4/22/11 – Friday

Fred’s book is now available on the German Amazon site, in case anyone out there’s interested! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   Have you seen the Eagle cam? 3 baby eaglets, so adorable! Ack! SO FREAKIN’ CUTE! ~ … Continue reading “4/22/11 – Friday”

Fred’s book is now available on the German Amazon site, in case anyone out there’s interested!

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Have you seen the Eagle cam? 3 baby eaglets, so adorable!

Ack! SO FREAKIN’ CUTE!

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Robyn, admit it – you get those kittens all boozed up on vodka and rum before filming them, don’t you? I swear to God, I get the exact same looks on my face when I’ve been drinking (Declan’s wide-eyed “everything’s MOVING!” and Ciara’s “oh god, just gonna sit here for a li’l bit…”).

I read this comment, and then I went and re-watched the video:

And I GUFFAWED. Because YOU ARE CORRECT, MADAME!

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saturday night live does a sketch about a TARGET cashier who comments on every item her customers buy. she doesn’t shut up, ever. each time she always ends up leaving the register to go get an item for herself. the character is played by kristin wiig.

did you see any tv cameras around, because i think you went through her line. i immediately thought about it when i read your entry!

Watch this video on VideoSurf or see more Kristen Wiig Videos or Saturday Night Live Videos

I didn’t SEE any cameras around, but it’s only because I have a healthy fear of ending up on “Watch What Happens” or some other undercover news show that I am unfailingly polite to all cashiers, whether they’re annoying or crabby or whatever. I don’t want to end up on TV as the asshole!

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Knowing nothing about wee baby kittens so I must ask: why do the ears take so long to stand up?

Good question, and I don’t know! It just… does. 🙂

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The look on Maggie’s face in the pic with the lone baby nursing is cracking me UP. “I used to have a career, a social life. I went to shows, went for drinks with my friends, and I could go to bed and get up whenever I damn well pleased. Where did it all go so wrong?”

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The faces she makes when the babies are nursing always make me laugh, because she’s so patient, but she always looks like she is just biding her time ’til she can kick these babies out of the nest (so to speak) and go back to her exciting pre-baby life.

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I don’t know how anyone could go to Sams club and NOT get a slice of cheese pizza on the way out. Do they have pizza at 8:45 A.M.? (note to self:must go to Sams club when I get home to the USA!)

I don’t think I’ve ever bought a slice of pizza from Sam’s – and I think (though I can’t guarantee it) that they don’t start offering the pizza slices ’til the 10:00 open-to-the-public hour. Now you’ve got me wanting to try a slice next time I go!

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Who doesn’t love Tommy??

I don’t believe there is a single cat in this house who hates Tommy. He truly is the ambassador.

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i had another crazy robyn/fred cat dream. i was visiting you guys for some reason and you showed me a binder full of cross-stitch charts you had collected that had been requested by the cats. some of them were for these weird wraps that looked like saddles and had tapestries of flowers and garden hats and quilts, like those paula duvall patterns popular back in the 80’s. some were for booties that had nike logos on them. you would stitch them and fred would do some type of woodworking to them. i wasn’t interested in helping make cat girdles, so you guys made me leave and gave me some home canned pigeon-flavored dog food stew for my parson russell dug. you told me it would double his life expentancy, which is something we worry about, a she was a rescue we got 5 years ago and he was about 6 years old them. i’m sure you’ve never made a cross-stitched girdle for any of your cats.

LOVE it when you guys have dreams about us!

I’ve never made a cross-stitched girdle for any of the cats… but only ’cause I don’t have a pattern. 🙂

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My son just showed me this. Not a cat, but hilarious nonetheless. A ticklish penguin.

CUTEST. THING. EVER.

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I forgot your Dyson died (boo!). I had the same Kenmore canister before I bought my current Dyson. When my Dyson dies (which, according to most Dyson owners, is inevitable after a few years), I don’t know what I’ll replace it with. You can’t find one model of vacuum that gets consistently good reviews. I wish I could just tolerate filth…it would be so much easier.

I’m finding that the Kenmore canister does a great job on the floors, but a so-so job on the carpets. I’m seriously thinking of taking my Dyson to be repaired and just using that on the carpets. I’ll have to think about it for a few months and then get fed up with the Kenmore before I take any action, though.

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You know, I saw a youtube video where someone put some kind of tiny camera video thing that taped where the cat was going. It was from his/her perspective. That would be cool for Newt & Maxi

That is very neat. Charlene Butterbean (of the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee) also wore a camera on her collar for a bit.

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Dumb question, but how in god’s name does that lovely chicken SEE?! Also, do you think her Momma chicken is running around somewhere all mad because her daughter’s feathers are in her eyes?

2011-04-21-02

She’s long overdue for a trim, actually. Our crested polish chickens get semi-regular headfeather trims so that they can see the world around them. (“GET those FEATHERS out of your EYES!” Heh.)

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Of course, being a bit of a geek, the thing that stands out even more than the beautiful pictures and the mind-exploding cuteness of the kittehs, is the phrase “God willing and the creek don’t rise.” Is that a Maine expression or an Alabama expression? It sounds familiar, but I’ve lived in both north and south, so I’m not sure where I may have heard it.

I’m relatively sure that it’s a Southern saying, though I don’t know that I’ve ever actually heard anyone around here say it. God only knows where I picked it up. Maybe from Fred? It’s as likely that I read it somewhere, though. ‘Tis a mystery. 🙂

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You’ve probably said before, but how do you get across the ditch? (or is it pretty shallow in places?)

Fred and Rick (Nance’s husband) built a bridge across the ditch a couple of years ago. This time of the year the ditch is usually too deep to get across (at least for me), so we use the bridge. In the middle of the summer, the ditch generally dries up so that we can walk right across it.

2011-04-22-12

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Sari asked:

I wonder why Maggie keeps a physical distance to them – does she get hot in the cave or maybe it’s too crowded for her liking? 😀

I didn’t know the answer to this, but Doodle Bean chimed in and said:

Scientists think that the mothers’ spending time away from the nest encourage the kittens to develop faster because they have to work harder and harder to get to the milk – using their eyes and noses to find her, getting it together to walk to her, etc.

It may seem harsh to us, but Nature is like that.

Which makes total sense. I notice that the older the kittens get, the less inclined Maggie is to go running over to check on them at every little sound they make.

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Does it appear that at least one, if not two, of the babies might be fluffier than the rest, and therefore destined to be medium- or long-haired beauties?

and

Those babies are so stinkin’ cute! I’m wondering if they have short hair with baby fuzz or are they going to be long haired kitties?

I do not believe we’ve got any that will turn out to be medium or long-haired cats, I think they’re all short-haired. But I could be wrong! (On a side note, of all the cats I’ve fostered, I’ve had very few that were long-haired.)

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Aww explorer Declan is wearing his wee white exploring socks and mittens 🙂

2011-04-19-06

Here at Crooked Acres, one must be properly attired when exploring. It’s one of the things I insist upon!

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To: Robyn Anderson
From: Your fans
Re: Kara, Corbie, Alice, probably Stinkerbelle, Tom and Sugarbutt and maybe Rufus, Maggie and her kittens

We have read your posts over the years and have re-read Kara’s birthing story because you put that convenient link in there. We are getting the very strong impression that when you write “And no, we’re not keeping them”, what actually happens is that you end up keeping at least one. Just sayin’ that you’ve written that phrase about Rufus as well as Maggie and her litter…

Watch out! We’re going to start nagging any minute now!

As long as, after they go off to be adopted, y’all realize that it’s not ’cause I don’t WANT to keep them that I’m not keeping them. I pretty much want to keep all our fosters. These guys will be especially hard to give up, since I practically gave birth to them myself.

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Maggie’s “soothing mama” sound reminds me a bit of the trilling chirps in the “two talking cats” video:

I love that video – those cats are so SWEET.

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Looking at the kittens and Maggie, I can’t help but wonder what the Papa McMao looks like. I mean, the babays have more white than Maggie, does it mean it comes from their daddy?

I don’t have a clue, as I don’t really know much about cat genetics (catnetics!), but I’m sure someone out there knows. Anyone?

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WOW!! Where did you get all these fabulous chicken breeds?!?! They’re wonderful and so healthy and so proud and gorgeous!!! Oh I think I’m in love with your array of chickens!!! Lovely!!!

Well, thank you! The crested polish chickens were bought from a hatchery a couple of years ago. These days, most of our chickens are “mutts” because we decided why buy from a hatchery when we’ve got hens who can – and want to! – hatch eggs for us. We’ve got two hens sitting on eggs at the moment, and they should be hatching any time now.

We hadn’t intended to have baby chicks quite this early, but hens who are broody (ie, want to hatch babies) can be pretty tricky, and earlier this week Fred found a hen sitting on a clutch of 18 eggs. He candled them (shone a bright light through the egg) and found that 15 of them had definite growth. And as it happened, another hen was going broody at the same time, so he put 7 eggs under one hen and 8 under the other, and we should have babies any day now.

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2011-04-22-01
Wee babies toes! I am 99% sure these are Ciara’s toes.

2011-04-22-02
More nursin’.

2011-04-22-03
Hungry babies.

2011-04-22-05
LOVE.

2011-04-22-06
“Your ear smells funny.”

2011-04-22-07
“::gasp:: OH NO SHE DI’IN’T!”

2011-04-22-08
Bath time for Maggie.

At just under three weeks old, the McMaos are spending more time out of their den of their own volition. I put a cat bed in front of the kennel to make it easier for them to get out if they want to, and occasionally they (especially Declan and Ciara) do. I was a bit worried the other night, because the kittens were out exploring the room at bedtime, and I was concerned that they wouldn’t be able to figure out how to get back into their den. I put out some extra cat beds and made sure the ceiling fan was off, and figured Maggie wouldn’t let them starve or freeze. Sure enough, when I got up in the middle of the night to peek in on them, they were all back in the cave.

I can’t believe they’re almost three weeks old!!!

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2011-04-22-10

2011-04-22-09
(Elwood’s face is cracking me up.)

2011-04-22-11
(And Corbie’s face is cracking me up here!)

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Previously
2010: He gave me the hairy eyeball.
2009: No entry.
2008: What the fucking fuck was going on, apparently, is that my motherboard was fried.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Annoying.
2003: Holy FUCK, look what JUST wandered across my front yard!
2002: The big flies make a very satisfying THWOOMP! sound as they fly down the attachment tube.
2001: No entry.
2000: Aren’t they, um, AMERICANS?

4/21/11 – Crooked Acres Thursday

Lucky the cat has Eyelid Agenesis (that’s the same condition the True Blood 6 were born with) and needs surgery. Spread the word, won’t you? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   Sights from around Crooked Acres. The Robins … Continue reading “4/21/11 – Crooked Acres Thursday”

Lucky the cat has Eyelid Agenesis (that’s the same condition the True Blood 6 were born with) and needs surgery. Spread the word, won’t you?

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Sights from around Crooked Acres.

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The Robins are everywhere right now.

2011-04-21-01
Rooster stomping over to see WHAT in TARNATION is going on.

2011-04-21-03
Another rooster.

2011-04-21-02
This Golden Polish is by far our prettiest chicken (in my opinion). I love her coloring. She’s a couple of years old now, and her head feathers seem to be slowly turning white. Which just makes her prettier! We call her “the Rock Star.”

2011-04-21-06
Meredith Grey is appalled at this treatment.

2011-04-21-04
“Sir, unhand me!”

2011-04-21-05
“I SAY, unhand me!”

2011-04-21-10
I love to get shots that show how much smaller Gracie is than George.

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Happy pups.

2011-04-21-14
“Pups, look at me! ME! Good, Gracie! Now, George, look at ME, not off in the distance like you’re having deep thoughts. Can’t I get one shot of the two of you BOTH looking at me?”

2011-04-21-15
Apparently NOT.

2011-04-21-07
Last Fall, the pansies in the pot on the front porch seemed to be about dead, so I tossed them on the compost heap. Which apparently brought them back to life – I should repot them and put them on the front porch again!

2011-04-21-08
Baby pears. God willing and the creek don’t rise, maybe we’ll actually get some fruit from our fruit trees this year!

2011-04-21-09
Mister Bluebird likes to hang around the back yard.

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You’ll pardon all the pictures of the babies nursing, won’t you? I took, literally, over 100 pictures while this was going on, and it was really hard to whittle them down to the best ones. I could sit and watch baby kittens nurse FOREVER.

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2011-04-21-23
Maggie’s clearly thinking “I blame YOU for this.” What can I say? They get kind of excited when they realize I’ve come into the room!

2011-04-21-18

2011-04-21-19
“Seriously, I could use a mani/pedi and a massage.”

2011-04-21-20

2011-04-21-21
I wish they stayed this little and had those amazing blue eyes forever and ever.

2011-04-21-22

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2011-04-21-17
Coltrane’s on the other side of the ditch that separates the back forty from the front part of our property and he doesn’t appreciate having us so far from him. Who’s going to pet him?!

(I’ve mentioned this before, I’m sure, but I have some new readers recently, and wanted to say that the area of our property that I call “The back forty” is about two and a half acres (our entire property is 4 1/2 acres). It’s where the chickens and George and Gracie live (there’s a big chicken coop and at one point Fred actually built a big, solid dog house on the back of the chicken coop, which the dogs refused to use. It’s now the maternity coop. When weather gets bad, the dogs can go into the big coop if they want to. There’s also a rain shelter on the front of the coop. Of course, most of the time they prefer to hang out in the middle of the field. Rain doesn’t bother them.)

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Previously
2010: Bolitar’s in hand-to-hand combat, and Reacher’s got Jake’s tail.
2009: I wanted to station myself next to the display of bowls and if anyone looked particularly interested in buying the bowl, offering them $5 NOT to buy the goddamn thing.
2008: I KNEW SOMEONE HAD STOLEN MY FELIWAY! GIVE IT BACK!
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: I want to hear “Fine, thanks. Here’s your Supah-sized Diet Coke. Have a nice day!” Understood? I swear, I’m just going to STOP asking, that’s all.
2003: Some day I’ll create a housecleaning schedule and actually keep to it. Ha!
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: So, my last official day at work. Ho-hum.

4/20/11 – Kitteh Wednesday

Declan and Ciara, scoping out the situation and trying to determine whether it’s worth it to escape the McMao cave. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   McMaos in the McMao cave. Goofy babies, rolling around. Maggie, chilling out … Continue reading “4/20/11 – Kitteh Wednesday”

Declan and Ciara, scoping out the situation and trying to determine whether it’s worth it to escape the McMao cave.

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2011-04-20-01
McMaos in the McMao cave.

2011-04-20-02
Goofy babies, rolling around.

2011-04-20-03
Maggie, chilling out away from the babies.

2011-04-20-04
Fergus Simon, exploring (that’s my camera lens cap his front paw is on).

2011-04-20-05
Finnegan, rolling around.

2011-04-20-06
Cillian. Everything is absolute, stunningly amazing to this little guy.

2011-04-20-07
Declan.

2011-04-20-08
Fergus Simon, looking around. This one misses NOTHING.

2011-04-20-09
“My paw smells funny.” (Declan)

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2011-04-20-10
Sweet Miz Poo.

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Previously
2010: Five! How the hell did we even know we HAD cats with such a small number of them??
2009: Two long rows of tomatoes for two people. That’s not too much, is it?
2008: No entry.
2007: “Baby, I think someone in my comments just called me a complete idiot.”
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: So, to sum up: for almost a year, they’ve spent time staring up their property line, ostentatiously walked up and down it, yet it’s never occurred to them to come knock on the door and say “Hi, blah blah our side of the property line, blah blah, stop? Thanks!”
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: “If we manufactured bon-bons, I would have sent you a package of those. Instead, this package should assuage the pain and horror of not working while you lay on the couch and watch Oprah and the soaps.”

4/19/11 – Tuesday

In case you missed it in yesterday’s comments, Cat let us know that the Extreme Coupon-ing “mustard lady” J’aime was committing fraud, and you can read more about it here. Innnnteresting. And like Aimee said, no WONDER J’aime was so nervous at the register! It never occurred to me that you could commit fraud like … Continue reading “4/19/11 – Tuesday”

In case you missed it in yesterday’s comments, Cat let us know that the Extreme Coupon-ing “mustard lady” J’aime was committing fraud, and you can read more about it here. Innnnteresting. And like Aimee said, no WONDER J’aime was so nervous at the register!

It never occurred to me that you could commit fraud like that with coupons – and it amazes me that anyone thinks you can get away with anything EVER these days.

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Yesterday I did a run to Sam’s to stock up on the many things we’ve run out of in the two months since I had surgery. I left the house at 6:45 am because I have the super-special-fancy “business” membership, and we “business” and “gold” members can go into a relatively deserted Sam’s Club and wander around for a full three hours before the regular “household” account-having peasants can get in. It is SO DAMN NICE to be able to go into Sam’s, get what I need, and get the hell out of there without having to dodge other people.

When I left Sam’s, I had to swing by Target to buy a few things, and I got there just as the store opened (I think. I’m assuming it still opens at 8.) I browsed a little, picked up a few things, put a few things back, and then stood in line to check out.

The cashier, to my dismay, was feeling super chatty. She commented on each and every item I bought, she asked how many cats we have (I was buying a couple of cat beds SHUT UP IT WAS A GOOD PRICE) and I lied and said we had three (I usually lie, because it’s nicer than telling the questioner that it’s none of their damn bidness, unless I’m caught off guard), then she started telling some long and involved story about how she had cats when she was growing up, but she was really more of a dog person and so she had two dogs and they were (some sort of breed I am unfamiliar with) and they like to (do something fascinating) and she likes to (laugh/ cry/ take pictures and send them to her friends) and I enjoy a nice chat with complete strangers and all, but it was getting on toward 8:45 and I was starting to get hungry, and all I wanted to do was check out and go home (which is a half hour drive) and eat breakfast.

What the voice in my brain really really wanted me to do was say “Lady, this has ceased to be interesting to me” and then walk away. And I was concentrating so hard on NOT saying or doing that, that I completely lost the thread of what she was yammering about, and the next thing I knew, she was smiling expectantly at me. All I could do was smile brightly, and say “Well! That sounds fun! You have a great day!” and turn and walk off.

This is the sort of thing that really worries me. When I’m 80 years old and I’ve lost the ability to stop the obnoxious stuff I’m thinking from falling out my mouth, people are either going to hate my guts (“Did you HEAR what that old lady said to me? What a rude bitch!”) or think I’m funny as shit (“Did you HEAR what that old lady said to me? What a hoot!”)

I am, of course, hoping for the latter.

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Yesterday, for the first time in two and a half weeks, I vacuumed the foster room. The amount of loose cat hair in there was just appalling. I hadn’t vacuumed before yesterday because I didn’t want to traumatize the babies or Maggie. But I was getting desperate, so I figured it was time. It was pretty simple – I just went in, picked up the McMao cave, carried it into the closet (it’s a big closet). Maggie followed us in, I turned on the light, and then closed the door. It took me about ten minutes to vacuum the room, then I put the cave back where it belonged, Maggie followed me back out, and I closed the closet door again. Mission accomplished!

Someone asked in yesterday’s comments when the kittens’ ears will stand up on their heads. I did a quick glance back through Kara’s kittens’ pictures, and this was River (who is now Nate) at three weeks old:

09River3WeeksOld

So I’m going to guess that it should happen in the next week or so.

Someone else asked when it’ll be time to offer the kittens a slurry to help them wean. I’m going to start offering them canned kitten food around four to five weeks, since mothers generally starting weaning their kittens at five to six weeks. Maggie gets some canned kitten food in the morning and again in the evening, so if any of the kittens show interest before that, I’ll of course offer them some.

2011-04-19-02
This right here is Declan. Declan is the explorer of the litter. When I walk into the room, he immediately comes to the “door” of the McMao cave, and sticks his head out. The threshhold of the doorway is just a bit too high for them to get out, but he tries. Then he looks sadly at me until I lift him out so that he can explore.

2011-04-19-06
Explorer Declan discovers the pink feathered cat toy.

2011-04-19-07
It smells purrrrty.

2011-04-19-03

2011-04-19-04
Fergus Simon and the belly rub.

2011-04-19-05

2011-04-19-08
“What you doin’, lady?”

2011-04-19-09
I love how happy they get when they discover Maggie.

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2011-04-19-10
I wouldn’t ordinarily post this, as Jake’s just a blur, but the look on Tommy’s face is CRACKING ME UP.

2011-04-19-11
The gray boys sure do love that Tommy.

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Previously
2010: Today, I slack.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: “I’m not looking smug, I’m looking RUEFUL,” I said.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: “Bessie, Jayson Blair is black.”
2003: No entry.
2002: I hate it when there’s a web page touting some wonderful product, but you CANNOT place an online order.
2001: SIR! RECRUIT BITCHYPOO IS DONE WITH HER ENTRY AND READY TO POST IT, SIR!
2000: we watched the ultra-crappy End of Days last night

4/18/11 – Monday

Sunday afternoon I was folding Fred’s laundry and putting it away, trying to get the chore done and over with so I could go upstairs and hang out with the McMaos, when the goddamn alarm went off. Our doors and windows are alarmed, and the alarm system is somehow tied into the smoke detectors so … Continue reading “4/18/11 – Monday”

Sunday afternoon I was folding Fred’s laundry and putting it away, trying to get the chore done and over with so I could go upstairs and hang out with the McMaos, when the goddamn alarm went off. Our doors and windows are alarmed, and the alarm system is somehow tied into the smoke detectors so that when a smoke detector goes off, so does the whole house alarm.

So the alarm system went off and I was all “WTF?”, and went into the dining room to turn the alarm system off. It turned off, but the smoke alarm kept blaring, and I was all “Where the fucking FUCK is Fred?!”

Truly, I don’t know how on earth he does it, but every fucking time there’s something going on in the house where I can use his help, he is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.

Then I thought “Well, crap. I hope that smoke alarm isn’t going off because, y’know, there’s a FIRE.” It was the one upstairs, so I ran up to make sure nothing was burning and to get the goddamn smoke alarm to shut the fuck up. As it turned out, I’d lit a candle in the bathroom, and it was smoking a tiny bit, but certainly nothing that should have set off the fucking smoke alarm. I blew out the candle and grabbed a towel and tried waving the towel at the smoke alarm, in hopes that it would cause any smoke around the alarm to dissipate and perhaps the alarm would shut itself off, but nay.

Do you suppose there’s anything at all in the upstairs of our house that I could drag under the smoke alarm so I could yank it out of its mooring and pull the batteries out? AGAIN I SAY NAY.

I ran downstairs and stepped onto the side stoop and bellowed “HEY!”, and because my bellow is a loud bellow, Fred popped up from the other side of the compost heap and was all “Wha?” I bellowed “Could you COME IN HERE PLEASE!”, and then I shut the door and went into the dining room and grabbed a chair and hauled it upstairs. Then I grabbed the goddamn smoke alarm and pullled both batteries out of it, and finally the ear-piercing scream of the smoke detector was silenced.

Then I carried the smoke detector, the batteries, and the dining room chair back downstairs, and as I reached the dining room, Fred finally moseyed through the door.

While I was bitching at him about the fact that when there’s some emergency requiring his presence inside the house, it would be much appreciated if he’d pick his pace up from a mosey to perhaps a saunter IF IT WOULDN’T BE TOO MUCH DIFFICULTY, I somehow failed to mention that it was the candle I’d been burning that set off the fucking thing in the first place.

What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?

(And when I went in to check on the McMaos, sure that they’d be freaked out by all the noise, they were all sleepily rolling around with not a care in the world.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

So? Has everyone been watching Extreme Couponing? I set the DVR to record it, and one day last weekend when we were looking for something to watch, Fred expressed some interest in watching that show, which surprised me. We watched a couple of episodes, and it was oddly fascinating.

I occasionally use coupons (though I tend not to go out of my way to get them), and have even once or twice scored some pretty awesome deals. I’d LOVE to spend $50 for $600 worth of groceries, but I just don’t have the patience to devote the amount of time to figuring out the deals the way some of the people on that show do. If I spend $30 at Publix and save (according to the receipt) $15 or more, I’m usually pretty happy with that.

I do follow blogs that figure out the deals for you – if you go to my links list, there’s a “frugal” section over there on the right – but I’m always so far behind in my blog reading that the majority of the time I glance at the post titles to see if there’s anything that grabs my attention, and then hit the “mark all as read” button without reading them.

I would usually vow to do better at figuring ways to save money, but given that we have freezers full of our own veggies and meat and don’t eat much canned stuff, I’m going to declare that I think we’re doing just fine.

(But given that we’re down to our last two rolls of toilet paper in the entire house, I’ll be dragging my ass to Sam’s soon. Y’all let me know if you run across any awesome deals on Scott Tissue toilet paper, would you?)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

2011-04-18-02
Comfy Rufus.

2011-04-18-01
Rufus, fangin’ it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Can you believe these babies are two weeks old?

First, the videos. In the first, Fergus Simon and one of his brothers (I’m not sure who) flail around and bite each other.

In the second, you can see how they get around. Not bad for two weeks old!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

2011-04-18-09
The amazed face over there on the right is cracking me UP.

2011-04-18-08-FergusSimon
Fergus Simon and his serious little face.

2011-04-18-07-Ciara
The pouty princess (Ciara) and Fergus Simon.

2011-04-18-06-Cillian
Cillian seems worried.

2011-04-18-05-Macushla
Macushla, giving me a bit of the ol’ attitude.

2011-04-18-04-Finnegan
Finnegan, wandering.

2011-04-18-03Declan
Sweet Declan, wondering what’s going on.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

2011-04-18-10
The Anderson kitties (and Rufus) are nuts for ham.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: Kara’s birth story.
2007: I don’t know that I’ll know how to act when I’ve got internet whenever I want it, it’s been so damn long since I’ve had it!
2006: No entry.
2005: Taking the week off.
2004: No entry.
2003: Fred: That was a cowardly yellow-dog liberal DEMOCRAT thing to say.
2002: Things are getting back to normal.
2001: One of these days I’ll get my ass in gear; I just never know when that day will be.
2000: Squooshiness begets squooshiness, you know.

4/15/11 – Friday

Reminder for the locals: Challenger’s House Cat Tales takes place in one week, on April 22nd at Monte Sano. Please join us as we celebrate cats & the people who care for them & love them. Enjoy the wonderful food & music as you browse & bid on donated art, gifts, & other items that … Continue reading “4/15/11 – Friday”

Reminder for the locals: Challenger’s House Cat Tales takes place in one week, on April 22nd at Monte Sano. Please join us as we celebrate cats & the people who care for them & love them. Enjoy the wonderful food & music as you browse & bid on donated art, gifts, & other items that will brighten your home & your life. It’s also a great place to shop for Christmas & birthday gifts. There will be a cash bar serving beer & wine. Dress is very casual so come prepared to have a good time.

Monte Sano State Park Lodge – 6:30 – 9:00 pm – $25.00 per person advanced or at the door.

We are still looking for auction items. We have lots of small stuff but if you know anyone who can donate gift baskets or other biddable type items, let Susan know (contact info at the bottom of the page, here.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

I keep meaning to ask you…with all the kitten excitement, we all seem to be forgetting, how is your recovery going? Has the swelling gone down? Do you feel wonderful? What’s the dealio with YOU now a’days?

Oh, I am feeling just fine, completely healed up, and very little swelling at all! In fact, yesterday I decided that it was time to move my couch back where it belonged (I’ve been using the recliner since I got home after surgery), and I got the cover put on the couch, the couch moved (by lifting first one end and then the other) into place, and I got the top half of the recliner moved back upstairs to my room. I was in the process of trying to move the bottom half of the recliner upstairs, but it’s very very heavy and then Fred got home and carried it up for me. This morning, my muscles are sore, but the rest of me is feeling just fine. I’m happy with my arms and breasts, but the wobbly bit under my chin hasn’t gone away and will need to be revised at some point. All in all, I’m glad that recovery is done and over with!

Also…if I may beg your huge group of readers, Skeletors rescue daddy is looking for a landlord in Jacksonville, Fl., willing to rent to him and the adorable, well behaved, non violent Skeletor.

Readers? Anyone in the Jacksonville area know of a place where sweet Skeletor will be allowed?

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Thought I would share this video of cats getting into the fridge over on Justin tv. It starts right after the advertisement.


Watch live video from Kittycast From Kittyville™ on Justin.tv

That is WAY too adorable!

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Robyn, you keep your kitty rooms so clean. Your home always looks so nice… not a dust bunny to be found, I’m sure.

Oh, devil, if only that were true. My home is regularly INFESTED with dust bunnies and they roam in a gentle galloping herd from one end of the house to the other. They love to cluster on my stairs, and even after a good Swiffering, they wait a few minutes and cluster again. The foster room hasn’t been vacuumed since Maggie birthed those babies two weeks ago, and there’s Maggie fur matting the carpet from one side of the room to the other. This is a particularly bad time of year for dust bunnies, due to the cats shedding their winter coats, but do I respond by vacuuming more often? I do not. (Part of the problem being that I really miss my Dyson, which died a few months ago. I’ve been using the Sears Progressive canister vacuum we already had, and while it does a good enough job, I can’t say that I adore it the way I adored my Dyson. I’m not fond of canister vacuums, because the freakin’ canister is a pain in the ass to pull along.)

I think my home is just not meant to be spotless. That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it. 🙂

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Was the order of Fergus Simon’s name chosen with a nod to the Flying Spaghetti Monster in mind?

No, he was named after Lori’s cats, Fergus and Simon (Fergus being the oldest). But it does make me smile that his initials are the same as the Flying Spaghetti Monster! Sometimes, when I am very tired and cannot remember whether it’s Fergus Simon or Simon Fergus, I pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster to help me remember!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

How is old Flappy McGee doing anyway. Me thinks you treasured that bird for the celebrity she was, heck. I hope you gotter stuffed when she passed on, and she sits like the prized burd that she was! No doubt from gosh darn natural causes, heck if Wilbur and Charlotte could do it Flappy surely did’er too!

After Flappy McGee laid that monster egg, she pretty much stopped laying eggs and, uh, she was the first chicken we processed and ate. It’s kinda rude that she helped make us famous (heh) and then we ended up eating her, isn’t it?

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I was wondering if you have used Twilight character names for any of your fosters? Bella sounds Irish to me!

I haven’t used Twilight characters, but I did a quick check of the names list I got from the shelter, and Bella, Edward and Jacob have all been used in the past, rendering them ineligible for use by me!

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I remember Beulah! I always loved that tiny little girl. I can’t remember who ended up with her but have you been able to get any updated pictures of her?

I did get some updated pictures of her back in 2009 – see those here – but none since then.

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Do you have to brush George and Gracie? I know they live outside, and they seem relatively free of big nasty snarls!

George and Gracie need lots of brushing in the Spring when they’re shedding their winter coat. Fred goes out with the brush and brushes and brushes them, and the amount of fur that comes off them is absolutely amazing (I’ll have to get a picture next time he brushes them). They require occasional brushing in the Summer, too, and then hardly any in the Fall and Winter. I always say that their fur is made of Teflon, because they’ll get absolutely filthy, then you see them an hour later and they’re completely clean again!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Have the permanent residents shown any curiosity about what is happenning in the “nursery”?

Not really – they sniff at the barrier in front of the door sometimes, but they’re used to not being able to go in there sometimes, so they aren’t all that curious.

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Newt goes roaming where?

Newt and Maxi are our two free roamers, who are allowed in the house and also allowed outside (the real outside, not the back yard outside) to roam wherever they want. I know they spend lots of time at the house two doors down, and I believe they go down the street further to where there’s a horse barn. I was just telling Suzanne yesterday that I’d love to put GPS collars on them both to see just exactly where they roam!

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I imagine that their eyes open with a little “plink!” sound.

and

And their ears will pop up with a sort of ‘sprojoing!’ sound

I love the idea of this more than I can possibly express.

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I think you may have addressed this question before, but if so I’ve forgotten the answer. Here’s a random (and kind of gross) question: what do kittens do before they learn to use the litter box?

Warning: grossness alert. If you have a weak stomach (or are eating), skip down to the next section. I’m not kidding!

Oh, it’s grosser than you suspected, I bet. Before kittens are about 2 1/2 weeks old, they cannot urinate or defecate on their own. Therefore, they need to be stimulated to do so by their mother. How does she do this? With her tongue. What happens to the, uh, results of the stimulation? She. Swallows. It.

You weren’t eating, were you? 🙂

When I said Maggie gave me this look after she’d been licking some kitten behind the other day, it was for good reason.

2011-04-14-07

When I’ve had to bottle feed kittens who were without a mother, I had to stimulate them to pee and poop using a piece of paper towel (you can also use a cotton ball or a soft rag) to do the same job, but at least I could throw the whole mess in the trash.

There’s not enough money in the entire world to entice me to do that job the way poor Maggie has to. And after having to do that with all six kittens, numerous times a day, don’t you just know Maggie is THANKING HER LUCKY STARS that she’ll never have another litter?

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Movies!

Firstly, several people have asked what the “soothing-mama” noise that I’ve referred to sounds like. So I got it on video! You’ll hear her make it a bunch of times in this video (no kittens were harmed in the making of this video. I had to move them out of the cave so I could change out the bedding).

And then, kittens hanging out in a purple bed. I call this one “I sit on you head.” Watch it,and you’ll see why.

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Here are those wee babies at one day old:

F2011-04-15-1DayOld

And here are the little fatties at 10 (actually, might have been 11) days old, same bed:

F2011-04-15-10daysold

F2011-04-15-04
Princess Poutyface would like to register a complaint, plz.

F2011-04-15-05
Fergus Simon McMao has a spotted belly. Awwww.

F2011-04-15-06
Cillian is confused.

F2011-04-15-07
Macushla rests his head on his brudder’s back.

F2011-04-15-03

F2011-04-15-08

F2011-04-15-02
::ROWRRRRRRRRRR!::

F2011-04-15-01
He looks SO much like a little lion cub, doesn’t he?

F2011-04-15-09
Sweet Miss Maggie.

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F2011-04-15-10
Miz Poo, Jake, Alice and Rufus, hanging out in the kitchen. (And no, Rufus is not becoming a permanent resident. We’re just waiting for room to open up at Petsmart.)

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Previously
2010: I give you three more episodes to figure that fucking horseshit out, and then I’m going to drown the entire fucking cast in the nearest body of water.
2009: Scenes from around Crooked Acres.
2008: It just looked like a great big blob of tumor, is what it looked like.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: “Light” my ass!
2004: An odd duck, that one.
2003: Unfortunately, he lived.
2002: 10 Things I Learned Last Week
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.

4/14/11 – Crooked Acres Thursday

Psst! Over there in the sidebar to the right are links to Fred’s book on Kindle at Amazon and on Nook at Barnes and Noble. If you’re interested. 🙂 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   Scenes from around … Continue reading “4/14/11 – Crooked Acres Thursday”

Psst! Over there in the sidebar to the right are links to Fred’s book on Kindle at Amazon and on Nook at Barnes and Noble. If you’re interested. 🙂

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Scenes from around Crooked Acres.

2011-04-14-11
Gracie (front) always looks amused.

2011-04-14-12
Gracie runs the perimeter.

2011-04-14-13
Vicious, vicious pups.

2011-04-14-14

2011-04-14-15

2011-04-14-16
It always cracks me up when Gracie bites George’s butt. When he’s chasing her, he likes to bite her tail.

2011-04-14-17

2011-04-14-18
They love to cavort, these two.

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2011-04-14-19
::ahem::

2011-04-14-20
“I AM A STUD!”

2011-04-14-21
“I AM A STUD!”

2011-04-14-22
“A GREAT! BIG! STUD!”

Yeah, yeah. Keep crowing it, big guy. Maybe someday they’ll believe you.

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The movie: McMaos belly up to the milk bar. At the very end, if you listen very carefully and turn your sound way up, you will hear the sound of PURRING KITTENS, oh yes you will.

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2011-04-14-01

2011-04-14-02
I don’t remember who referred to what kittens do with all the squirming and crawling over each other as a “Kitten mosh pit”, but if that’s not an apt description, I don’t know what is!

2011-04-14-03
The paws kill me dead every time.

2011-04-14-04
As do the stripes.

2011-04-14-05
They always get so sleepy after eating.

2011-04-14-06
Ciara snuggling with mama’s foot.

2011-04-14-07
Maggie was licking a kitten’s behind, and when she was done this is the look she gave me. I hear you, sweetheart.

2011-04-14-08

2011-04-14-10
Going…going…

2011-04-14-09
::zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz::

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

2011-04-14-23
Spanky, laying on the scratcher in the sun. Have you ever seen such a happy boy?

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Previously
2010: “Hi, Mister! Hi! Whatcha doin’, Mister? You wanna play with us? We found a mouse and we was batting it around, but one of the big cats came and took it away from us, then hissed and smacked at us. That was mean, we just wanna play. You wanna play? Huh, Mister?”
2009: Am I alone in this belief, or am I the only one on earth who didn’t know that the Easter Bunny laid ten million eggs (and candy items) before delivering them to the bad little heathens of the world?
2008: Places where the Feliway bottle is NOT
2007: No entry.
2006: God save me from the permed ‘fro.
2005: Why do I bother to make New Year’s resolutions, I ask you?
2004: Bastard.
2003: “That’s right, you LITTLE SHIT, get the hell out of here!” I yelled, stomping at him.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: Not much of an entry.

4/13/11 – Kitteh Wednesday

So, Maggie was just chilling… And I thought “Oh, I need to weigh the babies!” Some of them were awake, and some of them were snoozing. So I took them out and weighed them, and after I weighed them, I put them in this little purple cat bed. A couple of them got skeered. “What … Continue reading “4/13/11 – Kitteh Wednesday”

2011-04-13-08
So, Maggie was just chilling… And I thought “Oh, I need to weigh the babies!”

2011-04-13-01
Some of them were awake, and some of them were snoozing.

So I took them out and weighed them, and after I weighed them, I put them in this little purple cat bed. A couple of them got skeered.

2011-04-13-02
“What is this place? Where is my MOMMY?!”

2011-04-13-04
Maggie made her soothing mama noise to soothe them, and then some of them were all “TIME TO EAT!”

2011-04-13-05
Maggie said “I need a bath.”

2011-04-13-06
Then she thought about it.

2011-04-13-03
She kissed a baby.

2011-04-13-07
Then she cleaned a baby.

(To be continued tomorrow, because there were so many cute pictures I couldn’t fit them all in one day!)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

2011-04-13-09
Kara likes to go out into the back yard and jump up on the window sill and stare in at the computer room as if she’s thinking “That looks like a cool place to be. I sure wish I was THERE and not HERE.”

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Previously
2010: I would almost welcome a flirty email with a “fuck me!” subtext from an ex-girlfriend when I’m snoring through his emails just to break up the tedium.
2009: Rude little brats.
2008: No entry.
2007: Feel free to cut and paste, assholes, though I fully understand if you prefer something with a few more misspellings.
2006: Must… resist… evil… urge…
2005: “Ah JEEZUS, here she goes again with the Gatlinburg! She goes for four days and talks about it for four weeks!”
2004: Oh. My. Eyes.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: Entries I liked.
2000: No entry.

4/12/11 – Tuesday

Those of you who asked, Fred’s book will also be available via Barnes and Noble in the next few days, in case you have a Nook instead of a Kindle. If you have neither, you can download Kindle for PC from Amazon and read it on your PC, or you can download Kindle for iPod … Continue reading “4/12/11 – Tuesday”

Those of you who asked, Fred’s book will also be available via Barnes and Noble in the next few days, in case you have a Nook instead of a Kindle. If you have neither, you can download Kindle for PC from Amazon and read it on your PC, or you can download Kindle for iPod Touch, and if you have a smartphone you can more than likely download the Kindle App for your smartphone. I myself have a Kindle, the Kindle app on my iPod Touch AND the Kindle App on my phone.

(And I still have a bookcase full of real live books and hadn’t touched my Kindle in about two months ’til Fred wanted to see what No Limit looks like on the Kindle, whereupon I had to charge it because it died from heartbreak over being ignored for months on end..)

Anyway, No Limit on the Kindle is here, it’s in the sidebar to the right, and when it’s available on Barnes & Noble, I’ll share that with you, too!

I’m all about the service, y’know.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

I got my raised bed veggies planted yesterday, but when Fred went out to till the garden, he reported that it was still way too wet, and he wasn’t going to be able to till it. So I moved the box of seed onions and garlic off the bookcase in the computer room where the smell has been driving me nuts (they smell really really good – I love me some onions and garlic!) and put it in the hall closet. Maybe next weekend I’ll be able to get them planted. I hope so, anyway.

Yesterday was a crappy day where I dropped every damn thing I touched. Twice. I killed off five eggs while trying to scramble two for my breakfast (picked up two, dropped them. Picked up two more, dropped them. Picked up two more, dropped one. GRRRR.) and another couple while trying to crack one open for Alice (she likes egg yolks, but I wouldn’t let her slurp up the ones I dropped, because with the way my day was going, she’d have slurped up an eggshell fragment and choked to death on it).

I meant to do some organizing – the closets in this house desperately need some attention – but in the end, all I could manage for the day was to watch the season premiere of the NYC Housewives, spent a lot of time watching the kittens alternately sleep and squirm around, and lay on my bed and read for a while.

It was the kittens that made me feel better. They always do, even if I don’t touch them (if they’re sleeping soundly, I try not to touch them, because it gets ’em all riled up) and just sit and watch them sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Today’s dumb question regards grill pans. Do they really cook food any differently than cooking it in a flat pan? Because I’m trying to determine whether I want to put my energy into desperately wanting a grill pan or not.

What say ye?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

The movies. First, Fergus Simon McMao enjoys a belly rub, oh yes he does.

And second, your daily dose of McMao squirming and wide-eyed amazement.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

2011-04-12-06
“Don’t judge me.”

2011-04-12-01
The feet up in the air will forever kill me dead.

2011-04-12-05
The princess always sleeps hard.

2011-04-12-02
Considering what to do next.

2011-04-12-03
COMPLAINT: acquired. SHARING OF COMPLAINT: in progress.

2011-04-12-04
That girl is always right in the middle of the pack. The better to rule her kingdom from, I suppose.

Last night I took the kittens out of the McMao Cave to weigh them. The heaviest McMao is Declan at 9 1/2 ounces. The lightest is Macushla at 8 3/4 ounces.

When I see what these kittens weigh at 9 days old, it gives a new spin to the fact that when we got Beulah, who was (I believe) 4 or 5 weeks old, she only weighed 8 ounces.

2009-03-24 (9)

2009-04-15 (35)
That’s her on the far left there, next to her normal-sized siblings.

Kind of amazing, isn’t it?

And a bonus: my favorite picture of her litter, with Beulah in the middle:

2009-03-23 (8)

Note to self: when the McMaos are eating solid food, be sure to get a shot like this!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

2011-04-12-07
Newt in the cat bed (well, DOG bed really) on my bed. I had forgotten that when the weather gets warm (and it’s been in the 80s recently), Newt likes to spend his days sleeping on my bed, and his nights roaming.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Previously
2010: (We call him “Creepy Cousin Spanky” when he acts like that.)
2009: No entry.
2008: If you see my bottle of Feliway, please send it home. Thankyew.
2007: “If a fluffy black cat prances across the yard, goes upstairs and shits on the carpet, could you give us a call?”
2006: “Hmm,” I said, like that meant something to me.
2005: Just because the fuckers are talking to me doesn’t mean I’m obligated to listen to their bullshit, does it?
2004: Hey, you know how I always say Ben Affleck has a humongous noggin?
2003: No entry.
2002: Apparently the Committee for Deciding Who is Hellbound was meeting in the waiting room.
2001: “Jesus has arrived in Madison,” he said nonchalantly.
2000: Now that, my friends, is wickedly fast.

4/11/11 – Monday

In case y’all missed it on Saturday, a note from the Challenger’s House shelter manager: Thanks to all of you who participated in the kitten pool. The money you donated will cover leukemia/aids testing, spaying or neutering, & rabies shots for all 6 kittens plus a bit left over. I am always amazed at the … Continue reading “4/11/11 – Monday”

In case y’all missed it on Saturday, a note from the Challenger’s House shelter manager:

Thanks to all of you who participated in the kitten pool. The money you donated will cover leukemia/aids testing, spaying or neutering, & rabies shots for all 6 kittens plus a bit left over. I am always amazed at the response Robyn gets from her readers and I appreciate that most of you probably have local organizations that you support. We are lucky to have so many generous animal lovers who jump in to support the cause. And I love the name Fergus Simon. Thanks, Lori, and congratulations on being the name-the-baby winner.

Sincerely, Susan B., Shelter Manager

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And in case you didn’t see it on my Facebook wall on Sunday, Fred has made No Limit (the book he wrote and then self-published on Kindle last year, then took down after a few months) available again, in case you missed it last time around. It should be available on Smashwords in a few days, too.

I’ll add the link in the sidebar at some point, too.

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We had two nice, sunny days this weekend, which gave Fred the chance to get the grass mowed (it was getting realllly long), he got the fence put up around my raised beds, and this morning I’m going to plant my romaine, purslane, spinach, carrots, radishes and… is there something else? Oh, right, cauliflower and brussels sprouts are going in the last bed. I’ll wait ’til the threat of frost date (Friday) has passed to transplant the cauliflower and brussels sprouts (everything else is seeds).

I really feel like I’m behind schedule, garden-wise. I always feel that way this time of year, though, I guess.

Later, Fred’s going to till part of the big garden, and I’m going to get my onions and garlic planted. My tomato plants need to get a bit bigger (and the garden needs to get a bit dryer so Fred can till the whole thing with the tractor) before I transplant those.

I’m so anxious to get the show on the road I can barely stand it!

We have a big raised bed where I had planned to grow some of my tomato plants this year, but yesterday Fred and I drove to the Huntsville Botanical Gardens to visit the mulch pile, hoping to fill the back of the truck with mulch that we could then fill the big raised bed with. As it turned out, the mulch looked great from a distance but when we got up to it, there was a lot of garbage in the pile. Pieces of black trash bags, pieces of plastic, I saw a CD case. Fred started to shovel mulch into the back of the truck, but I stopped him and said “Look, I don’t really want to grow vegetables in this stuff”, and he agreed.

It would have cost over $100 to buy enough topsoil to fill the raised bed at Lowe’s, so in the end we decided that I’ll grow my potatoes-in-straw in that bed this summer, and then this Fall we’ll fill the bed with shredded leaves and let it compost over the winter. We did buy a couple of bags of gardening soil to top off my little raised beds, so hopefully the stuff I’m planting today will be happy.

Fred also put up a fence around my raised beds so that cats – NEWT, I AM LOOKING AT YOU – won’t use them as litter boxes. At some point this week I need to take a look at the pots we have, and get something to fill six of them with so I can get my herbs planted.

Perhaps I have mentioned that I love this time of year?

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When I was doing laundry yesterday, I pulled a load of towels out of the washer, and along with the towels came a (dead) red wasp. Now, how the damn thing got in there, I neither know nor wish to ponder.

(It’s bad enough that there was a wasp on Fred’s pillow when I went by his room Saturday morning and I went in with a piece of toilet paper to grab it, and it FLEW AT MY FACE and then behind the blinds. So I pressed on the blinds with my piece of toilet paper, and instead of squishing the wasp, it just kind of held the wasp in place, where it buzzed angrily, no matter how hard I pressed. So I let go and stepped back and it FLEW AT MY FACE AGAIN and I screamed and did a dance, and ultimately it rested on the end of Fred’s bed where I successfully grabbed and squished it before flushing it down the toilet.)

So I was pulling the towels out of the washer, and the red wasp fell off one of the towels and landed on the dryer, and I kind of shuddered and then went out to hang the towels on the clothesline. Later, I was headed out the door with the kitchen compost bucket, and I glanced at the wasp and figured I’d add it to the compost bucket. So I picked it up and NO it did not come back to life. Instead, every inch of skin I possess crawled right off my body.

I don’t know what it is about those damn wasps, but everything about them ooks me out and touching one – dead or not – with my bare fingers was especially bad. Fucking things.

Also, Sunday afternoon there was a yellowjacket that was buzzing angrily around the front room, and I grabbed the vacuum cleaner, and after some chasing and swearing (on my part) and angry buzzing (on his part), I finally vacuumed that fucker right out of the air.

Now there’s a very angry mortally wounded yellowjacket living in the vacuum cleaner bag, and I’m sure that when I’m asleep tonight, it will figure out how to escape and the damn thing will be looking for ME and I’m not sure I’ll sleep much tonight.

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First, your McMao video, entitled McMaos Belly up to the Milk Bar (bet you can’t guess what that’s about, huh?)

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And now? The names!

2011-04-11-DarkNose
The kitten formerly known as Dark Nose is now Macushla. (This is the Americanized spelling of Mo chuisle, a phrase that literally translates as “my pulse”, but is used like “my darling.” Someone mentioned it in the comments to Friday’s entry (I think it was Friday), and I immediately loved it.)

2011-04-11-DkSplotchRtNostril
The kitten formerly known as Dark Splotch Right Nostril is now Declan.

2011-04-11-DkNosePinkSplotch
The kitten formerly known as Dark Nose with Pink Splotch is now Cillian (pronounced “Killian.”)

2011-04-11-PinkNose
The kitten formerly known as Pink Nose is now Finnegan.

2011-04-11-FSM
Of course you know Fergus Simon.

2011-04-11-WhiteFace
And the kitten formerly known as Little White Face (who is looking at Fred as if she’s saying “How DARE you? Unhand me, Sir!”) is now Ciara (which is pronounced “Keer-ah”). I’ve loved that name since I read it in an Andrew Greeley novel years and years ago.

2011-04-11-01
Eyes opening, all over the place!

2011-04-11-02
Check out Fergus Simon there, rolling around on his back.

2011-04-11-03
Look at little princess White Face there in the middle all “What do YOU want, lady? Go ‘way!”

2011-04-11-07
Little stripey-pants there on the lower right escaped the cat bed, but immediately turned around and went back.

2011-04-11-06
“What IS this place?!”

2011-04-11-05
Abandon ship!

2011-04-11-04
Mama comforts.

2011-04-11-08
“Oh, Kong Kickeroo, I love you so.”

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Rufus makes himself at home.

2011-04-11-09
Comfy are we, little man?

2011-04-11-10
::smile::

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2011-04-11-11
Elwood, ever alert for the sound of the cat food can opening in the foster room.

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Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: All the cats have “J” as their middle initial, including the girls (Pootie J. Pooterson, Stanker J. Belle, and Miss Maxi J. Momma).
2007: The man loves nothing so much as getting his fret on.
2006: Smart man, that one.
2005: Back from Gatlinburg.
2004: No entry.
2003: I love Von, and questions answered.
2002: No entry.
2001: Miz Poo gives me a scare.
2000: My husband, the diplomat.