After Friday’s entry, when I said that it was embarrassing that we’d had that damn Amish pantry for a year and it was STILL out in the garage, I decided it was time to get our asses in gear. Fred wanted to wait ’til Saturday to try moving it, but Jean had offered to help us get it inside, so I figured if we tried it on our own and couldn’t get it moved, maybe we could beg her to come out over the weekend to help.
That pantry is heavy as hell, but we were able to get it out of the garage onto the back of the truck, then drove the truck into the back yard, unloaded it onto the walkway, got it on the dolly, and then Fred pulled and I pushed, and we got the pantry up the steps into the laundry room. It had to rest there while we moved the bookcase that was in the spot where the pantry was going, and holy COW was there a lot of dust and crap behind that bookcase. I vacuumed, then I sprayed the wall and floor and scrubbed ’em down, and then we got the pantry in place, and I spent the next few hours organizing my kitchen. I did more organizing on Saturday, and while the kitchen isn’t quite yet organized the way I want it to be, it’s almost there.
Of course, the DOORS aren’t on it yet (they still need a coat of polyurethane), but when they are, it’ll look awesome.
We watched Every Which Way But Loose over the weekend (Fred seems to be on a Clint Eastwood kick at the moment). Or to be more accurate, he watched it while I snoozed through most of it.
I actually laughed at several parts of the movie, but my favorite sections were when Ruth Gordon was on, of course.
“That’s YOU in 30 years!” Fred said.
Indeed.
Saturday morning, knowing that Maura’s new mom was going to be arriving any time, I let Maura out of her room where she’d been sequestered for the week. She immediately came downstairs, hung out in the chair in the computer room, sat on the dryer and looked out the window, and when her mom arrived, she was rolling around on the rug in the kitchen.
This is where, since Maura is now safely ensconced in her new home, I can tell you who her new mom is – Kathy, in Birmingham! Kathy says things are going well, Maura is happy in her new home, and she’s a snuggle bug.
I just love the fact that Maura has a home, that it’s a home with people I can harass for updates on her, and she’ll never have to sit in a cage at the adoption center. It’s no secret that black cats often wait a long time before they’re adopted, and I didn’t want Maura to have to go through that (well, I never want ANY of my fosters to go through that, of course).
Yay for Maura, and yay for Kathy!
Now that Maura is gone, we’re down to just our eleven, plus four fosters. Why, it’s like we hardly have any cats in the house at all!
Except for times like right now, when all four of the fosters are supercharged with energy and flying around like their butts are on fire. They love ALL toys, but they especially adore crumpled up balls of tinfoil. Bolitar carries one around in his mouth and growls at any other cat who comes near. With the money I spend on cat toys, their favorite toys are the tinfoil balls, the milk jug rings, and boxes. Why do I bother buying cat toys, again? (Oh, right. It’s an illness!)
Corbett, considering.
They certainly make themselves at home, don’t they?
“Here is the snacks, lady. Did you forget where they are?”
I’ve been giving the Bookworms a morning and evening “snack” of canned cat food. I decided yesterday to cut out the morning snack. That went into effect this morning, and boy were they confused. They came upstairs after I got out of the shower, like they do every morning, and they escorted me down the stairs to the guest bedroom, like they do every morning. I scooped the litter box like I do every morning, and then I walked out of the room without giving them a snack. You could practically see the question marks over their little heads, like “THAT’s not right!” They followed me around and mewed and chirruped and rubbed up against me, then I threw toys for them, and they were distracted just long enough to forget that they hadn’t had their morning snack and were starving to death.
I absolutely adore them at this age.
Newt, keeping an eye on the chickens. Those two are Sassy and Sissy McGee, our two free-range chickens. They fly out of the chicken yard every morning to wander around our property, and then fly back into the chicken yard at night time. If they were prone to wander beyond our property, we’d clip their wings so they couldn’t get over the fence, but they don’t, so we don’t. (And I really like seeing them wander around, scratching and pecking.)
Previously
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: I call you people SKIMMERS, because we have SOLD the house, fools.
2006: I NEED MY VEGGING TIME, PEOPLE!
2005: We call him… FANG!
2004: Who has more fun that me, kids? That’s right, NO ONE!
2003: No entry.
2002: I think I’ll call him Fredriq, and make him talk in a French accent and squeal with excitement while he’s doing it.
2001: Your shoes are not lined up exactly, and what’s this?? A PIECE OF GRASS ON THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SHOE??? TO THE DUNGEON WITH YOU!”
2000: Exhausting!
I am soooooooo envious! That Amish pantry is beautiful. I love it even without the doors. If it wasn’t so heavy I would have to drive the 400 miles from my house to yours and steal it out of your kitchen!
You would have had better luck stealing it out of the garage. Hey, we left it out there for a year! 🙂
YAY so happy for Maura that she’s in her forever home with Kathy 🙂
Those kittens are SO SO cute and I love seeing their sweet/evil lil faces every day.
Congrats to Maura and Kathy-wishing them many happy blissfilled years togeather. I love it that she is near enough for updates too.
Fred’s book sounds riveting-sometimes a lot of action is nice instead of endless emotion. I don’t have a kindle-any chance of a paper version comming out? Congrats to Fred for getting the book published!
The Amish Pantry is amazing in your kitchen. I could really use one too but need some other things more first-new flooring, a fridge. I will have to check out the Amish furniture store when I hit the flea markets again. There is one here in NJ at the Columbus flea market and probably several in PA-we go to the one at Zern’s because it’s closest to where my Aunt and Uncle live when we visit.
Ok…I saw the jar of Fluff in the cabinet…you are definitely a northerner…I came here 22 years ago and no one had heard of Fluff or Fluffernutter sandwiches. I used to go back to NY to visit family and would stuff my luggage with it. My husband (from TN) thought I was crazy!!
Oh, I’m definitely a Northerner. I rarely use the Fluff, but it’s best to have it on hand. You never know when you’re going to need it, right? 🙂
By the way, thanks for the suggestion on Friday on de-furring the cat beds before washing them. I’m washing a bunch of them today, and will be glad to NOT see the inside of my washing machine coated with cat hair!
If you like hot chocolate…try a big ‘ole scoop of fluff in it…it melts faster than marshmallows and is gooey fun!
Glad you liked the idea on de-furring the cat beds…I do both methods before and after washing sometimes…but I do laundry for a friend who fosters a good number of cats, so you know there is a ton of cat hair to be removed!! And I have to do it outside the house…that’s how much stuff comes off the laundry ; ) YIKES!!
Why do black kitties tend to stay longer in shelters? I’ve had two black cats and they’ve both been super smart (although also fairly diabolical) and sweet as all get out. Do they tend to have bad reputations for some reason?
It’s got to be the superstition of black cats being bad luck, I’m thinking. It certainly can’t be due to their personality – I have yet to have a black cat who wasn’t completely awesome.
Apparently the same is true for black dogs in shelters, often overlooked for a long time. Odd to me as only one of my many dogs was anything but black. Congrats to Fred on the book and Maura finding a loving home 🙂
I agree with the black cats are awesome statement. Our 21 year old black cat has been a good little boy. Even if he wakes me at 4am to be fed and is incredibly demanding at 4pm when I walk in the door, again for more food.
I figure he is ancient, if he wants food, he should get it. I am hoping karma will hit me when I reach his age-equivalent in people years.
PS. YOU, Miz Ander$on are TROUBLE! We went to the SPCA this weekend to pick up a replacement cat buddy for my husband and the 21 year old cat and we ended up with TWO kittens. This here DOG person, blames you and your house of cats. It you can have 20 and still be sort of sane, surely we can handle 3 cats for awhile.
No word yet on how the dog introduction is going to go. I suspect there will be some unhappiness on the part of the cats. For now, everyone is sequestered.
SAH-WEET! I’ve wanted to read Fred’s book for awhile… AND I’m getting a Kindle for my birthday in a couple weeks. Score! 😀
Re: “Now that Maura is gone, we’re down to just our eleven, plus four fosters. Why, it’s like we hardly have any cats in the house at all!”
I was having dinner with friends last week and talking about selling my late father’s house, splitting the money with my sister, and buying myself a small house with a yard. (I’m currently in a small condo with no patio or balcony, but near the beach.) One friend asked why I wanted to move after 30 years in the condo. (I’m 57, and most people my age are going from houses to condos, not the other way around.) I said so no one could tell me how many cats I could have. He said, appalled, “You want more than TWO cats?????”
I doubt he could even imagine the Robyn/Fred household! 🙂
Earlier I downloaded the free kindle version for PC and purchased Fred’s book. I had to stop reading at the beginning of part two to tell you that I thnk it is a wonderful story and I can’t wait to get back at it. I hope this is a successful way for Fred to promote his book. I had a pretty big smile when I read the story’s cat’s name; Mr. Boogers.
Thanks, Catsy – I hope you enjoy the rest of the book! 🙂
I’m on my second black cat and they’ve been nothing but awesome, funny and sweet. Congrats to Fred, Kathy and Maura!!
Darn you, turning me into a cat lover. Kitty pictures 4,5, 6 and 7 are killing me with the cuteness.
I am so so happy for Maura and Kathy.
The cabinet is beautiful. I’m so jealous!
Glad to hear Fred is a “published” author and by the way, because of you, my cats know the meaning of the word “snacks.” 😀
Hey Robin, Our indoor cat Lola is a little over one year old. She is fixed and is not declawed. The problem is that she is stalking the door now and whenever we open it, she runs outside and hides under the neighbor’s car, or in the bushes or under our deck, etc. I’m so afraid she is going to get lost one of these days. What should we do? If she got away, would she find her way home?
Joan, I’ll post your comment in Friday’s entry to see if anyone has a good suggestion, but my suggestion would be to keep something by the door to scare her away – I’d use a can of compressed air or a spray bottle of water. You could scare her away, then get out the door without her escaping.
I imagine that if she were to get away, she’d probably hang around in the area and you’d be able to catch her later, but of course I can’t guarantee it!
Dear cat lovers,
I have a dilemma. So almost every evening I go jogging on this pretty tree-lined path in the middle of Phoenix, AZ (yes, there are trees in Phoenix). And the past three times I have jogged, there is this cute young cat who hangs out near the path. Tonight she followed me part of the way as I was jogging. She has no collar, is kind of dusty from being outside but otherwise looks like she is well fed. I want to take this cat home and turn her into my sweet baby kitty. But what if she has an owner? I don’t want to kidnap this cat and take her away from her family. On the other hand, this beautiful tree-lined path is adjacent to a very busy road. In fact, I saw her attempt to cross the road a couple of times. It is a situation where this cat could get hit by a car very easily. What should I do? I fear for the cat’s safety but I certainly don’t want to cat-nap her from her owners if she has them?
Ann, I’ll post your comment in Friday’s entry just to see what everyone else says, but in the meantime my suggestion would be to bring her home, and then put up flyers in the area. That way, if she has owners, they can get in touch with you, and no harm is done. If she doesn’t, well, then you have a sweet baby kitty! 🙂
I downloaded the Kindle for PC, the sample of the book, read that and had to buy it. 🙂