In my comments yesterday, Paula K asked:
Can you further discuss the pruning of the tomato plants? I’ve been the caretaker of the tomato plants for a couple of years now, but other than weeding and a few shots of Miracle Grow I don’t do much else, but if you advocate pruning then I can prune – I’d just like a primer because without one I’d likely hack off something important.
What I did was, I Googled for information on pruning tomato plants, and I read closely and extensively, particularly this page. And then I went out with a pair of sharp scissors, and I wildly hacked willy-nilly at the tomato plants.
I’ve actually never pruned tomato plants before, but the way there were branches laying on the ground last year annoyed me, so I made sure to cut off the lower branches of the tomato plants. And then I went through and I clipped the suckers off the plant (“suckers” basically being – you know how there are branches that go off to the side and directly above the branch there’s a much smaller branch with just a few leaves on it? That’s a sucker. It has no purpose, it just sits there and sucks energy that could better be spent by the plant toward making tasty tomatoes.) Once the lower branches and the suckers were gone, I just kind of looked over the plant, and hacked off any branches that looked like they had no purpose.
I have no clue whether I did a decent job, or if the tomato plants are all going to react to my hacking at them by tipping over and dying. We have two freakin’ rows of tomatoes, though (there are TWO of us, and I don’t intend to make tomato sauce this year, because the tomato sauce I made so carefully last year? Still sitting in the freezer. Apparently we really just don’t use tomato sauce. You’d think I’d have known that.), so if a few of them react poorly, I’m not going to cry too hard.
And in my comments last Friday, Aimee said:
I was wondering if you knew of a home remedy for urinary tract infections in kitties. One of mine has been to the vet several times for having crystals in his urine – and now he’s on a med that supposed to sooth his bladder lining and make him relax enough to go potty – it worked for awhile and now he’s back to peeing like every 5 minutes – but he’s going, so he’s not blocked. I’m kind of tired of the – let’s go to the vet in case he’s blocked and then he’s not, but they keep him overnight and charge me $600. ::sigh::
I don’t know of a home remedy for feline UTIs, but I suspect that someone out there does. So howzaboutit, y’all, any suggestions for Aimee? Those $600 vet bills are THE SUCK.
And lastly, in my comments yesterday, Elaine asked:
By the way, what is your opinion about the whole Jon and Kate disaster? I only knew about them from reading your blog. And watching The Soup.
When the stories first hit the news that Jon was hanging out in bars and groping co-eds, I just shrugged and figured we were seeing the tabloids do what they do when things are slow – making up stories where there are none. Then I saw the video of Jon leaving a bar and calling some girl “babe” and I began thinking, well, maybe there’s truth to the rumors. Then I heard the rumors that Kate was having an affair with her bodyguard and I rolled my eyes and stopped thinking about it at all.
This is what I think – are Jon and Kate having affairs? I don’t know. I don’t care. It seems pretty clear from last week’s episode that they’ve both checked out of the marriage.
I think Kate’s a douchebag for giving an interview to People Magazine.
I think Aunt Jodie and Uncle Kevin are douchebags for giving interviews pretty much to anyone who asks. Do they have a right to be concerned about their nieces and nephews? Absolutely. I’d understand it if their interviews were about that alone – but they’re also tossing out little tidbits about Jon and Kate’s marriage, about how the whole happy-family aspect of the show is a sham. For that, I think they’re douchebags (and could someone let Aunt Jodie know that that shade of lipstick is doing her no favors?).
I can see how they got sucked in by the money, because I imagine having that kind of money roll in is nice to see. And I actually don’t think that the kids were too adversely affected by the filming for the first few seasons. I think the kids just saw the film crew as more people around who were paying attention to them. But they’re older now, and they’re more aware of the world around them (“Look! It’s paparazzi!”), other kids are going to tell them what the world is saying about their parents (if they haven’t already), and I think it’s time to end the show.
I don’t know that Jon and Kate will voluntarily stop filming, though. There’s the money, and I think that her protestations to the contrary aside, Kate enjoys the fame. I’m sure she doesn’t like the negative things people are saying about her, but hey – take the bad with the good, right?
In retrospect, and I know my opinion wouldn’t matter to the Gosselins, I think what they should have done is maybe a yearly special the way the McCaughey Septuplets did (are they still doing those? I feel like it’s been a few years.) Of course, that wouldn’t have brought nearly the amount of fame and money the show is bringing them now, and it seems that that’s most important to Jon and Kate right now.
(Of course, that said – I’ll be watching every show they televise because I love the hell out of Leah and Aidan. I mean, I like all the little kids, but those two are my favorites.)
And then Boo‘s comment cracked us all up!
I satellite shop all the time because people are stupid and wander around in a daze with their carts akimbo so it’s quicker for me to stash my cart and zoom off to get whatever and bring it back. The only trouble I’ve ever had is when I forget where I’ve parked the cart; no one has ever taken it. That said, one day I was shopping at Sam’s Club and doing the satellite thing but when I came back, the cart was gone. I knew I had parked it RIGHT THERE! but no cart. Then I noticed some ‘fucking assfaced motherfucker’ wheeling around with a cart that had my two or three things in it. I stalked her cart steeling butt until she wasn’t looking, then I thieved my cart back! Ha!
When I caught up with my husband, I was all “I’m a rebel! Bitch thought she could thieve my cart but I DON’T THINK SO!… … …Uh…babe? Why do you have a cart with my stuff in it too?” Turns out my husband took the cart without telling me and some poor lady had put exactly the same two items in her cart as I had in mine. Whoops.
Speaking of the Gosselins, here’s a little tidbit even Fred doesn’t know – Kara (Upstairs Momma) is actually named after Cara Gosselin. When I was trying to come up with a name for her, I thought about Maddy and I thought “Huh. We’ve used the name Maddy, I should use the name Cara now!” Except that Cara had been used in the past by the shelter, so Kara it was.
I actually was going to name Kara’s kittens after various Gosselin kids, but most of them had been used, and then someone suggested names from Firefly, so I went that way instead.
Your bit of trivia for the day!
Annnnnd speaking of Kara….
Would you believe that this little cutie:
Grew up to be this beauty:
And would you believe this sweet little charmer:
Grew up to be this stunner:
And this little sweetie-pie:
Grew up to be this camera-shy cutie:
That first cat is Kaylee, Kara’s kitten from last year. We referred to her as “the raccoon” because, well, she looked like a little raccoon. The people who adopted her sent a picture to the shelter manager, who forwarded it on to me.
The second cat – Mr. Gorgeous – is Nate (he was “River” back then) and the camera-shy cutie is Dora (“Inara” back then), both of whom Katherine adopted last year.
I showed Kara the pictures so she could see how pretty her babies grew up. She yawned and asked if it was snack time yet.
I know that, inside, she’s deeply proud of them, though!
(Please ignore the hair. I’m in desperate need of a hair cut.)
Phyllis and Creed love to climb up onto my shoulders. And then they just sit there. Well, Phyllis sits there – Creed usually jumps down after a few minutes and goes to find something to play with (usually Dwight).
But Phyllis just sits there.
And sits there.
Then sometimes I have to put her on the floor to go do something, and Phyllis? She is not pleased. And she gives me the sad eyes.
(So I just pick her up again. Whatever it was I had to do, it can wait!)
Spanky studiously does NOT look at me when I’m holding the camera. I think he’s hoping I’ll just go away.
Previously
2008: I assume if I were on the verge of death, someone would have come running in to save me.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: “I like cheese, just not on a salad.”
2003: Now, how motherfucking stupid does the man think I am?
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
Oh my Gawd! Boo’s comment about stealing what she thought was her shopping cart cracked me up!
I find it amusing that, esp with Jon seemingly checked out completely, Kate is always still perfectly coiffed with make up, nails, etc. I know women with one or two kids that don’t manage that, yet there is Kate always impeccably groomed. Granted, other women don’t have cameras following them all day, but still. She’s turned into such a media whore, I’m not sure I feel very sorry for her. I know she wants her own talk show, but puh-lease.
My parents wouldn’t ever look at the camera for pictures, either. I think my mom thought they looked more candid or organic that way, but it looks really funny, like she sees something REALLY interesting in the corner of the ceiling.
Your babies grew up!! That must have been a treat to see what they turned out to look like. All very pretty and look very happy and settled.
Shoulder kitteh is teh cute! 😀
Do I want to know why Nate is in a drawer of pickles? heee.
Aimee – I’m sure he was helping with the cleaning of the refrigerator. Not only gorgeous, but HELPFUL!
Nate is THE CRISPER. You thought it was the drawer all along, didn’t you? His mere presence keeps the veggies fresh and ready for you to enjoy!
We just watched Serenity and the Train Job from the Firefly DVDs, much thanks to you and your readers. Enjoyed the heck out of them. Love Nathan Fillion. We will be getting the remaining episodes when we turn in the ones we have right now.
I think Miss Kaylee is just the prettiest thing. How beautiful she turned out. I remember her teeny tiny babiness and seeing her all grown up brings a tear.
Did you watch the I’m a celebrity get me out of here telehorror last night? We laughed our you know whats off. I think this might be my guilty pleasure this summer along with Wipeout.
OMG – I love the picture of Phyllis and you looking at each other. The look on your face is classic.
I once had a cat who got a lot of UTIs and we ended up giving him gravel root tincture when he started showing signs of it. It seemed to help a lot–he never had a blockage again one we started doing it. It’s been a long time and I can’t remember dosages, but googling quickly found this: http://www.caninediabetes.org/supplementsuti.html (about 2/3 of the way down. I’m unclear on whether the dosing listed there is for dogs only, but on other parts of the page she seems to make a distinction when it’s different for cats vs small dogs). I think we usually only had to give it to him for a couple of days at a time.
Robyn,
I had a dream last night about you. You were doing a sort of video-entry (what’s the name for those?) where you had mounted a camera to your shoulder so it was as if we were peering over your shoulder as you went about your daily tasks. You were cleaning in the kitchen and then you said how much you love having a septic system because it makes laundry so easy – you just drop the towels right down the sink (and here you.. just dropped the towels right down the sink) and the septic tank gets them nice and clean. Then you went into the bathroom to clean in there, and you said that for sinks with small drains, such as in the bathrooms, it was easier to flush whatever dirty clothes you had down the toilet, and you demonstrated this with a pair of socks and a pair of jeans.
You said that the septic tank had a sort of grid over the top of it, and the clothes got caught up on the grid, and the water and chemicals would wash over them from subsequent flushes/sink-drainings/etc. Then all you had to do was go out once a day, hoist the grid up, and let the clothes dry in the sunshine, and it was just the best thing ever. You said the only problem was when it was rainy and you had to haul the wet clothes into the house to dry, and I was yelling at my computer screen, “That’s the ONLY problem? The piss and shit and stuff that rushes over your clothes every time you flush a toilet, THAT doesn’t bother you in any way?!? Have you LOST YOUR MIND?” But it was the internet, you couldn’t hear me.
The worst part is, in the comments, people were saying what a fabulous idea that was and how they couldn’t believe they’d never thought of it, and several people said they were going to re-do their standard “city water” hookup and switch over to a septic tank system so they could do the same thing. Others said they’d also been doing it for years, and I resolved never to leave the house again lest I accidentally brush up against someone who washed their clothes this way.
You owe me several hours of sleep! (c:
Rereading my last sentence in the second paragraph, I’m LOLing:
On the internet, no one can hear you scream.
*snerk*
Kaylee is the prettiest calico I’ve ever seen. If there were a Miss Calico contest she’d be certain to win.
I was reading your past entries about your tummy tuck. You did a great job of discribing it w/o being too graphic. You are a very talented story teller. And no I’m not “blowing smoke up your ass” as my better half would say. I just believe in giving credit where it is due.
Elayne, you have the most interesting dreams of anyone I know or read about.
What about Beulah and her sister? Did they get adopted yet?
Is the vet sure that the cat doesn’t have urinary tract disorder? My cat had a blocked urinary tract due to crystals in his urine and it was a huge vet bill, over $1000 to fix. In the end, we switched our cats’ diet to all wet food with a snack of a couple spoons of kibble (Wellness + Prescription Diet S/D) and he’s been fine ever since.
Re: Aimee’s cat problem – I know that there are different varieties of crystals in the bladder, so my experience may not be relevant, but here it is anyway. My cat had this issue (diagnosed as FLUTD = feline lower urinary tract disorder), and we cleared it up with diet. The Hills prescription diet S/D (as Dora mentioned) initially to get things under control, and then C/D as a maintenance diet to prevent the crystals form forming again. If there are crystals in the bladder, it isn’t an infection (UTI) problem at all, but an issue with the pH of the urine (either too acidic or too basic – which will result in two different kinds of crystals). A special diet should fix it. The prescription food ain’t cheap, but much cheaper than the overnight vet visits! And kitty will much appreciate not peeing out those crystals. (glass shards through the urethra? not fun.)
I too have a shoulder cat we call “Monkey” . He makes it hard to put mascara on, to get your arms through a bra, and to sneeze. He is SHOULDER KITTEH! And dig in and defend his shoulder he will do! (much to my dismay!)
I have a male, orange tabby named Tangy who has the crystals problem too. He occasionally has to have an antibiotic, but recently the doctor had me get the Royal Canin Urinary SO. A medium bag of the hard morsels is about $23.00. I mix it half and half with Tangy’s regular food. He seems to be doing okay with it, but we have just started. I was worried about the taste since he is finicky, but he LOVES it. One warning I was given was that the food will make him want to drink more water so I put out more containers full of clean water for all of my pets. The cats prefer to drink out of a cup on the edge of the bathtub though.
hey , lol , love your blog and the pics . i have a question for you?
i use to have cats all the time as a kid and they had kittens so i use to cats and kittens , i just moved out to my aunts and she lives in a different provence then my mom and dad. she got her first cat not to long ago , it was a stray that was kind of thrusted onto her or something . anywho she got a cat , its a small thing fully grown , and it goes in heat none stop more then a regular cat should , she does not have the money to get it fixed at the moment as she is a singal mom with 2 teens and 1 kid . i came to help out but i dont have the money eather at the moment anyway , the kids let the cat out when she was in heat about 3 weeks ago and i can tell she is prego , this is my aunts and her kids first pet minus the beta that they had that the cat ate on ariveing here . and no one is happy about the joys of kittens , is there a way other then bringing her to the vet and waiting out the 64 days , to see if she is prego and how do i get my aunt and cuzs more cudly to the idea and ready for them if she is .
Oh my, if we lived in the same coutry I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from popping down to get the little racoon kitty. And she turned out to be gorgeous. She was one of my favorites.
Thank you Daisy, Dora, and Emily. I’ll look into some of those options. The vet put Salem on C/D but he HATES it. and with four other cats, I can’t keep him out of the other cats food. We’ve agreed to disagree and I’m giving him the wet food he likes because the vet said that most important part is that he’s hydrated.
I’ll have to ask her about that other prescription food. Thanks!!!