6/7/07

* * * Another hour and a half of weeding this morning, and the onions are done. I also weeded the tomatoes, though I didn’t do a perfect job of it, just grabbed what I could. I also knocked about 6,000 little bitty cherry tomatoes off the vines while I was weeding (okay, maybe more like three) – it’s a good thing we have an entire row of tomatoes, I guess. Maxi and Newt like to keep me company while I weed. This morning they chased each other through the garden, then settled down for naps under the squash plants. The squash plants are now so big that if they’re under one of them, you can’t see them until you’re right up on them. Kinzie asked in yesterday’s comments: So will Maxi and Newt be disallowed from the backyard once the gate goes up? Or will they be climbing the fence to get in and out? If they do that, won’t MB and T try to follow them out? etc, etc. No, we’ll let them into the back yard as much as they want to be there. They’ve interacted with our (indoor) cats plenty by now, and though there’s the occasional hissing, they all get along fairly well. In fact, when we let our cats out to hang out in the back yard last weekend, Miz Poo and Maxi were within five feet of each other for several minutes and no one got hurt. Amazing! I don’t know if they’ll start climbing the fence to get in or out – so far, they seem a little confounded by the fence and I haven’t seen them climb it yet, but who knows what’ll happen once the last gate goes up? If Tommy and the Boog (sounds like a cartoon, doesn’t it?) start climbing the fence (and they are definitely the two who would do it, have no doubt), we (Fred) will run the electric fence around the yard and collar those bastards up. By the way, Fred has let Maxi in the house a few times. It goes pretty well, until Sugarbutt spots her. Right now, Maxi will come in and look around if Fred coaxes her (or picks her up and carries her inside), but she has no apparent desire to be in the house. The fact that she and Newt get along with our (inside) cats means that if the weather gets nasty this winter, we can bring them inside and not be too worried about them all killing each other.

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By the way, Maxi and Newt ate that rabbit down to the bone yesterday, then Maxi helpfully dragged the remains across the yard so they were sitting next to the steps. Gah. (And yeah, we’ll be deworming them soon. We do it every three months or so, just because the fact that they eat squirrels and rabbits and LITTLE BABY BIRDS means that they no doubt pick up worms. I’m on it, yo!)
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Guess what? New fosters!!! Unfortunately, these kittens are the scaredest, skittish-est, hissingest cats on the face of this planet. I haven’t been able to pick them up and snuggle them – anytime you get even close, they hiss and run away to hide. I’ve only had them less than a day, though, so maybe they’ll improve. So far I’ve gone in and just sat and read so they could get used to having me around. Fred got them to play near him last night for a few minutes, but these aren’t kittens who are coming around asking to be petted, for sure. Two of them are named so far, and I still need to come up with names for the other two. Meet: Tina Louise, so named because of the “beauty mark” next to her nose (though to be honest, I haven’t gotten close enough to her to be able to tell for sure that it’s part of her coloring rather than some shmutz she hasn’t cleaned off yet), and “Ginger” was taken. She’s got some set of ears on her, huh? Spanky, named after our Spanky just because. He appears to be the bravest of the bunch, but if you get too close, he’ll hiss, too. I wanted to name this one “Spot” after our Spot, but that name’s been used before, so I’ll have to come up with something else. This one’s a male. No name on this one yet, either. This one’s a female, and the most skittish of the bunch. The story on this bunch is that their owner called the shelter and said she had three kittens and that they were inside and had been handled plenty. When she showed up at the shelter, she had four kittens, the mother cat, and a RABBIT with her. The truth came out that the kittens had been living behind a washer and dryer and hadn’t been handled at all. They’re about 10 weeks old, they’ve been fixed, and they use the litter box just fine. If I can tame them at least to the point where they don’t hiss like little wild things every time you look at them sideways, I’ll be happy.
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I know I’ve mentioned this before, but the thing about buying a new house or refinancing the one you have is that your name is sold to various companies who then inundate the shit out of you, trying to get you to sign up for their bullshit mortgage protection programs. I fucking HATE THAT SHIT. Yesterday Fred got a letter from one of the companies who expressed that they were “concerned” that he hadn’t accepted their offer, and – reminder, Fred And3rson! – he only had until the end of July before the offer was null and void and no longer available to him. GODDAMN I HATE THAT BULLSHIT. So I typed up a letter that said “I understand your concern that I have not accepted your offer. However, I recommend that you learn to live with the pain that my nonacceptance causes you, as I remain uninterested. Had you spelled my name correctly, I might have been interested; alas, now we’ll never know. Please remove my name from your mailing list immediately.” and I forged Fred’s signature. And then I mailed it back to them in the prepaid envelope provided. FUCKERS.
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Okay, I need to go hang out laundry (NO! I did NOT separate that shit out! So there!) and then bond with my hissy little babies. See ya!
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“Ah hets kittens.”
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Previously 2006: Pictures. 2005: She’s a bad influence, that one. 2004: I have faith in you! 2003: Things that sucked. 2002: Here’s the thing. If you get yourself involved with a man you know full well is married, a man who doesn’t file for divorce until 6 months after he’s met and started dating you, then you don’t get to play the victim. 2001: My very first House Anxiety dream! 2000: Ah, world traveler, me.]]>

36 thoughts on “6/7/07”

  1. That black and white male, that you wanted to name Spot, he looks like a vampire or a bat. Totally looks like a Dracula to me. But you and Fred are way more clever than I, so maybe you can come up with something catchier along those lines…

  2. Robyn. You really do need to get on the worming situation. I feel the need to remind you about these things, since I often question your cat knowledge/experience.
    πŸ˜€

  3. I highly recommend reading Jeri Dopp’s page on socalization. She lives in California and runs an organization called Safe Haven for Cats. She has done AMAZING work. It may give you some new ideas to try with the kittens.
    http://www.safehavenforcats.com/
    -Nancy

  4. The babies are SO cute! I want to drive to your house and get the white kitty. She is soooo pretty! πŸ˜€
    Mister Boogers just cracks me up!! Heh.
    Have a great rest of your day. πŸ™‚

  5. I suggest “Eva Grubb” for one of the kittens (She was Ginger’s alter ego on Gilligan’s Island–OH LIKE YOU DIDN’T KNOW THAT)

  6. That Tina Louise is a looker, fo shizzle.
    One of my cats was as close as it gets to being feral when we rescued him as a kitten. He didn’t like us worth a damn, but he LOVED the dogs. We kept him in a big kennel in the garage, so that he was contained and safe but also so that we weren’t always up in his grill.
    We’d go out there and sit and read or talk. He’d be hiding in the corner with his ears laid back, until one of the dogs joined us and then he would get as close to the dog as possible within the confines of the kennel, purring up a storm.
    He’s all grown up and and a sweetheart these days, but man, he was a little weirdo back then.
    Also, he still prefers the dogs to us. And really, who can blame him?

  7. I think you should name that last one, that’s the most skittish of them all….marshmallow. She looks fluffy like one.

  8. “The fact that she [Maxi] and Newt get along with our (inside) cats means that if the weather gets nasty this winter, we can bring them inside and not be too worried about them all killing each other.”
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
    You. Have. Eight. (8). Cats.
    Also, ew about that rabbit.

  9. Boog has that ‘foo man choo’ wisker look. Love it!
    That last one the female with blue eyes… she looks like a Princess Pretty Puss to me. LOL And the one that has the spots… he has this ‘stoner’ look in his eyes… adorable! I think he looks like a Stoney to me. But then again this is coming from someone who still calls her cat Miss Kitty cause I couldn’t figure out a name! And I call the cat that lives outside… Outside Kitty.
    Question… did that phone plug adaptor thingy ever get there?

  10. The little female you said was skittish, has beautiful sky blue eyes!!! I just want to kiss them all…

  11. Just so you know – the offers you get come from people combing public records for new mortgages. I work for a mortgage company and we pledge not to sell info – but our clients still end up with offers that even have our company name on them as if they came from us – Fuckers!
    That is the most unusal looking batch of kittens yet! The one with the bat on his ears is cute!

  12. Moocow and Gorbachev.
    Wait, was Gorbachev the one with the weird birthmark on his head?
    Okay, yeah, Gorbachev definitely.
    Since she’s a she you can do it the Eastern European way and make her Gorbacheva.

  13. Or Rorschach for the blackeared boy, because I’m still trying to figure out what I see there in his ears.
    But definitely Gorbachev(a) for the girl.

  14. Next time, take the prepaid envelope and attach it to a brick before mailing it back.

  15. Looks like a little bit of siamese in the last baby. Did you know that a litter of kittens can have multiple fathers in the same litter?

  16. When you send back replies in the pre-paid envelopes, throw in a few spare pennies. (Who doesn’t have more than enough pennies?) The company will have to pay extra postage on the heavier envelopes! You can stuff the envelopes with fliers from OTHER companies, too. Serves ’em right.
    For the skittish female, how about “Skittles?”

  17. I like Kath’s name: Skittles. You could name them after candy! Reeses, Jelly Bean, Lollipop, etc.

  18. I get 2-3 offers from that “What’s in YOUR wallet” credit card company EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. On Mondays, I often get 8+. I have asked them repeatedly to take me off their mailing list, to no avail. I now send all their crap back, shredded, in one of their very own pre-paid envelopes. Often, I also send the rest of my junk mail – also shredded – in the same envelope. Fuckers. It can be quite the challenge to get it all to fit, but that’s what packing tape is for. There’s apparently a maximum weight limit that one postage paid envelope will cover. I’m tempted to find out what that weight is and start mailing the heaviest packages possible back to them, just to cost them more money.

  19. The nameless kitten looks just like my Zoe’ did at that age. She was the biggest scaredy-cat I have ever seen. Good luck coming up with a name.

  20. I have a Tina Luise that could be your Tina Louise’s older sister. The face markings are the same but my Tina has some black along her back. Her sisters are Edith Ann, Sylvia Marie and Gertie!

  21. I’d thought of Rorschach too, for the male; his first name was Hermann. I just luurve the big ears on the tiny kitties :)!

  22. I think the unnamed boy looks like one of those guys from the 20s with their hair parted down the middle and stuck to their heads with pomade. Those guys are named Eugene, or Horace … or Edgar.
    But if you name him Edgar, I wouldn’t want you to get confused and try to drive the cat to town. Alfalfa was from the olden days and had middle-parted hair – and he was Spanky’s friend.
    And if you do choose Alfalfa, the girls name has to be Darla. (I somehow sense you’ve already done that name config, though.)

  23. I think “Tommy and the Boog” sounds like a great action/buddy show. Like Starsky and Hutch or Smokey and the Bandit. Except now that I read the rock band suggestion, I can’t get “The Captain and Tenille” out of my head. arrrghhh.
    Also, if the spotted kitty is a boy and the pretty white one is a girl, why not Thurston and Lovey? They’re acting pretentious enough.

  24. Oh Robyn, you so have eight cats πŸ™‚
    Love the foster kittehs, so cute!

  25. You should name the unnamed girl Sasha. πŸ™‚ She’s beautiful. I had a cat once that looked a bit like her, named Stormy.

  26. ACK! Still not separating your hanging-out clothes??!!?? It’s all about the aesthetics, girl! A well-hung line πŸ˜€ is a thing of beauty and as good as a hen house any day! Give it a try and stand back and admire your creation! And … you’ll have the admiration of all your neighbors as they drive by! Fred will beam with pride! πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

  27. Robyn,
    I think you should name the all white one with blue eyes Betty for Bette Davis. She has beautiful eyes!!!!

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