The Empty Cabinets of my Mind

A Heart Breaker

Is this a pathetic looking cat or what?

 

 

It is the mom of the little gray stray I posted a while back, taken just before winter set in and I am glad to say this young mother was adopted and fed before the snows came. 

 

 

PS:  Photo take by my brother.  Thanks for sharing!

 

Poor Little Orphaned Kitty

Here is a photo of an adorable kitten which was rescued by a friend of my brother's:

I am so glad this kitty now has a good home.

I personally love cats, but cannot take care of one because they like a routine and my schedule is cockamany. 

C'mon cat, we're going to San Francisco.  MEOW.

Here, kitty, want to see the ocean?   PHFFTT!

WHAT, no cats allowed on the golf course?

 

 

That did it. 

A Stranger on the Porch

Animal control was in my neighborhood today because a feral dog which has been sneaking in through the security gate for several months has now started spending the night on people's porches.  My gated community prohibits residents from having large dogs, but quite a few people who live here have chihuahuas and other small breeds.

I would prefer they not leave their dog food out on their porches because that not only encourages wild animals and non-resident cats and dogs to hang around, but attracts insect pests as well.

Whether or not the food the neighbors are leaving out is small breed dog food the culprit that has been sneaking around here is a big breed and scary acting even in the opinion of our dog-loving residents.  So we have to find a way to stop this dog from coming in.  S/he is pretty, but nobody I know wants to get close to because of the aberrant behavior.  Several of us, myself included, have been feeling a bit uncomfortable stepping out into our own backyards when we know this errant pooch has been around not only because we don't want to be snarled at or bitten, but also  because of unwanted deposits we are finding.  The latter is another reason we are not calling the stray over and offering it any dog snacks.

This is a paid post.

Cats Can be Phew Too

I got to seem my brother's cat on a recent trip.  That was a big thrill for cat-loving me!  It was a big thrill to see my brother, too.  He has one cat that is part of the family and a whole bunch of neighborhood cats that come over to schmooze.

The last time I was back east, I took my stepmom's cats to the vet for her because they all had cat fever.  Ewwww, talk about needing Odor Eliminator. This was as bad as the time when I went to the airport to pick up a carton of chickens for my Dad. I had to pull over on roll the windows down and no more had I done so than a security guard came over and roughly told me not to park there.  I was embarrassed, but Dad had helped me buy the car, so I was not in much of a position to complain at the time.

I don't have any pets anymore myself, but if I ever take somebody else's kitties for a ride I am going to get some Cat Urine Odor Remover first.

Actually the last bad smell that got in my car was from the cows along I5 near a famous steakhouse.  The Steak Diane was pretty good, but that was in June and I still haven't gotten all the Car Odor squared away.

This is a paid post, so thanks everybody for checking out the links.

 

 

 

Another Dog Fell Out of a Car

My neighbors and I often go out to eat together in the evening and the last time we did so, we pulled up to an intersection and saw an awful thing happen.  In the cross traffic there was a car with the window wide open and a big red dog hanging out.  Just as they got even with us we saw the dog fall out of the window of the moving car.  She rolled like a blanket and hit the asphalt with a sickening thud, then dazed, proceeded to wobble out into the traffic.  I cannot bear to see pet owners subject their dogs to harm by taking them unsecured in a car, or neglect them by leaving them out in the hot sun with no water, or by failing to provide them with nutritious dog food.

My quick-thinking friend who loves dogs called the poor shaken thing over to her car where the traffic was not moving.  Meanwhile the owner had pulled off the road and miraculously the dog and owner were eventually reunited.  But truly, I am not sure this story had a happy ending. Maybe this owner will be foolish enough to risk the canine's welfare again.  He seemed to be scolding the dog instead of comforting it.

What a difference between this owner and the folks next door who take good care of give their animals, giving them love and attention and rewarding good behavior with gourmet dog treats.

Although it is illegal in the State of California to carry a dog in the back of a pickup without safety devices to secure it, the law here does not prohibit allowing an unrestrained animal to ride in the car.  But several states now have laws against transporting animals in a cruel or unsafe manner.

There is nobody in my community that would be cruel to a dog, and there are dog owners on every side of my home.  That makes my Christmas shopping easier.  I will probably get them all dog snacks this year.

A special thanks to the advertiser who paid me to post the above links.

Who Doesn't Love Fishies

I love fish!  Not just to eat, but also as part of the decor.  This is the first time an advertisor has offered to pay me to write about fish, so I am going to have fun with this one.

Currently I don't stay in one place long enough to have and take care of an acquarium, but I used to have quite a few freshwater fish in several tanks.  They breed, you know.  One beautiful mama sunburst mated with a red flag and gave birth to over 112 little ones during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.  That was a sight to behold with water splashing all over the place.  It is impossible to know how many more baby fish were gobbled up by their parents since the aftershocks from the earthquake kept upsetting the little cages that the new babies were stored in for their protection. 

I have never had my own salt water fish, but I am in great awe of people who have and maintain them.

One of the things that makes salt water tanks so beautiful is the live coral.  In addition to the more exotic and colorful fish, the saltwater fish environment also supports live rocks and invertebrates such as sea cucumbers.

Gone to the Dogs

My vacation home is in a gated community with a sign at the entrance reading "NO DOGS."  That is fine with me because although dogs are nice companions, pets, and sometimes guardians, they do not, in my opinion, belong confined in close quarters.  My primary home is gated too, and although dogs are allowed, they are not allowed in the pool or the common buildings and they are required to be on leash and under control on common areas. 

So the other day there was a poodle in the swimming pool.  Obviously some folks think that rules are for fools.  My neighbor's dogs don't bark very much...as dogs go, but the fact is that all five families with adjoining property have one or more dogs.  This is enough to keep me from considering getting a cat.  Fortunately all the neighbors are pretty good about keeping their dogs out of my yard, though.  If I had a dog I would buy it a fancy dog potty and hope it used it.

Also if I had a dog, it would be one that was already housebroken.  I am not in the least interested in buying or using housebreaking puppy paraphernalia.  Here in the desert we have extreme heat in the summer, so each of my neighbors must have an indoor dog potty. It is way to hot to make the little tykes go outdoors.

Blowing Steam

I do this sometimes!  Blow steam, I mean.

When I took this picture, all I saw was the steam.  Only after loading my photos onto the laptap and blowing them up did I see the whale underneath.  Of course we knew s/he was there, as this is how a whale gets water out of its lungs prior to breathing in some air:

Below, the steam is starting to dissipate and the whale is more visible with just its hump above the water.

Next the tail came out of the water.

                                                                                                                     

Actually that was a very hard shot to get and a good argument for having a camera with more megapixels.  But I did the best with what I had. 

I'm Off to See the Lizard

I think this is a Western Fence Lizard, but I'm not sure, nor do I have a fence.  However, this one loves to sit on a brick in my teeny back yard, sunning himself and daring me to run in and get the camera only to find him gone when I return.

Only this time I fooled him.  The camera was in my pocket. 

I like lizards and think that this one is a real cutie, but s/he sure can skedaddle fast.  The shutter speed is pretty fast on my Canon PowerShot, but that head started to move and you can see that made the picture a little blurry. Yes, by they time I pressed the button to take another shot, the lizard was gone.  S/he is about twice the size of most of the other lizards who scoot around here. 

Wabbits and Easter

Every time I see a rabbit lurking around my garden I run for the camera, and usually they disappear before I can get back.

This, however, must be the Easter Bunny because s/he stuck around for a glam shot:

Isn't that a sweet face?