Friday, May 29, 2009

Random Friday Thoughts...!


1. I probably have the only cat in the immediate area that likes Pace Picante Sauce!

Sitting at my desk the other day, I had some chips and a bowl of Pace Picante...perfect way to pass the time. The smaller of my two roomies, C.B. (short for cry baby) got up on the desk as usual to watch me eat, just in case I dropped anything he could get to.

I figured if I let him smell the sauce, he would go away. Wrong...! He actually licked his chops the way cats do when they are interested in some food. So I thought I would take a chance. I put a chip into the sauce, dipped out a fair amount, and offered it to the cat.

He not only licked it all off the chip, but looked at me like he wanted more. I repeated the process a couple more times and each time, he licked off all the sauce! Wouldn't eat the chip, but licked the sauce off every time! His brother, Smokey, wanted no part of it! Truly strange, truly strange!

2. Both my cats have learned if they walk on the printer, they can sometimes turn it on. They like to do that so they can search for the source of the noise it makes when coming on, and try and catch the paper as it comes out when I print something.

I really don't mind this, but the problem comes when they have been outside when the grass is wet! They walk on the paper in the tray, and the paper is all covered with cat paw prints when I try to print something. As long as they can watch the paper come out, they keep playing with the printer...gotta learn to stop doing that!

3. I always thought that cats were supposed to be afraid of getting wet! Both of the roomies like to lay outside on the patio. I guess the concrete feels cool to them. But if it starts to rain, they just continue to lay there. Soaking wet, rolling around, enjoying themselves...until it thunders real loud! Then it's time to run into the house, walk on the printer paper, climb up on Dad's chest with wet paws, and get a hug. If I'm lucky, I'm NOT wearing a white t-shirt.

The good thing about this is that I at least get a hug from them. In fact, I get a hug every time they come in to eat! I think it's only because they have figured out I furnish the food, so they try and suck up at meal time...con cats!

Come to think about it, they are more like teen age kids than Siamese cats! I'm really too old to deal with teens again! Maybe I'm being punished for future sins...and if that's the case, then I must have a really good time ahead of me!

4) Smokey, the bigger of the two roomies, is a bully. He doesn't want to share anything that he deems is his... anything! He shows this fact by spraying anything he wants to claim, which is natural I guess. However, the nephew and I were sitting and talking one day when Smokey came in, backed up to my leg, and sprayed the hell out of my pant leg. Good thing I was wearing jeans, because if I had been in shorts I would only have one cat now!

Smokey doesn't look as much like a Siamese as his brother C.B. He has more grey where his brother has black markings...on the ears, around the nose area, and around the tail. He is almost one and a half times bigger than his brother. Where C.B. chases squirrels and birds, Smokey chases dogs and female cats . Smokey's fur is long, where C.B.'s is shorter.

Another big difference is Smokey likes to do his business in the grass, not the dirt! C.B. likes to find some dirt, like the nephews garden or the flower beds. They both make an effort to bury the evidence, but Smokey hasn't learned that it's almost impossible to scratch grass over the mess. Still, he likes the grass!

Neither seem to like the litter box or the litter, because they will get inside the box only if they can't get outside. That's not a bad thing, but they would rather throw the litter out of the box and onto the floor, than keep it in the box. Why...I do not know!

5. Neither of the roomies are particularly fond of the camper as of yet! They won't go inside and look around, even if I'm in there. Guess after I get more of my scent inside, they will be more open to going in and looking around.

I guess that's enough of this prattle for today. Sorry for the disjointed manner of this post, but I am a bit under the weather, and my mind is wandering a lot as of late. In fact, ever since I brought the camper home, I have almost nothing but going camping on my mind! Wonder why that is...?

Now, my friend, let's get a fresh cup, sit on the patio, and maybe plan a little camping and fishing trip...OK?

26 comments:

Kyddryn said...

I once had a cat who enjoyed shaved carrots in vinaigrette dressing. She'd pick them out of my salads if I wasn't careful!

Now, I have one who can't leave me alone if I've put on lotion - she'll lick the skin from my hand of I let her.

Queer creatures...

Shade and Sweetwater,
K

HermitJim said...

Hey K...
Strange, but you just gotta love 'em.

My two are a lot of company, and better friends than most people I know...

Thanks for stopping by!

Felinae said...

One of our nine cats, he will eat/drink anything I do. He loves coffee. :)

Smiles~Felinae~

HermitJim said...

Hey Felinae...
Damn, I like him already...any cat that drinks coffee is OK by me!

Thanks for dropping in...

Anonymous said...

Cats are persnickity alright. Our family is owned by two indoor cats as well, one a Burmese, the other a Siamese. They get along fine, and being 6 months old, still pretty frisky, especially the Burmese. He is pretty vocal and at night, you can hear him bumping around the walls, just for the sheer joy.

He's always seeking treats. The other is less inclined to beg, but does stick her nose in and take a good whiff of your plate if you aren't paying attention. More fastidious though - she has to be convinced an offered treat is fine.

JoJo said...

Good morning friend,
Enjoyed your post, made me smile. I wish I wasn't alergic to cats, they can be so much fun.
I can't imagine why you would be thinking of going camping. lol
Have a great day.
JoJo

Kyddryn said...

G'mornin', Mister Hermit Jim - I woke remembering something, wanted to share again. First, though - hope you're feeling better. I can ship you some homemade soup, but...by the time it got there...well...eww...

I had a cat, long ago, who peed on what was "his". Like a toddler, everything was "his".

One evening, as we were watching television, he wandered over to Mum, backed up...and marked her face!

To this day, I giggle when I think of her expression...and think it's a wonder that cat didn't learn to fly that night.

Shade and Sweetwater,
K

HermitJim said...

Hey Anon 7:26...
Don't know how I would entertain myself without the two roomies around! After I get moved to the country, I am getting a dog, and between the roomies and a pup I should have enough to post about for a long, long time!

Thanks for coming by the patio this morning!


Hey JoJo...
I'm sorry to hear about your allergy to cats...what about dogs?

I think you and the roomies would get along pretty good!

Hey, thanks for the visit today, JoJo...

HermitJim said...

Hey K...
Somewhere in my archives, I have a post about what happened right after I got the roomies.

I was "training" them with a spray bottle filled water. I would say "no!" a couple of times, then hit a little spray of water if necessary. Oe morning, Smokey had just been hollared at and was mad. He proceeded to walk over to my show, climb inside, and pee all over it!

The shoes went to the trash! Hey, thanks for the story!

JoJo said...

Hello again, Keep forgetting to tell you about the garden. I have so many tomatoes I might have to set up a stand on the corner. And mini egg plants, for some reason though the zuccini aren't coming out, there are lots of flowers but no veggie, also have basil and something that looks like dill.
AND I get to go out today. YIPPEE!
Oh sorry got a little excited.:-)
Hope you are feeling better.
JoJo

HermitJim said...

Hey JoJo...
Good news on the tomatoes, and I'm sorry about the zuccini...normally for me, the zuccini are one of the easiest to grow.

We have a LOT of bees in this area, so maybe that's the difference!

Getting excited about gardens is allowed...in fact, getting excited about anything is allowed around the patio!

Catman said...

Mornin' Jim,

If you're interested in getting the roomies to become accustomed to the camper, start feeding them tidbits of their favorite treats in front of the camper, and gradually move the feedings inside.

Cats are associative creatures. Once they associate the camper with something good, they'll be comfortable with it.

I currently have a truly feral (not a stray) female that the wife and I trapped. It has taken almost two years of work to get this cat to allow me to pick her up and carry her around without looking like I've been run through a tree chipper.

You've got a head start in that they already trust you, so it shouldn't take too long to get them comfortable with the camper.

Just don't put a litterbox inside or use amonia to clean anything inside.

You'll have a problem with a different kind of association if you do....

HermitJim said...

Hey Catman...
I appreciate the info, brother!
Should have known to ask someone with the noniker of "Catman" about the training...

I figure by the time I'm ready to go for good, they will have become accustomed to it.

Hey, appreciate you dropping by today!

Carol Ayers said...

Good morning, Jim! Hope you got a big pot ready cuz you just got me going talking about cats! You know I have 4 of them. First of all, the camper...was there a dog in it before?....maybe a big of catnip in the doorway might entice them to enter..but look out for the spray...
oh..the salsa..that is weird.....now the printer..well...one of my cats, Mr. Smith, waits every morning for me to plug in the juice to the stereo which lights up and ejects a CD which he immediately slaps back inside and then tries to find out where it went....I could go on and on now...first I need another cuppa....thanks...

HermitJim said...

Hey Carol...
See, I knew there was a reason why I liked ya so much! Just gotta LUV the ladies with cats!

The amusement factor alone is almost reason enough to get a cat, plus they don't like snakes much! Good for keeping the mice from chewing on the storage buckets, I'm thinking.

Hey Thanks for dropping in for a cup, Carol!

Carol Ayers said...

Always a pleasure here on your patio, Jim. I've enjoyed all the comments about the cats today, especially the cat that likes carrot strips...now THAT is funny!
Now, my 3 babies (Poco, Smith&Wesson)..named before birth on the day before Thanksgiving and they all turned out to be boys so had to shorten Pocahantus to Poco....they do not try to eat from my plate at all but Mamma cat will definitely check out my plate to see what I might be eating and if she finds something interesting will drag whatever it is off the plate...of course fish is her favorite...
Now Poco will get excited for onions...go figure....

HermitJim said...

Hey Carol...
Sounds like C.B. and Poco would get along just fine. With C.B. liking Pace Picante, and Poco liking onions...I guess the cost of feeding them is pretty minimal if we grow our own veggies!

Like I said" strange, very strange"

Rae said...

It's called catitude. Sounds like they have plenty of it and they have old dad trained just the way they want.

I am a doggie momma. My Lab is a wimp and wienie-your cats would turn him into mush. But he likes Pace Picante sauce and jalapenos and chips -actually he likes everything. Drinks coffee too-needs
a splash of cream though.

Doesn't climb on the printer but he climbs on the bed. In fact the bed is his - I just borrow space.

He would love your camper and your truck. Likes to ride shotgun. Head out the window. Tongue and drool flying.

Hope you get that camper hitched and on the road soon. It's gonna be great. Rae

MsBelinda said...

I had a cat name Bobby for 14 years who gave me so many years of joy. When he died two years ago I decided I would never have another cat.

As life would have it my mother's neighbors moved out and abandoned their cat. She was so cute and slowly won me over now I cant imagine not having her in my family.

HermitJim said...

Hey Rae...
I like your dog! I figure that any dog that likes coffee and hot sauce is pretty cool!

The only reason I don't have a dog here is that I don't really think it's fair to have one in the city. I will be getting one when I move, or just before!

Thanks for the good wishes about getting the camper on the road soon, and for dropping in for a cup!


Hey MsBelinda...
Sometimes fate choses our pets and friends for us.Sounds like what happened in your case. My cats are special to me, and they like nearly all humans. That's a bad habit around here, or could be. A lot of the people around this neighborhood don't take to cats, especially if the cat can whip the pet dog's butt, ya know?

Hey, I do appreciate you dropping by the patio for a visit!

Anonymous said...

Maybe lure them in the camper with the printer??? hee hee .Cats are an animal unto their own for sure.

HermitJim said...

Hey Anon 4:23...
I hadn't thought of that! It might work...!

Thanks for the suggestion and the visit...

APN said...

Hermit Jim, we need to see if we can get some folks over to bullseye's blog to pray for his baby girl..She's pretty sick...

http://codenamebullseye.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-baby-girl-is-sick.html

HermitJim said...

Hey AP...I'll see what I can do and I'll say a special prayer for the daughter!

Thanks for the heads up...

Frugal Canadian Hermit said...

Cats are cool and cats are crazy. lol. My dog likes to put the run on the cats that will run away, but what is really funny is when she sometimes comes across the cat that will put the run on her. lol. It kinda hurts her feelings I think, but it is still pretty funny to see. So your mind is on camping Jim? I kinda know the feeling my friend. The clock is ticking. Lots of things on the mind.

HermitJim said...

Hey Hermit...
Funny how this time of year makes the thoughts turn to camping and fishing...

I think the main thing is to get out of the city!

Thanks for coming by...