Happy Friday the 13th!
Don’t let any black chickens cross your path… it’s totally bad luck, or so I hear. (They might leave you an egg, though, which probably negates any bad luck they bring.)
Damnit, called out as a skimmer! Noooooooooo! (But shouldn’t that show you I’ve been reading long enough that I remember Fred being mysterious about his car FORFREAKINGEVER?)
That reminds me, I meant to put this up last week:
If it helps any, I don’t even remember what Fred was driving back when he refused to tell everyone what he drove. At one point he owned a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and then it was some sort of Suzuki SUV, and then another Suzuki SUV, then he went smaller when we moved out to the country and his drive in to work went from 10 minutes to 30.
I’m pretty sure his refusal to tell what he drove started as a joke, and the more people wanted to know, the more he wanted to torture them, because he’s a bastard that way!
Keep warm? Why haven’t you joined the Cult of Snuggie?!
Because if I wanted to wear a backwards robe, I’d get my robe out of the closet and put it on backwards. 🙂
(I am told by Fred that the Slanket is much nicer and better than the Snuggie. I am too afraid to ask how he knows this. He CLAIMS that he heard a long discussion about it on the radio, but I’m skeptical.)
A couple of getaway suggestions for the North Alabamians: Cloudland Canyon, GA
There’s a nice Inn in Monteagle, TN (it’s at the top of the big mountain you go over on I-24 on the way to Nashville) – if you’re the outdoorsy sort, there’s lots of hiking in that area.
I am totally going to try to get Fred to take me to that Inn. We always say “We should go away overnight” and then can’t come up with a place to go!
Okay, seriously – Is the pig hernia operation without anesthesia a normal thing? Does the ASPCA know about this??
I honestly don’t know if it’s normal. We had a hard time finding a vet who was willing to operate on the pigs, so we don’t have another vet’s procedures to compare it to. I still can’t believe they’d do the operation without anesthesia, it’s just barbaric.
I have been feeding Sensible Choice cat food to my cats for years. Now they discontinued making it and I have tried California Natural and (the cheaper) Costco Kirkland brand. The CA Natural was OK, but the Kirkland brand makes their poop stink to high heaven. Really, it is very bad and hangs around forever. What do you feed your cats?
Myself, I feed our spoiled rotten cats three different kinds of food (four if you include Snackin’! Time!). In one container I mix Nutro Natural Choice Senior and Purina Veterinary Diets UR. In the other container, I have Taste of the Wild. We have two bowls of each food available, and they seem to all go down at about the same rate. (Snackin’! Time! involves cans of Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys food. It’s about the only canned food that doesn’t make the more sensitive-stomached cats barf on a regular basis.)
I’ve heard that Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance cat food is good for reducing both the volume and the smell of litter box leavings.
Readers? Suggestions?
Also wondering if you and Fred ever watch The Big Bang Theory. Now THAT’S some high-quality geek humor. Four nerds sitting around playing Klingon Boggle. Gotta love it. The hubby and I DVR it every week and it’s hilarious.
I’d like to give it a try (I’ve loved Johnny Galecki ever since his days on Roseanne) and I’ve downloaded the first several shows, but I haven’t gotten around to actually watching it yet!
Hi, I’m a longtime lurker/reader… had to laugh about you telling Fred you would kill him if you got pig poop on you. When I watched you and Nancy do those video podcasts, you were really laid back. I honestly can’t see you saying half the things you say you said to Fred in a violent manner. Hope things work out with the pigs! BTW, I also think it’s hilarious when you talk about how much you love Publix. We don’t have Publix where we live in SC, but my husband is from GA and loves the store. He wants them to come up here so badly!
I’m usually laid back, but I have my moments, as Fred can tell you. I usually get over it pretty quickly, though, and most of the time Fred just laughs at me.
Publix is the BEST grocery store ever, and I hope they spread out across the entire country. I bet Nance would agree that Publix rocks – she was pretty impressed last summer when she and Trey visited!
Those baby chicks are soooo cute. I used to see chicks hatch at my grandmas .They were the fluffy yellow chicks. Do they even still have those? When I had my own chicks,they were brown babies like yours.
We did have one single little yellow chick, but unfortunately that’s the one who died unexpectedly! Poor thing.
I got more eggs from my brother this weekend. I dropped a few, so decided to make scrambled eggs. Only this one, didn’t want to open. I was able to peel the entire shell away from the membrane and then had to use a fork to pierce the membrane. My brother admits he has fed them too much oyster shell in the last month or two, but come on. I’m trying to talk him into letting me document his incubating/hatching, but he’s pretty sure he’s just going to mail order chicks again, this year.
That egg is just freaky! I’ve had eggs that are hard to crack before, but nothing like that.
And incubating/ hatching eggs is just a really neat experience (despite the sad and unexpected deaths). Watching the chicks hatch and then watching them grow (our babies are starting to feather out!) is just amazing.
Be careful with your pig buying if you go back to the same fella — hernias are genetic in hogs.
The pigs with the hernias were available because they had hernias – they were culls from a commercial pig farming place – the guy we’ll most likely be getting our next pigs from is the guy who sold us our first set of pigs last year, and those pigs were hernia-free, thank god.
And just HOW did Miz Poo end up without a bed?? I can’t believe she didn’t put the smack-down on one of the boys and take his bed.
I’m sure she was coming up with her smackdown strategy as I took that picture – I believe that just a few minutes later she sniffed at Mister Boogers, who responded by lifting up his head and grumping at her, and then she smacked him until he gave up and stomped off for friendlier pastures.
Everyone should have a oven thermometer. I found that out big time. At my last apartment the oven was 100 degrees higher then what the dial said. Meaning instead of 350 degrees it would be 450 degrees! At first I thought my baking skills had gone to hell! Pun intended. 😉 Now at my new digs the oven is only 25 degrees higher. Check your ovens girls! It just might not be your fault you can’t bake worth a darn. Hee!
I actually bought an oven thermometer yesterday. Imagine my surprise when I opened the preheated oven to put dinner in the oven, and found that the thermometer read exactly what it was supposed to. I guess I can’t blame my cookie failure last weekend on the oven. More like operator error, I guess!
Have you ever had a runt of the litter and did you notice a difference in their personality? My male is a runt and he is a total whack job!! Small-ish and so odd in his hot and cold need for affection and in his general lack of confidence in climbing/jumping.
Sugarbutt was the runt of his litter. He does run very hot and cold in his need for love – if he wants love HE MUST HAVE IT NOW, but if he doesn’t, then you’d best just not even bother ’cause he’ll have none of it.
He’s not lacking in confidence when it comes to climbing and jumping, though. He’s a jumping fool!
Do you have a momma-clinger? Which I guess has been answered with that photo! I wondered because my female was totally velcroed to my side yesterday even meowing to be held. She does the “let me sit here on this paper you are reading” thing all the time too.
Miz Poo is VERY clingy. The only reason she doesn’t spend all her time in front of me when I’m in front of the computer is because I won’t allow it (oh, don’t give me that look, I am NOT abusive!). That doesn’t stop her from trying 63 times a day, though. When I’m sitting and watching TV, she’s on my lap. If I’m laying down watching TV, she’s curled up against me. When I go to bed, she’s right there either on me or up against me. She LOVES HER MOMMA.
Actually, she loves everyone. I just happen to be the one who’s around most often.
“Something about the sunshine makes them friendly, and they’ll come over to me to be petted.” Why, they’re solar powered, of course!
Why do I always forget that? Nothing makes cats happier than sunshine!
I was wondering if there was chance that nosy neighbor would see your fruit trees and instead of thinking “barrier,” he would think “free fruit” and help himself?
Oh, it’s entirely possible – but I imagine there’ll be so much fruit we won’t notice if some of it goes missing!
I think the neighbor’s son is checking Fred out–not looking at what he’s doing!! (assuming we’re talking about an adult and not a child!!)
Yeah, he’s an adult. And his living at his Mom’s seems to be a mostly seasonal thing – he’s around in the Spring and Summer, disappears at some point in the Fall, and shows up every now and then through the winter.
He very well might be checking Fred out – I did mention that Fred has a nice butt, didn’t I?
Kara certainly is a pretty girl!
She is! I have to admit that I’ve not been all that impressed with brown tabbies in the past – I mean, I’ve liked them, but always preferred orange tabbies – but Kara is so pretty that I’ve gained a new appreciation for them. I love the white around her mouth and her caramel-colored belly, and her gorgeous green eyes!
Did you watch the dog show? I cheered for the Great Pyrenees, thinking of you guys. Cats were not impressed with the whole thing, at all.
No, we don’t usually watch the dog show, but if I’d known there were Pyrs there, I might have insisted!
Cannot wait to see pics of the old house. (OF COURSE, you’re going to scan the pictures. Ahem.)
Absolutely I am! I can’t wait to see those pictures, and I know y’all will want to see them too!
When my brother and I were young, on the way home from the babysitters, we’d usually ask what was for dinner. My mother usually answered with “Shit on a stick.” I always loved that and use it frequently now myself.
and
We also got the ‘shit on a stick’ response to ‘what’s for dinner’ when growing up! 🙂 I also HATE that question with fire of a thousand suns!! My kids pretty much have stopped asking it but my response is either ‘food’ or ‘poop…poop on a stick’ (as my kids are 12, 7 and 2…the older one will get the ‘shit on a stick’ response! *G*) I guess my mom DIDN’T make up the ‘shit on a stick’ response!
Dee and Christine, out of curiosity, where did y’all grow up? Or rather I guess I should ask what part of the country your mothers grew up in – I’m wondering if it’s a regional thing. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard “shit on a stick” as a “What’s for dinner” response – but I’m intrigued!
Suggestion re: dinner. If the menu is planned out, maybe you could write it down on the fridge. That way, all you’d have to do is point.
I actually used to do that (and the spud dearly loved crossing off each night’s dinner after we’d eaten, she’s a dork like her momma), and I should start doing it again, but I’m not sure it’d stop Fred from asking.
What I REALLY ought to do is post it at the top of each entry, in bold!
Dee – have you ever had “Shit on a Shingle”? Usually some beef in gravy served over toast. We had it sometimes as kids, my dad would say they served it when he was in the Army.
I don’t know about Dee, but we certainly had it! (My father was in the Air Force.) We didn’t call it “Shit on a Shingle”, though, it was S.O.S, but I remember always knowing what the initials stood for.
I loved that stuff!
Ok, I love Kara and am thrilled that you have adopted her, AND I read you daily – can you point to the place where you discuss adopting her. For some reason I don’t remember this.
(Hee! I kid!)
I mentioned it in passing on October 22nd, and then wrote about it for real on October 23rd. (I find it funny that in that entry, I said DO NOT WANT A DOG. Ha!) (Also, we never did rename her – we call her “Upstairs Mama” or just “Mama”, and I often call her Kara.)
Just curious, but don’t the dogs get kind of…um….well….covered in chicken shit?? Living in with the chickens and all, I mean. How do you keep them clean? Do they get brushed and taken on walks ever?
They do get chicken shit on them – though not as much as you’d imagine – but their fur seems to be made of Teflon or something. They’ll have chicken shit on them when I go out in the morning, for instance, but by the time I go out at noon to check for eggs, the chicken shit is gone. Stuff doesn’t seem to stick to their fur for long. They actually get more covered in leaves and grass than anything.
Fred went out and brushed them both several times yesterday with the Furminator, and got quite a bit of loose fur off them. We’re going into the part of the year where they’ll start shedding, so they’ll need to be brushed regularly over the next few months to prevent matting.
They don’t get taken on walks except around the back 40. They’re working dogs, not pets. They have chickens to protect, and they will rarely leave their territory.
Rumba and Samba are home from their spaying. As I mentioned I was going to, I put Rumba in the guest bedroom and Samba in the kitten foster room. The difference in their attitudes from before was like night and day. Before, Samba wouldn’t even come over to be petted (unless I was sitting in a patch of sunlight, and even then she was very skittish about it). When I walked into the room after she’d been in there alone for about ten minutes, she ran over and was like “Where have you BEEN? I need LOVE, and I need it NOW, please!” Then she spent the entire time I was in the room rubbing up against me, purring loudly, flopping in my lap.
It’s absolutely stunning what separating a couple of skittish kittens will do to their personality. It’s not the first time I’ve done it (or the first time I’ve seen the amazing instant switch in how they act), but it’s still incredible every time.
I’m likely going to keep them separated through the weekend and then let them out and see how that goes.
(Sorry, I have no pictures of them to share. I will by Monday, I promise!)
Previously
2008: “We wouldn’t want to detract from the beauty of the muddy cat footprints on the counters. But you don’t need to worry. That’s not a maggot.”
2007: I need a nap.
2006: Mystery solved. Just call me Nancy Drew.
2005: No entry.
2004: Molasses runs in her veins, I swear to god.
2003: No entry.
2002: My life? Complete again.
2001: Do I want to go sit through an eternal PTA meeting, listen to endless amounts of people babble endlessly? Um, no.
2000: No entry.