Angela Verdenius's Blog - Posts Tagged "cats"
All Done! And Cats! And now!...
Yes! All editing done! Everything ready, all systems go for Fly with Me on the 31st May! YES!!!
I've also managed to watch HEAPS of Friends on my days off nursing, and read a lot. And taken the furries to the vet for their vaccinations - yep, Abby and Polly swore at the vet nurse, who was new, and made her extremely wary. I tried to reassure her that both grumble-bums were more bark than bite, but...well, they do sound scary when they're hissing and growling, but they're not small cats, to be fair. However, I got told off by Mum the other night for calling them both basketballs on legs, so let's not go there.
Evie is much better behaved if we take her to the vet rather than have the vet come to the house. She hunches up and is as quiet as a mouse, whereas if the vet comes to the house to see the furry horde, Evie is like a feral. So from now on, off to the vet for her vaccinations!
Mind you, she had a total panic attack in her cage in the driveway while Mum and I were loading the other three cats into the car. Total spazz-out. Then she and Lacey cried ALL THE WAY THERE.
Theo and Lily just stayed silent.
Today we took Polly, Abby and the dog, Leo. So Leo BARKED ALL THE WAY THERE. According to Mum, my suggestion of leaving him at the vet was not going to be taken. And here I was, ears ringing as I got out of the car, just trying to be helpful.
Fleur is the only cat waiting to be vaccinated, but as she's currently on medication, she has to wait until she's completely better, so one more trip to make in the near future.
Now Friday, on my day off when I normally don't surface before eight thirty (what? I hate getting up early when the mornings are chilly!), I HAVE to get up early and take Leo to the vet to have his teeth cleaned. Then take myself to the chiropractor. Cheers for us both!
So that's my life at the moment - furries furries furries!
I've also managed to watch HEAPS of Friends on my days off nursing, and read a lot. And taken the furries to the vet for their vaccinations - yep, Abby and Polly swore at the vet nurse, who was new, and made her extremely wary. I tried to reassure her that both grumble-bums were more bark than bite, but...well, they do sound scary when they're hissing and growling, but they're not small cats, to be fair. However, I got told off by Mum the other night for calling them both basketballs on legs, so let's not go there.
Evie is much better behaved if we take her to the vet rather than have the vet come to the house. She hunches up and is as quiet as a mouse, whereas if the vet comes to the house to see the furry horde, Evie is like a feral. So from now on, off to the vet for her vaccinations!
Mind you, she had a total panic attack in her cage in the driveway while Mum and I were loading the other three cats into the car. Total spazz-out. Then she and Lacey cried ALL THE WAY THERE.
Theo and Lily just stayed silent.
Today we took Polly, Abby and the dog, Leo. So Leo BARKED ALL THE WAY THERE. According to Mum, my suggestion of leaving him at the vet was not going to be taken. And here I was, ears ringing as I got out of the car, just trying to be helpful.
Fleur is the only cat waiting to be vaccinated, but as she's currently on medication, she has to wait until she's completely better, so one more trip to make in the near future.
Now Friday, on my day off when I normally don't surface before eight thirty (what? I hate getting up early when the mornings are chilly!), I HAVE to get up early and take Leo to the vet to have his teeth cleaned. Then take myself to the chiropractor. Cheers for us both!
So that's my life at the moment - furries furries furries!
Naughty Kitties!
So you're probably wondering just who do I base all these different cats on that pop up in my books?
Look no further than my own furry mob! To give you a sample, here is a piece about one of my cats having an on-going fight with my Mum (I copied this off my other blog), and another wanting to lord it over visiting cats.
So, for your enjoyment, I present:
"Fight 1 - Mum & Polly"
***************
So Mum and Polly are fighting. I tell you, it’s not pretty (but it IS funny). So you’re wondering what on earth my mother, who is placid and easy-going, is doing fighting with Polly, who pretty much minds her own business as long as no one GETS in her business.
Basically, Polly has decided that the current Best Spot Ever is right on top of Mum’s jewellery box on the dressing table. This results in knocking off the alarm clock and whatever else happens to be on the dressing table at the time as she heaves her fat bum onto the dressing table, plops it down on the jewellery box and dares anyone stupid enough to try, to get her off.
Along comes Mum and all Hell breaks loose.
Mum: “What the - why are you on there?”
Polly: “Because.”
Mum: “I’ve told you a million times you’re not to go on there!”
Polly: “What’s your point?”
Mum: “Get off!”
Polly: “Don’t you touch me!”
Mum: *grunts as she tries to lift Polly off*
Polly: Hiss*spit*yell*
Mum: ^%#! She’s knocked the alarm clock off now!”
Angela: “Maybe that’s because you knocked it off while trying to get her off?”
Mum: “Shut up!”
Note to everyone - this is what happens when you’re dumb enough to try and offer comments that are, apparently, extremely unhelpful in this situation.
It continues -
Polly: “Let me go! HELP!”
Angela: “Why don’t you just leave her-?”
Mum: “She’s not staying there!”
Polly: “Yes I freakin’ am!”
Mum: “No you’re not. Get off!”
Angela: “She’ll only get back up there.”
Mum: “No she won’t.”
Polly: “Yes I freakin’ will! It’s the Best Spot Ever!”
Mum: *finally manages to dislodge Polly and plops her onto the chair beside the dressing table* “Now you can sit there.”
Polly’s eyes are huge, black and not friendly. “You really think so, huh?”
Angela: “You really think she’ll stay there?”
Mum: “She will.” Points at Polly. “You don’t go up on my dressing table knocking stuff off. Now stay.”
Angela: “She’s not a dog. No way is she going to-”
Mum: “She will if she knows what’s good for her.”
No sooner does Mum walk away than I peek through the doorway and yep, Polly has her a**e on the jewellery box again.
***********************
Fight 2 - Evie and the Visitors
So we’ve had a busy time lately with visiting kitties coming to stay with us. There’s sweet little old Renee (who is 20yrs old), Skitty and Jeffrey (come as a pair) and Freya (a wide-eyed pure tortoiseshell). They’ve all been coming and going, sometimes overlapping.
Now we all know Evie has to be Boss Cocky. Struts her stuff and all that. She literally walks the walk and talks the talk. So any cats visiting get her full attention.
Now, if cats come for a long period (say several weeks), we usually start to integrate them into the household after about3 days, so they can run with ours, but if they’re only here for a few days or less than a week, I don’t worry about going through the whole introductions. Besides, Evie always makes that a little hairy (no pun intend).
So Renee, unfortunately, cannot mix with ours, because old or not, she’ll try to rip their faces off. Probably fall a***e over t*t while she does it because she’s so frail, but nevertheless I don’t want her having a heart attack while trying to knock another cat’s whiskers off on our watch.
Skitty and Jeffrey were only here for about five days, so no point tempting fate (especially Evie) by trying the introduction thing.
But Freya was here for several weeks, so it was a case of introduction time.
Now, when cats are shut in the front room with just the screen door between them and the others, Evie struts past them, plays in front of the door, presses her nose to it and stares in at them (especially when they’re using the litter tray, because unnerving them when they’re trying to do their business is such fun), and basically parades past showing them that SHE is Boss Cocky, SHE has the run of the place, it’s HER house and everything in it belongs to HER. She really enjoys this.
So let’s come back to Freya. Freya is a happy, bright-eyed tortoiseshell, only about a couple of years old from memory (and my memory is in serious question, but I’m pretty confident I’m right on this), and she is ultra affectionate.
So along comes the day when we let Freya out. The rest of the cats look at her and go “yeah, whatever” and go back to sleep. Polly just warns her not to get near the jewellery box or dressing table - “My place, you, my Best Spot Ever!” - and then comes Evie.
Evie, Evie, Evie. Her ears perk up, her whiskers bristled, her whole little body starts to quiver with excitement because there’s fresh meat to torment! She follows Freya as Freya prances around. Covertly, Evie slides from one piece of furniture to another, peers around the edges, pokes her head over the tops, sidles around the corners, the whole time keeping her prey in sight.
Freya, totally oblivious, dances around checking out everything, her eyes big and bright. (She really is a happy little cat).
Evie finally decides to reveal herself. TAH-DAH!!! “Cringe before me, you lowly peasant!”
Freya: “OMG! Someone to play with!” And proceeds to prance towards Evie.
This freaks out Evie. WTHell…? This thing isn’t afraid of her? Something wrong here, people. Evie snaps upright, her ears go back, her eyes go wide.
Freya happily trots forward. “Hi! How are you? Wow! Play with me! Wooooow!”
Evie, totally freaked out because this thing doesn’t recognize Her Majesty, backs up and disappears.
She spends the rest of the time that Freya is here either:
a) Hiding and peeking out at her
b) Sulking on Granny’s bed
c) Strutting in front of the screen door at night when Freya is put back in there to sleep.
Yep, night time is when Evie struts her stuff. “Going to bed with MY Granny,” she informs Freya, strutting past the door while Freya watches wide-eyed. “Going to MY bed with MY Granny,” Evie adds, strutting back the other way. “Only I sleep on MY Granny’s bed, ‘cause I’m Boss Cocky and everything!” this she delivers as she slides herself along the door. Then she proceeds to look up at Granny, all sweet and coy, casts Freya another triumphant glance as she watches, and trots after Granny, hopping into bed on HER little blankie in HER special spot on HER Granny’s bed, lays her little head in Granny’s hand and goes to sleep.
STILL BOSS COCKY!!!
*********************
If you'd like to see photos of Polly on the jewellery box and Evie totally bewildered that Freya has no clue she's Boss Cocky, visit my blog where the photos of these two are:
http://www.angelaverdenius.blogspot.c...
Enjoy!
Look no further than my own furry mob! To give you a sample, here is a piece about one of my cats having an on-going fight with my Mum (I copied this off my other blog), and another wanting to lord it over visiting cats.
So, for your enjoyment, I present:
"Fight 1 - Mum & Polly"
***************
So Mum and Polly are fighting. I tell you, it’s not pretty (but it IS funny). So you’re wondering what on earth my mother, who is placid and easy-going, is doing fighting with Polly, who pretty much minds her own business as long as no one GETS in her business.
Basically, Polly has decided that the current Best Spot Ever is right on top of Mum’s jewellery box on the dressing table. This results in knocking off the alarm clock and whatever else happens to be on the dressing table at the time as she heaves her fat bum onto the dressing table, plops it down on the jewellery box and dares anyone stupid enough to try, to get her off.
Along comes Mum and all Hell breaks loose.
Mum: “What the - why are you on there?”
Polly: “Because.”
Mum: “I’ve told you a million times you’re not to go on there!”
Polly: “What’s your point?”
Mum: “Get off!”
Polly: “Don’t you touch me!”
Mum: *grunts as she tries to lift Polly off*
Polly: Hiss*spit*yell*
Mum: ^%#! She’s knocked the alarm clock off now!”
Angela: “Maybe that’s because you knocked it off while trying to get her off?”
Mum: “Shut up!”
Note to everyone - this is what happens when you’re dumb enough to try and offer comments that are, apparently, extremely unhelpful in this situation.
It continues -
Polly: “Let me go! HELP!”
Angela: “Why don’t you just leave her-?”
Mum: “She’s not staying there!”
Polly: “Yes I freakin’ am!”
Mum: “No you’re not. Get off!”
Angela: “She’ll only get back up there.”
Mum: “No she won’t.”
Polly: “Yes I freakin’ will! It’s the Best Spot Ever!”
Mum: *finally manages to dislodge Polly and plops her onto the chair beside the dressing table* “Now you can sit there.”
Polly’s eyes are huge, black and not friendly. “You really think so, huh?”
Angela: “You really think she’ll stay there?”
Mum: “She will.” Points at Polly. “You don’t go up on my dressing table knocking stuff off. Now stay.”
Angela: “She’s not a dog. No way is she going to-”
Mum: “She will if she knows what’s good for her.”
No sooner does Mum walk away than I peek through the doorway and yep, Polly has her a**e on the jewellery box again.
***********************
Fight 2 - Evie and the Visitors
So we’ve had a busy time lately with visiting kitties coming to stay with us. There’s sweet little old Renee (who is 20yrs old), Skitty and Jeffrey (come as a pair) and Freya (a wide-eyed pure tortoiseshell). They’ve all been coming and going, sometimes overlapping.
Now we all know Evie has to be Boss Cocky. Struts her stuff and all that. She literally walks the walk and talks the talk. So any cats visiting get her full attention.
Now, if cats come for a long period (say several weeks), we usually start to integrate them into the household after about3 days, so they can run with ours, but if they’re only here for a few days or less than a week, I don’t worry about going through the whole introductions. Besides, Evie always makes that a little hairy (no pun intend).
So Renee, unfortunately, cannot mix with ours, because old or not, she’ll try to rip their faces off. Probably fall a***e over t*t while she does it because she’s so frail, but nevertheless I don’t want her having a heart attack while trying to knock another cat’s whiskers off on our watch.
Skitty and Jeffrey were only here for about five days, so no point tempting fate (especially Evie) by trying the introduction thing.
But Freya was here for several weeks, so it was a case of introduction time.
Now, when cats are shut in the front room with just the screen door between them and the others, Evie struts past them, plays in front of the door, presses her nose to it and stares in at them (especially when they’re using the litter tray, because unnerving them when they’re trying to do their business is such fun), and basically parades past showing them that SHE is Boss Cocky, SHE has the run of the place, it’s HER house and everything in it belongs to HER. She really enjoys this.
So let’s come back to Freya. Freya is a happy, bright-eyed tortoiseshell, only about a couple of years old from memory (and my memory is in serious question, but I’m pretty confident I’m right on this), and she is ultra affectionate.
So along comes the day when we let Freya out. The rest of the cats look at her and go “yeah, whatever” and go back to sleep. Polly just warns her not to get near the jewellery box or dressing table - “My place, you, my Best Spot Ever!” - and then comes Evie.
Evie, Evie, Evie. Her ears perk up, her whiskers bristled, her whole little body starts to quiver with excitement because there’s fresh meat to torment! She follows Freya as Freya prances around. Covertly, Evie slides from one piece of furniture to another, peers around the edges, pokes her head over the tops, sidles around the corners, the whole time keeping her prey in sight.
Freya, totally oblivious, dances around checking out everything, her eyes big and bright. (She really is a happy little cat).
Evie finally decides to reveal herself. TAH-DAH!!! “Cringe before me, you lowly peasant!”
Freya: “OMG! Someone to play with!” And proceeds to prance towards Evie.
This freaks out Evie. WTHell…? This thing isn’t afraid of her? Something wrong here, people. Evie snaps upright, her ears go back, her eyes go wide.
Freya happily trots forward. “Hi! How are you? Wow! Play with me! Wooooow!”
Evie, totally freaked out because this thing doesn’t recognize Her Majesty, backs up and disappears.
She spends the rest of the time that Freya is here either:
a) Hiding and peeking out at her
b) Sulking on Granny’s bed
c) Strutting in front of the screen door at night when Freya is put back in there to sleep.
Yep, night time is when Evie struts her stuff. “Going to bed with MY Granny,” she informs Freya, strutting past the door while Freya watches wide-eyed. “Going to MY bed with MY Granny,” Evie adds, strutting back the other way. “Only I sleep on MY Granny’s bed, ‘cause I’m Boss Cocky and everything!” this she delivers as she slides herself along the door. Then she proceeds to look up at Granny, all sweet and coy, casts Freya another triumphant glance as she watches, and trots after Granny, hopping into bed on HER little blankie in HER special spot on HER Granny’s bed, lays her little head in Granny’s hand and goes to sleep.
STILL BOSS COCKY!!!
*********************
If you'd like to see photos of Polly on the jewellery box and Evie totally bewildered that Freya has no clue she's Boss Cocky, visit my blog where the photos of these two are:
http://www.angelaverdenius.blogspot.c...
Enjoy!
Off to RWA 2016 next week!
So Monday I and my best friend fly out to Adelaide in South Aussie. The conference isn't until Friday, so we'll have 3 days and most of Friday to explore Adelaide and all it's wonderful places. We've even booked onto a ghost tour in the old Adelaide Gaol in the early night (7pm - 9pm). It'll be dark, cold, spooky (and freezing), but we're up for it! I hope LOL. I'm prepared to be spooked! We weren't brave enough to go for the other tour, which includes being locked down into the gaol, that's a little too much.
It doesn't help when my mother tells me she hopes nothing follows me and Rae back to the hotel...then all the way home. Seriously, I read where ghost hunters did have the ghost of a little girl follow one of them back home, she saw it on her staircase. Geez, now I've had goosebumps explode down my arms. Why did Mum have to say that and remind me of what I'd read? ARGH!
Wait, I know...I'll tell Rae that right as we arrive at the tour, freak her out before we start! ROTFL!!!! (Hey, that's what friends are for!)
I'm also homesick already, doing my usual 'I wish I wasn't going' and 'Why did I agree to go?' and 'I want to stay home!' This'll last until the plane leaves the tarmac. Seeing as I'm also a bad traveler and get air sick/bus sick/sometimes taxi sick, I'll be doped on travel sick pills that'll probably make me drowsy and sleep most of the way. Ah, the good times of travel!
Haven't had much time to write this week, trying to pack a lot of stuff into boxes and store in the back room, as Mum and I have so much to do when I get back that I'm trying to save some time and get the heavy stuff boxed. New lino going down the week I get home and we have to have everything out of the house ready for the men to shift the furniture and lay down the lino, then shift everything back in and empty the back room and repeat. So the week I get back, I'm not even going to make it onto the computer! So this week no writing, next week no writing as I'll be away, and the week I get back no writing as everything will be shifting and turbulent!
In between, the cats are wary of all the packing and not knowing what's going on - Lily is meowing earnestly at me every chance she gets, Evie is head first into any box she can get into, Theo simply retires under Mum's blanket while Fleur curls up near the pillow, Lacey is prancing around all agog and wanting to know what's happening, Polly has discovered one of the igloos she couldn't be bothered with before and declared it's HER ZONE and she's going to LIVE IN IT FOREVER and only comes out of it during the day to eat, drink and use the litter tray (then at night she sleeps on the sofa) while Abby takes off to the cattery and snoozes there all day, only coming in at tea time. Go figure.
So everyone, I won't be on-line for a couple of weeks. Have fun, stay safe, and I'll chat again soon!
It doesn't help when my mother tells me she hopes nothing follows me and Rae back to the hotel...then all the way home. Seriously, I read where ghost hunters did have the ghost of a little girl follow one of them back home, she saw it on her staircase. Geez, now I've had goosebumps explode down my arms. Why did Mum have to say that and remind me of what I'd read? ARGH!
Wait, I know...I'll tell Rae that right as we arrive at the tour, freak her out before we start! ROTFL!!!! (Hey, that's what friends are for!)
I'm also homesick already, doing my usual 'I wish I wasn't going' and 'Why did I agree to go?' and 'I want to stay home!' This'll last until the plane leaves the tarmac. Seeing as I'm also a bad traveler and get air sick/bus sick/sometimes taxi sick, I'll be doped on travel sick pills that'll probably make me drowsy and sleep most of the way. Ah, the good times of travel!
Haven't had much time to write this week, trying to pack a lot of stuff into boxes and store in the back room, as Mum and I have so much to do when I get back that I'm trying to save some time and get the heavy stuff boxed. New lino going down the week I get home and we have to have everything out of the house ready for the men to shift the furniture and lay down the lino, then shift everything back in and empty the back room and repeat. So the week I get back, I'm not even going to make it onto the computer! So this week no writing, next week no writing as I'll be away, and the week I get back no writing as everything will be shifting and turbulent!
In between, the cats are wary of all the packing and not knowing what's going on - Lily is meowing earnestly at me every chance she gets, Evie is head first into any box she can get into, Theo simply retires under Mum's blanket while Fleur curls up near the pillow, Lacey is prancing around all agog and wanting to know what's happening, Polly has discovered one of the igloos she couldn't be bothered with before and declared it's HER ZONE and she's going to LIVE IN IT FOREVER and only comes out of it during the day to eat, drink and use the litter tray (then at night she sleeps on the sofa) while Abby takes off to the cattery and snoozes there all day, only coming in at tea time. Go figure.
So everyone, I won't be on-line for a couple of weeks. Have fun, stay safe, and I'll chat again soon!
Good books - and Spurned by the Cat
So, books first. Over the last couple of months I've ordered 4 different paperbacks that go into my treasured collection - the Touch-On-Pain-of-Death shelf of our library shelves. So now all 4 paperbacks are sitting on the little library in my bedroom, burning a hole in the shelf, calling - CALLING! - to me to pick them up and read them RIGHT NOW.
However, I am one of those people who once I start reading a series I love, have to read them ALL before I start a book from another series. So saying, I am hooked on the Arisen military/zombie series and currently reading
, and as there are still 3 more books to read in this series, it's going to be a little while before I get to those 4 paperbacks.
Never mind! Something to look forward to!
Now to something that staggered me early this morning. We have this little torti cat (think they're called 'Calicos' in the US) who has graced us with her presence for about 5 years now. She's a pure torti with no white, semi-long haired, very pretty. She sometimes lives in our back and front yard. We're not actually sure if she's a stray or whether she belongs to someone, because she's sterilized and in good nick, no matter how long she disappears for. She'll disappear for up to four days then pop back up again, happy and hearty. Once she disappeared for 2 months and we thought she must have died, only to have her pop up one day - 'tah-dah!' So she comes and goes.
Now Duchess (as we call her - or Dutch, depending), had disappeared for about 3 days. No food eaten though we keep putting fresh out every morning and every night. I think either her owners (if she has any) are home more than they used to be, or someone in the neighborhood is letting her into their home. Either way, she had done her disappearing act.
So I was up early as usual going for my morning walk (I know, right? Sick. Why would anyone in their right mind get up early on their day off to go for a walk?!), and I'm trotting along and lo and behold, I'm passing Betty's house and there is Duchess, sniffing the trampoline in Betty's front yard.
"Dutch!" I cry out, "There you are!"
And Dutch looks at me.
"Come here, sweet thing," I coo, stopping and holding out my hand.
My gosh, you'd have thought I was doing something exceedingly nasty. She pulled her ears back (Dutch, not Betty. Betty was smart enough to still be in bed), and trotted under the trampoline. Get this - Dutch went UNDER it and stared out at me.
Now I felt like a fool, with cars going past while I'm trying to coax Dutch out for a pat. And I realised something. Isn't this what kids do when they reach a certain age and don't want their parents to acknowledge them at school? You know, don't kiss them goodbye and wave them into the classroom? This is Dutch. OMG, Dutch didn't want me to say anything to her with other people around!
When did this happen? When did Dutch decide that I was embarrassing? Is she ashamed of me?
I realised something else. Apparently I am perfectly fine to have around when she's in MY yard, or MY carport, and even MY driveway - I can kiss and cuddle her, rub her belly, stroke her, give her fresh food and water, but how dare I approach her out in public?
As I thoughtfully trotted on home with Dutch watching me in righteous indignation from beneath Betty's trampoline (should a lady in her 70s even have a trampoline?), I pondered how animals and humans are so alike.
Yep, I'd been taught my place by Dutch. Guess I'll have to wait until she decides to grace me with her presence once more before I'm worthy enough to pat her.
*sigh*...must be tough for that cat trying to teach us dumb humans our place in the hierarchy...
However, I am one of those people who once I start reading a series I love, have to read them ALL before I start a book from another series. So saying, I am hooked on the Arisen military/zombie series and currently reading
, and as there are still 3 more books to read in this series, it's going to be a little while before I get to those 4 paperbacks.Never mind! Something to look forward to!
Now to something that staggered me early this morning. We have this little torti cat (think they're called 'Calicos' in the US) who has graced us with her presence for about 5 years now. She's a pure torti with no white, semi-long haired, very pretty. She sometimes lives in our back and front yard. We're not actually sure if she's a stray or whether she belongs to someone, because she's sterilized and in good nick, no matter how long she disappears for. She'll disappear for up to four days then pop back up again, happy and hearty. Once she disappeared for 2 months and we thought she must have died, only to have her pop up one day - 'tah-dah!' So she comes and goes.
Now Duchess (as we call her - or Dutch, depending), had disappeared for about 3 days. No food eaten though we keep putting fresh out every morning and every night. I think either her owners (if she has any) are home more than they used to be, or someone in the neighborhood is letting her into their home. Either way, she had done her disappearing act.
So I was up early as usual going for my morning walk (I know, right? Sick. Why would anyone in their right mind get up early on their day off to go for a walk?!), and I'm trotting along and lo and behold, I'm passing Betty's house and there is Duchess, sniffing the trampoline in Betty's front yard.
"Dutch!" I cry out, "There you are!"
And Dutch looks at me.
"Come here, sweet thing," I coo, stopping and holding out my hand.
My gosh, you'd have thought I was doing something exceedingly nasty. She pulled her ears back (Dutch, not Betty. Betty was smart enough to still be in bed), and trotted under the trampoline. Get this - Dutch went UNDER it and stared out at me.
Now I felt like a fool, with cars going past while I'm trying to coax Dutch out for a pat. And I realised something. Isn't this what kids do when they reach a certain age and don't want their parents to acknowledge them at school? You know, don't kiss them goodbye and wave them into the classroom? This is Dutch. OMG, Dutch didn't want me to say anything to her with other people around!
When did this happen? When did Dutch decide that I was embarrassing? Is she ashamed of me?
I realised something else. Apparently I am perfectly fine to have around when she's in MY yard, or MY carport, and even MY driveway - I can kiss and cuddle her, rub her belly, stroke her, give her fresh food and water, but how dare I approach her out in public?
As I thoughtfully trotted on home with Dutch watching me in righteous indignation from beneath Betty's trampoline (should a lady in her 70s even have a trampoline?), I pondered how animals and humans are so alike.
Yep, I'd been taught my place by Dutch. Guess I'll have to wait until she decides to grace me with her presence once more before I'm worthy enough to pat her.
*sigh*...must be tough for that cat trying to teach us dumb humans our place in the hierarchy...
Cat vs Human
So one of my cats, Polly, and I are having a battle of the wills.
Polly has this idea in her furry little head that I should feed Her Majesty her breakfast on my bed. That's right, ON MY BED.
I show her the food bowl, she looks at it from where her furry bum is parked on my bed, to me.
I REFUSE to give in and instead put the bowl on the floor. This is as far as I'll go - putting the food bowl on the floor of my bedroom. The nasty smell of canned fish goes through my bedroom but I'm soft enough to allow this. But I'm NOT soft enough to allow that same fish to be fed to Polly on the bed because she gets the food here and there and next thing, my bed will stink like canned fish.
So her answer to that is to tuck herself under the cover and refuse to come out to eat breakfast.
Her next step is to come out halfway through the afternoon yelling that I didn't feed her, Mum didn't feed her and she is STARVING!
Then we have to feed her right now.
And the rest of the cats come mooching along, and we tell them it's too early for their dinner and Polly didn't get breaky and now our name is mud in their eyes because we fed Polly a big arvo snack and not them.
My life...it is a battlefield right now...
Polly has this idea in her furry little head that I should feed Her Majesty her breakfast on my bed. That's right, ON MY BED.
I show her the food bowl, she looks at it from where her furry bum is parked on my bed, to me.
I REFUSE to give in and instead put the bowl on the floor. This is as far as I'll go - putting the food bowl on the floor of my bedroom. The nasty smell of canned fish goes through my bedroom but I'm soft enough to allow this. But I'm NOT soft enough to allow that same fish to be fed to Polly on the bed because she gets the food here and there and next thing, my bed will stink like canned fish.
So her answer to that is to tuck herself under the cover and refuse to come out to eat breakfast.
Her next step is to come out halfway through the afternoon yelling that I didn't feed her, Mum didn't feed her and she is STARVING!
Then we have to feed her right now.
And the rest of the cats come mooching along, and we tell them it's too early for their dinner and Polly didn't get breaky and now our name is mud in their eyes because we fed Polly a big arvo snack and not them.
My life...it is a battlefield right now...
My Name is Mud
My name is mud yet again.
It's because the furries were all due their vaccinations. Mum and I took the furry horde in 2 batches - 4 the first day, 3 the second day.
The vet was happy with the progress of Lily, Polly & Abby's diets. Slow weight loss but progress, he said, in the right direction.
Yay!
The furries however, weren't so delighted with their day out. Lacey and Evie wet themselves (poor little mites) and Evie and Lacey screamed the car down all the way to the vet. As in SCREAMED the car down. And you know, we had both of them in the 1st batch, so you can imagine the sound effects happening.
My shoulders were hunching up to my ears so much while I cowered over the steering wheel that by the time we got to the vet, I had a crick in my back for several hours after.
But the fun really started when we got home.
Polly growled at me every time I even looked at her. No swiping, no biting, but she was letting me know she WAS NOT HAPPY and I was a TRAITOR.
Evie and Lacey both had 24hrs being off post vaccinations. Neither ate tea, and Evie wouldn't get out of Mum's bed all night or all the next day, staying in a little huddled ball in the corner near the pillow and at times under the blanket. Evie stayed squirreled away on her little hammock under the backroom table.
Talk about feeling bad for the poor little things.
To top it off, Lacey has a bad tooth so now I've had to book her in to the vet tomorrow to have her teeth cleaned and possibly a tooth pulled.
To say my name will be mud with her again is putting it mildly. I may never live this down! *Cough* I was cowardly enough to book her in on my work day so Mum has to take her instead *Cough*
What? Don't look at me like that! At least I'm man (woman?) enough to admit I'm a coward! But after the fiasco of the vaccinations, I think I'm entitled to be!
It's because the furries were all due their vaccinations. Mum and I took the furry horde in 2 batches - 4 the first day, 3 the second day.
The vet was happy with the progress of Lily, Polly & Abby's diets. Slow weight loss but progress, he said, in the right direction.
Yay!
The furries however, weren't so delighted with their day out. Lacey and Evie wet themselves (poor little mites) and Evie and Lacey screamed the car down all the way to the vet. As in SCREAMED the car down. And you know, we had both of them in the 1st batch, so you can imagine the sound effects happening.
My shoulders were hunching up to my ears so much while I cowered over the steering wheel that by the time we got to the vet, I had a crick in my back for several hours after.
But the fun really started when we got home.
Polly growled at me every time I even looked at her. No swiping, no biting, but she was letting me know she WAS NOT HAPPY and I was a TRAITOR.
Evie and Lacey both had 24hrs being off post vaccinations. Neither ate tea, and Evie wouldn't get out of Mum's bed all night or all the next day, staying in a little huddled ball in the corner near the pillow and at times under the blanket. Evie stayed squirreled away on her little hammock under the backroom table.
Talk about feeling bad for the poor little things.
To top it off, Lacey has a bad tooth so now I've had to book her in to the vet tomorrow to have her teeth cleaned and possibly a tooth pulled.
To say my name will be mud with her again is putting it mildly. I may never live this down! *Cough* I was cowardly enough to book her in on my work day so Mum has to take her instead *Cough*
What? Don't look at me like that! At least I'm man (woman?) enough to admit I'm a coward! But after the fiasco of the vaccinations, I think I'm entitled to be!
Bird in the House - no, seriously!
A bird in the house - seriously, a real feathered bird in the house.
So it's 3 days off from work, I ran around this morning helping a friend, watched a horror movie during lunch with Mum, then settled down for an afternoon of writing.
All is quiet and I'm industriously *typing*typing*typing* then I hear this weird sound. Fluttering, kind of, and for one freaky moment I think...did I open a door to the netherworld by watching one too many horror movies? (not that I'm paranoid or anything, but...)
I ignore the noise, all goes quiet, then I hear it again. I finally get up, leave my little writing room and look into the kitchen and - spy a young dove sitting on our kitchen table. And 3 cats sitting on the floor in a semi-circle with huge eyes and whiskers bristling.
Now you can't blame the cats, they are indoor cats and cannot go outside to catch birds, so what has happened (and it has happened before in the past, but not for awhile) is this dove has come ambling through the trellis on the back veranda and managed to find itself amongst a whole heap of dove-loving, chicken-lickin' cats.
Not a good situation for the dove.
So now here I am, creeping around, trying to catch this dove and field off the cats at the same time. Yes, the cats are all following me, eyes huge, tails wagging. And there's my Mum who apparently thinks helping is standing in the doorway giving advice while the dove is fluttering above my head and the cats are converging on me and the dove in a little furry horde.
But - and here's where you'll be So proud of me (okay, maybe you don't care but I'm stoked), I managed to catch the bird and take it outside (much to the disappointment of the cats who had an interesting interlude to an otherwise very quiet - and possibly boring - afternoon), and put it out near the bowl of bird seed and water Mum puts out every morning.
And SO CUTE, PEOPLE! The little dove just sat in my palm, looking around.
All right, it was probably scared, little heart pounding away, and possibly weak birdie-kneed at the narrow escape and having some hulking human carrying it, but I like to think it found me non-threatening and was getting it's bearings while feeling totally safe.
Oh, come on! Let me live my little fantasy for a few minutes! ROTFL
Anyway, it was an interesting interlude, I felt quite maternal towards the little feathery bloke (or sheila, I don't really know). Now it's back to writing for me!
So it's 3 days off from work, I ran around this morning helping a friend, watched a horror movie during lunch with Mum, then settled down for an afternoon of writing.
All is quiet and I'm industriously *typing*typing*typing* then I hear this weird sound. Fluttering, kind of, and for one freaky moment I think...did I open a door to the netherworld by watching one too many horror movies? (not that I'm paranoid or anything, but...)
I ignore the noise, all goes quiet, then I hear it again. I finally get up, leave my little writing room and look into the kitchen and - spy a young dove sitting on our kitchen table. And 3 cats sitting on the floor in a semi-circle with huge eyes and whiskers bristling.
Now you can't blame the cats, they are indoor cats and cannot go outside to catch birds, so what has happened (and it has happened before in the past, but not for awhile) is this dove has come ambling through the trellis on the back veranda and managed to find itself amongst a whole heap of dove-loving, chicken-lickin' cats.
Not a good situation for the dove.
So now here I am, creeping around, trying to catch this dove and field off the cats at the same time. Yes, the cats are all following me, eyes huge, tails wagging. And there's my Mum who apparently thinks helping is standing in the doorway giving advice while the dove is fluttering above my head and the cats are converging on me and the dove in a little furry horde.
But - and here's where you'll be So proud of me (okay, maybe you don't care but I'm stoked), I managed to catch the bird and take it outside (much to the disappointment of the cats who had an interesting interlude to an otherwise very quiet - and possibly boring - afternoon), and put it out near the bowl of bird seed and water Mum puts out every morning.
And SO CUTE, PEOPLE! The little dove just sat in my palm, looking around.
All right, it was probably scared, little heart pounding away, and possibly weak birdie-kneed at the narrow escape and having some hulking human carrying it, but I like to think it found me non-threatening and was getting it's bearings while feeling totally safe.
Oh, come on! Let me live my little fantasy for a few minutes! ROTFL
Anyway, it was an interesting interlude, I felt quite maternal towards the little feathery bloke (or sheila, I don't really know). Now it's back to writing for me!
Update - Getting Closer!
Woooo! Getting closer! On the final round of edits now! Of course, this now happens when I'm on a stretch of work with 3 days on, 1 off, 5 on. But never mind, I'm still hitting the computer before and after work.
Just wanted to give you a quick update. I'm on track to hit the Dec deadline, will try for sooner. Could guarantee sooner if I didn't have to work for a living as well ;-), but then again my job keeps me grounded, too, and grateful for all I have. Not to mention I can keep the furries in the comfort to which they have become accustomed.
That reminds me, it's getting cramped on my bed now that 4 cats have decided to share it with me. And if I'm lucky Theo decides to hop up as well in the early morning and walk across my chest. Because he can...
Oh man, I have season 8 of The Walking Dead on DVD calling my name when I finish this book. I'm planning for one of my weekends off work - it'll be a back-to-back TWD marathon with a bag of chips ('cause you can't watch a zombie movie without snacks, right?). It's my little reward!
Okay ,I'm off to hit the sack now so I can get up early in the morning, go for a quick walk, sweep, mop, feed the furries and hit the computer for several hours before I leave for the late shift. Yeah, it is what it is - work and writing and sleeping and writing and work! LOL
cheers!
Just wanted to give you a quick update. I'm on track to hit the Dec deadline, will try for sooner. Could guarantee sooner if I didn't have to work for a living as well ;-), but then again my job keeps me grounded, too, and grateful for all I have. Not to mention I can keep the furries in the comfort to which they have become accustomed.
That reminds me, it's getting cramped on my bed now that 4 cats have decided to share it with me. And if I'm lucky Theo decides to hop up as well in the early morning and walk across my chest. Because he can...
Oh man, I have season 8 of The Walking Dead on DVD calling my name when I finish this book. I'm planning for one of my weekends off work - it'll be a back-to-back TWD marathon with a bag of chips ('cause you can't watch a zombie movie without snacks, right?). It's my little reward!
Okay ,I'm off to hit the sack now so I can get up early in the morning, go for a quick walk, sweep, mop, feed the furries and hit the computer for several hours before I leave for the late shift. Yeah, it is what it is - work and writing and sleeping and writing and work! LOL
cheers!
Tax Time, Writing, Sicko
So, got 4 days off work. Normally I'd be over the moon because it means I can write write write, but alas...alack...awoe (okay, that's not a word but I'm using it anyway - because I can), it is also tax time Down Under.
So instead of writing, I'm going to be getting all my paperwork in order for the accountant. Oh joy. Nothing like having paper spread all over the place, making sure everything balances and I have receipts and - well, you all know what I mean.
However, it's not a complete loss - I have music on, I'm warm and snug in my little backroom (aka storeroom converted to my writing/craft room). Yes, did you notice what I added there? Craft room! Because I've been so sucked into Diamond Mosaic Painting (I LOVE it), I now have that squashed in here as well!
Anyway, back to the subject at hand - music on, hot cuppa, in warm clothes, cats mooching around - actually, no, they're sun baking in both the backroom and on the back veranda, lucky little buggers. I'd give anything to be curled up with a good book rather than getting tax paperwork ready but...could be worse! At least I'm comfortable, and to be honest, I really don't mind making sure everything balances. Getting it altogether gives me a sense of accomplishment.
Oh yeah, baby, I'm a sicko....I admit it...
So instead of writing, I'm going to be getting all my paperwork in order for the accountant. Oh joy. Nothing like having paper spread all over the place, making sure everything balances and I have receipts and - well, you all know what I mean.
However, it's not a complete loss - I have music on, I'm warm and snug in my little backroom (aka storeroom converted to my writing/craft room). Yes, did you notice what I added there? Craft room! Because I've been so sucked into Diamond Mosaic Painting (I LOVE it), I now have that squashed in here as well!
Anyway, back to the subject at hand - music on, hot cuppa, in warm clothes, cats mooching around - actually, no, they're sun baking in both the backroom and on the back veranda, lucky little buggers. I'd give anything to be curled up with a good book rather than getting tax paperwork ready but...could be worse! At least I'm comfortable, and to be honest, I really don't mind making sure everything balances. Getting it altogether gives me a sense of accomplishment.
Oh yeah, baby, I'm a sicko....I admit it...
