I couldn’t find the cats Friday morning. They were downstairs.
There was a bug.
Emme wants to know if you see it. And if you would get it. Please and thank you.
Kittens
Er, sorry, Lloyd.
A post in bullet points:
* Backstory – When we got rid of cable/satellite, I bought a t.v. antennae that lets us get five useless channels. The place it gets the best reception is hanging in the window. The screen is moved to the top of the window to keep most of the bugs out.
* I came home tonight and the house stunk. STUNK. The culprit was the rotting vegetation in the trash. We took the trash out and I sprayed magic spray inside and left the cupboard open to air out.
* I opened windows all around the house to get some fresh air in here.
* Around 7:30, it started to rain. Lloyd went to close some windows, and realized that I had opened the window that didn’t have a screen at the bottom.
* Cat check!
Ralph: looking out that window. Pulled back!!
Emme: MIA, but as I frantically walked around outside calling her name, Lloyd found her inside.
Wally: “Wally? Wally? Wally?” (Reminds me of old times.) Nope.
Lloyd went back to the window, opened it up, and Wally jumped back inside, soaking wet.
Sorry, Lloyd! Sorry I almost lost your favorite cat!!
(Here he is, documenting my crime.)
(The actual scene of my soggy crime.)
I have taped that window shut so I won’t do it again, but I think we have a problem. Wally has been Out. He has Seen and Smelled things. He Knows Stuff now. Watch the doors when you come over, because Wally has discovered the Big Room.
New and Improved Cats: Friendlier, and with better aim!
One thing that was different about Cricket and Pfennig was that they came to us as single cats. We had Cricket for a year and she bonded with me, then Pfennig came along and Cricket’s disdain of her made her love me all the more. There was much clinginess and head-bumping from them both, because they liked people and neither had a cat friend.
Ralph, Wally and Emme are siblings, so they love each other way more than they love us. Their people skills are so-so: Emme is the only one who will jump on my lap to be scratched, Wally calls for Lloyd to come scratch him in the guest bathtub (that’s its own post), and Ralph will sit on me in the winter to warm up, but none of them really likes to be held or snuggled.
But the boys are developing a new, hilarious skill. They are starting to rub against our legs. Yeah, there’s the normal walk-by rub, but Ralph and Wally…. let me try to explain this: They kind of rear up on their back legs and throw their shoulder in the general direction of your knees/lower thighs (they’re tall). The hilarious part is that they miss half the time. I’ve tried to video it, but have not been very successful.
Yes, my life is boring enough that this subject is post fodder. Happy Sunday!
Ralph: contact made.
Wally: A swing and a miss.
Cat carrier 2.0
On Saturday Lloyd’s school was having a garage sale. When Rachel and I met up with the boys, we took a look around. I bought a new cat carrier!!
It’s pretty snazzy. It’s a Martha Steward Pets carrier, so you know she made it herself. It has some pretty cool features: a pocket on the side, two zippered entrances: side and top, an interesting collapsible feature and most of all – LOTS of space. Look at it compared to the old one!
I kept playing with it on the way home. It’s bigger than my suitcase! As I zipped and unzipped it I felt pretty confident that if I had to travel with all three cats, they could cozy up together inside.
The height isn’t anything special – 11 inches. Just an inch bigger than the other one.
But the length? 24 inches end-to-end! 21 inches of inside space! That’s so00 much space!!
Er.
The pictures were all blurry, but as Ralph circled it, I realized he is a couple inches longer than the thing. And a couple of inches taller, too.
But cats collapse on themselves into tiny bundles, so I think he’s going to be just fine.
Yep. Just fine.
Especially compared to his previous quarters.
Happy Fourth of July!
In honor of all the ‘popping’ that will occur tonight, let me leave you with a little video that you’ve already seen – this time, with sound!
Happy Birthday, America!
Candle tail cat
I win for ‘most boring videos’.
Since Ralph was little, he has had the talent of keeping a straight tail as he sleeps, with a little help. It is a talent that is completely and utterly useless, as the following two-and-a-half minutes documents.
When I was a kid, I used to lie down and hold my arm up straight, finding the balance point to make it just stay there. Weird kid, weird cat.
Happy Memorial Day.