…wearing a ‘clinic’ free mask I found in a coat pocket meanwhile. And when mine come black, fabric—I’m going to have Jane paint or embroider a ‘smiling kitty’ nose on it. Those of you with cats are free to copy. 🙂 And dog fanciers, maybe a doggy nose with a lappy tongue?
Getting a new mask soon
by CJ | Apr 9, 2020 | Journal | 151 comments
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:snicker: Well, now I’m reminded of college dorm life, and I feel an urge to watch some iteration of Red Dwarf. A greeting like that could be…multi-faceted, but ideally, friendly. Or perhaps very friendly. Or just winding up the friends and male relatives. Haha. (I was going to say, yanking their chains, but… oh, never mind.)
Thanks for the link to the podcast. I may have to check out other episodes. That summary sure sounds neat.
— Aha, Amazon does have further seasons of Boruto: Naruto Next Generation, listed as Season 102 and on, which I’d thought might only be special features. No idea why they numbered them like that there. Anyway, I’m enjoying the show, and now want to watch the original Naruto, which I’ve never been through all the way.
— No vet appt. yesterday; I had to postpone. Couldn’t get through to my friend, and the Uber app has trouble with my apartment address. Seems it’s not good about apartment numbers versus streets, isn’t clear on which side of the street my apartment is on (the complex straddles both sides) nor of the entrance and side street to get to my location. It’s like there’s a mysterious dark cloud, maybe like that hovering eerie green cloud from Fantastic Journey. You know, Bermuda Triangle style. Or something like that.
The kittens’ new tags aren’t due until next week, but might arrive sooner. I found Wizard’s color and tag, but not Ducky’s yet. One new collar arrived outside. And some cat christened the packages, just to be neighborly and possessive of his/her territory. Ick. So I arrived inside with two plastic packages. They smelled bad to me. No telling what the cats think of it, but there was a mob of interest in the smell. Peppercorn got out, but once she’d sniffed around, she was satisfied and ready to come back in. She went to the door to be let in, while I was worrying if we were going to have a game of chase. Got the items out of the packages, then had to wash them. A cat collar therefore went into the washing machine, in a zippered mesh bag, because my washer tends to eat things and catch laces / ties and ruin them. Then a bath for me, because, ck, stinky, and I don’t want to set off anyone, much less my own offended nose.
Chipping way at things here. Doing OK. But while my symptoms were OK almost all day, something set them off at night, and whew, I was a mess until bedtime. Still stuffy and sniffly and my eyes are bothering me this morning. But this _still_ doesn’t act like anything but sinus and allergy symptoms. I feel OK except the symptoms are making me a wuss and cranky. More than usual, that is. Heh.
Going to do a bit more today and hoping to catch up before end-of-month. Determined I need to get rid of any pants now too big for me, while some shirts have shrunk. My waist is thinner, but there’s still a little bit more stomach than there should be, and so I’m in the very awkard stage where my pants want to slip even if the belt is cinched very tightly, because the waist isn’t quite small enough for the hips. This is how I determined to give away the larger sized pants. While fortunately inside, doing everyday things, my pants, ah, tried to slide right off, down my knees. Hahahaha. Funny and yet annoying, since my hands were full. Meanwhile, my shirts keep wanting to come untucked in, also annoying. But if I keep losing or redistributing, it’ll get back to a better size. — I will at some point probably have to buy a new suit. I haven’t bought a suit in…wow, over 2 years, maybe 15. I got sticker shock when I saw prices for a very middle-class priced suit. Wowzers.
I have not yet reduced down the amount of “stuff,” and I’m not sure how good or bad that is. — But as I have no expectation of getting any sewing mended, such as buttons, I’m giving away anything that needs that. Aggravating. Packing or rebooting some things, needing to wait on the kitchen and bathroom until the last, as I’ve packed all but what I expect to use there.
Not going to push it today, as my sinuses are not at all happy with me. I was drippy last night, just not good.
Had some commotion with the kittens into things, and one box must get repacked after washing what spilled. They are into everything and bored and seeking to play and learn.
Aaahhh, my life has become way too mundane. But Im glad I do’t have much bigger problems. Im glad for Goober and the kittens and Peppercorn. I’ve seen people a few times, said hello’s, and that’s about it. I haven’t seen the local friends since before the shutdown, since I missed one the day he brought by toilet paper.
The gate and fence (outside my apt.) and the other repairs inside are still not done. I don’t think I’ll miss it here. Not really bad, just not good either. I’ve made up my mind not to put in a new request for repairs until I have things in order inside, ready to move. Bt I am seriously tired of it. As far as I know, no one has been by. If I’ve missed a knock, then knock louder, dang it. But I don’t think I have missed anything. So, just going with it.
@Aja Jin, @CJ — Oh, that was fascinating, golden. Betsy sounds awesome. So great to hear all that.
At almost the very end, they talk about a new author, but I could not catch the name or title, even though I rewound. Not sure why I’m not getting it. Ndele or ̃Ndete Kosiofor? There was a recent African-American author whose science fiction book I got on Kindle but have not read. Possibly that’s the lady? I’m blanking on her name and will look in my Kindle library. Betsy said she read the first chapter and knew she had to work with the author because of the fresh, brilliant voice. (I’m paraphrasing Betsy’s quote.) One of the podcasters said he was looking forward to the author’s upcoming book, which Betsy has in her pipeline.
They also mention Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams. I read that in the 80’s and really loved it, but recall there’s a tragic thread and ending. I see I have it on Kindle, but it’s not available in Audible. Drat, I’d enjoy hearing it and will have to read it again on Kindle. No idea if my old pb copy made it.
Heh, Betsy says CJ comes across as shy in person. I did not catch in the podcast what they said about CJ going into the office and discussing or reading (something, something), before it goes on to Betsy taking CJ for a walk in Central Park.
A snack and listening to the podcast turned into time with Goober and then with Dubhan. Dubhan gave a huge purr, was very happy for some petting, playing, and cuddling, and had a good time, before going off to do kitty-cat things, as cats are won’t to do. So, ahem, I played hooky rather than further work done. So now back to work.
Looks like my mailbox may be full of junk mail plus whatever the postman crammed in there instead of leaving at my door. That’s been an odd side-effect lately.
I’m going to listen to something, probably music, while working. — Apple’s random playlist from my library came up with two Christmas songs the other day, one in German, the other in English. I don’t know what iTunes is not thinking sometimes. I mean, it’s simply choosing at random and ignoring that it might (inappropriately, oddly) pick holiday music when it’s very far outside the holiday. The German carol may have been by the Vienna Boys’ Choir; Stille Nacht (Silent Night), while I don’t recall the other carol or singers. I’m hoping for something more seasonally appropriate today, haha.
Maybe Nnedi Okorafor? I do like her work. Recently, she’s been writing about the Marvel kingdom of Wakanda, and I can’t think of many people more qualified.
eta Ninja’d by Hanneke 😀
@BCS, the rising star author who’s name you didn’t quite catch is Nnedi Okorafor, http://www.nnedi.com
Some of the text on her site might be hard to read, because of the low contrast with part of the background picture, so here’s the wiki link as well: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nnedi_Okorafor
Hanneke — thanks, I couldn’t quite make out the name either.
Looked at her site. I’m ashamed to not know of such an acclaimed author. wow
Preaching to the choir, I know, but Jo Walton was making reading recommendations on the Tor.com website, and this was one of them:
• C.J. Cherryh’s Chanur books, beginning with Pride of Chanur—do not read out of order. Aliens and space stations par excellence, and again, utterly all-consuming.
https://www.tor.com/2020/04/21/books-that-grab-you/
Wow, thank you, Chondrite and Hanneke. My gosh, she’s impressive.
That’s got to be her, and possibly The Book of Phoenix prequel to the Binti trilogy is what one of the podcast hosts said, which I’d half-heard as Persephone.
Betsy did not say what upcoming title there might be, but as I understood it, she’d edited and published the first novel, and there’s an upcoming title in the works, in Betsy’s current pipeline.
I seem to recall someone here or at the Shejidan forum saying the themes in at least one of her books included violence / abuse against women, and so a caution that it might at times be a difficult read.
However, wow, that’s an impressive output of fiction in such a short time. I can see I need to move her book up on my reading list. I had to wonder and snicker about the Golden Duck Award, which sounds much more whimsical than its probably intended award theme. That bit of fun aside, wow, if she’s that good and that prolific, a talented voice, then I’ll give her a read. I hope I’ll like her work.
I’m curious about the pronunciation of her name. After a little puzzling about the doubled nasal consonants, wondering if those were retroflex nasals, I realized, no, I’m probably on the wrong track there. Given that some African languages have a syllabic nasal at the start before another consonant (Mb, Nd, Ngg / Ngk, etc.) I’m guessing that Nnedi is N’nedi, three syllables, That first M, N, Ng like the final -m, -n, -ng, -r, -l English often puts with a very short or nonexistent schwa, like bottom, butter, bottle, button. So almost Un-neh-dee. Her parents are Igbo Nigerian, it says, so I can find out for sure from the Wiki page on the Igbo people’s language.
Kabu Kabu — A collection of short stories, including an intro piece by Alan Dean Foster plus Nnedi Okorafor’s work, might be a way to get an intro taste.
I’ll look for these in both audiobooks and Kindle ebooks.
— CJ’s Chanur books are some of my favorites ever.
In the interview, Betsy talks about her father buying two of CJ’s first novels, the first Gate of Ivrel book and Brothers of Earth, and then the rest proceeded from there.
@CJ — had you written other novels or shorts that had not yet been sold, when you submitted, or else got back word the two had been bought?
Another book recommendation.
I just discovered this series by Nathan Lowell, and I think several people here might like it.
I just finished the first book, finding it a low stakes, comfort read ‘space trading adventures’ sort of book.
In these stressful times, I find that I appreciate a short book that’s interesting enough but not filled with tension, suspense and action. I look forward to following this young man’s career over the next five books, from ship’s cook’s assistant to captain if I interpret the titles correctly.
Quarter Share is the first in the six book Trader’s Tales series set in the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper. Nathan’s series tells the tales of everyday men and women, real people doing ordinary things and forging bonds of friendship while traveling the stars in the Deep Dark. It is a coming of age story of Ishmael Horatio Wang—a broke, uneducated, orphan from a backwater planet at the edge of nowhere. He’s not a “hidden prince” and he wasn’t adopted. He’s just an average Joe trying to make a living, and gradually making promotions through the shipboard ranks.
This series was originally released as audio podcasts distributed for free. The entire series is available now and can be found at http://www.podiobooks.com and the iTunes Music Store as free audio downloads.
As e-books they aren’t free, and are only available from the large South-American river, alas. As BCS prefers audiobooks, he might like to give the audiobooks a try.
I 100% recommend this series. Nathan Lowell narrates his own books for the podcasts, and IMHO does a better job than the paid narrator. It is an excellent series and I have all the ones in the Age of the Solar Clipper both in e-book and paperback format. Mr. Lowell has other connected books, Smuggler’s Tales (a trilogy in the same universe) and is working on Shaman’s Tales, the first two of which have come out.
Ooh, those sound great. I’ll be sure to look up the podcast audiobooks. Thanks, Hanneke and Chondrite. I think Chondrite may have recommended these to me once before, and the first book may be in my to-read pile. But I’d somehow missed they’re also in audiobooks / podcast form. That’s terrific. Good to know of other books / series in the same universe. My enjoyment of starship trader stories surely goes back to Star Trek reruns and Andre Norton and Robert A. Heinlein, plus a few others.
I am in the mood for something less spicy, after finishing the wacky spaghetti-enchilada sauce experiment, which oddly turned out pretty tasty. (Sour cream helped; I think I’d want a bell pepper and some sliced black olives in there too, if I try that again, and something other than spaghetti noodles.) — I’m in the mood to fix ramen, thanks to those Boruto / Naruto episodes. It’ll be the instant packets with some added veggies, plus likely crumbled broiled fish. I need to look back at the soft-boiled egg infused with flavors, to see what those are again, and do the soak / marinade on that to try it. I’m not ready to try a full homemade ramen soup / broth / stock plus the vegetables. There might be a local restaurant that does ramen to go, deliveries. I’ll need to look.
Hah, my dreaming brain must be anxious to move. I was dreaming about people moving into another apartment, with my own apartment (somehow not this one) developing clouds at the ceiling somehow, haha, and other goings-on. What that means, I don’t know, but the neighbors moving in were going into an apartment with a high, two story ceiling for some reason. There followed some sortt of excursion and interactions, shopping, I think, or talking with people, visiting. Then somehow two boys in some setting I wasn’t clear on, like you’d jumble together a home, a doctor’s office, or a mall, with a bathroom. The two boys were taking turns, separate in the bathroom, and changing, and the secret was, one of them was trying to hide that he was a werewolf. But instead of any big transformation sequence, it was like an off/on switch, with him stretched upward one minute, while changing clothes, a werewolf kid, then the next minute, back to a regular kid and dressed, he or the other kid opening th door so the other could change. I seemed to be there as a n observer or chaperone, older friend, something. What this had to do with anything, I don’t know. There were more random dreaming scenes before I woke up. Nothing scary or worrisome or sad, all good, if odd. If there is any deeper meaning going on, I haven’t yet thought of it. But apparently, at least for the night, my dream-world was positive, relaxed, free of troubles.
For two late afternoons and nights now, neighbor kids (mostly boys?) have been playing some kind of ball, with adults cheering them on or playing, in the evenings. Got too rowdy two nights ago, and I thought it was an argument or fight, but I think it may have been just strong opinions over the game. Something else involved too, before or after. I don’t know. It’s rarely dull around here, haha.
Hmm, I may not have overestimated on cat food after all, but I think I’m going to squeak by on cat litter. Plus the kittens have been rambunctious and have nearly or have pushed over smaller boxes a few times, and two items of pantry supplies. Nothing broken or ruined so far, though, including the cats or me. Heh. So all is well.
I truly wish I could take down one set of living room blinds and get a staple gun or something and tack up sheets. I’m very tired of those blinds looking so bad.
But all in all, doing OK. Not letting myself think of budget. It’s shot anyway, until the crisis is over and the kittens are given away. I think I’ll be lucky to squeak by. But, well, I’m in this for the duration, I’m the nut who decided to foster them, but I also am glad I did. No nipping and no growling lately. Somehow, Peppercorn feels easier about her mama duties and herself, and the kittens seem to know to avoid getting in my path, so no problems lately. Unicorn just might be learning not to do the jump and climb thing at feeding time. They all are still impatient, but I think they’ve gotten the idea now that they will all get food and attention, nobody will get left out.
Looks like I may be having to decide how soon to put in another racery order. But I have too much of some things, not yet out of anything but fresh veggies and fruits. Still I think I’d better look, so I don’t run into another order waiting a week on delivery time availability.
I have been lazy about not wanting to do much to cook, all month, though.
Bandanas — Somehow, I misplaced two other bandanas, so at present, I have a purple one, of all things. I will look again, I should have a blue, a brown or tan, and maybe a green one. Somehow no red or maroon or black.
But after feeling silly, like an adult playing Cowboys and Indians, or a very bad cliché bank robber, with the bandana trying to drop or come loose while needing to keep that “social distance,” masked, I thought back to scouting. It seems the slider or clasp you wore on your bandana has a special name I never heard when I was (twice and very briefly) in scouting. Your bandana is a neckerchief, in scouting parlance, and that slider or clasp is a — woggle. (Woggle, not wiggle or boggle or giggle, as the spellchecker keeps insisting.) — It seems, why yes, of course, enterprising crafters on Amazon and Etsy and so on would be glad to sell you a woggle, (no, spellchecker, not a toggle, oh, dang), either a leather band / wrap, or a turk’s head knot braided in leather thong cord or paracord, or a metal scouting wiggle in many styles. (Their idea of a panther or tiger, however, looks nothing like one, to me, and I didn’t find a cougar or a cat. A cougar would’ve been very fitting.) I tried the leather thong style, but my Bandana wasn’t big enough. (Quiet, Freud….) So I’ve ordered a paracord woggle. Meanwhile, I will look up how to do a turk’s head knot woggle, as with a skein of paracord or macramé cord or leather thong, I could do that myself. The crafters and boy and Girl Scouts, take note. You have an opportunity like a fad, or maybe it’ll last longer than a fad.
I hope everyone’s doing fine. Stay well!
Cheap and easy, a holdover from college: Make half a packet of ramen, and after the noodles have softened and you’ve added some of the soup packet, turn off the heat, break in a raw egg or two, then cover and let the residual heat cook the egg(s) to desired doneness. The eggs sop up any excessive salt from the broth.
Went to check the mailbox this morning and came across a surprise: Not Mystic, but another, a black tomcat, I think, from the bulk of the head and body. He barely croaked a meow, I stopped to say hello and petted him very briefly. I’d guess he knows I’m friendly and may now my voice or may have seen me before. For a moment, I thought of Smokey, but the cat seemed too big for him, and the voice was wrong too. But it’s possible I just met the kittens’ papa, if their papa wasn’t Mystic. I went on my way; not eager to take on any more cats, that’s sure. Haen’t seen Mystic in a few days, but I’d guess he’s around. Checked my door and found a plastic wrapper envelope, yes, cat sprayed, ugh. Disposed of the wrapper and tossed the item in to be washed. In case. And washed my hands and hoped the scent did not get elsewhere. Ick ick ick.
I thought to check about a Kroger’s order, but didn’t check if it had been over two weeks or more since my last order. The earliest available date was Friday evening. I reviewed my list, think I have everything there I want, not happy with the price, and decided to wait until Monday to place the order, since I can get by past then, I think.
I’ve been awake since 3 and am finally sleep again. Going to nap, then get up and be productive, while listening to music or a book or podcast.
Hahaha — I looked over at the window, and four of the kittens are lined up in the same pose, while Goober is sitting below on a box, lounging and content.
Goober had a problem and so I discovered both his bowls were empty. (The kittens eat from his bowl too.) It was over two hours early, but I fed everyone. I went to the dumpster and when.I got back, mama and all the kittens were there to greet me, like a pride or pack greeting the returning member after he gets back from a hunt. (Didja bring me anything? Haha. Hey, I missed you, I love you!) It was heartwarming.
I hope everyone’s doing fine.
Quarter Share is wonderful, a really enjoyable read / listen. Nathan Lowell does an excellent job as narrator, good diction, a pleasant voice. (His voice reminds me a little of Robert Duncan McNeill, Tom Paris from Voyager.) This has hit the spot for me, between his situation, without family or home and no money, hiring on as an asst. cook and steward, and the romance / adventure of a trading starship. The details of trade and shipboard / navy life, and allusions to things like Hornblower and Moby Dick, plus, hmm, a background in literature…hits the spot. I want to get ahold of the music, which he says is “The Lucky Black Cat in A-minor” by James Curran, from the internet archive at archive.org, but I don’t find a search button / box there to get to it. I’ll have to look further. I’ll definitely be reading / listening to the rest in this series, and likely beyond.
Heh, that black cat had better be lucky, seeing as how I have six of ’em living with me currently, haha.
Woke up way early again after too few hours’ sleep. I’m dragging around. I’ve been sitting here with Goober, who wanted attention so much that he’s been happily sleeping on my hand and arm. I am fine with this, but it’s not getting any work done. I’m halfway sleepy, but if I tried to sleep, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t.
I had Chondrite’s suggestion of the ramen with egg for breakfast, but hmm, I should’ve put the egg in with the heat still going, simmering. I think I’d want a soft boiled to poached egg, not quite hard boiled, still soft. It didn’t cook enough, so I wound up with the egg mixed through the ramen, neither like the ribbons of egg drop soup nor the scrambled bits like in fried rice. It was odd, and I still am not sure where the yolk went; I presume it all went into something like a very soft scramble or coated the noodles. The other problem was, I forgot and didn’t add in the soup flavoring packet before I added the egg, to let the egg soak up the flavor. So…huh, that turned out odd. It cooked down so there was hardly any liquid, before and during the cooking with the egg. So I will try that again to get the technique right, or at least how I want it. If I still had green onions or some bell pepper, that would’ve been a very fine addition. Maybe a little bacon, crumbled. Hmm, a little bok choy or other veggies? This bears some thought. — I can see I have more to add to the grocery list.
Groceries: My last delivery was on the 12th, but it was a week before that when I ordered, so not quite three weeks yet. So I don’t feel bad that I’m already considering it, and have way more in my list than I think I should. I reduced down some, but need to add some vegetables. Decided too, to try some “ground chicken” as the meat for the enchiladas, rather than beef. I’ll save the hamburger for, well, burgers or spaghetti and meat sauce. It looks like the next available day for Kroger’s is three to four days away, so Monday or Tuesday, so it’ll nearly be four weeks before I get groceries. Dang, never mind me feeling guilty on that.
I’d also thought I’d been extravagant and overdid the orders for cat food. But no, given the lag times on delivery dates, I will end up just about right, with not too much surplus, maybe not any, but not running out, I think. Cat litter could be another matter. I’ve ordered, and hope the next cat litter orders get here before I run out. The kittens are older, growing bigger very fast, eating and needing litter more often. They are into everything. So I’m about right on ordering, as it turns out. But eek, expensive. I am, however, loving having them around, and even Ducky and Pinky are enjoying attention more. Pinky is still quite unsure about being picked up and held. But Ducky turns out to like getting petted. So now all five kittens are socialized better. Unicorn has somewhat overcome that need to jump and climb at feeding times, but she’s still not entirely out of it. At other times, she likes to stretch upward or sometimes jump or bounce, playfully, but not trying to grab or climb. This is just a thing for her. That Springer nickname may fit her better after all. She likes attention, and I think she takes after her mom pretty well. Ducky is back to wanting attention, but none of them have been sleeping on the bed with me lately. Wizard has gotten not quite as ready to cuddle, but did want to be on my shoe yesterday evening. Heh. So they are doing fine. Mama Peppercorn seems to prefer to stay in the living room, rather than joining me and the others in my bedroom. But she is milder now and seems surprised and happy when I stop to pet her, as if she didn’t expect it. She isn’t demanding like before. She and the kittens are only demanding at meal times. So I’m hoping to improve some more on their social skills before they’re given away. — Mama still shows she would far rather be inside where it’s nice than stuck outside on her own. Plus she still wants to be with her kittens, even though clearly, she and they are getting more independent of each other. But that’s healthy and normal. — Goober is still kinda the odd man out of the crew, but I’m trying to give him extra attention so he knows he’s loved and still wanted.
So…doing OK here, taking it easy for the morning, more serious this afternoon, and I will need to cook for tonight. Awaiting a Petco order today.
Here’s the link to ‘The Lucky Black Cat’:
https://archive.org/details/jamescurranluckyblackcat
Great Big Sea is another group Nathan Lowell features, with several albums out. You might try searching for them as well.
Aha, thanks! OK, and the search box is clear at the top right there. Then when I get back to the home page and click on a category (Audio), I see where I missed the search box before, down a ways from the top center. Possibly, I need to register and login for more features.
I’ll check for the Great Big Sea’s albums too.
I’m thoroughly enjoying Quarter Share and will be listening to the others. Heh, something Hollywood would surely not ever get. There’s no big explosions and the only sharp pointy objects are in the ship’s galley, no warring and bloodshed, no galactic- or world-threatening evils going on, no starships getting destroyed, no evil alien menace. My goodness, whatever was he thinking? It’s just a very enjoyable yarn. — Understand, I’m not saying this as a negative about the book. Rather, a negative about most of Hollywood’s approach to science fiction, even the more recent more mature well done video sci-fi.
It’s still fairly early afternoon, but I’ve been up over 12 hours now. My time sense is way off.I’ve been lazy, haven’t done much all day but listen to this-here audiobook. I will have to double down on the work ethic. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, not working. My allergy / sinus is better. I don’t know if it’s absolutely gone now, but it is better.
Cooking was simple: toss frozen, breaded chicken strips (honey bbq) in the oven along with French fries. I’m going to toss a can of spinach in a bowl and microwave that, but I feel I should fix something else for veggies, as I have fallen down on my veggie intake the past week. The chicken strips won’t last as long as the fries, so something else will happen this week. I’m going to wait till tomorrow to order groceries, but I expect delivery won’t be available until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, given what I saw when I last looked. And…I am out of chocolate, besides fresh vegetables, and nearly out of snacks. Heh.
The bit with coffee in the book really amuses me. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, and I’m not a stickler on tea preparation, though I prefer tea. But I do understand wanting good coffee or tea, and bad coffee is just bad coffee. I love that he can’t stress enough the importance of good coffee and good food for ship’s morale. that makes god sense to me. I am very glad I learned to cook from my grandmother and mom and dad. (Not so much from my mom, who rarely cooked.) I’m not as widely-versed on techniques, and I seem to go at cooking in spurts of enthusiasm or need or wanting to do so. But I always remember the joy my grandmother got from cooking for people. It was a form of love and self-expression, creativity and art, social bonding, for her, a way to love people and bring them together and serve people’s needs, in a very satisfying way, service. My grandmother never quite realized the depth of skill, talent, and artistic sense that she had, or that she passed to my mom. My grandmother was also great at decorating, clothing sense, homemaking, and I’m convinced she’s most of where my mom got her artistic sense and talent. So reading / listening to them discussing the importance of good food, good cooking, in keeping the crew happy and nourished and healthy, reminds me of this. Cooks and culinary arts are underrated.
— This morning, I heard what I think was Mystic outside, meowing outside the door. But when I went around from the back to the front, prepared to put out food for him, there was no cat to be found, despite calling. I brought the food back in and sighed. — No luck lately with this. I don’t think I misidentified it either. But we keep missing each other, it keeps not working out. I feel bad for him, because I really like Mystic. I hope he has a home with someone else, because I don’t see how I could get him now., and because he’s surely not getting meals from me these days. I didn’t see him today, so it’s been half a week or more since I last saw him. I didn’t see the black tomcat when I went to the dumpster this morning.
Goober’s been getting lots of attention today and has stayed nearby or right where he could get that attention, much more so than usual. This is good, and it’s made me wonder what’s changed and if it’ll stay this way. But it’s also got me hoping everything’s’ OK with him. As far as I can tell, he’s just fine. Maybe he’s feeling a need to be close too. Enjoying it while I can. — Today, all day so far, the kittens have been hanging out in the living room, sleeping, except for the burst of play and energy after breakfast, way early.
I want to give a shout out to HRH Spence and his wife Jan from the Shejidan message board. Jan took pity on me: my sewing machine is kaput. She sewed personalized masks for both readyGuy and me. We are sporting masks with rocket ships and planets!
Jan said it was a pleasure to help out.
You should post a Pic of them!
For those without sewing machines but capable of sewing a short (more-or-less) straight line by hand, and with some fabric and a bit of elastic available (even an old Tshirt or tea-towel would work) there are simple YouTube tutorials available that don’t need patterns.
Here’s one where the lady talks in Dutch, https://youtu.be/qCA24B1mjpk
Even without understanding the words it’s so simple I think anyone acquainted with simple sewing could follow it.
You need a rectangle of fabric, 20×42 cm (8×17 inch), and two pieces of elastic each about 9 inches long (she says 24 cm – for me 22 cm is long enough).
Fold the fabric double into a sort-of-square (good side inside the fold, so you’re looking at the back/unprinted side). Sew the ends together, but leave the middle of the seam open so you can later put a filter in through that hole in the seam (like a coffeefilter or a vacuum-filter).
Shift that seam down a bit, like she shows in the video, then sew the sides closed while attaching the elastic – put the loop of elastic inside the pocket you are making, let the ends stick out the side-corners (with knots in the ends), so when you sew the side shut the knots are visible on the outside and the loop is invisible on the inside.
When you’ve shut both sides, turn the square right-side-out through the opening you left in the first seam.
You now have a doubled fabric square with loops for your ears.
To make it fit, put in 3 pleats on each side and sew them down (see the video).
Even without a filter inside, it helps you avoid breathing or coughing on others, and helps you avoid touching your face.
It’s not good enough for nurses dealing with Covid-19 patients, but it’s good enough for slowing the spread when you need to go to the supermarket.
As they’re now saying that in places where everybody is getting tested, up to 40% of people who have these coronavirusses in their noses have no serious symptoms of being ill, a lot of healthy feeling people could still be spreading some virusses around; that is why it’s useful for everyone to cover their mouth & nose when out in public – not so much to avoid breathing it in yourself, but to avoid breathing it out onto your surroundings. It won’t stop everything, but it helps.
I’ve made a few myself, they took me about an hour apiece. For someone who never sews it might take a bit longer, but not too much.
If you haven’t got elastic you could use some ribbon or soft string ties, sewing a longer piece in each corner instead of the ends of the elastic. Then tie the strings behind your ears or around the back of your head. I think that would make it a bit less easy to put on, though.
They’re washable and reusable and easy to put on – easier than fussing with tying a bandana just right each time. I pour a bit of hot water from my electric kettle over it when I get home, and hang it back on my bike or near the door to dry and be ready for next time.
Those sound really neat. I need to find my other bandanas.
The kittens’ new tags aren’t here yet. More importantly, the cat litter is late, and I double-checked, and it hasn’t yet been shipped from Petco. (Petsmart’s website interface is not as good as Petco’s, but I may order from them soon.) So Amazon, not so reliable for cat litter either, now has an order for cat litter, it’s showing due Tuesday, and oh, I’ll be lucky if I don’t run out before then.
Overnight, either the latest cat food or the litterbox prompted Goober to spit up. I caught him before he did it on the newly-changed bed. I currently have two bedspreads air-drying, thanks to kitten / cat issues and general time-to-wash-that. — I went in, discovered the bathroom was more of a mess than it has been, and moved things out and mopped. But there was litter there, it formed a slurry, and so…. I am waiting for the first round of mopping to dry enough so I can go through again with bleach and soap and then rinse, in order to get a clean floor for a few hours, because I know they’ll just track litter over it again. But as long as no one does anything outside of the box, it should be all right to clean up without serious trouble. Yup, just life with multiple cats. Oh, joy.
The surplus I thought I was going to have in moist cat food may not be, because that order is going to be at least two days late or more. It may be a good thing I have extra canned tuna this time, because I missed cans in the back of one pantry shelf.
The litterbox for the bathroom is sitting out in the narrow hallway while the bathroom floor dries. There’s no window in there, no sunlight, because it’s completely enclosed in the floor plan. So it doesn’t dry fast, no matter how dry the mop or how hot the water is. I will have to remember not to trip over it, and hope the cats don’t create a problem. The other litterbox was emptied yesterday, but I haven’t cleaned up and mopped its area. I think I’ll get that done later today or tomorrow.
So, nothing shocking, just, oh dang, I am worried how my budget and savings will hold out before anything catches up, or if it will, or if I will end up in dire circumstances in a few months. I am OK for now.
I have to get ahold of that friend in hopes of scheduling a cab for the kittens’ vet appt. Monday. It may not work out again. My friend was pushing for me to take the kittens and mama cat to the ASPCA, claiming they say they’re out of animals. Uh, they are not a no-kill shelter, and they are closed to the public, as are the no-kill shelters. I argued I’m not going to do that. I don’t think he realizes what he was really saying, and he should be smart enough to know that. ̱He’s a dog owner. I’m not going to ask him, would he give his dogs to the ASPCA, because that would be arguing dirty, below the belt, IMHO. But I think he doesn’t get it. So they are staying until the shelters open again.
Noting much gong on here. I’m discouraged, unmotivated, but may get myself to do something today or tomorrow and get back into the swing of it. Even if things do open up on the 1st, I expect it will be a week or two before I can move, due to the need to close, get utilities hooked up, get appliances and furniture in, and do the move itself, including Goober and remaining cats. IIRC, the kittens will be 3 months old, over 18 weeks, at the end of this month. Goober will be 13-1/2 at the end of the month, plus however many weeks old he was when I got him. He is healthy in body and mind, but he is just about the omega of the group. He has always been long and lean. I can tell he’s getting older, by how the skin and muscle get into that old age look. I think he may reach 15 if we’re lucky.
—–
I’m listening further in the Quarter Share to Owner’s Share series of books by Nathan Lowell and really enjoying them still. Things get not quite directly explicit in a couple of scenes in the 2nd book, so, parental guidance listening / reading first, on whether a preteen or young teen would be OK to read that. (These days, they may hear and see plenty in real life and other media, but it was just spicy enough to merit a precaution before handing it sight unseen to a younger teen reader. An older teen, their own imaginations would come up with more than that, so fine. Just my opinion.) — Note, it isn’t a major part of the book, but one or two scenes in book 2 and a bit in book 3. For this adult reader, I found it more suggested between the lines, and not a major thing. But I also thought it was more effectively done by being left to the imagination, while enough was given to, ah, suggest what was going on. Hah, OK, I’m conservative and maybe blocked on that subject anyway. I thought it was fine. It’s not the main point of the story at all, but haha, the main character has a slightly more naive and urbane form of Capt. Kirk syndrome. Also a liking for older, powerful women. Heh.
All in all, though, it’s a very good series, a fun read, sci-fi comfort food, if you like space trader stories. (I do.) Thanks again to Chondrite and Hanneke for the recommendations. I’m getting a big kick out of the books, and they go faster than I would’ve thought, in audiobook / podcast format. (I used to be able to read a regular-length novel in a weekend or so, or a long-form novel like Pride or one of the Foreigner books in three to four days, less if I did nothing but read. I can’t make that speed anymore in reading. I don’t know how long it took me the last time I read a novel or nonfiction book in print or ebook. But given the speed when listening, I can tell my reading speed in print / ebook has slowed significantly.
Expecting to put in my grocery order this weekend to arrive sometime late next week, likely the earliest available slot. Kroger’s still shows no toilet paper. It’s a very good thing my friend brought a pack by a week ago.
Also, Monday will be 3 weeks since I shaved my head, not entirely bald, but very nearly, an electric razor meant for this. My hair is now at crewcut length, just about.
It’s in the upper 80’s by day, mid to low 70’s at night, for the next week, and it was supposed to get up to 93 yesterday, down to around 72 last night. But that is not atypical for here for this time of year. We are going to have a hot summer, maybe another record breaker, and it looks like the precip will be normal.
Hoping everyone’s doing well and staying well. All things considered, doing better than I think, except money-wise.
The next bout of cooking is going to be spaghetti with meat sauce or meatballs. I might have a bag of meatballs, can’t recall. No salad to go with; I’m out of fresh veggies until next grocery delivery.
(Just Goober on the bed lately. The kittens hang out with me sometimes, but I think they’re so used to ranging over the whole apartment, that they don’t think to sleep with me.
Gah, I thought I was doing so well until last week, on top of the bathroom and litterbox. But when I mopped early morning, I took a false shortcut and didn’t move a couple of things. I came back before lunch to see if the floor was dry, and moved those, and found, ugh, a mess. Cleaned that up, chided myself on not taking such shortcuts and how dirty it was. Cleaned up, mopped again, and promptly overflowed the toilet by being too fast in tipping the bucket in. (Either throw the waste water outside or down the toilet. There’s no other drain, and there’s no Waterhouse anywhere I know of for cleaning large items outside.) Mopped, wrung out the mop, repeat until done, to sop up the bilge water. Rinse and clean up afterward. Let the floor dry some and move things back in…and realize I hadn’t sifted the gods-be litterbox before mopping that morning.
Hah, well, it’s done now, and it should be much cleaner in there. It is not as spotless as I want it, but I swear the flooring (more grey than brown anyway) drinks up water and dirt, so I almost never feel like it’s truly clean.
I still am not back in the habit of doing that weekly or daily. I’m very unhappy with myself that it got so bad and I didn’t notice the corner behind the wastebasket where one of the cats, uh, had done their business at least once or twice. Ugh. Well, it’s clean for now. I can see while the cats are still here, I’m going to need to sweep and mop far more often. Maybe this will get me back in the habit. I’m really not happy with myself over this. I knew I was letting it go too long, but oh, was that bad. At least it’s done now.
@bcs I know you have space constraints (and monetary) but the last recommendation I saw was to have the number of cats plus 1 for the number of litterboxes. While they’re still kittens that probably is overkill, but once you move into your new home with Goober, Dubh, and Wizard you should consider having four.
We actually kept an additional litterbox to swap out in case one got messy and we didn’t have time to clean it on our way to work. I’d just put the unacceptable box outside and put enough litter to minimally meet kitty needs in the spare box placed where the “bad” box had been. This also discourages the kitties from becoming so fixated on “their” box that you can’t comfortably board them out. Once I had the time to give the “bad” box a good scrub, that box would become the spare.
I need to be swapping out the boxes and scrubbing. I’ve got two spare boxes, thanks to when Curry was here. When I was in my old house, I used to take them out into the back yard after emptying and hose them down and leave them out in the sun to dry. Much easier. If I had been as diligent as I should, it would’ve gone better. These days, after getting better about it, then having to while Curry had his problem, I’ve been good about it, but once the kittens and mama came along, and they’ve been growing, it’s gotten harder to keep up. I’m generally sifting each box every other day or every day. Why I haven’t also been swapping them out, I don’t know. Duh. Thanks, I’ll restart that.
Right now, I’ll be holding out on the remainder of one pail of litter, hoping the delivery gets here sooner than the arrival time says. — Keeping on top of it is _really_ challenging, currently. There are also times I’m sifting at least one box two or three times a day.
I’m not sure how the litterbox configuration will work at the new house. (I am going on faith that that can still happen and be sustainable.) The bathroom there is freakin’ tiny and may not hold a litterbox. There’s fortunately a separate utility / laundry room, likely where one or two boxes will go. I don’t really want to put a litterbox elsewhere so it becomes a habit. It’s a two bedroom, one bath home, with a large-fish kitchen but no pantry until a cabinet is added, a dining / living room area, the two bedrooms and one bathroom, and the utility / laundry room. Looks like I won’t get a screened-in patio to start out, and not sure if the shed for storage will be added to start off. So it’s maybe a tad larger than my apartment, but it’s plenty for one person and the cats. If (unlikely) I were to get a housemate, then it might seem smaller. No garage, btw. It’s a renovation from a small house, probably the original was 1950’s era or earlier, I’d guess. The front porch is covered, with steps and a wheelchair ramp from the previous owner. I’m inferring the current owner is a relative of the senior, wheelchair-using woman who was the previous owner.
——
Two new developments from yesterday and today: One, Dubhan showed up this afternoon, not wanting food, but plainly curious about what I was doing in the kitchen and wanting to tag along. So I brought him back to the bedroom and he hung out a good while, thoroughly happy to be held and nap on my lap, before switching to the window.
Second, yesterday evening or early during the night, Goober showed up smelling bad, as if he’d been too far into the litterbox or similar. So I got a warm washcloth and towelled him with it, to clean up the lingering smell on him. He put up with this and then seemed grateful. This was after he’d spit up more than an hour earlier.
But a while after that, he completely surprised me: Goober got in my lap and curled up. He has never been a lap cat; he always wants to be around, or hang out nearby, with me, unless he gets in the mood to nap elsewhere, quiet, or watch in the window. So at this stage, for him to decide on his own, he wanted in my lap, was a big deal. I wasn’t sure if it meant he was feeling bad (sick) or lonely, maybe beleaguered by the kittens.
He has done fine since, and has been in my lap three times since then, this morning and into today. I’m bemused, and it’s meant I’ve just sat here listening to audiobooks, because I didn’t have the heart to disturb him. If he’s got it in his head to be a lap cat for a while, or if he’s not feeling well, or is lonely, needing support and love, well, whatever it is, I’m fine with that. He seems to be feeling OK; no problems since, and of course I’ve cleaned up the bathroom, which should help too. But I’m also conscious he’s 13-1/2 and being a real trooper with the others around. He still hasn’t decided they are friends, buddies, but he doesn’t do more than fuss and hiss a little, maybe swat at them if they get too close, and then if they behave, he either puts up with them being there, or he seeks a spot to be by himself. Or he hangs out with me.
So I am not sure what is going on that he’s wanting to be in my lap, but that’s fine by me, he’s welcome. I’ve told him he’s been missing out all this time, he could’ve been a lap cat. 😀 — His fur looks good, he groomed this afternoon, I can tell, and he’s eaten fine. So I’m trying to be observant, in case there’s something going on I should pick up on. But so far, he seems OK. Maybe he liked the extra care and wants to snuggle, wants the reassurance.
Peppercorn almost got her claws caught this evening at suppertime, but we got untangled before it became more than a couple of hisses and some careful appraisal and movement by me to avoid it escalating. That’s the first time in a while. Maybe she’s learning.
Doing OK otherwise.
—–
That’s been our excitement today. Nothing much going on. So I guess I’m resting and they are getting some time with me.
And now Peppercorn is meowing. I don’t know what about, but I’m likely going to sift the other box in case. I’ve been giving her a little attention each day, but I’m still a bit wary in case she gets her claws caught, on the occasional times she reaches out when I’m standing. I’d thought maybe we had gotten past that. She doesn’t get upset these days and has been giving me a little room to move, so we’ve been doing better.
Unicorn, the kitten who likes to jump or climb, aka Springer, has been doing better, but isn’t quite cured of the tendency I have also figured out this is, I want attention, human, I love you, pay attention to me, or else she’s excited about food or wants to play, or is just happy to see me, sometimes. So she’s been doing better, but isn’t quite cured of the bad habit.
Almost 12:45am / 0045hrs here. I just checked my Kroger’s grocery cart and was going to schedule the next delivery. There are NO delivery dates and times available. None. The site normally shows a full week of days, with slots almost every hour the stores are open.
Looks like I’ll be waiting around a week to ten days to get groceries. I’ll need to check at least twice a day to see if new slots are open. Wow.
The other alternative is pickup, which they do show available still. I might have to get my friends to do a grocery pickup for me. They’ve been only at home, going out as little as possible, because their moms / mothers-in-law are seniors with at-risk conditions. I’ll call and see if they can do a grocery run at the end of the week, in case I don’t get a delivery time open. I think I’m OK until then, with things in the fridge, freezer, and pantry, but that may zero out the meat in the freezer and such like. I’m out of a few things now, and will feel pretty cramped by the end of the week.
I need to check how much I have for the cats’ moist food, but I think I’m OK until the next delivery arrives. Hoping the cat litter arrives on time or before. The Petco delivery is due the first half of the week, but cat litter was not yet showing shipped as of yesterday, so I had to order via Amazon and hope one or both gets here soon.
Peppercorn meowed and woke me up, so I emptied the other litterbox, meaning both are now OK except I need to sweep and mop under the one I just emptied. (Not tonight.) I put out dry instead of moist, since that would be too far off-schedule. No real objections, just evident restlessness; they were hoping I’d feed them extra. 😉 — Funny, Goober was lounging in there by the crew, unperturbed and not really expecting food, but hanging around in case I did. 😉 (He still gets fed separately, in my bedroom.) So I took it as a good sign that he and they are OK enough together that he felt he could be relatively relaxed and with them, waiting for me.
Didn’t hear from my friend regarding the vet appt. Monday. I will be calling him again on Monday morning.
Guess it’s gonna be an interesting week. Wow.
Hey, all. I’m aggravated. At myself, at my friend, at the world in general. I am doing OK, trying to be positive, but…dang it. I just called to let the vet’s office know I don’t expect to make the appt. today, and that I’d call later in the week to reschedule when I can, I hope, actually make it. I got a call in to my friend on Friday when his voicemail wasn’t full, and haven’t heard back. The Uber app doesn’t like apartment numbers, as far as I can tell, and I can’t find the cross street (ALB- something) on either maps app, and I swear I’ve never heard it spoken the same way twice, to know the name, in the 3+ years I’ve been here. Duh. Funny in an off-kilter way. I will try again before the appt. time, but I don’t expect it’ll happen today.
I am unmotivated to do much of anything besides stay in old clothes and fiddle with whatever I want to do, besides I need to fix some food and do a load of laundry. The cats are squared away, having a good nap after breakfast this morning. I woke up later thean usual (6:30 this morning) but there was surprising no armed rebellion in the ranks and no bloodshed on either side. Heh. Nobody ate anyone else, either. LOL, so we are fine. Actually, I think mama and kittens are finally settling into the realization that meals come regularly and dependable around here, that they will not go hungry ever, if I can help it. (Not having food would be the very last thing, if my budget ever gets that low again.) (Hoping to avoid that ever again, of course.) So far, so good.
In fact, last night, had a very nice time where I’d fed them and I sat down and all the kittens clustered around me, plus mama and Goober were there, each on a box, and no one batted an eye except a little meowing, which might have been only uncertainty or mild grumbling, since mama was needing to talk, and Goober was putting up with one of the kittens (Unicorn) beside him and two below. They let him be and he lounged aside from a mild grumble or two. I don’t know if that means they are all mellowing or he is or if he and they are finally going to merge into a common group, but it was a nice touch. I discovered I am still a bit wary of mama somehow getting irritated or getting her claws caught inadvertently. But instead, we all had a nice time.
Both Dubhan and Wizard got time in my lap yesterday afternoon. Goober was to himself after the morning, but hanging out with me. He might decide he needs a lap again, but it might have been a temporary largesse. I’m still amazed.
Their litterboxes are in good shape and I am down to less than half a jug of litter, with the last pail used up last night. So if either delivery shows up today, we’ll be OK, and if it’s tomorrow, still OK but likely none spare. We are OK on moist food for a bit. Man, scheduling on this is a bear. I could order more at each time, but it’s danged expensive. — I can’t seem to ge the kittens and mama to eat dry like they should, although it’s always out, and the kittens eat from Goober’s bowl. (Funny, they don’t want to eat from the bowls in the kitchen as fast as the hall or his bowl. I don’t know why.) They get moist food mornings and evenings on the adult schedule now.
I’ve looked over the weekend and this morning. Still no delivery times available from Kroger’s, and if and when I next get to talk to my friends, I’ll ask about one of them doing pickup from curbside at the store and ferrying it here. But I don’t plan on needing it until around the weekend and maybe can hold out until Monday. I am not out of a lot, and by then, I should have enough cleared out, plus a little less surplus. I am still working through surplus in the pantry, freezer, and fridge, and yet running out of more frequently used stuff, while out of fresh veggies already. So I’m in no danger of starving or running out of supplies. Heh.
One or more of the kittens found the current roll of toilet paper and the usual cat plus toilet paper equation ended up with the small remainder of that roll, ah, completely off the roll. I looked at that and wondered why I hadn’t put it out of kitty reach before. The new one will be. Hah.It is a very good thing indeed that my friend brought the package by the other week, as now I’ll be into it.
Since Kroger’s delivery is not available, I’ve ordered a couple of things from Amazon. Amazon ought to offer me stock shares, I swear. I have not yet ordered chocolate, but I am likely to succumb. I’m nearly out of snacks. So I’m actually OK, it just feels higher than it really is. On the plus side, maybe I’ll be almost normal by the end of this. I have not yet heard if they’ve decided to extend the lockdown, but I almost expect it. The guv’ner has announced plans to ease the shutdown, which I think is asking for trouble, while medical officials warn of the high risk into summer and fall and winter., and the need to keep the shutdown going, at least to the end of the month, or mid-May. As seriously as this is hampering me, with the cats still here and no movement toward the new house — I would rather myself and everyone else remain alive and healthy, and not spread the infection to myself and diverse and sundry. Sure, I’d love for it to be business as usual, social life for people back to normal. But that’s no good if a lot of people get sick. And why do something dang-fool stupid if you can easily keep from it, and you’re getting good advice? (Hmm, yeah, OK, if only I could live up to my own advice and ideals…..)
All in all, doing fair to middling. Could be better, could e worse. Still have this sinus, still think it’s just from how things are, and not the virus. If it’s the virus, then I’ve only got allergy / sinus symptoms going on extensively, but not actually what I’d call sick. So, counting that good enough.
— Still coursing through the “Share” books by Nathan Lowell. The second book felt not quite as good, but the others are all good. He got through some real world issues in two books, which I thought he handled well; mature topics, maybe a bit much for younger teens, but maybe OK too, YMMV. I will make it through the remaining books in this 6 volume set this week. Be it noted, these must be shorter novels than CJ’s usual output. But I’m very much enjoying the audiobooks now, and where possible, I think I’ll be doing this more, to enjoy listening in lieu of reading. It feels so strange not to know the spelling, though, of names and places. He does engaging stories and there’s a quirky and clever and educated humor , plus some smart situations. I found a bio for Nathan Lowell on a Wiki page, which goes a long way to explaining why these stories are well done. (Ed. Tech. Ph.D., former USCG experience, and so on.) He has engaging characters, and the situations, plots, humor, ideas make for a good read. These are adventure yarns, not grand ideas, there’s a heart and social concern to them, and the plots are not intricate, but are believable and interesting. These don’t need explosions and universe-threatening grandiose stuff. Instead of warring, he’s covered more everyday real problems, and on two kinds, has not shied away from presenting those as unglamorous, inglorious. He also knows how to have fun with the stories and characters.
So I’m having a ball with these, and thanks again.
I am eagerly awaiting whoever CJ gets the next Foreigner and the Alliance Rising sequel done, and any audiobooks or ebooks for existing or backlist titles out. I. am always ready for a Cherryh book fix. 🙂
So…Going to take it easy today and vow to catch up tomorrow and forward. Got to catch up. Hoping that some more diligent work will get me caught up or ahead. I don’t know why I am dragging my butt on this.
I am very glad to have the cats. Goober plus the new crew are always up to something, giving me a laugh or a cute moment many times a day. I think they have become so used to it here, that that is why I don’t have any of the kittens or mama always hanging with me. I am not sure if mama or the kittens have really bonded with me. I do know that each time so far, Peppercorn has wanted back in after any brief look-see outside. She likes this housecat gig, food, water, shelter, safety, and affection, she likes this muchh more than being outside and hungry and unsafe. The kittens have become used to this; I don’t think they really recall what being outside was like. Maybe they do. I am being extra careful about any of them getting out, though. I don’t want to have any of them stuck outside and worrying about getting them back in and safe.
So — nothing too exciting see, just living. Aggravated, but livable. Muddling through as best as I can.
No word from the apt. mgmt. on anything. I am letting the repairs slide until I have things more in order here after the end of the month. But no repairs have been done yet.
I hope you’re all doing better and staying well.
Huzzah, we have cat litter. maybe all of it. Luckily, I checked before the bottom dropped out on a very dark rainstorm now going on.
Today’s excitement was discovering that Ducky had developed something without me noticing before. From mid-back along his spine down to his tail, he had a line of crust of some kind. At first, I thought it was just one spot, but then I could feel it extended along. So I got alarmed and got a warm wet hand towel and scrubbed between gentle and rough, hoping it was just minor and simple. Problem: Once I’d done so and went to inspect it, I couldn’t tell if said hand towel was supposed to be sandy-colored or white. It wasn’t showing red enough to me to confirm it. It took a minute to think if I’d just rinse it out, I’d know better the original color, and therefore what was going on. It was white-ash, but of course now needed a good washing. I washed Ducky further. — And it looks like I may not have any Dawn dishwashing liquid unhand. (It’s a known trick to use a few drops of that in water as a quick flea bath for cats and kittens, and presumably dogs and puppies.
But I don’t know why I haven’t noticed this much sooner, given how bad it was, or why the other cats aren’t all afflicted, or why I’m not sensing it too. I also don’t know where he got into them. But somehow, either I’ve tracked in fleas from outside, or he got into something with fleas or eggs in the apartment, or they arrived in some recent package. Assuming it’s fleas; and that’s my first, best guess.
I called the vet to reconfirm if I could go ahead and dose mama and the kittens safely, and yes, it’s been long enough since the kittens were weaned and since mama kitty was spayed, that it’s safe to give them all flea preventive.
But, problem, what I have on hand is for large cats over 9 pounds and kittens over 8 weeks old. The kittens are nearly 3 months old, but nowhere near 9 pounds. Other problem: Goober and Peppercorn are 8 something pounds. So I had the wrong size / dosage on hand. Good thing I haven’t been overusing those.
Weirdly, both Amazon and Petco are not showing the “Kitten” size in more than 2 doses a packet. For the 5 to 9 pound small cat size, they offer 2, 4, 6, and 12 dose packets. the 6 dose packets are $58. — I’ve ordered a 4 dose pack for the small cat size, and 3 of the 2 dose packets for the kittens, plus 2 flea combs, because I don’t remember running across the one I’m supposed to have, among my supplies. That isn’t due until May 4th unless I want to pay a higher shipping fee. (Wow, Petco really gets you on that.) But poof, and with only that order, $140 dollars spent. Man….
I’ve cleaned up Ducky’s favorite sleeping spot, which needed dusting anyway, as it turned out. I’ve scrubbed him, rather than trying a hand-dip or immersion or shower spray. I will likely repeat that tonight and maybe tomorrow. I need to order Dawn liquid from Amazon, plainly. Kroger’s delivery still shows no available.
I’m concerned I could suddenly have a burst of flea infestation. But the proliferation of boxes and deliveries of supplies makes it hard to vacuum and shampoo the carpets or mop the floors. So that should keep me busy.
Meanwhile, Ducky at least didn’t mind and maybe liked the scrub, thankfully. That I missed this means I have not been giving Ducky enough personal time, so he will be getting a share along with skittish Pinky.
Meanwhile, I’ll await the delivery. No other news. I am glad Ducky liked the attention and help.