Bitchypoo

Fred’s long short story/ novella is now available for 99 cents! You can buy it at Amazon here, or Barnes and Noble, here. (He’s working on getting it put up on Smashwords.)

If you’d like to read a sample to decide whether or not to download it, you can do so here.

Time to let me know if you want a holiday postcard! (And yes, of course I’m happy to send cards to other countries!) Send your name and mailing address to hollydays@gmail.com .

I’ll take names and addresses until December 20th.

If you’d like to send me a card as well (never ever required, but always appreciated – I don’t keep track of who does and doesn’t send a card, I promise!), send it to: Robyn Anderson, PO Box 461, Athens, AL 35612 USA.

When Gracie wants to play, George has no choice. She will harass him and harass him until he gives in and plays with her.

“I make heem play with me, ha ha!”

Oh, she just annoys the snot out of him.

Tongue action closeup:

Poor George. Don’t you just feel so sorry for him?? (Don’t. He loves it!)

Although I’ve had it hanging on the fridge for months, I forgot until Kristen reminded me yesterday that this is the page in the Cute Overload daily calendar for December 3rd/ 4th:

That’s my picture of The Seven there on the left.

Speaking of The Seven, I have been meaning to mention this for ages now but kept forgetting. You remember Beulah, right? Teeny tiny, half the size of her brothers and sister, alien-looking Beulah? Here’s a refresher pic:

Well, Beulah was renamed Pumpkin and she is now at NINE pounds. I never would have guessed that she’d get to be a full-sized cat, but then again we never expected Alice would either, did we?

What’s cool, though, is that – remember Macushla? Maggie’s baby? The one with the cheekbones of a model?

Well, Macushla has been renamed Loki. And his father and the woman who adopted Pumpkin (Beulah) are brother and sister – so Loki (Macushla) and Pumpkin (Beulah) are cousins – and both former fosters of yours truly. How neat is that!

(Thanks for the news, Frances!)

For those of you who are new to the whole holiday card exchange, I used to buy cat-themed holiday cards at Hallmark or Target or Walmart and send them out. Then several years ago I decided to get more personal, and since then I’ve used permanent residents on the holiday cards. In case you missed out, here they are in order (not including this year’s card, of course).

Mister Boogers hates you (inside: but he loves presents. Happy holidays!)

Tommy.

That’s Spot. Inside, the card said something along the lines of “Luckily, Santa likes it naughty.”

And Loony Jake from last year.

Also, I didn’t use this picture for a holiday card (I’m sticking to permanent residents for that), but I think this picture of Reacher from last year came out so good that I’m currently using it as wallpaper on my computer.

Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: My palate does not discriminate.
2008: (you’re welcome for that visual)
2007: She’s a force to be reckoned with, that one.
2006: They are NOT OUR CATS. They have owners, damnit, and they’re not us!
2005: No entry.
2004: It is FUCKING cold downstairs in our house.
2003: And then I got the Best Picture EVER Taken.
2002: Fluff? Perhaps. But very entertaining fluff.
2001: “Who’s Robyn?” said the realtor.
2000: “You little bastard!” I yelled, and then ran at him
1999: Through three moves and a name change,
they’ve managed to keep up with me, sending address labels all the way.

Time to let me know if you want a holiday postcard! (And yes, of course I’m happy to send cards to other countries!) Send your name and mailing address to hollydays@gmail.com .

I’ll take names and addresses until December 20th.

If you’d like to send me a card as well (never ever required, but always appreciated – I don’t keep track of who does and doesn’t send a card, I promise!), send it to: Robyn Anderson, PO Box 461, Athens, AL 35612 USA.

Welcome to Kitteh Video Saturday! (I decided that I’m going to post every day in the month of December – weekend posts will be pretty light and will likely be either videos or some pictures.)

This video was shot in the middle of November, before the Peppers Gang went off to Petsmart. Snackin’ Time had become this whole PROCESS, which you’ll see in the video. It’s longer than the videos I usually post, but I didn’t want you to miss a single scintillating moment of Snackin’ Time!

Smilin’ Joe
the tuxedo
sure does love that scratcher, yo.

Previously
2010: “Saint Robyn” does have a nice ring to it. Patron saint of crazy cat ladies, obv.
2009: I calls him “SnuffleFLOOFaGus.”
2008: I’m off to get my boobs squooshed!
2007: Sitting in the portal, waiting for the mother ship to arrive.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Meester Boogers howled even more forlornly.
2003: I’ll be ONE OF THOSE FUCKING PEOPLE WHO WALKS AROUND SMELLING LIKE CAT PEE WITHOUT KNOWING IT!
2002: Lay on it!
2001: Fred smiled his asshole smile.
2000: No entry.
1999: No entry.

Time to let me know if you want a holiday postcard! (And yes, of course I’m happy to send cards to other countries!) Send your name and mailing address to hollydays@gmail.com .

I’ll take names and addresses until December 20th.

If you’d like to send me a card as well (never ever required, but always appreciated – I don’t keep track of who does and doesn’t send a card, I promise!), send it to: Robyn Anderson, PO Box 461, Athens, AL 35612 USA.

Brudderly Love.

Jake and Elwood.

Jake (front) and Elwood (back). (And Alice in the background.)

I love that Sugarbutt and Tommy are now 6 1/2 years old, and they still occasionally snuggle like this.

Tommy is the only cat Sugarbutt will willingly snuggle with. If foster kittens climb into a cat bed with him, he’ll hiss and smack and eventually give up, but he actually seeks out Tommy for snuggle time.

Elwood and Tommy.

Tommy grooming Elwood. Every cat in existence just LOVES Tommy, and he’s so patient with them all. Is it so much to ask that he live forever?

::thlurrrrp::

Sibling-ly Love.

Just a quick video of Charlie playing with his favorite toy (that noise in the background is the dryer; the laundry room is off the kitchen).

Previously
2010: “Have you ever noticed that Greg Brady always looks like he wants to cut a bitch?” I said.
2009: Jesus, what am I, 95 years old?
2008: No entry.
2007: MOOOOOOOOOM! Make the shirt stop touching me!
2006: That’s really a bitch of a way to start the day.
2005: “Au contraire,” said the ringleader. “We found a SESAME SEED!”
2004: I give it two weeks before someone barfs on the new comforter.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: “What will I do now that I don’t have to clean dust off my ball?”
2000: I’ll just not think about that.
1999: When she came to a stop, she sat up and swayed back and forth, blinking sleepily up at me.

Time to let me know if you want a holiday postcard! (And yes, of course I’m happy to send cards to other countries!) Send your name and mailing address to hollydays@gmail.com .

I’ll take names and addresses until December 20th.

If you’d like to send me a card as well (never ever required, but always appreciated – I don’t keep track of who does and doesn’t send a card, I promise!), send it to: Robyn Anderson, PO Box 461, Athens, AL 35612 USA.

“Halp!”

©Forgotten Felines

“I need a name!”

Forgotten Felines is having a raffle to name this sweet boy – $5 buys you one chance, and you can buy as many chances as you’d like. Go here to read about him, and enter the raffle to name him!

So, recently I went back on the hormone replacement therapy estrogen patch. I was intending to go back on it at the beginning of the year, after my gynecologist strongly recommended that I do so. But I was having surgery in February (cue 103 of you searching frantically on “surgery” and “surgery February” and “what surgery?”), so my primary care doctor told me I ought to wait until afterward, because blah blah something about blood clotting or not clotting or bleeding or I don’t know. Something about blood. Come on, it was PRACTICALLY a year ago, I’m supposed to remember the specifics?

I waited until after surgery, and then I was about to go back on the estrogen (with a progesterone cream chaser) for real, but then I knew I’d be having surgery in October (cue the “October surgery” and “surgery” and “what surgery?” searches), so I waited some more.

FINALLY, when I got back from Pennsylvania a week and a half (ish) ago, I restarted the patch and the cream and it’s been fine.

Except, of course, for the hormonal swings as my body tries to figure out what the fucking fuck is going the fuck on. I swear to god, I feel like I’m 13 years old again, with the mood swings. One minute I’m all “HIIIIIIIIIII I AM HAPPY!” and the next it’s like “OH MY GOD THIS COMPUTER IS SO SLOW WHY DO I BOTHER TO LIIIIIIIIIVE?” Last night, I woke up a little after midnight with what I’m pretty sure was a HOT FLASH. Okay, maybe a mini hot flash. But why am I having goddamn hot flashes, mini or no, when I never had them BEFORE I restarted the damn estrogen/ progesterone?

The other night I was watching this video (of rescued Beagle puppies who’d always lived in a lab and were being rescued), and I was fighting back the tears so hard that if Fred had come in and asked me anything at all, I would have dissolved into an instant puddle on the floor.

I know it’ll take a few weeks (months) for my body to figure this shit out, but in the meantime AIN’T WE GOT FUN.

When I was in Pennsylvania, someone asked in Nance’s comments (to this post) which Real Housewife we’re each most similar to. First we were horrified at the idea that we might be like ANY of those crazy bitches. Nance finally decided that she’s probably most like either LuAnn (NY) or Kim Zolciak (ATL).

I still don’t know that I am anything like any of those women, but I’ll admit that I’m worried that I’m probably most like Cynthia from Atlanta because she’s wishy-washy and spineless and boring (but beautiful!) and her blowhard husband irritates the shit out of me and I don’t WANNA be like HER, even though she’s super nice and everything. I’d like to think I’m most like Adrien (BH) sans all the Botox and lip injections, because she seems the most level-headed and seems to pretty much stay out of the drama, but she bickers with her husband way more than I bicker with Fred.

I like Bethenny, but I’m not anything like her because while I find her hilarious, she’s way too high-strung. She’s probably my favorite of the Housewives. I like Kim Richards from BH because she’s just so ODD, but she’s neurotic and I find her taste in men HIGHLY questionable.

Anyway. Um. So there ya go. Maybe I’m like Adrien, but I’m afraid I’m like Cynthia (please, god, noooooooooo).

Sunday night dinner: chicken, sauteed chinese cabbage and onions, and Paula Deen’s Cheddar-Yeast rolls.

The chicken was a Crooked Acres chicken, of course, one that’s been sitting in the freezer for almost a year. I rubbed some spices on it, cooked it all day in the crockpot with a little stock, and it was so very good. We have a Ronco rotisserie which we occasionally use to roast chickens, but they’re such a pain to clean, given that the fat from the skin splatters everywhere, that I prefer the crockpot.

We ate our first head of chinese cabbage – I’ve had one head bolt, and a second was starting to, so I pulled it up. I’ve read that when they bolt they get bitter, and I’ve never actually (to my knowledge) had chinese cabbage before, so I didn’t know what to expect. It didn’t taste like cabbage to me; it tasted more like collard greens. It was definitely good, and I think next Spring I’ll actually plant a row of it in the big garden.

About the rolls, the only smoked cheddar I could find at the store cost almost $8 for a small block, and I knew I had sharp cheddar in the freezer at home, so I used that instead. The rolls were good, but I’m not sure I’ll make them again – not because they were hard to make (they weren’t), but they lacked… something. Fred said maybe just more salt, but I don’t know. I did like the clover look (I love it when rolls pull apart easily like that), but I wasn’t super crazy about the flavor.

Do you have a favorite roll recipe? Do share!

Side note: I cut the roll recipe in half (there are two of us and we don’t each that much bread; 18 rolls would sit on the counter ’til they got all moldy), and still ended up with a dozen (which means we’ll probably end up with moldy rolls on the counter. Unless I freeze them. But I think I didn’t like them enough to save them for another time).

The many faces of Chuckles (AKA Charlie Peppers).

Do you remember back when we had a turned-on-its-side trash can in the back yard under the trees? Sure you do, Sugarbutt loved to hang out in it all the time.

Well, the trash can developed a hole in the end from being tossed around when it was windy, and so we tossed it and for a while there was nothing under the trees for the cats to hang out in. Then we got a small dog house and put it on the patio, and this past weekend I had Fred move it so that it was under the trees where the trash can used to sit.

It was, to say the least, a hit.

Sugarbutt on top, with Corbie sitting on the stump behind him, trying to figure out what’s going on.

Corbie in the house!

Alice on top, while Jake and Elwood supervise (I shot this out the window while sitting at my desk, thus the cloudiness. Someone oughta clean that window.)

Jake’s wondering how Alice got up there.

These last few days it’s been raining almost constantly, and last night at snack time I went out to call the cats in, and the little house was like a clown car, cats pouring out of it. Sugarbutt, Tommy, Elwood AND Jake had all stuffed themselves in the house somehow. I need to put a towel or bed in there so that they don’t have to shiver on the bare wooden floor, the poor dears.

Previously
2010: *That’s a lie. I love to be a stickler for details. I THRIVE in the stickler-detailed environment. My tagline should be “Detail-sticklering since 1968.”
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Why can’t I just buy bubble clothing that only touches me at the neck and knees? WHY?
2006: On my way to somewhere important, I’m sure.
2005: Perhaps I’ll make it my New Year’s Resolution to not fill my house with crap in 2006.
2004: Ever had one of those days when you just can’t remember the name of anything?
2003: No entry.
2002: I keep wanting to use the phrase “Sweet crappin’ Jesus!”, and just haven’t determined the right moment to do so. Maybe in the middle of sex?
2001: Her name is Brady James.
2000: If I knew whodunnit, I’d beat that $300 right out of his ass, the little bastard.
1999: They all tend to sound alike, you see, and hearing basically the same sound over and over ain’t the thrill at 31 that it is at 11.

Here’s a teaser for those of you who have read (and liked) Fred’s writing. He put his latest novel on hold to write this longer-than-a-short-story-shorter-than-a-novella piece of fiction about the holes (longtime readers will remember the holes.). He’s classified it as a horror story, and from what I’ve read, I agree.

He’s going to release it later this week, hopefully, and it will be available for the Kindle, the Nook, and just about every other reader out there at a cost of 99 cents.

Time to let me know if you want a holiday postcard! (And yes, of course I’m happy to send cards to other countries!) Send your name and mailing address to hollydays@gmail.com .

I’ll take names and addresses until December 20th.

If you’d like to send me a card as well (never ever required, but always appreciated – I don’t keep track of who does and doesn’t send a card, I promise!), send it to: Robyn Anderson, PO Box 461, Athens, AL 35612 USA.

I know we’re running full-tilt into the holiday season and a lot of people are tight for cash, but there are a couple of sweet kitties who could sure use your help if you have a little to donate.

The first kitty is one who was found half-dead in a gutter and rescued by a good samaritan. When the vet examined this sweet guy, he found that the cat was microchipped. When the owners were called, they reported that the cat was “acting sick,” so they put him outside. What is WRONG with people?! He’s currently being cared for by City Kitties in West Philadelphia. You can see pictures of him here.

The second kitty is Lily. She was found Thanksgiving weekend, dumped off in the country. There was an injury to one of her legs, and a trip to the vet showed that the injury was caused by Lily being SHOT. Again, I say to y’all: What is WRONG with people?! Her leg is full of shrapnel and very well might need to be amputated. She’s not being cared for by a rescue, but by some people who have fallen in love with her and are planning to keep her. Her care will cost in the area of $2,000, so if you can help out (I always say it, you know it’s true – every little bit helps!), you can read more about Lily here, and about how to donate, here.

In case you missed it, I posted a couple of short videos on Saturday, declaring it “Kitteh Video Saturday”, though probably I could have shortened it to “Video Caturday” and gotten the meaning across. I don’t know yet if it’s going to be a regular thing or not. I do have some video that I thought was gone forever in the Computer Crash of (Fall) 2011, but as it turns out, I had backed it up to Carbonite. So now I have to stitch the videos together and edit them (they’re of Snackin’ Time when all the Peppers were still here, and I was attempting to show how it was a complete madhouse, but also how well-trained the Peppers were, so it’s kind of long), so maybe I’ll post that next Saturday. Or maybe not. We shall see!

I spent a good part of the weekend decluttering and organizing around here. It started Saturday, when I thought I’d clean out and straighten up the pantry. I figured that would take about 10 minutes, then I’d go take a nap on the couch. Two hours later, I was finally done, and I have to say that I did a kick-ass job. I also found out where the pantry flies were congregating (a couple of packages of tortillas) and got a bunch of stuff set aside for the chickens. I decided that it’s time to stop buying rice in bulk, because (1) we hardly ever eat rice and (2) there are TWO of us, and thus we don’t need that much pantry space devoted to rice.

I swear, it feels like I clean out the pantry at least every three months, and yet somehow I still find packages of food that are at least two years old and need to be tossed out.

Also on Saturday, Fred and I moved the dresser (which he doesn’t use) from his room to mine so that we could set up his desk in the cubby in his room (I’ll try to remember to take pictures at some point). This works out well because he doesn’t actually use that dresser; his clothes are in the closet and the dresser in the guest bedroom (he prefers the downstairs bathroom to shower in, and so it makes sense to keep his clothes down there), and so I get a second dresser to store some of my clothes – and my summer clothes – in. I had to move the little bookcase that was in my room into the hallway, though that kind of makes the hallway look crowded, so I may find another place for it.

The main reason we moved his desk into his room was so that in the evenings when he’s writing, I can watch TV if I want to. We only have one TV in the house (I KNOW, what kind of craziness is this?!), and his laptop was set up in the front room, which meant that if he was writing, I couldn’t watch TV. This way, he’s got privacy and won’t be disturbed (though the cats like to go up and visit with him while he’s writing) and I can watch TV to my heart’s content.

It started raining Saturday night and rained almost all day Sunday. The pond is starting to hold water (tune in Thursday for pictures from last week when we herded the ducks out to the pond so they could splash around, and being herded kind of terrified them), and I have hopes that by the end of the Winter, we’ll have a pond full of water. A girl can hope, right?

I decluttered the secretaire Fred’s mother passed on to us several years ago. I love it, but I tend to stick things in the drawers when I can’t think of where else to put it, so it gets cluttered and impossible to deal with. I expected it to take about ten minutes – and it did! I also cleared off the dresser in my room, and dusted the rest of the furniture upstairs. If I were really motivated, I would have dusted the entire house, but let us NOT get crazy, y’all.

Okay. That was my exciting weekend. I actually did NOT take naps on Saturday or Sunday, but I may have to make up for that later today. I sense some dozing in front of the TV in my future.

Have I mentioned that Charlie Peppers enjoys a good snuggle with a big cat?

Sugarbutt put up a leg to block the snuggle…

But Charlie snuggled in there anyway. (Love the resigned look on Sugarbutt’s face.)

Getting some grooming from Ellie-bellz (Elwood).

And some snugglin’.

Tommy loves to throw his leg over whoever tries to snuggle with him. If they truly want to snuggle, they’ll put up with it.

“Halp. Cannot. Breathe.”

After I made mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, Charlie tried to lick the bowl clean, while Alice fumed.

And yes, sourpuss, you were correct in your comment. Teeny tiny Alice, who the vet told us would probably never get bigger than 7 pounds somehow morphed into a full-figured gal. We were scammed in this deal, y’all. TOTALLY. She does, however, still love Fred with a passion, and when we watch TV she climbs up on him and lays there like a big ol’ self-satisfied tick.

Patty Peppers is more of a loner than her brother. She’ll play with the big cats – loves to chase their tails – but when it comes to sleeping, she prefers to go it alone.

As a reminder, this is what sweet Miss Patty looked like two and a half months ago:

She’s come a long way, baby.

Sugarbutt, watching squirrels run around in the side yard.

I love it when he sits up like this to get a better look (picture would be better without all the background clutter, but eh. Whatcha gonna do?)

Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: That campaign’s not going to run itself, Jane!
2007: So I’ve signed up for Holidailies, and I’ll be updating every day in December.
2006: Go! Shop! Buy!
2005: “Well, GODDAMN,” I said. “NOT NOW, I won’t! I was GOING to, but now that I know you’d be sitting there all horrified about me reclining my seat in front of your parents, all worried that they’d be thinking ‘Good christ, look at her over there, so fucking LAZY she can’t expend the ENERGY to sit upright!’, I won’t! I wouldn’t DREAM of reclining on my OWN couch in my OWN home, I would HATE to embarrass you!”
2004: No entry.
2003: Fred’s sister nodded. “That’s what I figured.”
2002: I forgot that teenagers are, on the whole (though yours may be different, or at least pulling the wool over your eyes) bone idle.
2001: McAfee rocks.
2000: Recent purchases.
1999: I informed him that there was no way he was getting out of taking me to the emergency room for this.