Sweet Miss Clove. Ciara pretty much always looks appalled by whatever we’re doing. Even if we’re not doing ANYthing. Ciara and the sparkle ball. Not very sparkly, though – the sparkly threads came off and were scattered from one end of the house to the other. Declan’s smug little face. “Soon… soon this will be … Continue reading “7/13/11 – Kitteh Wednesday”
Sweet Miss Clove.
Ciara pretty much always looks appalled by whatever we’re doing. Even if we’re not doing ANYthing.
Ciara and the sparkle ball. Not very sparkly, though – the sparkly threads came off and were scattered from one end of the house to the other.
Declan’s smug little face.
“Soon… soon this will be over…” Poor Maggie, under a pile of kittens.
Cillian and Finnegan on the left, Clove and Cori on the right. Cilantro in the bed behind them.
Cori, sleeping but annoyed.
Cowboy Finnegan.
Cowgirl Cori. They’re exhausted from ridin’ the range and ropin’ cattle.
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From her bed atop the kitchen cabinets, Stinkerbelle keeps an eye on things.
Including…
her true love, Tommy, who’s hanging out on top of the fridge.
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Previously
2010: No entry. 2009: Not your average light and happy reading.
2008: No entry. 2007: Because then I’d probably poop my guts out, and that just wouldn’t be a pretty sight. 2006: I think I need a nap. 2005: Hey. What’s worse than not being able to stop yourself from crying? WHEN A MOTHERFUCKER KEEPS LOOKING AT YOU TO SEE IF YOU’RE CRYING. [I find it all cirrrrrrrrcle of life-y that it was about this time four year ago that Mia, from our first batch of foster cats, died.] 2004: She looked simultaneously confused and disgusted. “When do I eat CHICKEN eggs?” She wrinkled her nose.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry. 2001: Sh’yeah. I’m sure Brad’s reallllly worried. 2000: Could that paragraph have been any more rambly and pointless?
If I had the slightest bit of drawing talent, I’d make a cartoon of myself with cats and kittens hanging off me in every direction, a cottage cheese container containing a stool sample (from a kitten, wiseass) in one hand, and a cat carrier in the other. I made so many trips to the vet … Continue reading “7/12/11 – Tuesday”
If I had the slightest bit of drawing talent, I’d make a cartoon of myself with cats and kittens hanging off me in every direction, a cottage cheese container containing a stool sample (from a kitten, wiseass) in one hand, and a cat carrier in the other. I made so many trips to the vet last week with stool samples that I’m almost out of the convenient cottage cheese containers I use to carry them in.
Which reminds me – I find it very annoying that you can get single serving containers of nonfat plain yogurt but not regular-fat plain yogurt. I occasionally give cats and kittens dabs of yogurt with Forti-Flora mixed in. I don’t do it often enough to need a big container of yogurt, but I like to have yogurt on hand. What I ought to do, really, is make my own yogurt. But that seems like more work than I want to do, considering we don’t really eat yogurt.
I really need to get my ass to Kohl’s or to the mall and buy some decent bras. I have one that fits well, which I really only wear if I’m going out in public. At home, I almost always wear sports bras, because they’re so comfortable.
Okay, clearly I have nothing to say. Let’s move on to the cats, shall we?
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As of last night, I can report that miss Ciara is doing well and should be ready to head off to Petsmart on Friday. I suppose I COULD take her today (adoption hours are held tonight), but I want to make sure she’s okay for real, and not just teasing me.
I can’t get over what a sweet, sweet girl she is. I think she got a little overshadowed by her brothers, and now that they’re gone, I can see what a gem she is. Sweet, friendly, playful, nice to other kitties. She’s the total package!
More pics from last week.
“Ya know, I was just LAYING here taking a snooze, and before I knew it, these little monsters had latched on!”
Cillian, keeping an eye on stuff.
Clove thinks about making a jump at Coriander. (We’ve been calling Coriander “Alice, Jr.” because Fred never learns any of the fosters’ names, so instead of continually calling her “The one that looks like Alice” so he’ll know who I’m talking about, I’ve resorted to “Alice, Jr.”)
Clove stole that toy from Cillian. He’s too gentle for his own good!
Oh, that little face. Couldn’t you just kiss her?
Snoozin’ Spicies.
Finnegan, watching birds.
If you’re going to look like a pouty princess all the time, you might end up with the nickname Pouty Princess, brat.
Fergus Simon, on the platform in the kitchen. Yeah, I’d say they made themselves at home while they were here.
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Sugarbutt, always comfy.
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Previously 2010: Random pics.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry. 2007: Nest = empty. 2006: If you could possibly NOT lay three inches from me and spend 63 hours slurping on your asshole so that I am driven into a homicidal rage and forced to run you out of the room, I would very much appreciate it. 2005: They’ll be fine, they’ll be fine, they’ll be fine, they’ll be fine… 2004: And I’m not even a George Michael fan. Though “Faith” rocks the casbah.
2003: No entry. 2002: Fred: “It’s dick in your mouth good!”
2001: No entry. 2000: You know, life would just be so much simpler if I were already queen of the world and in charge of punishments and such.
I think I mentioned last week that as a direct result of my finding a Brown Recluse, we ordered a large number of glue traps to put in the closets and behind furniture? Well, over the weekend Fred spent quite some time putting the glue trap boxes together (they come in a sheet of three, … Continue reading “7/11/11 – Monday”
I think I mentioned last week that as a direct result of my finding a Brown Recluse, we ordered a large number of glue traps to put in the closets and behind furniture?
Well, over the weekend Fred spent quite some time putting the glue trap boxes together (they come in a sheet of three, you separate them, and then fold each one into a two-sided box) and putting them in various places. Then he proceeded to check them every twenty minutes, all weekend long. He claimed to be relieved that we didn’t catch a single spider.
Which leads me to the question: where can I get tiny, realistic-looking plastic spiders? Like, a lot of them. A LOT. And if they look like Brown Recluses or Black Widows, so much the better.
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We did some furniture moving on Sunday. I’d actually intended to move one piece of furniture (the desk in the guest bedroom) on Saturday, then the second piece of furniture (the bookcase in the guest bedroom) on Sunday so as not to do too much heavy lifting in one day. But I forgot about moving the desk on Saturday until it was late in the day, and similar to how I refuse to work out in the garden past 9:00, Fred refuses to do any heavy lifting that will make him sweat past the time he’s taken a shower.
So Sunday after I got up, I told Fred to let me know when he was ready to start moving stuff. The desk was pretty easy, because it’s really not that heavy. We carried it out to the garage and up the stairs to the top floor where we throw all our crap.
(When I am 90 years old and that desk’s drawers is loaded down with evil mutant spiders, the spud will thank me for tossing so much crap up there as she carts me out the door to the nursing home.)
Then I pulled all the books, DVDs, and CDs off the bookcase, and we moved it out into the front room. I dusted it, and put everything back. I was afraid that putting the bookcase out into the front room might make it look too crowded, but it doesn’t. It’s a big front room, and both bookcases fit on that wall quite nicely, with plenty of room for the cat tree between them. Now it’s set up so that the cats can jump onto the top of either bookcase from the cat tree, if they so desire.
(I think the dude from My Cat from Hell would approve at how much vertical space our cats have to roam. Speaking of, are you watching that show? Did you SEE the man DIG IN THE LITTER BOX WITH HIS OWN HAND? As someone who spends far too much time digging in the litter boxes my own self, I have this to say: he was going for the shock value with that move. You can see what’s going on in a litter box without having to DIG IN IT WITH YOUR OWN HAND. I don’t know – LITTER BOX SCOOP, perhaps? Ya think? Gah.)
The guest bedroom looks a lot more roomy now – there’s the bed, the dresser, and various and sundry cat furniture in there and not much else. I told Fred recently that since we’re housing cats in there more often than people, it was time to make more space so that if one of the little fuckers goes on, say, a pooping spree, I won’t have to move so much furniture to clean it up. (“One of the little fuckers” meaning one of the foster kittens. Not one of the occasional human guests who sleeps in there.)
I did have to take down the pictures that were hanging on that wall in the front room, though, so I need to figure out where to hang them instead. Maybe the hallway – those picture-hanging strips should work well for that, as for some reason unknown to me, those walls are apparently made of steel and I cannot hammer a nail into the hallway wall to save my life.
I also emptied out the drawers of Fred’s dresser, made him go through everything to decide if anything could be gotten rid of, and then folded the clothes that he was keeping, and neatly put them away. Then I cleared out the guest bedroom closet, and moved a bunch of stuff out to the garage. Friday night, I did the same to the hall closet. Fred’s been positive that we’re harboring at least 73 Brown Recluses in each closet, but I have yet to see another one.
I still have a lot more clearing and organizing to do. I’ve got empty boxes in one of my closets that can be broken down and recycled. If I’m a hoarder of anything other than cats, it’s cardboard boxes. I do a lot of online shopping, and stuff arrives in these awesome, sturdy boxes and I think “This is a GREAT box! I can totally use this box!”, toss it in my closet, and then never use it. I don’t mail out nearly as much stuff these days as I used to – haven’t sold any jam or hot sauce in months and months – so I think it’s time for the boxes to go. Joe Bob has his box in the dining room, there are a couple of boxes in the front room, and Spanky’s taken a shine to the box I put in the computer room for him, so I think we’re all set as far as boxes go, at least for the time being.
The great thing about using the cardboard boxes I get in the mail is that when they do get peed on or vomited on or whatever horrors the cats like to visit upon the nearest surface, I can toss them and replace them with another awesome box.
So I guess the theme for my weekend was organizing and cleaning. Maybe the theme for my week should be getting out the sewing machine and using up some of that cat material I bought a few weeks ago?
(Probably not, though.)
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I delivered Maggie and her boys to Petsmart Friday morning. They were fine – they were a little confused about what was going on, but they didn’t howl all the way to the store as I’d expected. When I was getting their cages set up, they explored the cat room a little, and then settled back in their carriers and watched me work.
I ended up putting Cillian and Finnegan in one cage, Maggie in a cage by herself, and Macushla, Fergus Simon, and Declan in another. (Don’t feel too sad for them – they all get to see each other in the morning and evening when their cages are cleaned.) I gave everyone a last snuggle and kiss, and put them in their cages. Then I stopped to pat Maggie and thank her for trusting me enough to let me help her raise her babies, and ohhhhh how the tears came tumblin’ down.
None of the McMaos were adopted Friday, but I got the word Saturday evening that Cillian and Finnegan were adopted – TOGETHER! That makes me really, really happy. I told Fred of the adoptions, and then I started thinking about how I saw them every day of their little lives, and now I’ll probably never see them again, and got teary-eyed. But then I got over it, because those boys will have each other, and no doubt they’ll be loved to death by their new family.
I had originally thought that Ciara would be able to go to Petsmart tomorrow, but it’s been one step forward two steps back with her, so now I’m thinking she’ll be here ’til at least Friday. I hope she doesn’t forget her brothers and Maggie before she gets to see them again!
Like I posted over at Facebook, Ciara turned from a slightly standoffish kitten into a puppy overnight. She wants to follow me around, and when I sit down, she sits at my feet. She wants to be petted, and if I’m not paying enough attention to her, she howwwwwwls like nobody’s business. I wish she’d get over whatever it is she’s got (the vet was unable to find anything at all wrong with her) so I can take her to Petsmart and she can lovebug her way into a new home!
The Spice Girls don’t seem to notice that Maggie is gone. I’m sure they’d be happy to see her come back, but they’re pretty happy without her here – I’ve made a point of spending time just hanging out and petting them. They are such sweet little monkeys – and now that they’re all over two pounds, it’s just about time for them to be spayed!
Clove, nuzzling at Maggie. Maggie’s all “Please, is it time to GO yet?”
Snoozin’ Macushla.
Fergus Simon and his catnip cigar.
Cillian’s a quiet little observer.
That’s quite the little pile of kittens, no? Maggie’s under there somewhere.
I love how, over there to the right, Fergus Simon is straddling Declan. And in the middle, Clove is all “This bed of kittens is lumpy. I am displeased.”
Maggie’s all “I HAVE HAD ENOUGH.” The look on Clove’s face, there, in the middle, is cracking me UP.
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It’s a Newtie in a box!
Maggie says “You about done in there? I’d like a turn.”
Newt says “You go ‘way. This are MY box.”
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Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry. 2008: I hate the fucking SHIT out of pattypan squash. 2007: “It tastes awful… chickeny,” he said. 2006: I thought I was going to die from the sheer annoyance factor. 2005: But really, is there anything less threatening than giving someone the FINGER?
2004: No entry. 2003: Ever have one of those days, or is it just me? 2002: He can’t close a drawer all the way to save his life. 2001: What next, I ask you? 2000: Surely y’all know me better by now?
If people haven’t heard, there was a horrific case of kitten abuse in Florida and it would be great if people could sign the petition for the Florida AG to prosecute the woman who beat two kittens with a bat and encouraged her young sons to abuse the kittens as well. One of the kittens … Continue reading “7/8/11 – Friday”
If people haven’t heard, there was a horrific case of kitten abuse in Florida and it would be great if people could sign the petition for the Florida AG to prosecute the woman who beat two kittens with a bat and encouraged her young sons to abuse the kittens as well. One of the kittens died and the other was rescued by some brave children in the park. The story and petition are here.
The petition is important since there is some pressure from the alleged perps relatives and neighbors to let her go. It’s so bad, that the mother of one of the children who rescued one of the kittens was surrounded by about 30 angry people on the day of the incident. They were yelling at her for calling the police, if you can imagine.
Let’s support her, her brave son and decency by signing and publicizing the petition. I’ll get off my soapbox now with a link to the Facebook page for the surviving kitten, who is named Dexter and is slowing recovering from his injuries. He’s as cute as a very cute button!
I signed the petition! How about y’all?
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I don’t know how you do it Robyn – I would just sit around and cry every time I had to let go of a batch of those adorable babies. I have often thought that I’d like to foster cats but I don’t know if I could just foster them – I’d want to keep them all.
Well, you’ll note that we only had five cats when we started six years ago!
It is awfully hard to take them to Petsmart, but I try to keep in mind that they’re going to go to homes where they’re adored to bits. I know I’m going to miss these guys something awful and this house is going to be awfully quiet without them here!
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I’m guessing from previous July 5 entries (spider drama notwithstanding) that your holiday weekend at Crooked Acres was relatively peaceful? Quiet neighbors are the best thing ever.
Actually, the neighbors were pretty annoying this year. Now that we’re out in the country, there are more neighbors shooting off fireworks, but they’re further away than they were when we lived in a subdivision in Madison. It still makes my blood boil, the way our Madison neighbors shot off fireworks in the street in front of our house (we were at the end of a cul-de-sac) and then left fireworks shit all over our lawn for us to pick up. I don’t think there’s enough money on earth to convince me to move back to the ‘burbs, even if it WAS awfully convenient having the grocery store and Lowe’s three minutes from the house.
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I had a crooked acres dream the other night – and I think it ranks up there as one of the weirdest! I dreamt that you died (sorry – I’m not usually morbid!) and Fred decided to keep running your blog. No one knew you were dead until a bunch of your readers decided to come down for an impromptu visit. We were all duly impressed with how well Fred was able to imitate your writing style.
I am charmed by the (wronnnnng) idea that Fred would ever try to keep my blog going, and further that he could ever capture my writing style. Well, unless he got drunk and typed “Awww, look at the KITTY!” over and over again. 😀 But yeah, that’s an odd one!
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Funny how you mark the time – I clicked in this morning thinking to myself – “I think it’s the anniversary of Mr Booger’s passing.” Why? I really don’t know, other than I do know he had always been my favorite. A cat I’ve never met! How insane is this? Anyway, wanted you to know I am thinking of him. And I do truly adore Looney Jake for probably just the reason that in my mind, he and Elwood are Boogie descendants 🙂
It has, indeed, been two years since Mister Boogers died. (It was actually June 30th, 2009, but I wrote about it on July 1st.) We still miss him, and talk about him from time to time. He had such a personality, and it was a shock to lose him so unexpectedly. After Coltrane died, I told Fred that obviously June is a cursed month for us, and I was glad to see June FINALLY end. I think that next year we need to just bring all the cats inside and hole up in the house for the entire month of June!
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I had my first Crooked Acres dream. I’ve been reading since 1999 and haven’t had a dream, but I finally broke the seal last week (does this mean I’ll now have a Crooked Acres dream every 5 minutes?). I don’t remember a lot of the details but a few things still stand out. There were a lot of your readers at the house, all hanging out in the yard like it was Woodstock or something. It was like they were waiting for you to come out onto the porch/stage and start the show. For some reason, I was in the house and had to take care of some of the cats in a small side room. I ended up spilling something – can’t remember what but it was apparently a Bad Thing To Spill. I got all freaked out, cleaned it up, and then screwed up the courage to tell you that I spilled something. You seemed like you would have been super pissed if I hadn’t cleaned it up, but as long as the situation was under control, you’d just settle with a warning glare. Then I went out to tell the crowd that we could stay the night, but we’d have to sleep outside.
I think this was one of the nights that I drank blueberry tea before bed. That stuff gives me weird dreams!
Have I perhaps mentioned that I LOVE IT when you guys have Crooked Acres dreams? They crack me UP. (Also, I don’t even know what kind of show I was going to put on!)
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The bit about cats burying their food bowl made me think about our cat Henry’s annoying habit of purposefully dumping food in his water bowl. When we first got him, we thought he was just a sloppy eater, which he is, but my husband & I have both seen him move his food bowl next to his water bowl & scoop food out of the food bowl & into the water bowl. We can’t imagine why he does this, because it makes his water really nasty. A friend of mine said she thought she heard somewhere that big cats “wash” their food before eating it, but I don’t know if that’s true or not. It seems that Henry likes the taste of the water better when there’s food in it, maybe. Of course, he gets most of his water from lapping at the tub after we take showers, so maybe he’s just being a brat. He looks just like your Corbie, by the way, and is the friendliest cat I’ve ever met, so we can’t get too mad at him. Anyway, I’m curious if you or any of your other cat owning readers have encountered food dunkers!
I usually have to rinse out and refill the water bowl in the laundry room most mornings because it has a piece or two of food floating around in it. I feel like someone told me that cats will put food in the water bowl so that they can tell where the top of the water is, but I’m not sure if that’s true or not. Anyone out there know?
But have the little “hellions” as Doodle Bean (who I seem to follow around the blog world) called them, had their “little operations”? How did I miss that? Really? Hmm…must be geting old.
Yep, they were spayed (Ciara) and neutered (the rest) on June 2nd. Challenger’s House doesn’t adopt out kittens unless they’ve been spayed and neutered and are up to date on their shots!
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I’m starting to think Clove is a “hidden” Cali-tabby but can’t be sure just from photos. Of course, since she’s not ever going to be a Mommy Cat, this doesn’t matter the way it would as it does when cat breeding. Then you hope to be able to predict if the Mother has “the red gene” or not; but even then sometimes you don’t know.
and
On the calitabby – the real test is not to look at the background hairs, but at hairs of a stripe. These will be all black all over for a brown tabby, or will be two shades on a calitabby.
Okay, I FINALLY picked Clove up last night and took a closer look at her brown-or-are-they-orange? spots. The hairs on her orange / brown stripes are two colors. So this means she’s a “hidden” calitabby?
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Love the pic of the black kitten jumping for the feather toy! Expecially the face of the orange tabby. She looks like she is cheering him on and in awe!
and
Every time you post a picture of the black kitten with the crossed paws in mid-leap I start humming a chorus of Kung Fu Fighting! Oh the concentration on that little face!
I should have mentioned (and maybe have mentioned in the past, I don’t remember) that that picture? This picture right here:
That black kitten is our very own Tommy. And on the ground cheering him on are Sugarbutt, and their sister “Little Cal”!
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Are you ever tempted to get Gracie & George severe summer trims for the heat? I can’t recall any pic’s with extreme haircuts but that doesn’t mean anything.
We’ve talked about it, and in fact last year we went to Petsmart and bought a trimmer that the guy working there assured us would be strong enough to deal with their coat. It didn’t trim worth a damn, and we ended up returning it. Fred called around to groomers in the area, and was quoted a price of $150 PER DOG, which just isn’t going to happen. What we do now is brush them regularly, and then a couple of times during the summer Fred goes out there with the brush and a bottle of dog shampoo and really concentrates on getting them wet and clean, and uses the brush to get out as much undercoat as he can. It actually makes a big difference!
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If you don’t read the Love & Hisses Facebook page (and why NOT?), you won’t have seen the post from Wednesday night where I announced that as there’s room for Maggie at Petsmart, she’ll also be going later today. Ciara is still a bit under the weather, so she’ll stay here at least through the weekend.
It’s going to be awfully quiet around here without Maggie and the boys! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they go in pairs. Preferably this weekend. PREFERABLY tonight, but I know that’s probably a little much to ask.
“I am NOT faking it. Stop looking at me like that.”
Cilantro and Fergus Simon, flirting.
Siesta time for Macushla, on the kitchen floor.
Macushla watching the big cats run around in the back yard.
Smug Miss Cori.
Declan and Cillian, snoozing on my desk.
“What?”
You can’t really tell from this picture, but Macushla has a bit more of the ear floof than the other cats do.
I love Fergus Simon’s spotted belly.
Fergus Simon learned a new trick. O joy.
Fred has taken a shine to Cillian. He calls him “Simba” and talks about how beautiful he is.
I have a bunch more McMao pics on my hard drive, so will likely be sharing those through all of next week!
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Your weekly reminder: Corbie is beautiful. That is all.
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Previously 2010: Sights from around Crooked Acres. 2009: Garden pics 2008: Boneheaded things I have recently done
2007: No entry. 2006: Just a quick picture to let y’all know what we did with our Saturday morning. 2005: I turned and gave her the Bug-Eyed Look of Annoyance*, to no avail. 2004: “Agh!” I yelled. “I hate you kitties! I hate you all!” 2003: Do motherfuckers retain water? 2002: “Your cheatin’ heeeeeart…”
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
Thanks, all y’all who emailed me about it. That is, in fact, my picture that was posted on I Can Has Cheezburger yesterday. Lolcats and funny pictures That’s Flossie, from my very first litter of fosters, six years ago. I can’t believe it’s been six years! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ … Continue reading “7/7/11 – Crooked Acres Thursday”
Thanks, all y’all who emailed me about it. That is, in fact, my picture that was posted on I Can Has Cheezburger yesterday.
Sights from around Crooked Acres.
(Just a few pics this week – I need to get out with the camera more often!)
This little sunflower popped up under one of the bird feeders. That is one happy looking flower.
Happy Gracie.
Gracie at snack time.
George, heading for the coop. During the hottest part of the day, George and Gracie hang out under the coop.
If they weren’t so cute, we wouldn’t always feel the need to pick them up. It’s their own fault!
I think this one is particularly pretty.
Birds of a feather flock together. Or hang out and watch the other birds go by. Whatevs.
During a particularly dry spell, I took this garbage can lid (which actually goes with the garbage can in the back yard where Elwood snoozes during the day) and turned it over, then filled it with water. Perfect bird bath for the birds, right? Yeah, what a shock – Newt and Maxi were drinking out of it more than any ol’ birds.
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“Whyyyyyy are you over there and taking my piiiiiiicture and not over heeeeeere and petting meeeeee?”
“I know I’m your favorite, right? ::wink:: ”
Of course, sweet Cilantro.
Looks like Cilantro’s amused by something, and Clove’s just like “Fine. WHATEVERRRR. ::huff:: ”
Apparently there’s SOMEthing amazing going on.
Got so hot, the durn kitten melted right out the bed. Flat-out tragedy, is what it is.
(Doesn’t Declan have the most fabulous stripes?)
“What’s HIS problem?”
“What isn’t? He’s one of the grumpy ones. 37 smacks. He gave Declan 37 smacks yesterday.”
“In a row?”
“Hey! You! GUYS! Finnie-mini done had a snort of the ‘nip and I NEEDS A SNUGGLE. Come on, who wantsa snuggle? ::hic:: ”
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“You can’t see me.”
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Previously 2010: Tom Cullen: Simply Flabulous. 2009: We are some squash-loving motherfuckers. 2008: Here’s a tip: if someone teases you about being a Housewife of Doom and a perfectionist, it is difficult to refute that assertion if you’re caught in a compromising position.
2007: No entry. 2006: Damn freaky cats. 2005: “It’s cancer,” Fred said. “That’s a tumorous lip if I’ve ever seen one!” 2004: I didn’t tell her that I think scars are badass and it can scar up all it wants. 2003: God, I hate people.
2002: No entry. 2001: So the house situation, oh what a story it is. 2000: This week, the devil won.
Remember that kitten in the Bronx who needed a home? She’s got one now!!! Longtime reader Debra has adopted her, and has named her Lilith, and she will have five brothers and sisters to terrorize! That is FABULOUS news, don’t you think? Yay!!! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ … Continue reading “7/6/11 – Kitteh Wednesday”
Remember that kitten in the Bronx who needed a home? She’s got one now!!! Longtime reader Debra has adopted her, and has named her Lilith, and she will have five brothers and sisters to terrorize!
That is FABULOUS news, don’t you think? Yay!!!
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So. The McMaos got a stay of execution. Or a stay of… adoptacution? In any case, they’re still here. Fred told me at bedtime Monday that he’d seen Cillian in the litter box and things were not as they should be. Then there was evidence yesterday morning that that was true of at least two or three cats. I told the shelter manager that I’d keep them here ’til Friday (I was heartbroken to have them for a few days longer, of course), and we’d see if it cleared up.
I was able to get a stool sample, and took it up to the vet’s office for testing. Word came back that there were no parasites, but they did ask if we’d recently changed their food, because there was some oiliness in the sample. Which is when I decided that it was Fred’s fault, because he’d had a tuna sandwich for lunch on Monday, and gave the liquid from the can to the cats. So I blamed him – and he blamed me for letting them have a couple of egg yolks. “They’re nothing but fat!” he said. (In my defense, there were no kittens around when I put the bowl on the floor; I meant for Maggie to have them because she’s always hungry!)
In any case, the fact that there were no parasites present was a good sign, and by the end of yesterday things seemed to be improving. We’ll see how things proceed, but I expect that Friday morning they’ll be going to Petsmart for real.
All the McMaos (and Maggie!) and all the Spice Girls, present and accounted for!
You see how one of the McMaos is stretched across the top of Maggie? Well, she was laying there letting them all nurse, and Sugarbutt came in. For some reason, he got too close to Maggie, and she hissed at him, and he hissed back. Maggie STOOD UP with that McMao on her back like she was a burro and he was her blanket, and she faced off with Sugarbutt. Sugarbutt backed down (you don’t mess with an angry mama), and she walked about halfway across the room before she shrugged that kitten off her.
OF COURSE I didn’t get any pictures of it.
Clove loves that Macushla.
I actually originally thought that both Finnegan and Ciara had perfectly pink noses, but as it turns out, Ciara has a bit of a freckle on her nostril. Too cute!
Note that her eyes have almost completely changed color. There’s just a rim of blue around the outside.
Vampire kitteh is HONGRY.
Cilantro (left) and Coriander (right), hanging out in the sunshine.
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Newt loves the cat tree in the guest bedroom. And the cat tree in the foster room. Wherever there’s a cat tree, Newt loves it!
“Go ‘way, lady. Newt’s nappin’.”
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Previously
2010: No entry. 2009: New peegs.
2008: No entry. 2007: What can I say? I’m a freak. 2006: If the vet tells me that Tommy’s overweight, I’m going to say, with great dignity, “We prefer to call him ‘portly’.” 2005: Mia. 2004: There were a couple of parts that had me laughing so hard I could barely breathe – especially the line “I see you have a little swimming mouse”.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry. 2000: Have I ever mentioned that I’m kind of a dork?
Kitten in the Bronx still looking for a home! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Saturday morning I got up a little after 6, showered and dressed, and then started my usual morning routine, which consists of scooping … Continue reading “7/5/11 – Tuesday”
Saturday morning I got up a little after 6, showered and dressed, and then started my usual morning routine, which consists of scooping litter boxes and giving kittens snacks. After I’d given the Spice Girls their morning snack, I start scooping their litter boxes, and found a spider running around in one of them. I scooped it into the bag I was scooping everything else into, and continued on to the other litter boxes.
When I was done scooping, I handed the bag to Fred and told him there was a spider in there. And that I was 99% sure it was a Brown Recluse. He took the bag outside, and looked, and then he scooped (with a litter scoop, not his bare hand, we’re not ANIMALS) it out onto the driveway, and we snapped a few pictures of it. Then I stomped it dead.
Since I thought it was possible I’d been bitten by a Brown Recluse in the garden a few weeks ago, I’d recently seen pictures of them. Which is the only reason I even considered it might be a Brown Recluse – not because of the “fiddle” on its back (don’t tell Fred, but I still don’t see a fiddle shape), but because it’s a particularly leggy spider.
Fred came inside and looked around online, and decided that it was, in fact, a Brown Recluse.
Now, okay. Brown Recluse spiders are scary and all. But the man has lived in Alabama his entire life – for several years in his father’s house, where a LOT of Brown Recluses were known to show up IN HIS BEDROOM – and never once has he been bitten. But finding out that there’d been a Brown Recluse in this house made him FLIP the fuck out, as if he suddenly had concrete proof that there were at least 50,000 of them living in the walls of our house, and every one of them was gunning for a big juicy bite of Fred Anders0n.
I think of it this way: the Brown Recluses have been IN the house whether we knew it or not, and neither of us was bitten until a few weeks ago when I likely jammed a feed bag up under my armpit and pissed one off. They’re not going to SUDDENLY start coming after us. From what I’ve read, as long as we’re careful where we stick our hands, we don’t need to be too terribly worried.
Fred, on the other hand, wanted to move all the damn cats to the garage and spray every inch of the house. And then he wanted to bug-bomb the house. Then he wanted to follow that up by maybe going through the house with the torch and burning anything that looked like it might possibly think about being a bug, in this life or the next.
We compromised. He closed the doors to my room, his room, and the foster room, and sprayed. I also ordered a buttload of glue traps, which should be here later this week. When they arrive, we’ll put them in all the out-of-the-way places where Brown Recluses like to hide, where the cats can’t get.
(Now watch. I’ll be bitten by seven Brown Recluses in the next week because I am not showing them the proper amount of fearful respect.)
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If you haven’t “liked” Love & Hisses on Facebook, you might have missed my announcement Sunday night that the McMaos are going to Petsmart this afternoon.
Now, don’t give me the sad faces. Y’all knew this was coming. It’s time for those rambunctious, leggy monsters to go off and find their forever homes.
Maggie will stay here and recover from the three months of constant mothering and nursing, and eventually she will also go to Petsmart.
Today, when I’m not snuggling with and loving on those McMaos, I’ll be burning their baby pictures to DVDs to go with them to their new homes and making up bags of toys to send with them, too. This afternoon, I’ll be taking all six of them to Petsmart and getting them comfy in their new (temporary) digs. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they all go to their forever homes very very fast.
Y’all feel free to keep your fingers crossed, too!
(There will be McMao pictures for the rest of the week, since I have so many left on my hard drive!)
I love my Declan.
Please, Declan. Try to relax. I hate seeing you so tense.
::om nom nom nom nom::
“Try it! It’s tasty. And good for you!”
::om nom nom nom nom::
The vinegar box from Sam’s: BEST. BOX. EVER.
I love Declan’s pretty white ruff.
Declan and Ciara, chillin’.
Cillian, taking up as much of the bed as possible. I love his little smiling face.
Miss Cori in the sun.
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Smilin’ Joe. Have you ever seen a happier cat?
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Previously 2010: Greetings from Maine!
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry. 2007: I like me a crisp pickle. 2006: One more year, and we get to move out to the country where we will hopefully be acres and acres from the nearest neighbors, and children will not treat our yard as their very own. One more year, one more year, one more year… 2005: I’m all about the quick and easy, wink-wink-nudge-nudge-har-har. 2004: If you set off fireworks for three hours straight, starting at 7:30, you are not only an asshole, you live near me.
2003: No entry. 2002: A bunch of links that are probably no longer good. 2001: Pictures from Maine. 2000: Unfortunately, I forgot that when I say things like “Let’s go skinny-dipping and watch the fireworks”, what I actually mean is “Let’s go skinny-dipping and watch the fireworks”, but he hears “Let’s go swimming naked and get frisky in the pool under the fireworks.”
It being Independence Day and all, I’m just doing a quick post. Some videos to tide you over ’til tomorrow!
Poor Maggie was just walking across the kitchen, minding her own business. Suddenly and shockingly, she was attacked by a roving band of degenerate hooligans who neatly took her down like a gazelle being taken down by a pride of lions.
These kittens are far too old for this – you know, I know, they know it. But Maggie is an indulgent mama. I try to rescue her from this by carrying her into another room, away from the little brats, and she responds by running back to find them. She sure is a good mama. (Please note the look from Finnegan at around 20 seconds. He’s ready to mess me UP if I get in the way.)
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Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry. 2008: Evil people.
2007: No entry. 2006: Shut the fuck up and go away, Tori. NO ONE CARES. 2005: And I know you fucking lame-os won’t go so far as to PICK THE FIREWORKS SHIT up or even send your kids around to do it.
2004: No entry. 2003: Something on the floor? 2002: Something on the floor? 2001: A bunch of links that probably don’t work. 2000: Because, you know, that’s how someone gets to be 183 pounds over their goal weight – by eating the grapes instead of the strawberries.
Edited to add: This little girl now has a home!!!! Yay!!!! Attention, Bronx-area readers! Gail said: I was wondering if you would do me a favor and post about one kitten I have for adoption. I found all the other kittens in the warehouse homes. She will be fixed Tuesday and UTD on all shots. … Continue reading “7/3/11 – Looking for a home!”
Edited to add: This little girl now has a home!!!! Yay!!!!
Attention, Bronx-area readers!
Gail said:
I was wondering if you would do me a favor and post about one kitten I have for adoption. I found all the other kittens in the warehouse homes. She will be fixed Tuesday and UTD on all shots. She is all black, cuddly , and 14 weeks old. I am trying like heck to find her a home. I live in the Bronx but can travel. The mothers are both to be fixed Tuesday, too. All the shelters are full and 5 cats in one apartment is a lot, so six would be pushing it.
She is the sister (I think) of my two kittens. The only one left in the warehouse, but taken care of by the staff. The two mothers (sisters) had kittens less than a week apart and both are solid black. They ended up trading kittens back and forth and finally placed them on the second story when the warehouse flooded and combined them. I pulled a bunch of kittens at 4 weeks and hand raised them, but couldn’t catch them all (living under pallets), but she is super tame and cuddly.
I also found a picture of her sisters. They are all identical, so I am not sure if she is in there or not.
On a side note, I have to add that of all the black cats I’ve known, every one of them has been absolutely awesome. Our two black cats (Maxi and Tommy) have loads of personality, and that’s held true for all the black fosters we’ve had.
New month, new banner! Another great banner from the talented Christine. Thanks, Christine!!! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Just wanted to say I just spent an hour in the hot, hot sun picking green beans. (I was … Continue reading “7/1/11 – Fridayyyyyyyyyyyyyy”
New month, new banner! Another great banner from the talented Christine. Thanks, Christine!!!
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Just wanted to say I just spent an hour in the hot, hot sun picking green beans. (I was volunteering with a harvesting group.) Oh my, what a PITA that was. I have newfound respect for you.
To be fair, I do my picking before the sun comes up, for I am a delicate flower. Also, I’m on antibiotics, so I’m supposed to stay out of the sun. Also also, I have a rolling cart that I sit on and roll along the row (my back thanks me), so really my picking is a lot easier than yours, it sounds like! But it’s borrrrrrrring. Thank god for podcasts to listen to!
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How old are the kittens? I thought they should be done with nursing after 2 months.
They are THREE months old as of Saturday, can you believe that? And yes, they should have been done with nursing long ago, but it looks like they’re going to be nursing as long as Maggie puts up with them. I actually have a movie of Kara’s babies, at 16 weeks old (!), still nursing!
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And here’s something for you to think about when you’re groping through those damn bean bushes: snakes just luuuurrrve to hide out under them. Trust me, I speak from personal experience.
I ain’t skeered of no snakes! Actually, it’s kind of odd, but I haven’t seen a snake in the garden. YET. Of course, now that I said that, I’m sure I’ll see 73 of them the next time I go out there.
I planted an heirloom tomato plant. Ripe, they’re green with yellow stripes. I have no idea how to tell when they’re ripe because they develop the stripes very early. Any tricks?
I also planted ancho chili peppers and cilantro, I’m awaiting some heirloom tomato salsa later this summer 🙂
My only thought is that ripe tomatoes are easier to pick than green, so if you try pulling them off the vine and they pull off easily, then they’re ripe? Maybe? Honestly, I’m hoping someone out there has words of wisdom. Readers?
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Is the camera you use one with a lot of bells and whistles? I like the “point and shoot” cameras but the close up pictures you get are so clear that I have a feeling I’ll have to dish out some bucks to get one that good. 🙂
The camera I use most of the time is a Sony Alpha A100 with a… um. A 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens. (I had to go get the camera to figure out what the lens is.) It is a camera that really outweighs my capabilities and many many bells and whistles. I have two books that supposedly will teach me how to use it properly, but my good lord do books about how to use cameras bore the everloving snot out of me. (The only thing I find more boring is books about writing.) Also, the information refuses to stick to my brain cells. It’s like the information is made of Teflon and slides right off my brain and out my ears.
That camera was expensive, yes. Just seeing how much the lens cost makes me want to cry. I don’t think that you have to have the big fancy camera to get good pictures, though. I also have a smaller Sony, the DSC-W300, that I use to shoot videos and get pictures of kittens who prefer to be on me (which makes it hard to get a decent picture with the bigger camera!). It was with the W300 or possibly the camera I had before that (I don’t remember which one it was, it had a lower megapixel – but it was definitely a Sony) that I took these pictures with, and I think they’re pretty good.
What’s most important, no matter what kind of camera you have, is that you be willing to mess with the settings, and be willing to take a LOT of pictures to figure out what settings work for you!
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Seeing the first picture of this post this morning made me remember that I had a dream about you and your sweet kittens last night! I was cuddling kittens and telling you that I can’t tell which is which, except for Ciara. Which is true, but I love them anyway!
How obsessed with your blog do I have to be to dream about it at night?
Aww, surely not THAT obsessed. Really, they’re so cute, how can you NOT dream about them!
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Is it just the camera and lighting, or is Clove growing up to have tiny bits of Calie-Tabby in her fur? I’ve seen mostly brown ticked females like that before, mostly brown tabby but with hints of orange or gold in a few places.
She does seem to have several splotches of goldish orange on her, especially on the back of her head and some spots on her back. When we first got her, those splotches seemed to be a golden brown color, like Corbie has, but the older she gets, the more orangey they seem to be.
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The picture of Alice and Jake reminds me of some comic book or cartoon with Alice being the smart one trying to take over the world and Jake being her looney sidekick. Very Pinky and The Brain.
Alice and The Loon!
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Did that big Amazon box Spanky is in originally arrive with cat toys in it? 😉
Noooo, that would be silly! I don’t get cat toys from Amazon!
(I do not think we could fit even half the cat toys in this house in that box, though. Shhh, don’t tell Fred!)
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I was wondering, Coltrane looks like a bigger cat, how much did he weigh? Since he was an outside cat, did he get along or socialize with any of the other cats or animals in the yard? It looks like he had some sort of rivalry with Maxi at least.
I would say that he was about Joe Bob’s size, and Joe Bob weighs almost 12 pounds. He was long and lean and pretty tall (that sounds like a country song!). Maxi is kind of a small-framed cat, so being next to her might have made Coltrane look even bigger than he was.
He got along really well with other cats, as long as the other cats got along with him. Maxi hissed and smacked at him if he got too close, so he’d hiss back, but Maxi hates all the other cats except Newt (and sometimes that’s debatable). I think that if she weren’t such a brat, he would have gotten along fine with her. I know that he snuggled with Jake from time to time when he was in the house, and he liked (or at least tolerated) the kittens. Really, he was an all-around good boy!
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I was wondering if your male cats ever “mother” the kittens? My three male cats have taken to kitten raising like, well, a cat to catnip! My 14 yr old cats follow the young’uns around the apartment and bathe and cuddle with them. of course, the kittens were younger (4 weeks) but they still all sleep together now at this age (they are 4 days older than the Mcmaos).
I wish so so SO much that one of my boy cats would step up and mother the fosters who wander through here. The only cat who comes closest is Jake, and he doesn’t so much mother them as play with them like an older brother.
I envy you your boys who are clearly in touch with their mothering side!
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I was wondering, what is it like when you and Fred eat dinner? When my fiance and I eat dinner at our house, we each have one arm scarfing food in our mouths and the other pushing at least one of our two cats away. When they finally “give up,” they sit there and Stare. So of course, I have to wonder what it’s like at your house with much more cats around!
Now, y’all know that I am a pushover when it comes to my kitties. However, when it is breakfast/ lunch/ dinner time, I do not tolerate the nonsense. When I am eating, I keep a can of compressed air next to me, and if ANY cat in the house starts with the “OH MY GOD I AM STARVING DO YOU HAVE FOOD GIVE ME SOME FOOD I AM DYING DYING DYINNNNNNNNG” hysterics, I shoot a blast of air in their direction (never directly at them, just enough so that the noise startles them a bit) and they immediately back off. At this point, they’ve all learned to leave me alone while I’m eating, and if they forget themselves, I remind them with a quick blast of air.
You don’t have to use compressed air – you can use a squirt bottle of water or a can of pennies, or whatever works for you. The most important thing is to BE CONSISTENT.
I figure, I don’t come complain at them when THEY’re eating, so they don’t need to complain at me while I am!
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Aww! So are Fergus Simon and Clove the new cat couple? Good mix: he is mild to her spicy. I read it in the Encaterer.
I have to say, the McMaos and the Spice Girls have integrated really well. There was some hissiness from a couple of the McMaos at first, but now they eat together, play together, and sleep together. The only thing they don’t do is spend the night together, and that’s only because I figure they can use a break (and 10 cats is an awful lot to cram into the guest bedroom!) Fergus Simon, Macushla, and Finnegan spend the most time curled up with the girls, but all the McMaos have been spotted snuggled up from time to time. It’s just a big lovefest!
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“Stomach on legs” YESSSS that’s the term I’ve been looking for to describe my Maine Coon kitteh. She is a year old and only 6 lbs. Was a stray brought in off the street. Loves tomatoes, lemons, pickles (no onion/garlic), bread, beer, strawberries, avocado, you NAME it, she eats it.
Yesterday, I got groceries. As soon as I got home, I put alllll the groceries away while Maggie followed me around in hopes that I would give her food. I realized I’d left my purse in the car, and went out to get it. I was gone PERHAPS two minutes. By the time I got back inside, Maggie had discovered the pack of tortillas I’d stupidly left on the counter, chewed a hole through the plastic, and ate a small piece off of every single tortilla, thus making them not fit for human consumption (I do not care for the idea of cat spit on my food).
I have to make sure not to leave ANY kind of food on the counter – in a package or no – because she’ll give it a try. Drives me crazy!
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I have a cat that tries to bury his food bowl. He is a messy eater so I have his bowl on a placemat, but he will try to cover the bowl with the placemat-sometimes for 5 minutes straight. I looked it up online and it said that cats in the wild may try to bury their food so they can come back later to eat it. I have tried everything to stop him from doing it-it drives me crazy and he ignores everything around him when he does it. Have any of yours had this problem?
I’ve definitely had cats who try to bury their food bowl! When Maggie was in the foster room with her kittens, she’d almost always cover their food after they ate; once she dragged a cat bed across the room to cover it. It is definitely an instinctual thing, the kittens do it, too.
I ended up putting a (clean) cleaning rag near their food every day so that she could drag it over the food and be satisfied that it was covered. Then, if the rag had food on it, I’d toss it into the hamper and put another rag down for her at the next mealtime. It worked out pretty well!
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Maggie is a saint. How is she getting along with the resident kitties?
She’s got to be the most laid-back mama cat I’ve ever seen. Strike that – the most laid-back cat ever, mama or no. As long as no one is threatening any of the kittens, she has no issues with any of our adult cats. She hasn’t tried to make friends with them, particularly, though I’ll occasionally see her touch noses with them, and they’re pretty relaxed about her, too.
I actually saw her PLAYING with one of her kittens yesterday, and that’s the first time I’ve seen her playing since before the kittens were born. I think right now she’s so focused on getting food in her belly that she can hardly think of anything else.
I weighed her the other day – she weighs 7 pounds, 14 ounces, which is one ounce more than what Alice weighs. She actually weighs less than Kara, and Kara’s a much smaller-boned cat.
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we need advice…Just rescued a 6 week kitten, female. She’s in a dogpen separated from our other cat (who needs his shots up to date). She appears to use the litter box but DOES NOT cover her poo! any advice? Kitten v. healthy, we adopted thru our friend the AC officer, so everything has checked out otherwise, except a superyoung kitty livin’ on the mean streets….
I do not have any advice here at all, so I’m hoping someone out there does – if you’ve got advice on training a cat to cover their poo, please speak up. Sugarbutt also does not cover his, and I’m pretty sure the gates of Hell are located in his bowels.
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Just curious as it seems you have such a menagerie of animals — do you guys have any ducks/geese?
We do not have any ducks or geese. Ever since the day Fred and I were feeding geese at the UAH lake and a geese bit me on the butt, I have not cared for geese. We’d like to have ducks, but we don’t have a pond for them. We want to get someone out here to dig a pond for us in the back forty (so that the back forty doesn’t flood all winter long), but that hasn’t happened yet.
The irony is that there actually WAS a pond here when we moved in – it was located behind where the back yard is right now. But it dried up, and we decided to have it filled in and now we’re regretting it.
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I love all the photos, but that chicken flock pic is great! Is that the entire flock?
That’s not the entire flock – I’d say it’s maybe half the flock. Some of the chickens were under the coop hanging out, and I think some were out toward the back of the back 40, and the rest were probably in the pig yard (they love the pig yard!). Fred estimates that we’ve got 50 – 60 total chickens.
Are those chickens eating popcorn?
and
Yep (you can really see the popcorn when you blow the photo up in Flickr). So, Robyn bakes cookies for the piglets and, apparently, makes popcorn for the chickens. That farm is animal heaven!
::sputter:: I don’t make popcorn for the chickens! Ha ha, that would be, why that would be craziness! That was leftover popcorn from Fred’s snack the night before, and he always saves the extra for the chickens.
Oh, OKAY. I USED to pop popcorn for the chickens. In fact, at some point in the past I bought a 50 pound bag of popcorn kernels at Sam’s. I popped so much popcorn at once, that the top of the air popper melted. Chickens are so funny when you give them food that they love (tomatoes!) that I always want to give them lots of food they love. I’m a sucker, what can I say?
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All six McMaos and all three Spice Girls are present and accounted for!
Maggie and the Spice Girls. This is like a vacation for her!
Spice Girls at the milk bar.
Finnegan’s face is cracking me up. “THIS ARE MY SPOT YOU GO AWAY.”
I should just squeeze Clove ’til the marshmallow Fluff comes out her ears, shouldn’t I?
Such a happy girl.
Poor Maggie.
But let me tell you a quick story: the other day all the kittens were devouring Maggie ALIVE, and so I pulled them off her, and I took her into the guest bedroom, where there’s a bowl of the really good kitten food on top of the dresser. I put her there, and not ten seconds later, she was back in the kitchen calling to the kittens. She can’t hate it too much, is what I’m saying.
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Nothin’ happier than a Loony Jake.
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Previously 2010: Sights from around Crooked Acres. 2009: Mister Boogers. 2008: I find that I’m filled with hatred a lot these days.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry. 2005: That Tom Cruise. What a fuckin’ loon, huh? 2004: Jesus christ. After almost five years of marriage, wouldn’t you think he’d KNOW that there are only two ways to answer that question? 2003: And then she vaulted her portly ass across me to say good morning to him, cracking three of my ribs in the process. 2002: We went to see Minority Report on Saturday, and though I really liked it, I did NOT enjoy sitting next to Billy Bob ShutTheFuckUp, who was compelled, when not clearing his throat loudly and phlegmily, to remark upon each and every plot point.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
