There's an empty feeling in the house without that extra set of feet and her bell ringing to announce her arrival, but she had been quiet and lethargic for a while. I don't know if the other cat has even quite figured out that she's not here, though he may be way ahead of us and have known she was sick a long time ago. She was in a separate room for several weeks, but came out every day and he hung out with her sometimes. Her cage was on the floor inside the door for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon, so he may have stopped and sniffed and realized she wasn't with us any more. She was such a sweetheart. I always kind of figured the old grouchy cat would go first, and then we'd have a few years with just a really nice little cat. The old one isn't bad, he's just incredibly bossy. Right now he's up in my lap making sympathetic and happy purring noises.

Good plan on the bookshelves. If you pull a muscle or otherwise hurt your back doing this, it will make the rest difficult or impossible. The thing I have mastered, as someone who does a lot of projects by herself, is how to take many pieces of furniture apart. Moving it in small pieces is one way to compensate if you don't have a strong painterly back to help you.

SRS