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Good lord, is it just me, or is this month FLYING by?
We’ve had weeks of the weather people promising that rain would be coming in about five days, only to arrive at said day, to hear the weather people laughing nervously and saying “Did we say it would be rainy TODAY? No, sorry. I meant in five days!” Rain has been perpetually five days in the future. It was like we were trudging through the desert toward a mirage. Finally, Tuesday not only did we get rain, we got pretty much an entire day of on-and-off rain. Already, everything looks greener and happier. AND they’re saying that we’re supposed to get more rain tomorrow! I’m not holding my breath, but it’d be nice.
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Yesterday, I was outside filling the bird feeders. One of the things I do when I fill the bird feeders is toss a scoop of the bird food over the fence for the chickens.
On this particular day, the chickens were closed up in their chicken yard, but Frick and Flappy (our two Americauna hens) have been flying over the fence into the back yard, where they spend all day pecking around at bugs and such while their sisters stare sadly through the fence at them. Fred has, in my opinion, let the chickens hang out in the back yard far too often. First he would do it on particularly hot days, because there’s more shade in the back yard, and the chickens like to hang out near the air conditioning unit and if it’s hot enough, they’ll stand in the little pool of condensation that runs out of the runoff pipe (?) and cool off. Now, I don’t mind chickens in the back yard all that much – they’re not aggressive, though they are a little obnoxious in that they run over and make demanding piggy noises at me when I walk into the back yard, because they’ve become accustomed to the idea that whenever a human walks into the back yard, that means it’s snack! time! (In the evening when it’s snack time for the kitties, I’ve been known to holler “Whooooooo’s ready for the snackin’?!” so that whoever’s out in the back yard will come in. Nowadays, whoever’s in the back yard has to go through a crowd of chickens, who think I’m talking to them, and gather around and on the back steps.) However, the bigger the chickens get, the bigger their poop gets, and I am mighty sick of not being able to sit at the table on the concrete pad because the table AND chairs are covered in chicken poop. That is some seriously unfair, if you ask me.
Anyway. Where was I? Oh right, the filling of the bird feeders. So I was filling the bird feeders and Frick was clucking at me through the fence, all “Give me some of that bird seed, woman!”, and I glanced up to see that Flappy had not only flown over the fence into the back yard, she’d also flown over the fence separating the back yard from the rest of the property, and she was wandering along the fence, a little cartoon question mark over her head, trying to figure out how to get back in.
I stomped in an annoyed manner across the back yard to the gate at the back of the fence, close to where she was hanging out. I went through the gate, and tried to shoo her into the back yard. She ran from me, but instead of running through the gate, she ran past the gate toward the garden. I ran after her, waving my arms to herd her, and we soon ended up at the gate at the side of the yard. I pulled the gate open and waved my arms at her, and instead of running through the gate, she ran back toward the garden. Holding the gate, I waved one arm at her, hoping she’d get the idea and run into the back yard. Instead, Mister Boogers ran over to investigate, saw the open gate, decided the shock would be worth it, and ran out of the back yard toward yard next door.
“You,” I said to Flappy through clenched teeth, “Are the stupidest animal in the entire world. GET IN THERE!” I got behind her and herded her into the back yard, closed the gate, and went after Mister Boogers. Who had decided that under the shed next door was the perfect place to hang out, so I had to sweet-talk him into coming out, and when he decided he did, in fact, want to be friends, I grabbed him up, said “I hate you, you [bleep]ing [bleep]hole”, gave him a kiss on top of his pointy little head, and carried him into the back yard. Then I realized that I’d left the back gate open, and Sugarbutt (who was collarless) had wandered through and was sniffing around, so I had to chase him down (not difficult, because he didn’t realize he’d gone into forbidden territory and when I approached him, he was all “Hi, Mom!”) and carry him back into the back yard.
Later, when I relayed the experience to Fred, he said “You realize that during your entire story, the
Benny Hill music was playing in the back of my head, right?”
Har. De. Har.
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As far as the foster kittens go, the three brown tabbies went to the pet store on Tuesday (they do adoptions Tuesday night) and so since I was in the area yesterday, I stopped to see how many had been adopted, and was disappointed to see all three of them there. I guess there weren’t a lot of adoptions Tuesday night, though, so hopefully they’ll get adopted over the weekend.
The other three stayed behind because Billy Bumbler and Susannah are having eye issues. I tried Terramycin for two days with no results and then Erythromycin for two days with no results, so now I’ve got them on a triple antibiotic ointment that seemed to make them better, but now I don’t know, they don’t seem to be making any progress over the past day or so. Not to mention that all three of them spontaneously developed diarrhea, so I put them on Albon for that.
They were originally supposed to go to the pet store on Friday, but I don’t see that happening unless their eyes completely heal and they stop with the diarrhea overnight.
Poor monkeys. These three are the biggest babies I’ve ever seen. I go in and sit down on the floor, and they surround me and just give me the saddest little baby meows. Even if I’m holding and petting them, they still give me the sad-baby meow. I don’t know exactly what message they’re trying to send, but if they don’t watch out, I’m going to end up squeezing them to death. That, or bite through my tongue, because I bite my tongue constantly when I’m with them so I don’t squeeze them to bits.
Oh, the face cracks me UP.
Sleepy babies.
“Pet me, lady. PET ME!”
Speaking of cats, when I went to the pet store Tuesday to drop off Eddie Dean, Roland, and Jake, the shelter manager asked if I’d get a couple of pictures of one of the other cats while I was there. I did, and I think they came out really well.
Her name is Copper Girl, and she’s a sweetheart.
There are a ton of kitten pictures uploaded over at Flickr;
see them here.
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Tom and Boogs, hanging out atop the gate to the chicken yard.
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Previously
2006: Maddy!
2005: let’s just say I am NOT very fond of Robyn v. 2002 right now.
2004: My mother hung up the phone and said “If she wanted closure so bad, maybe she should have shown up at the nursing home to see her!”
2003: No entry.
2002: I think he has a camera hidden somewhere in the bathroom, and when I’m in the shower, an alarm goes off and tells him to call me immediately.
2001: Time to go cold turkey, Deb…
2000: WHEN WILL THE SUFFERING END???]]>
You should get something from the remnants of Humberto. Hopefully just rain!
Funny you mention about biting your tongue. I clench my teeth for the same reason!
I had to go back and read the chasing down part again so I’d have the Benny Hill song in my head too. Very, very funny!
My heart melted at the sleepy babies picture. Oh who am I kidding. My heart melts at them all, it just melted a little faster at that one.
When you make salsa – do you just can it in a water bath or do you do the whole pressure cooker thing?
Robyn, this is for your Friday answering extravaganza. You may have mentioned this before, but what camera do you use? Whatever you’re using, I want one! 😀
mmmm salsa … recipe please?
I’ve been wondering how you cook your green beans from the garden. I always want to get fresh green beans at the grocery store, but I have absolutely no idea what you do with them (I know…my momma didn’t raise me right). Do you have to cut the ends off? Steam them? Season them with something?
I have a question! (Finally!)
How do you control the cat hair/litterbox smell in your house? I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have kitties but the cat hair everywhere from our last one just drove me nuts! With so many of them, you must have a solution!
May we have the recipe for your canned salsa? I canned 15 pints and 2 quarts last weekend. I used a couple packages of Mrs. Wages Salsa spices and then just tripled the tomatoes, peppers and onions. It didn ‘t turn out too bad, but I wish I had an actual recipe because I wasn’t sure about the amount of salt and vinegar I should use. Thanks!
So is that why my cat doesn’t like me and runs away everytime I try to get close to her? Because I pick her up and squeeze her to death because I forget she’s a cat and not a dog? I can’t help it.
By the way my Madison is a female orange tabby. Is it true that female orange tabbys are not a popular cat to have? Do you know why?
Dear Robyn: I was watching that Mary Winkler mess on Oprah yesterday, and she has a really strong Southern accent (understatement) I realize she’s from Tennesee, not Alabama, but Fred does not seem to have that accent, and I’ve known other people from the Deep South who don’t either. Do some people from the South talk that way just to piss me off? Cordially, Jane
Holy fuck a duck. I couldn’t agree more Jane. What the hell was up with her accent? I’m from Texas and even us shady hillbillies don’t tawk lyke thayt. Every question Oprah asked her she was all – weyell, ummmm, jest stuff. Iah mean, he wus jess mean. WTF. And I loved Oprah’s face. You know she wanted to say – GIRL. PUH-LEASE. Ha! That was the most annoying accent I’ve ever heard.
My question – Robyn, have you ever heard someone talk with that thick of an accent?
I have 2 questions
1. how do you wash the cat furniture?
2. I’m thinking about weight loss surgery too, have you ever had problems with “loose” skin?
thanks!! 🙂
Why does Copper Girl look like a Bobble Head Doll? How’s that for a question???
Ooh. I’m a Texan by birth and I have family members who talk like that. Honestly. And they don’t understand when someone makes fun of they way they speak. They just don’t hear it. It’s mostly the older folks, though, and I’ve noticed it in people that are in extremely rural and isolated places. Me and my husband (also Texan by birth) only have a slight accent, but put us in a roomful of hillbilly speakers and we can drawl with the best of ’em.
I have followed you and Fred and Spud for years. You really put it all out there at times. I have to wonder; how is it that you manage to come in under the radar and not get picked up by your neighbors, etc. Don’t any of the old men at the corner store or your new (or even old) neighbors have internet access? I mean you post pictures of all of you and your pets and your homes; and, no one notices or comments on your insights and observations about folks? Mind you, I’m not critizing; just, AMAZED!!! LOL!!!
Sammi
What ever happened to Jack Frost? I’ve been worried about him as I’ve loved him since day one, and unless I’ve missed something, you never posted whether he’d been adopted or not.
Fingers, toes and other extremities have been crossed for him, and I’d really appreciate it if I were able to untangle myself!
I was wondering about Jack Frost too. He was one of my favorite kitties.
My question is about weight maintenance. I’m on a diet site quite often. When people lose good amounts of weight they all seem to go on about how keeping the weight off is way harder than losing it. I have lost some weight and that comment always pisses me off because losing it in the first place is damn hard. You seem to be living pretty normally without obsessing over your weight. Is maintence really the pits?
Allrighty, here’s my question for the Friday thingy:
Do any of your cats, or have any of your cats in the past, had to have their anal glands expressed regularly?
Our cat seems like she has to have them like once or twice a year, poor thing, and I was just wondering if you had the same problem.
Love the Benny Hill music in the background thing, very fitting 😉
I know how Fred loves Sudoku, does he have Snoodoku? And glad someone asked about Jack Frost! I totally admire what you and Fred do for the kitties.
I asked Nance last week and now you are my victim!
Has losing all the weight made you feel better about yourself? And has it changed the way others treat you?
Happy Friday. I love me some Friday!
I would love your recipe for salsa too. I had a ton of tomatoes this summer and gave them all away, (the ones we didn’t eat), so next year I “might” make salsa if I have a good recipe. Or Maybe not. (Note to Jane) They talk tawk way just to pissss you off!!!
Question: What’s the Spud doing???
That should be “They tawk dat way just to pissss you off!
Robyn,
I’m just commenting to make sure you get my email. I sent one to you while you were in Maine, but your site was down because of some shithead and I don’t know if you got that email of if it got blocked by a spam filter. Anyway. I’m going to re-send it.
🙂
-Longtime reader and Christmas card receiver, Andrea
Now you know why the expression “bird brain” came to be!