Tea & Crumpet

Okay, time for a couple of pictures from the Ladies' Tea at church and an introduction to the newest fluffy member of the family.

First up, we have a shot of my tea table, done in blues, since that's what my china pattern is. I got napkins rings this year from good ol' Wally World & placed a red rose in each for a touch of Christmasy color. Above the forks, I placed favours for each guest. They were squares of Ghiradelli dark chocolate in a sheer bag, tied with a tea-themed charm on a ribbon.

The center-piece was a miniature scene of a living room, complete with a tea set, Christmas tree, gifts & nativity set. There's also a pair of red high heels by one of the chairs & a curious kitty checking out the bowl of strawberries (made years ago by your truly) on the coffee table. The blue & tan thingy in front of the tree is a Jill-in-the-Box that I made in a class, also years ago.

The Mothership's table, done in her Old Country Roses pattern.

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Well, that was the 'Tea' section, now for the 'Crumpet' part.

Meet Crumpet.

We adopted her a month or so ago from the local Humane Society. Mom & I went to give Peanut 'moral support' when she went to pick out Lexi, her new house cat. We saw this adorable little Siamese mix who kept kneading the other kittens she was curled up with & just had to hold her. One thing led to another & Mom talked Dad into letting us adopt her.

She is a deal. Her motor is loud as all-get-out & she has enough energy for 4 cats. She's also a cuddler & is slowly winning Boo over. Boo just doesn't like getting caught letting Crumpet lick her or play with her. Must keep up the aloof & dignified reputation, you know.

Poor Kitties

Well, we figure we know what happened to my other kitties. (Zoe was run over.) Mom looked out in the back yard yesterday morning & there was a coyote not 20 feet from the back door. He must've gotten Sydney & Wash. We're keeping the new kitties (from Peanut) in the shop at night & making sure the new pup is in either the shop or the pen to hopefully avoid losing them.

I miss my Psycho-Sydney & our conversations. And sweet little Wash & Zoe purring at me...

By the way, the new kitties came with the names McFeisty & McTwin, although that will change soon. Mom has already vetoed Dalek & Cyber as names. She wants McTwin to be Twister but hasn't come up with anything for McFeisty yet.

*sniff*

Well, we're partially moved out to the new place. The outside kitties - Sydney, Wash & Zoe - did well for the first several days. Now, though...

I haven't seen Wash since Wednesday of last week, Sydney since late Friday night/early Saturday morning & Zoe was accidentally run over on Sunday while the I was at the firing range with Flanders, Ramone & Jay. Peanut gave us two of her baby kitties to keep in the shop as mousers & Boo is in the house, but I miss my babies. Hopefully Syd & Wash are just wandering around, but I'm afraid an owl might've gotten little Wash. Syd was hanging out in the trees to the west of the house, but she hasn't answered all weekend when I called her & she's my conversation kitty. She always answers when someone talks to her.

More Babies

More pictures of little Wash & Zoe. They are both so bitty next to Sydney that I've taken to adding 'Tiny' to the beginning of their names. It doesn't help that Syd is getting bigger since she's been eating their kitten food instead of her own.

Commandeering the pillow

Shy Tiny Wash - I love his pewter colour.

The New Babies

There have been two new additions to the family. Meet 2-month-old siblings Wash (boy) & Zoe (girl). (Cain't tell that I'm a Firefly fan at all, can ya'?) Adopted from the local Human Society.
(Ummm... I meant Humane Society. Tee-hee...)

Little Man with Wash, obviously a very patient & flexible little bebe.

Zoe getting the full scritching treatment from sis-in-law Kat.

Zoe versus the broom. I think she probably won.

Zoe is the larger of the two, but you can always tell when she's on the losing end of a wrestling match. Lots of angry yet pitiful mews. Wash is the little cuddler but both like to sleep with me.

Sydney forgave me from bringing them into her house partway thru the first week, but is still getting used to them. She hisses more at Zoe than at Wash - wonder if it's a female thing?

She's Ba-ack...

Finally - the return of the Psycho Sydney!

Chillin' on the couch with Snowball.

Bo-ring... Snowball isn't much of a conversationalist.

Peanut's bebe kitties - all four are girls & already spoken for. (There was a moth on the door.)

Stuff

I'm up at the farm right now with Flanders, Belle & their passel o' hobbits.

Rumsfeld accompanied me on this trip, once I retrieved him from his last little jaunt into the depths of our neighborhood, that is. I didn't realize until we were clear up here that he'd broken his harness (this was #4) & I had no way to keep him from running off. Dad was here & we managed to bolt (yes, you read that right - bolt) his harness together enough to use it, but the next morning he was off & loose again. Put him back on & he slipped out yet again. Gah! So, I've not bothered with the harness the last day & a half & he's been fine. His gypsy blood must be taking a break. He just wanders the farm, carries his stuffed quail around & takes long naps in the shade. The little boys are loving him. The little girl doesn't much care either way.

I got to play a bit on the 4-wheeler - very fun, and we messed around with my new toy some yesterday. Lost an arrow out in the windbreak (durn camo) but maybe Viking Dad can bring his metal detector up the next time he comes & look for it.

The Mothership is taking care of Jay's hobbits - Beetlebomb, Elf & Lil'Un, since school is out. Last week I would go over after I got off work & take my laptop. The kids are having a ball playing The Sims 2. They each have their own house, people & pets. The girls named their cats after each other, so it's kinda funny to hear "Lil'Un, you're going to use the litter box!" Lil'Un goes "Hey!".

I'm heading home later this afternoon & then it's back to work tonight at midnight.

Misc.

I'm taking Bobo back up to his rightful owners today. By the way, he has this fixation with Superman right now - he calls himself "The Man of Steew". And Grammie made him a shiny red cape that he wears around all the time now.

While we're up there, Rumsfeld is being boarded at the vet's, where he will also be, umm... altered a wee bit. Hopefully this'll help keep him from doing his Houdini tricks, getting away to go find girlfriends. Mom keeps freaking out every time she finds out, yet again, that he hasn't been neutered yet.

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You Follow Your Head

You're rational, collected, and logical. Generally, it takes you quite a while to fall in love. In fact, you've even been accused of being very picky. While you're cool, you're not ice cold. You just know what you want, and don't mind waiting to get it.

Do You Follow Your Head or Your Heart?

Help Me!

I really, really need some help here.

Rumsfeld keeps getting away & I can't seem to keep him tied up. So far he's broken three collars, two harnesses (that I then patched together to make a third, which he also broke), both snaps on his cable & then the cable itself, which is why he is now put out on a length of 800 pound chain. And he's not even tied out that much, due to my fears that he'll get loose & run off.

Soooo, anybody have any ideas for keeping a 100 pound Rottie/mutt on a chain?

(I'm planning on getting a kennel-thingy when I can afford it, but that won't be for a while.)

A New Toy

Sydney has discovered a new toy.

The toilet paper.

Yup. She managed to shut herself in the bathroom this morning & when I opened the door, most of the new roll was in a pile on the ground.

She, of course, looked completely innocent. Uh-huh, like I'm really gonna buy that.

The Kitty Rules

Cat PhysicsSleepy Syd on the sofa

Law of Bag / Box Occupancy
All bags and boxes in a given room must contain a cat within the earliest possible nanosecond.

Law of Cat Acceleration
A cat will accelerate at a constant rate, until he gets good and ready to stop.

Law of Cat Composition
A cat is composed of Matter + Anti-Matter + It Doesn't Matter.

Law of Cat Disinterest
A cat's interest level will vary in inverse proportion to the amount of effort a human expends in trying to interest him.

Law of Cat Elongation
A cat can make her body long enough to reach just about any counter top that has anything remotely interesting on it.

Law of Cat Embarrassment
A cat's irritation rises in direct proportion to her embarrassment times the amount of human laughter.

Law of Cat Gravitation
A cat's gravitational pull (i.e. weight) will vary upward in direct proportion to the desire of the human to move the cat.

Law of Cat Inertia
A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some outside force - such as the opening of cat food, or a nearby scurrying mouse.

Cave- kitty Sydney

Law of Cat Invisibility
Cats think that if they can't see you, then you can't see them.

Law of Cat Landing
A cat will always land in the softest place possible.

Law of Cat Magnetism
All blue blazers and black sweaters attract cat hair in direct proportion to the darkness of the fabric.

Law of Cat Mass
The mass of a cat is inversely proportional to its desire to be picked up.

Law of Cat Motion
A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good reason to change direction.

Law of Cat Obedience
As yet undiscovered.

Law of Cat Probability (Uncertainty Principle)
It is not possible to predict where a cat actually is, only the probability of where she might be.

Law of Cat Sleeping
All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as uncomfortable for the people involved as is possible for the cat.

Law of Cat Stretching
A cat will stretch to a distance proportional to the length of the nap just taken.

Streeeeetch after a nap

Law of Cat Thermodynamics
Heat flows from a warmer to a cooler body, except in the case of a cat, in which case all heat flows to the cat.

Law of Cat Washing
A cat will wash itself at any time which is appropiate, which includes especially the moment after something has been jumped and escaped.

Law of Concentration of Mass
A cat's mass increases in direct proportion to the comfort of the lap she occupies.

Law of Dinner Table Attendance
Cats must attend all meals when anything good is served.

Law of Electric Blanket Attraction
Turn on an electric blanket and a cat will jump into bed at the speed of light.

Law of Energy Conservation

Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and will, therefore, use as little energy as possible.My catalog, momma

Law of Equidistant Separation
All cats in a given room will locate at points equidistant from each other, and equidistant from the center of the room.

Law of Fluid Displacement
A cat immersed in milk will displace her own volume, minus the amount of milk consumed.

Law of Furniture Replacement
A cat's desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the cost of the furniture.

Law of Milk Consumption
A cat will drink his weight in milk, squared, just to show you he can.

Law of Obedience Resistance
A cat's resistance varies in proportion to a human's desire for her to do something.

Law of Pill Rejection
Any pill given to a cat has the potential energy to reach escape velocity.

Law of Random Comfort Seeking
A cat will always seek, and usually take over, the most comfortable spot in any given room.

Law of Refrigerator Observation
If a cat watches a refrigerator long enough, someone will come along and take out something good to eat.

Law of Rug Configuration
No rug may remain in its naturally flat state for very long.

Law of Selective Listening
Although a cat can hear a can of tuna being opened a mile away, she can't hear a simple command three feet away.

Law of Space-time Continuum
Given enough time, a cat will land in just about any space.

Syd on the curio cabinet

Found at Flippy's Cat Page

Kitty Pictures! (Finally...)

From the camera phone:

I started to take a pretty profile pic & then I was spotted. The phone was then on the receiving end of many cheek rubs. (Sorry about the quality - the cream curtains in the background glow too much.)
Sydney was so sweet yesterday. She crawled in the bed & sprawled out next to me, just her front half sticking out from under the covers.
Syd keeping an eye out for the dog from one of her favourite guard-spots.

*sniff*

Lawrence Simon, wifey Gina & kitty-kids Nardo & Frisky (Fwisky) have lost a member of their family - pretty little Piper. I for one will miss seeing the spunky little girl on the catcams & in the Carnival of the Cats.

(Is it messed up that I'm tearing up over a kitty I've never met?)

I've not lost any pets for several years now, but I have lost dogs, horses & lots of cats. I think the horses were the hardest to handle, especially my old man, Pal. And pregnant Pebbles.

This Could Be Interesting...

I put up my Christmas tree last evening when I couldn't sleep. Sydney the Psycho Cat was 'helping'. One time I pulled her out of the top foot of the tree. I guess we'll see how long it lasts. So far Rummy doesn't seem to be very excited about it. I think that's probably a good thing...

Rumsfeld

I don't think I told y'all that Rumsfeld ran off last week.

On Thursday I got home from work, put Rummy outside for several hours on his cable-thingy & when I went to load the car & grab him to go up to the farm, he was gone. He had broken his collar. I called 911 to report him while driving around looking for him. (One creepy guy fishing by the creek asked where I lived in case he found him. Yeah, like I was gonna tell him...) After over an hour of looking, I went & talked to the animal control lady & then headed out of town.

On Friday morning I got a call from Mom She was sitting in my driveway, looking at Rummy who was just hanging out on the front step. There was a green dog cable tied to his choke chain & a broken board on the other end of the cable. I thought that was rather interesting. Mom & I both think that someone found him wandering & decided to keep him. Otherwise, they would've likely called animal control or 911.

Anyway, last night I put him out on his cable for less than half an hour while I got ready for work. When I went to bring him inside, he was gone. His collar was laying on the ground, still tied to the cable. It was unlatched, not broken. I called 911 & told them I think he was stolen due to the collar latch being too tight-fitting to come undone on its own.

Dad doesn't think anyone would want to keep him since he's so big & eats a lot. I told him that I know how much it costs to feed him & still want him. I keep forgetting to remind him that Ramone's dogs - Larry, Moe & Curly - were all as big, if not bigger than Rummy.

So, basically, some blankety-blank evil-doer stole my dog.

Umm, yeah... ignore that last line. I ran by home just in case & he was hanging out in the neighbor's yard. I haven't a clue as to how he unlatched his collar, but it looks like we're gonna have to try a harness or something. My dog the escape artist...

Well, at least we can enjoy a few pictures from Rummy's play-day with Riley, Ramone & Kat's beagle.

Riley running off with Rumsfeld's purple monkey.

Poor little monkey is stuck in the middle of a tug of war.

"Boy, all this playing sure is hard work..."

Rummy

Fwd: Rummy
Originally uploaded by LadyGunn.

Here's Rumsfeld & me on the way from Pratt to Wichita, where we got his tags & met Lyn from Bloggin' Outloud for coffee. Kat & Ramone went along for the ride.

Rummy was brought in to the shelter as a stray & they guess he's about 2 or 3 years old.

Update on the Furries

Well, Rumsfeld is home. He's big, but not quite as big as I expected him to be. That's kinda okay though. He's about the same height as a Lab, it's just the forward end & that head that are so huge.

He & Sydney are, umm... working out their differences. Sorta. She's staying up in the closet shelves & he's wondering why she doesn't come play with him. He chased her once the first day - I guess somebody made a sudden move & it was on.

He is about the calmest, sweetest dog I've seen in a long while. He played with Ramone & Kat's Beagle Riley & their neighbor's Lab Festus (love that name) & later with my friend & neighbor C's therapy Lab Teddy. Rummy was so good, he listened to me anytime I talked to him. We went for a several mile walk today & worked on not crowding me or pulling & he improved quite a bit. I can let him loose in the yard while I'm hanging up laundry & he comes right back when I call. By the way, Newton has a strict leash law - $100 fine if he's off the leash at all. No playing fetch in the park, nothin'.

My folks are worried that he'll bite somebody's kids, what with the Rottie in him. But he's a lot less aggressive than 90% of all the dogs I've met, so it's all good.

It's A Boy!

Everyone, I'd like you to meet Bud. He's a half Rottweiler, half Mastiff boy that will be coming home with me on Saturday from the Pratt Humane Society.

What a good boy!

By the way, his name will be changed to Rumsfeld, Rummy for short.

*Insert diabolical laugh here*

;)

Woof! *wink*

Dagnabbit

Y'all remember my secret? Yeah, well it's not gonna happen, so I'll go ahead & spill the beans.

I was going to get a 10 month old half Siberian Husky/half Alaskan Malamute free from a friend. His cousin ended up taking the dog & will give him back when the friend moves into a place where he can keep him. I'm the backup if that falls through, so there's still a 0.1% chance I could get him anyway.

(See Mom, I said you wouldn't like it)