Alien Spouse

She'll Bite Your Head Off.

I forgot to post this picture that I took a couple of weeks ago. 

Because, you know, I'm getting so blase about see Praying Mantises about the place.

Cats and Window

I literally just took this picture! The girls very obligingly posed next to the window for me, until Edith had an attack of love and ran over to me to be fussed.

It's such a gorgeous autumn morning, with nice bright sunshine but a frosty sheen to everything on the deck making it all sparkle a little bit.

I knew it was going to be cold today, because both of the cats slept on top of me last night which they have never deigned to do before. Edith nested on my ankles, whilst Nancy was on my stomach. I usually sleep on my side, so this wasn't comfortable for me; but, when I woke up this morning, I was on my side with one cat right up against my back, whilst the other one was in the crook of my knees. Very cute, plus Doc C complained of being chilly whilst I was toasty warm.

Cats and Window
Originally uploaded by Alien Spouse

Worm of Wool.

This is a Woolly Worm.

This weekend there is a Woolly Worm Festival, where there will be Woolly Worm races, they are surprisingly nippy little fellas.

The main reason they are interesting is that they are supposed to predict the weather.  The more brown stripes there are, then the milder the winter will be apparently.  Wikipedia claims there is no truth in the weather predicting capabilities of our furry friends, but according to the Woolly Worm Festival website they have had an 85% success rate over the last 30 years.  Not bad!

I think this one looks pretty brown myself.  I'll report back in the spring.

Happy Autumnal Leaves Everybody!

I saw this on the pavement on my way from Doc C's office building to my own this morning.  That's all that was written, and I quite like that!

P.S. Because I like this picture, and because otherwise the top post would be about cat litter, I'm making this a featured post for today!  Hoorah!

Cat Revenge Tactics.

I'm pretty sure that all the cats do all day is stare out of the living room windows at the birds visiting the feeder.  That is right up until Nancy gets too excited and tries to jump through the double glazing to catch a cardinal or a sparrow; thereby scaring them all off.  Edith just looks at her with disdain.

I finally got the last claw trimmed on Sunday evening.  Victory was mine, at the cost of the cats not talking to me for half an hour because they Did Not Want me to do that.  Then they forgot what it was that had annoyed them and sat on me.

Or at least that's what I thought had happened until four o'clock this morning (I didn't actually check the clock, I'm just guessing based on previous experience) when the cats scratched at the door until they woke me up.

I didn't let them in, but I could hear them galumphing around downstairs; and when I got up this morning one of my shoes had a silver tinsel cat toy in it.

I think that means tonight I sleep with the fishes in cat language.

Of Cats and Birds.

After work today we went straight to the local pet shop to see what manner of things they had for cats.  The Humane Society will give us a ten percent off voucher in the cat's re-homing package, so we didn't want to buy too much today.  We came away with just the essentials: a litter tray, flushable litter and a scoop.  I fully intend to use the Citi Kitty to train the cats to use the toilet, but they need to feel settled in their new home before I try to do that.

After that we went to the garden centre to buy a bird feeder, some seed and a couple of bungee cords to attached the thing to the railing on our balcony.  Doc C has been wanting to buy a bird feeder all summer, but I insisted he wait until Autumn because you have to be very careful about feeding birds when there are still newly-hatched chicks around that can't handle large seeds or nuts.

When we got home Doc C immediately filled up the bird feeder and carefully positioned it in full view of our sofa; so I think the living room windows are going to be like a wide-screen entertainment system for the cats.

Jason's On A Jet Plane.

Before we took Jason to the airport today, we packed in a few more fun activities.  First Doc C whipped up a breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup, as well as eggs and bacon for the carnivores.  Then we went to the Humane Society to introduce Jason to the two cats we've decided to adopt, he approved of both of them; so we filled out the paperwork and we shall be picking them up on Friday (I'll wait till we've got them to post their details!).  Last thing before we hit the road was a trip along the Parkway, so Jason could enjoy some of the fantastic scenery in all it's early autumnal beauty.

I have to say dropping Jason off at the airport was a lot less fun than collecting him; but the woman who checked him in loved my "Miss Scarlet in the Hall with a Revolver" T-shirt which was gratifying.  We walked Jason to his security gate, waved him off and promptly left, because I would have got something in my eye if we'd hung out for too long.

Right now he should be in Atlanta waiting to transfer to his flight to Heathrow; let's hope his suitcase has learnt it's lesson and catches the same flight as him this time around.

Humming Birds and Halloween Fripperies.

The weather has been behaving itself beautifully (knock on wood) and we've had some nice bright sunny days.  Jason has been enjoying sitting out on our deck and watching the hummingbirds putting on their aerial displays.

After work today Doc C and I came home to have a cup of tea, and then took Jason into town to see all the Halloween stuff that's on sale.  We went to Kmart first of all and explored all the Halloween themed baking goods, candy and costumes.  Then we went over the Lowes hardware which has a great life size animatronic witch (stirring a bubbling cauldron) and some utterly ridiculous inflatables, but unfortunately the life-size mummy (with moving eyes, that mumbles at you when you move too close to it) had already been sold.

Tomorrow I still need to be in the office, but then I can take Thursday and Friday off so Jason and I are going to explore our town and the next town over.  Then on Saturday we'll see if we feel like exploring further afield on a day trip, before we take Jason to the airport on Sunday afternoon. 

Multi-Task Saturday.

It's been a very busy day today.

We bought some wool (although not quite enough for my scarf), and then I went to Staples to buy some office stuff and that took quite a while.  It is surprisingly hard to choose document holders, who knew?  I did get some super cool bulldog clips though, they have retro style typewriter keys on them.

After we'd dropped those off in my office, we got some lunch from our favourite bakery and drove up to the Parkway to have a picnic.  That was really nice, and after lunch we went for a stroll.

There were lots of acorns on the ground, and Doc C picked up on of the acorn cups (you know, those things that look like hats for pixies) put both his thumbs over the top of it, if you know who to do owl whistles he held his hands sort of like that, and then proceeded to produce one of the most ear-piercing whistles I have ever heard.  It actually hurt to hear it.  Naturally I requested that Doc teach me this very valuable skill, and soon we were both whistling like loons.  Very fun!

Then we came home, and I started sticking the hole enforcers in a grid pattern on what will be my new bag whilst watching an appalling Harrison Ford Movie.  I went off to eat dinner half-way through and when I came back nothing had happened.  Literally when I left there were two men in suits walking round a bank, and when I came back thirty minutes later they were still walking round the same bank.  Wow, that is one slow moving plot for a thriller.

Before I go to bed I have to make cookie dough, so I can bake cookies for Doc's departmental soiree tomorrow afternoon.

Very busy day.

Photo Opp.

Today Doc C came up with a three point plan for the day, which I was free to pick and choose activities from.  I turned down the chance to put air in the tyres, and get a new gas tank for the grill, but I accepted the invitation to go for a walk to Linville Falls and see a lovely waterfall.

It was only a half mile stroll, and it was through a very pretty forest.  I enjoyed all of that, and the falls itself were quite lovely.  When we got there Doc asked if I had my camera, which I always do, and suggested I take some photos.  I took a couple of the river and the falls, then a few of the Doc in front of the falls.  Then Doc took the camera and got me to pose for a photo, he took two and then handed me the camera.

I deleted those pictures, and handed the camera back whilst correcting my posture, and re-adjusting my t-shirt so that it didn't cling exactly where I didn't want it too.  He took two more, handed back the camera and turned to leave.  I deleted those pictures too, and gave him the camera for a third time, then I very clearly explained how I needed to be framed, so as to avoid us being there all freaking day.  Essentially I wanted a shot from the shoulders up please.

Honestly I don't hate having my photo taken (not that I'm about to post any here to prove that!), but I do object to Doc C taking a photo of me in an unflattering pose, and not telling me that I need to straighten up, or raise my chin slightly.  Anyway, I simply art directed myself based on the photos I deleted, and we ended up with a single shot that I didn't absolutely hate.  As I believe I said yesterday, I am my mother's daughter in many many ways, but I don't seem to have inherited my great grandmother's fondness for portraiture, we have some amazing photos of her posed in some fabulous fancy-dress outfits from the twenties (I think).  Hmmm...  Maybe if I had an art deco head dress, or a pet dove I'd reconsider...

Stripes and BUG!

See how brave Doc C is being?  That caterpillar clearly had entirely nefarious intentions, and yet he let it climb him!

Until he decided that it really did have too many legs and that it really would prefer to be in a nice big leafy tree.

Teeny Tiny Turf War!

So apparently hummingbirds are very territorial.  Our balcony is now the scene of a thumb-size territorial dispute, complete with miniature mid-air dog fights.  It's like Snoopy and the Red Barron out there.

It's really interesting to watch them, and work out their techniques and strategies.  Mainly it involves flying very fast at the other bird, with maybe some high-pitched squeaking, but they don't appear to physically fight one another, thank goodness.  If that happened we would take down the feeder immediately. 

Of course now we're starting to recognise some of the different birds, so I'm sure we'll start to take sides soon.  And actually wouldn't the Fighting Hummingbirds make a great team name?  For a netball team maybe?  Very girly, but it has a ring to it I think.

It's Like Freaking Snow White Around Here.

Today has been a really exciting day.  We walked two really sweet dogs, and I was very pleased to hear that one of my favourite dogs has finally gone to a good home.  Then we went to the cat room, and one of the cats that I really like made a bee line for Doc's lap and started to win him over too.

Then we went to the garden centre to buy plants, we choose a nice trailing plant with purple flowers because the butterflies seemed to particularly like it, and a pink one because Doc liked the way the bees were climbing all the way into them to get the nectar.

We also decided to get a hummingbird feeder as well.  I put it up as soon as we got home about an hour ago, and they are already using it!

I got one blurry picture of a hummingbird hovering just below the feeder, but the moment they see any slight movement in the living room they zoom off.  So Doc and I are just sitting very still on the sofa watching the feeder.  It's amazing!

Birds of North Carolina.

I was just playing a move against Doc C in our inaugural match on the official Scrabble game now on Facebook (To be fair it does look better than Scrabulous, but won't let me play anyone not in Canada or the USA.  Grrr!), when I saw a movement outside the living room window. 

At first I thought it was an enormous butterfly, but, when I saw it clearly, it was a bright green humming bird.  The bird flew over to our new lavender plants, which are right by the window, and hovered around checking all of the flowers for nectar.

I still can't quite believe that I live somewhere that has humming birds!  They still feel so exotic to me that they may as well be mythical, so I sat and watched it quietly; rather than risk disturbing the bird by running upstairs to get my camera. I will have to try and get a picture next time I see one.  They are so tiny, and the wings really are just a blur of movement.

Beautiful!

They are also cheeky little birds, the last time we saw one we were leaving the house, and the bird had been checking the flowers by our front door for nectar.  The bird flew up to eye level with us, and had a good leisurely stare at both of us before zipping away.  As I say they are tiny, but this one clearly didn't feel threatened by us, it was just being nosy.  Very funny, as well as beautiful.

Skeletons on Display at the Smithsonian.

Clockwise from top left we have the skeletons of a domestic cat, a tarsier (look at those orbital sockets!), a hedgehog and a platypus.

Fascinating!

Deck Plants.

Doc C also has a new hobby too, he's started gardening on our deck with pots of lavender and herbs.  The herbs are basil, thyme and rosemary   . 

Actually you may recognise the the rosemary as it's a surviving cutting from the very festive Christmas Rosemary bush we had last Christmas.  We thought we'd pretty much killed it, but one lone sprig survived and has been rewarded by being re-potted and being bought two new tasty herb friends.

Leaf with Raindrops

After The Eye yesterday I thought I'd post a more soothing image today.

When we left work yesterday it had just stopped raining, so the tarmac was all shiny and the leaves had nice big raindrops on them.

Pretty.

Leaf with Raindrops
Originally uploaded by Alien Spouse

Bad Bunny.

Clearly all rabbits are naturally rebellious, just as I always suspected from watching Bugs Bunny cartoons, or this one is a member of the golf course.

Norwich in the News.

It's always good to see my home town in the news.

Even if it does lead to the inevitable question:  How can someone have worn a bra for five hours without noticing they weren't, um, alone in there?

Cats Without Homes.

 When we visited the Humane Society a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a new large but very shy Tabby that I liked.  Doc C said he didn't like this particular cat because it tends to hide in small spaces where it can't be got at.  The Doc doesn't like cats that hide, he says they are boring and I think he feels it's some sort of catty insult.

This week I asked The Doc take a picture of me posing as a cat whisperer with one cat purring away on my lap and another two felines demanding my attention.  My idea of heaven!

The cat on the floor in this picture was the shy Tabby, who had come out from hiding when he saw us come in (I like to imagine he remembered me, and liked me but that's highly unlikely), and, once Doc had actually met him properly, I think The Doc may well have changed his mind.  As evidenced by these:

It's completely out of character for the Doc to take so many photographs of a cat to whom he has not been properly introduced, we don't even know this cat's name, so you can safely assume that the Tabby has charmed his way to pole position on our ever shifting adoption shortlist.  Isn't he a handsome devil?  He actually looks quite like a tubby cousin of Morag, the pet cat I adored as a small child.  Let's hope he's still available when we are finally able to adopt a couple of fur-balls.

In other cat related news, we've decided to start illicitely feeding the little black stray cat that lives around here. 

I phoned Animal Control last week, and gave them a rough idea of the situation but they didn't sound hugely interested and didn't take our address or contact details.  The bottom line is that if we were to hand her into Animal Control right now, it's fairly likely she would be euthanised after three days because of her cataract, and we just cannot bring ourselves to do that to her. 

Yesterday we asked the advice of the lovely people at the Humane Society and they were very sympathetic, but they don't take strays directly, so they said probably the best thing we could do would be to gain her trust and feed her.  Once she's put on some weight and is hopefully a bit healthier, she can be spayed, and will stand a much better chance of re-homing.  Actually feeding her might also help her cataract, according to some research Doc C did, because apparently cataracts in very young cats (which she appears to be) are generally associated with a poor diet.

Here's a shot of her enjoying her first tin of fancy feast, which she wolfed down and then licked the bowl clean.  You can see that her right eye is cloudy, but she's otherwise very glossy and full of cheeky energy.

And I know what you'll be thinking because, yes, of course we have considered simply adopting her ourselves.  The main problem is that our lease specifically states we can only have two indoor cats, and there's no chance of fitting a cat flap secretly.  Bearing that in mind I think the black cat would go crazy if we tried to keep her shut in our house where she could see her territory, but not actually go out and prowl around it.  Not to mention that we really can't afford all the vet's fees involved in taking proper care of an animal that's highly unlikely to have had any of the immunisations that most pet cats would have done from kitten-hood.

It's hard to know what the best thing to do for the cat is, but I think that making sure she gets at least one decent meal a day is a step in the right direction and I'm also going to see if I can trace a local cat shelter with enough space for one more very small black cat.

Snake on a Driveway!

When we got home this evening there was a snake barring our driveway.  Fortunately, he was very very small, so after I took a few photos we were able to drive around him.

After we'd parked the car The Doc went back to move the snake off the road.  I told him to make sure he wasn't bitten, because I did not intend to suck out the poison if he did.  Doc C came back unscathed, and looked the snake up on line.  He's fairly certain that it's a Rat Snake.

So, yeah, SNAKE!

Memo to the Ear Wigs of the World.

To All Ear Wigs:

Stay away from my house! 

I have several fly swatters, and I will use them without mercy on any ear wig foolish enough to come into my home, and especially any that think they can just traipse all over my coffee table when I'm trying to have a relaxing cup of tea.

As has been made abundantly clear, Doc C dislikes all insects (with the notable exceptions of bees, butterflies, fireflies and small spiders); where as I can cope with any insects that won't actually hurt me.  However the exception to this general rule are ear wigs.  You have always, and will always, make me freak out.  I think that it's the pincers on the end, I don't care if you can't actually use them, they look nasty.  And the way you scuttle around.  shudder.

So I say to all ear wigs kindly consider yourselves served with a restraining order, which requires you to remain at least 250 feet away from myself, my husband and my home at all times.  Failure to comply with this restraining order will result in immediate squishing, and a trip off of the balcony, without any further warning beyond the swish of impending doom.

Yours Sincerely,

Jen - The Alien Spouse

Flowers

These are the flowers Laura and Randy gave us yesterday. Aren't they gorgeous?

I've given them fresh water with their plant food in it, and I snipped off the ends of their stalks, so I hope they return the attention by living for a nice long time.

And if not, well, that's why I always take photos of flowers when I have them!

Tree House.

When I was a kid I loved climbing trees, but I never built a tree house.  I think because, although the idea always seemed cool, even at that age the health and safety logistics worried me some what.  I was a very sensible child.

Now I live in a house with proper foundations, built to building code specifications and, if you squint a bit, it does seem like you are actually in a really big tree.  It's very reassuring.

Human Slaves in an Insect Nation, Ah-Ah-AH-Aaaah!

There is one particular bug that we've only encountered since moving into this house, and it is now the Doc's official insect arch enemy.  At first glance it looks like a spider, but it has ridiculously long antennae and it jumps. 

I have no idea what it is, any suggestions?

I'm putting the photo after the jump, because it does look a lot like a freaky spider and I appreciate that arachnophobes don't like being surprised by pictures of them.

Yellow Butterfly.

Doc C was cooking dinner when this monster yellow butterfly started flapping against the window of the living room, and stayed there long enough for me to run outside with my camera. 

Unfortunately it refused to pose long enough for me to put something in the shot for perspective, but I think it would probably have covered the palm of my hand easily.

 

Firefly.

The living room in our new house has one wall that is pretty much all window, and when we are watching TV at night we sometimes get fireflies walking around on the glass flashing their little tail lights.  We get two or three at a time, and it's really fun to be able to walk right up to the glass to see them close up.

I finally managed to get a picture of one, but only by putting my camera on a slow setting which made the photo extremely grainy.

Given the picture quality, you will just have to trust me when I say that fluorescent green dot in the middle of the triangle window is an insect looking for love.

Cream Flowers

The plants that have been planted around the University campus have been very well chosen; particularly because they have bloomed at different times of the year, so there always seems to be something pretty to look at.

I have no idea what type of plant this is, but it has a art deco air to it. I think because the flowers have four symmetrically arranged petals in classic cream, with a nice spikey ball of pollen in the center.

Cat in Long Grass

At the new house there is little patch of wilderness right below our deck; we're about twenty feet above the ground, which is perfect for observing local wildlife of all kinds.  Over the past week we've seen a raccoon and fireflies, not to mention loads of beautiful butterflies and birds.  It's been really exciting for me, because I'd either never seen them in the wild before or not as close as we've been able to get here. 

Of course the trade off for all the nice things are quite a varied selection of less attractive insects, but I think that's fair enough really.  Doc C isn't so keen, but we have an excellent reciprocal arrangement worked out; I deal with all the bugs, and he doesn't mind when I keep him awake because I can't sleep after watching a horror film.  It works beautifully.

It also turns out there is quite a colony of felines roaming around here, and they particularly love the long grass. This morning I was able to snap a picture of one of the local cats.  This particular little black and white cat likes to think that she is totally invisible to the naked eye the moment she steps into the long grass, so she was not amused that I kept talking to her.  Actually looking at the photo at this size she sort of has a point, she does blend in to the light and shade rather well.

Rain, Rain, Go Away - Or Not, Your Choice.

There is one slightly odd thing that we have noticed about our neighbours, not our next-door-virtually-silent-neighbours, but the people who live across the street and down the hill a bit.  It's not serial-killer odd, but it is odd enough for both Doc and I to have noticed and been confused by.

They garden in the rain.

Which is strange, right?  I mean I know sometimes you simply have to get something done; but it's been more than once now and even I know that mowing the lawn in the rain is a bad idea, because the grass gets flattened down by the water and it also can damage the mower blades.  There have also been sightings of someone weeding in the midst of quite heavy precipitation, and surely there has to be a better time to do that too.

This also coincides with my observing that the students will happily walk around in quite heavy showers as if nothing is going on.  There are no umbrellas, no rain coats, not even a slightly more urgent pace of walking, or the pained facial expression the English adopt when caught in a shower.  It can feel very surreal, because I will momentarily wonder if I am simply hallucinating the rain. 

So far that has yet to be the case, but it's one of those moments that's oddly unsettling.

Cheeky Cardinal

This Cardinal lives in the trees at the back of our house and he is always flitting about the place. He has a very distinctive call and appears to have a girlfriend or two.

He tends to flit around on branches that are level with our living room windows, and he'll sit staring for hours. We thought he was a nosy little thing keeping an eye on us; but then I realised he is trying to psyche out his own reflection.

Sorry the picture is a bit blurry, he doesn't like to pose.

Birdies and Bunnies and Golfers! Oh My!

I promise I will stop talking about the new house.

Just not today.

We love it!  It's so peaceful, but yet not boring because of all The Nature.  When you look out of the window you see grass, ponds and streams, trees, birds, bunnies, golfers and occasionally a Siamese no-tail cat we are choosing to call "Stumpy", who stares at us whenever we are out on the deck.  Add to that, that whilst driving to and from the house in the past 24 hours, we have seen chipmunks, frogs and even more bunnies. 

This is as opposed to the view from our old place of a car park of beaten-up cars, and then a five lane highway, before your eye could land gratefully on the greenery of the nearest mountain ridge.  And driving to and from we never saw any animals whatsoever; unless you count monster trucks, which I do not.

Imagine this:  When you stand on the deck you do not hear wanna-be frat boys wrestling, and singing along to appallingly misogynistic rap; in fact what you hear is the gentle sound of water running in a stream, and birds singing.

It is ridiculously pleasant.

Oh, and our new bed arrived yesterday and I am here to say that I love memory foam mattresses and pillows.  Particularly when you can smugly say that you didn't pay for the hyper expensive swiss type, but in fact went with a local company at a fraction of the price.

I give the new house Two Thumbs Up, and I look forward to our first weekend there.

Squirrel on a Wire

On the way to work I saw something sitting on one of the telephone cables.

At first I thought it was a really big bird, but then I noticed it had a large fluffy tail.  Then it scratched it's ear, and I realised it was a squirrel.

It watched me taking it's photos, and really didn't care.

Green Leaves, Pink Buds, White Blossom.

Storm Grate Fish

I love the Storm Grate Fish.

I wouldn't dump waste down this drain because it flows to the river, which is obviously where the Storm Grate Fish lives and the Storm Grate Fish looks sweet.

It makes me want to try and get that cigarette butt out from the drain, but then I remember that I'm a grown woman who is frightened that Pennywise the Clown might be down there. 

shiver.

Snowy Blossoms.

I took this photo a couple of days ago, the same day I had to unpack my summer shoes and I got a little bit sun burnt on the back of my neck.

Today, whilst we were walking a little bundle of mad love called Lulu, it started to snow.

I cannot get my head around the weather here. 

Red Blossoms

This tree is on my way to work.  It's on the campus just outside the building I work in, but on the wrong side for me to see it from my office.

I have no idea what type of tree it is, except that it's a one that clearly gets very excited about spring.

Colourful 24/7 365

We drove over to the Animal Shelter today to walk the dogs, but we thought it might be closed because of Easter. It was.

That meant even though we could hear the dogs, we couldn't walk them. Ah well, next weekend.

Today we decided we would still walk the path we usually take with the dogs, but actually got a lot further along because neither of us felt the overwhelming urge to sniff clumps of grass. It was nice, but it would have been even better with a dog, after a nice long visit to the cat room.

On the way to and from the Animal Shelter we go past a grave yard. I'm fairly sure that all of the flowers are artificial, because we never see anyone there and yet it is always a riot of colour.