In the dehydrator right now – cayenne peppers (the red ones) and habaneros (the orange ones). To say the air in the kitchen is spicy is understating it – I can’t take a deep breath in there without feeling like I’m setting my lungs on fire. When the peppers are dehydrated all the way, I’ll grind them up and we’ll have ground cayenne pepper (which I use in some recipes) and ground habanero pepper (which I won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, but Fred thinks he’ll sprinkle it on his food sometimes. We’ll see how THAT goes).
Friggin’ spiders. One built a web outside one of the windows by my desk and then abandoned it, and a small beetle blundered into it yesterday. I figured it would die quickly so I ignored it, but a day later it was still out there weakly kicking and trying to free itself, so I finally went out and rescued it.
And then fed it to one of the chickens.
What? It’s the circle of life!
Note: This is NOT Nance‘s Maddy.
This week has been a tough one here, my dear Maddie cat left us, after a very brief battle with non-regenerative anemia that wore her body down until we decided to do what’s best and put her to sleep. Our big fear was that the anemia was caused by Feline Leukemia or Immune Syndrome, and would affect our other fur kids. Thankfully, it wasn’t, (the vet said it was a cancer, but not one of the contagious ones) but we’re already doing what we can to immunize our other kids (not that they like it much). Could you please alert your readers to the need for immunization against this very contagious virus in cats? I appreciate it! (And so does Maddie!)
Aw, poor Kara. I bet she is missing the kids. Makes me sad. Will she be going to the pet store or is she spoken for?
and
Are you still planning on keeping Kara a little longer by herself after you take the rest of the babies to the pet store?
She’ll be going to the pet store eventually, but there’s such a backup of cats right now that it may be a while. I’d love it if someone happened across her picture on the PetFinder site and fell in love with her (she’s such a sweet thing!) so she never had to stay in a cage – for that matter, I’d love it if someone would fall in love with Kaylee and Zoe online too, because I’d be perfectly happy if none of them ever had to be in a cage. What will likely happen, though, is that Kaylee and Zoe will go to the pet store when there’s room, and Kara will go at a later date. It’ll all depend on how adoptions go – right now, they’re pretty slow.
We used to raise pigs for slaughter on a small scale years ago – I still shudder when I remember what we went through to get those pigs loaded for the trip to the butcher! We tried to do it on our own the first time – after much reading and planning and talking to the “real” farmers. It didn’t go very well. One jumped off the truck even though we thought we had it set up so that wouldn’t happen. My husband ran after it and shot it. We(he) bled it out but the butcher refused to take it if it didn’t walk in. It made me sad for a very long time that the poor pig went through that and was left for the butcher to dispose of.
Anyway, what I really wanted to share with you is what our butcher would do with the pig loins. He’d remove them both, stick a knife down the length to make a “tunnel”, then put the opening over the sausage making machine nozzle and stuff it with garlic sausage. (We always had some garlic sausage made so he just used some of it for the stuffing). Our whole family really loved those stuffed tenderloins roasted up. Something you may want to try sometime if it appeals to you.
I had such a fear that the pigs would somehow break out of the trailer when we were going down the road at 40 mph and go tumbling off the side of the road, breaking a leg or two in the process. I told Fred he needed to bring a gun with us just in case – he didn’t (he forgot), but luckily we didn’t have any problems with the pigs. THANK GOD.
That garlic sausage-stuffed tenderloin sounds FABULOUS.
Also, maybe I missed this, but is River part Bengal? Just curious.
Not that I’m aware of, but we don’t know what his father looked like, since Kara showed up as a stray on someone’s front porch. It’s possible he could be!
My husband just recently bought that same cat carrier but when we put our fat cat in there the top seems like it’s going to pop off. What’s the heaviest weight you’ve put in it? Our kitty is 16lbs, do you think it’ll be fine? I say so but he doesn’t like it.
I think Tommy’s our heaviest cat at about 12 pounds, and I think he strains the carrier a bit. If I were you I’d go ahead and use the carrier, but instead of carrying it by the handle, carry it by the body of the carrier. Also, if you haven’t already, you can reinforce the parts where the top and bottoms join with twist-ties so you don’t have to worry about it popping apart at that point (let me know if that part is confusing, and I’ll post pictures).
I saw this video and thought you’d like it. It’s about a woman who has 500-700 cats on a 6 acre sanctuary. None of them are in cages – they just roam around happily. All of the cats are available for adoption at any time.
I’m pretty sure I’ve linked that video before, but just in case, I’m linking it now!
It would be my DREAM to have a sanctuary like the Cat House on the Kings. In fact, last weekend when Fred and I were dreaming of winning the lottery (we matched ONE number in five quick-pick tickets. Ugh!) one of the things I insisted on was that we’d have a building and a very large amount of fenced-in land devoted to cats, and Fred actually agreed. We’ll see what happens when we DO win the lottery (and we will!).
Robyn, something to add to your book reading queue… and DVD watching queue… solely for you to read/watch it first and report back to your readers, so we don’t waste our money if it turns out to be bad…hee hee.
“America Unchained” — a book + documentary about a British visitor who goes across America not staying in one chain hotel, not eating at one chain restaurant, not even patronizing Starbucks, my goodness! ….only using Mom and Pop establishments ala Alabama backroads…. searching for the America of yesteryear… Sounds very interesting but I don’t know… anyone out there read/watch this? Evidently it won some documentary award.
How about it – anyone seen/ read it? It does sound interesting!
I know you’re a cat person, but this http://thechaistory.blogspot.com/2008/08/chai-story.html breaks my heart. I wanted to see if you would maybe post a little about it next week to help spread the word, since I know many cat people also have dogs.
That is so sad – poor Chai!!!
So we went to see one eyed, one eared rescued kitteh at lunch today. Totally scrawny and beat up but making biscuits and stretching out so looks like a save for the good guys. However, I think foster Momma is going to keep the baby. You know that look you get when you are in love with the baby kitteh? She has it times 10. However, she is evil in that she then shared that they had two kittehs that need homes. Brother and sister, about 6 months old, completely cute and fuzzy and lovely. Names are Owen and Filomena (sp?). Of course we had to go see them and hold them. Owen has white paws which are my huge weakness. Here we were innocently checking in on rescue kitteh and they sucker punch us with the twin homeless kittehs. ARRRGGGH!
Ooh, that is a BRILLIANT woman. Total bait and switch!
I was reading an entry one time, I couldn’t even tell you when! And someone was describing a story to see if you recognized the plot to name the book. Some readers thought it was the Shell Seekers, but other confirmed it was not. I was just wondering if anyone ever identified the title, it sounded so interesting.
I bet you’re talking about the book Elayne was looking for, back in November – her comment is here. So far as I know, she still hasn’t been able to locate it!
Please tell me that Fred did not seriously think that Amish piglets wouldn’t stink and/or behave like other piglets? Religious piety or refusal to participate in the English culture causes piglets to behave differently or causes people to scrub them clean 20 or 30 times a day?
No, he was just kidding. Also, I think he just forgot how very bad the pigs smelled when we brought them home. God, those things smelled BAD. I had to take a shower when I got home, had to toss my clothes in the washer, and I never even touched the damn things, just spent half an hour in an enclosed space with them!
And for the love of god, does the period go inside or outside the quotation marks? I can’t friggin remember!
The period goes inside the quotation marks, I think. I know someone reading this knows the answer, so if I’m wrong, y’all let me know!
I must admit, I’m from New Zealand, and tend to put “r”s on the ends of words when they follow each other. So some how, pizza and beer become “pizzerandbeer.” And a American friend of mine told me once that it’s not “pizzer.” But that’s just how I talk, and if I tried to change it, I’d probably only sound really weird.
As far as I’m concerned, nothing any New Zealander says in that adorable accent could EVER be wrong!
I only have two cats, but I’ve seen them in that pose in front of my back door too. Cracks me up that Maxi didn’t pounce AND that the squirrel was that insane to test those waters. Were the cats making that lovely ‘chittering’ sound as I call it? They always let me know when there is something capturing their attention.
Every once in a while we’ll get a cat to make that noise – I call it “chattering” – but usually they’re silent. Tommy will occasionally meow bitchily and Miz Poo will whine, but most of the time they don’t make a noise.
Ok, this just really wrecks my head. My husband’s stepmother says “twiced” instead of twice. I mean, it’s like she wants to be even more annoying than she already is.
The funniest part of this comment is it’s like she wants to be even more annoying than she already is. I read that and just laughed and laughed, for some reason!
Well, since you don’t like goats have you considered these: http://www.miniaturebull.com Also, did you convince Fred you need a Roku for your streaming video needs?
God, they sure are CUTE. I did try to convince Fred that we need one of those, but he says that at $2,000 each, they’re too expensive. Hey – we could start our own miniature cattle business! We could probably fit 40 or 50 out there on the back forty!
I haven’t convinced him that we need a Roku yet, but I was a Flip video camera before I want a Roku, so I need to space my demands out so he doesn’t start accusing me of being spoiled and spendy. (Which I am, of course!)
But it’s my husband who incites my wrath the most, poor Southern guy that he is, when he says bedroom SUIT instead of bedroom SUITE, and INsurance, and insists on calling fuel gasoline instead of just gas, like the rest of the world.
Please imagine that I am hugging you in complete and total understanding on the suite/suit issue. Here in the South, they said “Bedroom suit” in the radio ads, and it drives me NUTS. NUTS I SAY.
O my! That’s a cute little pudgy belly on your squirrel friend. Wonder where he gets his food? Hmm?
I see where you’re going with this question, and you are WRONG.
I do not bake cookies for the squirrels. I don’t!
(Yet.)
(And only because I haven’t stumbled across a recipe for cookies to feed them. Give me time.)
The squirrels get their food as nature intended. From the bird feeders!
“She’s a sweet little lovebug (though after a few minutes of petting she gets bitey), but I would not be surprised if she murdered me in my sleep”.
Do you have any idea why this happens? My cat also wants to be petted but after a minute or two she gets bitey too.
I think it’s just a matter of some cats have a higher tolerance – Maxi and Tommy are our two who seem to get overwhelmed pretty quickly (maybe it’s a black cat thing?), but some of our other cats – Miz Poo in particular – can be petted vigorously for a long, long time without resorting to grabbing and biting.
Do you have your pets in your will/living will?
No.
This is where I horrify y’all by admitting that I don’t have a will OR a living will. Neither does Fred. And I know I need them both, especially since I’ve turned 40 and could drop dead of old age at any moment! You know what? I’m going to make it my goal to have both a will AND a living will drawn up before I turn 41. Because what happens if Fred and I both die in a horrific car accident?
(AFTER it takes three weeks for people to realize we’re not around, that is.)
I can tell you that Fred and I have discussed what our wills would say – they’d be simple ones; if he goes first I GET EVERYTHING WOOHOO PARTY TIME! and vice versa. But if we were to die at the same time, what we’d like to have happen is, um. Well. I was going to say that we’d leave directions for a large donation to the pet shelter, and that the cats would go back to the shelter (since most of them came from there in the first place), but if I could arrange it so that the cats were to go to good homes instead, obviously I’d prefer that.
So. Who wants which cat?
Zoe. The tucked-under paws make me want to pick her up and squeeze her. In the background, Kara’s in her favorite spot – watching the guy next door sit on the deck. Sometimes she growls at him.
This picture is cracking me UP.
Smilin’ Zoe.
Kaylee has got the cleanest, whitest fur I’ve ever seen on a kitten.
Zoe in the cat tree.
Mister Boogers hets Van Morrison.
Kara, sitting on the wall between the computer room and dining room. Stinkerbelle, under the table, shoots hate rays at her (for being the interloper) and at me for not giving her Snackin’! Time! when she wants it. Miz Poo, on the table (what? We never EAT there!) snoozes away in her favorite cat bed.
Previously
2007: It was someone with a vendetta.
2006: Time to give up the raw vegetables, at least for the time being.
2005: John Cusack, however, has become suddenly completely unappealing to me.
2004: No entry.
2003: I see a little silhouetto of a Poo,
2002: Damn him.
2001: Jayzus, I can’t wait ’til I’m Supreme Ruler of the World, and I can run around ordering the death of people who annoy me.
2000: Here we see Miz Poo at the tail end of a Fancypants swish-by. She looks none too pleased.
I want Joe Bob and Sugarbutt. We have Peanut who looks like Joe Bob and is such a sweet boy. I really need Sugarbutt since our orange tabby passed away and everyone needs an orange tabby.
I want Maxi. I have one black cat and would love another! 🙂
I claim Spanky!!! I will LOVE calling him Skittyboo!
Nope, I do believe you shouldn’t split the brothers up, which means I get Sugarbutt and Tommy. So there.
But I’m more worried about one of you getting killed in a freak back forty (can’t call it farm exactly) equipment accident, not a car one. Tsk tsk, you have the time to create bacon, but not wills. Get on it woman!
I’ve been told the bitey during petting thing is a dominance issue. Not sure how to cure it though. The strays that have tried that with me usually end up just not getting petted, or else immediately put down and left alone, which did seem to cure one of them of it. Another reason I think it’s a dominance issue is that the same cats that will bite at me don’t bite at my husband. Any cat behavior experts out there?
I’ll adopt MzPoo and Mr. Boogers – we all need a little het in our lives I says 🙂
Too bad you live in AL Robyn, I’d LOVE to bring Kaylee into our home!
I’ll take one of the chickens.
Just kidding.
Punctuation answer: The period goes INSIDE the quote marks. Big peeve of mine. Yes, loser. The comma also goes INSIDE the quote marks. However, in some cases, the question mark and the exclamation point go outside the quote marks. But you shouldn’t be using that many exclamation points anyway, so there.
Newt! Newt Newt Newt!! I’ll take him. Orange kitties are my weakness. I’d like to have a cool weakness like Kryptonite or something, but I guess I’ll deal with kitties. Just don’t tell Lex Luther.
‘(And only because I haven’t stumbled across a recipe for cookies to feed them. Give me time.)’
I read that sentence and thought it was going… a recipe for cooking squirrels… 🙂
Our Zoey is a black cat and she also has that bitey-after-a-bit-of-petting thing, maybe it is a black cat thing, survey please!
Well, let’s see. I also had my orange tabby pass away. I’ve mentioned more than once how Sugarbutt looks exactly like him, except with two good eyes. So I should get him. 😉 I also agree brothers shouldn’t be split up so therefore I’ll have to take Tommy. And Spanky because he’s such a happy boy and we all need a happy boy in our lives. Besides he’s really pretty like our Pretty Boy so it’d be great to have two of them. And Maxi, because she’s just so pretty and we can’t split her from Newt so he’d have to come too. And Oh, well, I have to have one more female with an attitude so I’d have to take Stinkerbelle and she can’t be separated from Mr. Het so I’d also have to take Mr. Boogers. Well, hell, I’ll just take them all. 🙂
Oh yeah, our kitty with an attitude is a tuxedo kitty. She’s more black than white and she gets bitey at just about everything. Petting too much, trying to move her from a chair that you want to sit in, trying to clip her nailes, trying to brush her, etc. etc.
Based on your recommendation, I took my family to the Seabasket last week. We all loved it. so thanks for pointing us in that direction. We have been going to Bailey Ilsand for 10 years, but had never stopped in Wiscasset on our meanderings.
I waaant… Let’s see… Yeah, Mr boogers.
wow! am I first to claim Newt?! I’m so excited. You know I have an affinity for orange(ish) kitties.
Thank you for posting the story of Chai. I have never thought about the problems these toys could cause. They seem so harmless. Now I will be more careful when picking out toys for my Lucky dog. How horrible!
Some morning you are going to be preoccupied and you”ll hear a little…. tap tap tap… on your kitchen window and it will be Squirreley Squack waiting for warm from the oven Mz. Robyn’s PeanuteyWalnutPecan cookies. 🙂
As for homes for your kitties… just send ’em up to Kentucky to live on The Creek with us.
BTW… squirrels really like the suet cakes for birds…
You need to get the butcher to save some of the hog fat so you could render into lard to make homemade suet cakes…
Nothing bad is allowed to happen to yall, ever, but theoretically speaking, I want the Boogs and the Poo.
kktytyloveyabye
**I called dibs on Sugarbutt, like, two years ago. Robyn said I couldn’t have him because he’s her secret favorite, but if she’s dead then her preferences don’t matter, so he’s mine.
**I followed the link for the Petfinder thing, and then followed to “Challenger House,” and now I am ready to drive to Alabama and kill the people who think it’s okay to dump two special needs cats after SIX FUCKING YEARS because they got a NEW PUPPY and “the kids aren’t taking care of the cats.” That’s why you’re called a GROWN UP, you bastard. Seriously, can I get the names and addresses of these people? SIX YEARS and they dump the cats? Unfuckingreal.
**I am still looking for that damned book. Every couple of weeks I’ll spend six hours Googling and Amazoning for it, then get disgusted and shriek that I don’t care if someone walked in right now and handed it to me, I wouldn’t read it ANYWAY and I don’t care if I NEVER find it, and then a few weeks later, here I am again. I will srsly bake cookies for anyone who uncovers it for me. And I bake good cookies.
**The period (comma, etc) goes inside the quotation marks in North American (i.e., USAn) punctuation. In the UK (Canada, Australia? not sure) it’s acceptable for the period to go outside the punctuation.
I alter this rule for myself, mainly with ?s, because to my sensibilities
So, did you ever watch “Firefly”?
is vastly preferable to
So, did you ever watch “Firefly?”
An English professor friend tells me it’s wrong, but that’s okay because on this, I don’t want to be right.
However,
He said, “Did you watch the show?”.
is just fucking wrong no matter where you live, unless you’re from Dumbassia.
Anyway, if you see someone who punctuates outside the quotation marks, don’t be too quick to tell them what an idiot they are; they might be thinking the same thing about you, when actually it’s all down to British English vs. American English.
**I nearly had an apoplexy when I found that one of my coworkers had typed in the following address:
John Smith M.D.
123 Main Street
Sweet 14A
City, ST 12345
FFS!!!
I was always taught that the period goes inside the quote if it is part of what is being quoted, but goes out side the quote if it is not.
But, the rest of the world doesn’t call it “gas.” The rest of *The U.S.* may call it gas, though. Sorry, one of my pet peeves is Americans thinking everyone does exactly as we do.
(Note period inside quotes)
Period inside the quote. In Elayne’s example above with “Firefly” and a question mark, it is acceptable to put the question mark outside of the quotation marks. There are exceptions to practically every rule in grammar.
I’d love to take the Boog, even if he would do nothing but het me.
Biting after asking to be petted might be a black female cat thing, but my black male is the lovebug and will stretch out on my lap when I’m at the computer or on my chest when I’m in the recliner reading and be petted for hours. His sister, who has the siamese coloring of their mom, will sometimes bite after a few minutes of petting.
The picture reminded me: When do we get the house tour promised so, so long ago? Huh??
I like that clock, btw.
Um, how far off the track is your place from Atlanta? I may be making a road trip to Hotlanta to visit the family in November or at Christmas. If Kara is still around I will take her back up north to become a Damned Yankee! Of course, she would be forced to wear the occasional Indianapolis Colts attire on Sundays during football season. Not a huge price to pay eh?
I’d have to fight a few other readers, but I’d take Mister Boogers. Oh and Stinkerbelle too! 🙂
My boss just said “bedroom suit” today. Interesting, at exactly the same time, I developed a twitch in my left eye.
I can take this one step further, though. There’s a sign on an empty plot of land nearby that gives me fits every time I see it: WE WILL BUILD TO SUITE. God almighty.
OooOOooo! I have the answer to the bitey cat question. I was reading a book by Dr. Bruce Fogle called “The Cat’s Mind” and he talks about bitey cat. He says that cats like to be petted because over the years they’ve been bread so that their development has been sort of stunted in a permanent kittenhood state. Petting is a lot like what momma cat does when she licks her kittens so they really dig that. Except cats as a breed aren’t really social contact creatures (like dogs are) so it kinda freaks them out to have prolonged contact like a marathon petting session. So while the pettins feel really good, they also wig the cat out because lots o’ touching triggers their fight or flight response. Thus, the cat will hang around until he/she MUST LEAVE ARRRGH! bite and take off.
I have too many cats to take any of yours….not that I wouldn’t love to have a dozen more:)
I am shocked that you have a cat bed on your dining table. Ha! and
I thought “I” was shameless.hee hee.
Also , someone mentioned that Kara and the kitties look part Bengal, well I say they are part Abyssinian. The ticked fur and the big ears scream Abyssinian.
I’ve got one of each.So, I’m an expert yo.
🙂
That was tragic about the dog and the ball. I hope it’s ok if I put the link to the story on my blog .
…One Love Slut Deserves Another Love Slut…. I should get the Poo.. I’ll be a good Momma and put a picture of you and Fred by her bed and tell here how much you loved her and thats why she got to come to live in Washington !!!
“and insists on calling fuel gasoline instead of just gas, like the rest of the world”
Except for the rest of the world, who call it petrol 🙂
“The funniest part of this comment is it’s like she wants to be even more annoying than she already is. I read that and just laughed and laughed, for some reason!”
I suspect it might be for the same reason I did: it sounds like she “twiced” her annoying-ness *heh*
I would like Tommy. Obviously there will be some travelling issues for him, but I’m sure he’ll be really happy once he arrives in Australia.
Also, cats are “bread” now? There’s a sandwich I don’t want to eat!
I’ve watched “America Unchained”, it was on tv here in the UK a few months ago and it’s pretty interesting. I enjoyed it a lot but then I’m a sucker for documentaries anyway. The guy who did it is a British comedian and he’s got a pretty dry sense of humour imop. Worth watching anyway.
I have a black and white cat and it’s the same with her—she will tolerate petting for a very short time and then, that’s enough, possibly a bite and bye-bye. And she tolerates it more plus a nice “cat-hug” in the morning, but she is pretty grouchy at night. So I try to cat my kitteh-love in the morning first thing. I would have a houseful of cats but there is no way she would tolerate that. I plan on getting 2 at the same time next time so they will be used to each other after she is gone, although I hope she lives forever (don’t we all!) And my choice to adopt would be Spanky because, as you say, he’s such a sweet boy.
From working in a vet clinic for 10yrs. Black cats=bitey and very independant, that’s definetly our Gracie. Squirrel color (like Kara)=crazy, misbehaved, that was our Mabel, her nicknames were Bad Missy and Mabel Get Off the Table. Orange tabby=lovers. Torties (Poo and Stinkerbelle)=bitchy whiney. Brown and Black tabbys=lovers, all around good cats. Buffs=always boys, all about the love.
Gracie our black cat really has her own agenda, and we maybe factor into about 5% of her time. She’s very busy, she does want the loves, but on her terms and time limit. We also have an 18 yr old Tonkinese and she does exactly what she was bred to do, sit on your lap constantly and look pretty.
Don’t I feel like a big fat dummy! Apparently, they must say “bedroom suit” in PA, because I thought that’s what it was. I never realized how strangely we PA people speak until my husband’s good friend married a mid-western gal. She lurves to point out how poorly we speak. Oh well, live & learn.
I LOVED that video! What an amazing place and woman! How does she keep peace there? We recently took care of a cat who spent the entire time growling, hissing, spitting, snarling and attempting to attack our cat, Remington, and the dogs. I dare not even think about what he’d have done to our chickens!
Blessings!
Lacy
RazorFamilyFarms.com
GET A WILL! belated assvice.