Laurie writes a blog

My new trinket

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:28:58 -0700

I went to get a watch battery replaced yesterday at a jewellery store and they have this shelf full of little items that all open up as boxes. (I'd gotten my mom a swan one for Mother's day.) I asked to see this ship one, and the woman showed it to me and immediately offered it to me for half price, since she was setting up a sale table and didn't know what else to put on it. Sold! I deserve a treat these days.

I love the waves around the bottom, especially.

Shiptrinket1

Shiptrinket2

Shiptrinket3

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Mouse: trapped

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:07:07 -0700

Back out trapping tonight and after a real nail-biting time watching the little brown tabby nibble his/her way toward the trap (kittens have such little mouths it takes them so long to eat anything), and then watching him/her go halfway into the trap, then back out, the kitten went back in and tripped the trap!

I'm still calling him/her Mouse. And Mouse went straight up to Joyce's place, where she will be foster mom. I can't go out for the other two for a couple more nights, so Mouse will be on his own for a little while. Mouse is already very placid -- no hissing, scratching or doing that whole ball-of-razor-blades thing some feral kittens do.

And now, the obligatory photos:

Easterntabbycaught

Mouse & Joyce

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Sunday night trapping: The Infuriating

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:25:05 -0700

Joyce and I went out trapping in the evening. We saw more of the adult cats this time, and set a separate dish of food down way off to one side for two of the most persistent, to keep them away from the kitten trap. The orange/white one poked his/her head out again, but the one we saw most of was the tabby. S/he came out and nibbled at the little trail of food we had leading to the trap, and we held our breath, hoping s/he'd have enough appetite or curiosity to actually go into it.

Eastern tabby

This cat looked like a little mouse (bat earz notwithstanding), so now I'm thinking of him/her as Mouse.

But then, this little suspensful scene was interrupted by a loud truck with loud people in it pulling up to the curb and talking loudly with a loud person on the sidewalk. Which scared the kitten back under the fence, and Mouse didn't show up again the rest of the time we were there. Thanks a lot, guys.

I'm planning to try again tonight.

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Sunday morning trapping: The Humbling

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:06:42 -0700

Well, after doing so well, catching three kittens in 10 minutes a week and a half ago, this morning, at one of my colonies, two of us were out there to trap three kittens, and after an hour, came up with bupkiss. No resting on laurels here.

We did clap eyes on two of them, here's a picture of one of them looking at the trap, all "I don't think so."

Eastern tan&white

These guys are five weeks old. One other poked his/her nose out from under that piece of fence, but after the first ten minutes, they disappeared, and we didn't see anything more of them, or any of the half-dozen adult cats, who usually show up when we're trapping. Despite all our efforts to coordinate non-feeding with the people in the two buildings this little piece of alley is between, I think the cats still weren't hungry.

Came back home and put a tote bag with some of my trapping kit on the kitchen counter for a bit. Went back to the kitchen a little bit later to find my cats had torn into the bag of catnip we've sometimes used for bait, and scattered it all over the counter and kitchen floor. Bills and receipts I had on the counter had green slobber on them, and if you think I had trouble keeping my cats off the counter before, oh, man. Even though I've wiped the counter and floor down, you know they're going to keep going up there looking for catnip.

I didn't get a photo of that little mess, but I did get this photo yesterday after I did the kitten photo shoot on my bed. I think the message here is "We're ready for our closeups."

My guys

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Overdue kitten pix

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:04:43 -0700

These are the three kittens who were rescued a week ago Thursday, and have been living in my bathroom since then. They're 8 weeks old.

Here they were moments after rescue:

Kittendoodz

And here are their beauty shots, taken today:

Butterscotch

Chocolate chip

Fluffernutter

When I was taking that last one, I didn't even notice he'd crossed his paws so sweetly. This was their first time in the bedroom, for the photo session, and it was hard to get them looking anything but saucer-eyed and scared.

Tomorrow morning, I'm trapping again for three more kittens (5 weeks old) that are now out of the nest at one of the colonies I help with, but they won't be staying with me. If we're successful and I get good photos, I'll post some.

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Happy 4th!

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:02:49 -0700

Happy 4th of July to my US peeps!

Enjoy your hot dogs and apple pie and fireworks, and most especially, the day off work.

And thank you for my favorite US export.

Stewart-colbert

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Vox Hunt: Oh Canada!

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:33:53 -0700

In honor of Canada Day, show us your favorite Canadian.

Today, it's me, for being a good writer! I spent the morning finishing edits on my novel for the publisher, re-read the whole last act in the process, and still found it gripping, even though I wrote it and knew what was coming next.

/end shameless bragging

Also, I ran into this FSotD that I forgot I'd written:

“I am so bagged, I should be full of groceries and stuck in someone’s minivan,” Jeff said.

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Need a quick detail for my novel: Anybody? Anybody? Beuller? Beuller?

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:57:05 -0700

Can anyone think of a website that mentions interesting blogs? I need a throwaway reference in a piece of dialogue in the edits I'm doing to my novel. I had put in boingboing, but that highlights any odd thing found on the net, it's not about "here's a cool blog, check it out." Is there such a site?

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Late start (made later by writing this post)

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:51:20 -0700

OMG, Sophie got out of the cage *again* at around six this morning. I had been up at 5:30 to have a pee, and then just as I was dropping off to sleep again, I heard noises from the recovery room, so I got up to check. I have no clue how she did it since I secured every slight gap I could find. Which means it must have been even harder for her to do. Since today was her scheduled release day anyway, I put her in a carrier and went back to bed.

Today's a day off for me (Canada Day is tomorrow, and rather than come in for one day, then be off for Tuesday, the boss gave us Monday for a freebie to make a really long weekend). I'd been planning to use both these days for doing the edits on my novel, starting at 10 this morning, but two of the kittens have diarrhea, it's stinking up my bathroom no matter how often I clean the litter pan, and since my time is more flexible today, when I finally got up late, I called the nearby vet. They had a 10 a.m. appointment or 1 p.m. "I'll take the 10 o'clock," I said, seeing it was 9:42, and not wanting to break up my writing day in the middle. I had been up for ten minutes, my own cats had been fed, though Tumbleweed was still shut in the pantry with his wet food, and hadn't even peed or washed or eaten. I threw some clothes on, peed, stuffed the kittens in a second carrier and flew out the door at a brisk walk for the vet (10 minutes away), leaving Tumbleweed in the pantry, with apologies. I had originally planned to take and release Sophie on the way, but she would have just slowed me down, so I left her, too.

The kittens were very well behaved, and everybody cooed over how cute they are. I left so fast I forgot my camera, so no cute "at the vet" phots. The vet estimated them at 8 weeks old, old enough for their first shots. They got the shots and a dewormer for their diarrhea. The kittens are all male, and their names are now on the record as:
long haired orange = Butterscotch
long haired brown tabby = Chocolate Chip
medium haired brown tabby/white = Fluffernutter

Oh, and major milestone -- I got them purring yesterday. Yay!

Then, once I got home (Tumbler had been in the pantry an hour by then, and was still picking at his food), I had to go back out to release Sophie, who shot like a bullet (as they all do) out of her carrier. Now, I've finally had some food and am about to start the work I originally planned to start at 10. It's now ten to one. Sigh.

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QotD: Procrastinating...

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:33:52 -0700

What have you been putting off all weekend?

Nothing. That's why I'm tired already and have had no real downtime.

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