Remember that kitten in the Bronx who needed a home? She’s got one now!!! Longtime reader Debra has adopted her, and has named her Lilith, and she will have five brothers and sisters to terrorize! That is FABULOUS news, don’t you think? Yay!!! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ … Continue reading “7/6/11 – Kitteh Wednesday”
Remember that kitten in the Bronx who needed a home? She’s got one now!!! Longtime reader Debra has adopted her, and has named her Lilith, and she will have five brothers and sisters to terrorize!
That is FABULOUS news, don’t you think? Yay!!!
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So. The McMaos got a stay of execution. Or a stay of… adoptacution? In any case, they’re still here. Fred told me at bedtime Monday that he’d seen Cillian in the litter box and things were not as they should be. Then there was evidence yesterday morning that that was true of at least two or three cats. I told the shelter manager that I’d keep them here ’til Friday (I was heartbroken to have them for a few days longer, of course), and we’d see if it cleared up.
I was able to get a stool sample, and took it up to the vet’s office for testing. Word came back that there were no parasites, but they did ask if we’d recently changed their food, because there was some oiliness in the sample. Which is when I decided that it was Fred’s fault, because he’d had a tuna sandwich for lunch on Monday, and gave the liquid from the can to the cats. So I blamed him – and he blamed me for letting them have a couple of egg yolks. “They’re nothing but fat!” he said. (In my defense, there were no kittens around when I put the bowl on the floor; I meant for Maggie to have them because she’s always hungry!)
In any case, the fact that there were no parasites present was a good sign, and by the end of yesterday things seemed to be improving. We’ll see how things proceed, but I expect that Friday morning they’ll be going to Petsmart for real.
All the McMaos (and Maggie!) and all the Spice Girls, present and accounted for!
You see how one of the McMaos is stretched across the top of Maggie? Well, she was laying there letting them all nurse, and Sugarbutt came in. For some reason, he got too close to Maggie, and she hissed at him, and he hissed back. Maggie STOOD UP with that McMao on her back like she was a burro and he was her blanket, and she faced off with Sugarbutt. Sugarbutt backed down (you don’t mess with an angry mama), and she walked about halfway across the room before she shrugged that kitten off her.
OF COURSE I didn’t get any pictures of it.
Clove loves that Macushla.
I actually originally thought that both Finnegan and Ciara had perfectly pink noses, but as it turns out, Ciara has a bit of a freckle on her nostril. Too cute!
Note that her eyes have almost completely changed color. There’s just a rim of blue around the outside.
Vampire kitteh is HONGRY.
Cilantro (left) and Coriander (right), hanging out in the sunshine.
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Newt loves the cat tree in the guest bedroom. And the cat tree in the foster room. Wherever there’s a cat tree, Newt loves it!
“Go ‘way, lady. Newt’s nappin’.”
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Previously
2010: No entry. 2009: New peegs.
2008: No entry. 2007: What can I say? I’m a freak. 2006: If the vet tells me that Tommy’s overweight, I’m going to say, with great dignity, “We prefer to call him ‘portly’.” 2005: Mia. 2004: There were a couple of parts that had me laughing so hard I could barely breathe – especially the line “I see you have a little swimming mouse”.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry. 2000: Have I ever mentioned that I’m kind of a dork?
Kitten in the Bronx still looking for a home! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Saturday morning I got up a little after 6, showered and dressed, and then started my usual morning routine, which consists of scooping … Continue reading “7/5/11 – Tuesday”
Saturday morning I got up a little after 6, showered and dressed, and then started my usual morning routine, which consists of scooping litter boxes and giving kittens snacks. After I’d given the Spice Girls their morning snack, I start scooping their litter boxes, and found a spider running around in one of them. I scooped it into the bag I was scooping everything else into, and continued on to the other litter boxes.
When I was done scooping, I handed the bag to Fred and told him there was a spider in there. And that I was 99% sure it was a Brown Recluse. He took the bag outside, and looked, and then he scooped (with a litter scoop, not his bare hand, we’re not ANIMALS) it out onto the driveway, and we snapped a few pictures of it. Then I stomped it dead.
Since I thought it was possible I’d been bitten by a Brown Recluse in the garden a few weeks ago, I’d recently seen pictures of them. Which is the only reason I even considered it might be a Brown Recluse – not because of the “fiddle” on its back (don’t tell Fred, but I still don’t see a fiddle shape), but because it’s a particularly leggy spider.
Fred came inside and looked around online, and decided that it was, in fact, a Brown Recluse.
Now, okay. Brown Recluse spiders are scary and all. But the man has lived in Alabama his entire life – for several years in his father’s house, where a LOT of Brown Recluses were known to show up IN HIS BEDROOM – and never once has he been bitten. But finding out that there’d been a Brown Recluse in this house made him FLIP the fuck out, as if he suddenly had concrete proof that there were at least 50,000 of them living in the walls of our house, and every one of them was gunning for a big juicy bite of Fred Anders0n.
I think of it this way: the Brown Recluses have been IN the house whether we knew it or not, and neither of us was bitten until a few weeks ago when I likely jammed a feed bag up under my armpit and pissed one off. They’re not going to SUDDENLY start coming after us. From what I’ve read, as long as we’re careful where we stick our hands, we don’t need to be too terribly worried.
Fred, on the other hand, wanted to move all the damn cats to the garage and spray every inch of the house. And then he wanted to bug-bomb the house. Then he wanted to follow that up by maybe going through the house with the torch and burning anything that looked like it might possibly think about being a bug, in this life or the next.
We compromised. He closed the doors to my room, his room, and the foster room, and sprayed. I also ordered a buttload of glue traps, which should be here later this week. When they arrive, we’ll put them in all the out-of-the-way places where Brown Recluses like to hide, where the cats can’t get.
(Now watch. I’ll be bitten by seven Brown Recluses in the next week because I am not showing them the proper amount of fearful respect.)
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If you haven’t “liked” Love & Hisses on Facebook, you might have missed my announcement Sunday night that the McMaos are going to Petsmart this afternoon.
Now, don’t give me the sad faces. Y’all knew this was coming. It’s time for those rambunctious, leggy monsters to go off and find their forever homes.
Maggie will stay here and recover from the three months of constant mothering and nursing, and eventually she will also go to Petsmart.
Today, when I’m not snuggling with and loving on those McMaos, I’ll be burning their baby pictures to DVDs to go with them to their new homes and making up bags of toys to send with them, too. This afternoon, I’ll be taking all six of them to Petsmart and getting them comfy in their new (temporary) digs. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they all go to their forever homes very very fast.
Y’all feel free to keep your fingers crossed, too!
(There will be McMao pictures for the rest of the week, since I have so many left on my hard drive!)
I love my Declan.
Please, Declan. Try to relax. I hate seeing you so tense.
::om nom nom nom nom::
“Try it! It’s tasty. And good for you!”
::om nom nom nom nom::
The vinegar box from Sam’s: BEST. BOX. EVER.
I love Declan’s pretty white ruff.
Declan and Ciara, chillin’.
Cillian, taking up as much of the bed as possible. I love his little smiling face.
Miss Cori in the sun.
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Smilin’ Joe. Have you ever seen a happier cat?
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Previously 2010: Greetings from Maine!
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry. 2007: I like me a crisp pickle. 2006: One more year, and we get to move out to the country where we will hopefully be acres and acres from the nearest neighbors, and children will not treat our yard as their very own. One more year, one more year, one more year… 2005: I’m all about the quick and easy, wink-wink-nudge-nudge-har-har. 2004: If you set off fireworks for three hours straight, starting at 7:30, you are not only an asshole, you live near me.
2003: No entry. 2002: A bunch of links that are probably no longer good. 2001: Pictures from Maine. 2000: Unfortunately, I forgot that when I say things like “Let’s go skinny-dipping and watch the fireworks”, what I actually mean is “Let’s go skinny-dipping and watch the fireworks”, but he hears “Let’s go swimming naked and get frisky in the pool under the fireworks.”
It being Independence Day and all, I’m just doing a quick post. Some videos to tide you over ’til tomorrow!
Poor Maggie was just walking across the kitchen, minding her own business. Suddenly and shockingly, she was attacked by a roving band of degenerate hooligans who neatly took her down like a gazelle being taken down by a pride of lions.
These kittens are far too old for this – you know, I know, they know it. But Maggie is an indulgent mama. I try to rescue her from this by carrying her into another room, away from the little brats, and she responds by running back to find them. She sure is a good mama. (Please note the look from Finnegan at around 20 seconds. He’s ready to mess me UP if I get in the way.)
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Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry. 2008: Evil people.
2007: No entry. 2006: Shut the fuck up and go away, Tori. NO ONE CARES. 2005: And I know you fucking lame-os won’t go so far as to PICK THE FIREWORKS SHIT up or even send your kids around to do it.
2004: No entry. 2003: Something on the floor? 2002: Something on the floor? 2001: A bunch of links that probably don’t work. 2000: Because, you know, that’s how someone gets to be 183 pounds over their goal weight – by eating the grapes instead of the strawberries.
Edited to add: This little girl now has a home!!!! Yay!!!! Attention, Bronx-area readers! Gail said: I was wondering if you would do me a favor and post about one kitten I have for adoption. I found all the other kittens in the warehouse homes. She will be fixed Tuesday and UTD on all shots. … Continue reading “7/3/11 – Looking for a home!”
Edited to add: This little girl now has a home!!!! Yay!!!!
Attention, Bronx-area readers!
Gail said:
I was wondering if you would do me a favor and post about one kitten I have for adoption. I found all the other kittens in the warehouse homes. She will be fixed Tuesday and UTD on all shots. She is all black, cuddly , and 14 weeks old. I am trying like heck to find her a home. I live in the Bronx but can travel. The mothers are both to be fixed Tuesday, too. All the shelters are full and 5 cats in one apartment is a lot, so six would be pushing it.
She is the sister (I think) of my two kittens. The only one left in the warehouse, but taken care of by the staff. The two mothers (sisters) had kittens less than a week apart and both are solid black. They ended up trading kittens back and forth and finally placed them on the second story when the warehouse flooded and combined them. I pulled a bunch of kittens at 4 weeks and hand raised them, but couldn’t catch them all (living under pallets), but she is super tame and cuddly.
I also found a picture of her sisters. They are all identical, so I am not sure if she is in there or not.
On a side note, I have to add that of all the black cats I’ve known, every one of them has been absolutely awesome. Our two black cats (Maxi and Tommy) have loads of personality, and that’s held true for all the black fosters we’ve had.
New month, new banner! Another great banner from the talented Christine. Thanks, Christine!!! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Just wanted to say I just spent an hour in the hot, hot sun picking green beans. (I was … Continue reading “7/1/11 – Fridayyyyyyyyyyyyyy”
New month, new banner! Another great banner from the talented Christine. Thanks, Christine!!!
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Just wanted to say I just spent an hour in the hot, hot sun picking green beans. (I was volunteering with a harvesting group.) Oh my, what a PITA that was. I have newfound respect for you.
To be fair, I do my picking before the sun comes up, for I am a delicate flower. Also, I’m on antibiotics, so I’m supposed to stay out of the sun. Also also, I have a rolling cart that I sit on and roll along the row (my back thanks me), so really my picking is a lot easier than yours, it sounds like! But it’s borrrrrrrring. Thank god for podcasts to listen to!
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How old are the kittens? I thought they should be done with nursing after 2 months.
They are THREE months old as of Saturday, can you believe that? And yes, they should have been done with nursing long ago, but it looks like they’re going to be nursing as long as Maggie puts up with them. I actually have a movie of Kara’s babies, at 16 weeks old (!), still nursing!
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And here’s something for you to think about when you’re groping through those damn bean bushes: snakes just luuuurrrve to hide out under them. Trust me, I speak from personal experience.
I ain’t skeered of no snakes! Actually, it’s kind of odd, but I haven’t seen a snake in the garden. YET. Of course, now that I said that, I’m sure I’ll see 73 of them the next time I go out there.
I planted an heirloom tomato plant. Ripe, they’re green with yellow stripes. I have no idea how to tell when they’re ripe because they develop the stripes very early. Any tricks?
I also planted ancho chili peppers and cilantro, I’m awaiting some heirloom tomato salsa later this summer 🙂
My only thought is that ripe tomatoes are easier to pick than green, so if you try pulling them off the vine and they pull off easily, then they’re ripe? Maybe? Honestly, I’m hoping someone out there has words of wisdom. Readers?
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Is the camera you use one with a lot of bells and whistles? I like the “point and shoot” cameras but the close up pictures you get are so clear that I have a feeling I’ll have to dish out some bucks to get one that good. 🙂
The camera I use most of the time is a Sony Alpha A100 with a… um. A 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens. (I had to go get the camera to figure out what the lens is.) It is a camera that really outweighs my capabilities and many many bells and whistles. I have two books that supposedly will teach me how to use it properly, but my good lord do books about how to use cameras bore the everloving snot out of me. (The only thing I find more boring is books about writing.) Also, the information refuses to stick to my brain cells. It’s like the information is made of Teflon and slides right off my brain and out my ears.
That camera was expensive, yes. Just seeing how much the lens cost makes me want to cry. I don’t think that you have to have the big fancy camera to get good pictures, though. I also have a smaller Sony, the DSC-W300, that I use to shoot videos and get pictures of kittens who prefer to be on me (which makes it hard to get a decent picture with the bigger camera!). It was with the W300 or possibly the camera I had before that (I don’t remember which one it was, it had a lower megapixel – but it was definitely a Sony) that I took these pictures with, and I think they’re pretty good.
What’s most important, no matter what kind of camera you have, is that you be willing to mess with the settings, and be willing to take a LOT of pictures to figure out what settings work for you!
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Seeing the first picture of this post this morning made me remember that I had a dream about you and your sweet kittens last night! I was cuddling kittens and telling you that I can’t tell which is which, except for Ciara. Which is true, but I love them anyway!
How obsessed with your blog do I have to be to dream about it at night?
Aww, surely not THAT obsessed. Really, they’re so cute, how can you NOT dream about them!
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Is it just the camera and lighting, or is Clove growing up to have tiny bits of Calie-Tabby in her fur? I’ve seen mostly brown ticked females like that before, mostly brown tabby but with hints of orange or gold in a few places.
She does seem to have several splotches of goldish orange on her, especially on the back of her head and some spots on her back. When we first got her, those splotches seemed to be a golden brown color, like Corbie has, but the older she gets, the more orangey they seem to be.
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The picture of Alice and Jake reminds me of some comic book or cartoon with Alice being the smart one trying to take over the world and Jake being her looney sidekick. Very Pinky and The Brain.
Alice and The Loon!
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Did that big Amazon box Spanky is in originally arrive with cat toys in it? 😉
Noooo, that would be silly! I don’t get cat toys from Amazon!
(I do not think we could fit even half the cat toys in this house in that box, though. Shhh, don’t tell Fred!)
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I was wondering, Coltrane looks like a bigger cat, how much did he weigh? Since he was an outside cat, did he get along or socialize with any of the other cats or animals in the yard? It looks like he had some sort of rivalry with Maxi at least.
I would say that he was about Joe Bob’s size, and Joe Bob weighs almost 12 pounds. He was long and lean and pretty tall (that sounds like a country song!). Maxi is kind of a small-framed cat, so being next to her might have made Coltrane look even bigger than he was.
He got along really well with other cats, as long as the other cats got along with him. Maxi hissed and smacked at him if he got too close, so he’d hiss back, but Maxi hates all the other cats except Newt (and sometimes that’s debatable). I think that if she weren’t such a brat, he would have gotten along fine with her. I know that he snuggled with Jake from time to time when he was in the house, and he liked (or at least tolerated) the kittens. Really, he was an all-around good boy!
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I was wondering if your male cats ever “mother” the kittens? My three male cats have taken to kitten raising like, well, a cat to catnip! My 14 yr old cats follow the young’uns around the apartment and bathe and cuddle with them. of course, the kittens were younger (4 weeks) but they still all sleep together now at this age (they are 4 days older than the Mcmaos).
I wish so so SO much that one of my boy cats would step up and mother the fosters who wander through here. The only cat who comes closest is Jake, and he doesn’t so much mother them as play with them like an older brother.
I envy you your boys who are clearly in touch with their mothering side!
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I was wondering, what is it like when you and Fred eat dinner? When my fiance and I eat dinner at our house, we each have one arm scarfing food in our mouths and the other pushing at least one of our two cats away. When they finally “give up,” they sit there and Stare. So of course, I have to wonder what it’s like at your house with much more cats around!
Now, y’all know that I am a pushover when it comes to my kitties. However, when it is breakfast/ lunch/ dinner time, I do not tolerate the nonsense. When I am eating, I keep a can of compressed air next to me, and if ANY cat in the house starts with the “OH MY GOD I AM STARVING DO YOU HAVE FOOD GIVE ME SOME FOOD I AM DYING DYING DYINNNNNNNNG” hysterics, I shoot a blast of air in their direction (never directly at them, just enough so that the noise startles them a bit) and they immediately back off. At this point, they’ve all learned to leave me alone while I’m eating, and if they forget themselves, I remind them with a quick blast of air.
You don’t have to use compressed air – you can use a squirt bottle of water or a can of pennies, or whatever works for you. The most important thing is to BE CONSISTENT.
I figure, I don’t come complain at them when THEY’re eating, so they don’t need to complain at me while I am!
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Aww! So are Fergus Simon and Clove the new cat couple? Good mix: he is mild to her spicy. I read it in the Encaterer.
I have to say, the McMaos and the Spice Girls have integrated really well. There was some hissiness from a couple of the McMaos at first, but now they eat together, play together, and sleep together. The only thing they don’t do is spend the night together, and that’s only because I figure they can use a break (and 10 cats is an awful lot to cram into the guest bedroom!) Fergus Simon, Macushla, and Finnegan spend the most time curled up with the girls, but all the McMaos have been spotted snuggled up from time to time. It’s just a big lovefest!
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“Stomach on legs” YESSSS that’s the term I’ve been looking for to describe my Maine Coon kitteh. She is a year old and only 6 lbs. Was a stray brought in off the street. Loves tomatoes, lemons, pickles (no onion/garlic), bread, beer, strawberries, avocado, you NAME it, she eats it.
Yesterday, I got groceries. As soon as I got home, I put alllll the groceries away while Maggie followed me around in hopes that I would give her food. I realized I’d left my purse in the car, and went out to get it. I was gone PERHAPS two minutes. By the time I got back inside, Maggie had discovered the pack of tortillas I’d stupidly left on the counter, chewed a hole through the plastic, and ate a small piece off of every single tortilla, thus making them not fit for human consumption (I do not care for the idea of cat spit on my food).
I have to make sure not to leave ANY kind of food on the counter – in a package or no – because she’ll give it a try. Drives me crazy!
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I have a cat that tries to bury his food bowl. He is a messy eater so I have his bowl on a placemat, but he will try to cover the bowl with the placemat-sometimes for 5 minutes straight. I looked it up online and it said that cats in the wild may try to bury their food so they can come back later to eat it. I have tried everything to stop him from doing it-it drives me crazy and he ignores everything around him when he does it. Have any of yours had this problem?
I’ve definitely had cats who try to bury their food bowl! When Maggie was in the foster room with her kittens, she’d almost always cover their food after they ate; once she dragged a cat bed across the room to cover it. It is definitely an instinctual thing, the kittens do it, too.
I ended up putting a (clean) cleaning rag near their food every day so that she could drag it over the food and be satisfied that it was covered. Then, if the rag had food on it, I’d toss it into the hamper and put another rag down for her at the next mealtime. It worked out pretty well!
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Maggie is a saint. How is she getting along with the resident kitties?
She’s got to be the most laid-back mama cat I’ve ever seen. Strike that – the most laid-back cat ever, mama or no. As long as no one is threatening any of the kittens, she has no issues with any of our adult cats. She hasn’t tried to make friends with them, particularly, though I’ll occasionally see her touch noses with them, and they’re pretty relaxed about her, too.
I actually saw her PLAYING with one of her kittens yesterday, and that’s the first time I’ve seen her playing since before the kittens were born. I think right now she’s so focused on getting food in her belly that she can hardly think of anything else.
I weighed her the other day – she weighs 7 pounds, 14 ounces, which is one ounce more than what Alice weighs. She actually weighs less than Kara, and Kara’s a much smaller-boned cat.
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we need advice…Just rescued a 6 week kitten, female. She’s in a dogpen separated from our other cat (who needs his shots up to date). She appears to use the litter box but DOES NOT cover her poo! any advice? Kitten v. healthy, we adopted thru our friend the AC officer, so everything has checked out otherwise, except a superyoung kitty livin’ on the mean streets….
I do not have any advice here at all, so I’m hoping someone out there does – if you’ve got advice on training a cat to cover their poo, please speak up. Sugarbutt also does not cover his, and I’m pretty sure the gates of Hell are located in his bowels.
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Just curious as it seems you have such a menagerie of animals — do you guys have any ducks/geese?
We do not have any ducks or geese. Ever since the day Fred and I were feeding geese at the UAH lake and a geese bit me on the butt, I have not cared for geese. We’d like to have ducks, but we don’t have a pond for them. We want to get someone out here to dig a pond for us in the back forty (so that the back forty doesn’t flood all winter long), but that hasn’t happened yet.
The irony is that there actually WAS a pond here when we moved in – it was located behind where the back yard is right now. But it dried up, and we decided to have it filled in and now we’re regretting it.
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I love all the photos, but that chicken flock pic is great! Is that the entire flock?
That’s not the entire flock – I’d say it’s maybe half the flock. Some of the chickens were under the coop hanging out, and I think some were out toward the back of the back 40, and the rest were probably in the pig yard (they love the pig yard!). Fred estimates that we’ve got 50 – 60 total chickens.
Are those chickens eating popcorn?
and
Yep (you can really see the popcorn when you blow the photo up in Flickr). So, Robyn bakes cookies for the piglets and, apparently, makes popcorn for the chickens. That farm is animal heaven!
::sputter:: I don’t make popcorn for the chickens! Ha ha, that would be, why that would be craziness! That was leftover popcorn from Fred’s snack the night before, and he always saves the extra for the chickens.
Oh, OKAY. I USED to pop popcorn for the chickens. In fact, at some point in the past I bought a 50 pound bag of popcorn kernels at Sam’s. I popped so much popcorn at once, that the top of the air popper melted. Chickens are so funny when you give them food that they love (tomatoes!) that I always want to give them lots of food they love. I’m a sucker, what can I say?
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All six McMaos and all three Spice Girls are present and accounted for!
Maggie and the Spice Girls. This is like a vacation for her!
Spice Girls at the milk bar.
Finnegan’s face is cracking me up. “THIS ARE MY SPOT YOU GO AWAY.”
I should just squeeze Clove ’til the marshmallow Fluff comes out her ears, shouldn’t I?
Such a happy girl.
Poor Maggie.
But let me tell you a quick story: the other day all the kittens were devouring Maggie ALIVE, and so I pulled them off her, and I took her into the guest bedroom, where there’s a bowl of the really good kitten food on top of the dresser. I put her there, and not ten seconds later, she was back in the kitchen calling to the kittens. She can’t hate it too much, is what I’m saying.
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Nothin’ happier than a Loony Jake.
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Previously 2010: Sights from around Crooked Acres. 2009: Mister Boogers. 2008: I find that I’m filled with hatred a lot these days.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry. 2005: That Tom Cruise. What a fuckin’ loon, huh? 2004: Jesus christ. After almost five years of marriage, wouldn’t you think he’d KNOW that there are only two ways to answer that question? 2003: And then she vaulted her portly ass across me to say good morning to him, cracking three of my ribs in the process. 2002: We went to see Minority Report on Saturday, and though I really liked it, I did NOT enjoy sitting next to Billy Bob ShutTheFuckUp, who was compelled, when not clearing his throat loudly and phlegmily, to remark upon each and every plot point.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
I’ve been terribly remiss in announcing this. Remember Newman from way back at the end of March? You might not, because I only mentioned him the once – at that time, we were waiting for Maggie to drop those babies, and Rufus out running around the house. So once Newman was tested and neutered, he went to the shelter to be treated for parasites. Everyone who got to meet him invariably said that he was an awesome cat. A few weeks ago, he went to Petsmart.
Well, last week Lisa sent me the picture above, with the subject “Guess who got adopted!” Then a few days later, the lady who adopted Newman sent an update email to the shelter:
I adopted Newman from Petsmart on Tuesday, and I just wanted to send a short update email. He is doing great! We haven’t yet introduced him to the other cats in the household, but he is doing fine in my room / the adjoining game room. He’s using the litterbox fine, eating well and drinking. He does a good job of entertaining himself when we are gone. He seems to really like the scratching post and his various mice/feather toys. He’s very cuddly and sleeps at my feet, and he loves to lick while being petted. When we leave during the day, if it isn’t going to be too hot I leave the window open (there is a mesh protective layer so that he can’t get through) and he likes to sit on the windowsill and smell the scents and hear the birds. The only “problem” we had was that after eating, he tried to “bury” his food and water bowls with the towel upon which they were sitting, resulting in the towel repeatedly soaking up all his water. This was less of a problem and more of an adorable behavior, so we just removed the towel and he has learned that the carpet won’t budge. Haha! 🙂
Anyways, we are loving Newman, and he has never shown any sign of being afraid or unhappy or disturbed by the move. Quite the contrary, he seems very happy and rambunctious!
Don’t you love a happy ending? I sure do!
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Sights from around Crooked Acres
The former compost heap, current tomato heap. I harvested the first tomato from those plants yesterday – just a cherry tomato – and ate it last night with dinner!
One of the Mums I tossed last Fall when (I thought) it was mostly dead. It THRIVED on the compost heap. You can’t tell how big it is, but it’s HUGE. If I can keep the tomato plants from smothering it, I’ll dig it up this Fall and put it on the front porch.
Baby pecans. Hopefully they’ll keep doing well, and we’ll be able to harvest them this Fall. It’s been three years since our last harvest, and we’re running low on them!
This is what I love the most about vining plants – the little, fragile-looking (but tenacious) vines that reach out and grab hold. This one was from one of the muscadine vines.
We are going to have approximately one bazillion muscadines this year. Last year I used the pulp from our small batch of muscadines to make muscadine jam. This year, we may have enough so that I can make jelly. (If we were wine drinkers, I might try my hand at muscadine wine! But alas we are not.)
We might get at least ONE apple this year!
The corn’s getting tall – a couple of them are taller than I am (I’m 5 feet, 5 inches tall, for the record).
Cucumber vine.
Busy busy bees fertilizing those squash blossoms.
Jalapenos!
Eggplant. We’ve only got three or four eggplants planted this year. I’m not a huge fan of the eggplant.
The cherry tomatoes in the garden have finally started to ripen!
Volunteer tomato plant, among the carrots. It’s already got a couple of cherry tomatoes coming along, and it’s only about four inches tall!
Cauliflower, eaten alive. I finally yanked them up.
Part of the harvest from one day last week – cucumber, zucchini, pattypan squash.
More cucumbers.
And green beans, of course.
We’ve been eating a LOT of oven-fried zucchini, squash, and green tomatoes. I used to use this recipe, but now I just mix equal amounts of cornmeal, flour, and parmesan cheese, and keep a container of it in the fridge at all times. We don’t keep buttermilk on hand, so I just use skim milk instead.
Maxi likes to help in the garden.
We had three broody hens, sitting on 18 eggs between the three of them. TWO eggs hatched, and both chicks decided this hen was their mother. (The second chick, a little yellow one, was under the hen’s wing when I snapped this picture.)
Last year we had a similarly miserable hatching experience and swore we’d never let broody hens sit on eggs when it gets this hot. But did we remember that this year? Of course not. Grrrr.
Three little girly pigs, standing next to one of their wallows. I HATE that it’s got that gross green stuff growing in it, and whenever I go out there, I stir up the water with a long stick, but once the water settles, the green stuff is right on top again. It doesn’t bother the pigs, but I hate how evil and fluorescent it looks.
“You has a cookie for me?”
“COOKIES PLEASE.”
I made a movie of the pigs at cookie time. You’ll see that rather than shying away from Fred when he hands out the cookies, two of the girls would CUT each other to get their cookie first. As it turns out, the biggest pig is also the most gentle and patiently waits her turn. Good piggeh.
George loves his rawhide bone.
Happy pup.
::chomp::
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Declan loves his Mama.
Macushla.
The Spice Girls love them some Macushla.
Also some Declan.
Please note that none of Finnegan’s paws is actually ON the floor.
Hovercat.
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Your weekly reminder: Corbie is beautiful. That is all.
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Previously 2010: “He was skeery.” 2009: The shit that is PISSING ME OFF these days. 2008: I’ve warned Nance that the house is a pig sty, but I don’t think she believes me.
2007: No entry. 2006: Must be ’cause I’m so approachable. 2005: Hobbies. 2004: Fred calls Miz Poo “Musty.” 2003: He sighed. “Because everybody knows that 256 (the total number of pages in the book) is 2 to the 8th, which is 2 to the 6th times two squared, which is 64 times 4, so you should print four blocks of 64 pages.”
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry. 2000: Folks, it’s Dumbass Day.
So, a couple of you – several of you, really – noticed that Alice is not the teeny tiny miss she used to be. Truly, I don’t know when it happened – one minute we were talking about how small she was, and the next she was pretty much full-sized! I weighed her over the … Continue reading “6/29/11 – Kitteh Wednesday”
So, a couple of you – several of you, really – noticed that Alice is not the teeny tiny miss she used to be.
Truly, I don’t know when it happened – one minute we were talking about how small she was, and the next she was pretty much full-sized! I weighed her over the weekend, and she weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces. (She also turned one year old on June 6th, which we completely failed to notice!)
Let me remind you, when the vet saw her at around 8 months old, she said she didn’t think Alice would get much bigger than 6 pounds. She was 4.5 pounds when we got her!
I guess it’s amazing what regular feeding will do.
A couple of you also thought – when I posted the picture of Maggie and all those babies nursing – that Coriander was Alice. Alice has no use for the little kittens, but I managed (with Fred’s help) to snap a few pictures of the two of them for comparison.
Cori, swiping at Alice’s tail.
Sharpening her claws… (That’s NOT a look of love she’s getting from Alice!)
Her reaction after Alice smacked at her.
Alice is all “Seriously?”
::fume::
So there you go: Alice is now full-sized (maybe on the small side of full-sized – at least for now!), and she and Cori look like they could be mother and daughter. Or sisters. Or cousins. They resemble each other, is what I’m saying, but Alice is three times Cori’s size.
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One thing all the fosters we’ve ever had in this house have in common: they all eventually love to hang out by the back door! (That’s Macushla and Fergus Simon in the back, and Ciara hanging off the front.)
“If I don’t look at him, this isn’t happening.”
I love it when they sleep like this, all curled up in a sweet ball of unbearable cute.
From the ham-mick to the scratcher!
Jake likes to follow Cori around and stare adoringly at her.
Cori’s not quite sure what she thinks of Jake, though.
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Miz Poo stays where she can keep a close eye on those kittens – and push them off if they get too close!
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Previously 2010: I was about to lose my shit, slam the gate closed, and yell at the chickens that they could just SUCK IT. 2009: Our dogs are awfully sweet and it amazes me that anyone could be scared of them, but I have to admit that when they bark with their serious bark, they can sound kinda scary.
2008: No entry. 2007: Gives new meaning to the term of endearment “shithead”, doesn’t it?
2006: No entry. 2005: I said “You shut up, motherfucker, or I’ll unleash my wifely instincts on you” and he said “Shut your unmaternal mouth, woman.” 2004: Wound report: It’s sensitive and weepy. Just like me!
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry. 2000: Have you ever felt like your hair looks like a really bad wig?
I went to Publix yesterday because I needed to pick up a few groceries (“No, really, Robyn! You don’t say! What a fascinating reason to go to the grocery store!”). In front of Publix, there was a wrought-iron table and chairs. I think they were selling that kind of furniture for a while and were … Continue reading “6/28/11 – Tuesday”
I went to Publix yesterday because I needed to pick up a few groceries (“No, really, Robyn! You don’t say! What a fascinating reason to go to the grocery store!”). In front of Publix, there was a wrought-iron table and chairs. I think they were selling that kind of furniture for a while and were down to just the one table.
As I headed from my car to the store, I noticed that there was a man sitting at the table, all kicked back and relaxing. What caught my eye, though, was that he was wearing a purple t-shirt with white letters on the front. Fred has a purple t-shirt with white letters on the front – I think it’s his “Does it look like I care?” t-shirt. Fred likes the snarky t-shirts, if I haven’t mentioned.
In the interest of full disclosure, I also like the snarky t-shirts. Please admire the latest addition to my collection:
So it became, for some reason, very important to me to find out if it was, indeed, the same t-shirt that Fred possesses, but I didn’t want Mr. Kicking-Back-and-Relaxing to think I was staring at him or anything. I’d walk a few steps and glance over at him, then repeat it. That went well for a brief amount of time, but as I approached the building, I lost track of myself and eventually realized I’d been staring at him. I glanced away, and a moment later he said “Hello.”
“Hi!” I said, all perky-like, and smiled.
“I’m at Publix,” he said.
Which is when I realized he was on his cell phone and melted into the ground in a puddle of embarrassment.
(I never was able to tell if it was the same t-shirt or not.)
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I happened to read Swistle’s Baby Names over the weekend, specifically this post. I guess, after reading the comments, that I was one of the lucky ones in that no one objected what I decided to name the spud – though I’m pretty sure my mother lobbied for “Molly” at some point or another.
The spud’s real name is Danielle, for those of you who don’t know. Early on in the pregnancy I decided on Jessica and the spud’s father was okay with that (he was pretty easygoing on the subject). Then, not long before she was born, I heard or read the name Danielle somewhere and immediately changed my mind. Of course, I don’t think there’s anything TO object to in the name Danielle, but you never know. I don’t even remember what I was going to name her if she was a boy – possible Jeffrey. I liked Christopher, but my oldest brother had already used that. Actually, I think we’re a family of pretty good, solid names. Chris, Danielle, Brian, Mireya, Jeff (and Jordan for my great-nephew). The only slightly unusual name is Mireya, but even though I had never heard the name before (Spanish I think?) I thought (and still think) it was pretty.
(Though it is occasionally mispronounced as “Mariah.”)
Back before Fred and I decided we didn’t want to have any children together, we decided on the names Samantha Jayne for a girl and Seth Forrest for a boy. I still like those.
Anyway, before I went off on a tangent, all I meant to say is this: I’m pretty sure I’ll be naming a kitten “Everett Peppers” in the future, because I REALLY like that name for a kitten. Is that weird? If I get a litter of boy kittens, I’ll probably name his brothers “Henry Peppers” and “Waldo Peppers.” The Peppers Gang!
You have been warned.
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Cilantro (left) and Cori. Sweet snugglin’ sisters.
Ordinarily, Clove would be there with them, but she must have wandered off. Probably harassing poor Maggie.
Now Cori’s on the left and Cilantro’s on the right. They sure do like to move around.
There’s Clove!
Grumpy are we, Clove? Don’t like Cilantro’s tail over your face?
Pile of McMaos.
Such a happy, happy boy.
I’m seeing all three Spice Girls, but only half the McMaos. Why, it’s practically a vacation for Maggie!
Cillian (I think) on the left, Cilantro on the right.
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“MY stump.”
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Previously 2010: Look, when you’re woken up at 4 am by a screaming little kitten wanting to be let OUT of the horror that is a room fully stocked with food, water, and all the toys he could ever possibly want, I think a nap on the couch is warranted.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry. 2007: “Hey! I’m not a complete idiot. Of course I know who Vernon Jordan is!” 2006: It was the weirdest hyper-real instant of cognitive dissonance I have ever experienced in my life. 2005: “Oh, look a finger! I feel so relaxed and unfrightened now…” 2004: Then I sang “Iiiiiiiiiiii am the Stuuuuuuuuump of Constant Sorrowwwwwwwwww!”, which amused Fred to no end.
2003: No entry. 2002: Readers, if you love me, you will never, NEVER allow someone you don’t know who isn’t a cop (ask for identification, and LOOK at it, don’t just glance at it) inside your home when you’re alone.
2001: No entry. 2000: Black widow. Lovely.
I would like to know what motherfucker thought it would be an excellent idea to plant bush beans this summer. What a fucking PAIN IN THE ASS it is to go down a row of those fucking things and find all the beans that are big enough to pick. That motherfucker was me, by the … Continue reading “6/27/11 – Monday”
I would like to know what motherfucker thought it would be an excellent idea to plant bush beans this summer. What a fucking PAIN IN THE ASS it is to go down a row of those fucking things and find all the beans that are big enough to pick.
That motherfucker was me, by the way. I was all “Nah, let’s do bush beans this year instead of pole beans!” and Fred was all “But what a pain in the ass!” and then I was all “Well, I’ll take care of picking them. You always pick them when they’re too big and they get all stringy and shit.”
Spring Robyn is always FAR too happy to sign up Summer Robyn for shit like that, and as Summer Robyn, let me just say: Shut the fuck up, Spring Robyn, you fucking asshole.
Next year we’re doing pole beans (and no doubt Spring 2012 Robyn will be ALL too happy to sign Summer 2012 Robyn up to pick those fucking beans, too). Why do we grow so many goddamn green beans, anyway? Who loves beans THAT much? We always end up with ten tons of them in the freezer and have to eat them at every meal and by December we’re all “O goody. Beans again!”
Note, because I know someone out there is wondering and doesn’t know the difference (I sure didn’t before we had our own garden): bush beans grow in bushes so that the beans hide under the leaves of the plant. Pole beans grow up a pole or – in our case – a fence panel. The pole beans can still hide under the leaves of the plant, but you don’t have to spend as much time bent over, digging through the fucking plant to see them. Also, bush beans produce beans all at once and then stop, whereas pole beans keep producing them – thus, with bush beans the work of blanching and freezing (I don’t much care for canned green beans, for the record) happens all at once, but with pole beans the work is more spread out.
I’m sure next summer I’ll be bitching about the pole beans and swearing to do bush beans in 2013.
One thing I bought this year that has come in really handy is a garden cart, like this one (I bought it at Lowe’s, though). I was able to sit on that thing and scoot down the row of green beans rather than having to stand bent over. It was a lot easier on my back. It also came in handy when I was going down the row of tomatoes pruning and checking for early blight (which I haven’t seen since I sprayed for it twice).
Speaking of tomatoes, we’ve eaten exactly three cherry tomatoes. We have a bazillion green tomatoes that are inching ever closer toward ripening, and hopefully that’ll happen this century.
We’ve been eating the hell out of squash and zucchini – for dinner last week, we had scrambled eggs every night, with sides of veggies. Thursday night, I made pattypan squash stuffed with sauteed zucchini and yellow squash, roasted yellow squash, and sliced raw zucchini with ranch dressing for dipping. Oh! And leftover zucchini fritters. When dinner was over, Fred said “This is the most squash-centric meal I’ve ever eaten.”
The squash side dishes have just begun! ::evil laugh::
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Last week I got an email from Burpee exhorting me to start thinking about my Fall garden (seriously, wtf? It’s not even July, motherfuckers!), and one of the links in the email was to their selection of garlic. So I clicked on that to go over and see what was what with the garlic they had (I’ve never grown garlic before, but I’m thinking of planting it this Fall so it’ll be ready to harvest next summer. I love me some garlic.). A few days later, I got an email from them proclaiming that I could get FREE shipping on garlic.
Fucking stalkers. They could be a LITTLE more subtle about the fact that they were following me around the internet looking over my shoulder as I perused their site, no?
(I haven’t decided about the garlic yet. If I do plant some this Fall, I’ll probably get it from the local co-op.)
Speaking of, um, stinky veggies, I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but this Spring I planted about 150 onions. Currently, I’ve got about 20 growing. I find that SO FUCKING ANNOYING. I love onions! (Between my onion and garlic love, don’t you wish you were kissing acquaintances with me?) Fred mentioned the possibility of doing a long raised bed next year for the onions, so that’s something to look forward to.
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All the kittens are doing well. It’s like a crazy house in here these days, with kittens hopping everywhere like fleas. It’s surprisingly quiet in the middle of the day, with them flopped everywhere sleeping – but wild little monkeys first thing in the morning and at dusk.
I weighed the Spice Girls over the weekend. Cilantro and Cori are both a couple of ounces over 2 pounds, and little Clove is at 1 pound, 10 ounces, so it’ll be a bit longer before they all go to be spayed. Fred reported that he saw Clove rooting around in Miz Poo’s belly fur, clearly looking for a nipple, and Miz Poo was not appreciative of this development, so hissed and smacked at her.
Poor Clove (but I can’t say that I blame Miz Poo!)
Macushla’s in charge of guarding the food.
Ciara, trying to latch on. Poor Maggie – she tries her best to ignore them when they do this. Eventually, she either gives in, or jumps up where they can’t get to her.
Sleeping McMaos.
There’s a bed RIGHT THERE, but noooo, he has to curl up in a miserable ball on top of my sewing basket. Weirdo.
They’re so ridiculously long and lanky at this age.
Okay, well, THAT looks comfy.
So proud of herself for flinging that pink hat off her head.
Cilantro, eye on the feather teaser.
Planning her jump.
Whoaaaa…. back she goes!
Still swingin’!
Clove in profile.
Cilantro in profile.
Her little smile just slays me.
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Maxi keeps me company when I do outside chores.
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Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry. 2008: You spoil them rotten until they get big-ass, then you slaughter and eat them, of course! 2007: Is it just me, or do these look like weirdly posed scenes, like something you’d see in the JC Penney catalog? I imagine a photographer yelling “Frick! You WANT him, you want him with every feather on your body, but Sugarbutt! You don’t even notice Frick, you’re just standing there being beautiful. Be beautiful, Sugarbutt! Be beautiful and feisty and unattainable, and Frick! Want him! Want him badly, but sadly, knowing that you can never have someone that beautiful. He’s out of your league! PERFECT!” 2006: The meals sucked, but we got t-shirts that were pretty cute, so I guess it all worked out. 2005: Can I sue for emotional distress?
2004: No entry. 2003: I never said I had a long attention span. 2002: You can imagine the zany situations.
2001: No entry. 2000: Beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose.
Have you ever read this blog? Her entry for Tuesday is hysterical! And that’s why you should learn to pick your battles. I read that earlier this week – and it made me laugh out loud. Can you think of anyone on earth who needs a giant metal chicken more than I do? I would … Continue reading “6/24/11 – Friday”
Have you ever read this blog? Her entry for Tuesday is hysterical!
I read that earlier this week – and it made me laugh out loud. Can you think of anyone on earth who needs a giant metal chicken more than I do? I would put that thing on the front porch and it would scare all the door-to-door salespeople away. Or if they persisted on knocking on my door, I’d say, “Well, let me ask Alfred. Alfred, do we need supplemental insurance?” and I’d cock my head to the side as if listening to the chicken, and then say “Well, Alfred says we’re fine, but thanks anyway. Alfred! How rude! Don’t say mean things about this man’s tie. I’m sure he’s doing the best he can.” Also, I’d put Christmas lights on it. AND A WREATH AROUND ITS NECK.
Man. I wish I had a giant chicken.
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Have you seen this?
Cracks me up!
Yes! It cracks me up, too. (Also, that is one pretty, pretty cat.)
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I thought the first two pictures were of Alice, so then I continued to think that the calico was her, and was astonished to see her nursing. I had several seconds of, “WOW” before I remembered about the Spice Calico.
I think Alice would have to be sedated to be anywhere near Maggie. They don’t care for each other at all – but I kind of wish she would, if only for the picture-taking opportunities. Of course, Alice would lead to Elwood, and then Jake and perhaps Tommy, and then there’d be no Maggie left, she’d just be a dried-out husk in the middle of the floor!
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Don’t know if you’ve seen this video of a “barking” cat on CNN. I just watched it, could NOT believe that cat sounded exactly like a dog barking. When the cat sees owner approaching with video-cam, it switches to meowing. Amazing!
That is so neat! I thought at first it had to be a trick – like, there was a dog outside barking, but nope. That cat was barking!
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Oh! I think the show you were watching was “Too Cute” on Animal Planet? I saw it over the weekend. There was a Persian litter, an Abyssinian litter and a Bengal litter. Was that the one? If it was, did you see when they used the blow dryer on a brand new Persian? The poor widdle ting, with his lips in a little “o.” Oh, and “Tiny Dancer!”
That’s it! It was amazingly adorable – I loved the kitten being blown dry. And it made me realize something that should have been obvious: if I want to get cats accustomed to something, I need to start while they’re still teeny tiny. Thus, with my very next foster litter, I swear I’m going to take them on regular (short) rides in the car (in a carrier, of course), and then give them a treat when we get home. That way, they’ll link the car ride with something pleasurable, and won’t freak out about being in the carrier, in the car! Right? Right!
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I’m not going to cut and paste Elayne’s whole comment, but you can read it here. This section especially interested me:
I have known someone with a history of painkiller addiction who would have a glass of wine once every two or three weeks, whenever he and his wife went to dinner – just the one glass, because his wife enjoyed having a glass or two of wine but felt uncomfortable “drinking in front of him” if he wasn’t drinking.
because I’ve heard of this concept, where people are uncomfortable drinking in front of other people. I listen to the KATG podcast, and Chemda (“the Girl”) doesn’t drink and has said that people tell her they don’t trust people who don’t drink. What I want to know is, who are these people who CARE whether other people are drinking or not?
I will say that I immediately thought it might be like when I’m out to dinner and want dessert, but don’t want to be the only one eating dessert. BUT, if you have a glass of wine and your dining partner has a glass of Diet Coke or whatever, you’re both drinking something even if both drinks aren’t alcoholic (ie, if I get the chocolate whatever for dessert I’m not going to insist you also get the chocolate whatever, you can get the blueberry pie, as long as you’re eating dessert and not sitting there watching me eat mine), so what’s the difference?
Clearly I’m not a drinker at all, so maybe I just don’t have the right mindset to understand?
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I went to look at all his [Coltrane’s] pictures and ran into a little hitch – all the links to kitty pages go to private pages on flickr that cannot actually be seen. All links from here.
When I had to switch from self-hosting my pictures to having them all hosted at Flickr, I had to make it so that all the pictures I share (even the ones on the sidebar) link back to Flickr. So if you clicked on the picture to go to any of the cats’ pages, you would have gotten to a page at Flickr that wouldn’t allow you to see the source picture, because I had set them to private. There are links under all the pictures that actually go to each cat’s page – I hope! If anyone is still getting the private page at Flickr, please let me know. It’s kind of a pain, but I don’t want to chance being shut down by my host again!
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I came here today to show you a website with cute kitties wearing ties
You did forget to address Jill, though! I probably like Jill the most, although she is also nosy. I’m so sad she had such drastic plastic surgery and now looks like she has Scotch tape pulling her temples toward the crown of her head. (Do you read Jay Mohr’s recaps on the Bravo website? They are HILARIOUS! Seriously, he is incredible, and boy does he hate Ashley.) Jay Mohr says that Ashley makes Eeyore look like Richard Simmons. Bwahaha!
I can’t believe I forgot about Jill! I have to say that this season, now that the Bethenny drama is over with, I find Jill less annoying and even occasionally entertaining. I love that she’s so nosy and doesn’t hesitate to ask ten million questions (as in Morocco!) But I wish she would never ever wear her hair pulled back into that tight ponytail, because I don’t think it’s a good look. I like it when her hair is down!
I have now read all the Jay Mohr recaps, and you’re right, he’s absolutely awesome, not LEAST because of his Ashley hatred.
I keep meaning to bring this up about the opening credits to RHoNJ – you know when Melissa’s in the cat suit for Halloween, and she makes the purring noise and then she does these odd jazz hands? Can someone explain to me what this is about, please? Because it makes me want to fly through the screen and decapitate her, it annoys me so much.
Did y’all see the OC “Lost Footage” episode? Because I have to ask: Did Gretchen really keep saying that she wasn’t a good “drawler” (instead of “draw-er”), or was I hearing wrong?
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BTW, I think I saw that guy in some funny YouTube videos. In fact I’m sure of it; and they were about cats. Too funny.
That would be the Professional Engineer’s Guide to Cats and Advanced Cat Yodeling.
Love that guy! (And his “assistant” TJ.)
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Wow! Elwood is one big (and kinda intimidating) boy, isn’t he?
He is 14 pounds of lurrrrrrrrrve. He looks intimidating, but really he’s a great big lovebug. Until you annoy him, in which case he will put the smack down. You be nice, he’ll be nice. He and Kara have a love-hate relationship. One minute they’re doing this:
The next he’s chasing her around the back yard and she’s hissing at him.
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When and why did you stop cleaning at Petsmart? Surgery related? Are you going to go back? Just curious! 🙂
Oh, it’s been a while, definitely before surgery. It just got to the point where I wasn’t enjoying it, and it felt like a hassle to get up and go to Petsmart. Basically, I was hurrying through it instead of taking my time and playing with the cats, and I felt that they deserved better than that. I do occasionally fill in for other cleaners who are going to be out of town (though it’s been a while since even that), and I enjoy that.
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I just want to say thanks for still being around. Do you know that you are the very first blog I ever read?
Hard to believe I’ve been around for 11 years, isn’t it? I know that when I first started this site, I didn’t figure I’d to 30 days, let alone 11 (and a half!) years. So thanks for reading, all of you!
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I have one thing to say.
PICS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!!! 🙂
Would you believe, for once in my life I didn’t even think about grabbing the camera when I saw that pile. So, no cat vomit pics for you! (Everyone else: you’re welcome. Heh.)
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Did you notice that in the cat tree pic, one little monkey is in mid-air?!?!? LOL
Indeed I did! That’s Fergus Simon, and that describes his personality completely – he’s always flying through the air like a wild thing. Nothing slows this boy down.
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I keep on thinking that Coriander is actually Alice!! They have quite similar, gorgeous coloring, and are both small! 🙂
It’s my goal in the next week to get a picture of Cori and Alice side by side, so y’all can compare. They do have the same colors, but Alice is not nearly the tiny thing she used to be – in fact, I’d say she’s pretty much an average-sized cat now.
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Reminds me of a story here where a woman was arrested at a casino when someone found about 35 animals (cats, dogs, and kittens) in her CAR in the parking garage. She’d been kicked out of her apartment (go figure) and was using the casino’s computer to look for new housing. She’d cracked the windows of the car–this was in summer! None of the animals were hurt or harmed or sick from the heat.
I cannot imagine having, say, THREE cats in my car, let alone 35 cats, dogs, and kittens. Craziness!
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As for your (non-hoarded) cats and kittens, Robyn, I swear they get cuter everyday… or maybe that’s just the hats! I swear that Alice has become a full-size cat based on how big the collar power supply is. Is that true?
It really is – I’ll see if I can’t remember to weigh her in the next week so I can see just how big she’s gotten. I had kind of hoped that she’d stay tiny, but I guess she needed to get bigger to fit all that personality in!
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I went back looking because I remembered a video of him saying hi. Isn’t it nice to have videos to remember with?
It really is nice to be able to see him again and hear his voice. I actually posted two videos of him – one recent, and one from 9 months ago. I called them both “Coltrane says hi,” as a matter of fact!
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By the way, I noticed the traffic noise in the video of the baby robins. Is that “the” road? Sounds like there is quite a lot of traffic.
The road in front of our house is actually busier than you’d expect. It’s the main road leading to one of the area’s biggest employers, so at shift change there’s a lot of traffic. The tree is also very close to the road – here’s a shot from the end of the driveway. That tree near the mailbox is the one with the nest in it.
And here’s a shot from the end of the driveway to the house (you can’t see the tree, but you can see the shadow of the tree on the ground).
We’re closer to the road than I’d like to be – I’d actually prefer it if our house was at the very back of our property. I don’t love living on such a busy road, but if we didn’t live on such a busy road, we never would have seen this house and ended up living here.
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IS THAT A GUN in the picture of Newt in his Newt cave??? Do you really discourage outsiders to the farm that strongly?? 🙂
It looks like a pistol with a really long barrel, but then again, I’m from Englandshire, and I don’t think I’ve even held a real gun in my life!
That’s a shotgun. Here at Crooked Acres, the cats don’t take too kindly to strangers.
(I actually had a “the cat don’t take too kindly to strangers” doormat, once upon a time.)
Living in the country, someone (who is not necessarily me) feels safer with firearms with which to protect ourselves. Despite the traffic at certain parts of the day, we do still live out in the country, and some scary people walk past here on a daily basis.
So when I’m home alone and working outside in the garden, I almost always have a gun on me – though not THAT gun.
I’ve never had to use the gun I carry, and to be honest I don’t know that I could shoot someone unless they were coming at me in a crazy-eyed crack-induced rage (or made a disparaging comment about one of my cats)(I kid!), but I know how to aim and fire it. I’m not the best shot on earth, but I could get the job done if I needed to.
(Are ya scared yet?)
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In the meowy Spice Girls video, I can distinctly hear two girls yelling for food, but then there’s one who has a teentiny adorable little squeak! Who is that? I almost melted from the sheer cuteness of whoever was going meep! ee-eep! meep! eep! meep!
That’s Cori!
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Not to be a busybody or anything, but in future years you’ll need a more hefty support for the grapevine. Think about vineyards in France with wooden fence posts and heavy wire supports — the vines get so heavy that they need that strength of support. Hope this helps. Thanks for letting me be a know-it-all.
Doodle, anytime you want to be a know-it-all, I’m listening. 🙂 I don’t know about needing a heftier support for the grapevines, though – we’re growing muscadines on a similar fence, and they seem to be okay.
Though they are only about three years old. In any case, if we need something sturdier in the future, I’m sure Fred can figure something out. The main reason we planted grapes in the back yard is that we hope they’ll spread out along the fence and provide us with some privacy (the house next door is very close). If they get to be too much for the fence, we can always trim them back.
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This has been around several years. Have you seen it? I was able to download this song & it’s always on my playlist!
I had not; that’s very cool. And here I was all impressed with myself for cutting a few holes in a big box and getting Spanky to think it was pretty neat!
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Do you recarpet your cat trees? I have a couple that need it, and I have a nice piece of carpet my neighbor gave me when he recarpeted his bedroom, but I’ve never done it before. Do you take off the old carpet? Do you glue it down (what kind of glue?) or staple it or both? I figure if you don’t know, some of your readers will! 🙂
I have never recarpeted a cat tree, so I’m posting this in hopes that someone will have some words of wisdom!
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I bought a t-shirt from icanhascheezburger.com a couple months ago, and every time I wear it, it makes me think of poor little Maggie (and I laugh at the same time!). I’ve been meaning to post a picture of it for you for ages!
That is AWESOME! (And in Maggie’s case, SO true!)
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We were wondering when Maggie’s babies will go up for adoption?
They’re all set now – we’re just waiting for room to open up at Petsmart. Could be any day. I am going to seriously miss these guys when it’s time for them to go.
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Cillian’s just not sure…
“Are you sure these Declan hats are all the rage in England?”
Macushla in a basket!
Looks like Cillian might have a touch of the Loony Jake about him.
Declan’s a helper, making sure there are no groceries in that bag.
I wonder if we could have fit a few more McMaos in that ham-mick.
Cilantro on the scratcher, keeping an eye on her tail.
Clove, batting cleanup. (In the morning, the Spice Girls get their snack upstairs in their room while I’m scooping litter boxes. Usually by the time I’m done scooping, they’re done eating, so I let them out. Then I go downstairs and give the McMaos their snack, and on this particular day, Clove wandered along and realized there were leftovers to be taken care of.)
Dorian suggested, a couple of weeks ago, using a muffin top pan to give the McMaos their snack. It works wonderfully (I usually put a couple of dabs of food in the middle in case Maggie wants to join in – which she doesn’t, lately.) and it’s a lot better than having to juggle an armload of dishes! Thanks, Dorian!
Clove and Fergus Simon, in the cat bed under the table. That cat bed was originally on one of the chairs, but they kept knocking it down, so I gave up and left it there.
Sweet Miss Cori, on the ham-mick in the kitchen. We have three ham-micks in this house, and that one’s the most popular by far.
Sleepy Spices. (Front to back: Cilantro, Clove, Coriander.)
She looks oh so sweet and innocent, doesn’t she? Don’t be fooled! (Clove)
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Loony Jake and Alice snuggle up.
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Previously 2010: “YOU BETTER KEEP THOSE KIDS QUIET OVER THERE. I KEEP MY KIDS QUIET, YOU DO THE SAME WITH YOURS, YOU HEAR ME?!” 2009: I don’t mind telling you that I’m ready to burn the goddamn house down.
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry. 2005: For the record, that’s the sort of thing that gives me a fucking stroke. 2004: Oh, Rayford Steele, you manly stud. 2003: Now, do I look like the kind of gal who enjoys hiking? 2002: Some people have wild sex dreams. I dream that I’m chatting with my husband and kissing him goodbye for the day. Somebody stop me!
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
