Musings on a Small Life

Derry only looks roly poly and cute and cuddly. (Well, yes, he's obese. It's the cute and cuddly part that's deceptive!) When it comes to his feathered stick, he's very possessive! He'll growl/snarl if you try to take it away from him. So I've learned that it's best just to let him have at it until he's had enough. Silly cat! Peace.

As I mentioned, I bought a few toys for the boys when I was at the cat show on Sunday. A rabbit (presumably) fur ball (which has been ignored), a catnip sock (slobbered all over, repeatedly), and two wand toys (one which also has been ignored). Oh, and a cat door stop for myself, which was cuter looking at the time. LOL. As always, click to enlarge for better viewing. The boys check everything out. Derry got the catnip sock for only a moment. (Made by the "crafty ladies" at our local Humane Society.)  Nicki quickly took over and refused to give it up.    Note the crazy eyes.         The nip was so potent that Nicki went after the little plastic bag it was wrapped up in. However, it isn't the sock that has Nicki so obsessed, it's this:     This caterpillar or worm toy absolutely makes him crazy ! In his almost 10 years with me, and with all of the cat toys over the years, I never have seen hi...

I was cleaning my kitchen drawers yesterday (among other things), and my top drawer has the Furminator and some cat toys; the third drawer has a few more cat toys. As well at the cooking/baking utensils, of course! I laughed to myself, thinking that only pet people could understand why someone would have grooming tools and toys mixed in with kitchen items. (I have cat toys stored everywhere, btw, not just there.) I don't care if Dad and his wife don't understand; I put them back in their respective drawers after I had cleaned things out. They're easily accessible to me, which is what counts! Everything is a toy to Nicki! That was a new carpeted scratcher, btw.   Derry doesn't care where I store the cat toys. I'll be heading out early to run the last of my errands, then coming home to finish the housecleaning before Dad and Hélène arrive later this afternoon. I'll probably find more cat items stored away in places I've forgotten about.  :...

Home yesterday, no next door neighbours. Up at 3AM, a peek out the window, no neighbour truck. Woohoo, high-five to Derry, who's sleeping on the bed with me. Up for good at 4:45AM (yes, I lingered), still no neighbour truck. Happy dance! Coffee outside at 5AM, being serenaded by the birds, happy knowing I have the place to myself for the day, if not the entire weekend. (Hence most of the reason today's a good day.) Paycheque in the bank in advance of Monday's payday (standard for my bank, but not others). Yippee! Lots of shopping for cat food, groceries, litter, etc. Sale on a cute new activity centre for the cats (pics below). Except that 15% off does not mean $15 off, Kim. Wake up and do basic math! However, I've already saved half the purchase price with $10 off my groceries (Air Miles) and coming in under budget on the litter for July. I can cover the rest of the cost by skipping two purchased coffees a week for the upcoming month, not a hardship. ...

I'm not sure where the weekend went, but here we are again, back to Monday. And half over for me at that, though I do have an afternoon meeting. I'm yawning already at the thought. The weekend was quiet. Very quiet. So quiet I peeked outside yesterday to make sure the son really was home--yes, he was out riding his bike. No doubt they're tiptoeing around so I don't complain any further, and I'm tiptoeing around so as not to give them something to complain about. None of us (the adults, I mean) wants to be outside when the other is, so we all seem to be avoiding the other. Which isn't hard, given my early AM and early to bed schedule. They're late risers and if they go out at all on weekends, it's not till mid to late afternoon. Of course I feel like the worst person on the planet for judging their (lack of) parenting and bitching out loud. (See? There I go again. It's so easy to do.) I try to tell myself that gee, even Jesus reputedly lost ...

I'm behind in my posts on the Fuzzy Tales site, got derailed by Nicki's escapes yesterday and attempted escapes today. I have a medal post to do from the Cat-O-Lympics and also want to pass on my Picasa album link for yesterday's cat show snapshots (most of which are crappy, I admit). With regard to the cats, I've decided that there are only two options: keep them all inside 24/7 or tear up half the garden for a cat run. As much as the thought of tearing up the garden hurts (I literally have blood, sweat and tears in it), it would be worse for the fur family if they never could get outside again. Nicki's repeated escapes and attempted escapes have my stress level through the roof and I have to do something. Thought I might check with our local seniors association to see if anyone there is a retired handyman or carpenter. Probably not, but well, the worst they can tell me is "no." I can't see me being able to pay $50 or more an hour to have an enclose...