It's all about the cats

Is this a lovebug or what? He likes to go on my desk when I'm trying to work.
The Scarecrow, by Michael Connelly is quite good. Mowry is leaving his scent on the desk and on the book. I hope the next person to check this out at the library doesn't have a cat that will mind Mowry's scent on it!

Mowry likes to look out the window in the office, and he doesn't like it in the morning when the shade is down because the sun comes in in the morning.

The tabby is my favorite - he's hiding under the bush alongside our driveway. He isn't that friendly.

I was so glad to see the tabby and the white kitty wrestling! The two white kittens used to do that, and I was hoping the white female wouldn't miss the white male who now lives as an indoor kitty across the street. Just like their humans, their littermates can be replaced! Although these two are littermates!

He is gorgeous! Look at the markings and that face! I wish he was friendlier!

Is it Monday or Tuesday? UPDATED at 12:45 pm

It's hard getting back in the swing of things on a Tuesday after a Monday holiday. I didn't think about this when I scheduled a mammogram for 8:15 am this morning!

I'm working at home today, but I'm already thinking of things I can do that don't qualify as work.

Tonight we're going to listen to a friend speak about genealogy. It should be interesting.

Today is the day the cats next door get spayed. I hope it happens. We don't need or want any more kittens. I worry about those cats. I don't know if the male kitten is also getting fixed, but I don't think so. Do our cats know how lucky they are? They get Advantaged monthly to keep the fleas away, they are fed each day, they get fresh water each day, they get hugs more than they want them, and they have nice cat beds at the end of our bed (my side, I'm shorter) where they sleep each night. No cars, no prey, no bugs.


UPDATED at 12:45 pm: I fed the kids wet food. Alex sniffed and walked away. I've never met a cat that doesn't love wet food. Mowry and Ziggy ate it all. Here are Alex and Mow watching Ziggy get away.

My pepper plant (from seeds) is doing well. I put a few garlic cloves in the ground, but eventually took them out. They must have split because they are back, growing with the pepper plant.

To the left of the flamingo is where I planted carrot seeds, but the cats use it as their litter box, so I planted new seeds in the big planter in front of the flamingo. I hope they grow. I put up a tomato cage to keep the cats out.

Uh oh, speaking of cats, if the kitten is in our backyard, and Lilly is in the front yard (not pictured) then it appears they aren't getting spayed today.

The kitten is approximately the same age and size that Mowry was when we got him three years ago in early August, 2006. The kitten is licking herself!

Cats Cats Cats AGAIN!

I'm told the female kitten and the momma cat are getting spayed on Sept 8th. That's tomorrow. We'll see if it happens. Yesterday the white kitten was asleep with her head on the ledge. Just to the right on the other side of the ledge under the green bush was Lilly, the Momma cat. Can you see both?
The kitten closer.Lilly and the kitten come into the backyard when they hear us back there. The kitten likes to go under the lavender bush.

The avocado tree has so many avocadoes this year. I've already found some eaten by those dangety squirrels, but with this many, I'm hoping we'll get lots even after the squirrels take theirs. This does not make me like squirrels.

It's almost pineapple guava season. I'm glad I found someone on Fremont Freecycle who likes them, and they will also be perfect for the Sunday produce exchange on Niles Blvd. This week I took lemons and got a lemon cucumber, two tomatoes and a carrot grown by someone else around here!

Alex didn't like that we were outside and he was 'stuck' in the sunroom. He was even doing the stress meow telling us either he needed to be outside, or that we needed to come inside.

Alex's twin separated at birth (that would be Ziggy) was on Will's lap as Will was reading and then napping. It's been just about 10 months since Zig Zag came to live with us, and I think he loves his 'new' human, Will.

Just when I thought Mowry couldn't find another odd position in which to sleep, I found him sleeping with his paws up. I wish I could sleep like a cat! Forget sleeping like a baby!

Cats Cats and More Cats

The female white kitten and the tabby are safely hidden under the bush out front. The tabby is my favorite. Last night our neighbor across the street was woken up by cats doing what cats do. She found a lot of gray and white fur on her lawn. Let's just hope that Lilly or her kitten didn't get pregnant. They are scheduled to be spayed in 3 days.Boy, have they changed from when they were first born. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. We each did some cleaning today. Will had the vacuum monster...

which prompted Ziggy to go to the middle level of the Crow's Nest.

At one point Alex (on the left) and Ziggy were both on the floor behind the Crow's Nest next to each other. They don't like each other, but they like the vacuum even less. It's downright scary!

Mowry sleeps in the funniest positions!

A few minutes later he was yarning, but doesn't he look fierce?
Outside the kittens like to use the dirt out front for a litter box. It's a good thing we like kitties. The lady who lived here before did not like cats!

Knitting

I made these two blankets for Ziggy's former humans, Christine and Erik's new baby, but I forgot to take pictures of them, so I had to ask Christine to take the pictures! I really like the way they came out. The green and yellow is quite random - start each color when I felt like it, although it looks like there is some unplanned symmetry! I used the same yarn to make my cousin Amee a blanket for her new baby and she loved it because it's Packers' colors! Who knew!
It's hard to tell from the picture, but this one, while asymmetrical in color change, is symmetrical in its knit and purl square.
The blue blanket is cotton and shouldn't be put in the dryer. I felt bad about that, so I made the yellow one after, so she'd have one she could wash and dry without hanging up.

Christine was going to take a picture of the baby with the blankets, but it's too hot today to put a baby near a blanket!!!

Facebook Sucks and Cat Pictures

The fires in Southern California were caused by humans. There is NO excuse for this unless it was truly an accident, like a spark from a lawnmower. If it's from a lit cigarette being thrown, then someone is responsible for the losses. Cigarette butts are not only litter, but dangerous litter. We all must do our part to keep our world clean and safe. What's amazing is that investigators can actually determine the cause of a huge fire that covered so much acreage.

When it's hot at home, Mowry hides between the wall and the curtains in the bedroom. I always know where to look for him when it's hot.

This morning Mowry and Alex were either guarding the hallway, or more likely, blocking Ziggy from going down the hallway.

The tabby kitten from next door is so cute. If I didn't have three cats already, he's the one I would have chosen from day one! He's shy, but occasionally he comes out and gets photographed by the paparazzi. Look at his size against the wood pile. He's the largest kitten, but still quite small.

I look at Facebook daily, but I can't figure out why. It's like a train wreck where you can't look away. Some of the posts are stupid, some are mean, and others are cryptic and I wonder if they are posted because people don't realize we don't know what they are talking about and we don't really care to have that level of information about them, or if they just want us to ask what they are talking about. One of my Facebook "friends" just posted that she's done packing. So I couldn't help myself, and I posted back "is this where we're supposed to ask 'what for?'" Of course she didn't answer.

What irks me are the bitchy posts. I've gotten a few in response to something I wrote. As I've said before, it tells me more about the person than they probably want me (and all their FB "friends") to know about them.

In March I posted something about crazy families, and my sister was so sure I meant her and and was offended, but the truth was, I was NOT referring to her, but was referring to something an aunt had done - someone who doesn't read FB. Otherwise it would have been a mean post (see above). A friend recently posted something about her family getting together, even the crazy ones, and no one took offense to that. They all laughed. How do I know? They posted on FB, of course! For the record, every family has their crazies.

So why do I read these boring, stupid posts? I don't care if you're tired, I don't care about your religious beliefs (it's all good that you have beliefs, but best kept to yourself), I don't care about your political beliefs (same as religous beliefs), I don't care if you're for or against abortion (same as religious and political beliefs) and I'm guessing no one else does, either.

The quizzes on FB are written by morons - they are obviously written by young females because they all refer to "your boyfriend" in the questions, they all have at least 3 typos or more glaring grammatical errors, and they are impossibly stupid. So why do I take them? Occasionally I break down and take one because it sounds like fun, but halfway thru I realize it is yet another idiotic waste of my precious time.

I also wouldn't post very personal things because I don't trust FB, the fact that people can see what I post, or anything else about giving information that I wouldn't want 'out there'. I'll stick to my blog, but I'll still read FB to see the inane crap others post (there's minor entertainment value in it, and fodder for my blog when I get desperate), view the cool pictures people post (0ne of the only reasons to look at FB, though you'll only find cat and scenery pictures on my FB posts), and keeping up with people who only communicate thru FB because they are so busy on FB they don't have enough time to read email messages and respond.

Time to get back to work!

Pictures on Tuesday

- Today is Aunt Mary's 93rd birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Aunt Mare, in whose honor this blog was named!

- There are raging fires in Los Angeles - I hope they are put out soon. They are near houses.

- The weather was 100 here on Saturday, but 73 on Sunday. Today it was 82, which is more normal for summer, almost fall. Will thinks it's fall since it's September 1st and fall is September, but it's really not fall for a few more weeks.

- Sometimes I like to look at the rescue mug shot of Mowry taken 3 years ago and compare it with how he looks today.
- Mowry with his pink lips!
- Awwww - the white female kitty is so cute, even when she is digging in the dirt out front of our house to do her business.
- On Sunday we went to the vineyard for a picnic and blues concert. The band wasn't the best we've heard, especially when they were playing country songs, but good food with friends was fun! We used to go a few times during the summer, but the past few years we've only gotten tickets for one concert and gone with Darlene and Lorne, and Frankie and Bob. It's our annual visit with the Reno folks, but Frankie couldn't make it this year, so I invited another friend. The ticket is for however many you can fit in the vehicle, which for the van with coolers and jackets is 6. The grapes on the vine behind the wire netting were photogenic!