Winner!

I wanted to come up with some sort of unique method to pick the winner of the our one year anniversary present.

How cute would it be to get a chicken to pick one?!!

I carefully spread the names of the entrants (two pieces for each Google follower!) on the ground in a somewhat random order. 

Chirp chirp went off to find a good chicken candidate.

Cloudy came along in the interim, offering up his services as a random name on a paper picker.

After given the go-ahead, he clearly froze.

"I just can't do it" he said.

Meanwhile, the chicks (hard to call them that anymore, but harder not to!) answered their summons and appeared on the scene.

"Help me out, guys!  This is really tough!"

"I may be wrong, but these aren't either feed nor worms."

"Nope.  Too weird.  You do it, Cloudy!"

Bracing himself...

Contemplating the situation...

He goes for a slip of paper!

Congratulations to the Pollinatrix!  Have you seen her blog, the Whole Blooming World? 

Please go help her celebrate one year of blogging, too! 

"I need more catnip.  And a nap."

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate, and everyone who's been along on this crazy ride with us!

Pollinatrix, send me your address, and I'll send you some homemade pampering!

How to give a cat a bath (by Kat)

Sky, our oldest and dearest cat, at least dearest cat to me, needed a bath.

Why? Although he's the meanest cat in the whole dang world, whenever we're gone for more than a day the other cats kick him out of the house. He hangs out under an old carriage house kitty corner from our house. I believe it must have had a coal-burning stove at one point, or was at least used to store the coal for the adjoining home. Whichever the case may be, he will let us coax him out, carry him home, and then he shares the coal dust with the rest of the house.

I should mention that this cat scared the vet so bad she peed her pants.

Really.

Second scariest animal she's ever had in her office, she said. And this gal works on rodeo animals (think world-class bulls), strays, and a husband who scares the bejeezus out of me, so there you go.

I should mention that her digression that brought this on was simply entering the exam room and approaching the table. Let's just say his teeth weren't examined, his temperature never, uh, probed, and his prodigious gut never palpated.

But he's my sweet little snoogums and I luvvy wuvvy duvvy him. All 30+ pounds of him.

But seriously, when you need a bath you need a bath.

So!

Before...


Close up of his fur, although it's still hard to see just how dirty he is!

Everything laid out.

Easing him into the water...

Doing his best meerkat impersonation...

Help! A peeping tom!

You can just see Cloudy, out on the potting bench, laughing his head off

Rinsing

I told him he was too heavy for me to keep holding up,
so he just sat politely after that...
what a weirdo!
I mean what a sweet little luvvy duvvy!

Rinsing over, squeezing out the water

Gross, but better here in the sink than on the couch or in my bed!

Like Eeyore, Sky seems to be missing a tail

Shiny!

Nay, positively glowing!

And thanks to Mr. Boom who (unknowingly) allowed Chirp chirp to use his camera to document the process!

Nashville Warblers (by Kat)

These cool little birds began visiting our yard earlier this month. I finally took a photo last weekend and posted it to our local Audubon group. Of course, my ID was wrong, but I was quickly corrected and people were excited. Now, while I'm sick in my house, Audubon-ers are hanging out on the sidewalk, ooh-ing and aah-ing while gazing toward my house.


The best part?
(NOT!)
One of our cats brought one into the house this morning.
Can you spot the interloper below?


I didn't see any Audubon witnesses out there as I finally released him back into the wild...but some of those folks have mighty strong binoculars. I'm just waiting for the phone-call!

Triskelion of kitties

I fell in love with the trislekion when visiting France the summer between 9th and 10th grades. I was lucky enough to befriend a girl at school who was born in France, but lived in the States. That summer, her mom took me along on their annual trip home for the summer.

We spent one glorious week up in Brittany, and I have always wanted to return. The triskel is an important cultural icon to the Celts, and signifies three forces. Which three forces? Pretty much any three you want. Sometimes earth, wind, and sea; sometimes mind, body, and spirit.


In this case we have destruction, mayhem, and allergens. My sweet triskelion of kitties.

Awww...How Cute! (by Kat)

Three guesses as to why Sky is peering over the ledge of the box!


Saturday was Free Chick Day at the local hardware store.

Small town style, the radio station had an announcer present, a pizza place was giving away pizza slices, doughnuts and coffee were on hand, and Girl Scouts were selling cookies.

Here's the three answers to the three guesses: "No," "Brown," and "Black." Despite their names, they're mostly likely Rhodesian Reds. Come August, they'll be giving us brown eggs. We were hoping to score some Araucanas, in which case blue eggs would greet us in the nest. There's a wee slim chance these could be them, but I'm not holding my breath. They're so wonderfully fuzzily cute, I really don't care what breed they are.

We're handling them quite a bit, getting them used to being held and loved, so they'll have a nice demeanor as they grow. Some folks argue that the breed has more to do with the disposition than the environment. I think it's some of both. Kind of like people.

The cats are curious, and like to keep an eye on the chicks, but don't seem inclined to hurt the little fuzzballs. I really get a kick out of watching one cat keep an eye on another cat who in turn is sniffing the birds a little too closely. I can't tell if the second cat is secretly egging the first one on..."come on, I dare you!" or if he's just getting ready to tattle. I think it's some of both. Kind of like people.

Cloudy Wants a Birdy (by Kat)

Really?

I'm sitting on birdseed?

Huh, didn't notice. No really, I didn't notice.

I was just lying here in the sun, very innocently.

Very innocently.

Birdseed?

Who knew?

You believe me, right?

PS You're not too late to join our giveaway! Hurry back to this post and sign up!

Saturday Night (by Kat)

Saturday Night

Those two words once were filled with exciting connotations. Anything could happen! Saturday night meant hanging at the Tav, shooting pool, drinking beer, and the long walk back to the apartment. It meant friends, food, drink, and a general release from the week behind us.

Then we became parents....

Then we became "old."

Saturday night, or at least this particular Saturday night, finds me in our office. Woo hoo! The excitement of it all!

I finally had a chance to work on last Sunday's New York Times crossword puzzle. I almost finished it! Four blank spaces are left on the page, taunting me. Not exactly the same as four balls left on the table, with a stack of quarters signifying a stack of challengers, but that's okay.

See the green bowl? Comfort food! My mom called it chipped beef. My husband uses another description, supposedly from the military (though he never served, which leads me to wonder where he heard the term--you see, the mystery hasn't left our marriage after all these years). In case you're not familiar with it, chipped beef is essentially a white sauce with minced pressed beef in it, served over toast. Not exactly the Tav's nachos, but not bad, either.

Cloudy, our gentle tabby, seems to enjoy this type of Saturday night, too. He wants me to believe he knows the answers to the missing spaces on the puzzle. But more than that, he wants me to skooch my chair back so he can claim my lap. He believes that the power of his charming good looks will win girls over. Just like the guys at the Tav.

Hmmmm, maybe times haven't changed quite as much as I thought.

What are you doing this weekend? (by Kat)

What are you doing this weekend?

Marble is admiring her brand new feathers.

She just went though a molt, and missed her good looks (and tail feathers)!

Seraphina is in the middle of a molt.

She'll spend the weekend sloughing old feathers and growing new ones.

Cumulus is spending her time healing from her ordeal with the
un-Saint-ly Bernard.

Pablano is trying to figure out how to work a screwdriver.
Sitting in front of the heat vent is not enough.
He wants to curl up right inside the furnace.

We're going to a party for a two-year old.
I found the BEST PRESENT EVER last week near Bet's.

His cheeks glow, and he quacks a not-too-obnoxious
quack as his fountain spurts water over his back!

($12.95 from Young Art in Vancouver, WA)

I can't wait to see my nephew's face!

Life and Death (by Kat)

Cumulus is still clinging to life, and appears to be improving. She's eating and drinking and making little sounds. I was looking back through some old photos. This particular shot was taken in April of 2008. Cumy is the little gal on the right. Marble is our black hen, and she's in the back. Seraphina is a beautiful red hen, but doesn't lay eggs very well. She's the gal on the right. Vanilla is front and center. She was eaten by a hawk last winter. That was a gory spectacle.

In the background are two cats. The calico, Aditi, had been abandoned by her owner, and was totally lame in one of her hind legs. The vet thought we should amputate the leg, but we couldn't afford the cost of the surgery. Lo and behold, though, she began to use it and eventually was completely healed. She lived a miraculous ten more years with us before she died this past spring.

The little black kitty weighed about two pounds when he showed up at our door one winter night. He wouldn't have survived a single more night out in the cold. We took him to the vet, wondering what to do with such a little kitten. Should it even be weaned yet? Turned out it he was at least two years old, based on his teeth. Huh. He was such a little scrap of a thing. How could two years of life be contained in such a meager little package?

My husband named the cat Diablo, after the hospital visit required to get antibiotics for the bites and scratches on his hands and arms. In fact, my husband couldn't undo a ziplock bag due to the swelling! I call the cat Pablano, 'cause he's the color of the pepper and has a temperament to match.

Life and death, saved animals, animals on the cusp, and animals at rest under the branches of the sumac.

Our fingers are crossed for Cumy.

Kitty likes Crochet (by Kat)

I'm trying a slightly more complicated crochet pattern tonight.

There's lots of loose string because I undid the previous attempt.

I told him he could stay in my lap as long as he behaved himself.

That string just wouldn't leave him alone, he said.

I knew he couldn't resist for long!

Tonight, Bet and I get to eat dinner together! We'll only be with each other for a short while, but I just can't wait!!!