What does that span of time make you think of? Perhaps the length of a marriage, the first years of life from kid to adult, your total years of education – grades 1 through university. A long lived friendship. This week it marks the end of the time spent with a very unique and memorable cat for a very dear friend. 

Ludere was a lion in a pussy cat body. He was totally and utterly committed to the woman in his life. So much so that you were always aware that Karyn was HIS human, he only occasionally deigned to allow other lessor beings to touch the cloud like fluff that was his amazing coat of white fur. Quickly followed up by a decisive swipe of a well armed paw.

In fact, that was pretty much a game between Ludere (otherwise known as Dere, or hell cat, or he who should not have back turned on, oh or pretty white fluffy danger kitty) and Ken.  Dere would lay down with his soft underbelly exposed, all sweet and fluffy, allow for a minute or 5 (always random) of lovely petting only to, without ANY warning, lash out claws extended. To add in some more fun, this would sometimes be combined with a little bit of “friendly” gnawing on the extended hand. 

My personal experience with Dere and petting were always with the supervision of Karyn. Usually with her distracting him with her affection so I could sneak in a quick pass over his back. I swear he could count hands, because that was always followed up with an intense stare and the knowledge that he could get me if he wanted… but he didn’t, not right now… but that was his choice, not mine. 

Ludere has been a fixture in all of our lives for as long as we have known Karyn. He is the stuff of legends, has been for years – like when he almost literally scared the pee out of our friend Sean. Or his relaxation (be it momentarily) around Esther – something that did have to be seen to be believed. 

Dere has been a fascination for our kids since the first time they were CAREFULLY introduced to him with the warning to – not touch the pretty kitty, just look. They have followed him around from a distance, tossed toys… from a distance… put food in his dish… from a distance… I sense a pattern! But, this has not decreased their fascination or love for him. Every FaceTime Trinity has had with Karyn has included a wish to see and or hear about him. Pictures have been drawn of the majestic white kitty, stories have been repeated about his intense stare and – that time I got to pet him while Aunty Karyn held him (down, possibly… not that they noticed that part). Dere is family. Like a cranky but beloved uncle that you just want to be around, but possibly does not want you around, because he REALLY doesn’t like kids (or is it people, well anyone but Karyn – really – we are merely tolerated and lucky to be in his presence).

So now, 18 years after Karyn brought home her adorable and slightly belligerent ball of fluff, we are saying good bye. Ludere will never be forgotten, his lengthy life has been full of anecdotes and adventure. He was a cat of action, except when he wasn’t (after all, cat = sleep a lot). He was a one lady man. He was amazingly photogenic, though I personally feel 90% of those photos perfectly capture his wish to take over the world by force and remove all excess humans – but only if someone were to do the work for him, because he IS a cat after all. 

Ludere leaves behind his beloved human – Karyn, his cohabiting kitten – Loki, and an extended family of admirers including his god daughter by proxy – Trinity. I think we will be talking of his feline exploits for years to come. Thank you Karyn for bringing home that tiny kitten with a huge personality way back in college. 

Hmm let’s see… November… AMERICAN Thanksgiving, a visit from Nana and Baba, full on fall weather, school, the beginning of the Christmas countdown. Because Nana and Baba were there in the right time frame we also saw Santa which you can read about in a previous post.

Beach towels from their travels

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. Not only did Nana and Baba take over the cooking and make a full on turkey dinner BUT the Novaks also joined us! The kids were beyond excited to have the 4 boys over and we adults had a great visit.

Echo chose our seasonally coloured cake. I baked it.

And the twins decorated it.

Ken and I snuck off after Thanksgiving for basically a second honeymoon. For the first time in over 12 years we went out overnight WITHOUT kids. We went to a B and B that Karyn and I had visited previously in Wisconsin (different room). We hung out in our awesome room.

Went out for a delicious dinner at an old mill.

Dressed up for a dinner out.

Shopped at an amazing yarn place.

AND drove out of our way to an even more amazing wool place.

Oh yah I spent a little

We even stopped in at a brewery for a tasting for Ken.

And visited the capital building.

It was AMAZING.

ALMOST like back home.

It really was as good as people say!

Breakfast

Wisconsin = cheese of course

NAP

The weather went from sundresses and sunshine to snow and snowboots.

We spent plenty of quality time at the YMCA.

And Ken and I went to an open house at Shandai and Ravyn’s new digs.

We found time for Home Depot.

Crocheted in spare moments.

Cat butt coasters!

Fingerless dragonscale gloves.

Hats for cats!

The girls had their nails done by Nana.

And the twins pitched in with some baking.

We decorated our tree. 

And watched our local black squirrel run our yard like a boss.

Can you believe we even found time for schooling. 

Prepping the Christmas countdown paper chain.

And a visit with the Schwartz family!

A trip to IKEA had us well lit and the girls in new beds. 

November went by in a blink of an eye. But it was a fun blink!

Christmas decorations at the YMCA

Well there is really no JUST about it… February and June are two of our busiest months. (February) June has our anniversary (16th), Father’s Day, my birthday, my stepmom’s birthday, our two god daughter’s birthdays and of course first day of SUMMER! Yup, lots of mailing and doing and enjoying in the month of June. And don’t forget a welcome visit from TWO of our Canadian friends! You can read more about Karyn and Lauralee’s visit HERE.

We had all sorts of fun in June – We played Legos at Mall of America.

Of course we did the monthly Home Depot project with Father’s Day as the theme.

Spent the majority of our weekday morning at the YMCA enjoying ClubY for the 4 older kids, daycare for Miss Echo (and on Friday’s Little Lotus Yoga) and working out for mom. Plus swimming and an hour of quiet mom time all wrapped up in a 2 mile walk each way.

These are shirts they did up in club.

It was well worth our effort. The kids had a blast playing games, meeting friends, doing stuff without me. Echo was the darling of daycare with her 2 hours a day. And me, well I got on the treadmill, swam with my baby AND had an hour of time that was my own to sew, read, socialize and just be without the kids hanging off of me.

Trinity even managed to find time to get her PINK wristband.

Mommy hour!

Gavin worked his buns off on the shawl he entered in the County Fair in July.

And while Zander tried to join the run club, he was the only sign up and did not make the minimum count. So off he went to TRACK AND FIELD. Where we quickly learned he is a distance runner and NOT a speed demon.

I have to share the amazing yarn Ken picked up for my birthday. A portion of the proceeds went to help the people affected by the wildfires in Alberta. AND it is gorgeous… win win!

We snuck in some learning, but for the most part June was a month of outside time.

Getting to know our YMCA better and take full advantage of our membership. I was never so glad as to be able to walk 2 miles with 5 kids as I was this June. There was whining and trudging but we had so much fun when we got the the YMCA and felt so much healthier by the end of it. AMAZING.

New noodles

I played around with hair colours too.

The one thing that stands out when I think of June is just how much we smiled. So important and simple… we had a month full of joy.