Sarabeth needs some suggestions! We moved to this small town in Idaho a few months ago, and have been really struggling to get by; our neighbor’s adult son had a cat who is now the neighborhood “stray”. This cat is a very well mannered un-neutered male tabby. We cannot have a cat! My husband is … Continue reading “1/16/12 – Monday”
Sarabeth needs some suggestions!
We moved to this small town in Idaho a few months ago, and have been really struggling to get by; our neighbor’s adult son had a cat who is now the neighborhood “stray”. This cat is a very well mannered un-neutered male tabby. We cannot have a cat! My husband is allergic and our lease is very strict that there are no pets, under any circumstance.
So, we love our “DogCat” who comes around regularly to say “Hi!” and we’ve made sure he’s got a little box with wool blankets to sleep in on our cold nights… It’s super cold right now, like 20 at night, but no precipitation whatsoever… SO!!! Last night, after I put my kids to bed, I went outside to smoke, and here comes DogCat out of the bushes SOAKING wet; his tail, belly, everything! There was a small circle of dry fur around his mouth and eyes, but even his ears were wet.
So I went screaming for a towel and moved his “bed” into the bathroom at least until he got warm. He dried out and my husband eventually put him outside, and he’s fine today.
What I am thinking about: someone deliberately did this to the cat, and turned him out into the freezing cold to… freeze. He doesn’t “belong” to anyone. He’s a really nice cat. He’s un-neutered, so he sprays around the yard, but never in the house (not that I would have ever had a chance to watch him inside because, you know, I already said my husband’s allergic, and it’s not allowed per our lease… ~ahem~). But, even though he’s pretty happy generally, someone tried to kill him…
But, I’m so finished by the end of the day, I don’t even know how to go about finding him another home. Seriously, the town is so poor, I’m confident that euthanasia is the go-to answer for unwanted kitties at the pound. Do you have any other ideas or suggestions or do any of your readers have any ideas about how I can help this cat? I’m super broke, but I can’t stand this. We’ve done what we could to make him comfortable and safe, but we’ll get kicked out of here if we get caught even feeding him on our porch.
Sarabeth lives in Lewiston, Idaho, and added: I’ve been trying to think what else could have caused DogCat to get soaked, but we’re not close to the river, and everything else is totally frozen. I thought maybe he’d fallen in someone’s undrained swimming pool, but I smelled him as soon as I picked him up (thinking maybe someone gave him a bath???) and it was just wet, dirty cat, no chlorine or chemical of any kind.
So if anyone in that area of Idaho knows of any shelters that might be able to help out, or anyone anywhere has any suggestions for what she and her family can do to help this sweet cat, please leave a comment!
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Saturday morning, Fred came upstairs to the foster room, where I was hanging out with the kittens, and asked if I wanted to go to the movies. I’m fairly sure – though not positive – that the last movie we went to see was Star Trek two years ago, and we were headed to Chili’s to have lunch when I checked my phone and found that I had a message from the shelter manager, and that was the day the ball started rolling that we got the True Blood Six.
Funny what you remember, isn’t it? (Please note that I may very well have made up that entire story in my mind. It might have been another litter of kittens completely; the trip to Chili’s may have been after a different movie. Honest to god, who the hell knows?)
So anyway, Fred made the offer and I jumped on it. Less than five minutes later, we were out the door and then on the road to South Huntsville to see Mission Impossible at the Imax theater. He was worried that we wouldn’t make it in time, but when we pulled up to the theater, it was almost 15 minutes before the movie was to start. There weren’t many people there, so we got our tickets, I got a drink at the concession stand, and then we went into the theater. There was no one else in the entire theater, which was AWESOME, and we were sitting there talking a few minutes later when the manager walked in.
They’ve been having issues with tracking on that movie and they had to do some sort of calibration, so the movie might start about ten minutes late, she told us. Which was fine with us, we had no problem waiting a little extra time. She left, I checked Facebook on my phone, Fred and I talked, and about five minutes later she walked back in.
She said something about the movie (I truly don’t remember what the issue was) and they needed the Imax people to do something, but no one was answering the Imax phone (I bet it’s big!), so basically they weren’t going to be showing the movie. Ultimately, we got our money back AND free tickets to see a movie in the future AND the $5 back for my soda. All in all, a pretty good deal.
I tried to convince Fred to kill time until the next showing three hours later, but he wasn’t up for it. We visited the book store, then went to Petsmart (not the one where my fosters are, the other one in Huntsville where the Forgotten Felines kitties are) to look at the cats, then started talking about lunch. Fred had mentioned Mexican food as a possibility, so we headed toward home with our eyes peeled for a Mexican restaurant.
We stopped at a place we’d never been before, and I hope to never go there again. The food wasn’t awful, but it was bland. From the very beginning the waitress looked at us like she wanted to gut us with a rusty fork – seriously, we didn’t have to do anything to make her hate us, she came to the table already wishing us dead. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
Despite not seeing the movie and the blah food and the waitress who hated us, I actually had a good time. It was kind of like Date Night, only during the day.
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On Sunday, I amused myself FAR too much. I have a tin of catnip that needed some sort of label so that I’d stop walking by it and saying “Oh, what’s in here?” and having to open it to see. I kid you not, I’ve had to open that tin and look inside at least six times since I put all the catnip in there. So I thought I’d look through Mister Boogers’s pictures and find a sufficiently hateful one, then I’d put “catnip” in script below it, print it out, and affix it to the tin with the wonderful substance known as Mod Podge.
I went a little astray from my original idea, but when I was done, I laughed and laughed like a big dork.
(Aside from the picture, it’s “nippe” that gets me every time. Seriously, I am typing this and snickering.)
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I went by Petsmart on Friday when I was running errands, not because I needed to buy anything there, but because I wanted to see how Charlie and Patty and Everett, Sally and Lucy were doing. The morning cleaner was still there when I went by, playing with Everett with a feather teaser. He was his usual crazy self, flying around after that feather teaser. Charlie was watching from his cage, and Patty was in the litter box taking a bath. A few minutes later, the cleaner opened Charlie and Patty’s cage, and Patty heard the cage door opening and came out to see what was going on. I would have expected her to run to the back of the litter box to hide, so seeing her go toward the door made me happy. I’d say they’re adjusting okay.
(No Peppers adopted over the weekend.)
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It took the Sons a few days to be comfortable with the idea of coming downstairs. Well, not Clay – Clay is fearless, and he was down and exploring pretty quickly. Sunday morning, Opie, Jax and Tig finally started coming down and looking around.
It’s funny, there’s always a pattern to the directions that fosters go when they’re set free. When they first get to venture forth from their room into the rest of the upstairs, they invariably head left into the bathroom, then come out and run into my bedroom, which is across the hall from the bathroom.
When they’re released into the rest of the house, they largely ignore Fred’s bedroom at the end of the hallway and head downstairs and straight into the guest bedroom. Since the guest bedroom sometimes doubles as a foster room (and the permanent residents enjoy hanging out in there the rest of the time), there are lots of toys and cat beds in there. Also, it gets some nice warm morning sun, so it turns into a favorite hangout for the kittens.
Opie, trying to decide whether it’s safe downstairs….
..or whether he should just go back upstairs, where he knows for sure that it’s safe.
Jax, on Fred’s desk. You see how high his tail is? He pretty much walks around with his tail up that high all the time.
Sniffin’ pencils.
Jax found a toy to play with.
Clay supervises.
Jax, mid-jump.
The leg kicked out to the side is just killing me dead.
Shall we dance?
He swings! He misses!
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Sugarbutt likes to hang out on top of the fridge. He can keep an eye on all the goings-on, but the kittens can’t bother him (well, at least not until they get big enough to figure out how to get up there!)
“How YOU doin’?”
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Previously
2011: No entry.
2010: No entry. 2009: We have Spanky, who is our Bathroom Ambassador. 2008: Dear Peoples of the Bitchypoo Readers 2007: I suspect this behavior will not go over well with the ass-showing Mister Boogers. 2006: Things you may not know about me.
2005: No entry. 2004: I put too much perfume on this morning and now I’m sitting here with the stank rays shooting off me in every direction. 2003: And on the way home, he recounted, word-for-word a conversation he, his doctor, and I had had, only he substituted the nurse for me, and had her saying what I’d said. 2002: Ever hear of “Shut up, Junior, that’s rude, and the next time you say it, you’re going to your room for the rest of the day”? 2001: I’m such a ditz sometimes 2000: I’ve turned into such an old lady.
Attention, Floridians in the Pasco area (or within an hour’s drive), I got this email (and pictures) from Jupe : My mom has been doing feral cat feeding and TNR in Pasco, FL for years. As you know, this type of work leads to you adopting a lot of cats yourself. Last August, she rescued … Continue reading “1/13/11 – Friday”
Attention, Floridians in the Pasco area (or within an hour’s drive), I got this email (and pictures) from Jupe :
My mom has been doing feral cat feeding and TNR in Pasco, FL for years. As you know, this type of work leads to you adopting a lot of cats yourself. Last August, she rescued a group of 11 (2 nursing moms and 9 kittens) that were dumped behind a restaurant. She was able to adopt some out through the Humane Society (after having them fixed and shotted). After putting numerous ads in the paper, she was left with 4 kittens in the house and the two moms as free range cats. This brings her inside cat total to 20.
On top of this, she had to have a hip replacement on 12/1. I was up there for a month while she was recuperating, so got to spend a lot of time with these kittens (small cats now) firsthand. The boys (Spanky and Spanky Junior) are the sweetest, softest cats I have ever known (and I have seen her parade of cats). They are very easy to handle and love to lay in your lap. They are almost identical so we just call them both Spanky 🙂
My mom is very attached but aware that 20 is too many, especially after her surgery. The other two kittens (girls, black Spooky and tabby Suzy) are also good cats, not as friendly but will come to you on their own and enjoy attention. They are all fixed, have had baby shots, combo tested and dewormed. If you could post anything for people interested in adopting in the Pasco area of Florida, I would appreciate it. I would be willing to drive an hour each way from Pasco if someone was interested in adopting. These are seriously sweet cats otherwise I would not even ask!
Note: all the kittens are about five months old. Spanky & Spanky are from different litters, but they sure do look like twins!
Spanky & Spanky.
Suzy.
Spooky.
If you’re interested in adopting any of these sweet cats or might know someone who is, or have questions about them, you can contact Jupe at jupe (AT) tampabay.rr.com, or email me and I’ll pass your email along.
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ATTENTION PLEASE: If you are one of the people who uses my links list on a daily basis to check blogs that you like to read, please be aware that the “frugal” section of that list is going to be gone pretty soon. I fall so far behind in reading those sites that by the time I get around to checking them out, they’re useless to me, and they clog up my Google Reader, so they’re going to be cleared out.
I’ll likely go through and clear out the blogs that haven’t posted in a year, too, because that usually means they won’t be back.
Thank you for your patience. Mwah!
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In talking about tv shows you watch, I don’t know if you ever catch “The Big Bang Theory” but in one episode, Sheldon ended up with eight cats. If I could, I think I’d have eight cats, too! 🙂
I catch the occasional episode of The Big Bang Theory, but I haven’t caught that one yet. Do they sing “Soft Kitty“?
::sigh:: I remember the days when we only had eight cats… Okay, no I don’t. It seems like we went straight from eight to thirteen!
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Start around the two minute mark:
(Although the whole thing’s great, 2 is just the relevant bit.) I fucking. HATE. Geese. My sister got hit by a (slow-moving, non-injuring) car once fleeing from them.
Jaxy is sporting some monster-paws there, isn’t he? Or is it a trick of angle? Otherwise, that’s going to be a big, BIIIIG boy!
I’m glad I’m not alone in my geese hatred!
Jax is definitely sporting some big ol’ paws. I suspect he might end up being as big as Harlan Peppers!
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Two things I hate with a passion that “Literature lovers” and “film critics” couldn’t get enough of: We Were the Mulvaneys and The English Patient. Utter and complete piles of unrepentant, depressing drivel!!! GAWD!!!
Though, to be fair, the book that put Oprah on my shit list was The House of Sand and Fog. I was too stupid to remember that and picked up the Fucking Mulvaneys book to read when I inherited a pile of books when a friend passed away. At this point I could not seriously argue against the position that the Mulvaneys killed her 😉
I bet that goddamn Mulvaneys book would kill us ALL.
I have actually never read The English Patient or The House of Sand and Fog, and now that I type that out, I’m thinking that maybe all books that begin with “The” should be shunned. (That does not include Fred’s novella The Cove, of course. That’s the exception that proves the rule!)
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Also, Joyce Carol Oates UGH. I stopped trying to read anything of hers before the one about the Mulvaneys came out. Nothing good ever happens to anyone in a Joyce Carol Oates novel — or, if something good does happen, you know it’s only going to be a fleeting moment of bliss that will be snatched away and serve only to make the inevitable DOOM and MISERY that follows feel that much worse by comparison. I’ve read a few of her books and ended up wanting to go lie down in the road at the end of every one of them.
I actually BOUGHT and started to READ Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates because I wanted to give her another chance, but I got about 20 pages in when I decided “Hello, life is too short, FUCK THIS” and tossed it. I’ll never ever ever read anything by her again. She should change her name to Joyce Carol Mulvaney so we all know to avoid her.
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BTW, if anyone remembers George, Snip and Ollie, who needed a new home a while back, they are doing great with their adoptive family up in Keller TX!
Awww, good ol’ George, Snip and Ollie! What beautiful babies they were – y’all can go back a year and a half and read about them here. I’m so glad to hear that they’re doing so well in their new (well, not so new now that it’s been a year and a half!) home!
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Gah, watching the last ep of RHOBH made me anxious. I kept wondering if Taylor and Russell went home and he beat the holy shit out of her for “telling” on him. He definitely has the serial killer vibe. Kim – ??! You know she’s in rehab right now? That woman is a hot mess. Everyone else is pretty boring this season.
I wondered that EXACT same thing about Taylor and Russell. And I did know that Kim’s in rehab. I honestly don’t know why they keep Kim on that show; I’m wondering if Kyle has threatened to walk if they cut Kim. Kim’s gotten less air time than whatsherface. Oh, what the hell is her name? The “These sunglasses cost twenty thousand dollars!” chick who horrified Camille so much. Dana!
(As an aside, I don’t expect to ever be worth a million dollars or even a fraction of that, but even I know that you don’t go to a party with a bunch of rich people and brag about how you spent too much money on sunglasses. I’m not sure if you’re allowed to brag on spending a mere pittance on stuff – “I got these glasses for a dollar ninety-nine!” – but surely it’s more accepted than the other way around.)
Having watched the most recent episode, I’m finding that I’m starting to like Brandi more and more because she’s a mess, but she’s a funny mess. And for god’s sake, Kim’s boyfriend is CREEPY AND WEIRD.
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I didn’t finish reading and I have to go to work, BUT was Mr. Boogers’s tail short?
Mister Boogers had a stump of a tail, about half as long as an average tail. Like such:
When we were tossing around names for him on the way home after we’d adopted him, I really wanted to name him Stumpy, but Fred was all disapproving and said that that would be “making light of his disability” (can you sense me rolling my eyes here?), and that was when we were on our “All cats must have a name starting with S” kick, so he became Stanley for a while. (“Silent Bob” was a serious consideration for a bit, too.)
We – INCLUDING Fred – did call him “Stumpy” sometimes, since all our cats have to have 300 nicknames.
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I just watched an episode of Justified on DVR (refreshing myself on last season before the new one starts in a couple weeks). As soon as a certain someone showed up on screen, all I could think is “Boyd Teeth Crowder…Toothin along with his bad self.” I giggled at how wonderful and perfect your nickname for him is. But then I realized something. Boyd isn’t just Teeth. He is far more complex than that. Boyd is Teeth and HAIR! I swear, in some episodes, that not-so-expertly-coiffed concoction of his takes on a life of its own and makes him look about four inches taller. So now, whenever I see him, thanks to you and Fred, I will first think Teeth…Toothin along….and then I will think Hair…Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair, shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen…hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair…flow it…show it…long as God can grow it…Hair!
Haaaaaaaave ya noticed his forehead? Or as they say, his FIVEhead? Can you believe he played Almanzo Wilder??
(I know it sounds like I’m mocking him, with the talk of the teeth and the forehead, but I think he’s absolutely hot. Don’t tell Fred, I’m pretty sure he’d be horrified!)
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I recently got a new kitten, and as far as introductions to my grumpy old boy goes, things have been going swimmingly. Unfortunately, baby seems to like to eat my older cat’s food, and visa versa. For the baby it’s not so bad, but for my older cat, he has a sensitive stomach and also can’t really afford to put on the potential pounds from the kitten food (he’s not fat, but if he keeps this up he will be!)
You have so many cats; if you do, how do you keep them out of each other’s food? They both get fed twice a day, but they don’t always finish everything in one sitting, which leaves ample opportunity for one cat to go sampling the other’s fine food.
At this point, we’re lucky in that none of the cats are on any special food – Spanky does get a supplemental snack each night, which we give to him in the bathroom with the door closed so that the other cats can’t get to it.
I would recommend feeding the two cats separately for a set amount of time – give them each their food in separate locations, let them have it for 20 minutes, then take away what’s left. Ideally, you’ll have a place where you can shut one of the cats away so that they can’t get to each others’ food at all.
Readers? Suggestions?
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Have you seen these pet adoption PSAs? (There’s several, but that link is to my favorite.) I see them on TV occasionally, usually on one of the obscure little cable networks I like, and they nearly make me cry every time. Yesterday’s post about taking the kittens to Petsmart reminded me of it.
Oh good lord, that is so sweet and sad and YES it made me teary-eyed!
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Where did you get your game cam, and what kind is it? I would love to catch some of our garden invaders in the act!
It’s a Bushnell Trophy Cam, this one. I got mine, slightly used, off eBay for a little less than $100, but I just looked over at eBay, and I’m wondering if that was just a fluke – all the ones I saw that are available right now are around $200, which would make them actually cheaper on Amazon.
The picture function is good, but I prefer the video function, as you can tell!
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After all these years of reading your blog, I’ve never thought of this until today (not sure what sparked it either)…is Challenger’s House considered a no kill organization? I got to thinking about some of the cats that you’ve fostered that have been at Petsmart for a long time and wondered what happens if they’re never adopted? I thought about the Los Gatitos this morning and couldn’t remember ever hearing about their adoption (though it’s possible I just simply forgot). Thanks for the info!
Challenger’s House is absolutely a no-kill shelter. Cats who spend some time at PetSmart and aren’t adopted will eventually go to the shelter, which is a converted house. The shelter’s a free-roaming facility, and cats are not kept in cages there (except for new guys who need medication or are tiny and can’t go in with the general population). If a cat is never adopted, he or she will live out their life at the shelter. Any cats adopted from Challenger’s House will be accepted back into Challenger’s House at any time – there’s not a time limit, if a kitten is adopted out and 13 years later her owners can’t keep her for whatever reason, Challenger’s House will take her back.
Can you imagine how many cats we’d have here if Challenger’s House weren’t a no-kill shelter?
Oh, and about Los Gatitos, for anyone who doesn’t remember/ wasn’t reading at the time, they were the litter of white kittens who were only here for a week, since space opened up at Petsmart very quickly. Sofia (one blue eye, one green) was adopted straight from here, and I got an email a few weeks later from her new mom telling me how very much they loved her.
You know how black cats are adopted slowly and sit and wait forever sometimes? Well, with white cats it’s very often the opposite, especially blue-eyed white cats. All four of Los Gatitos were adopted, I believe, in less than two weeks.
Here, I whipped up a Los Gatitos collage for you!
(Side note, they all had Spanish names because they were estimated to have been born around May 5th, which is Cinco de Mayo.)
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I got the Greenies email today… Gracie was ROBBED Miz Robyn… Robbed.
Yes, now our dark, dirty secret can come to light: Gracie’s not a huge fan of the Greenies, at least not that we know of, because we’ve never given her Greenies. Not because we dislike Greenies (their pill pockets come in super handy with the cats!), but because we… just haven’t. Her teeth still seem pretty bright and white and pretty to me, so I don’t think her lack of Greenies has caused her harm. I was a little bit dreading having to come up with some LIE about how Gracie cries herself to sleep if she doesn’t get her nightly Greenies treat, so I think we can all rest easy now.
“I’m a fine upstanding Southern lady, so I’m not going to cast aspersions on anyone’s character, but is it just me who thinks that Ferguson fella looks just a little TOO perfect? ::cough::cough::cough::PHOTOSHOP::cough::cough::”
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Sixty years ago my parents were living on Guam with a cat named Charlie, a Siamese. They tried to give him to someone else but he walked the length of the island to get back to them. There may be a whole colony of jungle-dwelling cats named Charlie.
I love the idea of this so very much! I know that Guam – at least when we lived there – had a large feral population. I like to think that descendants of my Charlie still roam that island.
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How were the older Peppers when you dropped by?
They were just fine, plenty friendly, and enjoyed being petted and loved upon. I didn’t get much time to visit with them, because the morning cleaner arrived a few minutes after I did, and I wanted to get out of her way.
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I need some advice/suggestions from you and the blogosphere: I want to get some shelves for my kid to put his toys on. He has TONS of lego things he’s built, and transformers, etc so instead of keeping them in buckets (which he has to turn upside down on the floor more often than not to find something he’s looking for) I was going install some shelves on the wall. As you know though – I have two active cats, one of which (a) likes higher places, and (b) is a chunky butt with clutz tendencies. So I want to keep them off these shelves. They’re going to be crowded with bunches of stuff, and I just don’t want the hassle of them knocking stuff off. I was thinking of putting foil on the edges of the shelves to discourage them from jumping up there, but didn’t know if that would work or if you had better suggestions. I need something other than a water gun though as we’re not home all day and the cats do as they please.
I told Sherry that her kid needs a Lego wall – isn’t that neat? – but of course I was kidding, because can you imagine the cost of something like that? We keep the cats off our bookcases by piling so much crap on the shelves that they can’t get on the shelves, but of course that’s probably not an option here.
How about it – suggestions, y’all?
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I either said it or thought it before.. when those Sons get access to the rest of the house and allllllll those kitty tails, they’re going to go flipping nuts! There wont be a safe tail in the place! Can’t wait to see the mayhem!
I was actually saying to Fred the other day that the tuxies have had access to a tail – Jax’s – but that Jax has never had access to tails other than his own, so he’s going to go WILD!
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That printer video is fabulous. And since you think nothing is funnier than a swearing cat, I assume you’ve met Sylvester.
Oh god yes, I ADORE Sylvester. And Gibson. And for that matter, I do love me some Steve. Warning, those of you who are about to click that link: Sylvester’s got a potty mouth, but he is HILARIOUS.
Catriona tweeted that very link at me the other day, and I tweeted back at her that amazingly enough, I have never had a single polydactl foster kitten, can you believe that? We thought briefly that Terry, of the True Blood Six, this guy here:
was polydactl, but as it turned out, he had the normal number of toes, they were just divided oddly. Like such:
See? Three toes on one side, and then two over there where the “thumb” would be.
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My first-ever foster, Dublin, went off to his forever home on Saturday. His story is here.
I’m assuming you can reassure me that one does eventually get over the “no one can take as good care of him as I did” feeling. And of course our rescue group has another (single) kitten that they would reeeallly like me to foster. We’ll see.
You’ll get past it, I promise. If you’re really lucky, you’ll get an update from his new parents, and while you’ll be thrilled that he’s in a happy and loving home, you may think “But you said you loved ME, you little ingrate!”
The best cure for the missing-my-foster-kitty blues is more kittens, of course.
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My husband and I took in a cat from his parents’ neighbors, who’d lost their home, and also had a dog or two that thought she was a chew toy (I can even feel a scar on her thigh, poor thing.) She hid in the deepest recesses of our house for a month before she realized, “Hey! There’s no dogs here!!
Anyway, they also had her declawed, which is something I would never, ever do, and now I’m finding out firsthand why. I think she’s the one who’s been peeing outside the litter box. I can’t leave any kind of fabric on the couch, like a blanket or a sweater, or it will get peed on. We actually watched her walk straight up to the Christmas tree and squat and pee on the skirt. (Good thing it was just a piece of cheap green felt!) Now last night, someone peed on the fuzzy rug outside the litter box in her room.
We are assuming it’s been her, because we caught her most recently at it, and I’ve heard that declawed cats remember the pain from trying to use the box when they were first declawed, so it makes them litter-avoiders. She’s been fine for a while, but I’m thinking that cuz it’s been cold, her poor, sawed-off toesies are hurting.
I am taking her to the vet today to rule out anything medically wrong, but does anyone have any ideas about how to get her to use the box again? I’ve been using precious cat litter, switched about 6 months ago from Arm & Hammer to cut down on the dust, I scoop every other day. The box in her room doesn’t get used too much, for some reason. (I say her room, it’s my husband’s office, but when we first got her, we kept her in that room to slowly introduce her to everyone else.)
I also think part of her problem is she is declawed in a house with 4 other cats who are not. They have staring/growling contests, and about once a week, I hear the screech of an angry cat. I think she feels unarmed in a land of fully armed strangers, and it makes her defensive.
My newest idea is to buy some cat Attract litter, and shut her up in her room again for a week or two.
If I don’t find a solution, I’m gonna…I swear I’m gonna…keep cleaning up cat pee, cuz there’s nothing else really I can do, I’m not an animal abuser or a ‘drop them off at the pound at the first inconvenience’ person.
I am throwing this one out to the experts out there, because I really am not sure what to advise. I know that very often declawed cats don’t like the feel of litter on their poor little paws, and thus avoid the litter box, but perhaps there’s a different type of litter to try? I don’t think it would hurt to keep her sequestered away from the other cats – is it possible that one of the other cats is messing with her when she’s in the litter box and she doesn’t feel safe? Not that they’re necessarily being bullies, but trying to play with her or just watching to see what she’s doing.
But honestly, I don’t have a lot of advice on the topic, so those of you out there with suggestions or advice, feel free to jump in here!
And Doodle Bean had some great advice:
Hi Beccity! You are wise to have a vet check her out. My cats are wonderful about the litterboxes unless they are sick. When they ‘miss’, I’m actually grateful since I know someone is sick. Figuring out which one is sick then becomes the problem, but my vet does 2-for-1 office vists, so sometimes I just bring them both in.
Keep in mind I have 4 litterboxes for 2 cats… The rule-of-thumb is 1 for each cat + 1, but my two cats needed 1 for each cat + 2. So adding more litterboxes / adding one more litterbox might be something to try.
When you introduced the rescued darling, did you introduce her slowly? If not, you may want to try again (if she checks out as healthy by the vet). Here’s a good source of information on introducing a new cat into a cat-occupied household. It may be worthwhile starting over — it’s totally up to you!
Also, for timid cats, having a safe place to go is important. Do your cats have cat trees or other ways to get above other cats? That can go a long way toward making them all calm down.
Does the new one have a special place of her own? In my household, the skitty kitty owns the bed and the more confident one respects that… so, when she’s feeling scared, she can go lie on the bed and calm down — and does!
Sometimes just adding a cat bed for the new cat in an unusual place – like on top of the washer or on a rack over your computur monitor – does the trick… sometimes it’s harder. Either way, it’s great that you are concerned about her and your other pets. Because of that caring, I know you’ll figure it all out and have a peaceful, cat-filled household again! Just keep trying new things and it’ll work out.
Good luck!!
(Thanks, Doodle Bean!!)
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So the boys were all neutered yesterday, had their poop tested (no parasites, yay!), and their rabies shots. They are, as a matter of fact, ready and available to be adopted.
Unless something surprising happens this weekend or at adoption hours on Tuesday, the Sons will be going to Petsmart next Friday, and the black Peppers (Everett, Lucy and Sally) will be coming back here for a while to give them a break from the cage; I’m aiming to keep them here for about a month before they go back. Hopefully Jake will remember them and give them the full Loony treatment.
“Um….”
“This not funny, you let us OUT.”
When they got home from their neutering, they immediately swarmed to the food and water bowls. They were starvin’ Marvins.
“Somethin’s different. WHERE’D MY TAIL GO?!”
“Somethin’ else is missing, too…”
Tig, gazing out the window, reflecting upon how happy he is to have lived through that experience.
Seriously thirsty.
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Are you ready for some Corbs, beautiful Corbs? You know you are!
Total stressball.
Can you stand the gorgeous? I myself cannot.
That is the basket I bought to put in the foster room. It’s occupied 24/7 by either Corbie, Newt, or Jake. Sometimes Tommy.
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Previously 2011: Sights from around a snowy Crooked Acres 2010: the expensive ones do seem to keep on ticking, don’t they? 2009: The spud is a Twilight fan.
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry. 2006: If nothing else describes me, “Morally strong, with waffly ways” does. 2005: Who loves their readers more than me? That’s right, NO ONE. 2004: Let us go forth and speak of this no more. 2003: But one of these days he’s going to wake me up, and I’m going to pull his arm off and beat him about the head with it.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
Attention, Floridians in the Pasco area (or within an hour’s drive), I got this email (and pictures) from Jupe : My mom has been doing feral cat feeding and TNR in Pasco, FL for years. As you know, this type of work leads to you adopting a lot of cats yourself. Last August, she rescued … Continue reading “1/12/12 – Crooked Acres Thursday”
Attention, Floridians in the Pasco area (or within an hour’s drive), I got this email (and pictures) from Jupe :
My mom has been doing feral cat feeding and TNR in Pasco, FL for years. As you know, this type of work leads to you adopting a lot of cats yourself. Last August, she rescued a group of 11 (2 nursing moms and 9 kittens) that were dumped behind a restaurant. She was able to adopt some out through the Humane Society (after having them fixed and shotted). After putting numerous ads in the paper, she was left with 4 kittens in the house and the two moms as free range cats. This brings her inside cat total to 20.
On top of this, she had to have a hip replacement on 12/1. I was up there for a month while she was recuperating, so got to spend a lot of time with these kittens (small cats now) firsthand. The boys (Spanky and Spanky Junior) are the sweetest, softest cats I have ever known (and I have seen her parade of cats). They are very easy to handle and love to lay in your lap. They are almost identical so we just call them both Spanky 🙂
My mom is very attached but aware that 20 is too many, especially after her surgery. The other two kittens (girls, black Spooky and tabby Suzy) are also good cats, not as friendly but will come to you on their own and enjoy attention. They are all fixed, have had baby shots, combo tested and dewormed. If you could post anything for people interested in adopting in the Pasco area of Florida, I would appreciate it. I would be willing to drive an hour each way from Pasco if someone was interested in adopting. These are seriously sweet cats otherwise I would not even ask!
Note: all the kittens are about five months old. Spanky & Spanky are from different litters, but they sure do look like twins!
Spanky & Spanky.
Suzy.
Spooky.
If you’re interested in adopting any of these sweet cats or might know someone who is, or have questions about them, you can contact Jupe at jupe (AT) tampabay.rr.com, or email me and I’ll pass your email along.
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Sights from around Crooked Acres.
Fred split a leftover piece of (homemade) pizza between George and Gracie. Gracie took hers and ran off. George did this.
When he’s offered a food he’s never had before, he takes it, then immediately drops it on the ground so he can sniff it and determine whether he wants to eat it (he always wants to eat it – he just needs to sniff it first!) He eventually picked it up and ran off with it.
It never occurred to me that the pond would become a water source for the dogs. But apparently it’s rather tasty.
I actually took this picture and the next few from my desk. George and Gracie like to hang out on Dirt Mountain.
They like to run around like nuts, too.
Gracie keeps an eye on things while sitting on the ramp to the coop, while George tries to figure out who knocked over the feeder (my guess: probably George).
I don’t remember what this rueful look was about.
Pretty Gracie.
I think it had just rained, and the chickens were on Dirt Mountain checking for bugs, while Gracie sat guard at the bottom of the mountain.
Angry Muppet looks like a big ol’ cotton ball with a beak, doesn’t she?
Rooster, keeping an eye on his hens.
I’m sensing a distinct flirty vibe from Mister Rooster.
::flippity flap::
::flappity flip::
::FLAP::FLAP::FLAP::
Checking to see if I’m impressed.
I’m not sure what these little birds are, but they’re awfully pretty.
And now, a few short Crooked Acres videos for you!
The first, three hens taking a dust bath. Hens (well, roosters do it too, actually) do this to keep clean (I didn’t manage to get the bit at the end where they all three stood up and shook all the dust from their feathers, unfortunately).
And in the second, a few months ago I bought a game cam. We put it on the front porch to see what was eating the cat food we put out there, and we found out (we were also not surprised).
I’ve put the camera away for now, but plan to get it back out in the Spring. A few years ago we caught footage of some raccoons showing up on the front porch, I’d like to see if they’re still coming around.
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Because I suck, I only have two Sons pictures for you. I need to get some pictures of them, but it’s been gloomy and rainy for the past several days, which makes it hard to get good pictures of them.
Opie, doing his Tubby impression.
I do have a couple of short videos, though, of Charlie Peppers. In the first one, he was hanging out in the kitchen trying to let me know that he was DYING OF STARVATION.
And in the second, it was snack time, and all the cats were in the kitchen. Charlie was doing his best to hurry me along. I particularly like the part at the end where Alice tries to show Jake who the boss is, and Jake comes back at her like “I DON’T BELIEVE THAT’S THE WAY IT IS, MY DEAR” and she backs right off.
Speaking of Charlie and Patty, the news from Lisa Tuesday night was that they were out of the litter box, and Charlie was more relaxed about it than Patty. But, hey – at least they’re out!
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Joe Bob, catnip banana fiend.
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Previously 2011: The Bradys. 2010: I live to serve, is what I’m saying. 2009: My mother and Nance are all about feeding the addiction, obviously.
2008: No entry. 2007: I don’t know what it is about Lowe’s that makes me so gassy. 2006: Right now, Fred’s thanking his lucky stars that I don’t have this much Christmas stuff, because it would drive him NUTS. 2005: (YES, GODDAMNIT! I HAVE CONFIRMED THAT YOU CAN, IN FACT, BEGIN WRITING THE FUCKING CHECK BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY HEAR WHAT THE TOTAL IS, YOU IN-MY-WAY MOTHERFUCKER!) 2004: I need to go crack open a beer, watch the game, scratch my balls, and think about what this means.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry. 2001: “Yeah, so you‘ll be the one with the big head blocking everyone else’s view.” 2000: No, I’m not on any drugs, why do you ask?
Attention, Floridians in the Pasco area (or within an hour’s drive), I got this email (and pictures) from Jupe : My mom has been doing feral cat feeding and TNR in Pasco, FL for years. As you know, this type of work leads to you adopting a lot of cats yourself. Last August, she rescued … Continue reading “1/11/12 – Kitteh Wednesday”
Attention, Floridians in the Pasco area (or within an hour’s drive), I got this email (and pictures) from Jupe :
My mom has been doing feral cat feeding and TNR in Pasco, FL for years. As you know, this type of work leads to you adopting a lot of cats yourself. Last August, she rescued a group of 11 (2 nursing moms and 9 kittens) that were dumped behind a restaurant. She was able to adopt some out through the Humane Society (after having them fixed and shotted). After putting numerous ads in the paper, she was left with 4 kittens in the house and the two moms as free range cats. This brings her inside cat total to 20.
On top of this, she had to have a hip replacement on 12/1. I was up there for a month while she was recuperating, so got to spend a lot of time with these kittens (small cats now) firsthand. The boys (Spanky and Spanky Junior) are the sweetest, softest cats I have ever known (and I have seen her parade of cats). They are very easy to handle and love to lay in your lap. They are almost identical so we just call them both Spanky 🙂
My mom is very attached but aware that 20 is too many, especially after her surgery. The other two kittens (girls, black Spooky and tabby Suzy) are also good cats, not as friendly but will come to you on their own and enjoy attention. They are all fixed, have had baby shots, combo tested and dewormed. If you could post anything for people interested in adopting in the Pasco area of Florida, I would appreciate it. I would be willing to drive an hour each way from Pasco if someone was interested in adopting. These are seriously sweet cats otherwise I would not even ask!
Note: all the kittens are about five months old. Spanky & Spanky are from different litters, but they sure do look like twins!
Spanky & Spanky.
Suzy.
Spooky.
If you’re interested in adopting any of these sweet cats or might know someone who is, or have questions about them, you can contact Jupe at jupe (AT) tampabay.rr.com, or email me and I’ll pass your email along.
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Jax loves his fuzzy blue ball.
“MINE.”
He likes to run around with it in his mouth and growl at his brothers.
He is such a pretty boy.
Tig’s not so bad either.
“Back off, I’ve got it!”
Sometimes, kitties just gotta dance.
Clay practices his levitating while Jax is in mid head-shake there in the background.
Clay prays “Dear lord, can it be snackin’ time now? Amen.”
“Yeah, what he said, lord.”
I love how they look all potbellied when they stand up on their hind legs.
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I discovered two more pictures involving Charlie and Patty.
Look at Patty eyeballing Elwood’s tail like she’s about to grab for it.
Honestly, Chuckles, that doesn’t seem like the most pleasant position to be in.
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Elwood and Tommy: Brudderly Love.
(Or, Everyone Loves Tommy. Especially Elwood.)
(It cracks me up so much when Tommy throws one leg over whoever’s snuggled up to him.)
As long as you’re comfy, Ellie-bellz.
::bliss::
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For an old guy, Spanky’s pretty flexible.
Also, he still keeps his little pink toes spotlessly clean.
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Previously 2011: I haz a smug. 2010: Since then, I’ll occasionally asked him if he washed a dish with soap and water, or just his “magic hands.”
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry. 2007: If you could solidify body odor into a spice, it would taste exactly like cumin. 2006: Oh, how I love my books. 2005: I need a nap. 2004: Stuff I bought in Maine.
2003: No entry. 2002: Firsts. 2001: You rock, maaaaaaaan! 2000: I’m blue.
Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes yesterday! I had a totally lazy day, caught up on my TV-watching, played several hundred games of Words with Friends, and did lots of kitten-snuggling. That’s the perfect day, if you ask me. Fred made my birthday cake – a Black Forest Torte, the best cake on EARTH … Continue reading “1/10/12 – Tuesday”
Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes yesterday! I had a totally lazy day, caught up on my TV-watching, played several hundred games of Words with Friends, and did lots of kitten-snuggling. That’s the perfect day, if you ask me.
Fred made my birthday cake – a Black Forest Torte, the best cake on EARTH – over the weekend, and there’s still some left (but not for long!)
Suzy, the black cat (with a little white – I don’t think she was actually a Tuxie, I think she just had a few small bits of white on her, but to be honest I don’t remember and there aren’t any more pictures of her that I’m aware of – this was almost 40 years ago, when digital cameras didn’t exist. And if they did, they would have been the size of a Mack truck.) in the picture yesterday, who was my 6th birthday gift, ended up having a litter of kittens a few months later. One of those kittens was an orange tabby named Charlie, who kicked off my life-long love for orange tabbies. Suzy went to live elsewhere, and Charlie eventually ran away – again, almost 40 years ago. I don’t think there was such a thing as indoor cats back then, and we lived on Guam.
ANYway.
Later today I’m headed to the other side of Huntsville to have an abdominal ultrasound. I’m perfectly fine, my gastroenterologist just orders an abdominal ultrasound once a year to keep an eye on my liver. I saw him last week, on Thursday, and had blood taken and I expect that the blood tests and the ultrasound will show that everything’s normal. I feel fine, he felt nothing untoward in my livular area, same old same old.
I really only see him for about five minutes twice a year, and this time around he walked in, asked how I was doing, then said “What are we on for medication, still the Urso?”
“No,” I said. “You took me off it six months ago!” And he tried to play it off like he was just testing me. UH HUH.
Then he felt my liver and looked me over, then said “Well, you’ve lost weight.”
Well, I haven’t lost weight. In fact, I’ve gained weight. Every single time I have surgery, I gain 10 pounds. It sticks around for 9 months or so, and then drops back down to where I was. EXCEPT that this time, right around the time that 10 pounds would have started dropping back down? I had surgery again, and put on an additional 5 pounds. Since I had surgery in February, I’ve gained fifteen pounds, THAT’S RIGHT. And know what? I’m not thrilled about it, but I expect that in a few more months it’ll drop back down. I’m not worried, because IT HAPPENS EVERY SINGLE TIME I HAVE SURGERY.
You might offer that it’s just swelling (it’s not) or that it’s all that downtime after surgery (don’t think so), but I think it’s the general anesthesia messing with my body.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Anyway, he said “Well, you’ve lost weight.”
Then we got into this dumbass argument where he insisted that I’d lost weight and I was all “NO I HAVE NOT WHY DOES YOUR NURSE ALWAYS WEIGH ME IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO LOOK AT THE NUMBERS”, and he finally said “WELL YOU LOOK LIKE YOU HAVE”, and it wasn’t until I was walking to my car that I realized I probably DO look like I’ve lost weight, since I no longer have all that extra skin hanging out under my chin.
Oh well.
So I have an ultrasound today, a visit to my gynecologist on Friday for my yearly physical, and an appointment with my general practitioner later this month. January’s the month I get all my yearly appointments done and over with (note to self: make an appointment to have my eyes checked), as an anti-birthday gift to myself.
HAPPY UN-BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEEE.
God. My ultrasound’s at 11:00, and I can’t eat or drink anything ’til afterward and I am dying of thirst. WOE IS ME.
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So, dropping Charlie and Patty off at Petsmart on Friday was SUPER fun, as it always is. Making it even worse was that they both seemed to sense that something was going on when I brought the carrier out a few hours before we left, and they were nervous and wouldn’t let me near them. I had to lure them into the guest bedroom and shut the door, then chase them down and put them in the carrier, and they both frantically tried to dig their way out of the carrier, and 93 times during the whole process I thought “Hey, 15 cats isn’t THAT many” and “They’ve fit in so well!”, but 15 cats IS too many for this house, and the fosters always fit in so well, and if I want to keep fostering (which I do), I’ve got to stop keeping cats even though I want to keep them all.
I mean, of course it’s hard and I hate it. I get all the fun stuff, the loving on the kittens, the sweet snuggling and purring, the way they give me the Eyes of Love, watching them go from scared, ratty little kittens to sweet, healthy, beautiful cats. What makes me think I get to skate through life without doing the hard stuff? After all, I’m taking them to a place where they are safe and well-fed, where they get attention, where someone will come along and fall in love with them and give them a forever home.
But, still. Not fun, y’know?
I got to Petsmart and got them set up in their cage and they did what kittens ALWAYS do, they went right into the litter box to hide. Oh, I hate that so much. I went to go do some errands and came back by Petsmart afterward to see how they were doing, and could see nothing but the tips of their ears in the litter box.
::sigh::
I got word from Lisa, who did adoptions on Saturday, that they hid in the litter box most of the day, but Charlie came out a few times on his own, and Lisa took Patty out of the litter box early in the day, and Patty stayed out for a while on her own. This is normal for kittens in the first few days after going to Petsmart, I know they’ll be fine.
Not a Pepper was adopted over the weekend, unfortunately. I’ll keep you informed on that front, you better believe.
I snapped a few pictures of Patty before we left for Petsmart.
Checking out a lady bug crawling across the floor.
“HI MISTER JAKE! HI! I LUB YOU!”
“THERE ROOM IN THERE FOR ME, JAKIE?”
I looked away for a moment, so I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I can tell that Patty’s giving Jake the “What’s YOUR problem??” look, so I imagine he told her to back off a bit.
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The Sons are going to be neutered on Thursday! They’re thrilled, as I’m sure you can imagine.
“I don’t need to be tutored. I’m smart enough already.”
Jax always looks so happy. He flirts with his toys, I swear.
They always love this trackball so very much.
Sweet Tig.
Tig in the giant Croc slipper.
Tig in the sun.
Sweet Opie.
So, the boys are now getting more room to roam. We have a gate/ half-door across the end of the hallway so that they can go into the bathroom if they want to, and my room. After I’d first let them out and left them alone for a while, I went up to see how they were doing. They’d all gone back into the foster room to snooze. On the second day, they decided that my room was a pretty cool place to hang out, and that’s pretty much where they head now when I open their door.
They’ll get that amount of space for the next few days, and then on Friday I’ll let them out into the rest of the house.
Jake and Elwood can jump over the half-gate (or rather, they can jump to the top, pull themselves over, and jump down on the opposite side of the door), and they do that several times a day. The Sons are pretty familiar with them now, and Jake alternates between head-butting them, and showing them who the boss is. Over the weekend, Miz Poo wanted to go into my room (she likes to hang out in there), so I took her in with me. The tuxies ignored her, but Jax went all big and puffy and hissed at her a few times.
She wasn’t fazed in the least. Miz Poo has no use for kittens, and they don’t scare her. She just ignored Jax, but it was funny to watch him puff up.
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Poor Tommy. Look how resigned he is. What you can’t tell from this picture is that Elwood was purring up a storm, and kneading. He sure does love his Tommy.
When I saw that Elwood had kicked his rear leg up on Tommy, I laughed and laughed.
Tommy finally got fed up, and Elwood was like “Wait! Where are you going?!”
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Previously 2011: (“It’s my biiiiiiirthday!”) 2010: I told them I loved ‘em and to stop being drama queens, and then left.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry. 2007: And my Self said “Wow, that sounds like a pain in the ass.” 2006: “I had a double serving of beans last night/ and I’ve got some hard gas going on/ Pull my finger, baby.” 2005: Back from Maine! 2004: My parents’ Christmas decorations. 2003: And yet, show me a zit and I’m on it in two seconds flat. 2002: “IF YOU WERE THAT FUCKING INTERESTED IN HOW MUCH EVERYTHING COST, YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION WHEN SHE WAS RINGING IT ALL UP!” 2001: My body gave me two birthday presents yesterday – my period (a day early) AND a mild return case of conjunctivitis. 2000: In his narcotic cough syrup-induced haze, he nodded sympathetically and hacked a big green chunk of lung onto his plate.
Note: I did not EVEN proofread this monster of an entry. If I made any embarrassing and/ or obvious typos, please let me know so I can correct them, thx. I hope you are watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Mob Wives because I am dying to hear what you have to say about … Continue reading “1/6/12 – Friday”
Note: I did not EVEN proofread this monster of an entry. If I made any embarrassing and/ or obvious typos, please let me know so I can correct them, thx.
I hope you are watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Mob Wives because I am dying to hear what you have to say about them!!!!!
I’m watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but have never watched Mob Wives – I thought about it, but I’m trying to get back to reading more, so I have to be picky about what I watch (HA!). I watch all the Housewives seasons except for Miami, because I saw a picture of the cast of Miami and got the shit scared out of me. One of those women is SO FUCKING SCARY.
I’m spending a lot of time squirming while watching this season of BH, ESPECIALLY in the last episode when Russell was all like “Well, it’s an out-and-out lie!”, and Taylor got the “Yeah, not so much” look on her face. Also, I hate seeing Russell because – I know, I’m evil – the man gives (gave?) me serial killer vibes in a big way. Also, Taylor has dead eyes.
Also, Brandi alternately cracks me up and annoys me. And I want to like Kim, because I thought she was THE bomb-diggity when I was a kid and saw her on the Witch Mountain movies, I thought she was the most beautiful girl on earth, but she is just so ODD and WEIRD and her boyfriend has serial killer eyes. Also, Kyle can shut her face about never having had plastic surgery, because I’m sorry. Botox is plastic surgery, and not one of those women could frown if their lives depended on it.
That’s all I can think of at the moment – y’all feel free to chime in with your observations on those crazy bitches.
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How do you like the Kindle Fire. I was all set to buy one, but went with the ASUS Transformer instead because of extra features like being able to lock it and the removable keyboard (which I need when I travel)
I am really liking my Kindle Fire, but I have to say that it’s definitely not a replacement for my netbook. If I were traveling and didn’t expect to post entries or do much typing, or if I had a day where I needed something to help me kill time, I’d take the Kindle because it’s all about entertainment. If I were traveling and planned to post entries or answer a lot of email, I’d take the netbook.
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OH MAH GAH. Just when I think I can’t love coming here any more with the kitten and cat pics and the dawgs and the funny ducks and chickens and not to even mention your hilarious comments, I find out that you HATED We Were The Mulvaneys. I thought I was the only one! I am still not over that wretched, vile book! Have never forgiven Oprah. That is the book against which I judge all other sub-par books, and believe me, so far NOTHING has even come close. OH, I feel so vindicated.
I’m sure you know that Lifetime made a movie out of it. But then Lifetime would make a movie out of a steaming dog turd if it could get enough people to star in it.
It has been more than ten years since I read that book – I first wrote of my hatred for it here – and I still just loathe the holy hell out of it. Whenever I see it in a book store, I fantasize for a moment of buying up every copy and burning them so as to prevent some other sucker from setting eyes upon it and thinking “Hey, Oprah thought this book was good! Good enough for me!” That wasn’t the very last Oprah recommendation I bought and read, but I was certainly never as suckered in by her recommendations after that.
I remember seeing the commercial for that damn TV movie, and thinking “I should watch – wait, IT’S THOSE FUCKING MULVANEYS.” Ugh. Stupid Mulvaneys.
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I remember a really long thread on some forum about how (generally) men do not believe that anything their wives say is sensible. Men (again, generally) will listen to a neighbor, co-worker, stranger-off-the-street give the EXACT same advice and take it as the gospel truth. But, when the wife gives the advice she can’t possibly know what she’s talking about.
I was surprised how many wives piped up about this.
I cannot think of an example, and I can’t swear that this has ever happened, but I can certainly imagine making a suggestion to Fred, having him brush it off, and then some complete stranger giving the same suggestion, and Fred saying “That’s a really good idea! We should try that!”
I kind of want to go smack him upside his head, just thinking about it.
How many times have I suggested something to him to have him shrug it off, only to turn around day or hours or MINUTES later and then present the idea back to me AS IF HE’D JUST COME UP WITH IT ON HIS VERY OWN.
::FUME::
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What case do you have for your Kindle Fire? What do you think?
I have two cases for my Kindle Fire. The first one is this one, a plain and simple leather case, I got black. It worked really well, and I like having it as a backup. The other case I have, the one I kind of prefer, is this one, in pink. I like that it’s a hard case, and I like that I can use the cover as a stand, and really I just like the overall look and feel of the case. I think they’re both good cases, and you can’t go wrong with either of them, it really just depends on what you like in a case.
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I wanted to tell you about the dream I had while I was on vacation this last week, I thought it was pretty funny. I dreamt that a bunch of us Bitchypoo readers got together and rented a bus to visit you and Fred. You didn’t know we were coming, and when we got there, you were surprised, but very gracious. Fred put us all to work building goat pens (??), but here is the funniest part…the cats had their own house on your property, a really pretty Victorian style bungalow. A regular sized house that they all lived in. I woke up laughing because the house was so pretty, I was thinking maybe you and Fred would want to live there instead of the cats!
HA – you know, when the house next door was up for sale, I tried my best to convince Fred that we should buy it and turn it into a house for fostering cats. For some reason he wouldn’t go for that, go figure – it’s not a Victorian style bungalow, though. Maybe if it were, I’d be able to convince him. 🙂
(And we are NOT getting goats, so stop dreaming about goat pens!)
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On one other note I made use of “boxing day” here in the uk to turn boxes in to a cat tank. I’m not sure they fully approve yet but my cats will one day turn against me and use the tank. Hope you like it! Its not as good as a shop bought one but gave me hours of fun making it.
I LOVE IT! I also love that you spent hours making it, because that sounds exactly like something I would do!
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Opie’s triangle marking on his face reminds me of Tubby.
Several people have mentioned that. Tubby, for those of you who didn’t have the pleasure of knowing him, was our great big 20+ pound cat. I believe he was our first adoption from Challenger’s House, we got him in the summer of 1997. He was a bit of an odd duck, but was loaded with personality and always cracked us up. He was very vocal when food was involved.
Here’s Tubby:
And Tubby side by side with Opie:
It’s funny just how similar their nose splotches are, isn’t it? Of course, there are more differences than similarities between the two – Tubby was white except for his tail and his nose splotch, whereas Opie is a Tuxie and approximately half black. Their personalities aren’t similar (that I can tell – Opie might very well turn more Tubby-like as he grows up, who knows?), but Tubby had a favorite sitting position that Opie came pretty close to replicating the other day:
So in summary, yeah, y’all are not alone. I see the resemblance, too!
And as a bonus, some Tubby videos (with awful quality; hard to believe that was THE BOMB ten years ago, ain’t it?)
And Tubby and Mister Boogers (back when Mister Boogers was a kitten and we were calling him Stanley The Bean), fighting.
Also, when we first got him, we named him “Snoopy” because we had decided to go with an “s” naming theme for the cats. He grew into his name a few years later. (Ha.)
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Warning: profanity. Nothing funnier than a swearing cat, though, if you ask me.
Don’t say I never gave you anything. And why is everything always funnier with a British accent?
God but I love that video. That’s EXACTLY what I’m like when I’m fighting with my computer or the printer. Only with more profanity and less of a British accent.
I could totally listen to a Brit swearing up a storm all day long. It’s the accent – it’s funny to listen to dirty words in that accent, I’m telling you.
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Robyn, don’t show this to Fred or he’ll DEFINITELY will want a goat:
(I can see them now, Fred and his goat. Canoeing together. Taking rides in the truck. Napping on the couch.)
You know, they’re really NOT much bigger than George and Gracie, surely we could –
Oh, wait. George and Gracie don’t get to come in the house. Nevermind. (Fred only wants goats inasfar as I don’t. When I tell him to get a goat and shut up about it, he suddenly isn’t that interested in goat herding. His current desperate want is for a goose. I LOATHE geese, ever since I was feeding geese at the UAH pond and one bit me on the butt.)
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I have 2 cats, one is almost 13 and one is almost 6, both girls. Abby, the older, has always been more affectionate, but lately, she will plop herself down on my lap very often when I’m sitting. Sometimes she does it right as I’m about to get up and do something and I can’t always put it off. How do you get anything done with as many cats as you have, and do you ever feel guilty/bad for moving someone to accomplish things around the house?
I think I’m at a disadvantage since I work at home and often have to stop cleaning etc to sit down and take a call.
Oh, I never hesitate to put a cat down because I have to go do something. They know that when I’m sitting at my desk, they can get all the love and head scritching they want, but if I suddenly remember that I have to get up and do something, they’ll be moved aside so I can do so. (I do feel a tiny bit bad about it, but then I get over it. Because stuff’s got to get done!)
Probably it helps that I’ve spent 12 years with Miz Poo, the neediest cat on earth. If I would just sit there and pet her 24 hours a day, she’d love it. But then stuff doesn’t get done, does it? STUFF’S GOTTA GET DONE. I should cross-stitch that and hang it over my desk and when I get the sad eyes I can point to the cross-stitch picture and shrug. STUFF’S GOTTA GET DONE, YO.
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I don’t like when you mention Tommy and Sugarbutt’s ages because I was reading for a few years BEFORE you adopted them, so now it makes me feel like a crazy stalker. I certainly hope you don’t get bored and stop blogging because even though you have a tendency to discuss litterbox content while I am trying to eat, I still love reading you and seeing all the kitty pictures:)
I wish I had a disgusting litter box story to share here, but sadly I do not so I’ll settle for sharing, once again, my favorite picture from when Tommy and Sugarbutt and their sister and brother were fosters.
That’s Tommy in the air, of course (back then he was named Barrett and Sugarbutt was Sad Eyes)(I did not name them), Sugarbutt on the ground calling out encouragement, and their sister Callie laying back there observing. I really think this might be one of my top five favorite pictures of all time.
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Tommy and Sugarbutt look like my 2 newest kittens, Trixie (black) and Tiffany Jr. – “TJ” (orange). Which is why I’m writing. They came from the shelter, they’re chipped, tested and feleuk negative, will be spayed soon, all for a token $85 to the shelter. They got a clean bill of health when they came home to us on Dec 8th including “fecal – negative” which I thought meant no worms/parasites? DOES IT?
TJ and Trixie follow me all around asking for canned food unless we’re playing with them elsewhere or they’re asleep. They also eat up all their dry food. They will eat our other 2 cats’ special diet(s) food too, if we aren’t watching and don’t quickly move it out of their reach. The kitten chow (Iams) cans say 1 can per day per pound, and they are both right at 1.5 pounds (so 3 cans/day total) but they would eat all day if they could. They are otherwise alert, healthy, loving, playful, mischevous, very smart, and wonderful! Not skinny or fat, still kitten-y, not at that slender teenager cat stage yet.
They’re getting fixed late next week and we are going to ask that vet about it then. Just wondered everyone’s experiences since this is the first time we have had such ravenous little piglets ever and we’ve owned cats since we were both little kids.
To answer the question as to whether “fecal – negative” means they’re parasite free, I have to say that’s not necessarily the case. It’s possible for them to have parasites that don’t show up in a single fecal test, especially if they’re recently, um, infested with one parasite or another (wow, that makes zero sense, right?) I’ve had fosters’ fecal tests initially show negative for something, only to find out a few weeks down the road that they have (insert your parasite of choice here. I particularly enjoy finding out that they have tapeworms, because UGH.)
A better indication of how they’re doing is to check out their litter box. Is everything as mostly-solid as it should be? If there’s diarrhea, especially bloody diarrhea (hey, look, there’s that litter box talk I was looking for! Were you eating breakfast?), then there might be a parasite issue.
It’s not uncommon for kittens to claim they’re dying of starvation around here, especially if I’m standing in the kitchen, and even though we free feed. You might want to increase their food a little, since they’re still little guys and growing. Also, do you know what their story is before they ended up at the shelter? Our dear departed Spot was never a big eater, but due to living on “the streets” before he showed up at Fred’s doorstep, it made him extremely nervous not to have food available to him at all times and even if he could see the bottom of the bowl, he’d howl the house down. If TJ and Trixie were street kittens for a bit, they could think that they need to eat when they can.
I know that there are readers out there with opinions or words of advice – please jump in here, I’d love to hear what the rest of you have to say.
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I love Tig! I especially like how he seems to have little white ears inside his little black ears… I’m not explaining that very well but it shows in the photos… He’s going to be a charming grownup cat.
I see exactly what you mean – I hadn’t noticed that at all. How neat! Maybe it was his twin, and he absorbed it in utero, and that’s why Tig has the personality of two kittens! 🙂
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I’m fed up with living with roommates and am downsizing (from a 3ish bedroom duplex) soon. I’m looking at a studio apartment that is only 220 sq feet- I’m a big fan of Apartmenttherapy.com so its kinda a fun challenge- but I’m worried about if my cats will be able to deal. Yes, plural, cats. Two, who get along very well, and have few behavioral problems. Is 220 sq feet too small for two cats?
Man, I hesitate to answer this, because I really don’t know. That sounds awfully small to me, but I think it depends on how active they are, and how willing and able you are to provide vertical space for them. If they’re older cats and not terribly active, and you can provide cat trees and/ or walkways for them up off the ground, then you may be able to make it work. But if they’re really active young cats, I think you’re going to have a problem because they’re going to run around and in a space that size, they’re going to run across your face sooner or later. Trust me, my face gets tromped across regularly. I’m surprised I haven’t lost an eye yet.
Readers, jump in here? Anyone out there with a similar amount of space now or in the past, who can offer some advice?
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Do you have any that just don’t get into the catnip? I have one that runs away from it and a couple of others that are like, eh… whatever.
Yeah, I think Tommy, Maxi, Newt, and Kara are not really into catnip. Joe Bob doesn’t seem to care for it either, now that I think about it. Miz Poo used to watch the other cats like they were nuts, but in her old age she’s gotten a taste for it. The kittens are usually like “What is going ON?!” when there’s a nipfest. Most of them, though, like it. They like it in different ways – Spanky will walk in, eat a pile of catnip, and move along, some of them roll around in the catnip and then lay there with their eyes twirling.
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This is duck-related and it QUACKS me up (groan):
Hee! SO CUTE!!!
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Okay, I’ll be leaving in a bit to take Charlie and Patty to Petsmart. I like to drop them off as early in the day as I can so that they have all day to acclimate to the cage and people walking by. I expect Patty at least will head straight into the litter box, and Charlie will likely join her, at least at first.
We’re not requiring that they be adopted together, but did put a note in their description that it would be nice if they could. I actually think they’ll be fine even if they’re not adopted together, as long as there are other cats in the home.
In response to someone’s question, I am not bringing Everett, Sally, and Lucy home with me. But if they’re still there in a few more weeks, when the Sons have been neutered and are ready to go, I may see about switching out the Sons for the remaining big Peppers, to give the big Peppers a break from the cage for a few weeks.
I’m sorry that your last sight of Charlie and Patty has to be when they’re so stressed out. What can I say? They’re just naturally high strung.
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This weekend, we start giving the Sons a bit of freedom. It’s definitely time – they’ve started all four rushing the door, which is usually okay unless I’m carrying something into the room. And then it’s (heh) anarchy!
Poor Jax. Who will ever adopt such an ugly boy?
Whatcha doin’ there, Opie, that has you looking so guilty?
“Nuttin’.”
::chomp::
Mr. Innocent.
They like to sit on top of the kitty condo and look out the window.
Couldn’t you just smooch his little face?
Opie, keeping an eye on something. Probably Jax’s tail. (Andrea pointed out that when the Sons are let out into Gen Pop, they’re going to go nuts with all the tails available for the swattin’. SO true. Charlie and Patty go nuts with batting at the big cats’ tails, and they have their own tails!)
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Edited to add: Oops! I uploaded these to Flickr, but forgot to link them here. I would never want y’all to go without your weekly dose of GORGEOUS!
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Previously 2010: “Snack?” 2010: Mike and Gus go to their new home. 2009: Squirrels in the side yard drive Suggie CRAYZEE! 2008: Cumin smells exactly like stinky armpit to me.
2007: No entry. 2006: “Oh. Were you gone?”
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry. 2003: “Ohhhhh,” I finally said, the light dawning. “It’s a comedy.”
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
Sights from around Crooked Acres. I finally got a shot of one of the Chickadees. They’re so hard to get a picture of, because they’re always flitting, flitting, flitting. Female Cardinal and a little brown bird. Those seed cakes are very popular with the birds right now. Getting some birdy attitude. Birdy-tude. Another female Cardinal. … Continue reading “1/5/12 – Crooked Acres Thursday”
Sights from around Crooked Acres.
I finally got a shot of one of the Chickadees. They’re so hard to get a picture of, because they’re always flitting, flitting, flitting.
Female Cardinal and a little brown bird. Those seed cakes are very popular with the birds right now.
Getting some birdy attitude. Birdy-tude.
Another female Cardinal. This is the first time I’ve ever noticed the orangey-red “eyebrows.” How cool!
I swear it looks like that squirrel is using the feeder as a periscope.
No squirrel tongue for you this time around, but not for lack of trying on my part!
Lovin’ the bird seed.
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Duck action in the back forty.
Or, A tale of four duckies.
Or, Why does Fred never listen to me?
So, the ducks.
“C’mon, Mildred, move over.”
“There’s not enough room!”
“There’s always enough room.”
::sigh::
So, we attempted to herd them out to the pond, and they were so not having it that when I stopped paying attention for a moment on the way out to the pond, they zigged instead of zagged, and went running up Dirt Hill to avoid going all the way out to the dreaded pond.
“Ha ha! No pond for us!”
We had to round them up and get them out to the pond again. This time I was paying attention the whole way.
“We’ll swim in the pond. But we won’t like it!”
We’d brought a baggie of Cheerios out with us, and in an attempt to convince them that the pond was a cool place to hang out, we tossed Cheerios on the water. A couple of the ducks tried the Cheerios, but weren’t impressed. They swam back and forth, looking for a way out, and as soon as we backed off, out they ran.
And they rinsed off in their pool to get that nasty pond water off of them. Ingrates.
(No flying this time.)
So then I made a suggestion I’d made at least 100 times before.
“Let’s take a scoop of chicken scratch out to the pond with us,” I said. “And toss it on the water and see if they’ll stay in the water for that.”
And like he’d said 100 times before, Fred said “But it’s heavy and it’ll sink and they won’t get to it before it sinks to the bottom of the pond.”
I countered with “Let’s TRY IT.” I went and got a scoop of chicken scratch (which is comprised of cracked corn, among other things, and is the best thing on earth to the chickens and especially to the ducks), and we herded them back out to the pond.
And lo and behold, when I tossed scratch onto the water, the ducks were THRILLED. Yes, scratch does not float. But guess what ducks like to do?
They like to stick their heads under the water and get the food that is sinking to the bottom of the pond. Because they’re water birds, and they LIKE water, especially when there’s food involved.
This time when we backed off, they stayed in the water for a while, and then they came out and stood around the pond and then they WENT BACK IN for a brief period of time. Eventually they headed back to home base, but they weren’t frantic about it.
So to summarize: I was right and Fred never listens to me, even though I am ALWAYS right. The end.
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This is my least favorite part of fostering, right now. Charlie and Patty are under the impression that they ARE home, but come Friday morning I’m going to bundle them up and take them to Petsmart, and they’ll be all “Wha?” So I’ve been picking them up and kissing and hugging them a lot – maybe come Friday they’ll be all “Thank god that lady isn’t here. That kissing and hugging was getting on my NERVES.”
I do hope they go to a home together, but I think that even if they don’t, as long as there are other cats there, they’ll be okay.
(But of course I love it when siblings get to stay together.)
I will, of course, keep you all informed as to their adoption status!
Would you believe that when we first got Charlie, Fred thought he was “boring”? He’s not as captivated by the smaller kittens as I am. He prefers them when they’re older, I think they really capture his heart when they’re five or six months old.
These days, Fred can wax poetic about how awesome Charlie is. We love Charlie’s silly overbite and fangy ways.
Miss Patty is awesome in a less demanding, less “OH MY GOD I AM STARVING” way than her brother. She loves the big cats, especially Jake and Elwood.
And she is one sweet girl.
(Pretty, too.)
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In response to a comment from yesterday, the Sons will start their foray into the world of Gen Pop this weekend. First they’ll get the run of the upstairs (the bathroom and my room in addition to their own room) for a few days, and assuming that that goes well, we’ll let them have short periods of access to the rest of the house, and eventually they’ll have all-day access. I think it’ll probably go well, and most likely by this time next week they’ll have daytime access to the rest of the house, and at night they’ll go back into their room.
“Hey! Stop taking pictures! Get over here and snuggle with me!”
I love when they lay in the sun and you can see their very faint stripes.
Pretty boy Jax.
Pretty boy Clay. Clay and Jax are the friendliest of the four, though Opie’s not far behind. Tig was slow to come around, but now even he will climb into my lap as soon as I sit down.
Jax with droplets of water on his chin.
Clay, going after Jax’s tail.
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Smilin’ Joe.
They sure do love that scratcher.
“MY scratcher! Y’all stay away!”
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Previously 2011: Marcia said ::FLOOF:: 2010: Eviction notice. 2009: Meet George and Gracie.
2008: No entry. 2007: Oh look! It’s been two years since the last time we adopted a dog. 2006: Home again, home again.
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry. 2001: How we met. 2000: And that’s all I have to say ’bout that.
This Friday, Charlie and Patty Peppers will be going to Petsmart. We sure are going to miss their crazy little faces around here. Who else will miss them? I think Jake will, because Jake loves him some little Peppers. And the little Peppers – especially Patty – love him right back. Jake likes to hang … Continue reading “1/4/12 – Kitteh Wednesday”
This Friday, Charlie and Patty Peppers will be going to Petsmart. We sure are going to miss their crazy little faces around here. Who else will miss them? I think Jake will, because Jake loves him some little Peppers. And the little Peppers – especially Patty – love him right back.
Jake likes to hang out in this basket condo in the mornings (it’s located near a heat vent, and is sometimes partially on top of said heat vent), and more often than not Patty will climb in there with him for a while.
Even up on his platform in the kitchen, Jake can’t get away from her. She climbs up there and is like “I’m sure you were wondering where I was!”
“Where ya going?!”
That smile on her face kills me dead. If that’s not a look o’ love, I don’t know what is.
“Wait for me!”
(Pardon the blurriness.)
“Here I am! I know you were worried I wouldn’t find you!”
Sugarbutt’s all “Dude. Kittens be crazy.”
Jake: “Don’t I know it. This one’s obsessed with me.”
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Charlie was sound asleep, and Jake decided that he needed a bath. So he went to work. What, like he needs an invitation?
Jake got in a few licks of his own.
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Pardon me, sir, your tunes appear to be loony.
(Jake wonders if the Sons are as tasty as Charlie Peppers.)
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Previously 2010: JUST HOW FUCKING VAIN AM I, AFTER ALL? 2010: Robyn’s Super-Tasty Black-Eyed Peas
2009: No entry. 2008: I really haven’t had any desire to eat squirrel (yes, I’ve eaten it, but it’s been many years. Tastes like chicken, right?). 2007: Awww, it’s been three years since we first met Joe Bob! (He was Moon Man back then, though.)
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: No entry. 2002: Links. 2001: What sad, sad lives y’all must have led, to never experience the delight of whoopie pies. 2000: I’m feeling like total crap.
From Kathie: My daughter works for a rescue in Sterling Virginia that is trying to get help with a spina bifida kitten. These are the links to her facebook page and chip in page. There is a video also on the facebook that will break your heart. The prognosis is good for her if she … Continue reading “01/03/12 – Tuesday”
From Kathie:
My daughter works for a rescue in Sterling Virginia that is trying to get help with a spina bifida kitten. These are the links to her facebook page and chip in page. There is a video also on the facebook that will break your heart. The prognosis is good for her if she can get into a good rescue such as Best Friends. Currently she is in a home that cannot keep her long term and they are trying to place her soon.
If you can help out (I always say this, but it bears repeating – every little bit helps!), please do. If you can’t afford to help, please spread the word and send good thoughts in Dot’s direction. Her Facebook page is here, and her ChipIn page is here (or click on the link in the box below!)
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The recipe for the raspberry cake I posted the picture of yesterday is now here.
Warning: it’s a huge pain in the ass to make. Damn good cake, though.
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I’ve made exactly one resolution this year, and I’m going to keep it if it KILLS ME.
My resolution: to put my GODDAMN DEBIT CARD BACK IN THE SLOT IN MY WALLET WHERE IT BELONGS SO THAT I DON’T HAVE TO DIG THROUGH MY FUCKING PURSE WHILE THE CASHIER WAITS PATIENTLY FOR ME TO GET MY SHIT TOGETHER.
Seriously. How fucking hard is it to PUT THE FUCKING CARD BACK WHERE IT BELONGS? I mean, I put the fucking thing back in the INSIDE of my wallet, how hard is it to actually move my hand like half an inch to the side, to put it in the side pocket of the wallet? HOW FUCKING HARD IS IT? INCREDIBLY FUCKING HARD, APPARENTLY, because I NEVER DO IT. Instead, I stick the card in my wallet amongst all the crap and clutter that accumulates and then when it comes time to pay, I’m that annoying woman who’s digging and digging and digging.
I want to bitch-slap myself.
“Let me take care of that for you.”
So if it takes having to clean out my friggin’ wallet at home before EVERY trip out the door to run errands, THAT is what I’ll do, by god.
And also, why the FUCK do I collect so many receipts? What’s with all this PAPER? What is this, 1962 where we write CHECKS and need paper RECEIPTS? Isn’t this THE FUTURE, where they can beam my receipt right into the computer chip in my friggin’ BRAIN? Wasn’t I promised that? I think I was.
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Fred and I have recently started watching Justified. It’s a show with Timothy Olyphant as US Marshall Raylan Givens, who grew up in Harlan, Kentucky, and due to some contrived reason he’s been transferred back to Kentucky, where he shot like 38 people in the first two episodes, and then the writers were all “There’s not going to be anyone left in Harlan if he keeps this up!” so all of a sudden Raylan’s all judicious and thinks first before pulling his gun.
So also on this show is Walton Goggins. We first saw Walton Goggins on The Shield, and you know how in the first few episodes of a show you’re trying to figure out and remember who everyone is? Well, Walton Goggins (good lord do I love saying his name. Goggins! Goggins! Goggins!) played a character named Shane, but apparently they didn’t say his name often enough because we weren’t sure what his name was at first, and we were all “Is he Mackey?” “No, that’s the bald one.”, “Is he Lem?” “No, that’s the one who looks like a pot smoking surfer.”, “Is he Ronnie?” “No, that’s the one who just stands around in the background.”
My point is, we didn’t know what Walton Goggins’ (Goggins! Goggins! Goggins!) character’s name was, so we came up with a nickname. Annnnnnd that nickname, well.
That nickname was “Teeth.”
And thus forevermore his name to us became Teeth. And so if we’re, say, watching a movie and we see his name come up in the credits, one or the other of us will exclaim “Teeth!” and the other will say, affectionately, “Good ol’ Teeth.”
We like Teeth.
So anyway, about halfway through the first season of Justified, after having a very small presence in the previous few shows, Walton Goggins showed up. We had wondered if he’d have much of a role in the rest of the season, so when he showed up, Fred exclaimed “There’s Teeth!”
Before I go on to the punchline of this long and tedious story, please listen, if you haven’t already, to Maxi’s theme song.
And so, Fred exclaimed “There’s Teeth!”
I nodded.
And Fred said it again. “There’s Teeth!” he went on. “Toothin’ along!”
I laughed until I cried. And ever since, I’ll be driving somewhere and suddenly I’ll remember Fred saying “Toothing along!”, and I laugh and laugh. Just sitting here typing this, I’m laughing like a goon.
Now aren’t you glad I explained that entire story to you in excruciating detail?
(PS: We really like Justified quite a lot. You should totally check it out if you’re not already watching it.)
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Oh, his fangs just crack me up.
Chuckles and Patty, stressing out as usual.
Pretty Miss Patty.
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One of their favorite games: laying on either side of my leg and fighting with each other UNDER my leg.
Silly boys.
I love how it looks like Jax is blessing Tig.
I love this picture so very much.
Escape!
Gorgeous Jax.
Clay looks like he’s about to slap Opie.
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They’re 6 1/2 years old, but Sugarbutt and Tommy still snuggle from time to time. Awwww.
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Previously 2010: HOW DO THEY MOVE THROUGH THIS WORLD HATING SUCH AWESOME FOODS? 2010: “If you call her my ‘little girlfriend’ one more time, I’m going to cut you.” 2009: JESUS CHRIST that GPS lady is one pushy bitch. 2007: Good ol’ Jerry Ford. Remember when he… pardoned Nixon? Yep, them were the days.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry. 2003: My God, I love Sam’s, have I mentioned? 2002: Why, that’s almost as exciting as the fact that my birthday’s in less than a week! 2001: Fred, being the man, is legally required to deal with all car-related crap and I, being the woman, am legally required to bitch at him until he does so. 2000: So we apparently had a 2.8 earthquake today about which I knew nothing.
From Kathie: My daughter works for a rescue in Sterling Virginia that is trying to get help with a spina bifida kitten. These are the links to her facebook page and chip in page. There is a video also on the facebook that will break your heart. The prognosis is good for her if she … Continue reading “01/02/12 – Monday”
From Kathie:
My daughter works for a rescue in Sterling Virginia that is trying to get help with a spina bifida kitten. These are the links to her facebook page and chip in page. There is a video also on the facebook that will break your heart. The prognosis is good for her if she can get into a good rescue such as Best Friends. Currently she is in a home that cannot keep her long term and they are trying to place her soon.
If you can help out (I always say this, but it bears repeating – every little bit helps!), please do. If you can’t afford to help, please spread the word and send good thoughts in Dot’s direction. Her Facebook page is here, and her ChipIn page is here (or click on the link in the box below!)
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New month (new year!), new banner!
This was created by Christine, who’s done so many of my banners in the past. Not two minutes after I had said out loud to Fred, “Oh shit. Tomorrow’s a new month! I need to make a banner!”, I got a banner in my email inbox. It was like magic!
Thanks again, Christine – perhaps I’ve mentioned that you rock?
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Happy New Year! I hope everyone celebrated safely and had a good time (or crashed long before midnight, whichever floats your boat.)(Um, “crashed” as in “went to sleep.”)
I settled in with a glass of Raspberry Sparkletini and a few games of Words with Friends, then toddled off to watch Justified (the last two episodes of the first season) with Fred. We were in bed by 9:30, and I was sound asleep by 10:30. I slept like a baby, and woke up to do a million things around the house. The first of the month means that the cat beds and bedding all get washed, the air filters get changed out, and the cats’ water fountain filters get changed out, too.
It’s all very exciting, as I’m sure you can imagine.
In and amongst the cat laundry and all that, I played a thousand games of Fruit Ninja on the X-Box/ Kinect with Fred (I suck, but it’s ever so much fun) and cooked black-eyed peas, sauteed chinese cabbage, and corn (the cabbage and corn were grown here. The black-eyed peas were not.) for lunch and took down and put away the Christmas decorations.
I got a surprising amount of stuff accomplished yesterday, which is hopefully a sign of the year to come (but, I suspect, probably not so much.)
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Since I think it’s likely that most of you – if not all – have received the Holiday cards I sent out, I’ll post it now for those of you who didn’t request one, but want to see it anyway.
This year’s cat model was Spanky. Here’s the front:
On the back it said: Yule-tired Greetings! (Happy 2012!)
I sent out 325 cards this year!
I actually took pictures of all the cards I received this year as I opened them to better share with y’all – I did hang them on the wall in the hallway, but I figured that taking a picture of each card would work out better than trying to make sure every card showed up in a picture of the hallway. I loaded them up to Flickr, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to share the entire set on a page in my blog, so you’ll have to go over to Flickr to see them all.
Thank you, everyone, for the cards you sent, and the pictures of your kids and your cats and yourselves! I really enjoyed opening all those cards and seeing your (and your kids’ and your cats’) smiling faces (well, the cats weren’t smiling, especially the dressed-up cats, heh.) I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – I have the best readers on the internet, yes I do!
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Things I’ve been meaning to share, and pictures from the holiday and let’s just call this the miscellaneous section of the post, shall we?
I got my craft on at the last moment, and made some personalized coasters as gifts. Of course, I forgot to snap pictures of them, so over the weekend I made one for Fred, and snapped a picture of that one.
Please note: that big fold-looking thing on the right side of the picture is because the tile wasn’t completely flat on top, and thus the picture made that fold. Shut up.
Fred finally put up another set of steps and a platform in the front room (the one on the left is new). Someday he’s planning to put up a walkway between the two platforms, and have a walkway all the way around the room. At the rate he’s going, I think he’s going to be 83 by the time that’s done.
Fred made this vanilla-laced raspberry cake for Christmas (we had it at his father and stepmother’s house) and it was really really good. I think it was particularly good this time (it wasn’t the first time he’s made the cake) because he made it a day in advance, and the raspberry jam had a chance to really sink in.
The Christmas tree at Fred’s father and stepmother’s house.
Isn’t this awesome? My mother saw it and thought of me, so bought it for me! I think it’s purty.
This is so cool – Katherine gave it to me just before Christmas. It looks all cute and sweet, right? Guess what – you could totally use it to gouge someone’s eyes out with! It’s very very lightweight, and so easy to carry, and you can mess someone UP with it. Go get your very own (and read more about them), right here.
Instead of wearing a sweater to Christmas Eve dinner at Fred’s father and stepmother’s house, I bought something different. Fred approved of it, and said “But it’s so bright!”, because I tend to wear darker, more muted colors.
It was made of some velvety-type material. It was definitely different for me, but I’m glad I wore it.
I don’t know. I’m a dork.
I get such a kick out of me.
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Patty Peppers would like you to know…
…that it’s a rough, rough, rough, rough life.
For real.
Charlie Peppers concurs.
In a fangy kinda way.
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Have you met the divine Mr. Tig?
Tig in the mirror.
“What’s THAT?”
Tig in repose.
Foot sniffer (it’s his dirty little not-so-secret. Feet. He can’t get enough of ’em!)
He appears to have a touch of the Loony going on here.
“Pardon me while I clean off my slappin’ paw.”
“My paw smells funny.”
::thlurrrrrp::
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Sugarbutt rests from his wild New Year’s Eve celebrations. First he slept in the bed on the dining room table. THEN he snoozed for a while on top of the refrigerator. Then he ate a little and moseyed into the guest bedroom and slept there. It was all very exhausting. He thinks he might be getting too old for so much excitement.
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Previously
2011: No entry.
2010: “LET US START OFF THE NEW YEAR WITH I HAZ A COMPLAINT!” 2009: It was a pretty pointless trip, but it was a lovely day and we got out of the house for a few hours, so I’m calling it good enough! 2008: I LURVE THE LOBSTER. 2007: I’m surprised the damn government didn’t declare a “National Day of Celebration” for Wednesday to commemorate Saddam Hussein’s death, just so they could stop the mail delivery for a third day in a row.
2006: No entry.
2004: No entry. 2003: Note to self 2002: (“Damn, Robyn sure is impressed with herself, isn’t she?”) 2001: Robyn’s Resolutions for 2001. 2000: Exciting, no?
