Anything’s a Toy

Raven trying to make up after he got into trouble

Raven gives me so much pleasure.  He’s a little rascal though and finds himself in trouble quite a bit.  He loves to get into the vases and the floor pots and chew on the plants.  I have to keep things out of reach – just like a kid – but with a cat, they can go anywhere they decide to go.  LOL.  Most stuff ends up out in the garage temporarily.  That place is such a mess I’ll probably never get it straightened up.

 Raven and the shoe string

Raven and the shoe string

 

Raven likes to pack his toys around and somewhere he found this old shoestring and starting dragging it around the house.  OMG was it ever cute.  He figured out fast how to keep from stepping on it.  Raven kept looking behind him to make sure the string was coming along with him.  It was precious and I couldn’t help myself and had to take more pics of this little cat.

Koki - Raven's partner in crime

At night and early in the mornings he has a playmate in crime – Koki.  They make so much noise chasing around at night and jumping on the bed.  I always cringe that they don’t wake my husband up.  It’s all part of being a cat and I’m always awake anyway.

 Raven and Koki on the cat tree

But I have to watch them with an eagle eye.  Yesterday Koki ate one of my vitamins before I got it away from her.  It was selenium, so only a mineral and she seems to be fine.  I watched her and almost called the vet.  I had visions in my mind of having her stomach pumped out.  She loves to smell inside the vitamin jars when I’m getting my vitamins out.  I never expected her to eat one.  Now I know and told myself to be more careful in the future.

The latest fiasco taking up my time

It seems my life is full of trying to figure something out.  Usually this involves some electronic device or other problem that comes up concerning the internet connection or problem with the TV.  I’m always the one elected to solve all these issues in my house.  When it comes to other things, supposedly I don’t know what I’m talking about.  Maybe I get roped into these things because I’m patient and usually will devote quite a bit of time to fixing the issue, whatever it is, even when I don’t know anything about how to go about it myself. 

 This is the range extender

 

This latest problem was another internet issue.  We needed to get a stronger signal downstairs for the computers because the modem and router are upstairs.  When I saw a wifi range extender device I thought that was just the solution to all the problems…WRONG…After four hours over the weekend to try and set this device up, I can honestly say what a mistake that was to even think this could work.  Nothing is ever that easy, is it?

Once I reached my point of exasperation, I tried to call the technician at the manufacturer to give me some pointers and maybe do some troubleshooting from his end.  It’s true I’m quite stubborn, but I did try to call way before this and got no one to talk to, so it was back to the drawing board from my end.

After another hour on the phone, unplugging this and that and changing all kinds of cords and computer settings around, the tech seems to think my router is too old to “talk” to the new device.  While this may be true, it’s still served me quite a few years and still works, but the signal downstairs isn’t as strong as it could be.

Right now my brain is fried and I need to chill out and get away from electronic devices a while.

 A gloomy rainy day

 

Meanwhile, we have rain in the desert today and it’s cold with a high in the mid forties.  There’s a chance of snow mixed with rain tonight and tomorrow.  It’s hard to believe it was in the seventies on Friday and I was wearing a tank top and sandals.

This is Koki's favorite place in my office - the modem

This is Raven under a throw on the couch

Tootie on the couch

The cats are snuggled in where they can find warmth.  Maybe eventually I’ll get back to my book after I get the taxes done, another one of my “jobs.”

Elm Farm Ollie

Courtesy wikipedia

Oh my!  I never heard this story before.  I like weird news and here you have it.  Elm Farm Ollie was the first cow to fly in an airplane and also be milked mid-flight with her milk sealed in paper containers dropped by parachute over St. Louis.  This happened on 18 February 1930.  According to the article this cow was a prolific milk producer that required milking three times a day.  She produced 24 quarts of milk during the 72 mile trip.  No wonder they had enough to drop over St. Louis!

Scientists wanted to conduct this experiment to see how air travel affected animals.  I wonder how many cows have flown since.

If you’d like to read the story, click here for Wikipedia.

There’s nothing on TV on the weekends

Did any of you realize this?  I’m not a big TV watcher, but usually record some mysteries I like and gory doctor shows.  Tonight we were trying to find something lighthearted to watch after dinner.  We usually do our own thing around here, but it is Valentines Day.  My husband said let’s find something, as long as there are no swords, missing limbs and blood.  I don’t mind those things, but he won’t watch that kind of anything, be it TV or movies.

So we started scrolling down the menu, laughing at tonight’s offerings.  I really don’t know where this stuff comes from and who watches these programs, but here are some of the titles:  Sexy Beasts, Wicked Tuna, Animals in Love, Sex Sent me to the ER, Hair Jacked, along with a couple of horror movies like Bride of Chucky, the usual cooking and travel shows that we always watch if politics isn’t on.

The further we scrolled the crazier it became.  You’d think something would jump out with over 250 channels, but nada.  So it’s back to the same thing we usually do here.  I’m at the computer upstairs and he’s watching sports downstairs.  It’s just as well because I need to work on my book.

At least the weather is nice enough to open the windows.

Happy Valentine’s Day

However you celebrate the day, have a great time.  If you’re alone for this holiday, don’t despair for there are worse things than not being in a relationship.  Count your blessings if you have your health because without that nothing can be accomplished.

If you’d like to read about the origins of Valentine’s Day, please go here.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my posts.

Finding a Forever Home

I think that’s what most shelter cats are hoping to do.  My little boy’s dreams came true a year ago today when he came home with me.  He is the sweetest little angel, purring loudly all the time.  He doesn’t know a stranger either and is very social with anyone that comes to the house, be it friends or workers.

Raven today

Raven a year ago

Of course he gets into his share of mischief because he's curious about everything.  He has made friends with the other two cats in the house finally, so he has fun playing with them.  It took Koki the longest time to accept him (about seven months or so), but now that she has, they play daily and chase each other around the house.  It's amazing at how much noise two cats can make running upstairs.

 Koki

Koki is quite the daredevil and always has been, so she's teaching Raven some of her tricks and he's a willing student.  Every time we bring a ladder into the house, Koki climbs it straight away.  Raven watches fascinated and finally ventured up the ladder himself.  Now he’s trying to figure out she walks on top of the shower stall and jumps on top of the linen cabinet.  I just hope he doesn’t hurt himself or breaks anything when he tries those feats.

Raven waiting to greet visitors

He’s such a joy to have around and is tall with long legs.  He now weighs 10 and 1/2 pounds and is taller and heavier than Koki, but she seems to like him better now than when he was a baby.

 Raven says "Sure I can fit in here.  See?"

Raven into mischief

Raven loves to knock things onto the floor, which irritates my husband a bit, but I've picked up most of the breakables - can't pick up everything. Hopefully nothing valuable will get broken while he's in this exploratory stage.

Raven and Tootie

I probably have several hundred pics of this cat now and have captured lots of moments in his life.  If you’re reading this blog, I hope you won’t get tired of looking at cat pictures.  There are many more coming in future days.  They are my kids after all.

 Raven during quiet time

If you can find it in your heart, please give a shelter animal a forever home.  I’ve never regretted bringing this little boy home.

Monkey see – Monkey do

 

 

Raven

I wrote a post a while back about Koki teaching Raven her moves and daredevil behavior.  This teaching goes on with Raven’s full attention to his studies.  He’s an eager and alert student following behind Koki and watching spellbound.

 Koki and Raven

Koki and Raven

 

Yesterday my husband got the ladder out to do some touch up painting in the house.  He didn’t have it set up five minutes and Koki was at the top investigating.  I’m sure thoughts went through her mind as to how to jump from there to the second floor, or vice versa.

 Raven

Raven watched from below, his big golden eyes wide, his tail twitching.  After Koki got down, he looked it over and then proceeded up the ladder, cautiously at first, stopping to smell every step.  Before long he was at the top eyeing the second floor.

Raven

The “kids” had fun all evening, but we took the ladder back to the garage overnight for fear they would do some daredevil tricks in the night. 

Raven

Once the ladder was back today, Raven followed my husband up the ladder, which didn’t go over well.  I had to make him get down.

It’s all in good fun.  I like to watch the cats who are constantly entertaining me with their antics.

Meanwhile, hang gliders have been enjoying the desert behind the house

This was today's gorgeous sunset

Winter is waning

Candlemas or Imbolc - a celebration of fire

Getty Images

What a pleasant thought that is.  As you all know (at least all of you in the US) February 2 is Groundhog Day.  This is also the same as the pagan holiday Candlemas or Imbolc that predicts how much more winter there will be before spring bursts forth.

We all know that the groundhog emerges from his burrow to predict spring.  Here is a pagan poem that says the same thing:

If Candlemas is fair and bright,

winter has taken flight.

When Candlemas brings clouds and rain, 

winter shall not come again.

Punxatawney Phil

The original animal used for this tradition was the serpent.  When the settlers came to Pennsylvania in the eighteenth century in the new world (Amercia), they picked the groundhog, a local animal,  to carry on the tradition.