The world has gone mad and the tragedies continue. I’m getting to the point I don’t even want to turn on the computer. We have no cable, so the computer is how I get the news. Nice is where Lastech was born. He grew up in Antibes, which is only 15 miles away. He spent a lot of time where the truck driver ended the lives of so many. I’m trying to maintain my sense of humor as it’s a survival skill, but it’s getting tough. The world gets more mad by the day.
Thankfully, we have the furkids.
Tito loves his towelMiss Jenny looking like a pinup girlTitanescu basking in the windowPepi: I can haz cookie?
Happy Pepi running. Zoom zoom. The world has gone mad, but she still loves to run.
And because we really really really need to watch these hungry kittens.
It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to a man who gave voice to the Holocaust. I’ve read his books and “Night” was required reading in many schools. He will be greatly missed.
Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented ~ from Night by Elie Weisel (1928 – 2016)
Things are moving along over here in sunny Concord. It feels like summer, though the temps aren’t too bad this week. I’m able to turn off the A/C at night, which is nice. Our lovely stereo suddenly quit working. I don’t think it will be hard to fix, but I have to go pick up a tool in order to do the job. I’ll do that on Tuesday, when we have time. We’re also waiting on our latest, much needed item. We ordered a new mattress. The ones that come with most RVs are really crappy. We’re replacing it with a much better gel foam mattress. Hooray for comfort.
As for the beasties, they are snoozing all over the trailer today. It’s warm inside as I didn’t feel like turning on the A/C. It’s not too warm though, so they’re enjoying it.
Tito looking sweet and innocent. He had just finished his daily dinette shredding.Miss Jenny lounging in the cornerTitanescu, master of the stinkeyePepi napping near a sunbeam
Yes, Titanescu packs a serious punch. His punch may not utilize the claws, but it’s a very loud WHAP! Poor Pepi gets punched often. Tito makes Titanescu angry? He runs over to punch Pepi. He wants food and we’re not fast enough? He runs over to punch Pepi. Sometimes he starts to walk past her, but stops to look at her. Then he runs to punch her. Poor dog. In the wee hours when we’re trying to sleep and Pepi is safely tucked away in her crate, Titanescu punches the wall instead. To be specific, it’s the wall panel right next to my head. If that doesn’t wake me up to feed him, he’ll go over and start punching the mini blinds. Punching is his version of knocking crap off of shelves.
Ah, but we love our little black curmudgeon from he!!
And now it’s time for all of our pointy-eared people and the floppy eared one.
Titanescu thinking about punching somethingMiss Jenny watching PepiTito watching one of us cookPepi: But he hit me first!
As for Lastech and I? We’re fine. It was in the 90s a couple of days ago. Today it’s only 65. The hills have gone from emerald green to their summer tan. Here are a couple of flower pics we caught before they vanished in the heat.
At the ArboretumAt the top of Mount Diablo
In spite of being Titanescu’s punching bag, Pepi is a happy dog. Here she is having a good run.
It’s been two years already! Catgirl (Miyuki) and Carolyn got married two years ago. We were late with our anniversary wishes last year as we were in the middle of moving, but we didn’t miss it this year. Our favorite catgirl has a wonderful little blog called Neko Neko’s Movie Litterbox where she writes wonderful reviews on horror films from all over the world. We love her blog.
As for us, our one year anniversary of the move will be coming up. The last year has been interesting, with the last 4 months being the wrong kind of interesting. Lastech, Pepi, and my mom in the ER/Hospital and other pain-in-the-tuchus events. It was all capped off by someone backing into our car in the parking garage. Lucky for us, they were insured. We got our car back yesterday.
The pointy eared people are doing well, at any rate.
Tito: Does this couch make my butt look big? Titanescu giving Pepi the stinkeyeMiss Jenny: Why yes, I’ve shredded the couch. That’s what it’s there for.Pepita perfecting her “noms?” look.
Happy Caturday everyone. The last week has gone from highs in the 80s to a high of 60. Of course, we decided to go hike when it was in the 80s. We went back to Briones and picked a trail that wasn’t strenuous. The dog wasn’t amused. Pepi was hot. She let us know she was hot. She flopped in the middle of the trail and looked at us with her tongue hanging out and with a look that said “Dammit! I’m HOT”. We were fine. Pepi wasn’t. We gave her plenty of water and headed back to the car after we were a mere half mile in. The hike wasn’t a total wash though, as you’ll see below.
The pointy eared people on the other hand, are contented. They’re happy to lay around in the trailer watching the birds, planes and neighbors go by.
Miss JennyTitanescu watching over his domainTito
As for that hike, we went to Briones. It’s a regional park that is located about 6 miles West of us. It was really warm, but not miserable. We chose a nice fairly level trail. It was beautiful. We did remember to watch for snakes as the weather was perfect for them and there has already been a rattlesnake bite at Lime Ridge where we like to walk Pepi. It pays to be careful. Here are a few pics that Lastech took.
Looking to the EastLooking to the WestA panoramic shot looking East. Mount Diablo is visible in the background.
Once we reached the area where Lastech took the panoramic shot, Pepi decided she was pooped. She flopped in the dirt with her tongue hanging out and didn’t want to get up. We gave her water.
Pepi the hot dog
We got her back up and headed back. We stopped in the shade a few times, to make sure she drank water.
She went from a hot dog to a wet dog. We poured some water over her and she liked it.Big ole northern Pacific Rattlesnake wandering across the trail. It was about 5 feet long and healthy.
Poor Pepi was so pooped that she never saw the snake. Lastech kept her out of range while I took pictures. This is why she is never off leash and why I keep her out of tall grass. When we got back to the car, she flopped in my lap and went to sleep.
Trivia bit: Adult California ground squirrels are resistant to rattlesnake venom.
Happy Caturday to all. It has been a quiet week in the park, but a mess for Lastech who is working tons of overtime. He’s not getting much time to relax these days.
It was quiet until Thursday when suddenly there was a loud flapping in the skylight. The ceiling in our trailer is only 6 and a half feet high, which makes the skylight very close. A sparrow had decided to land on the screen. It chirped like mad, dropped a poopy on the screen, then went back to chirping madly. The pointy eared people and a droopy-eared dog went berserk. The cats swarmed the dining room table trying to get to the bird and Pepi started barking. The bird was unperturbed and never cast a glance in our direction. It spent several minutes on the screen before moving on.:)
Here is the little chirping poopy bird
Speaking of the pointy eared people, here they are.
Miss Jenny looking annoyed because I interrupted her bird watching for a picture.Tito watching the birdies on the strip of grass outsideTitanescu basking in the sun. It was warm, but I didn’t have the heart to deploy the awning and deprive him of his bliss.Pepi at the arboretum
The rainy season is mostly over and the hills are turning to their summer brown. There are still nice batches of wild mustard out there though.
Mustard and cloudsClose-up of the mustard
And now for something rather unusual. I’ve heard of rescuing a cat from a tree, but not this.
It’s Caturday in April and the hills are green and the wildflowers are blooming. It’s warming a bit and rattlesnakes have been spotted on the trails. We’re being extra careful and Pepi isn’t permitted off leash. There were a couple of really warm days that required the use of the air conditioner, but now it’s cooler and we’ve collected almost an inch of rain since last night,a very welcome surprise. April hasn’t been boring so far. 🙂
And now, for the stars of our show…
Miss Jenny has such big blue eyesTitanescu beat the heck out of the curtain and stands on it in victory. Yes, he won. I removed it permanently.
Tito gets two pics. Three if you count Pepi’s pic.
Sunbeams make Tito want to…SING! La la la la la!Pepi getting a big hug from Tito.
Just to show that our world is still a fascinating and beautiful place…
Spring? It was nice while it lasted. Oh, it’s not over yet and but the temps are going for a roller coaster ride this week. The highs are supposed to go from 75 to 87 and back down to 69. Joy. At least we have A/C. I don’t mind the temps, but the trailer gets a bit warm and that’s hard on the pointy eared people and floppy eared one. Fur coats are no fun when it’s hot.
Our hills will start going from an unreal, but vivid Spring green to the summer tans and it will start this week. I’ll miss it. On the other hand, the mulberry trees are branching out, so we’ll have afternoon shade soon.
And now, the stars of our show
Tito looks like he’s debating an escapeTitanescu looking suspiciously mellow.
Miss Jenny? She gets her own vid this week. 🙂
Pepi still hoping for accidental noms
Earlier in the week we ran off to the Martinez Regional Shoreline. We like to visit the marsh and check to see what birds are there. They were tall birds, sort of.
Tall EgretTall Runner duckTall? No wait, it’s the elusive, and rarely seen, Marsh onion.
I’ve heard that online friendships just aren’t real and all kinds of other malarkey. Lastech was an online friend and we’ve been married for twelve years as of today. Our anniversary aside, I lost a friend on March 5th. I found Tricia at a political website. As everyone knows, politics can be vicious. She had a love of cats and she posted what came to be called “The Pootie Diaries”. “Pootie” was the name of someone’s kitty. The name stuck and Tricia became known as The Pootie Queen. Her posts were a safe haven from the political fights. The fights had to be left outside. Inside was a mass of Cheezburger posts and pictures of pets posted in the comments. The posts weren’t limited to cats and included any and all animals. That safe haven provided people with a place to share the joys of their pets and to also share their grief on losing them. When we lost The Boober to lymphoma she did a memorial post for him. She did the same when we lost Kitsy. Her funeral is today, so we are dedicating our Caturday post to The Pootie Queen. I’m sure she was greeted by a throng of critters at the Rainbow Bridge. Orange flowers were her favorites. Rest in peace my friend.
Tricia Wyse Lefevre September 8th, 1970 – March 5th ,2016
As for our anniversary, we celebrated that on Lastech’s day off (Wednesday) We relaxed and grilled some good food and had a glass of champagne. It was good.
Titanescu basking in a sunbeamMiss Jenny: help!Poor Tito looking nervousPepi hoping to hoover something good from the grill.
The pointy-eared people have been gazing out the window wondering if we’re going to need a boat. It has been raining off and on for days. There’s a new storm headed this way as I type. None of us are complaining. California needs the rain desperately and the kitties can watch from inside where it’s warm and dry. Pepi doesn’t care about the rain. She’s happy to walk in it and so am I.
Before I get to our kitties, I want to give an update on Renfield. We mentioned his ataxia in a prior post.
To quote his housemate Nofur:
Went to town to start Captain Darling’s allergy shots today, and then we went shopping for some fresh “crinkle balls” for Renfield! He is still improving and started running today. Which is a bad idea with the occasional falling over, but Renfield is unstoppable. He is still smart enough to use the chair to get on the bed & countertops though.
YES! He’s getting better. We are so happy to see this news. I’m sure he’ll be catching those sky raisins (flies) again soon.
Here is Renfield wearing his black turtleneck and shopping for crinkle balls.
And now, back to our pointy eared people
Tito has the prettiest green eyesMiss JennyEven Titan managed to pose without giving us the stinkeye
Here is the little stinker who had us in a state of near panic last week.
No mom, I’m NOT chewing the blanket.
This is what put her in the ER. It was raining that night and very dark out. I didn’t find it for a day or two. She had hoarked it up at home, but it had already set of the chain of events that led to the veterinary ER.
And now for a unique musical video. I love things like this.
