Of cats and dogs.

I have to make this more to the point than story-teller-ish* as I've clearly done too much office work today and my hands are bothering me.  A whole post in and of itself, but I may not go there.

First the dogs.  Per Mary's request over at Bread and Roses.

I found the previously mentioned Chicago Dog at Captain Jack's Roadside Shack, which is new little joint in Easthampton on our way to blueberry picking.  I'm not sure if they have it regularly as it's not listed on their website as one of the items, but I will be going back to find out.  I did not take a photo - I often take a photo of very delicious things - as my phone was fresh out of memory, could not hold any more photos, and I was too hungry to erase something in order to make room.

From Wikipedia:

A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago Dog, or Chicago Red Hot is an all-beef frankfurter on A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago Dog, or Chicago Red Hot is an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois. The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard; chopped white onions; bright green sweet pickle relish; a dill pickle spear; tomato slices or wedges; pickled sport peppers; and a dash of celery salt. The complete assembly of a Chicago hot dog is said to be "dragged through the garden" due to the many toppings. The method for cooking the hot dog itself varies depending on the respective vendor's preference. Most often they are steamed, water-simmered or grilled over charcoal, the latter of which are referred to as "char-dogs." 

The canonical recipe does not include ketchup, and there is a widely-shared, strong opinion among many Chicagoans and aficionados that ketchup is unacceptable. A number of Chicago hot dog vendors do not offer ketchup as a condiment.

I'll let you head over to Wikipedia to get the History and such.  While, as you can see, they do not typically have ketchup, I do prefer mine with as I am notoriously a Condiment Queen.    I could also take or leave the onions, and while I first learn of these spectacular dogs in Chi-Town itself, I have never actually had it on a poppy seed bun.  As there is quite a lot to do in order to get everything on there, I often take a bit of a shortcut and my home version has dill relish, tomato, sliced peperoncini, ketchup and celery salt.  Ooooh, my taste buds just water to think about it....

And now for the cats.

It turns out Stubby was doing it too.  I know that BatCat was the main culprit, but pee-puddles don't form themselves.  Turns out they really were having a Pissing Match.

So now we have two porch kitties.  I was fairly worried about Stubby for the first week as he could hardly be coaxed out from under the porch even to eat, but he seems to have settled in nicely enough.  Sure he still yowls occasionally.  And he did try to sneak back in just tonight, but he seems to be holding his own. I got them each a Kitty Cubby for the porch and their huge tree-shaped scratching post is now on the front porch.  The neighbors must think we are nuts.

In my opinion, the house still smells of cat pee.  I've had feedback that it doesn't, but I'm not sure if 1) they were just being nice, or 2) they didn't get a whiff because they weren't in the right spot.  There is heavy cleaning in our future, but once it is done then it is done.  And then we will be able to get a new rug and new couch and new chair... ok, I may be a bit wistful now... but when we can afford it, we won't have to worry about pee and fur and scratching!

*TW informs me I am no good at this as I have "been typing away furiously over there," but really, I did have a lot more to say.