Taz's New Name

TBT:   A couple weeks ago, I mentioned changing"Loki" to "Taz" and there were a few questions about that which I meant to answer sooner.  

When I got him from the shelter last November, they had named him "Pumpkin", which I couldn't live with.  But imagination failed me, so I found a list of cat-names online.  I didn't want a color or seasonal oriented name.  Human-type names have never appealed to me.  Personality-type names were a possibility, but I didn't see any I especially liked.  

There was a group of mythological names and I like mythology.  But most seemed more like dog names or very powerful names or female goddess names.  And he was not particularly strong or brilliant.  So, not "Thor' or "Hercules" or "Apollo".  And nothing long like "Prometheus".  But I saw "Loki" and that appealed to me.  So I settled on that.  And I mean "settled" (as in not what I really wanted but was "OK").

While "Loki" fit his personality (destructive, food-thief, trouble-maker), the name never seemed quite right.  I found the name uncomfortable to say both in the house and while calling him in from outside.

So I decided to change it.  First, I tried non-names that would make a connection to Binq (since they arrived together.  None felt right (Dinq, Pinq, Zinq, Winq?).  And I was often accidentally calling him "Laz", which brought up sad memories.  

So one afternoon, I was sitting around watching him run around like crazy.  And I thought "Taz".

And here is where 2 comments afterwards come in.  .  Yes "Taz" is partly for "Laz" in honor of a cat I loved but who couldn't manage life successfully any more.  And yes, it is partly for "Tazmanian Devil" (from the Warner Brothers cartoons).  And partly because it is short and also has no meaning to neighbors when I call him in from outside.

I still say "Loki" sometimes, but am getting better with remembering "Taz" most of the time.  Not that he seems to care what I call him.  "Name" seems to be a concept beyond his understanding anyway, LOL!

Thursday Survey

LORI:   

I have a QUESTION.  I asked TBT about it yesserday.  In the right sidebar of our blog, there are pictures of all us Mews.  Mine is a kitten one.  The other Mews all have adult pictures.  I am a womancat now.  I had my ladygarden operation, my first birfday, and my first Gotcha Day.  I weigh more than Ayla and am catching up on Laz (I'm 7.8 lbs now and he is 9.2 and I eat more than he does).  TBT says next year, we will weigh about the same.  He says I am going to be a big healthy strong womancat like Iza was (about 10 lbs).  I'm getting bigger every day, I think.

So, should I get a more grown-up picture?

He says there are various choices to consider...

1.  Change all the pics to more recent adult ones to reflect reality.

2.  Show us all as kittens (for cuteness and memories).

3.  Leave me (as the newest) as the kitten pic.

What do you think?

TP Destructo Kitty

TBT:   It has to be Lori!  She's a tissue-puller and a cardboard-chewer (just like Iza).  Not the toilet paper on the holders (so far), but she discovered a bulk package of cheap stuff  I had in the basement bathroom.  

A slight bit of explanation...  The day I heard Covid escaped China back in 2020, I went out and bought emergency supplies in case things went "real bad real fast".  Cans of soup, stew, chili, veggies; meat to freeze; and stuff like toilet paper, tissues, toothpaste, soap, powdered milk, flour etc.  The brand name TP was already gone, so I bought a bulk pack that was left.  It was really poor. 

I ended up not having to use it, so it sat in the basement since then.  Lori discovered it a few days ago!  

She ripped through the shrink wrap and pulled out a roll, then proceeded to shred it on the spot.  

I was actually quite impressed!  Shrink-wrap is not easy to rip open.  Well, I didn't want it anyway, so I left it for her to enjoy.  And she certainly did enjoy it.  It looked like this 2 days later! 

And then she surprised me further the next day.  She pulled out another roll and dragged it up the stairs into the bedroom!

I wish I could have seen her dragging it up the stairs and then shredding it.  Dragging it up the stairs couldn't have been easy.  I can only imagine that she bit an edge and the round  part (which kind of makes a corner) or just the round side, sort of like a lion dragging prey by walking on both sides of it... 

As I said, I am impressed!  I admire her creativity and effort.  I'll leave it all in place for a few days for her to continue to enjoy.  I can live with it a while.  It's not like 'Home&Garden' magazine photographers are ever going to visit, LOL!

But I will move the rest of the TP package to where she can't get at them while I decide what to do with it. And I'll probably reverse my TP rolls on the holders so she can't unroll them.  Iza did that a few times and Laz did it once.

But it sure is amazing to learn what cats will find to do that you don't expect!

Toy Thursday

TBT:  THIS showed up on the living room floor recently.  

I don't know where it came from.  Lori is a real searcher and finds stuff I haven't seen in a while so it is probably something she found in the basement (where many toys go to hide for years).  I don't even know what it was.  In fact, I can only guess it was a cat toy from the black tassle still attached.  The part on the right might have been a head.  I can imagine seeing legs in the lower left.  

My best guess is that it is left over from Iza.  She had a real love and talent for skinning and shredding her toys.  I have a dozen saved plastic mushroom containers.  They are the same shape and color and nest together.  One is full of Iza's skinned rattley mousies.  Seriously, the container of toy mousie skins and the plastic bodies the skins were wrapped around is a happy memento of her essential lethality.

Like a dragon, she watched over her hoard carefully...

I could drop one of those cardboard egg cartons on the floor at night and in the morning, there would be nothing left but shreds on the floor the next morning.  

Ayla seems to enjoy biting cardboard too.  I keep Christmas decorations in those sturdy Chewy.com boxes, and she has chewed off all the corners.   So I have bought 6 matching plastic bins to store them.  Lori likes to chew on cardboard too.  But she is more interested in pulling Kleenex tissue out of the box and chewing on the box corners.  It's always corners.  I suppose corners are easier to bite..

But Iza was a champion!  She was the one who shredded any cardboard, unrolled the toilet paper, and  destroyed toys with a vengeance.   I can't count the number of rattley mousies I bought over her years, but she might have kept some company profitable, LOL!

Marley and Laz never do that.  Is it a womancat thing?

Thursday Nappin

 Laz And Lori:  We offer you "Napping"...  TBT says that we do it better than most.  We don't know about that, but we sure enjoy it.

TBT wonders what each of us would do without the other.  Well, we don't want to know...

Thursday Womancats

Ayla hides.  Lori glories in being seen...

 

Thursday With Ayla

AYLA:   I was a bit restless last night.  I like the back of TBT's TV chair.  And I like the bloo Star Wars mat.  But I think I should have more Bloo.

TBT says that is about as "bloo" as it gets, but I don't think he quite unnerrstands.

I need MORE!

This is absolutely my favorite mat, but I'm off the edge sometimes and that just "Won't Do".  A Princess must look Purrfect at all times.

I mean, sometimes, I drape a paw off it.  And when I am off-bloo, something seems wrong.

But he says he will fix that tomorrow, so that is good.

Computers

 MARLEY:  TBT ordered the new computer.  The old 2011 one has to go.  It just doesn't werk much well these days.  But it won't get here until Jan 25th, so we will limp along until then.

He bought  a 2020 Mac Mini with Big Sur O/S and we bet he regrets it.  But he says we have to move forward.   

• Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 8‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine
• 16GB unified memory
• 1TB SSD storage 

But is OUR blog, so we have pics!

 

Laz and I like to play.   He is rough, but I am big, so I let him pretend he is king.  When he gets too rough, I just stand on him.

We take breaks.

And nap together.

He knows he is "little" brother.

Being BIG is good.

April Fool's and Garden Tour Thursday

Ooh, we messed up.  This was supposed to be tomorrow.  Well, ya can't the dates right all the time.  But read the post below first...  It will make a bit of mousie-sense then.

IZA:  Yeah, the Mac is working great and we are staying with it.  April Foolie.  MOL!

The daffodils are great.  The saucer magnolia trees bloomed wonderfully this year.  The mild Winter made the pansies bloom in abundance!

I'm saving most of the pictures for 2 slideshows in a coupke weeks, but some singles are worth showing.


Now I have some pictures of the garden...

The daffodils are great.  The saucer magnolia trees bloomed wonderfully this year.  The mild Winter made the pansies bloom in abundance!

TBT is saving most of the pictures for 2 slideshows in a couple weeks, but some singles are worth showing.  They are a week or so old.  I will arrange current tours starting next week.  We DO have some catching-up to do...

The backyard Saucer Magnolia went full-bloom this year; no flower-killing frost.  If TBT has one plant of joy, this is it.

The pansies also enjoyed the mild Winter.   I've never seen so many flowers on them, and I've been looking at them 10 years now!  But TBT says he is going to plant more and closer next year.  He says it should be a real "carpet".

The front yard Saucer Magnolia doesn't get enough sun (as I often complain I dont), but it does well enough and looks great with the early daffodils behind it.

And here they are up close.   The late daffodils are going to bloom in a couple weeks as these fade away.

The big daffodil bed around the birdfeeder is blooming well.  There are big patches of  early, mid, and late ones, so it always looks different.  Makes the display last longer too.  THere rtulips and hyacinths in cages to protect them from the voles, but those fancy types don't last many years.  TBT says he will dig up the cages and plant standard old red tulips.  They last decades.

This is a carpet of Saucer Magnolia petals on the lawn.  I like the quiet and softness ta walk on; he likes the color.

Softy Spot Thursday

AYLA:  I like chairs too.  But the tops of the softest ones. 

Iza can nap on a hard space.  Marley can nap on a hard space.  I won't.  I'm a Princess.

What is YOUR favorite soft spot ta sit?

Tighty Thursday

MARLEY:  I think this drawer is bit too small.  Or I ate too much dinner.  Can you eat too much dinner?

I did my best to fit in.  I usually fit into drawers better than this.

TBT says its open all the way.  Bast, do I need ta go on a diet?

Troubly Thursday

IZA:  My heaty mat broke!  All TBT did was to unplug it in order to move some furniture an it BROKE.  Parts of the plug just all came loose.

I am devastated!

TBT contacted the seller for a replacement part.  She stopped selling in the US.   He begged.  She promised to contact the manufacturer in China.  And promised and promised and promised.  And never would return an email unless asked again and again.

We regret to have to say that...

We have given up.  So be very careful about buying anything from Art Of Paws.  Just an honest statement based on our specific experience...

TBT searched for the adapter plug by type and model name.  Apparently it is not made anymore.

He ordered another heaty mat (different company) for me.  It does not warm as well as the old one.  I'll sit on it, but it isnt as warm.  I sure miss the old one.

TBT says he is going to sit down at his workbench with his soldering iron and epoxy and wires and try to rebuild the broken plug.  I sure hope it works.  But he doesn't act all confident.  He says electricity isnt his best subject.

Our initial review was HERE!  But we wouldn't recommend it now.  Cheap plug, and apparently, not replacable....

Garden Tour Thursday

IZA:  Well, it isnt so much of a "tour" today, since most of my our flowers look about the same as last time.  But there was a PROJECT I would like ta show.  TBT found all these pansies in 12-packs at Lowe's and decided he wanted a large plot of them fer "Winter-watching" and some fer pots on the deck.

So he bought 5 packs of those and brought them out yesserday ta plant them.  Which OF COURSE requires my help.  Iffen I dont get him started right, nothing will go well.

So I made sure he had his radio on (music keeps him soothed).

And I checked the flowers to make sure they smelled healthy.  They did...

This is what the spot looked like "before".  Corn grew there (badly) and weeds grew after he pulled the corn up.

But after pulling all the weeds and digging up the soil, it looked real nice. 

I'll let TBT describe the rest cuz I got bored and he took out some equipment I dont like ta be around.

TBT:  Thank you Iza, you got me started well!  OK, so I used a small electric tiller to loosen the soil about 6" deep.  Those things do really well in bare ground.  Avoid grass and vines and long roots though; those wrap around the blades and take a lot of work to remove. 

But it was nice soft fluffy soil afterwards.  I even pit down a piece of old plywood to spread my weight as I planted.

I had diagrammed a plan that had yellow and purple pansies around the outside and red ones in my middle.  I'm a bit geometric...  Because the spot was angled, I had rows of 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5.

I even made a 1"x2" board (the the picture above) a few years ago with markings on each side to show 6", 9", 12" and 16" spacings.  But look carefully at the back row; I planted 10 instead of 9 plants.  I only realized that at the 2nd row and didn't feel like re-doing them.  It threw the pattern off slightly, but I'm pretty sure the Gardening Gods won't hurl lightening at me in punishment.  It just means that there are 2 yellow pansies extra close.

The labels said to space them 8-10" apart; I spaced them 12".  Well, it is rich soil so they will grow larger, and I like to see individual plants rather than a carpet of them.  The center of the planting is red pansies.  The results were good.

There is a reason I got better grades in school in Geometry than Algebra...  Anyway, now that they are in the good soil, they should grow quickly.  I'll scratch in some slow-release organic fertilizer soon and then put folded newspaper between the plants and cover it with bark mulch to keep the weeds down.  I sure don't want to have to weed the bed in January!

Iza and I hope to show you lots of new flowers from there in a few weeks...

Now I'll return the post back to Iza...

IZA:  OK, now that we have seen all the new flowers, lets have SNACKS!  I picked them out this time.  We have some chopped Bacon, some Chickie shreds, and NIP!  TBT is going to harvest most of our stems to dry in the basement in a couple weeks (ta get us through the Winter), so we are enjoying the last of the fresh stuff while we can.

Thanks so much fer coming on the Garden Tour!

Garden Tour Thursday

IZA:  Lots to show today, some bad, but mostly good.

TBT found this unusual mum at Walmart.  Top view...

Our cat-level view...

 The volunteer marigolds are growing well...

And these are all volunteers too.

The BEST volunteers!   There are hummingbirds around them all the time.  Except of course when TBT or we are out there close,

The Venus Fly Traps are thriving, with lots of unlucky flies...

 The Autumn Joy Sedum are beginning to color-up.

The little pond is looking very good.  I told TBT to clean it in Spring and he did.  There are frogs and goldfish in there.

The a\Asters are blooming, but with all the rain, they are floppy.  TBT will put a a string between poles to lift them.

The butterfly meadow just utterly failed.  We pulled the dead plants out, but vines are growing.  TBT will have to pull them out.  My paws aren't strong enough.

The meadow flowerbed isn't looking good either.  But I think we can overseed in late Winter and try again.

The Mums in the garden beds are doing well.  

 There are red and yelow ones too.  They need a sunnier spot for next year.  I'll let TBT know where that is is by resting in the sunniest spots this week.

Now, lets all go sit in the enclosed garden area.  TBT has left the door open for us.

Toaday, we are having treats.  We have 6 different packets of them and TBT has brought out pates of them, some just one kind and some plates mixed all up.  So we can choose.