Happy weekend! From reader Jan F.: “This is CatMike of the 15 inch red tabby tail fame. His Luxury Care Provider, Laura of Sunnyvale CA, took the picture. This is Mike’s formal entrance to his cat box.”
95 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread”
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We need a picture of that tail!
I too would like to see the tail.
Could this be the same Mike? https://cutetropolis.com/2016/12/31/weekend-open-thread-38/?ref=rel&
Oh my! That tail looks like it’s the right length!
That tail has huge whapping potential.
It’s going to be a quiet weekend here for sure. The hospital called Tuesday, my husband was operated Wednesday for the tumour they found on his kidney in March and he came home late afternoon yesterday. The operation went well, it was all done by laparoscopy and the doctor says there is only a 5% chance that it could come back.
He has pain of course and stubbornly refuses to take his pain medicine but that’s nothing new he always hated taking pills, I got him to take one last night but this morning he didn’t want to take it.
For now I have no problem making him rest but I know that as soon as the pain lessens a little it’s going to be a struggle to keep him from doing to much.
Congratulations on the operation going so well. I’m sure that’s a great relief.
One battle at a time, Gigi! I’m happy to learn of your good news. I hope your husband recovers quickly, and of course fully!
I’ve been through similar resistance to pain medication with a post-surgery relative of my own. Then I had to listen to the endless complaints about the pain. Fun times.
Gigi, it’s good to hear some promising news. Teach hubby to knit while he recuperates?
Excellent news, Gigi! I hope, for your sanity’s sake, he has minimal pain. Laparoscopic surgery certainly is an improvement over the older variety!
Gigi, forgot you and your husband in my thoughts and wishes. Best to you both.
Gigi, that’s great – so glad to hear it! Maybe he’d be Ok with taking a pill at night and skipping it in the AM – that way he can get restful sleep but not feel stoned during the day.
Great news!
Beautiful kitty – very regal and self-satisfied, as any self-respecting cat should be.
Gigi, I’m so glad all went well. I understand about not wanting the meds – I didn’t take many after my shoulder surgery – they may take the pain away but can make you feel crappy.
Today is our 28th wedding anniversary (we were married in our early 40’s) and we’re hoping to get some gardening done – I have a bunny to minister to – worried about that – and we’re going to a house concert tonight, a friend who is a very fine guitar player.
Weird about Clementine – it’s almost as if she had a stroke. She is starting to eat on her own, but she runs around in circles and her head will go to the side then slowly come back to the middle, over and over again. Her eyes are darting – less so than before, but still happening. And her litter habits have gone kerflooey. I’m exhausted with all the stuff I have to do for her, tho’ if she’s consistently eating on her own things will be easier – that remains to be seen and will require some further observation.
I hope everyone has a good day – it’s cool here in the Philly area, thankfully, after our first heat wave – in the middle of MAY for heaven’s sake!
Murray C, is it possible that Clementine has, or had, vertigo? This seems to be something that occurs mostly in dogs, and pretty rarely in cats; I wouldn’t know about other types of animals, but I’m not a vet.
For whatever it’s worth, it’s called vestibular disease in dogs. Ricky had a bout recently, which is when I learned about it. After about a week and a half on medication for the dizziness, his appetite returned, and he stopped listing to one side so dramatically. (He still lists a little, but that’s from the arthritis; his back legs don’t work 100%.)
Perhaps it’s worth asking about if you haven’t discussed it with your vet already. If it’s way off course, at least you’ll know you tried.
Whatever it is, I certainly hope Clementine gets back to her old self again. I can well imagine your exhaustion, and I sympathize.
(Oh, and do forgive me if you’ve already gone this route. Maybe the info will help someone else.)
Ricky;s Mom – Thanks so much for your diagnosis. I do think this might be vestibular disease – the vet seems to think so. But it’s lasting so long and having lasting neurological effects – her head tracks to the right and she brings it back to center then it tracks again, over and over, and her eyes dart back and forth. I think it’s somewhat better – I have moments of such joy as I see some improvement then something happens to bring me down again. Last night I saw her eating hay and I was thrilled – I haven’t seen her drink water yet. She won’t eat her pellets anymore so I’m having to find things that tempt her. Sometimes it almost seems as if she forgets that food is nearby. Which reminds me, Id best go check on her! But thanks for caring – everyone has been so kind.
Happy anniversary, Murray C! I meant to say that earlier, but I see I didn’t.
Congratulations!
Thank you, Faye.
Hmm…”whimsical” was not my guess at a translation… 😉
Gigi – Glad hubby is doing well.
Murray – Happy Anniversary!
I have no plans this weekend. Not feeling too well right now. Hopefully the ibuprofen kicks in soon. Need to do some laundry and stuff.
Hope you feel better Allein! Nothin’ worse than not feeling 100%
Hello all! I’ve done very little today – no school work yet as of 5:30 pm Saturday. It’s not that I don’t have lots to do… three tests to grade and one to create for Tuesday. I will correct the easy parts tonight. But I am proud to say that this week I cleared some shrubs in the garden and bought some plants to make it look a little more vibrant. Still lots to do but it is coming along!
Morning, all! Happy anniversary to Murray C., best wishes to folks and critters who are under the weather, and hugs to everybody.
Took yesterday off to have 2 repair people come over to the house. In the course of the day, had to call 2 *more* repair people, based on things the others found. I’m a little poorer, naturally, and worst of all: could have fixed 2 of the situations myself if I’d just been a little less lazy/ignorant. But at least this stuff is done now.
This morning, I have litterally laughed until I cried over some brilliant political satire and a story about AI-invented paint colors and names.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/05/an-ai-invented-a-bunch-of-new-paint-colors-that-are-hilariously-wrong/
It’s easy to find the political stuff at WaPo and Slate, if you’re so inclined. Look in the opinion sections.
“Bunflow” sounds like something you’d find in the paint section at the Cutetroplis Home Depot.
My new favourite colour is ‘Ronching Blue’.
I kinda like the “Flower” color. It’s similar to my kitchen (which is called Lake Placid; it’s from Benjamin Moore, I think).
I think I might use that AI paint article in my classes!
“Turdly” is pretty accurate! Based on this, I don’t think we have to worry about the Singularity any time soon 😀
DEBG – the paint color article – HILARIOUS!!
I’m going to paint my living room Sindis Poop or Burble Simp.
I’d go with the Burble Simp, personally.
And thanks, all for your kind greetings and wishes for my li’l bun. Things are looking a bit easier today than they did last night – I was at the end of my rope last night – she’s eaten fairly well and she’s pooping, but not great production in that department yet. (typical pet owner – it all comes down to poop)
Keep us posted Murray. Good pooping is important for us all.
Yeah. Even paint colours reflect that importance.
Oh DebG this a great article! Thanks for sharing. Imagine if you named some of your knitting patterns this way? I actually have a friend who is the color librarian for j. Crew. It is quite an interesting job and she gets to name some of the colors.
And thanks also on the advise for my patio!
I have a nail polish name I always wanted to see implemented – “Slug Trail Silver”.
I used to work for an apparel importer; we had one item that came in banana yellow, so size large was referred to as “Big Banana” – we got way too many laughs out of that…!
Have you ever noticed that in discount clothing stores like TJMaxx they have signs on the sports wear rack (yoga pants, leggings, etc.) indicating this is where you find “Active Bottoms”!? Active bottoms in Big Banana would be something to see – and they’d have to scrape me off the floor.
Greetings, Cutetropolitans, and happy weekend.
The weather is absolutely gorgeous outside. Sunny, warm, with REALLY loud robins right outside my bedroom window at four this morning. Long weekend here, and hubby has his alumni get together on Monday.
The lady from downstairs called again last night. She said the squirrels were hanging around in the bushes, and she just knew they were planning to get one of them trapped in her deck again. She is sure it is a plot to gain access to her suite for some reason. So I went out on my deck, and, sure enough, there were three squirrels, including the baby from the day before, in the shrubs close to her deck. Laughing, I called out ‘shoo’, and she laughed, too. They didn’t go away, but they stayed out of her deck.
N. Fritz, could you remind me what class you teach that requires so many tests? And where do you live, that it’s halfway to tomorrow for you when I’m barely up?
Happy Anniversary, Murray.
Get better soon, Clementine.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Duckie, I live in Austria and I am the only English teacher in a mechanical engineering high school. So I have five grades (basically 8th grade – seniors) plus a night school class = 150 students. We have a big test in each grade once a semester…. I’ll be giving tests and grading steadily till about June 20. In addition, I’ve got 18 students doing oral exit exams on June 8-9 (those dear lads who did the mannequin challenge video I posted in February).
Happy Weekend All!
Gigi – so glad to hear the operation went well! Stubborn boys. Hubby sounds just like my dad. sigh. Good luck keeping him quiet.
Murray C. Congrats on your anniversary! I hope you have a wonderful day. Sorry about Clementine, it must be distressing. I hope she improves soon.
I’m also happy the first heat wave is over, leaving two lovely cool weekend days so I can get some things done. Checking the bees is much easier at lower temps as well! That comes later this afternoon. They’ve been very busy all week, today I’ll find out by how much. I also decided I have to replace my “deck”. The term deck is used extremely loosely here as it is made of four wooden pallets plopped on the grass with weatherproofed wooden fencing screwed on top. It was great for about four years. Then last summer, when all the pallets started rotting through, the “deck” became more of a Fun House ride than a place to relax. The weather proof fencing is still in perfect shape. I’ve decided to make a “patio” instead. I have tons of old bricks piled up everywhere and since the “deck” already made a clear patch on the ground, that’s where the patio will go. Does anyone have any brilliant advice on how to keep the weeds from growing through the bricks?
Off to run errands and get supplies. Hoping you all have a fabulous day! 🙂
Tara, I think you have to cover the bricks with a thick layer of sand and brush it back and forth so it fills all the nooks and crannies. I saw my neighbor do that to his brick driveway last year and I haven’t seen any grass/weeds since!
Tara. it also helps to lay a gravel bed and tamp everything down. Try the website for Family Handyman magazine–they’ve got all kinds of great advice for DIY projects, and I’m sure they did an article once on building patios from bricks.
Heat wave!? We had an unexpected blizzard in northern CO on Thurday–the office even shut down.
Ah yes, thanks N. Fritz! After a thorough online search this was also the conclusion.
Vinegar. Just spray straight vinegar onto the weeds, keep at it and eventually they will give up. Nice and safe for earth and critters. have fun playing with he bees!
Vinegar!? Really? Vinegar is magical. Thanks so much Murray C.
Hi Tara! A layer of landscape fabric under the bricks, and then you can pour boiling water on any weeds that do pop through (no toxins to bother the bees). Have fun!
Thanks Smartypants! Great idea. And thanks for thinking of the bees. 🙂
Any time – I always enjoy reading your Bee Bulletins!
Hi Tara – I have an area that doesn’t get sun, so I put down a rock bed to replace the mud. I started getting some weed growth and googled “homemade weed killer” and got a great recipe for weed killer made with vinegar, water and SALT. The article said the SALT will ruin the soil for any kind of growth, so if it is an area in which you will never want anything at all to grow, use the salt.
Photo for DYI birthday card.Youre welcome.
This is fantastic. What would I do without you all and the Internet to keep me laughing?
Um. Wow. That looks like a ground beef cake. But what in the heck is the “frosting?”
Love the eyeballs.
Mashed potatoes and mustard?
Do dogs eat mustard?
Cheese?
Hi, all. I wish I could tell you that we’re having cooler weather, too, but we’ve been having a heat wave — it got up to 96° the other day! I stayed inside; we have excellent air conditioning. Thank heaven.
I’ve had a truly boring week, mostly working, and even my knitting isn’t terribly exciting — I’m working on a baby blanket for our niece. It’s an easy pattern so I’m on autopilot now.
I think the only excitement this week was when Melody actually *barked* and *snapped* at a young dog that was pestering her! It was just doggie discipline and she was just telling it to back off, which fortunately even the other owner understood. She’s so mild-mannered we honestly didn’t think she had it in her! She’s never gotten that annoyed at another dog before; but everyone at the dog park loves her and knows how sweet she is. She certainly doesn’t have a mean bone in her body!
Happy anniversary, Murray! We got married in our early 40s, too. Your house concert sounds lovely! And good wishes for your bunny. There are vertigo viruses; I had one once, couldn’t tell up from down for 2 days. I hope your bunny’ s clears up as easily!
Your job has some fun stuff, Fritz. I bet you’re a heat English teacher!
Heehee…Pablo barked so rarely that when he did he always seemed as surprised as the rest of us. I always figured he was thinking, “Did I say that out loud?”
How are you feeling now, Allein ? Better I hope – a migraine?
Feeling better this morning, thanks.
Aw, thanks, Laura! Any words of encouragement are appreciated! I sometimes get too wrapped up in the negatives (bureaucracy, lazy students, etc) but I really do love what I’m doing!
Thank you, Laura – and fellow “mature bride”?
Hi Everyone,
I have been tweaking my room for the last two weeks. At this point I have cleared off my real art table and have a comfortable chair! I had been sitting on the edge of the bed using a laptop desk to do all my artwork. Now I can draw while I look out at our bird-filled backyard. Need to research quality art lamp. Big plans to make jewelry and do linoleum cutting!!!!!!!!!!!
Housemate’s boyfriend is getting his own apartment. They are more friends with benefits. He’s an only child and enjoys living alone. I consider him a friend but not sorry to regain a private bathroom, a closet, shelves and storage space!
Millie has been by my side except for two three hour Dr visits. I am so glad that at this stage of my life I have a dog and I do not have to leave them home for 8 hours to go to work. She is sleeping next to me under my elbow and against my hip as I write.
Huge progress with my therapy. My ptsd symptoms have begun to recede. I am doing the best ever in my whole life.
There were times I doubted that I could get an education and be able to work. But I did.
However, the struggle to get to work got extra bad my last three years at the library. People chalked it up as malingering which was very hurtful.
Retiring early was a godsend and excellent revenge. It has been three years since then. The first year I slept and slept and gained weight. The second year I coped with many orthopedic problems and pain. Third year I have very little pain, I am losing weight slowly and I can stay awake through most of the day.
I am doing artwork, studying psychology, and I have a dog. I am on my own schedule too. All good.
Good to hear of all your progress, Faye. You deserve to have a good set-up for your art work – and you deserve to have some comfort and success – good on ya! Yay, Faye!
?
Faye, that is wonderful – I’m so happy for you. What a great post to read and feel encouraged.
I am late to the game today! Happy anniversary, Murray C.! Gigi, so glad to hear the surgery went well and I hope recovery goes the same, even without pain relievers!
Gray, rainy, and slightly chilly here today so I skipped the farmer’s market. Just a few days ago it was hot and funnel clouds were sighted in the area! Anyway, I have had a day of being equally productive and lazy, being in the lazy portion now!
I helped out at my daughter’s garage sale this weekend. It rained off and on all day yesterday, with lightning, thunder, and heavy rain early in the afternoon. We didn’t close up, though because were super busy all day. When the thunderstorm started, people were driving up and running into the garage through the pouring rain. Between 8 am and noon, she had sold $235 worth of stuff. Today was supposed to be cloudy and chilly, but no rain. It did rain, but not much. Not nearly as busy today as Friday, but altogether she made $450 on her sale. I have been freezing for 2 days, at the end of May, that’s ridiculous, even for Kansas. Her baby is due on Wednesday, but she wanted to have a sale before he gets here. I told her “Well, good thing is, if you go into labor, you can go in and have the baby, and your sisters can run the sale and watch the other kids.” Her last 2 babies were born at home, with the help of a midwife, one weighed 10 lbs, 11 oz, the other just about a pound less.
That’s a “Wow” – almost ready to give birth and putting on a garage sale – you Plains Women just have a lot of spunk! I am duly impressed. Glad it went well.
How are your cats???
The cats are good. I am posting this at 2 am because Grace just had her kittens. There are 4 of them. I will take pictures tomorrow and share. Callie and Sophie (the dog) were outside the bathroom door, listening in, and they seemed concerned. They both went in to have a look, and Grace was okay with it. I then chased them out and left her to rest.
Well, I think congratulations are in order for you, too, Gran’ma!?
Kitties!
Here are the pictures that Patty sent of Grace and her kittens. She adds: “Grace had 4 kittens last night. There are 3 black ones, and one that looks like there may be stripes. One picture is of Sophie and Callie checking out the goings on, the other is a picture of the 4 kittens after they got clean bedding and Grace left for a bite to eat. Sophie thinks she is the kittens’ bodyguard, and barks any time Callie gets too close to the box.”
Awww – they’re lovely – congratulations!
How sweet! They look to be in good nick!
Lovely. Look at the older siblings checking them out. Congratulations Patty.
Thanks for posting these Mike. Sophie is obsessed with the kittens. She watches them constantly, and if she isn’t staring into the box, and hears one mew, she runs over to check on them.
I love that Sophie takes such an interest in the kittens – it should be so much fun to watch as the kittens become active. MANY years ago I had a puppy at the same time my cat had kittens and it was sheer joy. Pick up a kitten and it was sure to be covered in puppy spit.
aww how cute 🙂
Well, it’s a wet and miserable weekend in England but I don’t care because the print version of my book “Fairies in Cabs” is now available on Amazon!
Hopefully the ebook version will be along shortly.
Wow, congratulations! I’ve been reading some of the examples on the free preview pages — funny, oddball stuff!
American readers who want to preview and buy “Fairies in Cabs” can click here to see it on Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2rquVvb
Thanks for that, Mike.
Oh, thank you Mike – I was just going to look it up.
Alice, I’ve ordered my copy and should get it by about next weekend – congratulations on your launch!
*Hugs first customer*
That’s terrific, Alice – congrats!!
Congrats! And do let us know about the e-book–I never buy physical books anymore because it’s so much easier for me to read on a tablet.
I wanted to be sure I thanked everyone for both their good wishes for our anniversary and also for their concern for Clementine.
Her disorder has been going on for over a week now and I’m not feeling terribly hopeful, tho’ she is eating some on her own. Her poops are so small and dry and she doesn’t seem to like eating hay anymore – tho’ this morning she was eating a little when I came into the room. And I haven’t seen her drink on her own at all. She used to drink a lot. This is so frustrating and I don’t know what to do.
Aw, bless her. I hope she improves.
Aww, Murray – Happy anniversary to you, and I hope Miss Clementine feels better soon.
Just gonna leave this here…
http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2017/5/21/story-time-sweets.html
Charming – what a great collection!
Miscellaneous:
Congratulations to Murray, and speedy recovery to Bunny Clementine!
I am glad Gigi’s husband had a successful operation.
Any news about Jan? I hope she is OK with the knee-problem.
Congratulations to Alice!
As for DebG and the 2+2 repairmen, same here – when we think all the renovations are done, there has to be a problem with something else 🙂
After a quick Cutetropolitan count, I miss Birdcage, I hope everything is OK with her and Merlin.
Iam happy to hear Faye’s symptoms lessened.
I had a normal, hectic weekend with a friend’s wedding, a burst pipe in my bathroom, a confrontation with my stalker neighbour. Could I have my old, pleasantly boring life back, please?
Big bear hug to everyone 🙂
And a big hug back to you! Sounds like you could use a lot of them. I don’t know which is worse, the burst pipe or the confrontation with your neighbor – much unpleasantness! I hope things get boring soon.?
Thank you 🙂
Actually the wedding was the worst, 🙂 my former friends were also there and made really nasty remarks when some guys complimented on my looks out of politeness. (Some men feel they need to do this to single women, anyway it is kind of them)
Burst pipe – oh well.
Confrontation was quite OK. I let the monster loose, the Ems volcano erupted so I felt relief. But no matter how rude I was to him, he wasnt offended… In the morning he was already back at my gate staring. 🙁
Egad! I worry most about the starer! Do the cops know about him?
No, I have never called the cops. They won’t do anything until blood is drawn. This guy is a harmless idiot, he is just annoying.
Thank you!