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November 5, 2016

Caturday: Halloween and rotten brains

Yes, rotten brains… As in Abby Normal. This past week had a definite Halloween theme, with my waking up from dreams of epileptic sheep in the back of an ambulance early Monday morning, my brain not firing on all cylinders. All day at work on Sunday, I’d complained of a headache. Got home, wolfed down a cheeseburger, still felt weird, popped a couple glucose tablets and the lights went out before I finished the second one. We got home at 4:20 a.m., I emailed work to let them know I would need a few days off.

Rudha-an here: The fur people will have their moment before Lastech continues with his story. I’m going to add though, that it scared the living crap out of me. Lucky for me, my friend came and hauled me to the hospital and “held my hand” as it were. And now for the furry stars of the show…

I did some rearranging and shortened the cat tower. Then I put it in the window on the dinette seat. They seem to like that much better. They have bird watching marathons now.

Now back to Lastech’s Halloween story

It’s at times like these you find reasons to feel fortunate, strange as it may seem. For instance, I learned the reason why someone working in my department has been out for the past two weeks: seizures revealed a tumor, which returned after surgery. Stage 3 brain cancer. Then one of the kids we newly hired had to take emergency bereavement leave after his father committed suicide.

So I’m thankful my passing out pales by comparison, even with a 6 months driving license suspension due to the risk of recurrence.
Also, thanks to modern technology, I now have this nice photo of my rotten brain showing dead tissue from 40 years ago. They had to take a drill and relieve the pressure after a nasty motorcycle crash, and it must have been a little like this: NSFW

As for that rotten brain? Here ya go

Rudha-an here: Lastech goes back for more tests on Monday. We’ll keep you posted.

October 29, 2016

Caturday: Chills, thrills, and rain

Yes! It’s raining! We’re now well above average for the month. That doesn’t mean the drought is over and we may still be very short of our needed rainfall for the season. Still, it’s giving the hills a good boost and they’re greening up already. We missed last Caturday due to performing our bi-yearly move-out-move-back-in thing. It’s a royal pain in the posterior, but at least the weather was nice and no rain.

Anyhow, the move thing was relatively uneventful, though Murphy’s Law did manage to kick in though as poor Lastech went to go to work and the car wouldn’t start. Lucky for us, we have AAA membership and they came and changed out the battery and made sure the starter and alternator were working correctly.

In the midst of everything, we took a trip up Mt. Diablo. I’m still sorting those pictures, but Lastech used some different settings on his phone with Halloween in mind. Here are the pointy eared people and the floppy eared one mixed in with some creepy pics. Happy Halloween everyone!

We do hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe Halloween this year.

October 15, 2016October 15, 2016

Caturday: Furbutts, storms and a succulent exhibition

Well, summer went with a bang and now we have storms. Hooray! Ok, I’m hoping for no flooding or wind damage, but I love the storms. I’m not sure the pointy eared people are all that thrilled, but as long as the air conditioner isn’t on, they’re happy.

Anyhow, earlier in the week we made a rare trip to the city to see the succulent exhibit at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Before we get to that however, it’s time for the stars of this show to make their appearance.

Here is miss Pepi doing her pirate imitation again.

The almost constant game of slappy paws. Arrrrggghhhh! Arrrrgggghhhhh!

Here’s another hummingbird

The rest of the post is on the other side.

Continue reading “Caturday: Furbutts, storms and a succulent exhibition”

October 8, 2016

Caturday: Kitties, a dog, and an hour in a wonderful garden

It was an interesting week. We wound up waiting on a guy to show up with a tow truck. The appointment was for the afternoon, but he never showed up. He finally showed up at noon the next day. That effectively killed most of our weekend (for us, it’s Monday and Tuesday). We made it to Tilden Regional Botanical Garden, but could only spend about an hour there. It was still worth it and we’ll go back. We’ll get to that later.

The kitties have been happier with the air conditioning off most of the time now and we might even get some rain later next week. The bird watching has been intense. Very intense. Today though, the neighbor has been outside working Tito and Titanescu have been on alert and Miss Jenny has been growling. Miss Pepi has been a good doggie. No barking or growling from her. That’s good because her volume level is set way too high. 🙂

Miss Jenny watching the birdies. There's a shrub about two feet away from the window that is full of sparrows every evening. — Miss Jenny watching the birdies. There’s a shrub about two feet away from the window that is full of sparrows every evening.

Pepi was watching the hummingbirds with me

This was a camera test. I liked it.

Onward to the Tilden Regional Botanical Garden. With the tow truck driver effectively shredding our weekend, we didn’t get to spend much time there. However, it’s not far away, so we’ll go back. The friends of the garden describe it best.

The Regional Parks Botanic Garden is a naturally beautiful and tranquil living museum of California native plants. Located within Tilden Park in the hills above Berkeley, California, this enchanting 10-acre garden is a sanctuary for many of the state’s rare and endangered plants and a place for visitors to wander among trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses from plant communities throughout the state.

View across the garden from the visitor center

It’s located in Tilden Park in the hills above Berkeley, which is WSW of Concord.

Teeny lizard. It was only about two inches nose to the tip of the tail.

I put the rest of the pictures in a slide show.

[Show picture list]

October 2, 2016October 2, 2016

Fur people, rain, and a loud crash

Yes, I missed Caturday. I got busy taking care of a small repair job and prepping for when it’s colder. I was settling in earlier today to make up for it, when things went wonky and there was a loud crash.

First things first though. The pointy eared people and floppy eared one get to star first. Summer is officially gone and the air conditioner is off. There may be another warm day or two, but the worst is past and the kitties are loving it.

Miss Pepi was lounging in the sun and hoping we would drop bit of meat (we were grilling).

Now for the crash

My neighbor in the first space in from the Boulevard was moving back in. They had just started to back in into the space when I heard a very loud crashing noise. My first thought was that they clipped the trailer next door, but I couldn’t tell as I had shrubbery in the way. I wandered outside to see. The trailers were fine, thank goodness. However, one of our other neighbors was pulling into the park drive and another car on the boulevard slammed into the back of his truck. The woman in the SUV went to the hospital. My neighbor was ok, but shaken up. As for the cause of the accident? It was unsafe speed, inattention, or both. The street was damp from a prior heavy drizzle making it slippery as we haven’t had rain for a while. It’s a good lesson to alway be alert and watchful. I hope the woman is ok. The ambulance didn’t take off with a siren, so I’m assuming there’s nothing life threatening.

The neighbor moving back in is on the right. The truck belongs to another neighbor trying to get home.

It wasn't a mild crash. That's a fair amount of damage — It wasn’t a mild crash. That’s a fair amount of damage

I hope the driver is ok. That was quite a hit.

To end this on a happy note, here are some desert burros seeing grass for the first time.

September 24, 2016

Caturday: Summer’s last hurrah

Yes, summer is over, but it didn’t let go without a fight. It’s going to be close to 100 for the next several days. I think we will all be happy to see summer go away. The beasties are not fond of the air conditioning. I’m not fond of it either.

Once the weather cools down again, we’ll have a couple of adventures. We are going to visit a different botanical garden in the Berkeley Hills. In the meantime here are the pointy eared people and some birdies.

And now for the birds pics and a couple of not-bird pics.

With luck, we’ll have more variety coming up instead of just birds.

Just for fun, here’s a glamorous kitty

September 17, 2016

Caturday: Testing the new camera

I haven’t taken a huge amount of photos as I’m still learning my way around the camera. However, we did manage to go to Martinez on a bird hunt. We got lucky and there were a few birds we didn’t see last time. One nice thing about the camera though is that it seems to work well in low light and so it makes it easier to capture the pointy eared people. It also takes better action photos than the last one, so Pepi looks good in mid run.

Miss Jenny's blue peepers — Miss Jenny’s blue peepers

Titanescu's stinkeye — Titanescu’s stinkeye

Here's Pepi having a run. — Here’s Pepi having a run.

As for the birds, here are a few. The fall migration is beginning to kick in, so we’ll try to make regular trips out there to what drops in to visit.

Teeny weeny itty bitty lizard. It was only about 3 inches long, including the tail.

I was amazed to see a green heron fishing. The last time I saw one was in South Florida in 2001. The photo isn’t as good as I would like, but I’m happy to have seen it.

Alhambra Creek flowing out to the Carquinez Strait.

Looking across the marsh with a sunken ship in the water.

While we’ll make regular trips out to the marsh, I’m hoping for a trip back up Diablo and another trip to a botanical garden. The weather has warmed up again though, so it might be a short wait.

September 10, 2016

Caturday: Death of a camera

Yes, my camera finally died, but all is well.

Before I get to that, we wish to extend our sincerest condelences, hugs, and head bonks to the woman we refer to as Auntie Grace. Last week she lost her beloved doggie, Louise. Louise lived an amazing 17 and a half years with an equally amazing pet mum. I’m sure that Louise has reunited with Jake, but her loss is deeply felt. More hugs and bonks from the entire household.

As to the camera, it gave up the ghost. I had taken well over 300,000 pictures with it. Along with the LCD screen going bad, the photo quality wasn’t good either. However, I now have a new camera and it blows the old one away. It takes great pics of the pointy eared people. Hopefully next week we’ll get outdoors and see what else it can do. I’ve been tired of only doing Caturday posts due to mostly cruddy pics. Lastech’s phone pics were better than the old camera. Of course, Lastech will still produce great pics as he has a great eye. The new camera works great in low light conditions, which is great for kitty and dog pics. For those curious, it’s a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ300. A DSLR was simply not in the budget and I’m not sure I want to lug a heavy camera with a hyper dog on a leash. This camera isn’t small, but it weighs less than the bigger DSLRs.

Now for the pointy eared people and the floppy eared one. For the record, these pics are straight out of the camera with no adjustments made. I may have cropped one, but that’s all.

Tito looking a bit like a Vermeer painting

Gasp! Dare I say it? Titanescu is looking almost cute.

Here’s a nice noisy mama kitty for you.

September 3, 2016

Caturday: An Anniversary

Yes, it’s an anniversary. Last Labor Day weekend, Miss Pepita was found in a dumpster. We went back to the pier and picked her up that night. You can read her story here. Since then, she has made friends with Tito and Miss Jenny. Titanescu regards her as his personal punching bag and has her properly cowed. She and Tito play together. Miss Jenny merely sniffs noses with her. She also does it when Pepi is at the end of her leash so that she can dart away if she wants. We have since discovered that her biggest enemy is a plastic bag. Oddly enough, when I handle the bags indoors, she’s fine. If it’s outside, it’s a giant NOPE for her. She was laying at my feet earlier and heard a plastic grocery bag blow by outside. OMG! You would have thought it was a home invasion robbery. She never saw it. She just heard it and went all wonky and barky. Titanescu merely looked at her in disgust. Titanescu may not be celebrating this anniversary, but the rest of us are 🙂

And here is our little dumpster doggie

Now it’s time for the pointy-eared people to shine

The great and magnificently crabby Titanescu watching over his kingdom

Just for something different, here’s an angry froggy

August 27, 2016

Caturday: Happy cats, a goofy mutt, and funny birds

The cats are happy because the air conditioner has been off for a few days. The weather is cooler than average. From 109 a few weeks ago to 70s and low 80s now. Go figure. I don’t mind at all. Anyhow, the cats are glued to the windows and the floor by the screen door. We’re all happy with the change.

Speaking of the pointy-eared people…

The goofy mutt? We were off at the arboretum when she suddenly went nuts snarling and growling.

What was she snarling at? Why, the enemy of course.

Yeah, seriously. This is what she was growling and snarling at.

After that, we took her home because we wanted to go to the shoreline and pooches aren’t permitted. Once we got to the shoreline, we saw plenty of birds putting on a funny performance.

There were three beautiful white pelicans that landed on the water to feed.

They provided plenty of entertainment. I’ve put the pelicans and other birds in a slideshow that includes a lovely white swan butt.

[Show picture list]

As a parting note, I’m sure you remember us describing how Titanescu bangs and scratches on the wood paneling or tv box. Well, here’s the raccoon version.