I took a relaxing bath one night with a bowl of sorbet, a glass of wine, and some votive candles. Percy the cat came to visit me and maybe get a taste of the People Soup. While he was sniffing around, he set his giant fluffy tail on fire and was completely unaware of this and therefore quite confused and upset when I splashed him to extinguish him. He took off like his tail was on fire. I made my husband chase him down and make sure he was no longer on fire.
You would think I would have had privacy in the bathtub after that incident, but you would be wrong.
This comment made me laugh and laugh, probably because I could completely visualize it!
I think I know why you don’t use that bathroom much. The proximity to the area where the magic happens makes it undesireable right? The guest bathroom at my last job was located about six feet behind my desk and if anyone made a larger “deposit”-OH MY gross!!!! One coworker was doing just that after lunch every freaking day until the boss had a little talk with him. He lived near by and started to go home for lunch. I couldn’t believe he had to be told not to do it.
I don’t use it to pee in either, actually – I think the problem is that it’s small and dark and kind of unfriendly looking. Even if I’m in the computer room and I suddenly have to pee like nobody’s business, I’ll almost always go to the hallway bathroom near the front of the house. Maybe if I decorated the little bathroom I’d use it more often. We have actually talked about turning that bathroom into a pantry, because it’s so seldom-used, but I’m sure that the instant we did so, we’d desperately need to have a third bathroom!
Do I spy an orange belly that needs to be rubbed on Fred’s chair? The rule is in our house that if they show the belly, it MUST be rubbed.
(Please ignore the ripped-up portion of Fred’s desk chair. They don’t sharpen their claws on that chair anymore, but they did some serious damage to it. He needs a new chair.)
Indeed you do! And that’s Sugarbutt, who spends 60% of his time laying on his back waiting for someone to rub his belly. Sugarbutt is the happiest cat on earth, I swear.
” told Fred I’d seen the shot across the bow” OK I’ve never heard that expression before…what does it mean? Also, I have two cats that are 6 years old an still like to suck on a blanket occasionally.
Gina explained better than I could have, I think:
Like a warning shot – the rest of the army is following behind so prepare for the masses that follow. War is on!
I love the look of your house. And I have to giggle when you talk about deboning chickens (even when they hide under the turkey in the freezer) and swatting bugs and making jams and all that stuff and I think back to when I first started reading you (a gazillion years ago) and you were a squealing girly girl!
Oh, don’t you worry – there’s still plenty of squealing girly girl left in me. I’m just less patient than I used to be, so rather than squealing and insisting someone else squish the wasps, I do it myself – and then I shudder about it. 🙂
I have some pictures of me with big glasses like that and I remember loving them and thinking I was so cool at the time! It’s fun to look back. Was your hair permed or was it natural?
Oh, my hair was permed, BIG time. This is what my hair looked like before I started perming – mostly straight, but with a bit of curl to it when it got long enough.
Age 10
Age 13ish
And then the perming began!
Junior prom
Senior picture
Age 18 1/2 or so. God bless the ’80s, I hope this kind of hair ridiculousness never returns.
If “THE ALPACA IS SCREAMING” was a code phrase, he would NOT have bellowed it. It would have been said, somewhat curiously, in a normal tone of voice; And the reply would have been, “It’s wool is too long.” Then he might have said, “I’ll have to shear him soon.” Haven’t you watched any spy flicks lately?
But seriously, it does make me wonder what the hell is happening to his alpaca!
Good point! I did a quick Google and found that alpacas scream when they feel threatened, so maybe they’d been having a problem with predators, which would definitely explain his quick exit!
I feel quite certain that if you sifted through the remains of TrailerDude’s home, you would find a journal that read:
“They keep feeding perfectly good cookies to those pigs. But do they bring a neighbor cookies? No.” and “How many damn cats do they have? Every time they open the door 4 different cats come out. Never the same 4 cats, though. What is going on over there?” and “Those chickens have a nicer home than I do! I wonder if they’d build a pen for me?”
I think you are absolutely right! (This made me LOL.)
I just have to share my “Anderson dream” with you. Last night I had a dream that I was volunteering at your farm with a few others while you and Fred took a vacation. I was watching the chicks out in the yard and a flock of vultures (do vultures even fly in flocks??) was flying overhead and I knew they were after the chicks! I grabbed your leaf hands and scooped up the chicks and carried them to the barn. (in my dream you didn’t have chicken coops, you had this huge barn, with many different rooms. I left them in the main room with their mamas and went back outside because someone told me there was a goose with a broken wing wandering around and I knew if I could get him inside Fred would nurse him back to health. I found the goose and got him tucked into a room in the barn but then I couldn’t find the chicks and hens! I was wandering all around the barn looking for the maternity room and walked through the foster room which had spaces for all the kittens- the cookies, the Bookworms, The Wonkas and True Bloods were all there! THe next room was the foster dog room and there were all these people there hoping to adopt some of the animals but the volunteers were telling them they had to wait for you to get back from vacation so you could approve them. And for some strange reason there was this HUGE Elk staring into one of the barn windows!
How much do I love it when you guys have dreams about us? SO MUCH do I love it! And they always make me laugh.
Hi Robyn, Although it can’t compare with your cute pices, here’s one you might like, a kitteh eating a banana (cute dog pics, too):
http://purinaanimalallstars.yahoo.com/?v=8364595
Too cute!
How do you “oven-fry” your tomatoes? Is that a Maine-thang? We are not from The South and don’t know any better so have only tried dredging them in cornmeal and frying them stovetop.
No, I don’t think Mainers eat fried green tomatoes that much. I oven fry them using this recipe. I much prefer them when they’re made properly, fried in oil on the stovetop, but they’re pretty good oven fried, too. Fred’s watching his girlish figure, so we try to keep the fat to a minimum ’round here.
I didn’t catch if there were any screaming children on your flight(s). There were on my (six hour) flights BOTH WAYS. God hates me.
Nope, no screaming kids on the flight to Myrtle Beach. I find that screaming kids mostly only amuse me these days in a “Thank god that’s not me!” kind of way.
My darling little (15 lbs) marmie boy is starting a new & nasty habit. He hisses at & then charges every kitty in sight! Including his sister that he never beat up before. Any suggestions on how to stop sweet boy from turning into a bully?
Good question, but I don’t have any good advice. Anyone else have advice on how to stop the bullying?
Doesn’t Reacher look like one of Kara’s babies? I’m forgetting the name.
Good point, one that a couple of you mentioned. Kara’s baby boy River, who’s now known as Nate, could be Reacher’s twin. Here’s River/Nate from shortly before he went to his new home:
And here’s Reacher:
Maybe Kara’s just trying to figure out why Reacher looks so familiar!
I have a crush on Reacher and I’m 46, what does that make me?!
Oh, I think “Cougar” still works! 🙂
And oh the dishwasher – one place every kitten seems to love. I guess the food smells are the attraction. My question is do you do a headcount before you start it – because at our house, even though the cats are all big and you would see them in the dishwasher, Brad has to do a headcount every time he loads it (I am not that crazy – I can just look in the dishwasher to see that there are no cats there). At your house that would be a lot of counting!
I don’t do a headcount before I start the dishwasher – though I do glance inside just to be safe. The only time I do a headcount is in the evening when we bring the cats inside, and then I only double-check to make sure all the Bookworms are inside. I’m less worried about the older cats being locked outside, because they know if they come to the back door and bang at the cat door, we’ll hear them and let them in. I shudder to think what would happen if one of the Bookworms was locked outside overnight!
Have you seen or heard of Caboodle Ranch, a shelter for cats? Google it, if not. It’s awesome!!
I’ve definitely heard of Caboodle Ranch – I love seeing the pictures, and I read the blog regularly. I think it’s amazing!
You and Laurie both do an amazing job geting great kitty photos. I have often wondered what sort of magic or drugs (just kidding) you guys use! Of course there are probably 15 deleted photos for every good one. Keep them coming!
I can’t speak for Laurie, but there are definitely a large number of deleted pictures for every one I use. Thank god for digital cameras – can you imagine how much it would cost to have all those pictures developed? I saved over 2,000 pictures last year!
When they’re relaxin’ at the house, are they still on Petfinder?
Oh yes, they’re still on Petfinder, still completely available for adoption. Don’t forget, you guys, if you know anyone in the Alabama/ Tennessee area who’s dying for an awesome cat, steer them this way! 🙂
You know, Topher & Dorian (i.e. Mike & Gus) totally have the same fang toof thing going on. It’s adorable.
Does Corbett or Reacher drool while purring like Topher does?
They don’t drool while purring, no. But I do notice some step-sibling resemblances. When Buster complains about something, he reminds me so much of Mike/ Topher’s complaint meow that it always makes me stop and hug him. I don’t know if Gus/ Dorian still does this, but when he was little and he was eating, he’d lean low to get a piece of food, then sit up straight and eat it, lean low and get another piece of food, straighten up and eat it. Corbett does that, and it’s seriously cute. Also (as you’ll see below), Corbett doesn’t have quite the magnificent ear floof that Gus/ Dorian has, but he has some respectable ear floof going on!
I love the way Reacher and Corbett are basically the same pattern, in different colors.
See? He’s got a little bit of ear floof going on!
Pretty Corbie.
I was laying on the couch watching TV, Miz Poo beside me (as always), and Starsky wedged himself in between us, then promptly fell asleep.
Hutch likes “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Hutch, kneading and sucking on the blanket.
“Hi. Hi! HI! Belly rub, please?”
Pretty Spanky.
Previously
2009: The goddamn lady asian beetle invasion has begun.
2008: My poor Poo.
2007: I have no idea on earth how we’d ever tell if a chicken was insane, since they seem to lean toward The Crazy even when they’re (we assume) perfectly normal.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: In case you were wondering, we are officially Crazy Cat People.
2003: I always look like a fucking lunatic when I take my own picture.
2002: (Is it just me who always thinks of Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally saying “I would be pleased to partake of your pecan piiiiiiiiiiiiie” when I hear, say, or read the word “partake”?)
2001: (For the record, her verdict was that the real-life prostitutes were “creepy”.)
2000: No entry.
1999: And going blind would just suck.