mmmMelon

Peanut

Ring of Fur

Matt called Lilith a "Ring of Fur" in a Johnny Cash voice.

The Ring of Fur

Here are my Lyrics:

Lilith Is A Furry Thing
And she Makes A Furry Ring
Curling round she will purr
She Becomes A Ring Of Fur

CHORUS:
I sat down with a Purring Ring Of Fur
I sat Down, Down, Down
And The Purr Went Higher

And she Purrs, Purrs, Purrs
The Ring Of Fur
The Ring Of Fur

I sat down with a Purring Ring Of Fur
I sat Down, Down, Down
And The Purr Went Higher

And she Purrs, Purrs, Purrs
The Ring Of Fur
The Ring Of Fur

She can appear so Sweet
A cat you'd like to meet
Now you'd think she's Like A Child
Oh, But She's Fierce and Wild

CHORUS
I sat down with a Purring Ring Of Fur
I sat Down, Down, Down
And The Purr Went Higher

And she Purrs, Purrs, Purrs
The Ring Of Fur
The Ring Of Fur

I sat down with a Purring Ring Of Fur
I sat Down, Down, Down
And The Purr Went Higher

And she Purrs, Purrs, Purrs
The Ring Of Fur
The Ring Of Fur

And she Purrs, Purrs, Purrs

The Ring Of Fur

The Ring Of Fur

The Eclipsed

Enimies?

I can't believe it! Cally and Lilith are napping in the same room!

Over an hour ago I heard some hissing, but ignored it since I've gotten used to hearing hissing when Cally and Lilith are near each other. After I finished what I was working on, I got up, said hi to Peanut and Matt (they are napping together upstairs), and then started to get ready to practice my cello. I started wondering where Lilith and Cally were, so I looked around...

Cally and Lilith in Cally's Room

There they both were, looking quite at peace in Cally's room. Cally's room is the one with the Comfort Zone/Feliway diffuser, so maybe it's actually working!

Or, maybe it is just that the cats have all been appreciating the nice weather. It was about 60 outside today (incredible!), so we turned off the heat and opened all the windows. Peanut and Lilith both spent some time outside this morning, even though the ground was quite soggy from rain overnight and into the morning. All three of them really appreciated the open windows.

Peanut Enjoys the Fresh Air

Everybody Loves Grass

Peanut

Lilith

Cally

Thanks, Petra!

Floral Fireworks in Winter

Today I discovered flowers on the Witchhazel in my front yard! I was expecting it to bloom soon, but it still took me by surprise... I didn't notice a hint of it until BOOM it's in full bloom.

Witchhazel (Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane')

In Today's Mail

Lilith's New Bed

No detectable results from the comfort zone for cats yet. Peanut has been enjoying sleeping on the chair in Cally's room, but he did that before we got the pheromone diffuser. Meanwhile, Cally and Lilith are still on edge around each other. The biggest news is that Lilith has found a new place to snooze.

Lilith on today's new bed

My Obama Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday.

Matt made me a cake:

Me and my Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting
(Rob is in the background)

After dinner and cake we went with Matt's mother (Anne) to future president Barack Obama's rally in Boston. We had to stand in a really long line.

The Line

The line was actually a mile long:

The Line (route)

(Interactive version/source: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1602668 )

We were near the end. It took us something like 2 1/2 hours to get into the building (Boston's Seaport World Trade Center), probably due to a slow security process. We persisted, along with thousands of others. At one point, while Matt held our place, Anne and I went inside a T station entrance to warm up. That's when I took this picture:

Persistent Good Citizenship
(and the line outside)

I think it shows how much people were trying to put their trash in the right place, even though the right place was overloaded. It would have been so much worse if all that was lying in the street. Not everyone was this good, but a police officer who spoke to the line at one point said "You're an excellent crowd."

Finally, we got inside. The view wasn't so good:

The View


Anne in the Crowd

But we did get there in time to hear Govenor Patrick, and Senators Kerry and Kennedy speak, leading up to Obama's grand entrance.

He's a terrific speaker. I usually get bored listening to other people give lengthy speeches, but Obama held my attention. I really think he's more thoughtful about real life and less caught up in the game than the vast majority of politicians. I recorded a couple of videos (bad picture quality, okay sound). I may post the best of them later.

Afterwards, we walked to Park Street station, stopping by the water for a photo shoot. I'm holding my shoes because my feet were so tired I decided to take them off to walk to Park Street. The heels helped me get a better view, but they were a bad idea otherwise.

Shoes in hand with Matt

We got home at about 2 am on Super Tuesday.

Time to VOTE!

Germination

Petra gave us a cat grass kit. It's already germinating after only a few days.

Oat Grass
(The fuzzy stuff is root hairs on emerging roots.)

Aronia Buds

In the last few days I noticed the buds of my aronias have turned red. I'm worried that this means they are breaking too early.

At least it is clear that all three are currently alive and well despite the fact that they were not in good condition when I planted them last fall.

(Aronia arbutifolia)

They do look nice in red.

Worm Home

The worms' new home arrived yesterday, and I set it up last night. It seems silly spending as much money as I did when I could have made something myself... but life is always a trade-off in this way, and I have several other projects I need to complete now. So I chose the Worm Factory: http://www.cascadewormbin.com/wormfactory.htm

I bought it from All Things Organic: http://www.allthingsorganic.com/Products/worm-factory.asp (They have good customer service.)

I had read elsewhere that the bin was made from recycled plastic, but now I find that only the black version of the bin is recycled. The Terra Cotta version is made from food grade plastic (that's good in other ways). It would have been nice to know before I bought it.

Instead, I have an illustration of the difficulty of trying to be an environmentally conscious consumer. I didn't have all the facts before I made my purchase. I couldn't find the manufacturer's website until I had the item in my possession, so after the fact I have more info about what the product is made out of. Why aren't the retailers highlighting the fact that there is a recycled version?


In cat news, comfort zone for cats (aka the Feliway diffuser) arrived today and we plugged it into a wall socket in Cally's room. This product releases the same pheromone that happy cats release when they rub their cheeks against things. It is supposed to help cats feel safe and comfortable. I will report back later if she seems calmer.