Only TEN Months Til Christmas!

Yep, I’m gonna come back here on the 25th of every month this year and poke you in the ribs so you don’t forget how long we have until Christmas. Heehee.

Admittedly, I didn’t work on much this month, and finished this project only yesterday. I did the cross-stitching many, many years ago, stitched the names last year, and finally have finished these into stocking ornaments.

All I did to finish them was sew on a backing fabric around the outline of the stocking, leaving the top open, then turned them right side out. The do need to be ironed, but I don’t want to drag out the iron while Brad’s here.

I must confess that we didn’t even have Max and Tucker when I stitched these stockings. I was going to make several and use them to hold our flatware on a Christmas tablescape. I should know better – I really don’t like to stitch the same pattern more than once. I’m glad to have one less unfinished project in my cross-stitch box, and the kittie boys will be glad to have a little treat tucked inside them on Christmas morning!

Cat On a Hot Asphalt Roof

The other day I walked outside just as Tucker was readying himself to jump from the back deck rail onto the garage roof. Really? Is 4 cat years really like 12 human years and I’m dealing with a headstrong young boy who knows no danger?!

He barely glanced at me before hopping up onto the roof, then sauntered to the peak and laid down. Then he just watched the birds fly around and cars drive by. I’m thinking to myself, “The cat laid down on the peak of the garage roof. If he can’t get down, I’m NOT going up!  Good thing the fire station is just down the alley so I can call for them to rescue my cat…”  

Of course it wasn’t necessary to call for rescue. After a few minutes Tucker sauntered down and hopped back onto the deck. Then he scolded me – for what, I’m not sure, but he was quite serious about it.

Max watched all this while lying on the deck step. He was not about to get into any trouble…

“See Mom? I’m the GOOD cat!”

The Faces of Boredom

My kitty boys are kept inside most of the time, and they’ve been okay about not having to be out in the cold and wet and miserable weather this winter.  But it gets a little boring being in the house all the time…

The other morning when I got home from work I found them on the table by the back door. Tucker was lying on the dirty clothes in the basket. Max was contemplating climbing inside my gym bag…

Well, perhaps that would take too much effort. Do you think if they just ignore me I’ll go away?

He's a Game Player

A couple of weeks ago when Wyatt was here, I started teaching him to play checkers. He caught on fairly quickly and we had a good time. Apparently someone was feeling left out... At first, Tucker tried to lay on the board, and he kept stealing the same red checker. He tucked in under his chest and laid on it and I had to dig it out. I kept nudging him off the board, and we'd continue playing.

Soon, he stayed off the board, but just barely. He watched attentively, easing back when I made my moves. Then Wyatt reached across the board for his "king". With no warning, Tucker began smacking the back of Wyatt's hand with both front paws!

Of course, that move startled us and kind of frightened Wyatt. I laughed, made sure Wyatt was okay, and petted Tuck's head so he'd not feel left out. I made my move, then explained to Wyatt what he could do with his pieces. He reached out to move his checker, and again, Tucker swatted his hand away!

This happened again the next move. Pretty soon, Wyatt didn't want to play anymore - "Tucker keeps smacking me!" - so I moved the cat away from our game so we could finish. We barely cleaned up the checkers and the cat was lying across the entire board, keeping it safe from the little boy. :o)

Real Men are Pink!

Remember how Grace and Garett decorated the sidewalk yesterday? Little did they know that their artwork would decorate Tucker today:

I let the cats out the back door this afternoon, turned around to grab my sunglasses and turned back around to find Tucker rolling around in the pink chalk, having the time of his life.

Admittedly, he looks a little silly running through the house, chasing Max to wrestle, but real men do still wear pink, right? :o)

'Tis the Season & Herb update

Yes, I know that officially Spring is still 6 days away. Unofficially, it's even farther than that, but I cannot help wanting to be out there, planning and preparing for the upcoming gardening season. You can see there is a lot of work to be done: That photo was taken at 7:45 a.m., before the sun came over the garage and everything was still frosty out there. You can see the piles of leaves I raked out from beside the deck yesterday. There is still lots more to clean up. This looks pretty bleak, I know, but there are teensy little tulip leaves poking out of the ground in front of the garden bench. You can't see them in the photo, but they're there...

This pile needs to be sorted and put away. It'll be a couple of months before I fill up the tipsy pots again, and I look forward to it.

These things will be employed to their fullest capacity, I'm sure. We could use another pair of hands - there are plenty of wheelbarrows... No, these kitty boys don't count. They'd just want to roll around in the leaves and chase birds.

They're excited about all the preparation that's happening, though. Think they read what's printed on this seed packet?

Herb update: Remember the little herb garden thing I got for Christmas? They were going along pretty nicely at first, but eventually the chives just shriveled up and I tossed them. A few weeks later the dill followed suit, even though it got little feathery fronds and I thought perhaps it might be saved.

That made me extra vigilant with the basil, and so far it's doing well. The package said I'd be harvesting it six weeks after planting, and that would have been about a month ago - you can see that hasn't happened. I have high hopes that these two plants will be the cornerstone of my basil crop for the summer, though. I'll continue to baby them inside until it's warm enough to introduce them to the great outdoors.

I just love fresh basil, don't you?

My Assistant

I'm spending a little time today reviewing my Freezer Cooking presentation since the Community Ed class I teach is tonight. I decided to print some recipes from 30 Day Gourmet to share with the class participants. Since we no longer have a computer desk, the printer was brought to the dining room table.
This guy thought he needed to watch: Tucker goes crazy when the printer starts, sticking his paw up inside, trying to swat something - I don't know what, and I bet he doesn't, either!

Wounded

I love my cats. They are members of my family. But they are also animals with instincts they can't control. And when one is accidentally stepped on by a human who is a hundred times bigger than he is, he reacts with those instincts.

On Wednesday evening I was carrying my laptop across the living room with the screen open, and I didn't see Tucker lying on the floor. Yeah, I stepped on him, fell down, threw the laptop across the floor. He yowled, bit me, and ran away. All of this happened in the span of about 2 seconds. Fortunately Tucker was not hurt, just scared. I, on the other hand, was wounded.

The bite is nasty and despite my initial first aid efforts, by the next afternoon it was glaringly apparent that infection had set in. Greg took one look at my sore, red, hot (and I don't mean sexy hot, I mean temperature hot) leg, and made me go see his mom.

Nurse Nanny took one look and told me to get to the doctor, NOW. She's not usually that emphatic, so I followed her instructions and called the clinic quickly before the on-call doctor left for the day.

This photo is what the leg looks like this morning, 36 hours after my first dose of Augmentin. It really looks pretty good and is not nearly as sore as it has been, so I think I'll live to be a grandma (that's what my mom used to tell me when I was little and had some small injury - "Oh, you'll live to be a grandma".)

Tucker is being very cautious about lying on the floor. When I walk by, he jumps up and moves. I think we'll both be a bit more careful from now on.

I've been awarded!

Last week an internet friend gave me my first blog award! I was really flattered to be included in her list of favorite blogs. Rhonda's blog is about making her home a place that makes her smile while living frugally and enjoying her family, and is one of my favorites, also. Thank you, Rhonda!

Now I'm supposed to list some of my favorite blogs - there are so many that I cannot possibly list them, but if you're one of my CHL friends, consider yourself awarded! :o)

Not much is going on around here this week - just getting ready to head for Texas tomorrow. Tonight Greg was sitting on the sofa programming the Garmin (GPS) for a map to our motel in Jasper. I leaned over the back of the couch to look at it, and guess who decided I'd make a nice place to nap? Tucker just walked across the back of the couch and up onto my shoulder, then laid on my back like I was going to stand there all night. Silly cat.

Yesterday was Tucker's and Max's birthday - they're 2 human years old now. What does that translate to in cat years?

A Great Way to Spend the Afternoon

It is a gray and chilly day, and the weather forecast is even more bleak. I think Max and Tucker have the right idea...Oops, sorry Tuck! Go on back to sleep and I'll put away the camera.

And that's what he did.

It is Done...

The shaving of the cats, that is. They were both slightly traumatized, but only Max had to be sedated.

Why shave them? Both of them had fur so matted I couldn't even begin to comb them out. It got so bad that they'd run away if they saw the comb in my hand. That's what happens when they wiggle and roll around on the floor all the time.

Sounds like this may be an annual event - but I really am going to comb them every day if they'll let me. Sigh.

My Birthday Boys

Okay, after a rather sad blog post earlier this morning, then singing "Borning Cry" in church, it's time to light things up a bit. Today is Tucker's and Max's birthday. :o) Yes, I got them some presents - new toy mice with feathers, and they love them. No, I didn't make them birthday cake, though I did think about having Wyatt, Garett, and Grace over for a birthday party. They do love the "TITTIES!" - that's what Grace screams when she walks in the house, and the cats scramble to find a piece of furniture to hide under. Yesterday when I visited the kids, Grace came to me and said, "I go Tammy's house, Tucker Max." Yes, she came home with me for the afternoon. Tucker was the courageous cat and allowed lots of petting and snuggling and Grace was delighted. Tucker was tolerant. He's a good boy. Max hides. He's a smart boy. :o)