Attention, Alabama and Tennessee residents!
The North Alabama Spay Neuter Clinic is now open in Huntsville. They charge $35 for feline neuters, $45 for feline spays, $55 for canine neuters, and $65 for canine spays. The only cost above the basic charge is $10 for the rabies vaccination if you cannot provide proof that your animal has been vaccinated in the past 12 months.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ANYONE CAN USE THE SPAY AND NEUTER CLINIC. You do NOT have to qualify! There is no extra charge for weight or if the cat/ dog is in heat. Ear tipping for ferals is free.
The clinic also provides FeLV/FIV test and heartworm tests for $20 and the other vaccinations for $10, but those are completely optional. They’ll also do fecals!
The North Alabama Spay Neuter Clinic web site is here.
Please please please pass the word. I know there are so many people who are unfortunately put off from having their cats and dogs spayed and neutered by the potential high cost. The fewer unwanted kittens and puppies who are brought into this world, the better.
Maybe one day there’ll be no such thing as unwanted cats and dogs. Wouldn’t that be lovely?
Remember last week when I told y’all about the lady next door sitting out on her deck and talking to those two men in business casual dress, and how I was very curious about who they were and kept watching them out the window? You guys suggested they might be selling religion or could be census takers. They stopped here after they were at the next door neighbors’ house, and of course I didn’t answer the door.
They came back Tuesday evening at 8 (which is far too late to be knocking on peoples’ doors, if you ask me), and Fred answered the door and went out on the porch to talk to them.
Turns out they were selling supplemental health insurance. Fred listened patiently to their spiel, lied and told them we already had supplemental health insurance, and when they started asking questions (ie, which company we had the insurance through), told them he was uncomfortable answering questions like that asked by strangers who showed up unexpectedly one night.
They backed off on answering the questions.
They also did that thing I’ve occasionally witnessed from door-to-door salespeople where they start naming off people who live in your neighborhood like it’s somehow persuasive. Like you’re going to be all “Bob Jefferson signed up for the insurance? Good ol’ Bob Jefferson! I need me some of that insurance too, then, good ol’ Bob Jefferson knows his shit. Sign me up for what you gave Bob!”. They told him that the lady next door had signed up for it, and this person and that person. They went on to tell him that people in our area were “very excited” to have the opportunity to sign up for supplemental insurance.
“Very excited.”
Somehow, I doubt that.
They also told Fred he was “hard to get hold of” and that someone had told them to watch out for “the blue car” if they wanted to talk to the man of the house. I don’t know which neighbor passed along that nugget of information but HEY THANKS, NEIGHBOR! APPRECIATE IT!
Fuckers.
We didn’t buy any supplemental health insurance because (1) we don’t want supplemental health insurance, thanks and (2) if we wanted supplemental health insurance, we’d go out and find a place to buy it. The only door to door salespeople I’d ever bust out the wallet for these days is Girl Scouts, assuming they’re selling Girl Scout cookies, and I can’t remember the last time a Girl Scout knocked on my door.
Scenes from around Crooked Acres.
I made a big batch of Ina Garten’s Chicken Stock over the weekend, and canned stock on Tuesday. I ended up with 7 pints and 14 half-pints, and a quart in the freezer.
I think the dog snack situation has gotten out of hand.
The squash plants are overrun with squash bugs, but the bees keep pollinatin’, bless their hearts.
The patch of weeds where the squash plants were.
The Copper Marans hen stalks me when I’m in the garden in hopes that I’ll toss her a tomato.
I always do.
Squash bug, that’s okra. You don’t eat okra! (Squash bug, RIP.)
Habaneros, when you gonna ripen?
Maxi keeps me company in the garden.
Assassin bugs, climbing up an okra plant.
Squash bug eggs. After I took this picture, I squooshed ’em.
Girrrrrl, you KNOW he’s not going to call you!
What the cats dragged in. I put the quarter there so y’all could see how big that damn bug is, and Reacher had to come get involved.
Copper Marans hen and her babies, dust-bathing.
Good news! Lieu was adopted Tuesday evening. Fingers crossed that this one “takes”!
This is exactly the color of Moxie’s eyes. You can’t see the rest of her, but at least you know what color her eyes are now!
A rare shot of all three of them.
Melodie, giving me the sass.
Melodie – in my lap!
She’s had just about enough of your shenanigans.
Rhyme in the sun.
Corbett in the chair (you know that chair is there for the SOLE reason of supporting a cat bed, right? I’m not even kidding.)
Bolitar, on the table in the front room.
Bolitar, close up. He has such pretty eyes. All my Bookworms do, really.
Reacher, keeping an eye on everything.
He was sound asleep like this. With the temps hitting 100+ lately, he’s been spending his mornings out in the back yard and his afternoons sprawled out like this in the house.
Previously
2009: One day, my marriage was complete and happy with just the two of us.
2008: Yeah, I don’t believe me either.
2007: No entry.
2006: The man KNOWS romantic conversation, doesn’t he?
2005: That Jane, she’s a smart and wily one.
2004: No, there are no current plans for Fredbyn offspring.
2003: I think we’re going to change Miz Poo’s name to Miz Money Pit.
2002: No entry.
2001: Picture entry.
2000: The word of the day is shopping.
Oh my, supplemental health insurance salesmen, what next?!? I have a small sign on my front door that says: No Soliciting. When salesmen show up, I point to it, shut the door. I do the same for religious peddlers — and always get the same, “But, I’m not selling anything.” To which I reply, “Yes you are, you’re trying to sell me your religion.” Then I close the door.
In that last photo Moxie has the “basement lolcat look” going for her! She has gorgeous gold eyes.
“Girrrrrl, you KNOW he’s not going to call you!” I’m still laughing out loud!
I had a guy stop by our house last year selling insurance. I went outside in the wind and sort of spitting rain to meet him when I saw him pull in. He got out of the car and asked if we could stand on the back porch. From there, he could see into the kitchen and asked if we could sit at the table to talk. I am so *freaking* polite that I said, “Sure” and let him walk into my house. Then he asked for a cup of coffee. It was then that the warning bells finally, belated, started to go off (nobody EVER voluntarily drinks my coffee). I suddenly realized we were in my house, in the middle of nowhere, ALONE. I told him he needed to leave and he suddenly started trying to lecture me about how I needed supplemental insurance and trying to scare me with how sick we could get. That just pissed me off more and I was pretty adament that he needed to get out of my house immediately. I wished later that I’d taken a minute while he was there to start calling the people on his list who were ‘thrilled’ with his opportunities. It’s a small town and I knew exactly which names would NEVER have bought anything from him. But I definitely win a stupid award on this one. There clearly is such a thing as TOO polite.
is that a burpee seed “time to plant” clock behind those jars of chicken stock? i covet one but they cost about a jillion bucks on ebay!
Gotta keep those harbls aired out, lol. 🙂
Tell me you gave that caterpillar to the chickens, I just know they’d love that fresh protein! My gawd, those orange eyes are gorgeous! I love the plant pics, you are a damned fine photog.
I see Moxie’s got the golden eye glare down pat. She has been trained well. Pepper has that same glare.
My parents had to yank up their squash plants because of the squash bugs. They are terrible this year.
Sugarbutt has got to keep his harbls cool!
I just love the marks next to Martin’s eyes. It looks like he got into the eyeliner!
Speaking of unwanted animals, we had another stray dog show up. It’s mostly hound with some boxer mixed in. Vet said that likely, some redneck hunter tried to train it to hunt, and when he didn’t take to it, the hunter released him so he wouldn’t have to feed him anymore. I can’t tell you how enraged the situation makes me. If you know of any hound rescues, please let me know. I’m willing to drive if need be to make sure he finds a good home. He’s such a sweet dog.
Those Bookworms are stunning. They’re so gorgeous! I’d take them all in a heartbeat if I could.
I also have another kitten question. I’ve had to keep my sisters separated because of the conjunctivitis, but it’s much better now, so I’ve re-introduced them this morning. They recognized each other immediately and there was no posturing or anything, but they’ve been fighting non-stop. Is this normal? They’re just reestablishing dominance/territory? Will they settle down at some point? I mean, I can’t spend the entire day distracting them with toys! (They’re just over 3 months old.)
Man. Gomer, my 16-year-old three-legged cross-eyed scaredy cat, was a hell of a lot easier to deal with! 😉
LOVE the name Gomer-so adorable!
Friday question!
Holy cow – keith & chemda broke up?! I haven’t listened to the show in quite a awhile but this blows my mind and my next thought was…what does Miss And3rson think about this?!
I love me some large orange cats, but when they show their bellies, I am a goner. : )
I have a sign on my door that politely asks solicitors to leave and take their brochures with them or throw them in the trash can I conveniently located next to the door. We get the drive-by solicitations hanging all kinds of crap on the door or stuck in the frame. I used to get paranoid wondering why they always wanted to clean my house and cut my lawn, but now I “toss without reading”.
How about letting some chickens in the garden during the day? They might help with the squash bug problem!
Tall lanky golden eyed Moxie is a VERY cool cat! I keep thinking Moxie Crimefighter like Penn or Teller’s daughter. I’m picturing her in a cape and googles.
Goggles! Creative bad spelling/typo excuse of the day-dialated eyes-can only use that one once a year!
Oh. My. Goodness. The caption under the ladybug picture made me guffaw out loud. You are incredibly creative. And, the last picture of Sugarbutt displaying his family jewels absolutely needs to be submitted to the harbl website. That’s perfect! And, after the ladybug caption I KNOW you’ll come up with something fantastic to go with such a picture. Let us know what you submit.
Thank you so much for my daily dose of smiles. It’s so silly, but I look forward to your pictures and your writing every day. Puts all the big stuff into perspective.
I love photo Thursday.
Okay, my designated dog treat area isn’t quite as packed as this. But then, I only have one (spoiled TOTALLY rotten) dog.
Maxi looks to be pretending to be a jungle kitty.
The only thing better than watching ladybugs get it on is getting to see a picture of it here with a hilarious caption. Hey, I’d rather watch the insects have sex than deal with a door-to-door insurance salesman. BTW, I love that Fred lied to them, then told them to stop prying. Perfect.
Question, question, question Friday. What is the name of the driveway alarm that you have? Is it easy to use and where can one be purchased?