Posted in camping, personal, pets, Photos, travel, Uncategorized on May 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »
This was a week ago; I wanted to get it up right after I got home, but of course didn’t, and then it felt like it was history so not worth blogging, but I’ve been enjoying reading posts from years ago, so for the sake of my future self, I’m going to do this anyway.
Got out last week for two nights in a row, and it was very successful. I’m now not only hopeful, but confident, that somehow this camping with Scamp and cats is going to work out.
Posted in camping, personal, pets, Photos, retirement, travel on August 22, 2016| 2 Comments »
Day 5: Most of this day was spent driving through the mountains, stopping often just to look and take pictures. It was soothing to my soul–moountains do something for me that no other landscape–or seascape–does, however beautiful it may be. Especially the high Rockies. (more…)
Posted in camping, personal, pets, Photos on July 30, 2016| 1 Comment »
This is a bit of a trial run to see how my new technology (new iPad, Logitech external keyboard) is going to work for blogging. In two weeks I’m headed out into my longest roadtrip since the spring of 2014, and I’m hoping the combination will work for posting from the road.
But–the content is actually from a couple of weeks ago, when I met one of my sisters and her husband for three nights of camping. I was frankly mildly nervous, because I had recommended the campground and I wasn’t sure if it would meet their standards, but as it turned out they loved it, so that was OK.
(Just ran into an irritation, but it has to do with the WordPress app, I think–it’s not letting me select anything between the whole post and a single word. It will select one or the other, but if I try to modify the selection to include less, or more, it just pops back to a single word. Annoying, but not catastrophic.)
The first day, we drove down to Gold Beach–they had some things they needed to buy, and we wanted some beach time. (more…)
Posted in personal, pets, Photos on May 11, 2016| 2 Comments »
A few months ago, Shadow figured out how to climb up on the sunroom and thence to my bedroom window. He was very sure I should open the window for him, but it’s screened, so he was out of luck. He’s been persistent enough that I’ve contemplated putting a cat door in the window, but haven’t had the initiative to get it done.
Then this morning he took it a step further: (more…)
Posted in personal, pets, Photos on May 11, 2016| 2 Comments »
Lovely time of year. That it’s a month early and that should concern us all I shall say no more about. Here are a few pics from my back yard.
First, what a difference a little sun makes. This rose. . .
. . has never put out more than a couple blossoms before. Several times I’ve considered taking it out. But it now has several blossoms and a bunch more buds, thanks to the neighbors removing a couple of trees. The rose gets to stay, and I’m thrilled. It even smells like a rose, which is hard to find these days. So much for Shakespeare.
This is not so happy a story.
It’s a peony planted last summer, one of two. Neither bloomed last year. One is doing pretty well, several buds on it. This poor thing has put up shoots a couple of times now, only to be eaten by . . . something or other. Could be rodents, could be deer, heck it could be CJ or the cats. Why this one is getting eaten and the other not I have no idea.
The other rhodies are mostly done, but this red beauty . . .
. . . comes on later than the others and is only now starting to fade. Cameras all seem to have a hard time doing justice to red, but the above may give some idea of what it’s like. Seems to me it’s much more lush this year than it was last year.
Finally, here’s a shot of Phantom on the freshly mowed lawn, exemplifying the truism that any scene is made more picturesque with a cat in it.
Posted in pets, Photos on April 29, 2015| 1 Comment »
Both cats actually like having their tummy petted. This one purred while I combed and petted. Calmest cats I’ve ever had.
Posted in pets, retirement, travel on April 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »
The big as-yet-unresolved issue with having acquired travel cats is the fact that they are nocturnal. Further, they regard the van as their very own bedroom/playroom, having slept in it almost every night since I got them. This has worked as desired in terms of making them comfortable in the van and regarding as their “safe place” when on the road. However, it also means they see no good reason to accommodate my sleep pattern when we are camping. Which is a problem. I am a light sleeper to begin with, and I do not do well when shorted on sleep. Not only do general coping skills decline precipitously, enjoyment of life drops to zero, and I turn into a rabid monster. (more…)
Posted in camping, personal, pets, Photos, retirement, travel on March 19, 2015| 2 Comments »
(Note: Two requests for identification are at the end of the post, one flower and one bird, so ID gurus–you know who you are– may want to skip to the end to check them out and give me your best guesses.)
People call Silver Falls the “crown jewel” of the Oregon State Parks system, at least according to its website, and you couldn’t disprove it by me. I just got back from a couple of most excellent days/nights there and took lots of pictures, so this is a long post.
The first day, my brother and his wife took a day trip down from Portland and we got to discover things together. First, a couple of pictures of my first view of the South Falls (there will be more later. You have been warned.) (more…)
Posted in personal, pets, Photos on December 18, 2014| 1 Comment »
Somehow, the cats have turned out different from how I expected. In appearance, I mean. See what you think. (more…)
Posted in pets, Photos, video clips on November 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Back when the cats were kittens, shortly after I got them, my friend Cathy dropped by and Phantom (Attilla the Cute at the time) was enthralled with her. Shadow, not so much. Since Phantom is into catnip, and Shadow isn’t, and Cathy had been weeding her basil (I think it was), we thought maybe that explained the phenomenon.
But a few weeks later, she dropped in again, also having been messing with herbs, and –nothing.
No special interest from either cat, so we figured that whatever it had been, Phantom had grown out of it.
And then last night, she came by for the first time in a month or so, and this time both cats were seriously into her. Phantom was more enthralled than ever, especially with her pants, and even Shadow got into the act. (These aren’t the best shots–the phone was not focussing well).
No explanation for this. She hadn’t been into the herbs, not cooking, doesn’t use fabric softener that might smell good to cats–we could come up with nothing.
Me, I think it must be Cathy herself. I offer you– Cath-nip.
Posted in personal, pets, Photos, video clips on November 14, 2014| 1 Comment »
Just look at this!
You buy something for cats to scratch on, and SOMEONE decides to chew it up. (more…)
Posted in camping, personal, pets, Photos, travel, video clips, walks on November 11, 2014| 3 Comments »
Having noticed a certain obsessional taking and posting of cat pics and videos, many of them repetitive in type, over the past weeks, I’ve decided to see if I can get it out of my system by posting a glut of them all at once. Perhaps then I’ll be able to turn my mind to something other than cats. We’ll see. I’ll warn you–it’s long, lots of pics and several video clips, so if you skim through–or skip it altogether–I’ll understand. Well, I’ll never know, but I would understand if I did know.
First, pictures of cats lolling around. (No videos in this part. Go figure. I’m not quite crazy enough to do video of sleeping cats.) (more…)
Posted in camping, personal, pets, Photos, travel, video clips on October 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »
We’re almost there! In fact, I think we are there. I think I’ve succeeded in raising a couple of travel cats, and pretty much have things figured out for how to travel with them, including long trips–they/we did fine on a 10 day jaunt around the Northwest back in September.
But off leash cat walks–that’s the icing on the cake. Went camping last week for a couple of nights, with the goal of taking a walk in the woods with all three critters. Headed for Foster Bar, because it’s relatively remote, and mostly used by day-trippers as a place to unload from the river, so I figured we’d have the campground to ourselves, and we did. Et voilá!
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/109598420″>catwalk 2a</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user33545867″>Jean Mitchell</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>Posted in personal, pets, Photos, walks on October 13, 2014| 2 Comments »
This is too cool just for FB. I just took a walk down into the gorge–with all three pets. A couple of inches of rain are expected in the next couple of days, so I figured this would be my last good opportunity until next summer. Had to hack my way through some blackberry brambles to get down there, but it was worth it.
I wasn’t sure how it would go between CJ and the cats; her dearest ambition in life is to be allowed to chase some cats. She’s good with them in the house and yard, but out in the open, when one of them dashes past? I just wasn’t sure. (more…)
Posted in camping, misc, personal, pets, Photos on July 23, 2014| 2 Comments »
Overall, it’s going well. I think. The kittens stay in the van every night, and clearly regard it as home. They have learned (mostly) to stay out of the front area when we’re on the road (every now and then, perhaps once/trip/kitten) they need a reminder: being grabbed by me and tossed onto the bed in back. Thus I was able to take down the big kennel/crate, which I had put in mainly to contain them while driving. This has made the interior of the van feel much less crowded and improved visibility to the rear.
Another point of progress is I don’t have to take them out as often. They seem just fine even when it’s been up to a week since we went out. This is a very good thing, because it means I can get other things done with my life.
The big new focus is leash training. Well, leash accustomization; “training” is not really the right term, because I don’t do rewards. We’ve had two go-rounds of it so far. Pictures from the first round are absent–managing two kittens, each on a leash, is hard enough, without also taking pictures. You’ve heard of herding cats? Yeah. Well. (more…)
Posted in camping, personal, pets, Photos, travel on June 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »
First, allow me to introduce the Cuties:
The gray streak would be Attilla the Cute; the darker cat-shaped blot is Tamercutie. The names will be explained in due course, and are subject to change. (more…)
Posted in pets, photography, Photos, walks on May 25, 2008| 3 Comments »
We encountered a coyote on our walk this morning. As you can see from this picture, CJ (Miss Coyote Jane) doesn’t look much like her namesake these days. (more…)
Posted in pets, photography, Photos, Uncategorized, walks on April 7, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Posted in pets, photography, Photos on March 16, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Do not be deceived by the fact that these trees look just like dozens of other trees previously posted. They are, I can promise, BRAND NEW. To me, that is.
After more than ten years of walking dogs around here, this morning I managed to wander into some trails I hadn’t found before, and the photos posted below were all taken in the new territory.
I know they look like all the other tree pictures I post. I just can’t help myself. They always look new to me. (more…)
Posted in pets, photography, Photos on February 17, 2008| 4 Comments »
I decided to give up on catching a good shot of CJ next to one of the other dogs out on a walk to show how much she’s grown. Instead, I’m going to return to a previous picture of her I posted less than a week after I picked her up, lying on one of the dog beds I took along. (more…)
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