MABEL NOODLE: 2001 - 2018 - RIP, SWEET GIRL

May 28, 2018 - After over 17 years together, we lost our beloved Mabel. today.  We will miss you so much, beautiful girl. Thanks to our cat-sitter and friend, Anjie, for this amazing portrait  shot of "Baby Mabes"  

She was a beauty from the start with big curious eyes, a strong personality and a loving heart that liked to cuddle...once she accepted us, of course.  We got her from the Chattanooga Humane Society and was the first real decision we made as a married couple.  Ashlee had her eyes on a pure white kitten, but Mabel came bounding out of a group of kittens with a "take me home, now!" look on her face and the rest is history.

Mabel loved sitting in boxes and even riding in boxes.  She would stay in a box as you dragged it around on the floor at dizzying speeds...yet, pretty much hated car rides of any kind.

Cuddling was her specialty.  

More box time.  Mabel led a pretty great life.  The two biggest "scares"over our time with her was the time she passed out after smelling some weed killer out on the patio and being accidentally locked in a closet for 3 plus days while we were at Bonnaroo.  Sorry about that, baby.  

My favorite picture of them all.  Did I mention she didn't like riding in cars??  Man, if looks could kill!

She fought oral cancer for almost 6 months as we tried  expensive chemo treatments in Knoxville and Chattanooga (she was a trooper about being in the car then).  When she started to lose her balance and ability to eat, we knew it was time to make a very hard decision...the hardest we've ever had to make as a married couple.

Mabel loved us equally, but I know Ashlee misses her snuggles very much since our other two cats are not into it very much.

I have always loved how mystical this picture looks.  She's so very serious and concentrating on something.

Mabel was even a local award winner although the subject matter could have been a bit embarrassing...but not to her!

Mabel's best friend was Ms. Bea who showed up as a stray many years ago and slowly became the best of buddies.  The quilt they are laying on was made by my dearly departed mother, so this picture is of immense value to me.  And, yes, I am sure "The Nore" would frown on cats laying on her quilt she made for me! 

Mabel's biggest enemy was Zippy.  Another stray that she never really got used to not matter how hard he tried to be friends.

Some toleration of Zippy occurred later on, especially if there was a mutual interest...like watching it rain.

Good lord she was cute!

We love you, Mable, and miss you so much.  Thank you for your love and attention for all those years.

Yes, you MAY continue to have fun in 2018

Friday, May 4 - This bathroom poster tells it all...we saw Andrew McMahon in the Wildnerness  tonight in a sold out show with several other excellent guest musicians for nearly 3 hours of incredible music at the brand new venue, The Cowan, at the new Top Golf Live in downtown Nashville on a stage with a hilarious and very creative Mr. Rogers Neighborhood theme.    Beforehand, we had a tremendously tasty dinner at Butcher and Bee in nearby East Nashville.

Thursday, May 10 - We attended the Opening Night of the 2018 Nashville Film Festival at the Regal Hollywood 27 Theaters and were thrilled to see Steven Tyler walk right past us shortly after we arrived.  He was there to promote the documentary/concert film Out on a Limb which focuses on him and his recent endeavors into country music while living here in Nashville.

After watching the SOLD OUT film which we thought was pretty good (we could have used more documentary about the ultra-interesting Tyler and less concert footage), we got an additional treat of Tyler not only answering questions from the audience, but also performing four songs with his new Americana-based solo band, Loving Mary, who are tremendous.  They opened with their original song, "We're All Somebody from Somewhere" and closed with the Aerosmith classic, "Walk this Way."  What a great night, and a great deal, as we got all this for mere $25 each.  Thanks, NAFF!

Friday, May 11 - We went over to the far side of Nashville tonight along with Ashlee's mom, Evelyn, to check out "Hoppy Hour"at the Cheekwood Botantical Garden to see the new giant glowing bunnies art exhibit by Amanda Parer called "Intrude."  It was perfect weather for a stroll through the beautiful grounds with low humidity and clear skies.  The exhibit has traveled world-wide and while the nine giant bunnies are cool to look out, their overall message is a bit more ominous as the artists' home country of Australia struggles with an overpopulation of rabbits.

Wednesday, May 16 - We continued our attendance of the Nashville Film Festival tonight with a Tennessee Premier screening of  Leave No Trace starring Ben Foster.  No stars in attendance, nor the director, but a beautiful film nonetheless.  We stopped by Brothers Burger Joint in Berry Hill near the theaters for a tasty dinner beforehand.

Thursday, May 17 - It was another amazing night at the Nashville Film Festival for us.  Unfortunately, we had two conflicting films we wanted to see tonight.  The first was the Michael Franti written-and-directed music documentary, Stay Human.  This was the Southern U.S. premiere of the film.  We got there in time (despite iffy weather and terrible traffic) to see Michael out in front of the Hollywood 27 Theaters and Ashlee even got a selfie with him and I got to shake his hand!  Still one of the sweetest guys we've ever encountered!  His feature started at 6:30 and we had tickets to it, so we slipped in to take in a little of it before our other film started at 7 PM.  What little we saw of the film was beautiful and stirring.   We can't wait to buy it or rent it ASAP to see the entire piece.  

Even though we couldn't stay for his whole documentary film, Michael Franti did serenade us in the movie theater before it started with a beautiful acoustic version of his hit, "(Say Hey) I Love You."  What a treat!  

Our conflicting film we wanted to see was the festival's special presentation of the documentary, All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records directed by, Tom's boy, Colin Hanks, who was in attendance.  We love him in the sit-com, "Life in Pieces," and couldn't pass up the chance to see him in person.  It was a tough call, but we have met Michael Franti before, so we made the difficult choice hoping for the best.  We are so happy we did!  Colin sat two rows behind us during the film.  The documentary was well-done and fascinating, and Ashlee even got a selfie with Colin as well after the Q and A session after the film.  He seemed humbled and pleased by the audience's reaction to his film which was a 7-year endeavor for him.

Colin Hanks talks with the media before the screening of his new documentary here in Nashville.

Friday, May 18 -  We finished off our week of NAFF with the Tennessee premiere showing of Hot Summer Nights with today's Hollywood "it-boy," Timothee Chalamais.  The movie was OK, but definitely not our favorite of the festival.  The highlight of the night was dinner beforehand at Vui's Kitchen in nearby Berry Hill.  The food was simply outstanding!

Saturday, May 19 -  Hooray!! It's our 17th Wedding Anniversary!  We took advantage of the good weather and our pool to make it a rare stay-home celebration.  We did wander into downtown Nashville so Ashlee could take advantage of "Yoga and Mimosas" on the roof-top of Acme Feed and Seed with our friend, Ali (who saved me from having to do yoga, thanks, girlie!).  I did meet up with them afterwards up on the roof for a libation.

We walked back over the Cumberland River to our parked car after the yoga and mimosas and listened to the waters make music on the pedestrian bridge.  Very cool and this also shows what a beautiful day it was.  We hopped back in the car and headed to brunch at Fort Louise in East Nashville.  What a quaint little place and the food was top-notch!

Our last stop before heading back to the pool to drift the afternoon away was to check out the new Mewsic Kitty Cafe, a unique adoption agency where you can interact with the felines before making your choice.  We visited a similar place in NYC a couple years back (March 2015) called the Meow Parlour.  The cats here were adorable including this big lazy who let us give her some belly rubs while sprawled out on the table in front of us .  We weren't in the market for a new cat, we just like to hang out with them!

As I mentioned, the rest of the day we lounged in and out of the pool, had  a few libations and some great stakes and grilled corn for dinner.  A nice and relaxing way to spend an anniversary day!

Saturday, May 26 - We headed up to Clarksville tonight for a visit to Beachaven Winery for their weekly summertime "Jazz on the Lawn" with our friends, Wendy and Charly.  We haven't been here in several years and my last visit (pre-blog) was not a good one as I mixed cold medicine and wine for a pretty bad result.  No bad mojo tonight, however, the weather was perfect, the crowd was cool and the band was pretty good with a lot of good cover songs (none of which were jazz).  

Monday, May 28 -  While I try to keep this blog as upbeat and as positive as I can, today was one of the toughest days in our life together as we had to say goodbye to our oldest cat, Mabel, due to oral cancer.  See her full tribute in the next blog post...