80% and a rubber fetish

[sergebroom]

I just completed the assessment of Part Three of my training.
Score is 80%.

That's a tiny bit more than Part Two's 79%. One more section to study and be tested on, and I'm donedonedone. I'll probably wait util tomorrow though. I've got weeds to deracinate and exterminate. There's a fence to build to keep Cagney the Dog from running thru one of our flower beds when he and the neighbor's dog decide to challenge each other in spite of the tall cinder-block wall. (Cagney is tiny, but he is part terrier.)

Meanwhile, Agatha the Cat-Genius seems to be obsessed with rubber bands. I locked away the tin can in which I store them, and yet the bad girl keeps finding some in the most inaccessible nooks and crannies of the house. Please note that the N&Cs are inaccessible because of stuff that's stacked up there, but that doesn't stop Agatha. You can imagine the mess by the time she can go "AHAH! Got another one!"

Comments

Good luck on the weeds

[dragonet2.livejournal.com]

I've got one more phase to go--Roundup.

I'd meant to tackle them when they were small, but then we had the madness that is having a partner in the hospital and then our local con. The stems to some of the burdocks were almost 2 inches thick! but nothing had started setting seed, that is one of the weird advantages of us having a cool spring. It also means the cherries are delayed, but hey.

Rohanna taught her last dance class until fall (schedule, not needs) last Tuesday 5/27 and the class bought her a nice vase of flowers. We thought it was safe on top of her tall dresser. WRONG. In the middle of the night Siegfried managed to knock it off but all he got was one lily that the blossom broke off. He got spanked.

I knew someone who tended to have one pet at a time and her latest pet passed of old age. She asked me about cats because she'd always had dogs and wanted to mix it up. my main advice is that cats can get into places dogs would never think of, so protect what you don't want them into carefully. Like latched cupboards. My friends Mike and Allie have to keep all paper products in a drawer or cupboard (including TP) because one of their kitties is a paperologist.

Re: Good luck on the weeds

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Siegfried was spanked and was so mortified that, with one paw on his heart, he swore he'd never do it again. Right?

As for weeds... Before things got really cold, last autumn, I did a thorough weeding of the whole backyard so that, come spring, it wouldn't be a jungle out there before I could get to it. That paid off. It's only now that some weeds are getting a bit taller and a bit more numerous than I like. I did some eradication today, before it got warm. I expect I'll start again tomorrow, probably at 6am, so that I'll be done before I get heatstroke.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Have you considered that she might be trying to improve rubber bands, the way her namesake improved the coffee maker?

I had a cat who liked to chew on broom straws, even though they would make him ill when he swallowed them. I learned to store all my brooms upright, and keep my string hidden away in drawers, and never used tinsel on the Xmas trees.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, Agatha doesn't swallow the rubberband bits. I think. I think she just likes biting on them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

As for the Xmas Tree, you just made me realize I should dread what she'll do when she beholds her first Tree ever. We don't use tinsel, but we have those shiny strands of lights. We may have to skip putting on the shiny glass ornaments.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

The lights were never a problem, and we put the shiny glass ornaments up higher -- our cats never climbed our trees.

You're lucky she doesn't eat them. Stripey ate rubber bands, string, and other items not good for him. I still miss him, the bugger.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

our cats never climbed our trees

The backyard's door is a screen door, with a glass lower half and with a sliding glass section at the bottom. Agatha has more than once been seen jumping up past the 3-foot-high glass section and digging her claws into the screen mesh, which doesn't do the latter much good. I've had to move that sliding section higher than Agatha can jump. As for the Xmas Tree, well, we shall see. Que sera sera.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Yes..give her a chance to climb th etree before you decorate. ;-) THen put some rubber bands on the opposite side of the house, eh?

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

That's an excellent idea.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

::modestly:: I do have my days. ;-)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

...and weeks, and months, and...

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Oh, pshaw! You'll make my ego grow too large!

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Me like large ego!

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Tch! It's not the size of the ego, but how you use it. ;-)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

With great ego comes great responsibility, eh?

Good luck with the christmas tree.

[dragonet2.livejournal.com]

No, after spanking, Sieg ran like hell, then came back and tried to suck up. He has no shame.

the LA Worldcon gave out some foam rubber-band powered rockets. He's found every single one of those we had and bitten them to pieces, they appear to be way too amusing.

And I've already asked that Roh's son-in-law and friend come over and rototill the garden strip by the fence and the patch in front of the house in the fall.

I've really only got one rose I want to keep, she's pink and pretty, blooms all summer long and keeps pushing out flowers until it gets really really cold. I am going to get some kind of trellis so I can restrain her because she wants to grow across the driveway.

We also have a vining (probably graft base-stock) red rose growing in a corner in our porch, I left the part growing against the stone porch but whacked off the tendrils that were trying to go for the yard, as well as a couple of stray baby maples and elms that were trying to grow.

Re: Good luck with the christmas tree.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

As for myself, I'm not really much of a gardener. Building flower beds, whether of wood or of bricks, isn't a problem. I do some of the muscle work for the gardening, what with Sue's knee giving her trouble, but don't ask me if I know what I'm doing because the answer is a resounding no.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

It sounds as if you're going to have to keep all your elastic bands in drawers and cans.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

That's what I've been doing with those that I know of, but, like I said, she's very good at finding those I don't know of, and nothing can stand in her way.

[sophielandon.livejournal.com]

Does Agatha carry them from one room to another? I remember how surprised I was the first time the Great Cat Sophie was caught in the act of carrying a rubber band upstairs in her teeth. We try to keep them in places she can't get to, but I swear she can smell 'em.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Agatha also takes the rubberbands to other rooms. This morning, I found one between the kitchen's dish rack and the sink, and it had not been there the night before. As for smelling them, yes, she definitely does. That's the only logical way to explain her knack for finding the bands no matter how much stuff was on top.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Well, you named her Agatha for a reason!

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

What fools these mortals be!

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Now, who are you channelling?

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Seems to me that he's feeling a mite puckish. ;-)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Dare I say that I'm Bard out of my skull?

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Only if you're feeling a bit Shakey.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

That description of my state of mind fits the Bill.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

It's not mid-summer yet -- you can't be dreaming.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

It may not be mid-summer yet, but yesterday's weeding of the backyard meant nearly 6 hours under the sun. Sure, I ws wearing a straw hat, but...

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

You have your exits and your entrances, then.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Being a good fellow, as it were?

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

So good and full of cheer that he's brought spirits for us. Bottoms up!

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Bottoms up!
Says Toby Belch.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Who did get his girl, you might recall...

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Oh, Bottom thou art translated!