can you spot the kitten?

milo's new favorite nap spot

cat photo of the week

milo appreciating the heat vent

cat photo of the week

milo "slobadahn milosevic" crenshaw

deal with it bitches

the very same day that i write out my schedule—and altering it...
i alter it again.

i just can't deal with milo being a little rat about aesop. so i throw them in together and tell them to cut the bullshit. the vodka tonics probably helped... currently they are somewhere in the house, having a stare-down, as they have all night.

aesop tried his best. just brightly curious, no malice.
i'm going to end up in a house where the little cat is the dominant one. like those looney tunes cartoons with the tiny dog telling the big dumb dog what to do all the time.

man. i didn't even make it through or till thursday!
but all in all, i gauged milo well i think. they continue to get closer and closer. the growling is less and less. currently, there is none.

in other news, i might hold onto the banty's for awhile. a fellow poultry enthusiast things the banty roosters won't make much noise and if that is the case then i think i am willing to keep them. i had a couple interested parties... but, but if they won't make noise then i don't need to get rid of vernon. and if i don't need to get rid of vernon, then i certainly don't need to get rid of tselma.

io (formerly merope) is trying to challenge me. unfortunately, i am at the top of the pecking order. (just like i'm the alpha cat too! and dog, if there were any here. i rule the roost bitches!)

time for sleep.

The ReVised Cat Rotation Schedule

Morning
6:45—wake up, snuggle with milo until 7 (ideally, realistically: 715)
Let Aesop out of laundry. Close Milo up in Bedroom.
(The cats can now see & smell each other through my door.)
Let chickens out, give them their salad
Get ready. Say goodbye to both cats.

Lunch
12/12:30—Home for lunch.
Give the Chickens their feed.
Do the lunch hour thing, love on Aesop for awhile
Put Aesop in the laundry.
Let Milo out, love on him. Let him outside.
Let Aesop out of laundry.

After Work
Love on Milo on the porch. Say hello to chickens.
Love on Aesop inside.
(Possible social hour with Milo & chickens)

Night
9pm—Put Aesop in laundry with wet food.
Let Milo inside, love on him.
Set Milo up with wet food, close him in bedroom.
(Again, they can see and smell each other now.)
Let Aesop back out until I go to bed.
(More time with more space and more attention.)
At bedtime, put Aesop in laundry.
Give Milo the run of the house. Go to bed.

Why did I revise the schedule? For a couple of reason. One, they need more contact with one another. Two, Milo appears to forget another cat is in the house if he can't see it. Three, I'm concerned Aesop is rubbing raw spots on his face due to lack of affection or closed-quarters. This way he gets more hours to roam the house. I also am no longer letting him in my room—making my room Milo's "safe room" and the laundry room Aesop's, with plenty of room between them.

The Cat Rotation Schedule

Morning
6:45—wake up, snuggle with milo until 7 (ideally, realistically: 715)
Let Milo out, let chickens out, give them their salad
Let Aesop out of laundry. Snuggle with on couch.
Get ready. Say goodbye to both cats.

Lunch
12/12:30—Home for lunch. Love Milo on porch.
Do the lunch hour thing, love on Aesop for awhile
Feed Aesop and put him in the laundry
Let Milo in, feed him, love on him.
Give the Chickens their feed.

After Work
Say hello to Milo, let him out.
Let Aesop out of Laundry. Love on/Play with.
(Possible social hour with Milo & Chickens)

Night
9/10pm—Set up Aesop in Laundry w/ wet food.
Close up the chickens, refresh their water.
Let Milo in, give wet food, snuggle with.
Sleep.

furry and feathered friends

its been a weekend for pets.
friday i picked up a new cat. he is as-yet unnamed.
we have a strict cat rotation schedule through friday.
already it seems a little smoother.

they are both so beautiful. they don't match, they can't compare.
they are completely different.
(the time i spend with each i'm just like—wow—so pretty.)
i wonder if milo will get bigger. if not, he's kind of small.

i've decided to change the chicken known as merope to io. iphegenia and io. merope just doesn't roll of my tongue in any fashion that feels natural. i am looking to rehome tslema and vernon. vernon needs to go and i don't think its fair or that it will be easy to just get rid of him.
i haven't any use for banties frankly.

so as much as it pains me, i hope i can find them a home.

showed the fam and friends the house. they liked it. trying to figure out home much it would cost to refinish the hardwood floors. if i should move right away or move after i paint. and ... do the floors?

i'd like to put someone in the basement. would like to cover the ceilings.

in other pet-news. my friend and my cubemate each got puppies.
nixon and miley. afghan-poodle and wirehaired terrier.
played with a puppy at work, played with a puppy all weekend.
rotated cats when i wasn't out having fun.

sigh. i hope the kitties will be friends. i really do.

go along...go along

today i randomly decided to give milo a bath.
he was not pleased—to say the least.
but he was stinky! and dirty! he deserved it.
i need to get waterless bath stuff.

tomorrow i'm checking out a 2nd cat. currently named Doo-Dah, have yet to dream up a worthy name for him. so many things to consider. it all sounds promising though. i hope he'll be a good friend for milo. so curious what this kitty is like. i hope he is good. i want to be his mommy.

but. for now, i have a wet, wet-cat-smelly, cat on my lap.
at least he forgives me.

tomorrow the chickens will be eating quite a buffet. spaghetti, garbonzo beans, broccolli, tuna fish, and carrots. they ... they are funny. tselma especially, because she wants to be her own chicken. i wish the newer chicks weren't so anxious around me.

this weekend: clean the chicken coop, get a cat, play with a puppy.

my house inspection came through well. phew!
the sloping is inexplicable, there are no structural concerns.
it just is what it is. some days i think this home is truly fated for me.

good night. wish me luck.

ode to a day in the life of the chickens

the chickens spend their days in the yard now.
their barrel is too small for them to do anything but sleep in. my mini-urban farm chores: every morning i use a cardboard box to transport them from barrel to backyard before i go to work.

on rare occasions their escapades extend into the parking lot, the front sidewalk and the neighbor's parking strip. i've had my moments, chasing the girls down the parking lot with their silly little golden pantaloons and frantic chicken sounds.

i spread their crumble food about the yard to encourage foraging.
i also throw down a mixture of flaxseed, bran flakes and oats. and my new invention is chopping finely or even grating fruits and veggies which are no longer appealing to me. yellow celery, mealy apples, cucumber peels. they seem to like it. they eat as much greens as they do chicken food now. i trust them to avoid the morning glories, tomatoes and eggplant (nightshade plants)—and so far they haven't proven me wrong.

when its warm the chill under the pine trees, under the porch or alongside the house. they are always together unless vernon has gotten himself into another impossible situation. when the clouds roll over they are at their most active, happy with a respite from the sun.

if i sit down on the grass they will gladly hang out with me, crawling into my lap and pecking at my toes. i am easily caught up in watching their habits and antics.

milo does his best impression of a wild cat, stalking and springing upon his poultry prey. the chickens bounce across the yard and milo bounces right after them. he never catches them and after two weeks in the yard together everyone is still alive and well.

by the end of the evening they gather round the back door and make a lot of noise until i bring them inside.

a weeks worth of urban farming

i cut daffodils the other day (cut flowers in the house are one of my all time favorite things, especially when you can cut them from your own garden) and on of their stems did a peculiar thing. i am very impressed that my camera was able to capture it. props to canon and their macro functions!

friday i made beef barley soup. it was delicious. i wish i had had a greater audience to share it with. for now, i think it will have to sit in the freezer.

saturday evening i got a lot accomplished on the fence. in the fading light and beginning spring shower. carting around cement foot after cement foot for a total of seven, they had to be over fifty pounds. they had me panting and tore up my hands and forearms. i have a bruise on my right palm and splinter on my left pinky. the gate is still not complete, i can't do it alone.

why do i bother? we will likely be moving in a matter of months.
but i can't bear to leave a job half done.
with two motivated people, it would have taken an afternoon.

the tulips are blooming and the ugly shrubs are proving to be covered in colorful flowers, so they aren't a complete wash. i can't find the pole beans in town that i want to grow and every time i think i will get a jump start on the season, i wake up to a frosty 30 degree morning.

to cheer myself up i bought chickens on saturday.
it is a little foolish, since should i need to rent a new home in a few months i will likely have to give them up. maybe they can bunk with my friend's chickens until i find a permenant situation. i bought four, two bantys and two buff orpingtons. they are as yet unnamed, but the little grey banty i am beginning to think as gidget. they are doing well, one of the buff's has issues with her toilet habits and in helping her stay alive i've unfortunately removed some of her hinie feathers.
poor thing. she probably thinks i am a monster.

milo is the only one to have seen what the half barrel in the mudroom contains. now when i go in to check on the girls it sits by the door and cries and cries, he can be such a ridiculous cry baby! (it is quite amusing to watch him through the glass in the door attempt to jump and crawl up the door--to what end, i have no idea.)

so. interesting things around the house.
i sit in suspense with what my future will hold.
i just hope if i move, its before tomato planting season.