PrinterCatz

Hero checks out the wiring behind the fax/printer/copier (mmm, tasty): Claudio's place is under my computer desk--can you see him? He has the stuffed lion, his latest toy appropriated from the babies. The lion scared him at first but now he carries it around and takes it with him for naps:

Plastic Grocery Bags are Monsters!

The kitties were playing with a plastic grocery bag last night so I left it on the floor until this afternoon, when Claudio got it stuck over his head and one leg and decided that it was EATING HIM ALIVE and ran through the house in a panic, knocking into walls, tipping over plants, crashing into windows as he tried to COMMIT SUICIDE BY JUMPING OUT THE WINDOW before the evil monster ATE HIM FIRST!!!!!11!!1!!

Finally he got stuck beneath the geranium stand and Chris was able to cut it off with a pair of scissors. Hero headed for the hills immediately, and has been hiding behind the flat screen TV all afternoon. Claudio has been under the bed for 3 and 1/2 hours and shows no sign of emerging ever again. I just went to try to talk him out and he turned his head away and moved further beneath the bed. Does anyone know what to do with a severely traumatized kitty? After all, if you can't trust your local grocery store bag, who can you trust?

Winter Redux

(I love the word redux).

Look who was on our back deck the other morning. I've seen the wild turkeys in Mary's yard and on the street, but never right outside the kitchen window. John sometimes puts the pail of vegetable scraps outside the door to take to the compost heap later, and maybe the turkey was looking for breakfast. The kitties were very intrigued (I wish I'd gotten a picture of them--one wonders what's going through their minds--mb "if I could only get my paws on that bird, no more Kitty Chow for me!").

Sunshine on snow on the crabapple tree (with Mary's walnut tree behind the fence):Timp from our front porch:
Our house this winter:

Kitty Update

Our cats relax, on this winter Sunday evening, Hero as usual neat and pretty in the middle of the largest couch and Claudio stretched out like a giant furry slug in front of the fire.

Grandma E's Birthday Party

So we're slogging through the parties one at a time. Today was fun with the local families over--but it was the first time some had been since we got our cats. Bad news for our asthma/allergy afflicted family. Maybe we'll have to have the rest of our parties in the summer. It was fun to visit with G&G for awhile after everyone else went home (sniffing and wheezing).

Flowers and Kittens

Kitties first: portrait of Claudio, naptime,
and Still Life on a Rug.
Then, the garden. Grape arbor,

potential tomatoes,
strawberries, peaches coming along,
pears.

And last of all, the flowers. Enjoy.

I realize that, like Bilbo, my love of flowers overwhelms my art (whether poesy or photography), but who cares? Maybe that's why they call it poesy anyway.

What we do in the summertime

Chris plays Star Wars And so does Hero the Kitty.

News of the Week

So things are settling down a little around here. We figured out why the house smelled of cat pee--Hero was not just standing in the ficus pot with a fixed expression, she was doing her little kitty job there. A change of potting soil with decorative rocks on top has made a huge difference, as well as Betsy's recommendation of Scoop-Away Multicat. Here is a picture of the kitties sleeping, Hero on the left and Claudio on the right.



Chris named Claudio after the singer in Coheed and Cambria, and since he is older and bigger and sometimes mean to the little blue female, she is named Hero (from Much Ado About Nothing).

We had a lot of fun at Colette's birthday party last week, at Rob and Nicolle's temporary house in SLC (yesterday they moved up to the Aves). Unfortunately, Colette was sick. Fortunately, there are magic pink acetaminophen drops, which can make even a droopy little girl with a fever hop around in glee at the sight of a

hedgehog, python, chinchilla, and bunny rabbit. Nicolle has more photos at her blog, and Betsy has some up at the end of this post on her blog. We will miss seeing the babies as often now they're in Salt Lake. Rob is rethinking his new job at Delta, since it would be nights and weekends, and his music business is doing so well. What they really need is a day job where one can work and the other watch the kids, and Rob would be free for gigs. I know they'll work something out. I'll certainly be driving to Salt Lake more often, in my new little car (1998 Suzuki Swift--I'll post a photo later).

Here's a random photo of John and the babies in the swing in our backyard. In the 100 degree heat the roses have started to fade. It's time to get out and deadhead and fertilize them again. Colette had a rose-petal path to her party, from collecting the deadheaded petals from the Cesar Chavez roses in the front yard.

Last of all, an update on Jamison. Somebody (Amy?) used my camera to take photos of him, so I figure I'll show you the Frankenfoot at least:

He's doing very well, following PT instructions from Uncle Boyd, riding the exercise bike, stretching, going to parties and to church, walking up and down Grandma Gene's driveway with his walker. I don't believe he's even using painkillers anymore, and he and Amy have taken to eating mostly fruits and veggies with the occasional dish of liver and onions. In fact, he was doing so well that he started walking on crutches and damaged his broken hand from putting too much weight on it, and the doctor put a hard cast on it in retaliation. So it's back to the walker until the hand heals. It's been great having them here, but after Jamison's brother's wedding this week, they're probably moving to his mom's new house in Lindon. They're still planning to go to Chicago, although the details of who/when/how are not yet settled. I will miss them both. All our children but Chris will have left town, so, the blog.

Cue who you gonna call? Your Mom!