Cats on Tuesday: Haiku Edition

Isis

The jet black princess
married to my side watches
my dreams while I sleep.

Troll-footed she kneads
gossamer trails--our slumber.
Which one is a-twitch?






Morgan Le Fay

All grey, all a-stripe
Head to heel, tip to belly
and back again, there:

A wave of graceful
motion, weaving spells, casting
her magic circles.






Emma

Queen of everything
she surveys and—we suspect—
things she does not see.

Painted by angels
I picture the days it took
to colour Emma.

My Broody Girls

I’ve Got Sitters

I have two hens sitting on eggs right now. This lovely lady has at least 15 eggs under her. I haven’t been able to count them recently, because her beak is very sharp, and she has deadly aim when I try to reach under her to examine her clutch more closely.

This is Timmy. She’s also been very diligent about sitting on her eggs.

Sometimes someone sits on this nest, sometimes not, so I doubt any of these will hatch. It’s really my fault, because I moved a clutch of eggs out of the nesting boxes. This did not make the hen that was brooding over them very happy, and after that she became rather neglectful of them. I thought I was doing a good thing by fashioning a nest for them on the floor, since the nesting boxes are about 3 feet up and only shoebox-sized--which didn’t seem to me an ideal place to hatch a bunch of baby chicks. (But what do I know? Obviously, not much...now I know not to set about moving anyone’s eggs.)

The disadvantage of the tiny nesting boxes is that, well, they’re small, and the girls continue laying in them. Hence, some of the eggs do get broken. As you can see, here we have some egg on our face (as does Timmy, above).


Odo Shows His Tailfeathers

Last year the girls had pulled out all of Odo’s tail feathers. Isn't that a sad sight?

But just look at that iridescent green-black plumage now!

Chicken Feet

I have to show you these close-ups because birds really do have weirdly prehistoric feet.

Couldn’t you just as easily be standing under a dinosaur?

Until I had chickens, I thought they all had yellow legs. But nope, some of them are slate blue, like this Silver Spangled Hamburg's. (Others are speckled, some more cream-colored. Who knew?)

Bedtime Snacks

I usually give the birds a little cracked corn before I close them in the henhouse for the night. Here Buffy partakes of her snack. Notice that they even have dinosaur-like eyes! Different birds have different eye-colors, too.

Goldilocks (at right) is the one most likely to be caught trying to steal someone else’s food.

At left, a Silver Laced Wyandotte; at right, a Pearl White Leghorn. I like this picture because you can see the Leghorn's characteristically funny floppy comb.

This girl is Odo’s buddy, Kira. She’s one of our two Silver Spangled Hamburgs, and one of my favorites. They’re very small and dart around like road runners, so I’ve never gotten any decent pictures of them before. I love her little blue-green earlobes, and the thumbprint-like markings on her feathers.

T for Candy

Mr. O’Kitten Returns from NYC

Upon Mr. O’Kitten’s return from New York on Saturday, Isis informed us that no further travels would be undertaken without her accompaniment.

Of course we were all very glad to see him. (Yes, even Emma. Actually, particularly Emma. She's extremely fond of Mr. O'Kitten. Me and the girls--eh, not so much.)

Mr. O’Kitten came bearing gifts from Toy Tokyo, a favorite stop when we go back to the city. We both wondered what kind of candy would be inside the mysterious box labeled “T for Candy.”

It was not candy.

Rather, the "T for Candy" box contained tiny plastic food with fancy plates, napkin, spoon, chopsticks, and a wee spoon and chopstick rest.

I suppose this was fortunate, as Godzilla was very hungry after his long journey.

But not so hungry that he didn’t invite some friends to join him to partake of the feast.


I’m Growing a Sweater

I’ve begun my very first sweater, using the Cherry Tree Hill baby loop mohair from my fortuitous goodyarnkarma swap. It’s a simple raglan from instructions I got at Knitty Gritty. Don’t click on the link unless you really want to look, as their site is painfully slow--but it is a nice, easy, design-to-fit-yourself, knit-from-the-top-down, all-in-one-piece raglan. So, so far, so good. This is the back, and the cool stitchmarkers are from MousieMasala.

Here’s the front. I’ve marked the buttonholes (which are tiny and very furry) so I can find them again later. The matchless Severina made the skully stitchmarkers. One of them even glows in the dark. (Things that glow in the dark are among my favorite things EVER.)

I wanted you guys to know I really did swatch. (Yeah, yeah, I’m such a good girl.) Actually, it was a necessity, since the pattern is a self-generated one based on—you guessed it—the swatch. This is the swatch that worked best, on size 6 (4mm) needles: the Addis my PRGE Secret Pal sent me that I’ve fallen in love with.

These reject swatches are really just an excuse to show you (a) what the yarn looked like on size 9s and size 15s (EWW!) and (b) the gorgeous hand-turned cocobolo rosewood needles I got at Turn of the Century. I was shopping there for my Secret Pal. What a bummer that she wanted something from there, because I simply had to get something for myself.

If you love handmade wooden thingamajigs, you absolutely must to go and look at his things. You will pant with delight. And they’re hardly more expensive than the bamboos I’ve seen around here...only FAR more beautiful. And so light and silky...

150 Things I May (or May Not) Have Done

Here's a meme I found over at Sunne’s blog. My first thought was that both my mom and my mother-in-law read my blog, so do I dare to list yes/no to the following 150 things I’ve done in my life?

But it’s not so bad. For example, in college I modelled for art classes (it was one of the best-paying campus jobs). So “posing nude in front of strangers” seems like one of the less racy things I've done. HAW!

Sunne prefaces hers by saying, “This came from Heidiho and it’s just a little quiz showing what you may or may not have done throughout your life. An X marks each affirmative statement. It’s a nice distraction from all the horrible (media) news right now.”

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain X
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive (X if a Porsche Boxter counts)
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone X
8. Said “I love you” and meant it X
9. Hugged a tree X
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris X
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea X
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise X
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game X
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (well, I’ve been to the Leaning Tower, but it was closed for renovations)


17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables X
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars X
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower X
23. Gotten drunk on champagne X
24. Given more than you can afford to charity X
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope X
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment X
27. Had a food fight X
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger X
30. Had a snowball fight X
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can X
32. Held a lamb X
33. Seen a total eclipse X
34. Ridden a roller coaster X
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking X
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment X
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states (no, but I’ve been to 42 of them)

States I have visited (in red).
41. Taken care of someone who was shit-faced X
42. Had an amazing friend X
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country X
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign X
46. Backpacked in Europe X
47. Taken a road-trip X
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach X
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love X
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them X
54. Visited Japan (how about Korea? I’ve been there)
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs X
57. Pretended to be a superhero X

This is me as Pris from Blade Runner. I was also Poison Ivy two Halloweens ago, with Mr. O'Kitten was Supergirl. (He has fantastic legs...)
58. Sung karaoke X
59. Lounged around in bed all day X
60. Posed nude in front of strangers X
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain X
63. Played in the mud X
64. Played in the rain X
65. Gone to a drive-in theater X
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business X
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken X
69. Toured ancient sites X
70. Taken a martial arts class X
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married X
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party X
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch X
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo X

I have one tattoo--this celtic cat.
I got it in New Mexico on our honeymoon in June 2002.
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert X
83. Got flowers for no reason X
84. Performed on stage X
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music X
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand X
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over X

In June 2004 we moved from here...

...to here. The green house on the right in the top photo is where we live.
It wasn't exactly a sudden move, but it certainly was drastic.101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking X
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived X
105. Wrote articles for a large publication X
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart X
111. Ridden a bike X
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone X
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol X
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild X
118. Ridden a horse X
119. Had surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours X
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states

Countries I have visited.
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi X
128. Had your picture in the newspaper X
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about X
130. Gone back to school X
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes X
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey X
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read X
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language X
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream X
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you X
145. Had a booth at a street fair X
146. Dyed your hair X
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head X

I've had the all-over shave, too, but I thought y'all might enjoy this picture.
This was about five years ago.
149. Caused a car accident X
150. Saved someone’s life X

Sleepy Feet

Emma





I love how even Emma’s paw pads are different colors.

Morgan

Morgan is all shades of grey—except for her eyes.





Isis

And Isis? Pretty much black all over, except for a wee white locket on her chest, and a little white heart on her belly.

Isis’ hind paw (with Morgan’s tail). Her hind feet have the normal number of toes.

But her front paws are crazy!



She’s pretty kooky, too.