Photo of the day: The Last of Not Grandma's Roses

There are probably 5 more rose bushes that I haven't photographed. But I am bored with them. As I suspect you are. (That is, if anybody is actually looking at my blog.) But I had to do the white ones because, hello, House of York and all that. (Wars of the Roses, baby.)

Eavesdropping
Overheard at the shelter
Woman 1: I 'm still not sure if I want a cat or a dog.
Woman 2: I still think you want shoes.

.....
Overheard at the grocery store
Mother: What kind of cereal do you want?
Child: Pop Tarts
Mother: You can't have Pop Tarts. How about Cheerios?
Child: How about Pop Tarts?

Photo of the day: Not More Grandma's Roses

These beautiful red roses grow between our house and the one next door. Thanks to their automated watering schedule, they get lots of water, as opposed to our other bushes that only get watered when we remember. I love the deep red of these flowers, as do the bees who seem to be particularly fond of this one.

Photo of the day: Grandma's Roses

OK, not grandma. Grandma's sister. My great Aunt Clemence used to live in the house where Husband and I live. I think she was responsible for all of the gorgeous rose bushes we have growing in our yard. This is, obviously, the pink one. It's well loved by Pigpen, one of the neighborhood cats who loves to snooze in its shade on sunny days.

No, it's not all right!!!
There are two rooms full of cats at the shelter. One with individual kennels. One with kennels and with three small, closet-sized rooms with glass doors. We call them "condos." These condos usually have 4 or 5 cats in them. The doors are kept closed, obviously, and there are signs plastered over them saying "do not open." Along with all the other signs that ask the customers to please not touch the cats.

So I walk into the room and some galacticly stupid woman and her spawn of Satan have not only opened the door to the condo, but child spawn is sitting in the condo petting one of the cats. The other 4 cats are now roaming free around the room. I walk in and look at her with a combination of "you've got to be fucking kidding me" and "there are cats everywhere." And stupid woman looks at me and says "this is all right, isn't it?"

Not it's not fucking all right. There are cats running free around the room. (Thank goodness the door to the room was shut otherwise there'd be cats running all over the shelter.) So I tell her as politely as I can that, no, it's not all right. And to please not touch the cats. So she gives me a dumb, glazed smile and apologizes vaguely....and leaves the room. And now I've got to corral a group of loose cats and get them back where they belong.

To make it worse, when I came into the room I was carrying a cat I had just finished TLCing. Said kitty freaked out at all the other cats wandering around and jumped down. Now I have two groups of cats cross-contaminating and two can't-tell-them-apart pure black cats, one going into one condo and the other to a different condo.

Seriously, how stupid could this woman be? No it's not fucking all right!!! How tiny and useless does your brain have to be to think there's anything OK about letting cats loose? I mean even if we didn't have bloody signs bloody everywhere, does it make any sense that we'd be all "sure, whatever" about giving our animals free roam of the entire building?

Photo of the day: What do You See?
Personally I see a bull and the face of the devil. Who knew heating up milk for warm fuzzies could be so photogenic?

Photo of the day: Choose Your Spot

Short or long? Your call. Whatever size you prefer, we've got a spot for you.

Kittens
The kitten nursery opened today. I had forgotten how tiny they are. The average weight is about 10 ounces. Only two litters at the moment, 5 kittens and 3 kittens. It was great to be back in there, sticking syringes of stinky food into the tiny mouths of reluctant, squirming little critters. Ah yes, the scent of kitten food. It had escaped my mind until that first whiff and then the sense memory came back. Of course the fact that it got onto my shirt and into my hair helped cement the "oh yes, I remember this smell" recollection.

I know these guys aren't going to be around long. As soon as they're old enough to be adopted, they're going to be snapped up. I'm thrilled. And, of course, a bit sad that all the amazing adult cats in need of a home may be overshadowed by the overwhelming cuteness of the kittens.

I just wish I could give them all homes. The cats, not the kittens.

Photo of the day: California in the Sunshine

Such a stereotypical image for the Golden State. Palm trees set against a sky of Renaissance blue. But hey, why fight the classics? I can't get the shot of a classic convertible driving down the Pacific Coast Highway. I have, however, done the Golden Gate Bridge, although from a slightly more unusual angle than usual. But sometimes you just need to go with the myth and give the impression that we have palm trees on every street, blocking our multi-million dollar mansions from view.

CD Pick of the Week: Warsaw Village Band, Infinity
Polish folk music played by mind-bendingly good musicians and infused with modern sensibilities and world influences. Wicked good throughout. Excellent strings and percussion plus vocals by what sounds like a group of sirens from hell (in a good way). Often dark and mysterious, always surprising and compelling. One of the best world discs of the year so far.

Photo of the day: Le Chat, Part Deux

OK, it's cheating to use a photo of the same cat two days in a row. But she's so beautiful I had to. Besides, it was too frickin' hot today to take any new photos and I'm fresh out of ideas. Sorry if I'm in danger of becoming a crazy cat lady. I warn you, though, it's gonna get worse. The kitten nursery opens on Monday and I'm on duty two shifts a week. If you're not careful, I'll have you owning a cat or a kitten by the end of the summer.

Photo of the day: Scene Stealer

Isn't she gorgeous? I worked with her today at the shelter and was just amazed at how beautiful she is. Those eyes. That silky coat. That flirtatious manner. She's a total heart stealer (and a stealer of pipe cleaners as well) and as playful and loving as they come. Someone snap her up, she's a superstar.

Photo of the day: Cat on a Warm Tile Roof

I captured this little guy back in November, on election day, actually. Our polling place is a senior resident center and this appears to be one of the security guards. He was sitting up on the roof of a garden area, staring down anyone who wandered by. Maybe an undercover poll worker? Wanting to make sure everyone who came in had their voter's guide already filled out? He obviously had me pegged as being all set because he didn't ask for my ID, instead he focused his attention on a little brown bird who appeared to have come to the wrong voting place.

Photo of the day: Cobwebs and Old Wood

I tried to capture (on camera, not by hand) the spider that made this but he (or she) was shy and ran to the other side of this fence. How about that? I'm like a spider stalker.

Eavesdropping
Overheard at the shelter
Man to obviously dim woman: That black cat looks like a jaguar.
Obviously dim woman: Oh I think he's cute. You really think he looks like a car?

...
Overheard at the shelter 2
Woman on cell phone: He was just too Zen. And he likes Monopoly.

Not sure what those two things have in common. Can you be a capitalist Zen?

Photo of the day: When in Doubt, Play the Xylophone

Because, really, nothing cannot be overcome by brightly colored musical instruments meant for small children or stressed adults.

Photo of the day: Burning the Midnight Fire

The wind makes me want a fire. The insomnia makes me want sleep. I have one, but not the other. But all is not lost. I have hot cocoa, a good movie, a good book, and the knowledge that in a few hours sleep would be but a memory anyway as Cipher (The World's Most Amazing Cat, Screw You If You Don't Agree tm) starts her middle of the night rambles.

Photo of the day: Choose Your Poison

Or choose your own adventure. Your call.

I Am (Kinda) A Mom
Today is Mother's Day. And I send love to all my friends who are moms.

I am not the mother of a child. But I am one of those crazy pet people who considers her cat as her child. (OK, not really.) But for the next few months, I am going to be, kinda, a mom.

This marks the second year the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA will run their kitten nursery and I am once again signing up. Since I am blessedly unemployed, I'll be doing two afternoons a week at the nursery, plus two afternoons a week with my regular cat duty.

Mother's Day marks the unofficial start of kitten season. From now until early to mid-september, we will be overrun with adorable, but tiny and helpless abandoned kittens. They need constant feeding, care, medical attention and love. Hell, they even need to be taught how to poop. I am happy to help out and, in fact, feel incredibly lucky to be able to do so. But it's hard seeing so many tiny little furballs in need of care and homes. It's also hard to know that many people will scoop up these kittens, while ignoring the adult, or even "vintage" cats, equally in need of love and a lap.

I know from my work last year at the kitten nursery that I'm looking at a few months of hard work, getting kitten food all over me, getting peed on, and hauling around bags of trash and laundry. And I can't wait. But I urge you if you have any extra cash sitting around to consider making a donation to the animal shelter of your choice as every one will be facing the same work as we will be. You might also consider volunteering your time or even signing up to foster a litter of kittens. You'll love the work, feel good about what you're doing, and you'll feel (kinda) like a mom.

Photo of the day: Things Are Looking Up

I like looking up around buildings to see what's up there. Fire escapes. Gargoyles. Interesting windows. In this case, just an odd angle that caught my eye. The great thing about looking up, though, is that if you do it long enough people will join you just to figure out what you're looking at. Try it.