Oh! The Drama!

Oh yes, she looks sweet enough.  Zoë is a little three-year-old Maltese/Australian Silky Terrier.  She was a rescue from California, sent up to us for a Second Chance.  We adopted her from the Oregon Humane Society in 2012.  She loves her people and wants to be with us where ever we go.  She hates the car...but hates even more to be left behind when I drive to Southern California once a month.  She hates the water; she loves to roll in stinky stuff.

Mostly she would like the kitties to live elsewhere so she can have us to herself.  The kitties, on the other hand, love it when I take her with me when I drive to Southern California once a month.

Kittles is our oldest kitty at 15.  She is a playful little calico who used to be able to jump from the floor to my shoulder.  She is slowing down a bit and waits until I sit down to jump on me.  Always startling...always painful.  Expectedly unexpected.  She is about the same size as Zoë and will allow Zoë to play with her on occasion.  She is way smarter than Zoë and always tricks her into searching for her behind the TV as she sits on the cabinet, staring down on Zoë like a vulture.  She is also the kitty that Zoë growls at the most, not wanting to share space.

Tyler is our Baby Huey cat.  He is a 19 pound lethargic sweet orange tabby.  We adopted him, along with his adopted brother Toby (who died in 2013) from the Oregon Humane Society.  He mostly ignores Zoë, who would like to play but she gets the ignore aspect.  They are uneasy friends.

Zoë has a favorite chair.  It has been my chair since we bought it, but I recently moved it and am using a different chair for the time being.  She sleeps on this chair when I am away or I am in the sewing area and she doesn't want to hang out with me.  

Lately Tyler has been sleeping on this chair.  I have an old quilt that Tyler loves and if I don't fold it up and lay it across the back of the chair when finished in an evening, he will lay on this quilt.  According to Zoë, he will stay on this quilt in this chair F*O*R*E*V*E*R.

When Zoë comes downstairs in the morning and sees Tyler on the chair, she doesn't know what to do.  She will stand in her little terrier stance near the chair, looking at me.  It's like, "So what are you going to do about this?" look.  She will stay there for a long time until I just pick her up and set her in my newest chair or in Doug's chair.  If Tyler gets down, she will immediately run to the red chair.

So then this happened: Zoë finally gets up the courage to jump on the red chair while Tyler is still there!  This is bravery for her!  And she stands on the ottoman for a long while, staring at me, like "So what now?"  Tyler watches her carefully.

Finally Zoë settles in uneasily.  Tyler never takes his eyes off her.  Understand, they share the bed just fine.  But apparently the chair is a different thing.

And then Tyler decided is is time to mosey on....  And Zoë sleeps happily ever after.

Who says just because one retires that all the petty infighting doesn't continue?

You would think after 20 years as the chair of the Theatre department (Theatre, Music, Dance, Speech Communication, Journalism) I would be used to drama.  But like having little kids in the house again, we have drama at every turn.

peace~~~