Tea and Fur

Confession — I’m not a tea drinker (sorry Hillel but, honestly, you knew this. right?).

Why is this an issue at present? I’m having atrociously nasty sleep issues of late. It’s no longer at all unusual for me to wake at 12:30 or one AM without a ghost of a chance of getting back to sleep. Yeah, I’m a morning person but this is obscene.

I’ve been trying to quaff Sleepytime and Nighty Night. I manage a few sips and then I’m bored. I’d rather drink plain hot water. Also too, the tea may help me get to sleep but it doesn’t keep me there.

So then, I found myself, at 1:30 this morning, Googling cat news. I figured it’d be soothing and would push me back into coma time.

No but I did find a few cool bits.

"Big cat" still on the loose in France
PARIS -- French authorities have entered a third day in their hunt for a "big cat" that sparked panic this week after being sighted in the Paris suburbs. 

Montevrain town hall official Cedric Tartaud said Saturday that the "danger level" has dropped for residents but couldn't say what kind of cat it is. 

He adds that "a baby tiger is the size of an adult lynx, a baby lynx is the size of an adult domestic cat. At this stage, we haven't a clue."

Clearly the poor babe needs a hospitable porch to live on. Now that Rocco’s moved in, Gaston presumably has indoor digs a block over and my little Eddie Haskell, Gus, has just been adopted by a lovely couple across town, well, we’ve got room. Wonder if the “big cat” has a passport...hmmm.

By the by — we have progress here at Bob and Donna’s Home for Wayward Cats. Our man Rocco, after a month of living in the cellar rafters, has moved his base of operations to one of the blanketed nests that I set up for him. His new digs are located on a shelf under the basement stairs. No window views BUT it’s surely more comfy and warmer than a thin, splintery, nail studded beam. It’s a start.

Here’s yet another reason why I love the San Francisco area — they’ve a joint called The Cat Town Café. From SF Gate:

The future of pet adoption has arrived — in Oakland. 

It’s arrived in the form of a local cafe that serves up cappucinos, teas and lattes alongside a variety of pastry delights. And there in this comfortable and sprawling space filled with armchairs and rugs are the cats.

It’s a café and adoption center. This isn’t a pet shop, no. These are rescued kitties.

Cat Town has become so popular so quickly that reservations are required just to get in the door on weekends. By Sunday evening, Cat Town was out of cats, said co-founder Ann Dunn.

LOVE this!

And I most def did NOT want to like, let alone love this next story. I mean, honestly now, does the world really need another celebrity penned children’s book? Ms Stern, the young (but not THAT young) wife of Howard Stern, was a model and “television personality” before marrying the shock jock. Yeah, she sounds (and looks) like a nothing burger, “blond” bit of fluff — a trophy wife, an arm piece, a gold digging dim bulb. Apparently, surprisingly not. Dunno what her other fine points are but this, this speaks to me big and loud — she’s tremendously active in the animal rescue world and not just making donations and showing up at galas either.

Read the article — Beth and Howard Stern and the comeback kitty — it warmed my skeptical little heart.

The book comes out today with 100% of the proceeds benefiting Bianca’s Furry Friends, a 14,000-square-foot, cage-free addition to the North Shore Animal Rescue League..