Critters 4 (Or I'm Not Dead Yet)

Once again, I must warn the squeamish. You may not want to proceed with this post.

OK, fine.

There was a situation in our house. I walked in to find this blue bellied thing lying in the hall.

Avoiding the dead-lizard-issue while I ate my lunch, I went back to it a few minutes later and found it had flipped over. Were there signs of life, or had a cat just prodded it?

No cats had been in the area, so it was not-dead-yet. The Small Town Forensic Team got to work. You may embiggen the photos to see the detailed crime scene notes.  Like "Blood." And "It was here."

Then it moved again.  This time I had personal visual confirmation of reanimated movement. (I saw it jump.)

The emergency dustpan ambulance was called into action. The minute the lizard hit the ground outside arrived at emergency services, it awkwardly scurried under the hedge had a miraculous recovery.

My assistant surveyed the crime scene.  (I know she is not the guilty party because she does not go outside.) There was insufficient evidence to make an arrest. 

Cats on Things

I'll just ease back into the blog with, what else, cat pictures.  Tiny is always up on top of something, but the other two not so much. So these were a little surprising.

Handy caught Homer in the act of eating Fifi's food one morning.  Homer used to never attempt to get up on her perch, that's why we started putting her food up there. But since he's been dieting, he has gotten very clever and resourceful. It helps that he's a svelte 14.96 pounds right now. Doesn't that seem so much less than 15? It's better than 18!

Which reminds me that Handy and Ernest were watching the Banecat videos this morning. So funny, but that poor cat is so fat! 

And Fifi: truthfully she is not actually sitting on my stack of unread books. She's on the windowsill, but the magnificence of the tail overflows onto the books.

It's Father's Day

Days ago, I asked Handy what he would like to do for Father's Day.

Finally he answered and I responded. 

So I guess we'll just watch Creepshow. 

Driveway Caution

I texted Handy, "Caution, cat in driveway."

It's funny how such a tiny thing can take up the whole space. 

When You've Moved on From Lego

Muffin tins are still useful, even when you have moved on from building Lego and are building computers instead. Way to spend your first paycheck or three.

Pet Peeves #429

Now I know many of my fine friends share my dislike of typographical errors.

But please, for pity's sake, do not mark them IN INK in a library book!

Different kids of tea.  I'm picturing this:

Goat-tea Party from Funnyjunk.com

Origami

Frank decorated the tip jar. Think it will bring in more? 

He brought this one home. It's too cute to spend.

Vocabulary Words

This is Ernest when he plays board games with the rest of us mere mortals. He is unstoppable. 

We had a conversation about the tallest mountain in Wyoming and how the rangers on the 5 foot shorter #2 mountain might be disgruntled and I said, maybe they'll build a 6 foot cairn to top it off. He was quite pleased I had used that word in conversation although I mispronounced it but then I've never been able to use it in conversation before. 

In Which A Birthday Occurred

After my turtle incident, there was a whole mess o' stuff going on. 

I'm just not getting into all that right now.  

But things have been looking up since my birthday.

There was breakfast pizza, and 

I was up to my usual tricks.

Ernest took me to lunch.

There was a famous burger.

and more of my tricky business.

There was a view.

There were rehearsals, #1

and #2

There was singing of some sort or another.

and a complaint about strum patterns

But the candle's burning!
I have to take a picture!

Why is Boston Cream Pie a cake?
No matter. It was delicious.
What cake wouldn't be, with chocolate poured over it.

Happy Day to Me!

Turn Me On

I spotted this in Handy's office workroom. 

It reminds me a little of my favorite doorknob. 

Which is available on Etsy. I want it!

How to Tie Your Shoes

I spotted Ernest tying his shoes. Whoa, wait a minute, that was fast!

No more rabbit in the hole, says Ernest.

Let's see that again in slow motion.

Queen of Catan

Quite an appropriate photo. As she is settled in on Catan and is probably plotting against humanity. 

Photo by Frank. 

Parking

This was parked in the street the other morning.

This was parked in the living room.

Pie Time

I did make a pie when Ernest came home. 

It was a delicious Blueberry Crumble pie, from the Ms. American Pie cookbook. But mine turned out rather soupy. Next time I make it I will use a lot more cornstarch.

I was entranced by how the cornstarch settled into the stem end of the blueberry, like a little star.  My people thought it was odd that I was taking pictures, but they should be used to me by now.

Although the pie was not quite as successful as I would have liked, I don't blame the cookbook. There are some fantastic pies in there.

I made the Banana Cream a few weeks ago and it was divine.

This is Either Heaven or Hell

11 books waiting for me at the library, with 2 more on the way. 

Homeeyore

The other night I dreamed that Homer had lost his tail.

It's rather a scrawny tail compared to the rest of the cat, but it's the only tail he's got.

Whoopsie Daisy

I weighed myself before going to bed last night, which is generally a mistake, but it was even more of a mistake than usual as I mis-stepped getting off the scale and landed on my butt in the bathtub with my legs hanging over the edge.

How embarrassing. I thought of calling for help but others were watching a movie downstairs and wouldn't have heard me. I ineffectually flailed my arms and legs like a turtle on its back, until I realized if I moved my legs into the bathtub I would have better luck getting out.

No major injuries, although my left arm is a little sore this morning.

The Other Cats Demand Equal Time

"Why does the big fat one get all the attention?" wonder Fifi and Tiny.

Fifi has been an indoor cat her entire life. She's the kind of cat that shouldn't go outside. She is scared of everything. You breath near her and she jumps. She was never even really interested in outside but she has been observing Tiny's activities and has gotten the tiniest bit curious. Last week I mistakenly didn't latch the door securely, and when it slowly crept open a couple inches, she made an escape. Twice! The first time Tiny was also out on the patio, watching the action. Fifi scared herself into the garage, and then into a pile of stuff next to the door. I finally managed to get the door open and shoo her in. The second time I found her in the garage and easily lured her in with the rattling of Feline Greenies. I must be more vigilant about securing the door!

Tiny is an extremely curious creature. In her other home, she went outside on a leash. When a dog joined the household, Tiny decided the dog's door was hers. So when she came to us she was eager to explore the great outdoors. When Frank opened his car door one morning, in she went and explored the car from front to back.

All right ladies.

Pizza Revision

Remember that horrible little pizza I had? Unfortunately, there was another one in the freezer. Fortunately I had enough stuff in the fridge (including extra cheese) to jazz it up a bit.

It was a slight improvement. But I won't be buying it again. 

The Return

Ah, I'm sure he has missed Southern California traffic. He is very tired of explaining to east coasters why you need a car here, and why it must be smogged. A classmate just spent a few days at UCLA and finally understands. 

Of course we went to In-n-Out. The burger and animal fries disappeared before I had a chance to take the traditional picture. 

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig. With two 49 lb. bags, a small pack, and a mandolin. His girlfriend is storing his dress robes and the other instruments. I guess he can borrow his dad's guitar if he feels the urge. He shipped his computer and everything else is in storage. I was responsible for none of this organization, which is absolutely delightful. I love how Ernest just took charge of the whole college process and all I have to do is (ouch) pay the bills. 

We spent a fun afternoon playing Frank's collection of games: Settlers of Catan (I won for a change), Fluxx (Ernest, 5 of 6), and my new favorite, Cards Against Humanity (too much fun to keep score). Now Frank and Ernest are playing Eclipse, which is completely beyond me.

Tonight he is going to Hogwart's Anti-Prom, not an official event but just a get-together for kids who don't want to go to prom, hosted by a family with a wood-fired pizza oven in their backyard. 

Hey, Handy Honey, can you build us one of those? 

Awwww, it's nice to see him again. 

Back to Normal

Homer's had a rough week.

He had an incident with the dog-in-law on Sunday. Normally there is tolerance between the two. But this time said dog jumped on the couch next to a sleeping Homer. Imagine being abruptly woken from a delightful cat nap to be stared in the face by your mortal enemy. Homer rocketed off the couch, coughing, and vomited. He was too traumatized to do anything more than sulk under a rocking chair.

The next morning he binge ate, vomited again (he did go back for a refill), then went back under the rocker. That was also the day of his regular monthly vet visit. When I moved the rocker to get him, he ran upstairs and tried to get under the bed in the sewing room. Francine must have told him about that - it's one of her favorite hiding places. But Homer was a little too large and his rump was sticking out under the bedspread so I was able to capture him. He was grumpy for the vet, too. Usually he is a sweetheart.

He stopped hiding but he has been picking at his food all week. Yesterday things were a little better as he requested some ham from my pizza and stole Francine's kibble.

Today he seems back to normal: he scarfed the breakfast and begged for kibble twice. He is a little confused because when he leads me to the kibble cupboard I don't open it. I've started leaving a container on the counter instead.

Here's to a good weekend. Ernest's returning so there will be lots of cat petting and snuggling!