Chapter One in which our heroine gives the cats a bath ...or ...what wine goes with wet cats?

Normally I rely on the self cleaning feature that comes standard with the model, but occasionally excessive dirt wallowing or flea buildup requires an actual bath for the cat(s). Of course, if you are going to the trouble to wash one of them, you might as well wash the other one, too. I now present to you a bit of light comedy from my Sunday morning adventure.

Step 1. Clear everything away from the counter surrounding the sink. Desperate kitties will reach out claws at anything they think might be able to save them from the dreaded bath. See photo above.

Step 2. Fill the sink with luke-warm water and a bit of pet shampoo.

Step 3. Find the cat. Luckily fatcat was lolling on the bed and cat #2 magically appeared from her hidey-hole outside when called.

Step 4. Pick up cat and deposit it in the bathwater. This can be tricky. My cats aren't particularly fond of being carried around. I have to cajole them with sweet nothings and caresses to keep them from getting suspicious. Careful- many models have a self eject feature that may spontaneously trigger. Keep one hand on the neck (gently) at all times during bathing process.

Step 5. Wash the cat. In the first attempt, crafty fatcat lulled me into complacency by appearing to submit. When I relaxed my grip, he ejected himself from the sink streaming soap and water and proceeded to make a dash into the living room. I quickly followed with a towel praying he didn't jump onto the white furniture. I managed to pull him out from underneath the chair and return his wet soggy, soapy ass to the sink to finish the bath. Rinse, repeat with the firm grip in place. Ok- I didn't repeat, but the shampoo bottle reference made me smile. Sorry, no photos available. Both my hands were busy with the cat.

Step 6. Dry off the cat. Again, a good grip of the wet animal is important. I recommend wrapping the cat in a towel and rubbing (gently, but) vigorously to remove as much excess water as possible, because you know the wet cat will make a bee-line to his favorite spot such as the white living room furniture or the bed.

Step 7. Clean up trail of water leading out of kitchen, through family room, down hallway, into living room and under the chair.

Step 8. Repeat with second cat.

Step 9. Clean up second puddle of water. Cat #2 didn't actually escape, but her futile attempts did cause me to spray water around the kitchen by accident with the sink sprayer.

Results: Two damp cats, one damp person (yours truly) covered in cat hair. One of us needs a shower.

Oh yeah- about the wine. Sauvignon Blanc is my choice for the best wine to drink while bathing cats. I'm not crazy about the "cat pee" descriptor. I think if I actually smelled cat pee in a wine I would turn and run the other way. I usually notice bell pepper or herbaceous overtones, but maybe that's because I have a good idea of what cat pee really smells like. We like SB a lot at my house and I'm not afraid to buy and try them since they are so affordable.

Unfortunately dinner last night was rushed and I couldn't make any notes to give my impression of the Sauvignon Republic Russian River SB. This wasn't the restaurant's fault. We arrived in Santa Rosa, not having had dinner at 7:30 pm and the play started at 8 pm. The folks at a Thai restaurant on 4th street were kind enough to rush out a couple of entrees and a couple of glasses of wine for us. It was so fast that I'm not even sure of the name of the restaurant. A scan of Google maps suggests it might have been Khoom Lanna. The food was good, my apologies and thanks to the restaurant. We just made the curtain call. I was intrigued by the wine and will try it again the next time we cross paths.

I did try another SB this afternoon- Miner Family 2007 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. It had quite a bit of pineapple and grass overtones. No cat pee. The nice tasting room server, Rachel, brought it out from the back for me to try. It was overpowered by the tempranillo. I will have to try it again some time to give a fair reveiw.

Wines I've been drinking

October 13-19, 2008

Sauvignon Republic 2007 Russian River Sauvignon Blanc- had this while eating a really fast meal at a Thai restaurant in Santa Rosa last night. Had potential, but the wine was room temperature, served in a chilled glass. Unclear on the concept....

Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel- drank this from a plastic cup during the intermission of Death of a Salesman last night. No comment, cause it was wine served at a performing arts event (need I say more?) and 'ya just can't judge a wine out of a plastic cocktail cup.

Miner Family 2007 Sierra Foothills Tempranillo. M. had this with lunch at Barber's Q in Napa. A delightful california version of tempranillo- more fruit forward and dense than a Spanish tempranillo might be, but with delightful cherry overtones, nice acids and medium tannins. It inspired us to drive out to Miner and do some tasting and buy a couple of bottles.

Ancien 2007 Pinot Gris Carneros Sangiocomo Vineyard. This was my selection to go with the Barber's Q pulled pork sandwich. A beautiful wine with citrus flavors; a hint of minerality good acids to compliment the sweetness of barbeque. It had that nice fizz that pinot gris should have to compliment the acidic bite.

Blackbird Vineyards 2007 Napa Valley Arriviste Rose of Merlot and Cab Franc. Hints of strawberry in the nose, with citrus fruit and berries on the palate. Dry, but with a bit of cotton candy in the finish. It didn't knock me out, but there was nothing wrong with it. I'm not a fan of the strawberry quality that roses tend to have.