Sunday Sun

That woman I live with used to buy all manner of yarns and sell the 'scarves' to other naked necked beings.   She kept my toy box boxes full with all the leftovers rolled into little balls. Occaisionally I had to endure her complaining when she would need to regularly fish them out from under the couch for me she apparently decided enough was enough.  She said she should use all those leftovers cos she paid a small fortune for all that fancy yarn.  So she got the long sharp sticks out again and took all the little balls & tied them all end to end.  You can bet I was immensley helpful in that task and of course my efforts were completely unappreciated!  She made a 'shawl' which she said was just a bigger neck wrapping.   . Well, I'm not one to brag; but you can see that I guard it well considering it's so valuable.  If you come to our house don't let her tell you it's my woobie.  That is simply ridiculous!  I don't even know what one is but it sounds far too kittenish for the drama queen stealthy guardian/huntress I am! 

The Creamy Center

If That Woman thinks she can get away with posting pictures of me like this, she's got Another Thing Coming! I mean really! I am a wild animal, I eat mice, I kill rats, I catch lizards, I'd catch birdzez too if she'd let me OUT! Wuss Puss' need not apply! I have a reputation to uphold! Do not ever think you would be allowed to actually touch that creamy center! Oh this is just too much; She's gone too far this time. I'll show Her~as soon as I'm done typing on this clacky thing...

wha?

what the PAW???


a plastic coating???


NOoooooo!!! FOileD aGaiN!!! EviL WitCh! oh this just hisses me off! She's so lucky I don't sleep in her room.

SSSSSsssssssspit!

I'm a Thief, I admit it!

I just swiped this off another persons blog; BUT; she didn't write it either so just as she did, I'm properly citing the author. And when I can; I'm going to get his book. Thank You Grace!

Curmudgeon - Me

(Quote from Jon Winokur, Author of "The Portable Curmudgeon")

A curmudgeon's reputation for malevolence is undeserved. They're neither warped nor evil at heart. They don't hate mankind, just mankind's absurdities. They're just as sensitive and soft-hearted as the next guy, but they hide their vulnerability beneath a crust of misanthropy. They ease the pain by turning hurt into humor. They attack maudlinism because it devalues genuine sentiment. Nature, having failed to equip them with a serviceable denial mechanism, has endowed them with astute perception and sly wit.

Curmudgeons are mockers and debunkers whose bitterness is a symptom rather than a disease. They can't compromise their standards and can't manage the suspension of disbelief necessary for feigned cheerfulness. Their awareness is a curse.
Perhaps curmudgeons have gotten a bad rap in the same way that the messenger is blamed for the message: They have the temerity to comment on the human condition without apology. They not only refuse to applaud mediocrity, they howl it down with morose glee. Their versions of the truth unsettle us, and we hold it against them, even though they soften it with humor.

Pass the Ben & Jerry's (Cherry Garcia)

I don't know why... (most likely as Terry Pratchett says you can't map laughter)

But this single LOLcat made El laugh so hard that it not only brought tears to her eyes but then her laughing made me laugh 'till I cried and it's become a standing joke at our house ever since.

*sigh* but I digress.

I hate those times when you feel as though you are slogging uphill through an avalanche while wearing cement shoes.

I knew yesterday I had an important deadline for a quilt entry I was really looking forward to. So after arriving home; eating dinner, I went online, opened my projects and the online entry form from the site to get it done. I started to complete the forms when all of the sudden I realize the only key that is responding is the 'L' key and when I strike it, it's typing 'lo'. Even after attempting my normal work around for this problem (which basically involves striking it harder and faster) the only response I got was lololololo. Which only reminded me of Lilo & Stitch when Nane calls Lilo a 'Lolo' head for being silly which I find completely appropriate for my reaction.

I come to be aware that every time I strike the l key, my fingertip feels funny too. Upon inspection, I see that is because it's wet. "*F***!*" "Every cat in my house better be finding some place to hide really fast right now!!!" I scream. I've completely HAD it with this! This keyboard is toast! And this keyboard isn't even mine! It's the one I had to borrow from work as they all ready ruined mine a three weeks ago by this same means of sabotage! "*F***!*" OH, and just so you might know, I've had to resurrect the CRT monitor we had out in the garage. After an apparent re'tail'iation last week when I had foiled their assault on the new keyboard with a plastic bag; they peed directly onto my flat panel monitor & shorted it out, completely ruining it! This is not something I can afford to replace; so I'm left with this CRT which was originally banished for jumpy picture & inadvertently shutting off if it feels like it.

I have told my cats that Little Saigon is not far away & there are a couple of them I could sell BY THE POUND & could easily get enough to replace the monitor and BOTH keyboards!!! Note the stress level here kicking up a few notches? Ya... I'm NOT HAPPY! **deep breath**

So, I go in and ask El, 'Wanna drive me to wallymart so I can get a cheapo keyboard?" She nods, and off we go. I couldn't believe they actually have keyboards that are $11.00. Some how only having to spend $11.00 of our grocery money isn't so bad. So we get home and I plug the keyboard in to finish my applications that were all ready in progress, and my computer says it must 'install the new hardware'. It's a feckin keyboard... what's to install? I don't know, but it took over half an hour to do it! I was seething but onward!

I finally got the application parts completed & two sets of photos uploaded; I uploaded the last set & clicked submit and do you know what happened? Nothing. Nada. It went back to the main screen page for the entry where all I got was a little green line that said 'Sorry, that action is not allowed'. Apparently, during the course of my tribulations, they stopped receiving entries.

About that time; my daughter came running out from her room into the kitchen. She knows I will occasionally swear. But she was hearing words and phrases she'd never heard from me nor, she told me later ever even had heard at her school. Strangely I was perversely proud of that. But I was crying by then too and it wasn't just the stupid website, the stupid computer, the stupid cats, the stupid economy, it was just the last, stupid, straw... Later that night in my private journal I used an entire page in caps wondering how often and how many conjugations I could use the 'F' word. And you know what? There's LOTS! I felt a bit better, slept a bit longer and woke to a brand new day.

And next time; I won't wait till the 'last day' to enter no matter what they tell me.

Live Hawk Nest Cam!

Hey all you hep cats & kittens! Wanna watch some REAL bird TV??? Check it out!

The Franklin Institute Hawk Nest

Upstanding Kittizen...

This is what my cats must have looked like today as the fledglings left their nest.

Empty Nest

Before you go thinking I've pawned off my teenager; rest assured she's still here.

I am referring to the Bushtit nestlings. It hardly seems like a last weekend they were a loud & happy bunch as each parent would flit back and forth to and from the nest with beaks full of spiders, flies and tiny gnats to feed their nestlings. I only went out for an hour or two this morning and when I sat in front of the slider around 2pm; no longer did I hear them; I waited & read (Crow Planet) and realized after a hour or so; they must be fledged. *sniff* I missed it. I so had wanted to see those tiny feathered miracles leave the nest. I had rather hoped it would take a few days, you know... Try and fly, end up tail over beak on some nearby twig... but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

This Bushtit’s nest is a 9 inch long pendulous sack, made of spider webs and fuzz, grass, string and lichen. The nest is so snug, the adults need only spend 40% of daylight hours incubating the eggs. To learn more about the Bushtit, please visit BirdWeb.org. You can see the tiny dark whole that is the door. Over the last couple days when a parent would fly into the nest; you could see the sides get all wobbly & sticky outy where there was obviously a commotion going on of tiny gaping beaks and loud peeps! My camera phone's microphone was too lousy to capture it. But you could hear them from across the yard!


I wouldn't have ventured this close when the nestlings were still inside for fear of stressing the parents.

Nesting

There is some evidence of communal nesting by Bushtits, but it is limited to southeastern Arizona. Helpers at the nest are usually adult males. During nesting season, flocks break up, and pairs establish loose territories, although they appear to tolerate other Bushtits within their territories. Both members of the pair help build the nest. The nest is an impressive, woven, hanging basket with a hole high up on the side of the nest and a passageway to the nest chamber at the bottom. It can be up to a foot long, and is generally built of spider webs, moss, lichen, and other plant material. Inside, the nest is lined with plant down, fur, and feathers. If the pair is disturbed during the early stages of nest-building, they will abandon the nest and find a new location, sometimes finding a new mate as well. Both parents incubate the 4-10 eggs for 12-13 days, sometimes at the same time. Both brood the young and bring them food until shortly after they leave the nest at about 18 days. They generally raise two broods a year.

And from this cool blog: Bestiarum I got this darling shot of what a fledgling looks like

Note the diminutive size! Is that a daily 'squee' or what?

Well, all we can hope is that the pair return for possibly one more brood before nesting season is over in July. But I was truly inspired to be host to such a wonderful natural event.