Caturday: Fear and loathing

Fear and loathing of garbage bags, check. Fear and loathing of hollow tree trunks, check.

Pepi’s fear and loathing…hackles
Fear and loathing…of tree trunks. Go figure

Pepi’s neuroses are her own, just as Titanescu’s taste for water from a dish placed in the tub is his own. He will not drink from the communal bowl, he will have his own dish, and he needs it available whether a human is in the bathroom or not. Maybe especially if a human’s in there.

Titanescu’s empty dish stinkeye

After this latest round of rains, the temperature has dropped to near freezing. Tonight, we sleep in cats. The furrbutts will be clawing to get under covers and fight epic battles for territory in there. In her crate, Pepi will burrow under her blankets with her squeaky chicken toy. At some point, Tito is bound to go apeshit and run all over the furniture, although hopefully not because a turd is chasing him. He and Jenny might fight over real estate at the foot of the bed, but Jenny’ll find a spot to curl up. It’s gonna be so cold, I’d almost wish she’d fart to warm things up.
Meanwhile, Titan will sleep undisturbed. Or else.

Tito on his corner of the bed.
Miss Jenny napping in a warm spot on the bed
Miss Pepi says the answer is 42

Rudha-an here: Lastech and I (but mostly Lastech) managed to get some pretty pics of the colors at the arboretum.

Photo by Lastech
Woodpecker by Lastech
Photo by Lastech
don’t believe in trouble
I don’t believe in pain
I don’t believe there’s nothing left
but running here again
I believe! I believe!
Photo by Lastech
Photo by Rudha-an
Photo by Rudha-an
Photo by Rudha-an

When you can’t wake em, join em


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Caturday: dingle balls, shake it all the way…

Dingle balls, also known as dingle berries, thankfully are not our daily bread, else we’d all go fruitcake. But two instances this past week’s a bit much. First, during our walk through the autumnal glory of the Markham arboretum, Pepi indulged in her ritual pee and poo, in that order. Given that she hoovers anything she can*, I’m surprised she doesn’t ingest the occasional long hair more often.

Anyway, after she was done burying an elf, she began darting and squatting, darting and squatting. On closer inspection, I noticed a broken off turd swinging off her chocolate starfish like Tarzan at the end of his vine (“I COMING, JANE!”). Did we ever mention I’m borderline OCD when it comes to such matters? I went to my happy place, a German pop tune from ’82 playing in a loop somewhere.

Naturally, Rudha-an remained functional, retrieving a paper napkin from the car and proceeded to remove that attacking nugget from Pepi’s butt. That’s what we get for having opposable thumbs, I guess. “Oh. I ate another of your hairs. Take care of it, won’t you, Jeeves?”

Pepita’s s–t eating grin

By the way, not pointing fingers, but I’m bald as a cue-ball.

Later this same week, at oh-dark-whatever, a ruckus. It sounded like furniture crashing. Pepi was in her crate, Jenny and Titan were both on the bed… Even in the fog of sleep I suspected something horrendous, involving crap. Not puke, they do that on the low-low. But Tito has priors when it comes to ingesting and “passing” human hair (“that ain’t no mine..!”). Jenny’s half his age, so perhaps she’ll catch up in time, but there she was brutally awakened on the bed like the rest of us.

Miss Jenny’s what just happened? look

The fracas lasted maybe five seconds, then silence. We didn’t speak, it wasn’t necessary to spell out what we already sensed. As Tito dropped butt burritos in the litter box (which Pepi would treat as a buffet if we let her), the worst “knock-knock” joke played out against his arse. “Bad touch! Bad touch!” And Tito went-a-racing with the stranger-danger tethered to his poop chute until escape velocity threw the turd back near the litter box.

This is how Titanescu laughs. Really

Or so we think. That is where Rudha-an’s forensic exploration located the morsel, but there’s no telling where that thing had been. Tito raced from the box to the dinette, down to the floor, through the kitchen, into the bedroom where he bounced against the wall before running across the bed and back to the rear of the Endurance where the litter box is.

Tito: it’s behind me, isn’t it?

Da-da-da..!
Ich liebe dich nicht, do liebst mich nicht
Da-Da-Da..!
Ye gods.

  • Heard this morning,during Pepi’s early pee walk: “Pepi stop licking the car!?!”

And here’s a kitten being the dingle ball.


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Caturday: Fur people, lights, and a fire

I awoke this Caturday to see news about a tragic and terrible fire in nearby Oakland. At this point there are 9 confirmed dead and approximately 25 missing. If there’s one thing I truly fear, it’s fire. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims as they wait for news.

animated-candle-2-sm

The fur people have been enjoying the windows more these days. The mulberry trees that gave us so much summer shade have been pruned heavily for winter. That makes the windows sunnier to the delight of the pointy eared people who soak up every sunbeam they can find.

I was playing bird sounds (black phoebe) while trying to ID some birds I couldn't see. Tito went to full alert.
I was playing bird sounds (black phoebe) while trying to ID some birds I couldn’t see. Tito went to full alert.
Jenny licking her chops at the thought of birds
Jenny licking her chops at the thought of birds
Titan giving me the I-know-those-aren't-real birds stinkeye.
Titan giving me the I-know-those-aren’t-real birds stinkeye.
Miss Pepi was sleeping and didn't care about the bird sounds.
Miss Pepi was sleeping and didn’t care about the bird sounds.

Our weather has turned rather cold (for us) and the heaters are working hard at night. No rain for a while, but soon we hope. We didn’t make any day trips this last week as other chores got in the way. However, Lastech has been taking a few pics here and there.

Starling and clouds
Starling and clouds
Lights
Lights
Clouds
Clouds
Pier after the rain. I love the colors
Pier after the rain. I love the colors
Lights on the Embarcadero
Lights on the Embarcadero
Christmas poo?
Christmas poo?

See ya next week


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Sunday with kitties, the arboretum and Diablo

… Enough with my brains, we have more rain this week! We started with an excursion to the top of Mount Diablo Monday to watch clouds go by. We now finish it with another system moving through, giving everything a good soak. The hills and island have returned to a beautiful green and the Force is strong with the Galindo creek running through Markham arboretum.

View from Diablo looking South
View from Diablo looking South
The hills are turning green again
The hills are turning green again

We’ve really been regular Stormtroopers, hiking our butts off (and Pepita’s).

Markham Arboretum is turning green again (the grass at any rate)
Markham Arboretum is turning green again (the grass at any rate)
Looks like fall in the arboretum
Looks like fall in the arboretum
Galindo Creek is flowing again
Galindo Creek is flowing again

A couple days ago, Rudha-an had a Mexican stand off with Titanescu after he slapped miss Jenny, who walked too close. Danger close.. Rudha-an had her hand up ready to shield Jenny, which Titanescu took as a threat. Did he move, of course not. He raised his paw, waiving it a bit, ready to hit anything that moved.

When he realized it wasn’t anything serious (we were giggling) he finally settled down.

But he was still serious as a heart attack.

Titanescu looking intense, as usual
Titanescu looking intense, as usual
Miss Jenny
Miss Jenny
Tito!
Tito!
Miss Pepi in her bed
Miss Pepi in her bed

With luck, we’ll get out again this week.


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Rainy days, Sunday, and a missed Caturday

Yes, I missed Caturday. On a happy note, it’s rainy. The pointy eared people have been glued to the windows watching the drops fall. My favorite weather is rainy weather, so I’m thrilled. Hopefully tomorrow, we’ll take a run up Mt. Diablo.

Before I post the cloud pics, I better let the stars of the show have the spotlight.

Tito wondering why I'm pointing a clicky thing (camera) at him.
Tito wondering why I’m pointing a clicky thing (camera) at him.
Miss Jenny watching the rain
Miss Jenny watching the rain
Titanescu looking positively angelic in his sleep. No worries, it won't last long.
Titanescu looking positively angelic in his sleep. No worries, it won’t last long.
Pepi looking ever hopeful for noms.
Pepi looking ever hopeful for noms.

Before the rain arrived, we went out to see the birds. However, the clouds were far more interesting. It was very late afternoon and the sun had dropped behind the hills. That made the sky a pretty darker blue.

20161115_162248

20161115_162319

Clouds reflected in water
Clouds reflected in water

20161115_162714

20161115_163327

20161115_164836

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That was our week in a nutshell. Hopefully we’ll have more for next week.


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Caturday: With a seizure and rotten brain update

I won’t discuss the election as I cannot come close to being polite. On the other hand, I can provide an update to Lastech’s rotten brain and seizure episode. Last Monday we went off to Kaiser where he had an EEG and an MRI. Lastech said that during the EEG they worked really hard trying to trigger a seizure but were unsuccessful. From there, he went off to have his MRI. Both tests came out negative. The EEG showed normal activity and the MRI showed nothing but the original injury. His brain is still rotten, but apparently it wasn’t the culprit. The most likely cause was very low blood sugar. His diabetes med works by increasing his production of insulin. This can cause a drop in blood glucose levels. Getting too low can trigger a seizure. Lastech will now check his blood sugar far more often and will also increase his carb intake as he had cut it too much.

I think that was pretty good news. Now it’s time for the pointy eared people and the floppy eared one to shine.

Tito snoozing
Tito snoozing
Miss Jenny on her perch
Miss Jenny on her perch
Titanescu on the lower perch
Titanescu on the lower perch
Pepi and the sad chicken
Pepi and the sad chicken

Along with the awful election, the world has lost yet another treasure. Leonard Cohen, the Canadian poet, singer and song writer passed away at 82 yrs of age. He will be greatly missed.

Here is a piece of music from his final album.

And here is my favorite cover of his wonderful song, Hallelujah.


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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…

Tito watching the neighbors
Tito watching the neighbors
Miss Jenny in the window
Miss Jenny in the window
Titanescu watching the birdies
Titanescu watching the birdies
Pepi with her chicken toy
Pepi with her chicken toy
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.
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

Yep, it's my brain
Yep, it’s my brain

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


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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.

Rain on glass
Rain on glass

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!

oct-halloween-002

Tito
Tito

oct-halloween-001

Miss Jenny
Miss Jenny

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Titanescu
Titanescu

oct-halloween-004

Miss Pepita
Miss Pepita

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


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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.

Tito lounging in a sunbeam
Tito lounging in a sunbeam
Miss Jenny
Miss Jenny
Titanescu
Titanescu
Miss Pepi
Miss Pepi

Here is miss Pepi doing her pirate imitation again.

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

Here’s another hummingbird

oct-hummer

The rest of the post is on the other side.

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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.
Miss Jenny looking quite lovely
Miss Jenny looking quite lovely
Snoozing Tito
Snoozing Tito
Titanescu owning his sunbeam
Titanescu owning his sunbeam
Pepi was watching the hummingbirds with me
Pepi was watching the hummingbirds with me

This was a camera test. I liked it.

Hummingbird
Hummingbird

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
View across the garden from the visitor center

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

Seeds, photo by Lastech
Seeds, photo by Lastech
Cholla, photo by Lastech
Cholla, photo by Lastech
Teeny lizard. It was only about two inches nose to the tip of the tail.
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.


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