more about the menagerie
Today has been a very humid, nasty day. I have not accomplished a blessed thing.
I had my first cup of coffee outdoors, at the picnic table in the backyard, which was a nice change of pace because usually I can't tolerate such exposure to Nature before I've had the full morning regimen of antihistamines and decongestants. The mosquitos were out in full attack mode, though. CowCat kept me company, and looked pleadingly at me when I went inside. *sigh*
While I was in the basement tossing 1 batch of laundry out of the dryer and another batch in, and figuring out what to defrost for dinner, I had an inspiration regarding how to get his doghouse (cathouse? hee) off of the ground. We have all these big, sturdy styrofoam coolers sitting around from our freezer-delivery company. I've donated a few of them to Lansdowne Folk Club, I keep one in the car for storing perishables when I go shopping, and I have 6 set up as a ghetto-tastic sort of shelf unit in the basement.
I took 2 more into the backyard, placed them side-by-side with 1 closed - a very sturdy, lightweight cube - and the other with its lid off, given a quarter-turn so that its open side faces into the sheltered area of the walkway. Voilà. Instant platform for the cowcatdoghouse, with an open but sheltered under-area for food and water bowls, and an open perch in front of the doghouse that he can just sit on. Since cats like to be UP, I think this will work well, and it will keep the doghouse floor dry even in torrential rain. And if we get any heavy snowfall, he won't suffocate under an accumulating drift while we're asleep. :p
As I was assembling this structure, with CowCat's supervision, 2 of the 3 large dogs from the house behind us came bounding over. *another sigh*
This is not the first time these dogs have gotten loose. And one of them has a bit of a nasty streak. Fortunately, 3 of my 4 cats were already in the house. While CowCat evaporated under the shrubbery, I tried to order the dogs to go home, but they weren't really cooperating. They seemed to want to follow me when I went toward my house, but when I tried to lead them toward theirs the 1 got a little menacing. So I retreated into my house, went to the front door to call Leo (fortunately he came at once, before the dogs, hearing my voice, could bound over.) But it's ANNOYING. The back door to the dogs' house is wide open, the fence to the yard is open ... and no one's home there. As I've said, this has happened before. I do not understand their owners/my back neighbors.
The dogs are gone now, but I do hope they've returned to their own house and aren't out terrorizing other people - or getting hurt themselves. *further sigh*
Other than this activity, I am most un-ambitious. There's plenty I could do, but getting started - and not sidetracked - has been the issue.
Maybe it's balancing out from yesterday, when I actually did get Stuff done, especially Stuff involving taking my mother on errands, and getting essential no-frills hardware fo the house (electrical cords! light fixtures to replace old ones!).
Maybe tonight, while I'm watching must-see crackhead TV, I can get some of the basic stuff done during commercial breaks. Vacuum a room here, screw on some cabinet hardware there, fold ten shirts or circular-file a lot of junk mail elsewhere ...
Oh! And Steve's going to Norway tomorrow. I wish he could bring me a fiord, but I suppose not. (The pickled herring and Akevitt are both on my evil!bad foods list, alas.)
And! And! Going off on a tangent regarding alcoholic beverages, I give you reason #743281 why I HATE living in backward, bureaucracy-happy state that restricts all non-beer alcohol sales to a government agency:
I went to my local "specialty" Wine and Spirits Shoppe yesterday. The "specialty" stores are the ones that have a slightly wider range of products, particularly of the exotic and high-price-range sort.
After unsuccessfully searching several sections of the store for a bottle of Tokay, I asked a clerk: "Does this store carry any Hungarian Tokay?"
And he replied ...
"Do you know if that's domestic or an import?"
*facepalm*
"It's Hungarian," reiterated I, trying as best I could not to add via facial tic or vocal sneer "you. moron."
So he called over the wine consultant, asking "Have you ever heard of Hungarian?"
(Honestly. I am not paraphrasing these quotes.)
Wine consultant says yes, I ask my question of him, he says "it would be over there in imports," pointing at the shelf holding Eastern European wines where I've already looked. I explain that I found nothing over there from Hungary except 2 bottles of Bull's Blood. (Which. Is red. And definitely NOT Tokay.) And nothing from other Eastern European countries that even pretended to be Tokay.
To which he says "well then that's all we have."
Just in case any of you wonder why I haunt Massachusetts wine stores when I go to Falcon Ridge ... maybe it's because they're run by actual wine merchants, who, like, know wine. Even a little bit.
I had my first cup of coffee outdoors, at the picnic table in the backyard, which was a nice change of pace because usually I can't tolerate such exposure to Nature before I've had the full morning regimen of antihistamines and decongestants. The mosquitos were out in full attack mode, though. CowCat kept me company, and looked pleadingly at me when I went inside. *sigh*
While I was in the basement tossing 1 batch of laundry out of the dryer and another batch in, and figuring out what to defrost for dinner, I had an inspiration regarding how to get his doghouse (cathouse? hee) off of the ground. We have all these big, sturdy styrofoam coolers sitting around from our freezer-delivery company. I've donated a few of them to Lansdowne Folk Club, I keep one in the car for storing perishables when I go shopping, and I have 6 set up as a ghetto-tastic sort of shelf unit in the basement.
I took 2 more into the backyard, placed them side-by-side with 1 closed - a very sturdy, lightweight cube - and the other with its lid off, given a quarter-turn so that its open side faces into the sheltered area of the walkway. Voilà. Instant platform for the cowcatdoghouse, with an open but sheltered under-area for food and water bowls, and an open perch in front of the doghouse that he can just sit on. Since cats like to be UP, I think this will work well, and it will keep the doghouse floor dry even in torrential rain. And if we get any heavy snowfall, he won't suffocate under an accumulating drift while we're asleep. :p
As I was assembling this structure, with CowCat's supervision, 2 of the 3 large dogs from the house behind us came bounding over. *another sigh*
This is not the first time these dogs have gotten loose. And one of them has a bit of a nasty streak. Fortunately, 3 of my 4 cats were already in the house. While CowCat evaporated under the shrubbery, I tried to order the dogs to go home, but they weren't really cooperating. They seemed to want to follow me when I went toward my house, but when I tried to lead them toward theirs the 1 got a little menacing. So I retreated into my house, went to the front door to call Leo (fortunately he came at once, before the dogs, hearing my voice, could bound over.) But it's ANNOYING. The back door to the dogs' house is wide open, the fence to the yard is open ... and no one's home there. As I've said, this has happened before. I do not understand their owners/my back neighbors.
The dogs are gone now, but I do hope they've returned to their own house and aren't out terrorizing other people - or getting hurt themselves. *further sigh*
Other than this activity, I am most un-ambitious. There's plenty I could do, but getting started - and not sidetracked - has been the issue.
Maybe it's balancing out from yesterday, when I actually did get Stuff done, especially Stuff involving taking my mother on errands, and getting essential no-frills hardware fo the house (electrical cords! light fixtures to replace old ones!).
Maybe tonight, while I'm watching must-see crackhead TV, I can get some of the basic stuff done during commercial breaks. Vacuum a room here, screw on some cabinet hardware there, fold ten shirts or circular-file a lot of junk mail elsewhere ...
Oh! And Steve's going to Norway tomorrow. I wish he could bring me a fiord, but I suppose not. (The pickled herring and Akevitt are both on my evil!bad foods list, alas.)
And! And! Going off on a tangent regarding alcoholic beverages, I give you reason #743281 why I HATE living in backward, bureaucracy-happy state that restricts all non-beer alcohol sales to a government agency:
I went to my local "specialty" Wine and Spirits Shoppe yesterday. The "specialty" stores are the ones that have a slightly wider range of products, particularly of the exotic and high-price-range sort.
After unsuccessfully searching several sections of the store for a bottle of Tokay, I asked a clerk: "Does this store carry any Hungarian Tokay?"
And he replied ...
"Do you know if that's domestic or an import?"
*facepalm*
"It's Hungarian," reiterated I, trying as best I could not to add via facial tic or vocal sneer "you. moron."
So he called over the wine consultant, asking "Have you ever heard of Hungarian?"
(Honestly. I am not paraphrasing these quotes.)
Wine consultant says yes, I ask my question of him, he says "it would be over there in imports," pointing at the shelf holding Eastern European wines where I've already looked. I explain that I found nothing over there from Hungary except 2 bottles of Bull's Blood. (Which. Is red. And definitely NOT Tokay.) And nothing from other Eastern European countries that even pretended to be Tokay.
To which he says "well then that's all we have."
Just in case any of you wonder why I haunt Massachusetts wine stores when I go to Falcon Ridge ... maybe it's because they're run by actual wine merchants, who, like, know wine. Even a little bit.