reading: Icebound. This is the book about that female doctor at the South Pole who found that she had breast cancer and had to treat it herself for months, because the weather in the winter at the South Pole is so bad that they couldn’t land a plane to evacuate her. I’m finding it a far more compelling read than I expected – the information about life at the South Pole is fascinating.
Finished recently: Twelve Sharp, by Janet Evanovich. I just love me some Ranger, Morelli, and – oh yeah! – Stephanie Plum. Sure, the books are formulaic – you know there’s going to be hot Morelli sex, Stephanie’s going to be felt up by Ranger, someone’s going to try to kill, and it all turns out in the end – but it’s a formula I happen to enjoy.
Also finished recently: A Density of Souls, by Christopher Rice. I hated it. Ugh. It bored the life right out of me.
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From my comments:
Were the cubs soft? Did they like to be “petted” like cats do or were they busy playing?
You know how when kittens are very small, they have that cottony-soft fur? That’s what the cubs felt like, that kind of soft. I wondered if they’d smell like kittens (to me, kittens smell like raw peanuts), but they had their own (not unpleasant) smell. Did I mention that I kissed them both on top of their little heads? I KISSED TIGERS. How many people can say that? They didn’t mind being petted, but they were more interested in playing and looking for their Mama. Fred rubbed one of them at the base of his tail to see if he’d get the Elevator Butt reaction and didn’t. Later, I rubbed the other one at the base of her tail and she raised her butt a little bit, but not like our cats do.
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Anyway, did they mention where most of these animals come from? Are they from circuses or are they from people who think they can raise them and then realize they were very wrong?
They’re from all over the place, actually. Some were privately owned by people who realized they were in over their heads, some were rescued from circuses. One tiger was used for photo opportunities as a cub (in a circus, I believe), but when he got too big for that, they just tossed him in a cage where he was mostly ignored until he was rescued. The most recent rescue – of 6 cougars and 2 tigers – took place when a sanctuary in Florida failed to obtain and maintain proper licensing, and were ordered by the state to find new homes for the animals.
I have to say, the animals who end up at Tigers for Tomorrow are extremely lucky. They’re well cared-for, and loved by people who have made rescuing exotic animals their life’s work.
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I’ve lived in Alabama my entire life but had never heard of Tigers for Tomorrow until now.
That’s ’cause they just moved to Alabama from Florida. They were spending so much time repairing damage from hurricanes that they decided to move to a less hurricane-prone area. They merged with Bluegrass Farms Wildlife Sanctuary in Attalla, which has 140 acres in a valley surrounded by mountains.
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How did the And3rson kitties react when you arrived home from your tiger escapade? Did they smell the tiger cubs scent on you?
I honestly thought they were going to stampede us and sniff us all over, but except for a few moments of intense sniffing, they didn’t seem too perturbed by what they smelled on us. Actually, they seem more concerned on Monday mornings when I get home from the pet store and have been snuggling kittens!
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Can you update us on what podcasts you’re listening to these days? Thanks!
At this point, I’m listening exclusively to
Keith and the Girl podcasts every morning. They always make me laugh out loud at least once every podcast, and I really look forward to listening to them every day.
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Robyn, what was the heaviest weight Tubby ever weighed in at? Just curious cause I have a fat kitty who weighs 17lbs!
The most he ever weighed was 24.5 pounds. Can I claim that it was mostly muscle, though? ‘Cause he was a surprisingly muscular cat under all that fat. He was the only cat I’ve ever seen who actually had a double chin, though.
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Robyn, We got the Soft Paws and LOVE them. However, I am consistently having to replace one or two a day on our little tykes. Was it like that for you? I think they are chewing them off, little stinkers. Just wondered. Thanks!
We kind of go through periods where we have to replace one or two caps a day on Tommy and Sugarbutt, then we’ll go several days without having to replace a single one. The only suggestion I can think to make, is to make sure you’re using enough glue. I know the instructions say to only fill the cap about 2/3 (or half? I don’t remember.) full of glue, but I fill them most of the way up.
And be careful not to get the glue on your fingers ’cause that SUCKS. I got glue on my finger, and then cat fur on the glue, and walked around for two days with a blob of black cat fur stuck to my finger and I thought I was going to die from the sheer annoyance factor.
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With all your cats, have you ever had problems with them “spraying” things to mark their territory? You know the thing that male cats do when they back up to something, lift their tail and spray their urine all over the item. If so, what did you do about it.
I am thanking god right now that I’ve never had a problem with a male cat spraying to mark his territory. If anyone has suggestions for this reader, feel free to leave a comment!
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I guess it’s time to take my wedding band and engagement ring off. The only time they fit well is after I’ve walked 4(.16!) miles in the morning, because my hands swell up. Then my rings fit just perfectly; the rest of the time they slide around and threaten to slide off my finger.
They’re not anything fancy, my engagement ring and wedding band, just simple jewelry, but I love them. Just looking over at them on my finger when I’m typing something makes me smile. I hadn’t worn them in at least a few years, because with the yo-yo dieting, they never really fit well for long, so I gave up and put them in my dresser drawer.
After I had the surgery, every once in a while I’d take them out of the drawer and try them on. And literally, one week they were too tight, and the next they were just a tad loose. I think I’ve been wearing them again for about a month.
Time to put them back in the drawer for the time being, or find a chain I can put them on and wear them around my neck until the time comes that my weight has stabilized and I can have them resized. To have them slide off my finger when I wasn’t paying attention and lose them would break my heart.
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I just went out back to scrub down the bird bath (half water, half bleach, let it sit for ten minutes, scrub it out with a scrubby pad, rinse well), and while I was out there, I decided to move the bird bath and the bird feeders.
Except that I no longer have the physical heft necessary to get the damn bird feeder pole into the ground. I soaked the ground where I wanted it to go, and I stabbed the pole into the ground, and then I stood on the end of the pole (there are two prongs that go into the ground), and the damn thing went two inches into the ground and would go no further.
Maybe when Fred gets home he can get out the sledgehammer and pound the damn thing into the ground. For now, it gives the cats something to freak out about. They’re running around, low to the ground, sniffing wildly at where the bird feeders used to be, thinking “Something is different… but WHAT?”
That is, when they’re not hanging out on the bird bath slurping down the fresh water.
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All of today’s uploaded pictures are
here.
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Previously
2005: But really, is there anything less threatening than giving someone the FINGER?
2004: No entry.
2003: Ever have one of those days, or is it just me?
2002: He can’t close a drawer all the way to save his life.
2001: What next, I ask you?
2000: Surely y’all know me better by now?]]>