11-6-09 – Friday

Foster kitten calendar for 2010 is now up! ————————–>

 

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I was sitting at my desk yesterday evening after dinner. Fred was in the kitchen doing the dishes. He walked into the room, picked up the phone, and started dialing.

“Who are you calling?” I asked.

He shushed me, hung up the phone, and redialed. A moment later, he did it again. And one more time.

“Holy shit,” he said.

“What?”

He shushed me.

“Wow, really?” he said into the phone. He answered a few questions, and then hung up the phone.

Turns out, he won us tickets to go see Momma Mia!

I bet this means we totally don’t win the lottery this week. He used up all our luck winning us tickets. Damnit!

(We’re taking bets on whether we’ll actually be able to stay awake for the entire show, given that it doesn’t start ’til 8.)

 

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Did I mention that we got a driveway alarm a few weeks ago? We did, and man is it NICE. I’m no longer ever surprised by someone coming to the door while I’m off in la-la land staring at my computer. They come down the driveway, the driveway alarm rings, and I get up to peer out the window like the suspicious old lady I am.

It kind of sucks when they park directly in front of the sensor and the alarm goes off 13 million times when they park, then get out, then walk around their car. That doesn’t happen all that often, though, and I really like having the alarm. Yesterday, the alarm ding-donged, and I assumed it was the UPS man dropping off my new headphones (more on that in a minute), so I ignored it. And then the front doorbell rang, and I figured I’d better check to be sure it was the UPS man, and instead found that there was a white car parked in the driveway.

I went to answer the door, and there was a guy standing there, wanting to know if we had any eggs for sale.

It used to really annoy me when people would stop by to see if we had eggs when the sign wasn’t out, but it doesn’t happen all that often, and I’ve gotten kind of used to it.

But anyway, I have a question for y’all – a large number of our egg customers are Hispanic. Fred and I have both noticed that no matter how good their English is (and it’s usually pretty good – if they can’t speak English, they send their kids or grandkids to the door), to a one they seem to avoid the word “dozen.” They’ll ask how much the eggs are, we’ll say “Two dollars a dozen”, and then they’ll request twelve or twenty-four or thirty-six. Or “two packs.” Never ever do they say “dozen”, and I’m curious if anyone has any idea why that is. Babelfish tells me that the Spanish word for dozen is “docena”, and if I weren’t afraid of looking like a poser, I’d tell them dos dólares por docena.

(I’m not sure I’d be pronouncing it right, though. And I’d feel pretty self-conscious about it, since I know zilch in the way of Spanish otherwise.)

 

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Regarding the headphones I was expecting to come via UPS yesterday: last weekend I was going to vacuum the house, so I got out my good noise-canceling headphones because vacuuming the house is BORING and I need to have something to occupy my brain. Keith and the Girl works well in that respect.

So, my good noise-canceling headphones were only giving me sound in one ear, which was annoying. I took off the headphones, looked at the cord, and saw that the cord leading to the left headphone had been chewed nearly all the way through. I asked Fred if there was anything he could do to fix it, and he fiddled around with it for a while before telling me I was out of luck.

I tossed them in the trash and went to boringly vacuum the boring house, and it was very boring.

Then on Tuesday, I was going to make applesauce, and I got my iPod out, and put my backup headphones on, and the fucking things were only broadcasting in one ear. And the fucking cord had been chewed through. And I cursed Jake and Elwood, who yawned at me and went back to sleep.

(I know it’s my own damn fault for leaving the headphones laying around, but GODDAMN CATS. I can’t have ANYTHING NICE AROUND HERE.)

So I ordered new headphones on Amazon. And they arrived yesterday in the late afternoon.

Wasn’t that an exciting story?

 

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Thanks, you guys, for letting me know that pumpkin is in short supply this year. I’m going to hit Walmart and Publix later today, and hopefully between the two of them (and hell, I’ll even enter Piggly Wiggly if I MUST) I’ll find a can or two. My kittens need their pumpkin! I will not be denied, damnit! If I HAVE to, I’ll buy fresh pumpkins and make and can my own. I will!

 

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I was walking out to the back forty last night to check for eggs and toss scratch out to the chickens (and bring George and Gracie their daily treats) when I heard the sound of something hitting the roof of the workshop, which is located next to the maternity chicken yard. I stopped and looked over, and for all the world it looked like a small branch had hit the roof and was rolling to the ground.

Except it didn’t look quite right, so I took another look.

It was a damn squirrel. The nearest tree branch he could have fallen from was at least thirty feet up. I was sure a fall like that would seriously injure, if not kill, him. But he hit the ground, bounced once, and then hopped up onto his feet. He took one look at me (and at the chickens staring at him in surprise) and ran for the fence. He must have tried to climb that fence in six different places before he finally made it over.

This is not the first time I’ve seen a squirrel fall from a tree, but it’s the first time I’ve seen one fall that far. One day last year, Fred heard one hit the bed of his truck, which was parked in the same general area. I guess squirrels must be fairly resilient; I still can’t believe that squirrel wasn’t hurt. I had no idea squirrels spend so much time falling out of trees.

I’m wondering now if perhaps Maxi and Newt aren’t quite the mighty hunters we think they are. Maybe they just hang out under the trees and wait for squirrels to fall into their mouths.

 

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All your cats get vaccines every year? What do they need to get every year? Mine have gotten the ones they get when they are kittens and the 2 rabies shots and that’s it, really, that is it, I never get them any other shots, they also never go back to the vet because they never get sick. My oldest cat died at 17, he had been to the vet 2x, once as a kitten for his shots and once when he had a clogged urinary tract. They are indoor cats though, so that may make a difference.

I had to look at the printout I got from the vet, but this is what Miz Poo got the other day and which all our cats should be getting once a year:

FVRCP: These vaccines include Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis (FVR), Calicivirus (C), Panleukemia (P). Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis (FVR) and Calicivirus (C) both address specific disease associated with common respiratory infections in cats. Panleukemia, otherwise known as feline distemper, is neither leukemia nor distemper but actually the feline equivalent of parvovirus. This disease, transmitted by feces, bedding, bowls, and other common items, causes cats to shed the lining of their intestines through bloody diarrhea. The mortality rate is 60-90% and there is no cure.

Feline Leukemia Booster: Feline Leukemia is not leukemia, but instead consists of a virus that attacks the immune system. Like FIV, cats do not die from feline leukemia, but instead fall victim to other diseases that, if they had a healthy immune system, would not be a hazard to their health.

Not all cats need the FeLV vaccine. Indoor cats that never venture outside or live with other strictly-indoor cats do not need this vaccine. Although dogs can sometimes bring in the disease, this is not common. Any cat that goes outside or lives with cats that go outside needs to be vaccinated for feline leukemia. This disease is transmitted through saliva and can be transmitted via water and food bowls, grooming, or any moist surface. It can stay active for up to 48 hours on a moist area.

Rabies

Now, the only reason I really want to be sure our cats are up on their shots (and stay up on them) is because (1) Maxi and Newt are outside cats who are allowed inside, and I would absolutely hate it if they brought something inside and got the rest of the cats sick and (2) The fosters we get who haven’t been tested yet. Like I said, we’re careful about washing our hands, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

If we only ever had our cats in the house, and they were all indoor cats, I have a feeling I’d be okay with letting things slide, shot-wise.

 

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Hey! Do you have a rss feed for comments? There are some days I don’t comment but would like to have the comments come to me. I know, I know. You give and give… and we beg for more! 🙂

If you scroll down to the bottom of the entry and click on the number that indicates how many comments there are, it’ll open the comments (or the comment form, I guess). Once that’s open, directly above where it says the number of comments, there’s a link that says “RSS feed.” I’m pretty sure that’s the comments RSS feed, but I can’t guarantee it. Let me know if it doesn’t work for you or you can’t see it, and I’ll… well, I’ll randomly click around and then demand that Fred help me, is what I’ll do. 🙂

 

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Here in Australia, we find pumpkin in the fresh veggie section, I’m always like pumpkin in a can ???? when i read about it. Pumpkin is so nice, steamed or baked are my favorites.

Oh, it’s in the produce section here, too – but I prefer the convenience of popping open a can and mixing it with kitten food rather than having to actually prepare the pumpkin. If it comes down to it, I’ll go buy some fresh pumpkins, cook them, and can them so I’ll have them on hand!

 

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I weighed the Cookies last night, and every one of them is over a pound. Three of them (the girls) were all at exactly 1 pound, 1/2 ounce. Keebler was 1 pound, 1 ounce, and Hydrox was the big guy at 1 pound, 3 ounces.

They’re growing up!

It’s funny, when you look at her, Milano/ Pink looks like she’s noticeably smaller than the others, but apparently not. Maybe she’s just got a big head!

Lorna Doone/ Orange, hanging out on top of the container of baby wipes.

We have this little bitty kitten-sized box in the Cookies room. It was there when the Wonkas were in that room, and they loved to push it around the room. Gus would stand with his front paws on the box and just push it from one side of the room to the other. The Cookies, on the other hand, like to just go into the box and hang out in there. Every now and then I’ll do a head count, realize someone’s missing, and start looking. Most of the time it’s Milano who’s missing, and most of the time it’s because she’s just sitting in the box, staring off into space. I don’t know what she sees, but it’s apparently quite interesting!

Awww, look at who’s a little poser! He totally knows you all have a crush on him, and he’s milking it. Suckers!

“MY GOD IT’S BEEN TEN MINUTES SINCE WE ATE WE ARE STARVING TO DEATH!” Look at Lorna Doone, there, with the determined look on her little face. She’s turning into quite the little climber!

“Hello, SUCKERS. You know you love me. You feed me a bottle and snuggle with me, please?”

Nine times out of ten, when I walk into the room, most of them are snuggled up in this big comfy cat bed.

 

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It’s a big weekend ahead for the Wonkas – tomorrow morning I’m going to let them out into the rest of the upstairs! There’ll be a door (that Fred built) blocking the hallway so that they can only go into my room and the bathroom in addition to their own room, and so that the other cats can’t get to where the Wonkas are. But this means that the amount of space they’ll have will, like, triple. And if they’re anything like every single other foster kitten we’ve had, they’ll end up hanging out on my bed most of the time. They’ll go back into their room at night, but will have the run of the upstairs during the day. I suspect they’ll like it quite a lot!

I don’t know why, but she loves to stand at the back of the water fountain and bend over the top of it, and drink from the top. I keep expecting her to lose her balance and fall in, but it hasn’t happened yet!

“::URRRRRP!:: Oh! ‘Scuse me!”

“Is it nap time?” Indeed it is, little girl. Let’s snuggle up and snooze!

“Who, me? NOTHIN. Just sniffing this fuzz. And maybe eating a beetle. That’s all!”

“Lady? Why you can’t hold that camera straight, ever?”

 

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Miz Poo keeps an eye on Jake and Elwood. She thinks they probably need to be smacked.

 

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Previously
2008: So, the Crooked Acres election results are in!
2007: Goddamn bossy fucking cars.
2006: With a squeak, she fell into the tub and just sat there for a moment with a look that very clearly said “Do you believe this shit?”
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: So, Jackie, how’s the weather up there in Vancouver Washington?
2002: My life. So very exciting.
2001: Instead, when the question was posed to him, he looked at me as if I were perhaps mentally deficient.
2000: Have I mentioned that I love that man?
1999: And when you’re not good at something, unless you’re hugely delusional, you pretty much know that you’re not good at it. Even if you don’t know, there’s always someone more than willing to point it out to you.