In a perfect cap to a craptacular week, Tbogg’s beloved Beckham has died.
I’m really sorry.
by John Cole| 57 Comments
This post is in: Dog Blogging
In a perfect cap to a craptacular week, Tbogg’s beloved Beckham has died.
I’m really sorry.
by John Cole| 94 Comments
This post is in: Cat Blogging, Dog Blogging, Open Threads
I’ve done something different today. Other than the Weather Channel for a few minutes this morning and about ten minutes of the Andy Griffith Show in the waiting room at the physician’s office, I have not had my tv on once today. I also have kept blog surfing to a minimum. I gotta admit I’m in a pretty good mood.
And because if for no other reason than as an apology for that 900 comment abomination regarding Gruber yesterday, here is a pet rescue story:
The story:
We found Max on petfinder.com, a great way to search multiple adoption sources in a particular area. His name at the Queen Anne’s County shelter was Fletcher, which was the name of the deaf, epileptic (pedigreed) Dalmation we lost the previous year – kismet! Fletcher had been a classic high-maintenance dog, out the door at the crack of dawn or spend some cleanup time on your hands and knees, meds every several hours to keep him from spinning around like a rodeo bull, resting his head on your feet to be sure if you tried to move. So of course we loved him like a special needs child and his loss left a big hole in our lives.
Max turned out to be the best, lowest maintenance dog I’ve ever had. Disposition of a saint (a good one), patience of a shepherd, bladder like a camel’s, healthy for his first seven years (only non-manifested Lyme Disease so far). We adopted Max as our son was entering high school so, for my wife, he’s been the perfect pseudo-replacement for our now-living-on-his-own professional firefighter. She can still dote.
When we flew the empty nest on the Eastern Shore to the mountain west, Max rode in the car with Mom (w/safety harness) while Alpha drove the 22-foot belongings truck. While checking out the local shelter, High Sierra, for possible short-term boarding, we met Clio (then Amanda). She popped up in a window as we were leaving past the cat room – “pick me!” So we took Max in and Cloi came over and did the leg rub on Max like had been feeding her. She’s beautiful and just like Max, sweet and innocent to make your heart smile. Oh, and last spring, the wife flew back east to collect the two little black 14-year-old rescued kitties we left with the boy when we moved. It’s a bit of a zoo but we introduced Tina and Aretha to Cloi very slowly and methodically, as prescribed, and we’re one big pretty entertaining family these days.
I’m off to watch Chuck. You all stay classy.
This post is in: Cat Blogging, Dog Blogging
Was at the desk answering email, turned around and found this:
Move over, Cute Overload!
Look at all that cat hair on that from just the last three days. Good grief.
by John Cole| 69 Comments
This post is in: Cat Blogging, Dog Blogging, Open Threads
This post is in: Lily, Open Threads
Woke up, walked the dog at about 6 am, her feet got cold, so I picked her up and was carrying her back in when I slipped on the ice. I fell forward, rolled to my right so I would not crush Lily, and the entire brunt of the fall went to my outstretched right arm. My shoulder dislocated and I heard crunching and had immediate excruciating pain. Got up and used a doorknob to pop my shoulder back in, and it kept popping out of joint, sending me into agony each time.
Somehow drove to the ER, got some xrays and a ct scan, and I have basically pulverized my scapula. It is broken in multiple places, so I am heavily sedated and wearing a massive shoulder/arm immobilizer. Surgery next week.
On the upside, I was not naked in the shower with a mop.
How is your day going?
I think I am going Galt for real for a few days.
This post is in: Dog Blogging
I hate to have to do this, but I need to get Lily a coat and booties. She has no undercoat, and is hating the cold. When we go outside, she does her business and turns around and heads back in after just two minutes, and if we stay longer she just stops in place lifting her legs and looking at me confused because her tootsies hurt.
Any suggestions?
And yes, I’m now about to become someone who dresses his damned dog. Just shoot me. Here comes Chad with his beautiful big white lab, here comes Anne with her Mastiff, here is Devon with her beautiful terriers, and who is that? Oh, why it is John with his dainty little Lily in a sweater and booties. I already feel my testosterone levels dropping.
This post is in: Cat Blogging, Open Threads
You’ve been good, and we’ve been slacking on the pics, so here you go:
The story:
You would never guess that this beyond handsome cat with one blue eye and one blond eye came into our lives at roughly six weeks of age when we discovered him cowering under our back deck with his feral mother. His eyes were glued shut because of a discharge, he was riddled with fleas, all skin and bones and pretty much not long for the world.
We had one other rescue cat at the time. Kiko was a deceivingly gentle looking little puffball. She was quite territorial and despite her small size was a ferocious hunter who would drag home prey twice her size — or maybe just the creature’s head — as an offering. Kiko could have killed Kimba in a heartbeat, but he brought out her nurturing side and he was soon doing quite well, thank you.
Today Kimba is seven years old. He’s a couple cards short of a full deck, but loves us unconditionally. Last winter, we had one other rescue cat, Chin, who is mute and basically toothless, when Kimba started making a fuss. We investigated and there was a semi-feral cat of about 10 months staring in through the sliders below the deck. This cat kept coming back each evening for the food and water we left outside for him and he too seemed like he might not be long for the world because nighttime temps in the mountains were dipping down to zero and beyond. We eventually trapped this clawless kitty, whom we named Taj, a loveable lug who today also is prospering.
So there you have it: A cat with no teeth, a cat with no claws and a cat with no brains.
Enjoy.
BTW, since this is an open thread, I had one of the best salads I have ever made, and it was kind of an accident. I’m going out of town for business Friday morning, so I was sort of just trying to clear out the fridge so nothing would get wasted before I get back and do a grocery on Sunday, and used the following items:
some red lettuce
an avocado
the rest of a bin of bean sprouts
a half a papaya
a couple cherry tomatoes
a little bit remaining in a block of colby/monterey jack cheese
a half a small container of crab meat leftover from crab cakes
a taco shell
Threw it all in a bowl, added a little olive oil, some salt and pepper, a 1/2 a lime’s worth of juice, and the rest of a container of salsa verde.
It was awesome. Also, don’t forget our own Rus has his radio show tonight on Radio Kaos. That is always worth a listen.