Did you notice that in the cat tree pic, one little monkey is in mid-air?!?!? LOL
Indeed I did! That’s Fergus Simon, and that describes his personality completely – he’s always flying through the air like a wild thing. Nothing slows this boy down.
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I keep on thinking that Coriander is actually Alice!! They have quite similar, gorgeous coloring, and are both small! 🙂
It’s my goal in the next week to get a picture of Cori and Alice side by side, so y’all can compare. They do have the same colors, but Alice is not nearly the tiny thing she used to be – in fact, I’d say she’s pretty much an average-sized cat now.
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Reminds me of a story here where a woman was arrested at a casino when someone found about 35 animals (cats, dogs, and kittens) in her CAR in the parking garage. She’d been kicked out of her apartment (go figure) and was using the casino’s computer to look for new housing. She’d cracked the windows of the car–this was in summer! None of the animals were hurt or harmed or sick from the heat.
I cannot imagine having, say, THREE cats in my car, let alone 35 cats, dogs, and kittens. Craziness!
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As for your (non-hoarded) cats and kittens, Robyn, I swear they get cuter everyday… or maybe that’s just the hats! I swear that Alice has become a full-size cat based on how big the collar power supply is. Is that true?
It really is – I’ll see if I can’t remember to weigh her in the next week so I can see just how big she’s gotten. I had kind of hoped that she’d stay tiny, but I guess she needed to get bigger to fit all that personality in!
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I went back looking because I remembered a video of him saying hi. Isn’t it nice to have videos to remember with?
It really is nice to be able to see him again and hear his voice. I actually posted two videos of him – one recent, and one from 9 months ago. I called them both “Coltrane says hi,” as a matter of fact!
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By the way, I noticed the traffic noise in the video of the baby robins. Is that “the” road? Sounds like there is quite a lot of traffic.
The road in front of our house is actually busier than you’d expect. It’s the main road leading to one of the area’s biggest employers, so at shift change there’s a lot of traffic. The tree is also very close to the road – here’s a shot from the end of the driveway. That tree near the mailbox is the one with the nest in it.
And here’s a shot from the end of the driveway to the house (you can’t see the tree, but you can see the shadow of the tree on the ground).
We’re closer to the road than I’d like to be – I’d actually prefer it if our house was at the very back of our property. I don’t love living on such a busy road, but if we didn’t live on such a busy road, we never would have seen this house and ended up living here.
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In the meowy Spice Girls video, I can distinctly hear two girls yelling for food, but then there’s one who has a teentiny adorable little squeak! Who is that? I almost melted from the sheer cuteness of whoever was going meep! ee-eep! meep! eep! meep!
That’s Cori!
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Not to be a busybody or anything, but in future years you’ll need a more hefty support for the grapevine. Think about vineyards in France with wooden fence posts and heavy wire supports — the vines get so heavy that they need that strength of support. Hope this helps. Thanks for letting me be a know-it-all.
Doodle, anytime you want to be a know-it-all, I’m listening. 🙂 I don’t know about needing a heftier support for the grapevines, though – we’re growing muscadines on a similar fence, and they seem to be okay.
Though they are only about three years old. In any case, if we need something sturdier in the future, I’m sure Fred can figure something out. The main reason we planted grapes in the back yard is that we hope they’ll spread out along the fence and provide us with some privacy (the house next door is very close). If they get to be too much for the fence, we can always trim them back.
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This has been around several years. Have you seen it? I was able to download this song & it’s always on my playlist!
I had not; that’s very cool. And here I was all impressed with myself for cutting a few holes in a big box and getting Spanky to think it was pretty neat!
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Do you recarpet your cat trees? I have a couple that need it, and I have a nice piece of carpet my neighbor gave me when he recarpeted his bedroom, but I’ve never done it before. Do you take off the old carpet? Do you glue it down (what kind of glue?) or staple it or both? I figure if you don’t know, some of your readers will! 🙂
I have never recarpeted a cat tree, so I’m posting this in hopes that someone will have some words of wisdom!
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I bought a t-shirt from icanhascheezburger.com a couple months ago, and every time I wear it, it makes me think of poor little Maggie (and I laugh at the same time!). I’ve been meaning to post a picture of it for you for ages!
That is AWESOME! (And in Maggie’s case, SO true!)
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We were wondering when Maggie’s babies will go up for adoption?
They’re all set now – we’re just waiting for room to open up at Petsmart. Could be any day. I am going to seriously miss these guys when it’s time for them to go.
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Cillian’s just not sure…
“Are you sure these Declan hats are all the rage in England?”
Macushla in a basket!
Looks like Cillian might have a touch of the Loony Jake about him.
Declan’s a helper, making sure there are no groceries in that bag.
I wonder if we could have fit a few more McMaos in that ham-mick.
Cilantro on the scratcher, keeping an eye on her tail.
Clove, batting cleanup. (In the morning, the Spice Girls get their snack upstairs in their room while I’m scooping litter boxes. Usually by the time I’m done scooping, they’re done eating, so I let them out. Then I go downstairs and give the McMaos their snack, and on this particular day, Clove wandered along and realized there were leftovers to be taken care of.)
Dorian suggested, a couple of weeks ago, using a muffin top pan to give the McMaos their snack. It works wonderfully (I usually put a couple of dabs of food in the middle in case Maggie wants to join in – which she doesn’t, lately.) and it’s a lot better than having to juggle an armload of dishes! Thanks for the suggestion, Dorian!
Clove and Fergus Simon, in the cat bed under the table. That cat bed was originally on one of the chairs, but they kept knocking it down, so I gave up and left it there.
Sweet Miss Cori, on the ham-mick in the kitchen. We have three ham-micks in this house, and that one’s the most popular by far.
Sleepy Spices. (Front to back: Cilantro, Clove, Coriander.)
She looks oh so sweet and innocent, doesn’t she? Don’t be fooled! (Clove)
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Loony Jake and Alice snuggle up.
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Previously
2010: Corbett (AKA “Bad Boy”, even though he really isn’t)
2009: Guess who’s about to go off and be spayed and neutered???
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: “What the – ?” I said to Miz Poo, who was looking more than a little freaked out.
The videos of Coltrane tugged at my heart. He had pretty white eye-liner.
Don’t worry, I have a gun, too. I have never had to use it…but would if needed. You would be surprised what you can do when faced with mortal danger. The survival instinct may be the strongest (other than a mother’s love/drive to protect her children which can be self-sacrificial).
Your house really has a sweet appeal.
Dorian’s idea rocked.
Spanky looks equally pleased with his fort.
That t-shirt cracked me up!!
Every single one of those kittens are incredibly cute!!!
Aww! So are Fergus Simon and Clove the new cat couple? Good mix: he is mild to her spicy. I read it in the Encaterer.
LOL
They swear they’re just friends, canoodling aside. Suuuuuure, we believe them. (NOT)
Oh. And I have a gun also. I live in the city though. I’m pro NRA actually have shooting and good markmanship patches from my youth. Everyone should have guns. It will make folks think twice before violating someone. I’d be a repub if they werent so clueless and robotic.
If you can get guns so can the bad guys.
If you can’t get guns….only the bad guys will have them! There is always a black-market…and other criminal means.
I sure love me some Spice! And tabby McMaos!
If I shared a home with 9 foster kittens, I’d end up like that Facebook eHarmony video chick. I don’t know how you do it – it’s an awesome job! Yay you!
Fred says he feels like Scrooge McDuck, only instead of money running through his hands he’s got kittens.
Hmm. Maybe you had to be there. 🙂
I can’t wait to get home to listen and watch all these clips!! They look so adorable!!
Awwww the McMaos are soon to be sent off to be adopted! AWwwwwwwww – I’ll really miss them – and mama Maggie too of course!!!
Take care x
I am not a fan of guns, particularly in homes, due to them being used in ways not intended. As you can probably tell, I’m from FL where it’s literally a crime to store a handgun in a shoeobx.
I do support responsible gun ownership which includes, practice in handling/shooting and most of all safety/storage. Even experienced gunowners can have accidents so better safe than sorry.
Two cents aside, I am more than happy to take Jake off your hands if it’s too busy at your house.
Can I interest you in an Elwood instead? 🙂
I dunno, that looney smile just gets me every time. Not to mention his loving ways.
Hi,
I was wondering, what is it like when you and Fred eat dinner? When my fiance and I eat dinner at our house, we each have one arm scarfing food in our mouths and the other pushing at least one of our two cats away. When they finally “give up,” they sit there and Stare. So of course, I have to wonder what it’s like at your house with much more cats around!
Love your site. xo
Do you live with me????
However, mine do not give up! They will crawl into your plate if they have to! One one is a good girl!
I was wondering if your male cats ever “mother” the kittens? My three male cats have taken to kitten raising like, well, a cat to catnip! My 14 yr old cats follow the young’uns around the apartment and bathe and cuddle with them. of course, the kittens were younger (4 weeks) but they still all sleep together now at this age (they are 4 days older than the Mcmaos)
AWWW, that was Cori with the adorable little meep? So cute! If I snuck down to Alabama, snatched her and Corbie and maybe Clove, and took off back to Wisconsin, would I be noticed? XD Snuggle them all for me instead?
I admit I went back and looked up those Coltrane videos as well. What a sweet boy he was.
Coltrane was one of my favourites around Crooked Acres. Watching those videos again reminds me so much of my old cat Sam, who’s been gone since 1999. Sam had a big meow, a big stomach and a big heart. I was wondering, Coltrane looks like a bigger cat, how much did he weigh? Since he was an outside cat, did he get along or socialize with any of the other cats or animals in the yard? It looks like he had some sort of rivalry with Maxi at least.
Did that big Amazon box Spanky is in originally arrive with cat toys in it? 😉
One nice thing about a pump shotgun is the intimidating sound of racking a shell into the chamber. Also, with a shotgun, your sim isn’t as critical. Simply point it and pull the trigger.
What in the world kind of growth spurt did Alice have? I thought she was going to end up a little cat for life and now suddenly she’s full grown cat size. She’s still beautiful though. <3
I haven’t tried to re-carpet a cat tree yet, but I did re-rope one. I used a big carpet staple (using a hammer to pound it into place) to hold the end then applied Elmer’s glue to hold it in place with another staple at the other end. The rope was shredded before the glue came off. To carpet one I would do much the same with glue to hold it down and staples on the edges to help secure it. Hope this helps. PS all the kitties are adorable.
The picture of Alice and Jake reminds me of some comic book or cartoon with Alice being the smart one trying to take over the world and Jake being her looney sidekick. Very Pinky and The Brain.
I have recarpeted my cat post. The original carpet was stapled down with glue in a few places. Once you get a corner loose it comes up pretty easily with pulling… you could probably use something like a crowbar to make it easier. It really helps if you can get all of the pieces off without cutting or ripping them. You can then use them as an outline when you are cutting the shapes out of the new carpet. I just used a staple gun to reattach- glue didn’t seem necessary. I did unscrew the post from the base before I did this to make it easier. I hope this helps!
I’ve played this video a few times and it always brings Dorothy over from wherever she is. She sits next to the laptop and watches very intently, following the Spice Girls around the scene. She even follows the words as I type them (like now)!
I Love Cilantro keeping an eye on her tail – tricksy things, tails, they start boppin’ about when you least expect it! might need some chompin’ to keep it still. and look how Clove’s eyes have changed colour!
I love the spice girls and maggie and the mcmaos and the permanent residents and george and gracie and…
wow – I would never have pictured the front of your house being anywhere near that close to the road!
And aww, Luanne, Dorothy’s learning how to communicate on the web!