Fickle Friday # 8

I’ve been extremely busy around work and the house that I have not had much time for blogging lately.  So I will try to play a little catch-up now.

Cat Toilet Training

Look at that sweet face. Don't be misled; it is Miss #2 on the carpet Sunni, trying to fool you.

Sunni is trying my patience (which I don’t have much of anyway) with her #2 gifts that are not in the toilet. She has caught on to the game of me chasing her and has decided she doesn’t want to play anymore. So much for my cardio workout.  Tomorrow I plan to make the hole a bit smaller so maybe she’ll be comfortable again. Though she has no problem going #1 in the toilet. Picky cat!

MeiMei is a jewel and has the whole toilet training down to a science. Wish she would have a little cat-chat with Miss #2 on the carpet Sunni!

Preparing for Winter

Brrrr...winter is on its way!

Whine whine whine. The weather was chilly this week, but only in the mornings. Days were nice and sunny. I have a large maple tree in the front yard that usually leaves me (pun intended) a heavy deposit of leaves before Halloween. By putting them in pumpkin lawn bags, I have my minimal decorations and the ground is leaf-free. But not this year. There aren’t even enough leaves to warrant one quick raking. Of course that means that I’ll be doing the raking later when it is colder.

I have the snow tires in the car for the quick trip to the tire place early tomorrow in an attempt to beat the rush. Am hoping it is not crowded tomorrow. Usually people in the area wait another week or two. And I have to get the snow tires on my daughter’s car too so it will be driveable when she comes home for Thanksgiving. Plan ahead, that’s what I say!

Also hoping that this weekend I can pack up all the patio furniture and store it in the shed. And if I am energetic, I may also pull up all the dead/dying annuals in the pots so they will be ready for spring. Sprinklers have been shut off and blown out.

Thank goodness I’m not in the northeast as they are expecting several inches of snow this weekend. Meteorologists are predicting a colder and wetter/snowier winter due to la Nina. She was here last winter; don’t know why she thinks she has to come again so soon. Whine whine whine.

My New iPhone Toy

Yeah, ain

Daughter and I were eligible for upgrades to our phones. I finally broke down and bought us both the new iPhone 4S. Am having too much fun figuring out what I want to use. My gosh, the darn thing does just about everything!  I felt bad for Daughter though because when I bought her phone, they activated it and I had to send it to her via overnight delivery. Poor kid, had to go about 30 hours without a phone. I don’t know how she did it.

Siri, my personal assistant, is fantastic. Since I have issues with forgetting stuff, I now just tell Siri to set up a reminder. This is all done via voice and only takes a few seconds. Then I can just check those pesky tasks off as I get them done.

Last night, I read a short book on the iPhone. I was concerned it would be too small and just hard to read, but it was great. So I grabbed some freebies  (Sherlock Holmes for one) and now I will always have something on the phone to read.

Toilet Training the Cats # 6

(To start at the beginning of the cat toilet training, see the Category CaTT)

After a couple of weeks of reasonable success, I decided to make the opening just a smidge bigger. I’m talking about one square inch bigger. Not all that of a change. Here’s what happened.

MeiMei: " Are you sure this is the same potty? That opening looks really big. Maybe it is a different potty. Let me look."

MeiMei:" I don't know. It looks and feels different."

MeiMei:" Hmmm, I can lay down in it. I didn't lay down in the other one."

MeiMei:" Sunni, what do you think? Doesn't it look different to you?"

Sunni: "Don't bother me with your stupid potty comments."

Sunni: " Geez!! Just leave it and me alone. I don't care!"

Sunni: " Guess I better check it out. (darn MeiMei)."

Sunni: " Holy Litter Box! It is bigger! I can even put my paw down that opening. Ewwww -- it's wet down there."

MeiMei: "Told you! I don't know why that litle whipper snapper won't listen to me."

Toilet Training the Cats #2

As mentioned in an earlier post, I am attempting to toilet train my cats.

Several days ago, I moved their old litter box into the downstairs bathroom. That seemed to be no problem or concern to them at all. So 2 days ago, I switched from their large covered litter box to a smaller uncovered pan–and the new flushable litter. The litter change seemed to cause some trepidation at first. Both cats seemed to play in the new litter instead of using it as it the situation requires.

Here’s a video of Sunni playing in the litter. She is a very exuberant litter tosser when it comes to litter. If you watch the video, you’ll see her scatter it everywhere. And as a good little kitty–and one trained to clean up after herself–she tries to gather up all the litter outside of the litter box.  And she should since she made the mess in the first place.

After just a few hours, the cats were using the new litter box with no hesitation. But I do go in and clean it morning and night, and sweep up all the tossed litter too. Everyone seems quite happy about the change.

Now I have to decide when to go to the real CitiKitty and get them up on the toilet. Maybe tomorrow, because I’m home all day and can baby them through the process. We’ll see.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this all works out. Daughter is still laughing.