Category: CAE

I use a liquid bandage but if the cut is too deep for that, I pack it full of ….what the hell is the stuff in the green tin? It just flew out of my head. Oh, Bag Balm! I pack it full of Bag Balm before double bandaiding it as you describe. Helps keep the edges of the cut soft and promotes healing. Vaseline would probably work similarly.

I don’t have Bag Balm (anymore… don’t know what I did with the tin I had), but I have vaseline, so I’ll definitely give this a try!

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How old is Spanky now? How about the age of the other cats? He sure is a gorgeous creature — but so are all your other cats. (And, of course, I’m one of those people who’s never seen an ugly cat; they’re all beautiful in their own unique way!)

Spanky’s just over 14 (I got him as an early Christmas present in ’96), Miz Poo is 11 (got her the day before Thanksgiving ’99). Sugarbutt, Tommy, and Joe Bob are 5 1/2. We’re guessing Maxi is around 7ish and Newt is around 5. Stinkerbelle will be 4 in March. Kara will be 4 in April. Jake and Elwood will be 2 in June. I haven’t got a clue how old Coltrane is, so I’m going to assign him the age of 4, and call it close enough.

So, in conclusion, the cats in order of age:

Spanky (14)
Miz Poo (11)
Maxi (7)
Sugarbutt, Tommy, Joe Bob (5 1/2)
Newt (5)
Kara, Stinkerbelle & Coltrane (4)
Jake & Elwood (2)

We are going to be hurting when the 4 and 5 year-olds hit their old age. Hopefully they don’t all fall apart at once!

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All I can think of is this song. (LANGUAGE)

I’m in a BOX! I’m in a BOX!
Everybody look at me ‘cuz I’m playing in a BOX!
I’m in a BOX! I’m in a BOX!
Take a good hard look at the motherfucking BOX!
I’m in a BOX, motherfucker, take a look at me!
Straight playing in a box on the carpet, see

Now I’m laughing too hard to do any more.

“I’m in a BOX, bitch.”

(my favorite lines in the Lonely Island version: “I’ve got a nautical-themed pashmina afghan” and “the boat engine make NOISE, motherfucker” LMFAO – I wanted to adapt Newt’s situation for those but I just can’t)

Fred said it reminded him of The Singing Shark.

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Here in Michigan they have quite a few sav-a-lots and I find them great, price wise. The canned goods aren’t name brands but taste just as good. I’ve bought just about everything in the store and haven’t found anything that I was disappointed in. It’s well worth your time to give this store a visit.

That’s kind of what I was hoping to hear. They haven’t finished our local Sav-a-Lots yet, but when they do I’ll be first in line!

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I am loving me some Newt! Is it just an unfortunate camera angle, or is he quite…ahem…corpulent? Not that it matters, of course – just adds to his overall charm.

Newt’s a short cat, but a very muscular cat, so I’m sure he looks a bit porky. He’s also carrying around some of that winter weight (he and Maxi both bulk up in the winter and slim down in the summer), so that probably doesn’t help matters.

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That is a sad sad picture. Is it the angle or was his head really that much bigger than his body?

A combination of the two, I think. He was a skinny little thing, but not as undernourished as he looks here. Bobby and Cindy were the two smallest Bradys for the longest time, but toward the end of their stay here, Jan and Cindy were the smallest, and Bobby was solidly in the middle of the pack.

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I’m with you Devil – my favorite thing for dinner is reservations! I do cook but out of economic necessity not for the JOY of Cooking!

I’m with both of you! If I never had to cook again, I’d be perfectly fine with that. When I win the lottery, I’ll be hiring a cook, first thing.

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I like this site for ideas. : What the Fuck Should I Make for Dinner. It basically searches keywords (vegetarian, eggs, soup, etc.) and throws up a hyperlink with a bit of snark and foul language. Also Post Punk Kitchen or any of the many cookbooks by Isa Chandra Moskowitz: Veganomicon, vegan with a vengeance, Appetite for reduction. I’m going to have a bigger garden this year and if I get my act together I may blog about it, including recipes, etc. If I happen upon anything stellar I’ll give you a holler. Also, (sorry to be so linky) I just found a website that matches up gardeners with too much produce up with people who would love fresh, healthy produce (buy, sell, trade): The Farmer’s Garden.

Thanks for the links!

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You’re a DDD? I never would have guessed, but then I don’t spend much time staring at your chest. hahahahaha! I’d ask the doc then I’d buy bras in a few different sizes just in case.

I asked the nurse, and she said to get a bra in the size that I wear now. So I got two, and if they don’t work out, I’ll send Fred to the store to find me something better!

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Cat question for you and the readers. My co-worker, who adopted my cat’s three siblings, is having trouble with one cat who wolfs down all the food. He’s chubby, and the other two are skinny, and would probably eat a bit of their food when they’re fed and come back and pick at it later if there were any left. But there never is because “Buffalo-Butt” has glommed it all. The other two cats are starting to eat faster than they would otherwise because of this, and they often throw up from eating too fast. Have any of your cats ever been wolfers, and is there a way, other than feeding them in completely separate rooms and leaving them there for hours, to avoid this?

My cats aren’t wolfers, but I feel like I’ve seen this question before, and I believe one of the solutions was to put golf balls in their food so that they can’t just stick their faces in their bowls and chow down – they have to pick around the golf balls, which forces them to eat slower.

Readers? Suggestions?

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You gotta read this:

When Hormone Creams Expose Others to Risks

The original article was in the NY Times but the link for this goes to an animal hospital.

Kinda scary! I had to stop using cedar litter here because the volatile oils got to the skin and three of the six started fur-mowing in areas that came in contact with the litter. Made me much more conscious of things that are touching their fur!

Jean actually sent me the link to that article last Spring, and I meant to link to it, but forgot. I always apply my progesterone cream to areas of my body that are covered by my nightgown, or that the cats don’t come into contact with. There’s certainly nothing I need LESS than the cats suddenly getting hormonal, I’ll tell you that!

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Now, did you make the candy as written, or did you do it (what I consider to be) the “right way,” with mashed potatoes? 😉 It’s an Appalachian thing; I grew up with Potato Candy, and there were always at least two or three different kinds brought in for every bake sale I ever attended. People not from Appalachia give me the strangest looks when I tell them about it; it may even be a regional thing within Appalachia, because my West Virginian husband hadn’t heard of it before he met me! But it’s worth trying, even if it turns out to be an acquired taste thing. (Raw rhubarb is another thing I can’t get him to accept as normal. You dip it in salt, and it’s deliciously bitter.)

Katherine and I had both seen the potato candy recipe version of the peanut butter candy we made last week, and talked about how odd it sounded. (Here’s one example of the potato version.)

I can’t imagine raw rhubarb dipped in salt, but when I was younger and the spud and I lived in Maine, our next door neighbors used to give her rhubarb (although they called it “ru-bub”, so that’s the pronunciation she picked up) and sugar to dip it into. I never tried it myself, the only place I’ve ever eaten rhubarb is in jam with strawberry!

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Someone online raved (& ranted when they were out) about Starbucks petite vanilla bean scones a LONG time ago. I finally tried them about a year ago and…they were a big (tiny) nothing. I’ve had that happen with recipes, too. It’s like, WTF? All this work & $$ for some bland pile o’food?? (And no pigs to feed it to!)

That’s exactly what that scone recipe I tried last week was supposed to taste like, the Starbucks scones. I’ve never tried the Starbucks version, but the scones I ended up with at home were nothing to write home about, believe me.

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You should go make those iced cherry scones that you found on my blog a while back. Those things are FUCKING DELICIOUS, they’re crack-in-a-scone.

If you ever have to go to a new hematologist, you should write a letter to the old one telling them how much they suck and now you’re going to Dr. Newguy and see ya later! That’s gonna burn! Doctors HATE to see their competition get business.

You know what? I’d like to know why it is, when I HAD the perfect scone recipe (ie, the one at your site!), I felt the overwhelming urge to make a different scone recipe. Why is that? I think I was seduced by the “vanilla bean” name of the scones. I almost always have the ingredients on hand for the Iced Cherry Scones, and I believe I’ll make a batch of them this morning!

(And if I end up going to another hematologist, I will DEFINITELY write a letter to the old one!)

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So glad Alice is home and through her procedure! Has the vet considered whether it might be asthma? And/or an allergy? We have a cat with the wheezies and that’s what our vet thinks it is. Many purrs and best wishes for Alice.

I… do not know. I need to find out, I guess! 🙂

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I remember you mentioning potential problems from the other cats when Coltrane first started coming into the house. I’m curious how the other cats are reacting to Coltrane? Is there (relative) peace among the kitties with Coltrane now?

There seems to be complete peace when it comes to Coltrane. I don’t know how it is, but none of the other cats hardly ever give him a second glance. He’s fit in well, and when we had our big snow storm a couple of weeks ago, Coltrane didn’t step foot outside for three days, and there were no issues at all. It probably helps that he’s not got those annoying “alpha cat” behaviors, and he’s quite willing to be submissive.

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I’m dying to adopt Corbett, but I’m at college and my parents said no! 🙁 I’ve wanted him since the Bookworms first arrived, but my parents won’t get another cat. Sigh. I hope he finds a forever home soon!

Awww! Parents just don’t understand, do they?

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I think I forgot to mention that Bobby and Peter Brady were adopted on Tuesday! Bobby was adopted alone, and Peter was adopted with another Challenger’s House kitten.

This leaves Jan as the last Brady standing. I will be very surprised if she isn’t adopted this weekend – she’s such a sweet little lovebug.

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We’ve taken to calling Alice “the princess”, because she’s such a smug little brat. Fred loves how tiny she is, and how sassy she is, and how playful she is.

Which is to say, the love affair between Fred and Alice is NOT one-sided.

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I’ve probably never mentioned before that I think Corbie is the prettiest cat on earth, have I? No, surely not.

SO SO pretty.

Rhyme (snuggling with Tommy) ain’t bad, either.

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I’d say that the cat shelves in the kitchen are definitely a hit…

Newt.

Kara (that bed above her is where she spends a lot of time.)

Sugarbutt.

And Jake.

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Previously
2010: Let Me In/ Let Me Out
2009: Today marks a year since Spot died. And yesterday marked four five years since Tubby died.
2008: Yes, he is a good dog. No, we’re still not keeping him.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: Yesterday marked one year since Tubby died.
2004: Tubby is dead.
2003: No entry.
2002: Signs of spring.
2001: No entry.
2000: Some work day, huh?

Please note: this is NOT a story with a sad ending.

Wednesday evening, Fred and I were in the living room watching TV. Whatever we were watching ended around 8:40, and we got up from our respective couches to start getting ready for bed. (Yes, at 8:40. We are such the party animals.)

Miz Poo had been laying on the heated cat bed on Fred’s couch for most of the evening, and we both glanced over at her at the same time, and it looked like she wasn’t breathing. I stared at her for the longest time, my heart skipped a beat, and I thought After all the times I’ve said she was going to live to be 30 because of all the money she costs us at the vet, that goddamn cat has gone and died on me AND I AM NOT READY FOR THIS. Then Fred touched her, and after a moment she lifted her head and chirruped at us, all “What up, y’all?”

::Resume breathing::

Yesterday morning, Fred was looking for Miz Poo to give her a dose of chlorphenaramine. He didn’t find her, so left a note on my desk that he hadn’t dosed her and the tablet was on the counter. It just so happened that I slept in later than usual yesterday morning, so I didn’t get to my desk ’til 7:30. I saw the note from Fred and the email from him asking if I’d found her at the same time. I got up and started calling for her and began looking in her usual spots. Nothing. I looked under the couches and in all the closets. Nothing. I called Fred and asked if he’d seen her at all before he left for work – maybe when he first got up? – but he couldn’t remember. He didn’t think so.

I thought That goddamn cat has gone off somewhere to die AND I AM NOT READY FOR THIS. While on the phone with Fred, I looked under the couches again, and was just about to go outside and look around the back yard when I thought to double-check the padded cube where she likes to hang out. And there she was.

So that’s twice in the space of 12 hours that I thought Miz Poo was a goner, and both times she was like “What the hell is YOUR problem, lady?”

I am NOT READY for Miz Poo to shuffle off this mortal coil, thank you very much.

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1) Have you made an official transition to Coke Zero?

I haven’t! After I tried a can of the Coke Zero at a cookout this past summer, I liked it. But then I bought a two-liter bottle of it and Fred and I tried it at home, and we both decided that we don’t like it enough to switch. That could change – but for now, I like the regular Diet Coke just fine.

2) How is Coltrane handling being inside all the time with the other cats because of the snow? (there is just something that pulls my heart strings about that orange boy).

He handled it really, really well. He’s such a laid-back boy that the other cats hardly even seem to notice him. I’ve never seen any of them hiss or smack at him, and he’s very well behaved – uses the litter box just fine, asks politely to go outside. When we had all that snow, he spent three days straight inside with us and was no problem at all. He’s such a sweet boy.

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Hey Robyn,

Thought you might be interested in a quick update on the litter of feral kittens (6 of them plus Mom) that are living on our farm here in Ontario, Canada.

I was lamenting to you and your readers a few months ago about the cost of neutering/spaying (over $200 per kitten) which we just couldn’t afford. Well, the SPCA came through and allowed the kitties to be spayed (or neutered), needled, blood work done, flea treatment, a long lasting antibiotic, and micro chipping under their TNR -trap, neuter, return- program!

We were asked to donate $30 per kittie if we could which we were glad to do. In return, I signed a contract, promising to provide food, water, and shelter. The one thing that saddens me is they insisted on notching an ear on each one to mark them as a member of a neutered feral colony, and the notches virtually removed half an ear. sigh. They look odd but are happy, healthy, well fed and surviving the snow and cold so far.

Also, during the time we were doing this at a rate of one kitten per week, the SPCA implemented a program of spaying pets for low income families at rates adjusted to what they can afford. 🙂

The picture of your cats looking out at the snow is the exact opposite of what happens here. I have six of them out in the snow looking in. I have tried letting them on the back porch but they throw themselves at the large windows trying to get back out to the bitter cold and snow. Go figure.

Pat, you are AWESOME for taking care of those kittens and making sure they’re all spayed and neutered. And YAY! to the SPCA for coming through! Thanks for the update, I love happy endings.

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Have you seen Kristen Wiig’s Lawrence Welk character on SNL? That character must have Reynaud’s!

Now THAT is some super creepy shit!

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What is the importance of the estrogen Dr. Robyn? Why can’t they leave well enough alone since you feel fine? Why INVITE menopause? There must be a good reason.

Apparently lack of estrogen in your 43 year-old body can lead to bone loss and the thinning and atrophying of some fairly important skin in a fairly important area where you don’t want the skin thinning and becoming fragile and prone to tear IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

I’m in menopause whether I’m taking estrogen or not – I have no ovaries to make estrogen naturally – and I don’t think that the estrogen patch (which is the lowest possible dose of estrogen there is) will make me have menopause symptoms. I don’t think it will, anyway – if it does, I’ll be complaining to my gynecologist at a high volume, believe you me.

(And I will be using a progesterone cream as well.)

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Reading about your “talking phone” reminded me to tell you that I have a GPS which, of course, “talks”… I have it set to the British Female voice.

One day, I decided to have a little fun… I programmed some places that I go but gave them more interesting names…

So, now I go to “World Market Dammit” and “Walmart For Fuck’s Sake” and it NEVER FAILS that I crack up when the GPS says either of those things.

I bet that “Walmart for Fuck’s Sake” in a proper British accent is funny as shit!

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Oh, how I love fresh-made bread. I’m looking for a bread machine. I had one years ago and it didn’t work so well so I’m hesitant to get another. But when we visit my MIL and she makes bread/cinnamon rolls, etc. with her breadmaker, I always promise to myself that I’d look for a good bread machine. Any recommendations, especially one that won’t make me broke? Thanks!

What we have is a Zojirushi BBCCX20 – and it’s really expensive. Fred used the money he got for his birthday a few years ago to pay for most of it. I think it was worth the price – it does a great job – but I’m going to post this in hopes that someone out there has a recommendation for a bread machine that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

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Robyn, I saw your update the other day about Stephen King possibly publishing another Dark Tower book and was wondering if you had a chance to read his Kindle book, UR? I downloaded it yesterday – just a short novella, but our favorite Tower puts in an appearance. Good for a quick evening read, anyway!

I sure have. I think it was probably the second or third thing I downloaded when I got my Kindle, and it was certainly worth a read!

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BTW – have George and Gracie and the cats (any of them) ever met up? Was it funny or were emergency evacuation procedures put in to action?

George and Gracie have never met up with any of our cats face-to-face, but one day Coltrane was following Fred around the property as he did his chores, and Fred opened the gate to go into the back forty. Coltrane zipped right through the gate, and Fred was sure there was going to be a kitty death, but he managed to get Coltrane shooed back through the gate before the dogs had any idea what was going on. They’ll bark at Coltrane, Maxi, and Newt as they run across the property between the back yard and the back forty. If one of the cats goes running across the back yard, they’ll bark at it, too, but for the most part they ignore the cats.

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Yesterday I went over to Katherine’s house to make this candy (which turned out to be really good!).

Do you remember that Kara was pregnant when we got her, and she had four babies, and then Katherine adopted River (now Nate) and Inara (now Dora)? (It’s okay if you don’t remember that – you can always go read the Kara saga starting with this post if you’re interested.)

This is what Inara/ Dora looked like then:

and this is what she looks like now:

This is what River/ Nate looked like then:

and now:

Haven’t they grown up to be absolutely gorgeous? Katherine and I have determined that Nate belongs in Hollywood. Or at the very least, on the cover of magazines.

Nate is a scaredy-cat when it comes to strangers (of course he doesn’t remember me), and at one point he came running through the room – not realizing I was there – and when he saw me, he stopped dead in his tracks, spun around, and ran in the other direction. He stopped in another doorway, gave me a disbelieving look, and then ran for safety. Made me laugh out loud.

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You saw the pictures the other day of Jan “Hussy” Brady snuggling with Reacher. Now you can see her getting some love from Elwood.

The kneading paws KILL ME DEAD. Is that one happy kitten or what?

Cindy Brady and a sparkly ball.

Kinda looks like she’s practicing her kissing technique on that toy, doesn’t it?

Bobby tries to decide whether to jump for it.

The scratching post we made. The best thing I did was to use the staple gun to attach that drawstring cord (pulled out of one of my hoodies) to the top of the scratching post. The kittens will bat at it for HOURS.

Peter pops out from behind the scratching post.

Adoption hours at Petsmart take place tonight and tomorrow – I highly suspect that at least a few (if not all) of the Bradys will have new homes by the end of adoption hours on Saturday. Of course I’ll keep you informed!

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Stinkerbelle, atop the bookcase in the guest bedroom, keeping an eye on things.

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Previously
2010: Gloat on, my friend.
2009: Eric Stoltz makes a REALLY good creepy serial killer.
2008: We were in bed asleep by 10:00, because we are such the party people.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: Yeah, it doesn’t take a whole lot to make us laugh, I guess.
2004: Now isn’t there anything we can do to force Joey Buttafuoco back into obscurity?
2003: So if you meet me in person and expect a “Mighty fucking fine to meet you, fuckface!”, you’ll likely be disappointed.
2002: Wrong on that one, Brigitte. Trust me.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.

There’s a woman who rescues cats near Birmingham who could use help in the form of donations (or, if you’re in that area and looking to adopt a cat!)

Go read more here.

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Edited to add: The recipe for the torte I mentioned in Monday’s entry is here. It’s the Black Forest Torte, and it’s goooood.

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I love Cindy Brady with her unevenly cut bangs – I used to have a haircut like that myself!

That was Bobby Brady doing the Macarena in yesterday’s entry (but I get your point – and haven’t we all had haircuts like that in our sad pasts?).

Bobby and Cindy look a lot alike in the face, and this is how I tell them apart when I’m looking at pictures. Bobby Brady:

has a line coming off his right eye. And Cindy Brady:

has a line coming off her left eye!

(Together, they make one perfect makeup job.)

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How many Christmas cards did your loyal readers send and did you do the break down of where they all came from?

As of yesterday, I’d received 134 cards. I’ve never done a breakdown of where the cards I receive come from, but I do usually do a breakdown of where the cards I’ve sent have gone. This year, however, I was a slacker and it was all I could do to get pictures taken of all the cards.

I’ll do better next year, I promise!

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Robyn – give me the scoop on those bird/squirrel feeders that look like they are just upside down 2 liter pop bottles. Did you make them yourself and what kind of lid is on them? They look like they might be something I need for my backyard. I need details please.

When I was in Maine last summer, I visited the LL Bean Home store (LOVE THE HELL OUT OF THAT STORE), and they had these things that screw into the top of 2-liter bottles, and a handle that you put in the other end of the bottle to hang it from. They don’t seem to sell them on the LL Bean website, but this is the one I bought (well, I bought two of those).

I hesitated to buy them, because my mother pointed out that squirrels can chew right through the bottle to get to the seeds. I decided to buy them, and if the squirrels decided to be jackasses, I’d sell ’em on eBay. So far, so good. The birds like them, and what’s better is that they don’t scatter seed all over the place like they do with regular feeders. I’ve had them up for about 5 months, and so far the squirrels only chewed a small hole through the top of one of the bottles – which I immediately replaced. They’re kind of a pain to fill, but once they’re filled they don’t empty quickly. They’re also very easy to clean, if the seed gets wet and clumps together in the bottom part. I just use a butter knife to push the seed through. I like them a lot, and recommend them!

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Every once in awhile I glance at your list of Previously topics and today I noticed that the 2010 comment was Mike & Gus go to their new home and I thought – a YEAR already? It seems like it was just a couple of months ago that they were fosters!

I know! Good ol’ Gus, good ol’ Mike, they were some awesome fosters. Last Christmas was pretty awesome, with the Wonkas and the Cookies running around. They were a couple of really good litters.

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What’s up with her eyes looking like they’re different sizes?

Tiny Alice sat before her makeup mirror, her left eye rimmed in orange eyeliner and her right in black. She considered both eyes carefully.

“The orange makes me look like a sweet little angel,” she mused. “But the black looks badass. What look shall I go for?”

As she tried to decide, the door to her boudoir flew open.

“OH MAH GAWD!” her friend Chester the possum bellowed. “THEY REFILLED THE FOOD BOWL AT THE LUNATICS’ HOUSE! AND IT’S A NEW KIND!”

Alice perked up. Mr. and Mrs. Lunatic probably spent more money on food for wild animals and stray cats then the assholes who’d dumped her by the side of the road some weeks earlier, leaving her scared and subsisting on whatever food she could scavenge or hunt. She’d never been a very good hunter. Mr. and Mrs. Lunatic were known far and wide in the Smallville animal kingdom for making sure the bowl was always filled with the good shit.

“Let’s go!” she said, grabbing her purse.

“Dude,” said Chester Possum. “You going to clean that makeup off your face? Your eye with the black liner looks kind of big and bulgy and crazy.”

“Nah,” said Alice. “Who the hell’s going to notice?”

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Have you ever used the Ace of Cakes staff for kitty names? Your new kitty put me in mind of that show…you’d have Duff, Geof, Mary Alice…

I hadn’t thought of that naming scheme, but I’ll add it to my list of potential future names!

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Where are the cords on your t.v.??? I must live in hell because we have cords that have to be there supposedly!

That is not my TV – that’s the TV at the plastic surgery center! We have plenty of wires around our TV, unfortunately, and I haaaaaate them. Most of them are tucked behind the stand the TV sits on, but we have surround sound, and there are wires coming down the wall from all the speakers on the wall, and I looooooooathe them. (But I like the surround sound. Go figure.)

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Mama reminds me of those commercials with Wilfred Brimley. I keep expecting her to talk about her “diabeetus.”

Oh HELL YES she does! I cackled when I read this, because I instantly saw the resemblance! Then I had to email the comment to Fred, who also immediately saw it. Then for the rest of the morning, I giggled whenever I thought about Mama and her “diabeetus.” HEE.

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Walking through the Target parking lot last night, I suddenly thought (in YOUR voice) “Buster Brown gets around!” and thought you needed to know lolol

I love it when I infiltrate y’all’s day to day life!

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Someone please tell me where I can find the wicker cat basket/condo. My cat would love that!

Jean (who gave it to us ’cause her cat had NO interest in it) said that it came from Costco five or six years ago. It’s called a “Willow Two-Tier Cat Bed” and made by a company called Seville Classics, but I’m unable to find one online anywhere at all!

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In the picture of Cindy multi-tasking, is that Marcia looking all forlorn and abandoned next to her?

Indeed it is. Poor, poor Marcia, all “I might as well just go to sleep ’cause NOBUDDY LUBS ME!”

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Remember a few years back on April 1 you posted that ultrasound with twins? Now THAT shit was hysterical!

I certainly do! (It’s here.) That was the first and last time I did an April Fool’s entry. Some people knew right away, but some people were SOME IRATE when they found out the truth, and I felt bad for foolin’ ’em.

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When I was a little kid I had an old Aunt with a missing thumb. The reason? It had been bitten OFF by a pig. Better be careful…them pigs are dangerous.

Now when I feed them their evening cookies (which I rarely do, because it’s Fred’s job), I use tongs and I don’t care if it makes me look like a big scared baby. Those pigs are fucking VICIOUS about their food!

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Parallel universe: In the February issue of Cat Fancy, there is a brief article with Christopher Knight about how he loves cats!

I have to locate my copy of Cat Fancy and check it out!

(LOVE Christopher Knight!)

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How to Organize Your Cats.

LOVE IT!

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Do your babies enjoy the pumpkin? I have an older kitty who is having trouble with hard foods, and I’m wondering if we couldn’t give her soft food mixed with pumpkin to entice her to eat more.

Yeah, most of our cats enjoy the pumpkin. I’ve never had a kitten turn up his or her nose at pumpkin (which I mix with canned kitten food), and Jake and Elwood love it, and will eat it straight. Sugarbutt is the only cat who doesn’t care for it, but he’s an odd duck anyway.

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I just saw this. I love it.

Me too! (Love it, I mean!)

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Robyn…you do realize that with the microfiber washcloths in the cat beds, your cats now have *SHEETS* 😉

You’re so right – and that is just WRONG, but it makes life so much easier!

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Did Fred ever decide to build a wagon and lockbox to sell veggies on the side of the road like those photos I sent?

He didn’t – we get a lot of traffic down our road, but the few times we attempted to sell veggies in front of the house, not a single person stopped, so we didn’t pursue it.

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Should you count Miz Poo as orange or black or both? Elphaba is black and orange so she’s the best of both worlds for me.

Torties and calicos are in their own weird category! 🙂

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So – what is Fred doing [when making the cat platforms]? Using any particular type of wood? Looks like you are painting it first, right?

Fred is using the fairly inexpensive pine from Lowe’s. He puts the steps and platforms together, then paints them before he puts them up.

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Shouldn’t Coltrane be added to the permanent resident section soon?

It’s on my list of stuff I need to do. Which is another way of saying that SOMEday I’ll get around to it, but it won’t be today!

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I’m not sure if you’ll get this before you write the QnAPalooza for Friday, but I was wondering if you’ve any experience with any self-warming thermal cat cushions and if you have any kind of opinion on them? Or any kind of recommendation?

Last year I had a self-warming thermal cat bed, and I couldn’t get any of the cats interested in it. This year, I have bed warmers – two in the living room, one in the computer room, one in the foster room – and they’re almost always occupied.

Anyone have opinions/ suggestions on the self-warming cushions? Feel free to share in the comments!

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I have a question…do you have any say in who adopts your fosters? For example, if someone comes to Challenger’s House and wants to adopt one of the Brady Bunch, do you get a chance to talk to them before a decision is made? Just wondering. You give your fosters so much love and care that I think it would be hard to just let them go to someone if you didn’t at least get to meet them first.

I rarely meet the people who adopt my fosters – and that’s a good thing, really, because the shelter manager and adoption counselors have been doing this for ages, and they’re better judges of character when it comes to this sort of thing. I’m afraid I’d always be of the “Well, they seem like nice people!” mindset, and miss the warning signals.

I mean, I imagine that if I absolutely didn’t want someone to adopt my fosters, they’d certainly take my opinion into consideration. But I always feel confident that my babies will end up in good homes with the awesome adoption counselors of Challenger’s House on the job!

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I’m curious, did the plastic covering on the heating pad cord come with it, or is that something you did yourself? Chewing on cords is my #1 behavior problem with my foster kittens and I’d love some plastic tubing like that, but I don’t know where to get it.

I bought these cord protectors a couple of years ago to put over the cords to appliances in the foster room.

They’re nice and heavy, and there’s a seam along one side – you basically just wrap it around your cords.

My only gripe is that the “citrus scent” is kind of unpleasant. But it does keep the cats from chewing on cords, so it’s a worthwhile trade-off.

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Do the chickens just jump down onto the dogs when they are asleep in front of the chicken house door?

They kind of jump over them rather than down onto the dogs. I don’t think the dogs would react poorly to having chickens jump on them (if they even felt it!), but I think the chickens would rather be safe than sorry!

(Also, that’s not the only way out of the chicken coop – there’s a door on the front that they can go in and out of, as well.)

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Sleepy Peter, waking up from his long midday nap.

Bobby and Greg.

Peter cheers Marcia on in her Race! Around! The Room!

Cindy thinks Marcia’s tail needs a little salt.

“NO MORE MACARENA, you hear me?!”

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Miz Poo in the foster room. She really likes hanging out in there during the day – it’s the warmest room in the house, with the sun coming through the window. She also likes to watch the babies play, but doesn’t so much like it when they get in her space.

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Previously
2010: Exciting, no?
2009: So yeah, almost two weeks after Christmas, I’m finally in the Christmas spirit.
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: What I hate most about flying is how incredibly fucking boring it is.
2003: Damn 8 Mile.
2002: I think we can agree that I’m all about the politeness
2001
2000: Fred: Well, what’s 8 times 1? Spud: 10?

Thelma and Louise have Eyelid Agenesis (the same condition our sweet True Bloods had last year) and Forgotten Felines needs to raise funds for surgery. Pass the word?

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Later when we got home -we were gone about eight hours-we got the cold shoulder from all three pets for the rest of the night. Do yours ever do that? Spoiled brats!

Actually, ours seem to do the exact opposite – we walk in the door after being gone for a couple of hours, and they greet us with frantic meows, all wide-eyed like they thought we’d abandoned them. Especially Miz Poo – god help me if I have to be out of the house for part of the day due to appointments or errands. She loses her mind after about 30 minutes without any humans around!

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Do you have AMC? Are you and Fred watching The Walking Dead? I had taped all of them and watched them this weekend. Excellent series-good horror but even better drama. Loved it!

We do have AMC, and we are watching The Walking Dead! We actually watched the second episode first, and were kind of “eh” about it. Then we went back and caught the first episode, and it was so good that I DEFINITELY wanted to see the rest of the season. Fred’s still not sure if he likes it, but I LOVE it. The gore is a little, uh, gory (go figure), but nothing I can’t handle.

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I love your door mat–looks like the LL Bean waterhog. We don’t even have one now because one (or more) of the cats loves to pee on them…

It is, it’s this one. I got it when I was in Maine this summer, and since I have me an LL Bean Visa, I had it shipped home for free. I also got a couple of the waterhog place mats to put the water bowls in the kitten room on – and it’s saved the floor from more than one flood.

I’m only surprised that our cats haven’t peed on the door mat. Of course, now that I typed that, somewhere in the house Sugarbutt is all perked up like “You know where I haven’t peed yet? THE DOOR MAT!” and readying his bladder to do so.

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Oh Robyn, you just have to see this. http://www.etsy.com/shop/ToScarboroughFair

Oh Lo, you KNOW I need at least one of every single hat she’s selling! (And as someone else pointed out, her cat model looks like a long-haired Mister Boogers!)

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OH NO. Oh NO.

The “Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure” comes with **ONLY** SIX CATS.

I think that means I need to whittle my cat population down to six, no?

(I actually own that Crazy Cat Lady figure – she’s sitting on the shelf near my desk, looking like a loon. Whenever I feel frazzled, I look at her and think “Well, at least I don’t look THAT bad. Yet.”)

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Question for you regarding cat allergies. About six months ago FatBoy began running at the nose. There has been snot EVERYWHERE! I have been covered in more mucous by this one cat than even my three human kiddos. It’s so bad that when he sneezes, we all jump and run like little girls because we don’t want to be hit by snot. Have any of your cats had this problem and if so, what do you do for it?

Mister Boogers, actually, had allergies in the Spring and Fall. We usually dealt with it by giving him half a tablet of Chlorphenaramine in the morning and then again at night if he needed it. It worked really well for us. We got our Chlorphenaramine at Walmart, in the pharmacy section, in the form of “Chlor-Tabs“. I think you’d find it in the cold/ allergy section. You get 100 tablets for less than $10, if I recall correctly.

(Standard disclaimer here about how you should check with your vet and not take the advice of some crazy lady on the internet.)

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My bff Joanie is a NICU nurse partly because she adores babies and it allows her to always be around infants without having them herself. Do you think you are the same way with kittens? (Not that you can “have one”-but it lets you have some in the house).

You know, it’s always been my intention to get wee baby kittens, love on them, and then pass them along to their forever homes, but as I currently have seven cats within reach AND THAT’S NOT EVEN HALF THE NUMBER OF CATS IN THIS HOUSE RIGHT NOW, I think I’m doin’ it wrong!

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How much longer do you plan to pretend that Corbett and Rhyme aren’t official members of the Ander$on household? I mean, the rest of us know that they are, and we’re all very concerned about this denial in which you’re living. Isn’t it time to fully embrace the gorgeous gray kitty goodness? 😉

BLAHLALALALALALAL I can’t heaaaaaaar youuuuuuuuuuuuu!

Besides, see the next comment.

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Oh – and when I win the lottery, I will be sending a car ’round to pick up Corbie and Rhyme and whisk them to my home in Canoodlia, thankyouverymuch. They are two handsome little devils!

Then I guess I’d better hang onto them for you until that happens. 🙂

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OMG, Robyn, you are a SAINT. I only have two cats. TWO. I scoop poop on a daily basis and I don’t know if these fuckers are inviting in every neighborhood cat while I’m at work to have a poop in their pan or what. Or they are having chili during the day, I don’t know. All I know is you are a SAINT to clean as much poop as you do. AND I am only picking up grown cat, solid poop, not kitten runny poop. Nor do I then have to cleanse said kitten. Two cats. One pan. Inches from the toilet where I flush the poop. Me = has it made. You = SAINT.

Anyway, I think of you every day while I am scooping poop. And I admire your fortitude!!

Oh, I’m not a SAINT (though “Saint Robyn” does have a nice ring to it. Patron saint of crazy cat ladies, obv.) This is how I think of it – you know how on Survivor, they have to spend 39 days out in the wilderness, starving to death and putting up with annoying people (GOD, NaOnka, could you be more self-centered and annoying and hateful?) and eating nothing but rice and listening to blowhards babble, and at the end of those 39 days they might win a million dollars?

Putting up with scooping out litter boxes three times a day, bathing poop-covered kittens, and scrubbing poop off the floor is my 39 days of Survivor and the (eventually) healthy kittens is my million dollar reward. Well, except that I have to scoop, bathe, and scrub every day, and those slackers on Survivor seem to spend a lot of time spazzing out about who’s going to vote for which idiot and whether there’s going to be a blindside and they get cool rewards and I… mostly deal in poop.

But my reward is kitten snuggles, and I’ll take my reward over theirs any day.

(I encourage y’all thinking of me every time you scoop your litter boxes, by the way. It gives me the warm fuzzies. Heh!)

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Is Marcia the only calico in the Bunch? And golly, Corbie is ridiculously handsome.

She is! The rest of them are either brown tabby (Greg and Peter) or mostly white with brown tabby patches (Jan, Bobby, Cindy).

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cute kittys! but in the Brady Bunch its odd to our ears that Marsha is spelt Marcia (MaCEEuh as we pronounce it) they are 2 different names! that always confused me….

When I put collars on the Brady kittens before I took them to the vet to be tested, Fred saw Marcia’s collar and mocked me for spelling it incorrectly. Why on earth he would ever think that I don’t know how to spell Marcia Brady’s name given my love of all things Brady, I do not know. All I know is that’s how the creators of the show spelled it, so for a large part of my life I thought “Marcia” was pronounced “Marsha” and only came to realize there was a different pronunciation as an adult. I think someone better take it up with Sherwood Schwartz!

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Those poor little babes with diarrhea! My poor boy (the one Buster reminds me of) is at the vet’s right now on a drip and antibiotics; he has had diarrhea for a few days and got very dehydrated. And he is a strapping great, otherwise bursting with vitality, nearly 3 year old. How I WISH I had took him to the vet yesterday! What I’m wondering is, how do these tiny babies manage not to get dehydrated when my huge boy did? Is it because they have wet food? He only has dry food, even though he’s probably not eaten much.

You know, even though they all (except for Cindy) had bad diarrhea, they all continued to eat and drink really well. They never got dehydrated, and we’re definitely lucky that they didn’t! I have never given fluids subcutaneously to kittens, and though I’m sure I’ll have to eventually, I’d rather not start by having to do it with six little kittens!

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(I do remember that episode. Does that age me?)

I don’t think it does! I was actually only a year old when The Brady Bunch premiered, and I’m pretty sure I never saw a single episode of it when it was originally airing. All my Brady Bunch viewing came from reruns when I was a bit older, and I’m going to assume the same for you. 🙂

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Guess who’s feeling SO MUCH BETTER, and in fact are now released from their cage into general population all the live-long day?

Our wee Bobby and Jan Brady, that’s who! I let them out of their cage yesterday morning, and they spent the day out and about with their brothers and sisters. Until mid-afternoon, there were no accidents, and even that one accident could have been prevented if I’d put Jan in the litter box when I walked into the room. Once I convinced her that no, Jan, you really DO need to use the litter box, she did, and there were no more accidents. I’d say they aren’t 100% – their litterbox leavings aren’t what they oughta be – but they’re doing SO much better than they were this time last week.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the diarrhea actually goes away in a few more days. That would make me very happy – and I imagine that the kittens would be THRILLED to have me no longer running around after then with baby wipes to wipe their behinds. Oh, you should SEE the looks I get from them! (Believe me – I’d be perfectly thrilled to not to do it, too!)

Marcia and Greg, contemplating a nap.

Clockwise from the brown tabby: Peter, Bobby, Marcia, Jan.

Sweet miss Jan.

Left to right: Bobby, Peter, Cindy, Jan, Greg, Marcia.

Bobby, having finished his own plate, moves on down the line to see what everyone else has.

Greg.

Cindy, half standing in her plate. The better to protect it from Bobby.

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Tommy in his garbage can. It was actually raining out, but rain does not bother our Tom. He’d live outside 24/7 if he had his choice!

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Previously
2009: I calls him “SnuffleFLOOFaGus.”
2008: I’m off to get my boobs squooshed!
2007: Sitting in the portal, waiting for the mother ship to arrive.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Meester Boogers howled even more forlornly.
2003: I’ll be ONE OF THOSE FUCKING PEOPLE WHO WALKS AROUND SMELLING LIKE CAT PEE WITHOUT KNOWING IT!
2002: Lay on it!
2001: Fred smiled his asshole smile.
2000: No entry.
1999: No entry.

I hope y’all had a good Thanksgiving. We thought everyone was going to show up here around 11 to eat, but as it turned out that’s the time they wanted to eat, and Fred’s sister said she’d be here at 9:30. So we expected everyone to show up around 9:30. Then we were sitting in front of our computers at 9:05 when the driveway alarm went off, and we looked out to see Fred’s mother and stepfather pulling into the driveway. Fred’s sister showed up a little later with her husband and son, and since everyone had arrived and the only things we needed to do was actually bake the sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole and warm up a few things, we put everything in the oven at 9:30, and were sitting down to eat shortly after 10:30.

I don’t know what it is about Thanksgiving dinner, but I always end up eating not very much and feeling miserably stuffed. I was so full I couldn’t even eat dessert, and that’s something amazing for me. Dessert was pecan squares, and since we (Fred) had made dessert, I didn’t have to worry about missing out, ’cause we had plenty of leftovers.

Everyone was gone by 12:30, and Fred took a nap while I did laundry. We live the high life, dontchaknow. I spent a lot of time with the kittens and did more laundry and did a little online Christmas shopping, and it was a pretty quiet and relaxing day.

Oh, and about the kittens: Fred’s sister LOVES kittens, and she asked if she could see ours. Fred told her of course she could, but held up one finger and said “BE WARNED: it reeks in that room because the kittens all have diarrhea and it is VERY LIKELY that they’ve got poop on them somewhere, as they are fond of pooping and then trekking through it.” She asked about the diarrhea, and he told her about their horrible coccidia. She waffled for a moment, and then decided to go see them. So she did, and then she came back downstairs and we were talking about them, and then she looked down at her jeans and realized she had a big ol’ poop smear on her leg, and went running off to the bathroom to wash it off. I’m glad we warned her!

(Note about the coccidia: I think we’ve had perhaps one bunch of foster kittens who did NOT have coccidia, giardia, or worms. All of the kittens we foster come to us with one or more of the three – and about half the time someone’s got the goopy eyes, too, while they’re at it – which means that I’ve probably cleaned up about 43 gallons of diarrhea thus far in my fostering career. It’s gross, it’s not fun – it’s the polar opposite of fun – but you learn to deal with it. I find that adding pumpkin and a sprinkle of powdered slippery elm bark to their canned food in the morning and evening eventually helps. If it gets to be too bad, I make a slippery elm “syrup” and dose them with it several times a day. I’m about to start doing that with these guys, I think.)

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Robyn, this is how I imagine Snackin’ Time! at your house:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

You’re not far wrong!!!

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I can see your house turning into this eventually.

If I could find my copy I would send it to you!

Oh, I LOVE the Cats’ House! (You can see an online tour here.) Fred doesn’t like the bright colors of the house, but even he can’t deny it’s WAY cool.

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This made me think of you:

Crazy Cat Lady Game.

I can’t imagine why. Heh.

Oddly enough, I just bought something from that catalog!

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I bought a Dyson DC-25 right after you did and primarily because you liked yours so much! I had an Oreck that had suddenly stopped working as well as it did. The Dyson has been amazing. I do get a little irritated having to take it apart and clean it but it is also nice not having to buy bags.

I have to tell you guys, I’m REALLY glad that those of you who bought your Dysons on my recommendation are still loving them. I would very much hate it if you spent that much money and then were disappointed!

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Percy and Jack- named after the Percy Jackson books, perhaps?

I don’t think so, actually. When I met Jennifer and asked what she was going to name them, she said that her son had determined one of them would be Percy, and he was going to allow her to name the other one (hee). She mentioned a few names, and I said that I REALLY like Jack – it’s my favorite pet name, but since Fred’s stepfather’s name is Jack, we can’t really use it for one of our own pets.
And I think it’s a good name – Starsky really looks like a “Jack” to me! And I think Hutch looks pretty Percy-like. When she said “Percy”, though, my immediate thought was Percy Weasley!

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After we killed a Dyson, and then in the following year three slightly cheaper replacements, I decided: I’m not using bagless vacuums any damn more.

Having tried to fix all the broken ones, I got a feel for how the bagless ones work, and it’s all that filtration to compensate for the ultimate filter: a bag. Unfortunately, if your house is coated in a thick layer of animal fur, it’s just too much for the filters.

I bought the only sub-$200 bagged vacuum I could find, which was a Bissell Powerglide, and 40 no-name bags for $1/ea (I buy another big batch every so often so there are ALWAYS bags in the closet), and I am HAPPY! I use an old litter bucket as a trash can, so I can take the full bag off the machine and immediately contain it in the bucket until I’m ready to carry it outside to the trash, and I find that process much more pleasant than having to carry the canister outside to dump.

I am sure it vacuums better, it clogs less, the bag holds more than your average bagless chamber. The $79 vacuum is just about to turn 2 years old, which may be a record.

Several people have mentioned to me that professionals have told them those of us with many pets shouldn’t use bagless vacuums. So far, my Kenmore canister vacuum seems to be doing an okay job, so I think I’ll stick with it for now!

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where did u get that rack/holder thing for the baking/roasting pans? that looks like something that i badly need… well maybe 2.

I’m pretty sure I got it either at Walmart or Target. It’s intended to go in your cabinet to hold plates, but my pans fit perfectly in it, and it’s a lot easier than stacking them and having to pull them out!

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Robyn, this is completely unrelated, but I came across this on facebook and it made me think of you!

Ha – LOVE IT!

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Female Cat Spraying: Here is my experience with a sprayer in my house. I have a 2 year old that I raised on a bottle, she and an older female hate each other. We have 7 house cats. Kellie started spraying around the house, which got worse on the days that I was away from home. She would plant herself right in front of me to do it as soon as I walked in (who says animals can’t communicate!) . We tried Feliway diffusers, the impregnated Good Kitty collars, playing with her, diverting her attention, all the stuff you read about doing.. I was at my wits end. We went to the vet and tried Buspar on her.. that did not work… she has now been on Prozac for a week and she has not sprayed since. She is much more loving and calm and there is not that spraying. They have to be on it for 6 weeks, at that point I don’t know if we will try to discontinue or if we will keep her on it. I was reluctant to try it on her.. but I am glad I did now.

Thanks for the tip – I wanted to make sure that those of you who don’t read the comments saw this!

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Even though this woman writes about her dogs, I thought you would enjoy this. I laughed so hard my co-workers came in wondering what was wrong with me.

Dogs Don’t Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving

There is absolutely nothing that Allie Brosh has written that doesn’t make me guffaw like a goon! This is one of my particular favorites. This one, too. If you guys aren’t reading that site, you are MISSING OUT.

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I’ll have to try your all-purpose cleaning solution. Since it’s all-purpose, do you also use it for your kitchen counters?

Yep, I use it for my kitchen counters, for cleaning around the sink in the bathrooms, and the toilet seat and lids – if it needs some sort of cleaning spray, the all-purpose cleaning solution works great!

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That reminds me of one night when Hubby and I stayed at a hotel for a ‘romantic weekend’. King bed. I could NOT sleep with all of the freaking snoring he was doing and swear I barely got a wink. After one bout of shoving him to no avail I remember saying “I am going to FUCKING KILL YOU!!” Repeat and rinse several times. Bastard. I was thisclose to sleeping in the tub. (And I tried smothering him but he woke up.) I think on our next ‘romantic weekend’ we should get separate rooms.

The first time Fred and I went to Florida – 1997, maybe – we shared a bed (I know, right? THE HORROR!) and he snored SO GODDAMN LOUD that I couldn’t sleep. In desperation I got a blanket and some pillows and went into the bathroom and tried to sleep on the floor. It didn’t work – the floor is fucking HARD, y’all – and when I went back into the room, Fred woke up. Eventually, he went out on the deck and slept in one of the chairs out there (I didn’t encourage it – but I didn’t DIScourage it either) and I slept like a baby. I found that the trick to sleeping in the same room as Fred is to go to sleep before he does. It works surprisingly well on the rare occasion we share a room.

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Miss Jan and her great giant bat ears.

“Greg Brady does not like this collar, lady.”

Left to right: Bobby, Cindy, Peter, Greg. I LOVE that patch of brown tabby on Cindy’s side. It’s almost heart-shaped!

Five of the six. Marcia was off somewhere doing something.

Jan Brady, scratching. I LOVE her spots of brown tabby.

Cindy Brady, looking smug.

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I think Buster – all my Bookworms, really – has THE prettiest eyes.

Rhyme, disturbed.

Corbie, keeping an eye out.

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Elwood’s king of the mountain! Er. King of the trash can!

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Previously
2009: Happy Thanksgiving!
2008: Here are some pictures from Crooked Acres to tide you over.
2007: Amazing how that works.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Just call me Grinchypoo.
2003: Survivor.
2002: If you think you can have too many smiley-face stickers, you are sadly mistaken.
2001: The phrase “anthrax in my pants” is FUCKING FUNNY when it’s spoken by a sixty-three year old woman.
2000: No entry.

If you’re in Maine and are looking for a cat, please let me know and I’ll pass your email along to the people looking for a home for her. She’s about 1 1/2 years old, has a very sweet temperament, and is a blue-eyed Siamese mix. (Sorry, no pics at the moment – but I’m sure there’ll be some available soon!) She’s spayed and has had her rabies shot.

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Y’all in the Huntsville area, don’t forget about the Plea Market (ie, gigantic yard sale) going on Saturday 9 am – 4 pm at the Jaycees building on Airport Road. There’s a preview sale tonight from 5 – 8 which costs you a donation of $10 to get in.

You can check out the North Alabama Spay Neuter Clinic web site, here.

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Robyn, I just re-read “Fishing Frank’s” diary entry from last year, and have been sitting here HOWLING.

“TAKE YOUR TIME!” Mr. Idiot said through clenched teeth. Mrs. Idiot picked up the pace, and the faster her feet went, the faster her mouth went. I counted 23 “fucks” before I stopped counting.”

I would like to nominate this entry for a spot on the “best of” page!

I have added Fishing Frank to the “best of” page.

(How many of you just said “There’s a “best of” page?!” ?)

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That’s it. I’m calling “Hoarders.” You’re hoarding cats. 😉

Can I request Dr. Robin “Crazy Eyes” Zasio and Matt “Cranky Matt” Paxton please?

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Okay, I admit that I’m a check writer. I resist/reject using debit cards because I believe they are used for data collecting/tracking purposes. However, upon approaching any check out counter my checkbook is in-hand and except for purchase amount, I immediately begin writing out the check so as not to delay others in line.
Did I mention that I dislike using debit cards???? Technology is not always good; introduces a “new” set of issues/problems/concerns.

The way technology is going these days, in another five years I’ll be writing about how annoying people who use DEBIT and CREDIT CARDS are, GOD, why don’t they just have the money subtracted from their bank account by RETINA SCAN the way the rest of us do?!

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I too, lament the possibility of drowning in cat pee, especially with our latest kitten addition. Sadly though, the kitten is more accepted by everyone than our previous 2 arrivals have been.

Is it a big issue with you with so many? I have a few that seem to be the worst offenders, and I’m trying everything I can to calm them down a bit, but my 12 still pale in comparison to your…is it 18 now? Does letting them out a bit seem to help with that, or do they still get that way when they all come inside at night? I was thinking about screening in our huge front porch next spring to see if the extra room would help calm things down.

Do you use Feliway, or do you have any tips that would help create more kitty harmony?

IT IS NOT 18. IT IS 16. AND 4 OF THEM ARE FOSTERS.

::headdesk::

For the most part, cat pee is not a huge problem for us unless something happens to piss (har har) someone off – we’re pretty sure that Sugarbutt is the pee-er most of the time. On a regular day to day basis we generally don’t run across cat pee, but if I go away for a few days, the pee floodgates open. When I was in Myrtle Beach, Fred’s couch was peed upon quite a bit, along with any clothing he left laying on the floor.

(Clothing on the floor almost always gets peed on, for some reason. I don’t leave clothes on the floor EVER.)

But I would say that letting them outside during the day really does help. They get that much more room to spread out and stay out of each others’ faces. At night when we make sure they’re all inside and shut the back door, there’s the occasional tiff and some chasing, but for the most part they settle down in various places through the house, and don’t pick on each other too much.

I don’t really have any tips – isn’t that helpful? I’ve tried Feliway and I’m not sure whether it helps or not. It seems that it does calm them down a little bit, but I can’t guarantee it. Some people swear by it, though – it’s probably worth trying.

Who has cat harmony tips? Feel free to share!

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I had a cat who was a growler, too. Domino hated people, pretty much all people except us, but unknown visitors were definitely on her list of those who must be shunned. She’d go hide for the first hour or so, and then she’d grow tired of hiding and come into the room and menace them… “GO HOME NOW!” She was a beautiful, tiny (and perfectly round) kitty, so she didn’t look scary, but the sounds that came out of her were pretty darn amazing! People would ask, “will she hurt me?” and I’d say, “well, not if you leave soon” Hee! She was way too much of a chicken to have actually approached anyone, but after her growling they just didn’t believe me. Worked well to keep visits short 🙂

If I could train one of the cats to fluff up, walk sideways, and growl at people on my signal, that would be AWESOME. I’d make them accompany me to the door when there was a stranger there, and scare the bejesus out of them! “I’d like to buy your insurance, Mr. Salesman, but Fluffy doesn’t seem to trust you, and I ALWAYS listen to what the cat has to say!”

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I know you don’t usually shop at Kroger but I wanted to let you know that the 40lb. boxes of cat litter, Petpride, are on sale for $7.09 or 7.89… something like that, in case you want to stock up. And for the record that litter is much better then the the 28lb. green box that Wal-Mart sells, I think it’s Special Kitty, it really does suck compared to the Kroger one in the blue box. Not that you’ve ever mentioned using it just wanted to let you know in case you ever did.

I did try the Pet Pride litter, but decided that I still prefer the Fresh Step I get at Sam’s. But I’m including this here so that those of you who do like the Pet Pride litter know to get yourselves to Kroger!!

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I wanted to thank you for the link to Crunchy Betty. I want to try her Best Homemade Bathroom Cleaner Ever. Have you tried it yet? Also, we installed new wood floors as soon as we closed on our house. What do you find is the best way to clean your wood floors? Thanks!

Oh, you guys KNOW I love sharing when I find the best sites ever! And did I mention that I love me some Crunchy Betty? I do.

I have not tried the Best Homemade Bathroom Cleaner Ever YET – what, do you think I clean more than once in a blue moon? Silly readers. I do have most of the stuff to make it, though, I just need the peppermint essential oil, and then I’ll be ready to go. Which is good timing, because we’re doing Thanksgiving dinner here next week, so you KNOW I’ll be doing some serious cleaning Tuesday and Wednesday (and Thursday morning)!

I usually use my All-Purpose Cleaning Spray to clean my floors. I have a Swiffer duster, only instead of using the disposable Swiffer cloths, I use cut up flour sack cloths, tuck the four corners of the cloths into where you’d tuck the corners of the Swiffer cloths, and after I’m done cleaning the floors, I toss the dirty cloths into the wash. I spray a section of the floor with the spray, then go over it with the Swiffer, go on to the next section, and so forth.

There are all kinds of hardwood floor cleaners out there that you can buy, but honestly I don’t think they do the job any better than my cleaning spray does.

(I’m open to other suggestions, those of you who have hardwood floors!)

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I got turned on to internet glasses early this year and found the Glassy Eyes blog, and he always has coupons on the sidebar for several different online eyeglass stores.

I have like five pair of glasses now, which is such a radical concept to me after nearly 30 years of never owning more than one pair at a time. I just broke a pair banging them on the top of the car door, and I was all “oh, shoot, now I have to walk back inside and put on a different pair of glasses instead of wasting an entire day dealing with this.”

They’re absolutely just eyeglass mills, you wouldn’t want to use them for particularly complicated requirements and they don’t do any kind of repair, but for a cheap pair of glasses they can’t be beat.

Awesome! I think I’m going to buy another pair or two so I can feel free to get rid of my old, crappy glasses.

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I have heard about people falling in love on-line, but I never thought it would happen to me! Oh. Corbie, I love you so much!

I can’t blame you. He is beyooooooootiful, isn’t he?

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Years ago we adopted a stray, Nico, who proved to have an E coli infection all the way to her kidneys. What got her diagnosed is one night she let go in a papasan and peed all the way through the cushion on to the floor. The pee smelled terrible and I thought the cushion was lost. (And she peed all over a vet tech and her fur smelled so bad when we got her home that we had to bathe her in the bathtub. Fun!)

However, I used this stuff called Simple Solution, which has enzymes and bacteria in it that eat stains/smells. Basic Nature’s Miracle has only enzymes.

(Link to Petco site: http://www.petco.com/product/2851/Simple-Solution-Stain-and-Odor-Remover-for-Pets.aspx )

I wound up drenching (half a bottle at least) the “accident spot” 2 or 3 times and putting it in the sun to dry, but it worked. I still have the cushion, it doesn’t smell, the cats sleep in it all the time, and nobody has peed on it since.

Anything you can find that has beneficial bacteria in it plus enzymes will work better. Nature’s Miracle makes an enzyme/bacteria formula but you gotta read the ingredients to figure out which of their products have it.

I’m posting this here ’cause I wanted to make sure those of you who don’t read the comments saw it.

You can get Simple Solution at PetSmart, too!

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This has nothing to do with anything today but don’t you think that Corbie looks alot like a California Spangled cat and Rhyme looks like an Egyptian Mau? Maybe their momma was a wayward showcat?

They really do resemble those breeds – and Corbie also looks a lot like a Bengal.

Their momma wasn’t a showcat, though – she was a pretty little black and white Tuxie. Maybe their father was the wayward showcat?

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Yeah, I’ve been married 21 years and I could have my own bedroom and be happy. It’d be great to be able to spread out in bed like a swastika.

The funny thing is that I don’t spread out at ALL. I sleep on the left side of the bed (as you’re facing it), and most of the cats who sleep with me – Miz Poo, Rhyme, Tommy, Elwood – sleep on the right side of the bed. Well, except that Rhyme usually stretches across the bed and puts his head on my shoulder for at least part of the night!

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Now I have a question – I have two cats that I am “keeping” temporarily for a friend who hit some hard times. They are small cats, esp in comparison to my 2 huge boys. They eat well, drink well, everything works – except they are vomit comets. I have had to change the sheets in the guest room 3 times in the last week because they like to vomit on the bed (and the carpet). I know I should have gotten wise after the first time and put some plastic over the bedding, but I am slow sometimes. But really I want to keep them from vomiting at all – any hints? They mostly eat dry (Purina indoor cat) food and occasionally some wet if the other cats let them.

I’ve read that sometimes cats will eat dry food until they’re full, and then immediately drink water, which causes the dry food to swell in their stomach and makes them vomit. Is the food they’re eating the same food they were eating before? And how long have they been with you? It could be the change in environment, or even just the stress of the move.

If it were me, I’d give it a little while (maybe move their water away from their food and up their wet food intake if possible) and see if the problem resolves itself.

Anyone else out there with suggestions? Feel free to share!

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Saw this on a friends facebook and figured you would appreciate it the most.

LOVE it! I can’t imagine a single one of my cats who would just lay there and let me do that. I love it when he rolls the toy past the cat, and the cat’s just like “Yeah? And?” and doesn’t even bother to smack at it.

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I can’t stop giggling at that picture of Hutch where it looks like he’s fallen into the lava and Coltrane’s all, “Cut the drama, babe. Tryna nap here.”

The “screamy” picture is good too – Coltrane looks like he’s thinking, “Every. Single. Damned. Flight I ever take, there’s ALWAYS a screaming kid in the next row!” – but it’s the memory of the “oh noes, teh lava, it gots me!” picture that is going to make me laugh inappropriately in several public places today.

That description of this picture made me laugh out loud. I agree, Hutch is all drama queening it up, and Coltrane could not be less impressed.

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Ok…off the subject: I read your about me section and linked over to the pigs and chickens. So, I have a few questions. How do you chose which chicken to “process”? How do you not get attached to those cute little pigs? Do you cry when they go to the “freezer camp”? Does Fred do the dirty work and you keep your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears as you sing “La-la-la-la-la” the whole time (I think I would)? I know people might roll their eyes at me on this one, but I really would like to know. Yes, we all eat and nothing “magically” gets packaged at the grocery store….but I was wondering how you can let go of “pinky” when you are eating him? Forgive me…I am NOT being a smarty-pants or anything. This is a real question.

Fred is actually the one who chooses which chickens need to be processed – and at this point they’re almost always roosters. If you have too many roosters, they fight each other, and run the hens ragged to the point where the hens get bare spots on their backs because the roosters pull at their feathers to balance during, y’know. THE ACT. I hate seeing hens with bare backs.

The very first chicken we processed (in 2007, I think), I was actually the one to wield the ax. I felt that I couldn’t, in good conscience, expect Fred to do all the work, and I needed to prove that I was willing to do my part. It was not fun, to say the least, and that’s the last chicken I slaughtered myself. If I had to do it, I would. But he does the processing, I do the cooking, it all balances out, right?

He processes several chickens at a time, and he does it over by the end of the driveway, which is a spot I can avoid looking at. I usually don’t see any of the processing going on until he brings the chickens inside, when it’s time to put them in freezer bags and label them. By the time I see the processed chickens, they look exactly like the chickens you get at the grocery store.

The pigs are very personable, but they’re also very obnoxious as they get older. We don’t process the pigs ourselves, we take them to a local butcher, and that makes it a little easier to deal with. I got pretty attached to the first set of pigs we had, and it was very hard to see them go off to the butcher. I don’t think I’ve gotten as attached to the subsequent sets of pigs, though I like to watch them run around, and they’re pretty entertaining.

It’s never easy to know that they’re about to go off to the butcher, and I always feel especially bad for them the day before they go because they’re running around, they’re eating, they’re pushing each other out of the way at the trough, and they don’t know that it’s their last day. It’s a little easier – for me – with the chickens because there are so many of them and I ask Fred not to tell me which ones he’s going to process ahead of time.

It probably helps that we simply don’t think of the chickens and the pigs in the same way that we think of the dogs and the cats. We never regard them as pets, and don’t allow ourselves to get that attached to them.

Actually, scratch that – there are a few chickens that we’ve considered pets in the past. My favorite was an Americauna hen we got with our very first batch of 12 hens. She was a character and would come running over like a puppy every time we went outside.

This is Frick (short for Fricassee) and Sugarbutt:

I always thought of her as a pet, and we would never have eaten her. Sadly, when she was about 1 1/2, we found her dead under the chicken coop. In retrospect, she was probably eggbound, which we didn’t realize at the time.

(We buried her in a corner of the chicken yard.)

When we bought this house, it was our intention to move toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle. A large part of that is raising our own food in the form of the chickens and pigs and the garden. Because we have the space and the time required to raise our own food, we do.

I like knowing that the pigs and chicken live happy lives where they can roam the field, where they’re protected by George and Gracie, and where they eat bugs and grass and the occasional kitchen scraps. (Our chickens’ favorite food? Tomatoes. They would cut your throat for a bucket of tomatoes. I gave them the last tomatoes of the season this afternoon. I’m a little afraid they’re going to come after me when there are no tomatoes tomorrow!) We treat them well – did I ever mention that our pigs each get a homemade chocolate chip cookie every night? I’m not kidding. (I cook a batch of them and keep them in a bag and the pigs each get one in the evening. I don’t make them FRESH cookies every day. I’m not CRAZY.) – and I believe that they have happy lives right up until the end.

Good lord – did you know when you asked the question that I was going to go on about it forever?

If I can guess the questions my essay will lead to, I’m going to guess someone’s curious why we don’t have a cow (we’re not quite ready to make that commitment. We do eat beef, though – we bought half a (processed) cow from the butcher who processed our pigs last year. We’re hoping next year to trade a (processed) pig for a half cow from the same man.), why we don’t have goats (I don’t want goats. I’ve never eaten goat, and I have no desire to.), and how many freezers we have (a big chest freezer in the garage, a smaller chest freezer in the garage, an upright freezer in the laundry room, and the freezer that goes with our refrigerator).

So there you go. And now someone’s saying “Why’s she talking about FARMING? We’re here to see the kitties!” 🙂

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Starsky, staring at the ceiling fan.

It’s pretty amazing, that ceiling fan.

I guess he’d never seen it actually running before.

Starsky, hanging out in the foster room.

Hanging out on my desk.

Don’t Buster and Starsky look like they could be brothers?

Starsky and Hutch will be heading off to their new home this afternoon. They have a bit of a drive ahead of them, but I think when they get there, they will be two very happy, very spoiled little monkeys.

I’ll tell you all about it on Monday!

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Buster’s legs, hanging over the top of the pantry. I’m really wishing we’d had a “lip” built around the top of that thing, because seeing the bed (not to mention the CAT) hang off like that stresses me out!

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Sweet, sweet, SWEET Joe Bob. He is just the sweetest cat on earth. You talk to him, and he looks at you and squints up at you with love. He’s just a sweet boy.

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Previously
2009: If the Cookies’ heads are filled with marshmallow Fluff, then chickens’ heads are filled with lint, and turkeys’ heads are filled with nothing but pure air.
2008: Can’t connect to the internet, new entry will have to wait ’til tomorrow.
2007: “IF HE RUINED THIS CAMERA, I AM GOING TO TAKE HIM OUT TO THE BACK FORTY AND SHOOT HIM IN THE BACK OF THE GODDAMN HEAD!” I bellowed at Fred, who made an I’m-listening-really-this-is-fascinating noise and kept clicking around the internet.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Questions answered.
2003: Pictures.
2002: Just another example of my weirdness.
2001: God in heaven, has the WORLD GONE NUTS?
2000: “Oh, you’re giving us the COT free of charge? Well, let me do a friggin’ happy dance for that!”
1999: “Lookit them buildings, Fray-uhd! They’s so TALL! And look! A homeless person. Give him money, Fred! Give him money!”

Have you seen Shae? Spread the word!

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©Heaven Mahle

This is Dirty Feet – she belongs to Heaven, a foster mum for Challenger’s House. (You guys think I have a lot of cats in my house at one time? Heaven routinely has WAY more fosters in her house at one time than I do. And she’s a miracle worker. I’ve seen kittens that don’t look like they’re going to make it one more hour when she gets them turn out to be the most beautiful, healthy cats. Which you already know if you’re Facebook friends with her!)

Last week, Dirty Feet was ill, and ended up at the vet’s where she was for most of the week. They couldn’t seem to figure out what was going on with her until Heaven took her to another vet who was able to ultrasound Dirty Feet and find the blockage causing her illness. She had surgery on Friday and as of today is recovering at home and doing well.

©Heaven Mahle

Like so many of us do, Heaven spent every penny she had to save Dirty Feet, and she still owes money to the vet. I encouraged her to sign up for a Chip In fundraiser, and I hope y’all will consider helping out. The widget should show up below, but if it doesn’t, you can go here to see her Chip In page. Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give!And here are some pictures of Dirty Feet as a baby, because I knew you’d want to see them!

All above pictures ©Heaven Mahle

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This is neat. I never make bows, so it wouldn’t be a handy tip for me, but I just had to share.

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My cat, Steve, was just diagnosed with a bacterial infection in his bladder. To let me know, he peed a bloody clot on my bed at 9:30 Sunday morning, after 6 hours of trying to tell me something was wrong. (I was trying to sleep, and I don’t speak “Cat”. Yet-working on it!)

The lucky guy then spent 30 hours with doctors, IVs, and minimal food (which he thoroughly loved – cough cough).

To prevent further outside-the-box peeing, should I trash the bedding, or since this was because of illness, might Nature’s Miracle or something else suffice? I think the down comforter may be irreparable, but the pillows, sheets….mattress…???

Any help and advice will greatly appreciated!!!

This is what I would do – if you think the down comforter is irreparable and you’re not too torn up about losing it, I’d toss it. Those things are big and bulky and hard to deal with, and the less stuff you have to deal with, the better.

The pillows and sheets can go into the washer. I’d put them on the “soak” cycle, put in a cap of detergent, and then a buttload – maybe a cup – of baking soda in the water as it’s filling up, and then let everything soak for a couple of hours. Let it drain, then run it through a regular wash cycle, using white vinegar as your fabric softener (everything will smell like vinegar when you first take it out of the washer, but trust me, that will go away as it dries). If you have a clothesline, hang everything out in the sun for a day – two, if you can swing it. If you don’t, put everything in the dryer and dry the hell out of it. (You may need to finish the pillows in the dryer, anyway, since they take forever to dry.)

For the mattress, you can use Nature’s Miracle, but keep in mind that it takes a couple of weeks to work (it doesn’t kill the smell immediately), and it’s going to be stinky in the meantime. I’ve heard good things about Anti Ickypoo (maybe from one of you guys?), which I believe will kill the smell immediately and also kill it in the long term – ie, it won’t come back after a few months.

Now I know you guys have suggestions on this topic – chime in in the comments, won’t you?

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Is it just me or does the picture titled “and running” make him look like a kangaroo???

It certainly does! It also reminds me of this picture I got of Mister Boogers from yeeeeears ago:

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If you haven’t found the Robin Williams routine yet, I must encourage you to do so. I wept.

LOVE it!

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I found damnyouautocorrect.com and have scared the baby more than once laughing so loud.

That site absolutely kills me. Last night I was laughing so hard I was sobbing at every single fucking post. I finally had to turn the laptop off, I was afraid I’d wake Fred up!

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Is it wrong to say that I’d give my kids up for adoption if they reacted that way to a surprise trip to Disney World? I think, as a parent, I’d be saying, “I’m done.” 🙂 I can only imagine those parents dropped a load of money on that trip!! I’ll bet the kids went on to have a blast, though. 🙂

Before the lady who uploaded it closed comments, she said that once they got to Disney, they had a really good time. I think it was just that they’d spent all night driving, expected they were going to Dick’s house, and then found out they were actually going to Disney that made them react that way.

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I used Zenni Optical one time and ordered some super cool rimless transition glasses from them. I used to have long hair that I wore in a ponytail and since I’m only near-sighted (can’t see far away) I would slide them up on top of my head to look at close objects. About 3 months into the new super cool glasses I got them caught in my hair and snapped them at the lens near the holder thingie on the ear piece. I write to them and asked “could you please replace this one lens?” They said “NO, we don’t do special orders” butt butt butt YOU MADE THEM. It would have cost more to renew that one lens locally than it did for the whole pair of glasses. No customer support what so ever. Bite my big fat you know what Zenni.

Now I go to eyebuydirect.com.

Thanks for the feedback – I may give eyebuydirect.com a try, since I’ve decided I need a second (emergency) pair of glasses!

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Do you have an issue with kittehs nosing their way into your cabinets? I’m having that issue right now and am thinking about putting some magnetic catches or some kind of locks so they can’t get into them.

Not in the kitchen, really – I think the doors are probably too heavy for my guys to nose open (though every time I have to open a cabinet door, cats come running to climb into the cabinet and see the Super! Exciting! Cookie sheets!).

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I just thought of a way you could help with those invisible high and big shelves: mirrors!
I was trying to think of a way to make some inexpensive lightweight ones out of plastic and Krylon paint, but thought it through and couldn’t. Sorry. Fred would end up cutting glass, and I know he already has a long assed to-do-last week list. So sorry.

I could probably keep a hand mirror in the junk drawer and use it when I need to see what the hell is up there!

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We used to buy that Popov vodka from Sam’s club till I unclenched and bought some Absolut. Now I’ll never go back. You do know you’re supposed to keep vodka in the freezer, right? Maybe only boozehounds like me know that?

Are you supposed to keep vodka in the freezer because it makes it taste better, or so it’ll be cold when you drink it, or what? I only use vodka to make homemade vanilla, but if keeping it in the cabinet makes it taste bad, I’ll move it to the freezer!

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When we bought our house there was a lazy susan in the upper corner cabinet. Cut down on the storage size but it was convenient. Then we redid the kitchen. Still have the corner cabinet but no lazy susan anymore! Pain!!

I’m trying to convince Fred that we should install lazy susans in the corner cabinets, but (AS USUAL) he doesn’t seem to agree that it’s high on the list of priorities.

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Make your cookie sheets do double duty by using them as shelf sliders. Then you can have a lot more cookie sheets since you’re using them all the time.

Put a piece of craft paper down the cookie sheet — that will keep it cleaner and protect it from scratches. If you have an old banged up cookie sheet, use it for a slider instead of throwing it out; rub a little candle wax on the bottom side to help the old sheet slide better (or use a quick spray of Pam and let it dry for a couple of hours — don’t use the flavored Pam).

If you have the right tools (sheet metal cutter) and an old cookie sheet, you can customize the sheet to fit that odd angle in corner or “L” shape cabinets. Just make sure to curl the raw cut edge of the sheet over & crimp it closed to protect yourself and anyone else.

LOVE this idea!!!

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Once upon a time, I had organized spice jars and I would even write the date on a label one the bottom of each one so I would know if they were too old. Then I moved and I think they are in my parent’s storage building. Now, my focus is on plastic containers. One day they will all be matchy and organized.

Also, your fridge looks a little empty to me. That’s probably because mine is such a mess and I need to do a serious purging.

You know, with the huge number of spices I have, you’d think I’d always be spicing up the stuff I cook, but if left to my own devices, I’ll generally salt and pepper whatever I’m cooking, and call it good enough.

And did you know you’re supposed to replace your spices after six months? I just read that in a magazine. That is LUDICROUS to me – I have some spices that are years – if not a decade – old, and they still seem okay to me. Of course, I don’t have the most refined palate, either.

It’s funny that my fridge looks empty to you – to me, it looks like it’s practically stuffed full. 🙂

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Looks like a little angel, doesn’t he? DO NOT BE FOOLED.

Note the claws, extended and ready for use!

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Buster can’t get away from those crazy women on Dr. Phil fast enough.

Corbie the beautiful.

Striped Corbie belleh.

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Spanky in the sun!

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Previously
2009: She sure yells at him a lot. I wouldn’t put up with that shit from no woman on earth.
2008: Fucking drama queen.
2007: Whatever I do, I’m sure it’ll be exciting!
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: NOTHING gets by him. NOTHING.
2003: Yep. When you have a crush on a fictional character and whine about how no one in a NOVEL is telling you anything, it’s about time to get a life, say true.
2002: Obviously she’d never taken Customer Service 101, wherein the “‘Thanks!’ = go away” equation is covered thoroughly.
2001: Poor Sadie. Those damn mean cats just refuse to play with her…
2000: No entry.
1999: No entry.

2011 calendars for sale ——–>

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I saw an advertisement last night for “Skating with the Stars” to start 11-22 after DWTS concludes. My initial thought was “who cares” and then they started naming who was going to be on the show – Bethenny Frankel!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m soooooo excited!!!!

Oh, I’m so there! I don’t watch Dancing with the Stars (except while Kate Gosselin – shaddup – was on) because I only have so much TV-watchin’ time per week, and it’s taken up with Hoarders, Animal Cops reruns, Grey’s Anatomy, Dr. Phil and Oprah (though I don’t watch every episode of those, maybe a couple of each per week, depending on the topic) and at night I watch an episode of Gossip Girl on my iPod before turning in. But I’m definitely going to check out Skating with the Stars because I love me some Bethenny.

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Ooooh, I totally dreamed about you last night! Well, not YOU exactly, but your house o’cats. I dreamed that the adoption business really tanked and NO kitties were being adopted. Then, in a crisis, you took in a litter of 7 baby meowsters of unquestionable adorability followed by three more cute-to-the-max kittens. There were cats and kittens everywhere and yet, you were totally happy and dealing with it. The only thing you worried about was when adoptions would start up again. i seriously hope this is not a ‘premonition’ dream. Those adorable babies need forever homes, even though they are waaaaay spoiled at your place. Maybe you are just too good with fosters????

It better not be a premonition dream! The only dreams y’all are allowed to have of a premonitory nature about us is the one where we win the lottery, y’all hear me?

(Have I mentioned that it cracks me up when y’all have dreams about us?)

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Who is behind Jake being all up in his stuff?

That’s Reacher (which I know because I can see his silver-gray tabby legs and white feet). There’s nothing the Bookworms enjoy so much as sniffing butt. Well, except for Rhyme who appears to have an earwax fetish, judging by the way I woke up this morning.

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I would like to sprinkle some glitter in the bowel prep (butt drano!), so that little sparkly flecks are present during the procedure. My colon will be the pretty, prety princess of all colons, and then it shall rule the world.

And then I want to read my medical records.

Yes, please do and report back! 🙂

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What is that amazing piece of furniture in the bottom left hand corner of that picture? I WANT!

That is the Room with a View, bought from Jeffers last year. I (and the cats) like it so much that I’m going to buy another one this year. On December 4th starting at 10 am Central time, the first 300 customers who buy a Room with a View at Jeffers get it for half price plus shipping!

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Robyn, if the Amish pantry has doors and it’s over by that counter . . . how you gonna open the left side door?

It’s built so that the doors don’t go all the way to the side – they’re set in a ways so that we’ll be able to open the door on the left (Fred and the Amish guy designed it that way). Once I get the doors done and they’re put on, I’ll take a picture to show you how it is.

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Do you wish you had an island in your kitchen for some extra counter space? If so, I think Fred should build you one 🙂 I was just wondering because of all the canning you do etc.

I do kind of wish I had an island in the kitchen – it would certainly make life a whole lot easier when I’m doing lots of canning or when I have a lot of veggies laying around in the summer. We talked, at one point, about Fred building an island, but the list of stuff I want Fred to make is VERY long, and a kitchen island isn’t anywhere near the top of the list.

(The top of the list, as far as I’m concerned: a covered porch off the laundry room. Not a big one, just one where we can leave our shoes and boots rather than dragging dirt and mud into the house. That’s been at the top of the list since we moved in here. It might happen this winter – fingers crossed!)

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It looks like it would be quiet where you are – is it? Aside from the chickens of course.

It’s actually not that quiet here. The road we live on is a busy one – it’s the main road to the area’s biggest employer – and we live closer to the road than I would like. The kitten room, which is on the front of the house, gets most of the noise from the morning traffic. I’d love it if the house was located at the back of the back forty, I think that would be just about perfect as far as noise goes.

It is super quiet at night, though!

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What is the square footage of your house?? You seem to have tons of space and really large rooms…your kitchen looks spacious, your laundry area, man I am envious of all that space…sink, storage, litter boxes…envious ; )

This house is roughly 2200 square feet. Our very first house, in Madison, was 2900 square feet. Our second house, also in Madison, was 2500 square feet. We seem to be going the wrong way. 🙂

I love this house, but – I know this is greedy – I really wish that the front room was divided into two rooms (so I could use the non-living room area of that room as a foster room).

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Did you realize that they now make whole wheat Ritz, and by God, they actually taste better?

I did know that they make whole wheat Ritz, but I did NOT know that they actually taste better. Next time I buy Ritz(es?), I’ll be checking out the whole wheat ones! When I was in Myrtle Beach with my parents, they had Roasted Vegetable Ritz(es!) and they were REALLY good. When I got home, do you suppose I could find that kind in the grocery store? OF COURSE NOT. I finally found some this week, at Walmart.

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Okay, since your lovely cupboard is full of food, what’s in all your kitchen cabinets? Are they as stuffed with odd-and-assorted crap as mine are? (We have a million cabinets, and they are all full of something.) Feel free to take pictures!

How about I show you what’s in ALL my kitchen cabinets? That’ll be next Thursday’s Crooked Acres tour – and I promise I won’t go wildly cleaning and decluttering all the cabinets first!

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The boys did well with their neutering yesterday. I picked them up in the evening, and they spent about half the drive home biting at the door to the carrier trying to get out, and the other half snoozing. When we got home, I let them out of the carrier in the foster room, they ate, and then they raced around like their tails were on fire.

It amazes me how the boys never seem to realize anything’s even been done to them. The girls tend to be a little groggy, but the boys? Nope. Let’s play! Let’s snuggle! Let’s eat!

Starsky is an excellent neckwarmer. (Behind us, that’s Buster on Fred’s desk.)

Doing dishwashing duty.

Reacher licking Hutch (who looks displeased) and Jake licking Starsky.

Jake’s so good with the babies.

And he knows it!

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Newtles giving me the Newt ‘tude.

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Previously
2009: I have been a canning fool this week.
2008: WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH SCOOP HANDS?!
2007: I thought if the remote was lost, you were screwed.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Did you think I was writing this from The Great Beyond?
2003: Wonder if I appear too old and feeble to help with the loading of the groceries.
2002: That’s your trivia fact for the day. You’re welcome!
2001: Amish country.
2000: No entry.
1999: Hey, this is some exciting stuff, isn’t it? What will I talk about next, dryer lint? Woohoo, somebody stop me!

I took a relaxing bath one night with a bowl of sorbet, a glass of wine, and some votive candles. Percy the cat came to visit me and maybe get a taste of the People Soup. While he was sniffing around, he set his giant fluffy tail on fire and was completely unaware of this and therefore quite confused and upset when I splashed him to extinguish him. He took off like his tail was on fire. I made my husband chase him down and make sure he was no longer on fire.

You would think I would have had privacy in the bathtub after that incident, but you would be wrong.

This comment made me laugh and laugh, probably because I could completely visualize it!

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I think I know why you don’t use that bathroom much. The proximity to the area where the magic happens makes it undesireable right? The guest bathroom at my last job was located about six feet behind my desk and if anyone made a larger “deposit”-OH MY gross!!!! One coworker was doing just that after lunch every freaking day until the boss had a little talk with him. He lived near by and started to go home for lunch. I couldn’t believe he had to be told not to do it.

I don’t use it to pee in either, actually – I think the problem is that it’s small and dark and kind of unfriendly looking. Even if I’m in the computer room and I suddenly have to pee like nobody’s business, I’ll almost always go to the hallway bathroom near the front of the house. Maybe if I decorated the little bathroom I’d use it more often. We have actually talked about turning that bathroom into a pantry, because it’s so seldom-used, but I’m sure that the instant we did so, we’d desperately need to have a third bathroom!

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Do I spy an orange belly that needs to be rubbed on Fred’s chair? The rule is in our house that if they show the belly, it MUST be rubbed.

(Please ignore the ripped-up portion of Fred’s desk chair. They don’t sharpen their claws on that chair anymore, but they did some serious damage to it. He needs a new chair.)

Indeed you do! And that’s Sugarbutt, who spends 60% of his time laying on his back waiting for someone to rub his belly. Sugarbutt is the happiest cat on earth, I swear.

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” told Fred I’d seen the shot across the bow” OK I’ve never heard that expression before…what does it mean? Also, I have two cats that are 6 years old an still like to suck on a blanket occasionally.

Gina explained better than I could have, I think:

Like a warning shot – the rest of the army is following behind so prepare for the masses that follow. War is on!

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I love the look of your house. And I have to giggle when you talk about deboning chickens (even when they hide under the turkey in the freezer) and swatting bugs and making jams and all that stuff and I think back to when I first started reading you (a gazillion years ago) and you were a squealing girly girl!

Oh, don’t you worry – there’s still plenty of squealing girly girl left in me. I’m just less patient than I used to be, so rather than squealing and insisting someone else squish the wasps, I do it myself – and then I shudder about it. 🙂

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I have some pictures of me with big glasses like that and I remember loving them and thinking I was so cool at the time! It’s fun to look back. Was your hair permed or was it natural?

Oh, my hair was permed, BIG time. This is what my hair looked like before I started perming – mostly straight, but with a bit of curl to it when it got long enough.

Age 10

Age 13ish

And then the perming began!

Junior prom

Senior picture

Age 18 1/2 or so. God bless the ’80s, I hope this kind of hair ridiculousness never returns.

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If “THE ALPACA IS SCREAMING” was a code phrase, he would NOT have bellowed it. It would have been said, somewhat curiously, in a normal tone of voice; And the reply would have been, “It’s wool is too long.” Then he might have said, “I’ll have to shear him soon.” Haven’t you watched any spy flicks lately?

But seriously, it does make me wonder what the hell is happening to his alpaca!

Good point! I did a quick Google and found that alpacas scream when they feel threatened, so maybe they’d been having a problem with predators, which would definitely explain his quick exit!

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I feel quite certain that if you sifted through the remains of TrailerDude’s home, you would find a journal that read:
“They keep feeding perfectly good cookies to those pigs. But do they bring a neighbor cookies? No.” and “How many damn cats do they have? Every time they open the door 4 different cats come out. Never the same 4 cats, though. What is going on over there?” and “Those chickens have a nicer home than I do! I wonder if they’d build a pen for me?”

I think you are absolutely right! (This made me LOL.)

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I just have to share my “Anderson dream” with you. Last night I had a dream that I was volunteering at your farm with a few others while you and Fred took a vacation. I was watching the chicks out in the yard and a flock of vultures (do vultures even fly in flocks??) was flying overhead and I knew they were after the chicks! I grabbed your leaf hands and scooped up the chicks and carried them to the barn. (in my dream you didn’t have chicken coops, you had this huge barn, with many different rooms. I left them in the main room with their mamas and went back outside because someone told me there was a goose with a broken wing wandering around and I knew if I could get him inside Fred would nurse him back to health. I found the goose and got him tucked into a room in the barn but then I couldn’t find the chicks and hens! I was wandering all around the barn looking for the maternity room and walked through the foster room which had spaces for all the kittens- the cookies, the Bookworms, The Wonkas and True Bloods were all there! THe next room was the foster dog room and there were all these people there hoping to adopt some of the animals but the volunteers were telling them they had to wait for you to get back from vacation so you could approve them. And for some strange reason there was this HUGE Elk staring into one of the barn windows!

How much do I love it when you guys have dreams about us? SO MUCH do I love it! And they always make me laugh.

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Hi Robyn, Although it can’t compare with your cute pices, here’s one you might like, a kitteh eating a banana (cute dog pics, too):

http://purinaanimalallstars.yahoo.com/?v=8364595

Too cute!

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How do you “oven-fry” your tomatoes? Is that a Maine-thang? We are not from The South and don’t know any better so have only tried dredging them in cornmeal and frying them stovetop.

No, I don’t think Mainers eat fried green tomatoes that much. I oven fry them using this recipe. I much prefer them when they’re made properly, fried in oil on the stovetop, but they’re pretty good oven fried, too. Fred’s watching his girlish figure, so we try to keep the fat to a minimum ’round here.

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I didn’t catch if there were any screaming children on your flight(s). There were on my (six hour) flights BOTH WAYS. God hates me.

Nope, no screaming kids on the flight to Myrtle Beach. I find that screaming kids mostly only amuse me these days in a “Thank god that’s not me!” kind of way.

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My darling little (15 lbs) marmie boy is starting a new & nasty habit. He hisses at & then charges every kitty in sight! Including his sister that he never beat up before. Any suggestions on how to stop sweet boy from turning into a bully?

Good question, but I don’t have any good advice. Anyone else have advice on how to stop the bullying?

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Doesn’t Reacher look like one of Kara’s babies? I’m forgetting the name.

Good point, one that a couple of you mentioned. Kara’s baby boy River, who’s now known as Nate, could be Reacher’s twin. Here’s River/Nate from shortly before he went to his new home:

And here’s Reacher:

Maybe Kara’s just trying to figure out why Reacher looks so familiar!

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I have a crush on Reacher and I’m 46, what does that make me?!

Oh, I think “Cougar” still works! 🙂

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And oh the dishwasher – one place every kitten seems to love. I guess the food smells are the attraction. My question is do you do a headcount before you start it – because at our house, even though the cats are all big and you would see them in the dishwasher, Brad has to do a headcount every time he loads it (I am not that crazy – I can just look in the dishwasher to see that there are no cats there). At your house that would be a lot of counting!

I don’t do a headcount before I start the dishwasher – though I do glance inside just to be safe. The only time I do a headcount is in the evening when we bring the cats inside, and then I only double-check to make sure all the Bookworms are inside. I’m less worried about the older cats being locked outside, because they know if they come to the back door and bang at the cat door, we’ll hear them and let them in. I shudder to think what would happen if one of the Bookworms was locked outside overnight!

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Have you seen or heard of Caboodle Ranch, a shelter for cats? Google it, if not. It’s awesome!!

I’ve definitely heard of Caboodle Ranch – I love seeing the pictures, and I read the blog regularly. I think it’s amazing!

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You and Laurie both do an amazing job geting great kitty photos. I have often wondered what sort of magic or drugs (just kidding) you guys use! Of course there are probably 15 deleted photos for every good one. Keep them coming!

I can’t speak for Laurie, but there are definitely a large number of deleted pictures for every one I use. Thank god for digital cameras – can you imagine how much it would cost to have all those pictures developed? I saved over 2,000 pictures last year!

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When they’re relaxin’ at the house, are they still on Petfinder?

Oh yes, they’re still on Petfinder, still completely available for adoption. Don’t forget, you guys, if you know anyone in the Alabama/ Tennessee area who’s dying for an awesome cat, steer them this way! 🙂

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You know, Topher & Dorian (i.e. Mike & Gus) totally have the same fang toof thing going on. It’s adorable.

Does Corbett or Reacher drool while purring like Topher does?

They don’t drool while purring, no. But I do notice some step-sibling resemblances. When Buster complains about something, he reminds me so much of Mike/ Topher’s complaint meow that it always makes me stop and hug him. I don’t know if Gus/ Dorian still does this, but when he was little and he was eating, he’d lean low to get a piece of food, then sit up straight and eat it, lean low and get another piece of food, straighten up and eat it. Corbett does that, and it’s seriously cute. Also (as you’ll see below), Corbett doesn’t have quite the magnificent ear floof that Gus/ Dorian has, but he has some respectable ear floof going on!

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I love the way Reacher and Corbett are basically the same pattern, in different colors.

See? He’s got a little bit of ear floof going on!

Pretty Corbie.

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I was laying on the couch watching TV, Miz Poo beside me (as always), and Starsky wedged himself in between us, then promptly fell asleep.

Hutch likes “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Hutch, kneading and sucking on the blanket.

“Hi. Hi! HI! Belly rub, please?”

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Pretty Spanky.

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Previously
2009: The goddamn lady asian beetle invasion has begun.
2008: My poor Poo.
2007: I have no idea on earth how we’d ever tell if a chicken was insane, since they seem to lean toward The Crazy even when they’re (we assume) perfectly normal.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: In case you were wondering, we are officially Crazy Cat People.
2003: I always look like a fucking lunatic when I take my own picture.
2002: (Is it just me who always thinks of Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally saying “I would be pleased to partake of your pecan piiiiiiiiiiiiie” when I hear, say, or read the word “partake”?)
2001: (For the record, her verdict was that the real-life prostitutes were “creepy”.)
2000: No entry.
1999: And going blind would just suck.