From Michelle:
While I don’t live in Nashville proper, I do live about an hour north, right along the KY border, and I work in Nashville. It’s been absolutely crazy around here since Saturday morning, and most of us around here who weren’t directly affected have watched in disbelief. And it’s not just Nashville…there are people in the surrounding counties who have been cut off for days with no phone, water, or food who are STILL being rescued by boat.
My home wasn’t flooded, but we did wind up with a very bad leak in a back room & we were pretty much stranded until middle of the day Monday with numerous road closures & flooded areas all around us. Our town is on top of a hill, and it rained so much, so fast, that they were having to do boat rescues in my town. We’ve always joked that if we were flooded, that means everyone else around us would be gone, so that really hit home for me.
One of the hardest things to watch are the families forced to leave there pets behind or refusing to leave because the shelters wouldn’t accept pets. Once again, I fortunately did not have to evacuate, but the thought of being displaced with 12 cats & 2 dogs (or worse, having to leave them behind) absolutely terrifies me, & seeing those people struggling with such a heartbreaking decision with only moments to make a decision really hit home for me.
I hope you don’t mind, but for those interested in either donating or volunteering time to help, this link provides numerous ways to help.
I’ll probably have a blog post about it this weekend, complete with some pictures.
Thanks, Michelle!
Since tomorrow is the question answering extravaganza, my question for you is what happens if the kittens continue to test positive for that FLV is it?
It’s FIV (FIV = feline version of HIV. FeLV = Feline Leukemia.) If the kittens continue to test positive for FIV, well, I’m pretty sure (without directly asking, because ignorance is bliss) that the shelter policy is to euthanize FIV positive cats. However, FIV doesn’t transmit from cat to cat as easily as Feline Leukemia, and cats who are FIV positive can live long and healthy lives. Should they turn out to be truly FIV positive, we’ll keep them here until we can find permanent homes for them. If worse came to worst, we’ll keep them permanently, although please note that AS MUCH AS I LOVE THESE KITTENS, I DO NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN (see: husband, unemployed), so y’all just pause for a moment and send happy thoughts in this general direction, would you?
For those of you who don’t know, the combo test that the kittens were given tests for FIV antibodies. Since their mother was FIV positive, she passed those antibodies on to the kittens through her milk. As they get older, they’ll hopefully shed the antibodies and a retest will show that they’re negative.
(Note: if someone knows their stuff better than I do and I’ve got some part of it incorrect, feel free to correct me!)
It seems to me that you could freeze all your summer fruits in the summer and fall and then make your jam in the winter months.
That’s the plan – we’re hoping that this year we’ll actually get some fruit! Last year, we had a thaw in January, which convinced all the fruit trees that it was bloomin’ time, and once they’d bloomed, Mother Nature came along with a cold snap, and as a result we ended up with perhaps a handful of peaches. Mother Nature is a beotch. This year seems to be going better, so we’ll see – it would be very neat to make peach-habanero jam with our own peaches!
Robyn, I am not a cat person at all. I’m allergic and most cats annoy me.
That said, for some reason I am ass-over-teakettle for Reacher. I’m gonna come over and steal him in the middle of the night, okay? Thanks.
and (from someone else altogether)
Man, Corbett is one cutie-pie isn’t he?
Oh, they’re all seriously cute. One moment I think I’m in love with Corbett, and then Bolitar comes along and purrs up at me. Then Rhyme grabs my foot and chirps at me, and I’m all “I love youuuuuu!”, and then Reacher saunters along and complains about something. They’re going to kill me with the cute, is what I’m sayin’.
I thought of this question yesterday when all the storms were going through the south. Do you guys have a tornado shelter, or a basement to take cover when the big storms are threatening?
We do NOT, can you believe that? And in fact, we don’t agree on where the safest place in the house is when the weather is bad (Fred thinks the downstairs hallway – I think under the stairs). I’m hoping that we’ll eventually be able to get a tornado shelter put in, but if a tornado drops out of the sky in the back forty and heads for the house, we’re screwed!
Laundry. I assume that you still hang it out to dry, and my question is this. Do you hang your towels out to dry, and if so, how do you keep them from being stiff. The only towel of mine that doesn’t get stiff is a $20 towel that my motherinlaw bought. I’m not gonna go out and buy 10 $20 towels! 🙂
The only things I don’t hang out to dry are cat beds (the dryer is better at getting the cat hair off the beds than a breeze would be), and cleaning rags/ dish cloths, because the dryer takes care of the lint that tends to stick to the cleaning cloths. I use white vinegar as a fabric softener, and it seems to help make the towels not quite so stiff, but they’re still a little stiff. I actually don’t mind a stiff towel (pardon me while I snicker like a 13 year-old boy), and hanging them out to dry seems to make them more absorbent than drying them in the dryer (I could be wrong about that, but they certainly SEEM more absorbent).
Anyone out there got any tips on this topic?
I use to work at a bank as a teller and your story was hysterical! It was even better when you got to the dye pack and setting off the alarm! Did the cops show up? I’m also surprised that you were able to get into the vault at an off banking day/hour. Ours would only open M-F and only between certain times.
We had to go to a training seminar given by the FBI on bank robberies. As one of the FBI agents was on stage talking all of the sudden some guy comes flying through the auditorium, waving around a gun (fake, I think?) and a cloth bag screaming “This is a robbery, etc.” As soon as he exited the room the guy on stage told us to write down everything we remembered about the guy. I always thought I was quite observant, but when they brought the guy back on stage I learned maybenotsomuch!
The police didn’t show up – I guess because the teller at least knew not to hit the silent alarm! (That damn silent alarm, I was always TERRIFIED I’d accidentally hit the damn thing.)
When I was going through training to be a teller, I had to go to classes in Augusta for a week. One day was devoted to what to do if the bank was robbed. The lady running the class had us all turn around so our backs were to each other, then she went around and had each of us randomly describe one of the other tellers in training.
Well OF COURSE she gave me the name of the one woman in the class who was of undetermined race – I believe she was part African American, part Caucasian, but didn’t know for sure and didn’t want to offend her – and I did NOT KNOW how to describe her skin color, so I said NOTHING about it at all. She also had this HUGE pair of fluorescent green earrings on that I hadn’t noticed at all. Luckily we weren’t being graded on our descriptions of each other, because the woman who had to describe me somehow failed to mention that I weighed in the neighborhood of 300 pounds, so I guess it was all good.
Do yours do this? When our three furry fools get a treat to eat, one of them plays ‘guard cat’ and sits at the cat flap and watches through the door whilst the other 2 fill their faces. When one has finished, they swap round. It’s remarkably democratic and v. funny to watch. Anyone else have a catty co-operation story?
I so wish I had cats who would look out for each other, but NAY. My cats would cut each other to get to the good Snackin’! before anyone else.
Meant to ask… is the Amish pantry finished or did I miss it? Last I heard it was still waiting to be oiled or stained or something?
The Amish pantry – which can be seen in this entry FROM A YEAR AGO – is finished, and it is residing in the motherfucking GARAGE because we have not yet tried to get it inside. I’ve been harassing Fred about it this week (I’m sorry, how embarrassing is it that the goddamn thing has been hulking out there in the middle of MY SIDE of the garage for a YEAR?), and I think the plan is to try to get it inside later today. If you don’t hear from me again, it’s likely because I tripped over something while trying to carry it into the house, and was immediately crushed by the goddamn thing.
What?? No pictures of the transformed front porch?
I’ll snap a picture once everything’s blooming, promise!
Last time I went grocery shopping, I found myself faced with a similar puzzle: Was brand A really cheaper than brand b? I don’t even remember what is was, but I know I thought of you and I didn’t get any smarter, but I felt better. Love ya!
Did you say to yourself “I am clearly having a Robyn Anderson moment, and should ask for professional help in figuring this out.”? 🙂
Does anyone have a problem with clumping litter sticking to cat’s paws and being tracked ALL over the house? Or could it just be the brands I have purchased?
How old are the cats who are doing the tracking? I ask because my adult cats don’t generally tromp through their pee clumps, but kittens always always always do until they’re about 8 weeks old. (Also, they tromp through their poo, which is especially fun when they’re suffering from diarrhea.) It could be the brand of litter, though.
Readers? Anyone else have this issue and/ or words of advice?
Regarding the bagel pricing…for Buy 1 Get 1 sales, some stores will just charge half price for each package, but other stores will charge full price for the first package and the second package rings up as free (this is what my stores in the Northeast do). Thus if you were only buying one package you may have been charged $2.59. You may have, in fact, saved yourself that $0.09.
What I would have done, though, would be buy two on B1G1 sale, then popped the second bag in the freezer. If you’re going to be toasting them, you can’t tell the difference.
What I love about Publix is that if they have stuff that’s Buy 1 Get 1, each item is half price. But you’re right – I should have just stocked up and frozen the extras. I did that today with english muffins.
Oh, how I LOVE the Buy 1 Get 1 sales.
Another sweet story for you about a mama cat, this time adopting a litter of dachshund puppies.
SO CUTE.
The Gulf oil spill news is terrible too. At least the cement box is supposed to be tried today, hope it works. I found a really good video of the oil spill made by a couple nature conservation pilots yesterday. If you have time to watch it (not long), I think it’s one of the best flyovers of the oil spill I’ve seen.
That is just incredible and horrifying. Thanks, Cara!
Seriously , you take the best kitty pictures ever. Have you thought of doing it as a side business? I am not joking. You seem to be able to capture just the perfect moment and that, my dear, is a gift.
Awww, you’re too kind! I haven’t thought of doing it as a side business, because I’m not so sure I’d be any good at photographing others’ cats. The only reason I’m able to get such good shots of my own cats and fosters is because they’re always right there for me to get a picture of. And I’m not kidding when I say that of every picture I share, I probably toss at least three!
I was vacuuming. They did not approve.
“Why, I oughta…!”
Corbett, grabbing for the camera.
Someone knocked the cat bed onto the floor, and Bolitar came along and decided it was the perfect place for a nap.
Rhyme and the ear floof.
Maura will be going home tomorrow. She’s kinda looking forward to being in a home where she’s properly appreciated, I’m sure.
“Is it time to go?”
Not yet, sweet girl. One more day!
Joe Bob, having slipped his collar, sits on the fence post.
Previously
2009: If you ever thought of mother chickens as being sweet and maternal, get that thought right out of your head!
2008: I choose to believe it recovered and took flight.
2007: “GodDAMN I’m good-looking. Why am I taking orders from this old hag? Am I making enough money to put up with this over-polite shit*? I think NOT. GodDAMN I’m good-looking.”
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Questions answered, and a meme.
2003: Once again, pot-kettle-black.
2002: You can imagine the temper tantrum that followed.
2001: I would have preferred a candy bar, but unfortunately, we don’t got none o’ them ’round these parts.
2000: No entry.