Robyn’s recipe for toasted pecans: put pecans on a baking sheet, spread out. Put in preheated 300º oven. Remind yourself not to forget about the pecans.
Immediately forget about the pecans.
Some time later (possibly 20, but I honestly have no idea), while you’re doing something else in the kitchen think to yourself “Huh. What’s that smell? It kind of smells like… oh, shit!” Open the oven, take out the dark brown pecans.
Let them cool.
They are fucking fabulous.
Y’all are some mouse-hating weirdos. How can you hate things that are SO CUTE? (That’s rhetorical.)
For the record, I’ve lived in this house for two years now and we’ve never had a single mouse wander into the house. I mean, it would have to be a particularly suicidal mouse to wander into the Den o’ Killers. Of course, it’s entirely possible that mice HAVE wandered into the house only to be immediately eaten, but while I don’t particularly endeavor to have a mouse in the house, I probably wouldn’t scream and clutch my pearls, either.
Well, wait. That’s not true. I’m sure I WOULD scream and clutch my pearls when one of the cats pounced upon the mouse and bit its head off. I’d much rather deal with a live rodent than a dead one with a missing head.
That’s just me, though.
Generally speaking, if one of the cats has caught something and I think it can be saved, I save it – whether it’s a mouse, a squirrel, or a bird. If it’s past the point of no return, I chalk it up to the cirrrrrrrrrrcle of life. Joe Bob caught a mourning dove yesterday and ate it in the back yard, but by the time I saw him chomping away, the dove was past the point of being helped.
Damnit. I kinda like doves, too. Stupid Joe Bob.
Speaking of signs of Spring and things that make people shudder, the influx of wasps has begun. Luckily, at the end of Wasp Season last year, I purchased a bug vacuum off eBay.
This bug vacuum not only sucks bugs into it, it also has a “high voltage grid” inside, so it sucks the wasp inside and then electrocutes it.
The wasps that are coming inside are small ones, ones that I would consider to be baby wasps. So far I’ve had to kill about ten of them (and Wasp Season hasn’t really even begun in earnest), and to tell the truth I feel sorry for the poor baby things.
And then I realize that baby wasps grow up to be adult wasps, and I electrocute the shit out of those fuckers.
We’ve had a bluebird hanging around lately – I’m hoping he’s looking for a ladyfriend and will make a home in one of the bird houses, ’cause I think we need some baby blue birds ’round here.
We call this “Somethin’ done killed the dawg!”
We took Spanky to the vet yesterday morning. For the past little while, I’ve been noticing diarrhea in the litter box. Of course, there was no way to know who was leaving it, and we talked about setting up the webcam to see if we couldn’t figure it out. When Nance was here, she happened to walk into the laundry room at just the right time, and reported that Spanky was the diarrhea bandit.
Add to that that he’s been vomiting a little more often lately (he’s always had a sensitive stomach) and Fred thought he’d lost a little weight, and it was clearly time to take him to the vet.
A physical exam turned up nothing obvious, so they had to do bloodwork on him.
As it turns out, he’s having issues with his kidneys – his BUN and creatinine levels are elevated, necessitating some medicine and a change in diet for the next month at least. It won’t hurt him to have a bite or two of the other cats’ food, but we’re going to start giving him some special canned food in the morning and evening (and we’ll have to watch over him while he eats, because Mister Boogers is an ass and more than interested in Spanky’s special food). We gave him some of the food last night, and he’s giving it two paws up, so that’s good.
He’s 12 1/2 years old, so no doubt it’s time for him to start having issues, anyway. He’s hardly ever given us any trouble except for a urinary tract infection several years ago.
He’s a good skittyboo.
Previously
2008: “You realize,” I said to Fred as I watched Tommy diligently lick the top of Miss Stank’s head, “Even if we wanted to, we could never get a divorce.”
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: I’m a total freak.
2003: She’s home!
2002: Of course, my sympathy for him will only last until he poos in the hallway instead of the litter box again.
2001: I am the dumbest dumbass in the whole wide world, I really am.
2000: Sometimes, they lay on the floor and perform for us.
I’ve been sending messages over the ocean to tell Spanky he has to live for ever. I hope it works. Give him an ear-cooch from me please.
The picture of the “dead” dog kills me… in our house we’d say, “There’s been a terrible accident!”
I love Spanky good baby. There’s a kitty in our neighborhood that likes to sit in our yard and on our fence and he looks like Spanky. So when I see him, I always say, “Hi Spanky!” He thinks I’m crazy. He’s probably right.
And what Amy said above is hilarious. Must use that phrase.
Get well soon sweet Spanky boo!!
ummmmm, Robyn, I know you’re a city girl technically, so you may not know this. Wasps build “nests”. They are brown, and look a little like a honey comb. This is where they lay their eggs. Perhaps you should take a few moments and try to find the nest, and irradicate it. That might greatly reduce the amount of wasps that get into the house. =0)
no need to thank me, I spread sarcasm, sunshine and snark to all my “friends”.
thanks for announcing to the world that I am the diarrhea police. Hee!
Poor little Spanky. He looks SO much like my cat, it’s uncanny!
Haha Amy – In our house we’d say “Look! Somebody shot Jesse/Janey/Jack.”
So funny!
Poor Spanky. I hope he feels better soon and that the new food and medication help along with some good old fashioned Crooked Acres spoiling. I just love the sweet little orange-and-white kitties.
Miya has been struggling with kidney issues as well, and she’s probably 14 or 15 and is still doing well. We were feeding her prescription dry food, but it was such a hassle to try to keep the others out of it that we ended up feeding them all the food after getting an OK from the vet. Wet food is probably a lot easier to keep the other kitties out of, I’m sure 🙂 We haven’t had to give her any medication yet, but I’m pretty sure she’ll need it soon.
Awww, I love the Spankster. He’s my favorite Crooked Acres critter. (and lord knows, I love all of your critters) Our cat, Katie, lived on a special diet for her kidneys and lived until she was 15 years old. She did just fine. I know Spanky will too! And of course, he liked the cat food, isn’t he usually always fine with everything? Also, LOVE the dog pics!
Awww… Spanky. He is my favorite of the Crooked Acres Gang. Get well soon little kitty boo. 🙁
Sweet Spanky-face! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
I have a 9 year old cat named Edgar. I have called him Deadgar for years because it looks like someone killed him and flung him at the wall and he slid down in a strange pile. I used to wake him up because he looked SO uncomfortable. But now I realize he just sleeps weird!
Bitchypoo…not just entertainment but a learning tool as well! I always thought it was morning dove, not mourning dove.
My cat has had kidney problems since he was 2 and he’s now almost 13. He had a really bad crash about 3 years ago. We give him iv fluids every other night and he’s doing very well. Some people say it’s cruel, but we figure 5 minutes of discomfort and 47 hours and 55 minutes of feeling good. He’s mostly bothered by having to sit still while the stuff drips into him.
I don’t mind my cats killing mice, but I absolutely hate the way they torture the mice in the process. Mine do not bite the heads off and be done with it. Oh no. They just bite them hard enough to stun them, then watch for a twitch, then bat them around like a favorite toy. Then leave them to die in pain. Damn cats. I try to intervene when I can, but it’s not always possible. [I know – circle of life.]
Robyn, I love the image of you “screaming and clutching your pearls”. So funny….like something out of a 1940’s movie. I might have to borrow that phrase from you sometime, if I may. (And I think those mice are very cute too.)
Also, I love the bluebird pictures. Such a beautiful bird! I sure hope he finds a mate and sets up housekeeping on Crooked Acres, so we can all see some more of those great pics. Thanks for posting those!
My cat has kidney problems too….chronic renal failure which was diagnosed a little over a year ago. Unfortunately he HATES all three of the available varieties of prescription food formulated for this condition, and refuses everything except Fancy Feast (which my vet tells me is basically junk food for cats), so count yourself lucky that Spanky likes his new food! My cat also gets the medication they give CRF cats now…probably the same thing Spanky is getting…(Fortekor?) He is doing quite well on it, and he’s almost 17. Unfortunately, it seems that CRF is quite common in older kitties, but the vet tells me that many cats live for years with it, so the chances are good that you and Fred will still have Spanky with you for a long time to come.