Murasaki99 ([info]murasaki99) wrote,
@ 2008-06-14 21:29:00
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Current location:home on the range
Current mood: tired
Entry tags:cats, family, home improvement

Spring! Summer! Work!
The weather *finally* got good today -- clear skies, bright sun, temps in the low 80's, and no gale force winds. Which meant I got to sally forth into the junky jungle of my back yard and tackle some long-neglected yard work. So today I:

1. Tackled the outgrowths sprouting from the weeping cherry tree - scions of the rootstock that were definitely NOT weeping in growth habit but instead shot up 20 feet in a year. Cut off two of three big limbs, then asked mom to bring over the saw with big teeth that is better for heavy woodcutting jobs. The small pruning saw I had took forever and sure gave me a good aerobic workout. :P

2. Pruned grape vines and put them on their trellises where they belonged.
3. Pruned the weeping cherry, forsythia, and some of the lilacs.
4. Tried to cut down a persistent willow-thing that keeps trying to grow through my back fence. Will work on it tomorrow again with the bigger saw. Geeze, turn your back for a season and you get a jungle! Also tried to take out the walnut-grove the squirrels keep trying to plant.
5. Picked up the clippings and put them in the trash can (mostly). The larger limbs from the cherry will need to be cut up smaller to fit.
6. Planted catnip in the hanging planter.
7. Pruned the roses out front.
8. Planted lavender, verbena, and some petunias in a nice pot.
9. Watered the 3 earthboxes (tomatoes and basil) so far planted.
10. Dragged out the hose, connected the sprinkler and began watering the back yard the old-fashioned way. This is how it will be till I can get the irrigation fixed. Oy vey.

Time to collapse, I think. Will post a few more pics --


More rough plumbing, this for the kitchen and laundry area.


Sable mugging for the camera.

Click for more cat-pics.


Rum looking noble, Grey looking cute and probably plotting something "fun".


S'mores and Sable on the front step.


Saki dead to the world.


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[info]acusa_dora
2008-06-15 04:57 am UTC (link)
The cats are so cute--that Sable has gorgeous eyes!

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-15 05:05 am UTC (link)
Doesn't he though? Sable and S'mores are brothers and both have the same icy-blue eyes and lovely temperaments. They want to live in the house and I'm hoping to get them adopted out now that they are no longer half-wild. I'd keep them myself, but I've got three and when mom moves in, we'll have 4. 0_o

There are at least 3 more feral tomcats in this part of the neighborhood - if I can get them fixed, I will. If nothing else, it makes the nights somewhat more peaceful, although Sable and S'mores will fight for their territory and gads are they loud about it. They may be "retired tomcats" but no one told them. Having Siamese voices means they can howl really well.

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[info]mincot
2008-06-15 01:56 pm UTC (link)
OOOH, yeah. In Wally World there was a Siamese who lived next door and who would beat up on my ladies ... and since Bella's mom was part Siamese, she wouldn't back down. One of the others would run streaking-fast for PIglet, who would burst out the dog door like the Avenger of Doom and chase the Siamese out of the yard. He'd patrol the boundaries of the fence for a while, and then settle down on the porch with all the cats ranged around him....

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-16 01:49 am UTC (link)
It's wonderful for cats to have a guardian dog like that. Our old family dog Missy used to do that for Cinder and the other cats that came after her. If a strange kitty was in the yard, they'd summon the dog, who would see off the intruder quite happily.

How is Piglet doing?

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[info]vulgarweed
2008-06-15 06:58 am UTC (link)
Ooooh, gorgeous. If I were near you and had the room....

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-15 07:10 am UTC (link)
I'm taking my time looking for homes for them. They're such lovely cats, I want to make sure they get the best family possible. I'm caring for them in the interim, so they're in no danger of starvation (as you can see from their rather plump condition). :)

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[info]vulgarweed
2008-06-15 07:52 am UTC (link)
Oh, I can tell. They're so plump and sleek and handsome. Healthy boys in their prime. If I were a kitty queen I'd be all over that.

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-16 01:53 am UTC (link)
That's what I need to advertise for! Fellow kitty queens! :D

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[info]x_expat
2008-06-15 12:23 pm UTC (link)
Man, that makes my arms tired just thinking about it. I have enough jungle to trim back outside.

Nice cat pics, and they even posed for you!

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-16 01:55 am UTC (link)
My arms are whining today. All sorts of strange muscles I didn't know I had. 0_o

I dunno, the cats don't pose so much as I catch a moment when they're not turning their backs to the camera. I get more pics of kitty butts and backs.

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[info]x_expat
2008-06-16 01:57 am UTC (link)
Yeah, I bet you're sore. Ow.

I get kitty backs/butts about 99% of the time, so you're doing better than me. ;)

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-16 02:02 am UTC (link)
Need to take more ibruprofen or something. I want to draw, we'll see if I can manage that comfortably.

I get cat-nose pictures, too. XD

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[info]mincot
2008-06-15 01:57 pm UTC (link)
Their Felinities are absolutely wonderful!! Sounds as if you and I are on the same gardening wavelenth, minus the watering. Thank heavens Momma Nature took care of the watering yesterday ... she needs to do that for a solid month, I think; we're still in serious drought.

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-16 01:45 am UTC (link)
Mommy Nature is now into summer mode, which means little rain till Sept. or so. And me with no irrigation. So I'm trying to learn the optimal routine for sprinkler watering the yard.

The Felinities would preen at your admiration. :)

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[info]catherinecookmn
2008-06-15 03:53 pm UTC (link)
Awwww! Lovely kitties! And hurrah for yard work!

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[info]centaurg
2008-06-15 11:20 pm UTC (link)
Bleargh for yard work! The wind broke the top out of a tree in my yard, which fell on my neighbor's garden shed. Next thing I knew, it was being cut up and deposited in >my< yard after the landlord and I spent an entire weekend last year cutting down another offending tree and grinding it to chips. My back yard was >clean<, I tell you! Now my mulch box and compost are buried under a new pile of limbs.

We don't have quite the variety of stray cats here, but the house cats are more than willing to explore when we let them out. Mighty bug hunters, all.
(pounce!) And I'm not showing the kitty pictures to Dawn--she'd want to keep S'Mores.

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-16 01:43 am UTC (link)
Yeesh, why do you get the cut-up lumber? Got a fireplace? I've got two large limbs off the cherry and one more to cut down. They won't fit in the trash unless I cut them up.

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-16 01:44 am UTC (link)
I'll either get in shape doing this or croak from the attempt. >D

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[info]ithilwen
2008-06-16 12:17 am UTC (link)
Wow! I'm impressed with your gardening accomplishments! Want to fly over and clean up mine? It could use the attention, but I've been too lazy to get out there and work in it in the brief lulls we've had between thunderstorms.

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-16 01:42 am UTC (link)
All this work built up because of the household goings-on and the terrible weather. I took today off from jungle-whacking because my muscles were whining. I need to build up some endurance, methinks.

Heh, I'll fly over there if you fly over here... wanna kitty? :D

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[info]ithilwen
2008-06-18 01:27 am UTC (link)
Believe me, I'm tempted. It woudl be nice to deal with a different set of weather and house issues for a while!

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[info]aeljn
2008-06-18 09:39 pm UTC (link)
Pretty kitties! My sister still pretends that she dislikes my cat, but I overheard her laughing at Miss Silver's antics yesterday. ;-)

I'm impressed by all that work! My brother considers housework more important than yardwork (although he did hire someone to weed the cacti patch in the front and the rose garden, which he covered with plastic and wood chips. He pruned them, too.

Petey did a spite pee in the living room last week -- when he saw me watching, too! The audacity!

Last night, my sister was already asleep, I was in bed, and my brother was using his bathroom, so Petey was in the hall when Miss Silver was near my bedroom door. They immediately started one of their barking-hissing fits. Gah!

Hope you got my note.

I hate automated employee application programs because the twits who set them up didn't do enough thinking. Today I got terminated early because of one of my answers. Excuse me, but it doesn't make one's company seem "handicapped-friendly" if their application program makes no provision for "injured in an accident and had to heal for several years before being able to work again."

I'm also annoyed that applications make no provision for schools or institutions changing their names since the applicant attended.

I wish I could help redesign some of these programs because they are certainly lacking!

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