Do you and Fred still enjoy regular time on the front porch each evening as you did not long after the two of you moved in? OR has “farming” the crooked acres and canning it’s rewards taken up that time?
We don’t actually spend much time on the front porch these days, I’m sad to say. The last time we were out there was the other night at bedtime, because Fred looked out and saw a bunch of cop cars parked along the road with their lights flashing, so we went out to see what was going on (just a license-and-insurance roadblock/ check, apparently). Before that, I can’t remember the last time we were out there! I find myself wanting to sit out on the patio in the evenings, but the table and chairs have chicken shit on them (grrr), so that doesn’t happen. Fred’s talking about doing a covered something-or-other over the cement pad – enclosed, so the chickens can’t get in, that is – so maybe this time next year I’ll be spending more time out there enjoying the weather!
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Ummm, Robyn – just FYI, nobody says “Hubba Hubba” anymore.
I do. I think we should bring it back into common usage. Everyone, go forth and give me a “hubba hubba” in your blogs!
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Are any of your cats declawed? My two older cats are and my kitten scratches everything up like crazy. I don’t really want to get her declawed, but I don’t know what to do to stop the scratching. The other cats seem fine and are happy and excellent hunters, but it seems kinda cruel.
I didn’t even have to answer this one, ’cause Carol said:
Robyn uses SoftPaws for her cats instead of declawing. We had a set of kittens that were scratchers and we ordered the softpaws on Robyn’s referral. Awesome product. They are little rubber sleeves that fit over the claw and adhere with super glue.. they don’t hurt the cat and they cannot scratch you or the furniture. They stay on very well and are easy to put on.. just get the cat in a wrestling hold position and it does go easier if you have help while you are putting them on for someone to fill the tip with the glue (it comes with a thing that fits down inside the tip so the glue is a piece of cake to put in it. Not to mention they are safer, easier and more humane to use than declawing… and a whole lot less expensive if you ask me.
(Thanks, Carol!)
The cat we had when I was a kid (I think I was 13 or 14 when we got her) was declawed, and she was a strange cat, but we can’t blame that on the declawing – she was kept in a cage with a rabbit before we brought her home, so she apparently thought she was a bunny.
Carol’s got it right – we use SoftPaws on Tommy and Sugarbutt, though we’ve gotten lax on that lately. Since they were little when we started, they’ll let us put the caps on their claws without too much fuss. They don’t LIKE it, but they’ll put up with it. You can get SoftPaws at most pet stores, but I think it’s quite a bit cheaper on eBay – search on SoftPaws or SoftClaws (they’re the same thing).
* * *
I really liked Journeyman also, but did you notice that the sound was weird? During the scenes when he was in the past, the background music was louder than the voices of the actors and it was VERY annoying. At first I thought maybe my TV was messed up, but it happened continuously throughout the entire program! The scenes set in current time sounded fine, then the “journey” scenes were distorted. I even made my husband watch some of it just to make sure I wasn’t imagining it! Did anyone else notice that or am I some kinda freak?
I absolutely noticed that; I was having the hardest time hearing what was going on. At one point we went back several times (it was when he came in with the shovel before he went outside, and he said something like “I’m not what you married” or “I’m not who you married” or something along those lines) and just couldn’t figure out what the hell he was saying. I told Fred that we should have watched with subtitles! I hope whatever the problem is is resolved before the next episode!
* * *
I really liked Journeyman.. kind of reminded me of Quantum Leap, which I adored. They need to give us some explanation of why he’s traveling in time, though. He just woke up one day and now has the power to time travel? What the heck is up with that? I thought it was awesome, but I need to know WHY it is happening. I didn’t miss something, did I?
Nope, I don’t think you missed anything – hopefully they’re going to explain it to us in future shows. Toward the beginning he had a headache, and I’m going to bet that has something to do with how/ why/ when he “leaps”.
* * *
I love Lisa L[ampanelli]. She is so funny. Have you seen her stand up special where she’s dressed up in a June Cleaver dress? Pretty good stuff there.
I haven’t seen her special, but I’ve added it to my Netflix queue. I think it’s no coincidence that the roasts we saw opened with Greg Giraldo and ended with Lisa Lampanelli – they were by far the strongest comedians at those roasts. And does Jeffrey Ross do anything but roasts? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him anywhere else!
* * *
Life is DVR’d, KVille, and Cane so I haven’t watched those yet.. have you?
We tried the first episode of K-Ville, and didn’t really care for it – which is too bad, ’cause we like Anthony Anderson a lot. We haven’t watched/ didn’t DVR Cane or Life, so let me know if I should be watching them!
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If we were planning a trip to Maine/New England, say in a year or so … do you think September is a good time to go? Where would you suggest as the most “authentic” New England experience. This is probably the dumbest question, but is there a lobster season?
I think September is a great time to go – the nights are cool, but the days are still fairly warm (in fact, it’s been in the 80s up there this week!). There are a lot of small Maine towns along Route 1 that are worth visiting – I would recommend Boothbay Harbor or Bar Harbor – find a little bed and breakfast to stay at, take a boat out for a tour of the islands, and poke around the shops. If you’re into hiking, you might want to check out Acadia National Park. I haven’t been up that way in years, but I understand it’s a beautiful area.
If you don’t want to go that far north, you could stay in the Portland area – Cape Elizabeth seems to be a really pretty area. I know I have readers in and around Maine – what do y’all recommend?
As for a lobster season, I’ve always heard that they’re best after Labor Day. Whether they’re actually best after Labor Day or it’s just that there’s more lobster available since tourist season is over, I’m not sure!
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I have never seen a black widow up close until y’all started finding them (and photographing them–thanks so much for the nightmares lol). Are they common in Alabama?
Yeah, they’re pretty common. They like to hide under and around things, so a few weeks ago when Fred lifted up a piece of wood he expected to see at least one. If I never see another one in the house again, though, it’ll be too soon!
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Have you guys ever thought about setting up a web cam in the kitty room so we can tune in and watch them run around and play?
That’s one of the things we talk about every now and then – along with a chicken cam and a front porch cam – but have never taken any steps to actually do. I think a kitten cam would be way popular, and I’d love to do it!
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I have a question… have you ever been offered to take your journal “public” (ie, making money off of it in any way; writing for a for-profit site, etc?) I feel as if I have a good sense of why you wouldn’t want to (and I’m glad; I like reading about real people and not products themselves) but I’m just curious if you’ve ever received any offers.
No, I’ve never received any offers, and I’m not interested in that, anyway. The way it stands now, I can write about what I want, slap up as many cat pictures as I want, and take the occasional impromptu week off. If I went public and had to answer to someone, I wouldn’t like that at all.
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What kind of person though would sign their child up for that show [Kid Nation]?! They paid them good money, obviously, but I’m not so sure that’s a wise parenting move. I hope they all get some good therapy after it’s done.
Good question – I can’t imagine sending my kid off for more than a month, not knowing where she is or what she’s doing. On a side note, I’d kind of like to know what that kid Mike’s parents do for a living. Given his propensity for rah-rah speeches, I’m guessing there’s either a therapist or a motivational speaker in the house.
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I have a question for your next round … my cat recently got out of the house without anyone knowing (she goes out on the screened porch but I’m afraid to let her outside completely because we live in the country and I don’t want her getting hurt by some wild animal). Anyway, she must have been outside about an hour before we realized it. She came right back in but every since she has been constantly crying wanting to go back outside. I guess my question is will this eventually stop? I feel bad like I’m letting her miss out on something fun but I really want her to remain an indoor kitty. Thanks.
Yeah, it’ll eventually stop. It’ll probably take some time – and you might be driven crazy in the meantime – but eventually she’ll forget she was ever outside. I recommend you invest in some ear plugs! 🙂
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I thort you weren’t supposed to use ammonia in a house with cats, because it would make them want to pee everywhere?
Is that true? I’ve never heard that – but now that you say it, it kind of makes sense! Anyone ever had an issue with the smell of ammonia making cats pee? Our cats have never done that (as far as I know – and given the smell of cat pee, I think I’d notice. I hope I would!), thank god.
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I would imagine that as the days grow shorter, you will be using the light in the kitchen more, and thus be more visible standing at the sink looking out the window.
Yeah, but we have blinds on those windows and we close them as soon as it gets dark out, so they won’t be able to see us. Besides, if it’s dark, I wouldn’t be looking out anyway, since I’d just see my own reflection in the window anyway.
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Is feeding eggs to chickens promoting cannibalism? haha
I actually had this discussion with my sister the other night. It would be like humans eating their own eggs. We decided that you’d probably have to have about 20 human eggs to even see them – a good omelet would be, what, 100 human eggs? Human eggs are just too damn expensive, I bet.
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So, are you and Fred going to keep tryin’ for a rooster?!
Pacer, we decided to let The Good Lawd bless us however He sees fit. I mean, sure it would be nice to have a rooster to dress up in overalls and play trucks with, but one must not question The Lawd. Besides, we love our Bitchez. A rooster’s a rooster ’til he takes him a wife, but a hen’s a hen all her life (and thus will remain true to her Momma and Daddy and not go running off for greener pastures), you know.
(And the serious answer is that Fred wants to get a rooster so we can produce more chickens and raise them to eat, but I like the dynamics our Bitchez have going on right now, and I’ve always heard that roosters are assholes, and I don’t want some asshole chasing the Bitchez around trying to get some.)
* * *
I once read somewhere that if you have a flock of chickens without a rooster, often times one of the hens will take on the role of a rooster, sometimes even stopping laying eggs. Do you think Frick might be doing the acting-rooster thing (except for the egg laying part)?
I’ve read that, too! Or maybe Fred told me, I don’t remember. Frick could very well be doing the acting-rooster thing – he seems to keep an eye on the other chickens and acts protective if the situation calls for it. There’s a speck (we call the black and white chickens “specks”) who tells Frick how it is from time to time, and he just lets her have her way, like a good man.
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The grocery stores around here are beginning to offer certified humane eggs, but they sell for $2.99 a dozen, on sale.
I’m only posting this part of a comment here to say that when I first read it, I thought it said “human eggs” and had to re-read it. I was going to say that $2.99 a dozen is an EXCELLENT deal on human eggs and you should stock up!
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Just curious if Brian reads your page?
I don’t think he does, at least not on a regular basis. He knows it’s here, and he knows I write in it, but he’s a pretty busy kid, and daily entries about my fascinating life are probably a wee bit less fascinating to a 16 year-old boy. For the record, my entire family now knows about and visits my page from time to time, apparently.
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Just a quick check on e-bay showed that there are people selling jars of jalapeño jelly for $5, shipping and handling is about $5 so I think you’d have no problem selling them. Why don’t you get Fred to make up a little fruit/veg stand and put them out at the end of the driveway, do you think the honor system would work around there?
The problem with trying to sell that stuff around here is that we’re in the country, and most people around here, if they want jalapeno jelly, make their own. And I think I mentioned that we don’t get a lot of through-traffic on this road, so people from other towns don’t go by here much. I did decide to make and sell some jars on eBay, so we’ll see how that goes (of course I’ll link when I’ve got them up for sale, in case anyone’s interested).
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You’re watching “Tell Me You Love Me”, right? Are those the most sex havingest motherfuckers you have ever seen? I mean seriously! Who has that much sex past the hormonal lust of young love? Honestly! I don’t even think it’s particularly hot sex, sometimes I just fast forward through it because watching balls flap around is so very unsexy.
I do not know, honest to god, how men walk around with those things. It seems like they’d get in the way, doesn’t it? ANYWAY. I don’t know if it’s so much that they have a lot of sex as it is that the show seems bound and determined to show us every single time they get it on. Well, plus whatstheirnames, the sous chef and the teacher, are still kind of in young-love stage (or were), and the other two, the funny-looking chick (something about her face bugs me) and the guy who looks like he’s 12 (Palek and Carolyn? Maybe?) are trying to conceive, so they have a lot of “I’m ovulating!” sex. Oh, except for the sex they snuck off from the dinner party to have. Is it just me, or were they kind of loud? I was all “Shhhh! His Mom is going to HEAR you!” My favorite couple, by far, would have to be Katie and David (you know, the ones who aren’t doing it at all), because they break my heart every single show (so far). Ally Walker is gorgeous and I just like watching her.
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I have one of those ice cream makers, but have been disappointed with the results… Do you have a favorite recipe?
After just a few batches of ice cream, I find I’m kind of ice cream’d out for the time being. We did figure out a pretty good recipe that we like – 4 bananas, 3 cups of whole milk, 1 cup of Splenda, 1 tsp of vanilla. Put it all in the blender, run it ’til it’s mostly smooth, then pour it in the ice cream maker, check it 20 – 25 minutes later, stick it in the freezer when it’s done. It’s really more ice milk than ice cream, but the ice cream we made following the recipe in the book (2 cups cream, 1 cup whole milk, sugar, vanilla) was way too rich and greasy. With the whole milk, splenda, and bananas, we get a flavor we like, and it makes a ton of ice cream. It melts a lot – A LOT – faster than the ice cream you buy in the store, but since I like my ice cream kind of liquidy anyway, I don’t mind.
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I just have to ask, about the thigh lift…. I ask because I have been thinking about getting one myself… and a fanny lift (I’ve lost 135 lbs so far and have about 30 more to go)… I also would like the body lift thing too, but the thighs,I just gotta have… so much sagging skin, even in um, ‘that’ area and it isn’t pleasant. I wonder why people aren’t happy with the thigh lift??? any info would be greatly appreciated… there are some days when all this skin gets to me…
If I recall correctly, it’s because there’s so much movement in the area that there’s an issue with the incisions not healing well (anytime you move – walk from one room to another or even just from your bed to a chair – you have to move the area to get anywhere, and moving around messes with the healing process), and I think that can cause a lot of scarring, as well. Anyone out there had a thigh lift they were or weren’t happy with? Tell us about it in the comments!
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1. I love Charlaine Harris’ vampire series, it’s a lot of fun, but I also didn’t care for the last one as much as the others. I do, however, really recommend her new series (she’s written 2 books for it so far) the Harper Connelly series about a woman who’s psychically able to find dead bodies. I just glanced at Amazon and noticed a third one in this series (coming out September 25th). Yay!
I actually just finished
Grave Surprise the other night, and liked it a lot. I think I’m going to have to go out and buy
An Ice Cold Grave soon, because I reallyreallyreally want to know what’s going to happen in Harper’s personal (romantic) life.
2. ie mentioned that she didn’t know where her cat goes all day. Here’s a web site where a guy attached a camera to his cat’s collar to take pictures throughout the day. Fascinating (at least I thought so).
Very cool. I think Maxi and Newt need collar cameras!
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I have two kitties, mother (about 3 yo) and son (about 2y6mo). We suspect Mom was kicked out when she was pregnant (we rescued her from the park) and she remains extremely skittish. We can’t get her to the vet (I think the trauma of trying to actually get her there would do her in) and she’s very very skinny. So I have no idea if she has worms or what. I’m resigned to the fact that she’s not cuddly, but has taken to “deigning” to come inside twice a day to eat something. I have no idea where she goes all day. Oh hey, yeah so that was not a question at all! I guess it’s more of a “do you have any advice on handling her” sort of rambling.
The only thing that comes to mind is drugging her food, knocking her out, and getting her to the vet, but I’m not sure how reasonable a suggestion that is! I think you’re right about the visit to the vet stressing her out too much. Will she let you pet her? I don’t know what to advise, honestly – I know there are readers out there who deal with feral cats. Suggestions?
Second (legitimate question): I bought them a carpet scratchy post with enticing play toy on top of it and they have never shown the slightest interest in it. I think maybe they don’t know it’s ok for them to scratch on it. Any ideas on getting the idea through little kitty skulls?
Are they interested in catnip? If so, maybe rub some catnip on the scratching post. Or if you feed them cat treats, leave some treats around the scratching post. You may have already done this, but if not – try moving the scratching post to an area where they like to hang out. And if the toy on top of the post has a bell in it, I’d recommend smacking it whenever you walk by, just to get their attention and maybe pique their interest. It may just be a matter of waiting until they decide they’re interested. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve brought home a toy or a kitty condo, waited a couple of months for the cats to show interest, decided they’re not interested, moved it, and had them act like it was the
best! toy! ever! Gee we love this, Mom, where’d it COME from?!
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Do you have to pay an adoption fee when you end up keeping one of the fosters? I didn’t know if you’d get a break b/c of your dedicated years of being a foster family.
We don’t have to, but we usually do. The adoption fee offsets the cost of the spaying/ neutering, ID chip, and all the shots and medication they’ve needed, and we can afford it, so we usually go ahead and pay it.
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Here is kind of a morbid question but hey I was wondering. Now that you and Fred are at your “forever” home will you set up an area to serve as a Pet Cemetery when your cats pass on? There is a commercial pet cemetery near the people one where my dad is buried. There was a man who wanted his dog buried with him in the people cemetery (I think he had saved the ashes in an urn when the dog died) and they would not allow it so he is buried with his dog in the pet cemetery. He is probably in better company there.
You know, I haven’t thought about it at all. I think that chances are good we’ll probably go the cremation route and scatter their ashes – though when Tubby died, we had him cremated and buried him in the back yard at the old house (near the fence where he liked to hang out and peer through the hole into the back yard next door like some pervy little peeping Tubs), so… I don’t know! I suppose we could bury their ashes under our favorite tree in the back forty, or have a little graveyard with markers. We haven’t really discussed it, and hopefully we won’t have to think about it for years yet.
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Have you ever taken a Myers-Briggs type test (it’s the one with the four letters I/E N/S T/F J/P)? If so, what are you?
I just went and took it –
here – and it told me that I’m an ISFJ. I went and read the description of an ISFJ –
here – and some of it seems right, and some of it not so much.
ISFJs are often unappreciated, at work, home, and play. See, baby? I TELL YOU AND TELL YOU YOU DON’T APPRECIATE ME, AND NOW RANDOM TESTS ON THE INTERNET BACK ME UP!
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Ok-I’ll admit that I need to see the whole paper-towel-hanging thing. My 13 yr old “Puss” is constantly “over-peeing” his covered litterbox. It drives me nuts to empty it and find a huge puddle of pee to the side of the box. I often wonder if he piles up all the litter and then climbs to the top to pee!
It’s a covered litter box, and I just put a piece of paper towel over the end, like such:
(
image)
and then put the top on the litter box. Spanky pees up the back of the litter box, and the paper towel catches it so it doesn’t drip through onto the floor behind the litter box. Make sense?
* * *
So, my wife and I had to cancel camping plans because of her foot and the fact that, well, she can’t do much while camping. We were thinking of heading south west, and perhaps picking up a kitten…who may be named after a character on a show with a ship that’s not the Love Boat (which turned 30 this year!). So whatchu think?
I think you missed the part where
we adopted her for our own selves, is what I think.
* * *
It’s incredibly difficult to get the kittens to jump into this box and lay down. I have to actually bend down and put the box on the floor. God, I need a nap after all that hard work.
Those are some awesome Crazy Eyes there on the left.
“Lady, all I want to do is chew on your foot and maybe claw at your instep a little. I’m not going to make cute for the camera, so put me DOWN.”
Bless those little bitty kittens. They’re awfully cute and entertaining and despite the fact that we shove pills down their throats in the morning and evening, they forgive easily.
Fight! Fight!
Talk about your come-hither looks!
Such a pretty Eddie Dean.
Stretch-and-yawn. I adore those stripes.
::thlurrrp::
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Is that a smug look, or what? Stinkerbelle seems to be finding her “voice” lately, god help us, and you can often hear her wandering through the house making bitchy little noises at the other cats. They’ve pretty much accepted her except for Sugarbutt, who always hisses at her, then she bitches at him, and sometimes she swats at him. She’s such a little bitch, but she cracks me up (I’m sure BECAUSE she’s such a little bitch).
Full of the het.
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Previously
2006: YOU’RE WELCOME.
2005: Phear my l33t fotograffic skillz.
2004: Dear Stephen King: Stop defending what you did, and just write the goddamn story.
2003: Meet Gizmo.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.]]>