, after all, that she does.  Teased relentlessly as a kitten for her lisp, Dolly Gee Squeakers seldom speaks using sibilant syntax. 

“I see,” I say.

I walk away, into the kitchen, wondering if we still have a can of that albacore tuna she likes so much.

From the pantry, I can hear her:  “Yarn over, pull through two loopth, then yarn over and pull through latht two loopth…”


Good ol’ Dolly.  Maybe I’ll throw in some catnip. 

17 comments:

Connie said...

Well, it's good to have a hobby. Maybe she can turn it into a business if she can sell some kitty blankets to her friends. :-)

Anonymous said...

Maybe she can sell her crochet to help cover the rent money.

Pearl said...

Daisy and Delores, you know, in this economy, it's good to have a couple irons in the fire!

joeh said...

I think it is mean to name a cat with a lisp, "Squeakers"

Unknown said...

I have a horrible feeling my cat could be responsible - cheats all too well at poker, regularly comes home in the morning light smelling of gin and dirty women cats and with a collar stuffed with cash.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari Om
Golly Dolly, tell Pearlie girlie 'tis the season for the woollens and the crafts. Pull tab miseries or not, that snuggler is going to be valued!!! (I'm on my fourth not quite but nearly something or other...) Hugs and whiskeries, YAM-aunty xxx

jenny_o said...

Not sure which lines I like more, the "strict regimen of daily yakking" or "yarn over, pull through two loopth, then yarn over and pull through latht two loopth" or maybe "seldom speaks using sibilant syntax".

Too many choices! A wonderful problem to have :)

Joanne Noragon said...

I taught Laura to crochet last weekend. She says the very sames things, without the lisph.

Bill Lisleman said...

Did she happen to crochet anything for Halloween. That's a big cat holiday right?

Shelly said...

Leather crafts and decoupage might be next-

Catalyst said...

Warning: Don't let her know about Powerball!

vanilla said...

You are good to her. It hurts to lose it all on that last flier.

Gigi said...

Poor Dolly - she's always the optimist when it comes to gambling.

Lin said...

I imagine her sitting on the couch, crocheting/knitting, then kneeding the yarn softly and falling asleep. Repeat.

Elephant's Child said...

Definitely some cat nip is required. And I hope that is a LARGE tin of tuna.

River said...

Dolly may have lost the rent money, but at least she isn't dramatically crying "woe is me!" That kitty has class.

Badgerangel said...

Pearl --

Please, please, warn Dolly from a knitter. Yarn, good yarn, the REALLY REALLY GOOD YARN....it's not only expensive, but addicting. I can point you right now to half a dozen websites hocking things such as baby alpaca, blue faced Leicester, camel, and angora. And the colors, my God, the colors!

Save her from the temptation, Pearl, if you can.

Love,

BadgerAngel