Have you ever read this blog? Her entry for Tuesday is hysterical!
And that’s why you should learn to pick your battles.
I read that earlier this week – and it made me laugh out loud. Can you think of anyone on earth who needs a giant metal chicken more than I do? I would put that thing on the front porch and it would scare all the door-to-door salespeople away. Or if they persisted on knocking on my door, I’d say, “Well, let me ask Alfred. Alfred, do we need supplemental insurance?” and I’d cock my head to the side as if listening to the chicken, and then say “Well, Alfred says we’re fine, but thanks anyway. Alfred! How rude! Don’t say mean things about this man’s tie. I’m sure he’s doing the best he can.” Also, I’d put Christmas lights on it. AND A WREATH AROUND ITS NECK.
Man. I wish I had a giant chicken.
Have you seen this?
Cracks me up!
Yes! It cracks me up, too. (Also, that is one pretty, pretty cat.)
I thought the first two pictures were of Alice, so then I continued to think that the calico was her, and was astonished to see her nursing. I had several seconds of, “WOW” before I remembered about the Spice Calico.
I think Alice would have to be sedated to be anywhere near Maggie. They don’t care for each other at all – but I kind of wish she would, if only for the picture-taking opportunities. Of course, Alice would lead to Elwood, and then Jake and perhaps Tommy, and then there’d be no Maggie left, she’d just be a dried-out husk in the middle of the floor!
Don’t know if you’ve seen this video of a “barking” cat on CNN. I just watched it, could NOT believe that cat sounded exactly like a dog barking. When the cat sees owner approaching with video-cam, it switches to meowing. Amazing!
That is so neat! I thought at first it had to be a trick – like, there was a dog outside barking, but nope. That cat was barking!
Oh! I think the show you were watching was “Too Cute” on Animal Planet? I saw it over the weekend. There was a Persian litter, an Abyssinian litter and a Bengal litter. Was that the one? If it was, did you see when they used the blow dryer on a brand new Persian? The poor widdle ting, with his lips in a little “o.” Oh, and “Tiny Dancer!”
That’s it! It was amazingly adorable – I loved the kitten being blown dry. And it made me realize something that should have been obvious: if I want to get cats accustomed to something, I need to start while they’re still teeny tiny. Thus, with my very next foster litter, I swear I’m going to take them on regular (short) rides in the car (in a carrier, of course), and then give them a treat when we get home. That way, they’ll link the car ride with something pleasurable, and won’t freak out about being in the carrier, in the car! Right? Right!
I’m not going to cut and paste Elayne’s whole comment, but you can read it here. This section especially interested me:
I have known someone with a history of painkiller addiction who would have a glass of wine once every two or three weeks, whenever he and his wife went to dinner – just the one glass, because his wife enjoyed having a glass or two of wine but felt uncomfortable “drinking in front of him” if he wasn’t drinking.
because I’ve heard of this concept, where people are uncomfortable drinking in front of other people. I listen to the KATG podcast, and Chemda (“the Girl”) doesn’t drink and has said that people tell her they don’t trust people who don’t drink. What I want to know is, who are these people who CARE whether other people are drinking or not?
I will say that I immediately thought it might be like when I’m out to dinner and want dessert, but don’t want to be the only one eating dessert. BUT, if you have a glass of wine and your dining partner has a glass of Diet Coke or whatever, you’re both drinking something even if both drinks aren’t alcoholic (ie, if I get the chocolate whatever for dessert I’m not going to insist you also get the chocolate whatever, you can get the blueberry pie, as long as you’re eating dessert and not sitting there watching me eat mine), so what’s the difference?
Clearly I’m not a drinker at all, so maybe I just don’t have the right mindset to understand?
I went to look at all his [Coltrane’s] pictures and ran into a little hitch – all the links to kitty pages go to private pages on flickr that cannot actually be seen. All links from here.
When I had to switch from self-hosting my pictures to having them all hosted at Flickr, I had to make it so that all the pictures I share (even the ones on the sidebar) link back to Flickr. So if you clicked on the picture to go to any of the cats’ pages, you would have gotten to a page at Flickr that wouldn’t allow you to see the source picture, because I had set them to private. There are links under all the pictures that actually go to each cat’s page – I hope! If anyone is still getting the private page at Flickr, please let me know. It’s kind of a pain, but I don’t want to chance being shut down by my host again!
I came here today to show you a website with cute kitties wearing ties
SO cute!
You did forget to address Jill, though! I probably like Jill the most, although she is also nosy. I’m so sad she had such drastic plastic surgery and now looks like she has Scotch tape pulling her temples toward the crown of her head. (Do you read Jay Mohr’s recaps on the Bravo website? They are HILARIOUS! Seriously, he is incredible, and boy does he hate Ashley.) Jay Mohr says that Ashley makes Eeyore look like Richard Simmons. Bwahaha!
I can’t believe I forgot about Jill! I have to say that this season, now that the Bethenny drama is over with, I find Jill less annoying and even occasionally entertaining. I love that she’s so nosy and doesn’t hesitate to ask ten million questions (as in Morocco!) But I wish she would never ever wear her hair pulled back into that tight ponytail, because I don’t think it’s a good look. I like it when her hair is down!
I have now read all the Jay Mohr recaps, and you’re right, he’s absolutely awesome, not LEAST because of his Ashley hatred.
I keep meaning to bring this up about the opening credits to RHoNJ – you know when Melissa’s in the cat suit for Halloween, and she makes the purring noise and then she does these odd jazz hands? Can someone explain to me what this is about, please? Because it makes me want to fly through the screen and decapitate her, it annoys me so much.
Did y’all see the OC “Lost Footage” episode? Because I have to ask: Did Gretchen really keep saying that she wasn’t a good “drawler” (instead of “draw-er”), or was I hearing wrong?
BTW, I think I saw that guy in some funny YouTube videos. In fact I’m sure of it; and they were about cats. Too funny.
That would be the Professional Engineer’s Guide to Cats and Advanced Cat Yodeling.
Love that guy! (And his “assistant” TJ.)
Wow! Elwood is one big (and kinda intimidating) boy, isn’t he?
He is 14 pounds of lurrrrrrrrrve. He looks intimidating, but really he’s a great big lovebug. Until you annoy him, in which case he will put the smack down. You be nice, he’ll be nice. He and Kara have a love-hate relationship. One minute they’re doing this:
The next he’s chasing her around the back yard and she’s hissing at him.
When and why did you stop cleaning at Petsmart? Surgery related? Are you going to go back? Just curious! 🙂
Oh, it’s been a while, definitely before surgery. It just got to the point where I wasn’t enjoying it, and it felt like a hassle to get up and go to Petsmart. Basically, I was hurrying through it instead of taking my time and playing with the cats, and I felt that they deserved better than that. I do occasionally fill in for other cleaners who are going to be out of town (though it’s been a while since even that), and I enjoy that.
I just want to say thanks for still being around. Do you know that you are the very first blog I ever read?
Hard to believe I’ve been around for 11 years, isn’t it? I know that when I first started this site, I didn’t figure I’d to 30 days, let alone 11 (and a half!) years. So thanks for reading, all of you!
I have one thing to say.
PICS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!!! 🙂
Would you believe, for once in my life I didn’t even think about grabbing the camera when I saw that pile. So, no cat vomit pics for you! (Everyone else: you’re welcome. Heh.)
Did you notice that in the cat tree pic, one little monkey is in mid-air?!?!? LOL
Indeed I did! That’s Fergus Simon, and that describes his personality completely – he’s always flying through the air like a wild thing. Nothing slows this boy down.
I keep on thinking that Coriander is actually Alice!! They have quite similar, gorgeous coloring, and are both small! 🙂
It’s my goal in the next week to get a picture of Cori and Alice side by side, so y’all can compare. They do have the same colors, but Alice is not nearly the tiny thing she used to be – in fact, I’d say she’s pretty much an average-sized cat now.
Reminds me of a story here where a woman was arrested at a casino when someone found about 35 animals (cats, dogs, and kittens) in her CAR in the parking garage. She’d been kicked out of her apartment (go figure) and was using the casino’s computer to look for new housing. She’d cracked the windows of the car–this was in summer! None of the animals were hurt or harmed or sick from the heat.
I cannot imagine having, say, THREE cats in my car, let alone 35 cats, dogs, and kittens. Craziness!
As for your (non-hoarded) cats and kittens, Robyn, I swear they get cuter everyday… or maybe that’s just the hats! I swear that Alice has become a full-size cat based on how big the collar power supply is. Is that true?
It really is – I’ll see if I can’t remember to weigh her in the next week so I can see just how big she’s gotten. I had kind of hoped that she’d stay tiny, but I guess she needed to get bigger to fit all that personality in!
I went back looking because I remembered a video of him saying hi. Isn’t it nice to have videos to remember with?
It really is nice to be able to see him again and hear his voice. I actually posted two videos of him – one recent, and one from 9 months ago. I called them both “Coltrane says hi,” as a matter of fact!
By the way, I noticed the traffic noise in the video of the baby robins. Is that “the” road? Sounds like there is quite a lot of traffic.
The road in front of our house is actually busier than you’d expect. It’s the main road leading to one of the area’s biggest employers, so at shift change there’s a lot of traffic. The tree is also very close to the road – here’s a shot from the end of the driveway. That tree near the mailbox is the one with the nest in it.
And here’s a shot from the end of the driveway to the house (you can’t see the tree, but you can see the shadow of the tree on the ground).
We’re closer to the road than I’d like to be – I’d actually prefer it if our house was at the very back of our property. I don’t love living on such a busy road, but if we didn’t live on such a busy road, we never would have seen this house and ended up living here.
IS THAT A GUN in the picture of Newt in his Newt cave??? Do you really discourage outsiders to the farm that strongly?? 🙂
It looks like a pistol with a really long barrel, but then again, I’m from Englandshire, and I don’t think I’ve even held a real gun in my life!
That’s a shotgun. Here at Crooked Acres, the cats don’t take too kindly to strangers.
(I actually had a “the cat don’t take too kindly to strangers” doormat, once upon a time.)
Living in the country, someone (who is not necessarily me) feels safer with firearms with which to protect ourselves. Despite the traffic at certain parts of the day, we do still live out in the country, and some scary people walk past here on a daily basis.
So when I’m home alone and working outside in the garden, I almost always have a gun on me – though not THAT gun.
I’ve never had to use the gun I carry, and to be honest I don’t know that I could shoot someone unless they were coming at me in a crazy-eyed crack-induced rage (or made a disparaging comment about one of my cats)(I kid!), but I know how to aim and fire it. I’m not the best shot on earth, but I could get the job done if I needed to.
(Are ya scared yet?)
In the meowy Spice Girls video, I can distinctly hear two girls yelling for food, but then there’s one who has a teentiny adorable little squeak! Who is that? I almost melted from the sheer cuteness of whoever was going meep! ee-eep! meep! eep! meep!
That’s Cori!
Not to be a busybody or anything, but in future years you’ll need a more hefty support for the grapevine. Think about vineyards in France with wooden fence posts and heavy wire supports — the vines get so heavy that they need that strength of support. Hope this helps. Thanks for letting me be a know-it-all.
Doodle, anytime you want to be a know-it-all, I’m listening. 🙂 I don’t know about needing a heftier support for the grapevines, though – we’re growing muscadines on a similar fence, and they seem to be okay.
Though they are only about three years old. In any case, if we need something sturdier in the future, I’m sure Fred can figure something out. The main reason we planted grapes in the back yard is that we hope they’ll spread out along the fence and provide us with some privacy (the house next door is very close). If they get to be too much for the fence, we can always trim them back.
This has been around several years. Have you seen it? I was able to download this song & it’s always on my playlist!
I had not; that’s very cool. And here I was all impressed with myself for cutting a few holes in a big box and getting Spanky to think it was pretty neat!
Do you recarpet your cat trees? I have a couple that need it, and I have a nice piece of carpet my neighbor gave me when he recarpeted his bedroom, but I’ve never done it before. Do you take off the old carpet? Do you glue it down (what kind of glue?) or staple it or both? I figure if you don’t know, some of your readers will! 🙂
I have never recarpeted a cat tree, so I’m posting this in hopes that someone will have some words of wisdom!
I bought a t-shirt from icanhascheezburger.com a couple months ago, and every time I wear it, it makes me think of poor little Maggie (and I laugh at the same time!). I’ve been meaning to post a picture of it for you for ages!
That is AWESOME! (And in Maggie’s case, SO true!)
We were wondering when Maggie’s babies will go up for adoption?
They’re all set now – we’re just waiting for room to open up at Petsmart. Could be any day. I am going to seriously miss these guys when it’s time for them to go.
Cillian’s just not sure…
“Are you sure these Declan hats are all the rage in England?”
Macushla in a basket!
Looks like Cillian might have a touch of the Loony Jake about him.
Declan’s a helper, making sure there are no groceries in that bag.
I wonder if we could have fit a few more McMaos in that ham-mick.
Cilantro on the scratcher, keeping an eye on her tail.
Clove, batting cleanup. (In the morning, the Spice Girls get their snack upstairs in their room while I’m scooping litter boxes. Usually by the time I’m done scooping, they’re done eating, so I let them out. Then I go downstairs and give the McMaos their snack, and on this particular day, Clove wandered along and realized there were leftovers to be taken care of.)
Dorian suggested, a couple of weeks ago, using a muffin top pan to give the McMaos their snack. It works wonderfully (I usually put a couple of dabs of food in the middle in case Maggie wants to join in – which she doesn’t, lately.) and it’s a lot better than having to juggle an armload of dishes! Thanks, Dorian!
Clove and Fergus Simon, in the cat bed under the table. That cat bed was originally on one of the chairs, but they kept knocking it down, so I gave up and left it there.
Sweet Miss Cori, on the ham-mick in the kitchen. We have three ham-micks in this house, and that one’s the most popular by far.
Sleepy Spices. (Front to back: Cilantro, Clove, Coriander.)
She looks oh so sweet and innocent, doesn’t she? Don’t be fooled! (Clove)
Loony Jake and Alice snuggle up.
Previously
2010: “YOU BETTER KEEP THOSE KIDS QUIET OVER THERE. I KEEP MY KIDS QUIET, YOU DO THE SAME WITH YOURS, YOU HEAR ME?!”
2009: I don’t mind telling you that I’m ready to burn the goddamn house down.
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: For the record, that’s the sort of thing that gives me a fucking stroke.
2004: Oh, Rayford Steele, you manly stud.
2003: Now, do I look like the kind of gal who enjoys hiking?
2002: Some people have wild sex dreams. I dream that I’m chatting with my husband and kissing him goodbye for the day. Somebody stop me!
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
On the drinking alone thing–it never bothers me if I’m drinking alcohol and everyone else has water or coke, or whatever; or if I’m the only one with the water or coke, which is more likely. I wonder if the people who are bothered by it are worried that they might have a “problem?”
I think you hit the nail on the head there. I do not drink due to health issues and medications I take. Diabetes and alcohol is not a good combination due to low blood sugars. Two of my medications state no alcohol on the label. The people who have a problem with my not drinking are invariably the heaviest drinkers who I think are concerned I am judging them. When I do very rarely drink it takes a very small amount to send me flying. Some people seem to resent that. I am in the company of some very heavy drinkers socially at times. I don’t mind the people who have a drink or two and are happy and it’s all good. I despise the people who get very sloppy and combative when drunk. I grew up around that and it will never be comfortable for me. I avoid bars except for an occasional meal for that reason. I don’t usually verbally express my opinion unless forced to. A very intoxicated person wanted me to accompany them to drive someone home. I wouldn’t drive because it was a rare occassion when I had a little alcohol too and my bloodsugar makes a little seem like a lot. I had to tell the person why I wouldn’t go and that they should not drive either. They didn’t drive but they have been hostile to me when we cross paths ever since. Oh well. I know my own life experience would make me ask the judge to excuse me in a drunk driving case if I were ever to encounter one while on jury duty.
I forgot about the dessert thing–Husband does not like dessert (I know, I know, he’s incredibly weird) so I’m used to eating dessert alone. I’ll offer to share with others, but if they decline, that’s their tough luck because they don’t get a second chance.
Robyn, the people who are bothered by those who don’t drink are people who have insecurity over their own drinking. I stopped drinking a little more than four years ago, and cannot count how many people have quizzed me endlessly about why I don’t drink, why won’t I have just one, don’t I want to relax, etc. On a similar note, I dated a guy a few years ago who hated that I didn’t eat sugar or flour, as he felt he couldn’t enjoy dessert due to my diet. I compromised on that, and started eating dessert with him – which rapidly turned into eating sweets all the time. It was a huge mistake on my part. He was the one with the problem, not me. (Between not drinking and not eating sugar and flour, dating can be challenging. A few guys don’t care at all, which is so refreshing. But a lot of them can fixate on it. And it’s not like I make a big deal about it – I order my steak, baked potato, and salad and enjoy every bite.)
As for Jill, she was on “Watch What Happens” after the show last night and looked like her “liquid face lift” has calmed down a bit. She definitely had surgery on her neck and her nose, though. Anyway, the poll question was “Which housewife would you want to be your mom?” Jill won with 32%, and I have no idea who the lunatics are who gave any other answer. I think Jill would be a slightly annoying but very caring, loving mother. The rest are fruit loops. Alex MAYBE would be okay, but then Simon would be your dad and just…no.
I forgot to DVR the lost footage episode, so I’m hoping they show it a few more times (going away this weekend and forgot to DVR the repeat before I left the house this morning)! I’m sure Gretchen said that – language is not her strong suit. (Her strong suits: Wearing a shit-ton of makeup, having bad skin, emasculating Slade.)
How do we feel about Slade? I’ve actually softened toward him. Am I nuts? (Yes.)
I hate to admit it, but I’m softening toward Slade, too. He’s being kicked while he’s down, and it drives me crazy that Tamra and Vicki are pretty much relentless about what a jackass he is. I want to pinch Gretchen’s head off her body when she starts in with the “chubba wubba.” MY GOD THAT IS SO RUDE.
I think Alex would be an okay mom until the kids at school teased me about Alex & Simon’s AWKWARD TELEVISED FOREPLAY and I went on the internet to see it for myself, and then had to poke my eyeballs out with pencils.
I want to clarify about the situation with my friend and his wife and the wine (that sounds like the title to a book):
The wife was of the impression (as many are) that, because of her husband’s addiction to painkillers, he couldn’t/shouldn’t drink alcohol. She didn’t want to drink alcohol in front of him, lest it “tempt” him too much or trigger a relapse if he kissed her and tasted alcohol on her breath or whatever. So she, without saying anything to him at all, simply stopped having her customary glass or two of wine with dinner (when dining out). Her motivation was simply that she didn’t want to throw any wrenches into his recovery. She didn’t make any fuss or complaint over it, and in fact never mentioned it to him at all.
When he noticed that she was skipping her usual dinner-out wine and found out her reasoning, he assured her it wasn’t a problem, that wine and other alcohols didn’t do anything for him anyway, so there was nothing for her to worry about. She was still hesitant, so he had a glass of wine at that dinner to “prove” to her that she could still enjoy her occasional glass of wine without worrying about him. (And apparently they had quite a fuss over it, because she was afraid he was going to relapse and it would be her “fault,” while he felt like she didn’t trust him to know his own mind/body/addictions and that she’d gradually feel that his disease was punishing her, etc. etc., and that’s probably more of their business than anyone needs to know.)
Once she saw that he truly could take or leave the wine, that it didn’t affect him one way or the other and didn’t trigger any binges or relapses, it was a moot issue for both of them. When they went to dinner, she’d have her wine; sometimes he’d have a glass, sometimes not.
Last I talked to either of them, he had about 14 years off the painkillers with no relapses, and no “switching addictions.” Hardcore AAists would say he wasn’t really “clean and sober” because he had a glass of wine once a month or so, but I think that’s presumptuous.
Oh, and:
The only time I’ve personally ever experienced the “why aren’t you drinking” thing is either (1) from people who want to make sure that I’m not in AA/recovery and that they’re not tormenting or tempting me by drinking alcohol right in front of my face, or (2) at parties where it’s sort of expected that everyone’s going to be drinking so if I’m not drinking (which is usually because I am the DD), they wonder if something’s wrong. Once I explain that I’m the DD or whatever, it’s always been, “Okay, cool; well, you know where everything is if you change your mind.” I’ve never experienced the pressure that others refer to.
Oh, and (3) I had a friend who, every single time I saw her, even if it was less than 24 hours since the LAST time I’d seen her, wanted to know if I was pregnant yet (I had no desire to be pregnant), so if someone had alcohol and I wasn’t having any, she saw that as “proof” that I was finally pregnant. She had issues.
I’ve never had anyone ask why I wasn’t drinking, either – Fred just told me that he figured people who ask that want to make sure you’re not super-religious before they kick back and have a good time. 🙂
I have no problem when people choose not to drink, I don’t think I even take note, to be honest. I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to question someone on why they are, or are not drinking. That being said, I wouldn’t like being the only one in the room with an alcoholic beverage in my hand, either. It has nothing to do with being insecure about my own habit- it’s more about feeling like I misjudged the occasion. Perhaps a bit like showing up to a wedding in a sundress and sandals when everyone else is wearing tailored suits and heels.
People used to ask me why I didn’t drink beer. I used to say that to me, beer tasted like cat pee smelled. 😀
And my cats would go insane in that “Mean Kitty” room.
Robyn, here’s a question for next Friday: Is the camera you use one with a lot of bells and whistles? I like the “point and shoot” cameras but the close up pictures you get are so clear that I have a feeling I’ll have to dish out some bucks to get one that good. 🙂
Sometimes I drink a little, other times a lot and when I’m the DD I don’t even taste a drop. The number of times anyone has commented when I didn’t drink can be counted on one hand with fingers left over. Seriously, who are these people who care so much whether or not someone has a damned beer or not?
Oh yeah, the same people who fuss over every morsel everyone is eating. Now THAT’S what I get grief about…what I’m eating or not eating. All of my family/friends/acquaintances are EXTREMELY diet/food oriented (hmmmmm…), so they’re damn near obsessed about what everyone else eats/doesn’t eat.
The best part of being retired is not having to deal with the food drama at work. It was worse than the commuting, shmoozing, traveling, overtime and general office politics put together. People are so damned weird about food.
Robyn, your house looks so beautiful from the street. No wonder people come on your property and bug you…Crooked Acres is an attractive nuisance. 😉
Thanks for turning me on to The Bloggess!!! I SO want that chicken!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol