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We haz a new kitteh!
Jun. 15th, 2013 04:40 pmThere were some torties that reminded me of Tika, (;_;) as well as a couple of dilute blues which reminded the Girl of Callie. There were some really pretty calicos, the kinds with dramatic patches of dark and light on white fur. But the one who really captured our hearts was a skinny brown tabby who actually climbed up on the Girl's shoulder when we took her out of the cage.
The shelter named her Cindy. We've since renamed her Willow. She is definitely a people cat and though introductions to the other cats has been relatively smooth so far, it's the introduction to the dogs that has us wary. Lacey has been mostly curious--hackles slightly raised, tail wagging, and following Willow to sniff her butt. (Willow freaks at this, of course.) But Chala? She sees prey and barks loudly whenever Willow shows her face in the kitchen--which really freaks Willow out! We've had to double the gate to keep Willow in the back of the house as she's skinny enough to pass through the bars. We let her out into the rest of the house when the dogs are in bed. Even then, Chala will bark. Truth be told, neither Chala nor Kami has gone through this "adding a new cat" business before, something we have kept in mind as we do this.
Otherwise, so far, so good. Boy #2 came up with the name Willow; he said her disappearing act whenever a dog approached reminded him of a will o' the wisp, which he mangled as willow wisp. I think Wisp would have been a good name for her, too.
Pics to come when I beg them from the Girl. If you're a friend on FB, there are some posted there.
I keep learning stuff!
Jan. 21st, 2013 06:52 pmYeah, I'm sure this is beginner stuff for some of you but... ;)
Windsday falls on Saturday.
Feb. 11th, 2012 04:37 pmMore later if I'm in the mood.
ETA: She did it again today, Monday the 16th. I caught this one before she could kill it and kept it in a piece of Tupperware until the kids came home and could take it away. I'll have to keep an eye on her over the next few days, either that, or she'll learn not to bring her "toys" inside!
crazy life is crazy update
Sep. 26th, 2009 03:42 pmHubby: The meds seem to be kicking in. For a couple of mornings this week, he had good bg numbers. The dietician says he should take his bg before bed, and not before supper. That way they can see if the meds are working overnight. He's got an appointment for a diabetic nutrition seminar on Oct. 15. I'm going with him as I could use the refresher. He's found that some of the McDonald's around here serve diet Dr. Pepper, which has pleased him no end.
The Girl: She still needs to buy some books for her classes. She's finding her design class to be tougher than she thought. She's also reconnected with one of her friends from church (who no longer goes there either).
Boy #1: He's been asked to join the academic team; I tell him he should join because he's smart. He's decided to do NaNo this year; his English teacher requires that her students enter three writing contests during the year. She says NaNo will count for all three. I talked to her about it and about the YWP on Open House night. Who knows, maybe she'll join up, too. She also asked him how he could do so well in his classes (his progress report is all A's with just 1 B) when he reads so much.
Boy #2: He's back to afterschool stuff on Thursdays. Legos Robotics and Math Counts. They're planning on fielding a Robotics team this year; I can hardly wait to see how this goes. His progress report was good, too. He's only getting Bs in his Honors classes.
Me: I'm trying to get back into a lower-carb lifestyle myself, but it's hard. Writing is coming slowly, which isn't good as I'll want to pick up the pace for NaNo this year. Put up the next chapter of The White Winds last night. This story will be a good 300K when it's finally done. Let out a little squee when I got my 500th review! I'm going to try and wrap it up in October and get it out of my hair before NaNo I also need to work on my RP posts; that's my goal for today.
Not much to say about the pets, except that Kami is doing things that both of our departed cats liked to do. She's killing snakes and trying to drink from the bathtub like Callie used to, and likes to come into the bathroom like Tika used to. Was quite the shock to find the present she left in the kitchen: a dead snake! Oh, and we lost one of the immortal striped danios. Down to two fish in the tank.
Rainy and cool today. Feels like fall. Wish it would stay this cool.
That's all for now. Over and out.
The fluffy white stuff...
Mar. 1st, 2009 07:05 pmYeah, for the first time this winter, it's snowing here in SC. We've had rain for the past three days; good steady rain, the kind that soaks deep into the ground and sticks. Today, though some of that rain was mixed with sleet, leaving little grains of ice on our "new" side porch (the old fort from the backyard, almost gutted and moved to the side door). Then it began to mix with snow, and turn over to snow completely around 5 p.m.. So very good to see after such a snowless winter. We've even had thunder with this: thundersnow is pretty rare no matter where you go.
Looks like about an inch so far, with an accumlation of 3 to 6 inches possible by the time the storm pulls out - a least, that's what the weather authorities say. And since this is evening, and the temperature will only go down, it shouldn't melt right away, as it did for my friend from Alabama. She says that her snow is all gone. The kids are looking forward to having a day off from school. It's Hubby's first week of annual leave, so he doesn't have to worry about work at all.
Yikes! Something just hit the roof. The Girl is going out to check, taking Lacey out with her so the dog can do her business - if she will. Sometimes she's a really prissy dog about doing her business in the weather. She's been growling and giving little "woofs" at the kids next door playing in the snow. The noise of whatever it was scared Cotton, who hid under my desk. She has now come out and is watching the snow fall through my door. I offered to let her out, but she took a couple of sniffs and decided that warm and dry was better than cold and wet.
The Girl is back now; says she didn't see anything, even with a flashlight. Things that fall on the roof tend to sound louder than they should. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a clump of mistletoe from our oak tree.
I have to admit, I really miss the snow at times. But the fact that we don't have it very often makes it easier to appreciate when it does arrive.
( picspam! )
a minor victory
Dec. 22nd, 2008 04:28 pmI've managed to empty all my clothes hampers. The last load is in the washer.
Yeah, it's nothing big, but we moms take our triumphs where we can get them.
Ink Jet needs to visit the vet. He has an abcess behind one ear that he's managed to rip open with his claws. Not sure where he got it; very likely picked it up during a fight. But it's unpleasant looking, and I don't want him to get an infection. I think that's the way his father (or the cat we think was his father) lost both of his ears. So he's to see the vet tomorrow morning, which means I get up and take the van.
The boys have had a nice visit with Boy #1's old friend from down the street. The mom there send me some frozen blueberries. Looks like it's time to make some muffins! Still waiting on a gift for the girl. I've emailed the place I ordered it from on Saturday, politely asking the status of my order - and I haven't heard back yet. Considering that I ordered this back on the 11th, I think I have reason to be concerned. I may email again.
And I discovered that the archangel Gabriel is the patron saint of... postal workers! I'll let Hubby in on that when he gets home.
sans children for the nonce
Nov. 7th, 2008 04:41 pmYeah. The kids have all gone away for the weekend. Up to NC, to a good camp there. The Girl's friend invited them all - sort of under her siblings' names - and so they won't be back until Sunday sometime.
The house is very, very quiet, with the dog mourning her boy going away, and the Demon Cat deciding that I'm her surrogate mother (she's been doing this for a couple of weeks now, actually).
It might help me with my NaNo novel to have the quiet, though tomorrow I have a write-in, which will help even more.
Speaking of that, I'm looking for 15K today; just making the bare minimum will put me over. The story is flowing, but I'm sort of caught between delineating things too much, and not delineating things enough. And Siobhan is at the forefront right now. I need to catch the other characters and get their backgrounds filled out.
In another, totally unrelated note, the Girl's friend's father ran a write-in campaign for Soil and Water Conservation board, and won. This is cool, because he had a stroke a few weeks ago and is undergoing rehab. I'll be sure to have the local news on this evening; the NBC affiliate wanted to do an interview. Congrats, Dave!!
A close call... I guess.
Sep. 19th, 2008 10:47 pmYes, two in one day.
We almost ended up with a new cat today. A black kitten followed Boy #2 to his bus stop, and his tender heart (still mourning Tika, I think) didn't want to see the little one try to cross the main road and be hit. So he came back home, teary-eyed and worried, with the kitten following him all the way. He opened the front door, and this kitten just walked right in! He (the kitten is male) allowed us to pick him up, pet him... he was bold as brass and sweet-tempered. But we were in a hurry to get Hubby to work, and the Boy to school (his bus was running very late, according to the transportation people), so we put the kitten in the backyard. Last we saw of him, Cotton was doing her best to drive him away.
When I got home from my first shopping run, I didn't see the tyke, and figured he'd wandered off. Then I got a call from the gal next door. She asked if we had adopted a new kitten. Seems he went as far as the space beneath her husband's work van, and one of her boys found him. He then walked into THEIR house, bold as brass, and was sweet with their baby, so they were thinking of keeping the kitten - as long as we hadn't claimed him.
I was so happy. I'm not really ready for another cat (though I saw a tortoiseshell kitten on my way back from shopping that I wanted to stop and kidnap - reminded me so much of Tika). And when we do get another cat, I want to go through the shelter, and get a color that we don't already have. So, for the neighbors to take on this little one (where Boy #2 can see him every day) was a really blessing to me. She told me she thinks she knows where the kitten came from, and was going to check with them to see if it was alright to adopt him. She also wanted to run it by her hubby, but mentioned that they'd been thinking about another animal for a while, and this guy had such a sweet temperment that he'd be great for their family. She'd even named him; they have a cat named Lucy and now they'd have a Linus, too.
The hole in my heart.
Sep. 8th, 2008 01:40 pm
My skinny, sweet, tortoiseshell cat, Tika, was hit and killed by a car today. She was 8 years old.
Over her short life, she had many nicknames, the most prominent and well-used among them being "Tikatu". This is the name I chose when I began publishing things online. It's the name I chose for this journal. And it's the name I'll keep, in remembrance of my sweet Tika.
Boy #2 has a friend over for the night. The friend is fine; he's a polite young man who I like. But they were up until 11:30 playing the PS2 (this was after DVBS ended). That's too late, and I had to tell them it was time to stop.
One of Boy #1's friends called him... at 11:20 p.m.! I told him that it was too late to call, and truthfully, he was lucky to find Boy #1 up and about. I hope I got through to him about not calling after 10 p.m. - I originally thought it was some kind of emergency!
And... Boy #1 has just gone to bed - a little after midnight. He took a shower after the phone call and wanted to wash some clothes! I'm beginning to despair of getting this crew back on a normal schedule come August. I know part of the fault is mine, but they do know better and these late nights really take their toll on Boy #2. And going to bed doesn't actually mean going to sleep... sigh.
Hubby spent a few hours out and about when I sent him for milk, even going to Barnes and Noble! Fortunately, unlike yesterday, when a trip to the library lasted until nearly nine, he was home early enough for us to have dinner before the DVBS bus came to collect Boy #2. First eight-hour day in about three weeks, I think.
So, there you go. As they say, when mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!
My hopes for Penny...
Jul. 20th, 2007 03:34 pmOver the past few days there was an outbreak of feline distemper at the Humane Society's shelter. The disease is highly contagious, and hasn't been seen in the community for quite some time. As a result, over 900 cats and kittens were euthanized.
I just hope Penny wasn't one of them.
We'll be taking our cats down there to get their shots updated; the shelter is offering free vaccinations this week and next for the distemper, and reduced price rabies shots as well. I'm glad we've made keeping up with our cats' shots a priority. They'd have to have them this month, no matter where they got them. The plan had been to take them to the Mobile vet next paycheck. But we'll do it now, and save some money while we're at it.
I just hope Penny found a home before the outbreak. But the fact is: I'll never know.
Sniffle.... the kitten is gone.
May. 29th, 2007 10:37 pmI'm sure she'll find a home soon. She's feisty and fearless and extremely adorable, especially with that little bobbed tail.
More pictures.
There's that tail!
Stripes on her legs...
You can really see the peach and gray patches here
draped over my arm and sleeping
on the steno shelf...
Uh, no. This one isn't Penny; it's Callie (the Girl's cat), on that same steno shelf. Twice while Penny was with us and curled up on the shelf, Callie jumped up (not seeing Penny from her vantage point, I suppose). They sniffed each other, then Penny hissed first! Callie got down so fast... never mind that she was at least four times Penny's size!
Bye, Penny.
It's a beautiful day. I got the kids off to school early today. I've got some laundry done, some washed, some dried, and I'm working on folding the backlog. Went to lunch with the hubby at Mickey Dee's. And it's not even two yet!
Tika surprised me last night by doing one of her "I really like you when you're in the bathroom" bits. She asked for lots of scritching by giving me headbutts and meowing at me, and she wasn't too wriggly when I finally picked her up. We had an interesting conversation; just wish I knew what it all meant. I can mimic her voice the best of all the cats; she sounds like a Siamese, all loud and demanding. Callie started off the day with her cranky, hissy self. I reached up to pet her when she was on top of the dryer and she made it clear that I was not to touch her royal self. At least she spared me the scratches.
Cotton has been letting me pick her up lately and has been giving me lots of rubs and headbutts. It's been two years since we rescued her from her former owners so this has been a long time coming. Inky? He's been his idiotic self. I was halfway out into the road yesterday before he decided that yes, his bed was moving, and that yes, he'd better get off before it moved any farther. At which he slid down the windshield on all fours and jumped off the van's hood. He caught a bird yesterday, a small bird like a sparrow, and it got away into the ground cover under the azaleas. It was rather comical watching the little leaves rustle a bit as the bird hopped along then watch Inky put his little paw in, followed by his head. He finally flushed the bird and it ran as far as the van's tire, where he cornered it again and took it back into the bushes. I think it escaped from him there, too.
Just a satisfying couple of days for the most part. If the neuropathy would quit and let me drive, things would be copacetic all the way 'round.
