Your post a few days back inspired me to go out and get Da Bird and I absolutely love it! Possibly more than my cats do…
I don’t want to leave it out like their regular toys because I’m afraid they’ll just destroy it so I put it up in the linen closet after play sessions. It’s so funny because this is the first toy all three of my kitters absolutely love. They all just kind of sit at the foot of the closet door trying to devise elaborate methods to get it out. I know they are formulating highly complex schemes my own feeble human mind couldn’t begin to comprehend…
Then later, Russell came back and added:
I got it out a bit earlier and I took this picture of my calico Duchess. She grabbed it, jumped up on the bed, and started growling vehemently at the other two cats!
That girl is NOT kidding around! She’s going to mess up anyone who tries to take Da Bird away from her. 🙂
We always put Da Bird up on a bookcase shelf where (we thought) they couldn’t get to it. One day I walked into the front room (where the bookcase is) to see Everett Peppers trotting proudly across the floor dragging Da Bird behind him. Now we hide it on a shelf behind books… but I expect it’s only a matter of time before they find it there!
I do believe your dragonfly is really a damselfly.
I had never heard of a Damselfly, thanks for setting me straight! They’re awfully pretty, I hope I see more of them around here.
But the real reason I’m commenting is to relate my second ever Crooked Acres dream. In it, I was apparently doing a guest post for you, to be published on a certain day. I forgot and posted it on the wrong day without telling you. In fact, it was on a day when you had already put up your morning post. I was horrified that I made that mistake and didn’t want you to think I was trying to take your site over, so I tried to take the post down, but couldn’t. Somehow, in dream physics, I can hijack a site to post but can’t get back to to delete that post. I decided the only way to fix the problem was to break into your house and use your own computer which would already be logged on. This time, dream physics helped me. I was able to transport myself from NY to Alabama super duper fast through a pneumatic tube. I got into your house, which was a split level ranch it seemed, and found the computer. It was in a room that had a staircase to the next level, but you were sitting at a desk at the top of the stairway and could see into the room. I had to hide and only run to the computer when you got up for a few minutes. Then, I realized you were coming into the room. I hid behind a crib but you saw me anyway. I apologized and explained the whole situation, saying that it all happened because my brain is just not working right lately. I think we laughed and though you were still a little wary of me, you helped me take my post down.
Catholic guilt and popcorn before bed make for a hell of a dream.
Have I perhaps mentioned that I LOVE it when you guys have dreams about us? Is that weird to admit? I don’t care, I love it!
I love bats too! Ok, here is my bat story. It was twilight and I was outside in my yard. A helicopter flew over and something fell to the ground in my neighbor’s yard. I went over to investigate (they were outside also) with a flashlight. It was a tiny bat – looked just like yours. We (stupid us) thought that perhaps the electronic on the helicopter messed with the little guy’s radar or such and it took him down. Another neighbor came over and said that he would get him in a box and rehab him. Just as he was going to put the bat in the box, the bat looked up at us, showed us his tiny teeth as he chattered and unfurled one wing. Wrapped up in his wing was a she bat. We realized that we were peeping toms and were certainly interupting!!! The little guy really just needed some privacy and a cigarette!!! Whoops!!!!!
HA! I love this – he was tryin’ to get romantic and the humans were all “WE MUST SAVE HIM!”
In this picture, Tony Rocky Horror Pickle reminds y’all of:
A T-Rex.
Dobby from Harry Potter.
At first I was thinking he reminded me of the Grinch.. but then, with that flat footed stand… Godzilla? Rawr!
New name? Anthony Rex Michael Hall Dobbyzilla Rocky Grinchtastic Picklehead! (Not really, but I think it suits him!)
And the Weeds! I love them and their names! Purslane is one of my favorite ‘weeds,’ although I think it’s a flower!
I think there are different kinds of Purslane, but the type we were thinking of is considered a “nutritious weed”, and it’s very invasive. I grew some last year in one of my raised beds, and this year it’s growing like crazy outside the fence, about ten feet from where I planted it last year. It’s not hard to grow at ALL, apparently, but takes over in no time flat. It’s high in (I think) Omega-3s and Beta-Carotene. We like to eat it sauteed in a bit of olive oil with garlic and sometimes onion, or you can eat it plain on a salad.
We have no plans to eat Purslane the kitten, though. Yet. Though she’s such a cutie pie it’s hard not to!
Also.. isn’t it about time Razzie came home for a visit?
Right now, we have nowhere to put her (I wouldn’t want to just let her out into the house, because the permanent residents don’t take well to that sort of thing). If she was miserable where she is, I’d likely be more concerned about her, but I’ve seen her a few times in the past couple of weeks, and she’s actually pretty happy. They were talking about putting her in a cage with another singleton kitten, which I’m sure she’d like. I stop by every time I’m in the area and spend time with her, and she seems like she’s doing okay.
That said – I have a FEELING that this will be her weekend to be adopted! Pleasepleasepleaseplease let it be true!
Can we get a live recording of the Alice Mo ditty? LOL!
You cannot, because no one needs to be subjected to my horrifying singing voice. However, here’s her REAL theme song, as interpreted by a cartoon kitty.
I have a question about the Weeds and their mother…why did they separate the mother and kids…is it because of their age or is it another reason?
I’m not positive, but I think the rescue who took the mother weren’t really set up – or maybe didn’t have the room – to keep the kittens, too. Since they were old enough to eat and use the litter box on their own, it was considered okay to separate them. They certainly seem to be doing fine!
Is it sad that the first thing I thought when I saw “Weeds” was that all the kitties would be named after characters from the TV show? :-\
The show Weeds is on my list of potential naming themes – I’ll just have to make sure I have plenty of catnip on hand for that bunch. 🙂
I also plan, one day, to name kittens after characters from Breaking Bad. I love the idea of having a kitten named “Mr. White”, since that’s what Jesse always calls Walter. And Jesse Pinkman as a kitten? Yes, please!
My my….Tony really has quite the pot belly!!! I wonder if he will ever even out…or if he will always have to wear his britches low….?
I suspect he’ll even out – when we got Patty Peppers, she had an even bigger belly than he does. We thought for sure she was full of worms, but deworming didn’t change the size of that belly. Then we were sure she must have FIP, and… nope. The only thing that thinned her out was growing up. She eventually hit her long and lanky stage, and the belly went away! I suspect the same thing will likely happen with the little man.
Re: The Terrible Pickle
I found this:
It’s kinda catchy, isn’t it?
When exactly is Snackin’ Time and what do you give them?
In the ordinary course of things, Snackin’ Time takes place in the morning after I’ve showered and am dressed and ready to face the day. That can be anywhere from 5:30 to 7:30, depending on how late I sleep that day. It takes place a second time, in the evening between 5 and 6. I scoop at the same time that I do Snackin’ Time – I scoop twice a day unless kittens are having litter box issues that require more frequent scoop, so scooping and Snackin’ Time all happen at the same time.
This is assuming that we don’t have any kittens who are failing to thrive. When Tony Rocky Horror Pickle was doing so poorly, I was feeding him (and by extension, the rest of his litter, who wouldn’t HEAR of staying away from his food unless they had their own food) every couple of hours. It was completely lunacy, and got to the point where every single time I walked into the room, they thought I was going to give them canned food and they’d lose their little minds. Luckily, everyone is doing so well that we’re now on a strict twice-a-day Snackin’ Time.
Snackin’ Time consists of grain-free canned food. How much canned food they get depends on the size of the litter. I split a 5.5-ounce can between the five Pickles, and a 3-ounce can between the Weeds, so about an ounce of canned food per kitten.
(The kittens have kibble available to them at all times.)
When I was little, 7 or so, I got the brilliant idea to collect cicada skins. I had a bunch of them inside an old cigar box. I don’t know WHY I was saving them, just that it seemed like a good idea at the time. Then I tucked said box into the lower cabinet of a bookcase and forgot about them for years, and found them later, at the decidedly NOT bug-loving age of 22 or so. 😯
Don’t we have the MOST interesting (weird) ideas as kids? I decided, when I was 10 or so, that I was going to have a collection of bottle caps. When I had about 100 of them, I lost interest, and eventually tossed them. I have no idea what I thought I was going to do with them!
Also, the thought of you saying “Oh, this is a nice little box, I wonder what’s in – Oh. Ewww.” makes me giggle.
Love the video of Brandywine and the boys. I had a potential adopter at one point tell me she wanted a momma cat cause she has small kids and she was SURE the momma cat would be more gentle cause she had had kittens. Couldn’t help it – I snorted. Sure lady….ever seen a momma cat discipline kittens?? Momma cats are NOT to be screwed with….. 🙂
Of the permanent residents, we have two cats (Maxi and Kara) who were momma cats, and they have ZERO tolerance for shenanigans and would likely not put up with any nonsense that kids might want to deal out to them. Momma cats are neither gentle nor nurturing once the kittens are past about 6 weeks! (Maggie being the exception.)
Oh, you really can’t be too careful with cicadas! One time I was camping while they were dying (and they were the 17-year ones, so there were tons of them) and one of them totally dive-bombed me. Okay, more like fell out of a tree, but its intentions mattered less than the fact that it fell down my shirt and got caught in my bra. Where it proceeded to have its horrifying, scrabbly, buzzing death throes while I shrieked and hopped around. Not my finest moment there.
Yesterday, I was in the kitchen cleaning and listening to a podcast, and I thought “What is that noise?” I took off my headphones, and then here came Jake, skulking through the kitchen with a screaming cicada in his mouth. I followed him to the hallway, where he dropped it and ran off. I was going to pick it up by the wing and toss it back outside, but when I touched it, it flailed and screamed, which made me in turn flail and scream because they may not be VIOLENT, bitey bugs, but they are very ewwww. I ended up scooping it into a bowl with a spoon and then carried it outside and tossed it in the bushes. Blech.
Love that pic of Rupert even if he’s in the background. I can understand Brandy having a fangirl moment. Like Elvis in his white pantsuit, just had that aura that took over the room.
SO true!
That looked like a really fun day with the Perms in the yard! Sheriff Mama better hope that her “cutting loose” photo doesn’t pop up during her next election campaign! But where was the Looniest of the bunch during this?
I’m not sure where Loony Jake was – he’s usually right in the middle of it all when Da Bird comes out. Maybe he was off napping.
Whats a brown recluse??
Brown recluses are the devil. On the good side, they’re shy spiders and will do their very best to get away unless they’re cornered, whereupon they’ll bite and you may end up with a big ol’ necrotic spot resulting from the bite. They have a fiddle-shaped marking on their back, but I usually know them because they’re really fast, leggy spiders (thankfully, that speed is usually spent trying to get AWAY from me.) If I ever even suspect that a spider is a Brown Recluse, I kill it immediately. We’ve found a few in the house, but the majority of the ones we’ve seen have been in the garage. I’m fairly careful when I move stuff around in the garage, but probably not as careful as I should be!
The Cheezburger link one of your readers shared above reminded me of a kitten picture I have on my desktop at work – seems VERY appropriate for dear Tony RH so I had to share it with you. Obviously work is making my brain melt because I didn’t see the resemblance til now! (Warning for non-Robyns: strong language ahead!)
HA!
On the rheas… are those EARS towards the back of the head? And how come the one in the first picture doesn’t (seem to) have one? I am fascinated by whatever that (those) is (are)… looks like some kind of SuperSecretSpy device.
According to Fred (I didn’t notice this myself, so take this with a grain of salt), their ear holes (?) were opening and closing. I’m pretty sure they’re aliens.
So don’t ask too many questions but my staff and I have been conducting business all week speaking ‘Swedish Chef’. We’re an academic library staff, just go with it.
So we discovered today that a certain site will translate websites into your favorite language. Of course, I had it translate your blog and have amused myself ALL DAY LONG!!!
yeah. We are a bit weirder than usual this week. Kids hit the dorms on Saturday and classes start on Monday. This week has been our version of a three-day-commit.
That is absolutely freakin’ HILARIOUS! I started laughing when I got to Peeckles, in reseedence-a on the sidebar, and pretty much haven’t stopped yet!
Oh my gosh, those fluffy little Weeds.. I wonder if Dandelion is going to wind up flame pointed.. I can almost see color on her nose and maybe on her ears.. unless that’s from being dirty?
I can’t guarantee it, but I think that’s just from being dirty. Perhaps as she gets less goopy in the eyes and ears (and stops walking around with food on her nose), the dirt will clear up and we’ll be able to see exactly what we’re dealing with. A flame point would definitely be neat!
Percy, before I moved the Pickles downstairs to the guest bedroom, discovered the wall basket. He didn’t actually climb into it, but he thought it was interesting.
To Polly, Tony Rocky Horror Pickle said “Poke.”
Petey thinks tails are the best treat EVER.
Petey and Joe check out Tony Rocky Horror Pickle’s tail, while Tony Rocky Horror Pickle shows off his claws to me. He’s not kidding with those things.
Joe, and the roof of Petey’s mouth.
The sun always knocks them out. Petey is sound asleep here.
Three-way fight.
Percy, staying out of the way.
Our little man, Tony Rocky Horror Pickle, continues to do well. I weighed him last night, and he was at 1 pound, 4 1/2 ounces. Which means that he weighs MORE than the Weeds girls, who weighed in last night at 15 ounces (Purslane and Thistle) and 1 pound, 1 1/2 ounces (Dandelion).
You can’t tell from this picture, but Thistle’s eyes are definitely getting better, ever so slowly.
Dandelion is squinting here because her eyes were bothering her. By the next morning, they were fine.
Purslane, giving me attitude.
Belleh!
Dandelion in her box, about to eat her recommended daily allowance of cardboard.
“Where’d she go?!”
They love this thing.
LOVE the orange stripes on Purslane’s legs.
And the last of the Crooked Acres Cover Girls, Maxi. Kind of convenient that there are five of them, no? (Kind of sad that I had to go look at the list of permanent residents to make sure I hadn’t forgotten any girls!)
Not a fan of the other cats, but she doesn’t mind sitting and watching them, all judgmental-like. “Idiots,” she’s clearly thinking here.
Maxi has her own theme song, if you haven’t heard it.
Next week, I suppose we’ll work through pictures of the Crooked Acres boys ’til you’ve seen ’em all.
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Previously
2011: Molly reacts to Jake’s intrusion into her territory.
2010: He’s kind of like Godzilla, all flailing around growling while tiny Martin and Dodger and Melodie and Moxie go running for their lives.
2009: “Dear lord, please let me catch the laser light, it’s all I want in this world, thank you. Amen.”
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.