a near miss tragedy and a finished drawing

I damn near killed the cat last Friday.

She likes to lay on the concrete apron in front of the garage where we park the car and the truck, next to the car or right in the big middle of where the car would be when it's parked there. Used to be she would get up and move when we started the car or pulled in to park but for the past several months she has just stubbornly laid there. So when I'm ready to leave I have to pick her up and move her into the garage and when I return I have to stop and move her before I can pull into the space where we park the car. When I left last Friday, I picked her up and moved her and when I returned from my errand, I didn't see her laying on the apron because she was over by the truck laying in the accumulated leaves. I swung the car into the space, felt the front passenger side tire thump over something and heard Emma howl.

OMG, I ran over the cat! I jumped out and she was trying to make it into the garage and I scooped her up, grabbed my phone and called the vet in a panic, grabbed the cat carrier, and took her straight over there. By this time she wasn't crying but you could hear a crackly sound when she breathed. So they x-rayed her and it's a miracle there were no broken bones but it looked like her lungs were bruised and some fluid was developing in them. They gave her a steroid shot to reduce the inflammation and a lasik shot for the fluid build-up and sent her home with the instruction to keep an eye on her and if she starts open mouth panting to call the emergency number. So Friday night was very scary, she was totally lethargic. I usurped the dog bed for her and put it and the litter box next to my bed and when I woke up sometime during the night she was gone and I found her in the closet where she likes to sleep at night.

Saturday morning all lung sounds were gone and when I opened the back door she got up and very unsteadily, limping heavily on one side, went out and laid down where she spent the day 

but she wasn't eating or drinking so I got an old needle-less syringe I use out in the shop Saturday and started forcing water into her mouth four or five times a day. Sunday same, moving a little easier but still not eating or drinking on her own. Monday she didn't seem to be limping and she started drinking water on her own but didn't start eating a little bit until Tuesday morning. She's still not back to her usual demanding vocal self but she is twitching her tail in annoyance now but I'm confident there is no lasting damage. And maybe she's learned her lesson. Probably not. She is a cat after all.

I finished the drawing of the morning glory Sunday.

Still don't know what I'm going to do with these little botanical illustrations, very different from Linda Sue's little book of blank pages she's filling with delightful and insightful watercolors. You'll have to scroll through her posts to see them all. I'm more of an illustrator than a spontaneous artist. I really should practice that more. I should do a watercolor before I forget everything I learned in the class I took. I've got the supplies right here so we'll see.