Vultures!

We are not raising baby kittens over here. We are raising tiny vultures.

All 7, both litters, are doing great. I'm not certain what has gotten into the 4 younger ones, but yesterday they ate every half hour on the dot! I have never made so much kitten formula in my life. I would no sooner get them fed and start to do something else than they would start making those initial whining noises that become screams when they are not fed fast enough.

The bigger 3 didn't do that. They ate regularly, with the biggest, the male, David a/k/a Chunker, never going back for seconds. He has the Garfield attitude about seconds, never bother, get it all the first time! He pretty much clears the bottle, then goes right back to sleep. Maybe we should change his name.

The tiniest of the older litter is still only half the size of the other two, and is still one ugly kitten. I've never seen an ugly colorpoint before, but I am seeing one now. We bathed her good, and she looks better, but she is still more drowned rat looking than cat looking. Ball bearing eyes, too. And if you look down on her face from above, she has the very short muzzle, but not quite a "push-face" as Sweetie calls it. I hope it is a case of ugly duckling syndrome and she gets better looking, so she can be adopted.

The marble tabbies are all beautiful, and I've figured out how to tell the difference between them.

Despite the vultures' constant eating, I have made great progress in getting the library ready for the visit of the nice Nerd, Bret, from RentANerd. He will come today and set us up with a router and get us all set. Now everybody in the house will have a way to be online at the same time if we all want to. No more having to set timers or break up arguments over whose turn it is. Yea!

We got the van back from the mechanic with the check engine light still on. Apparently something else went on while we went a month waiting for parts for the first repair. It will go back into the shop on Monday, so that the new problem can be fixed. I will not be able to get the kids to school that day, so I have told their teacher and they will have extra assignments given Friday so they can go back Tuesday and not have missed much.

Next repairs on the docket are repacking the bearings on the Fan Van, and then buying new tires for the car. If we ever get through, maybe I can fix my stove at some point. With all of the other repairs needed, even with the home warranty we can't have anything done in the house unless it is an emergency, and since two burners are still going okay and the 3rd can usually be convinced to work, it isn't an emergency.

So, vultures of all sorts, now that I think about it. I still tell people my kids come from a broken home because I am married to their dad but everything else is broken -- cars, stove, front door, house foundation, etc.

At least my little kitten/vultures have the advantage of being (mostly) beautiful.


Today is:

Bratwurst Festival -- Bucyrus, Ohio

Buhe, Ethiopia (Christian remembrance of the Transfiguration.)

Candlelight Vigil for Homeless Animals Day

Edinburgh International Festival -- Scotland, through Sept. 5

Festival of Random Access Memory

Independence Day -- Afghanistan

National Aviation Day

National Medical Dosimetrist Day

National Soft Ice Cream Day

Potato Day

Saviour's Day -- Russian Orthodox and Gregorian Orthodox Churches, popularly known as the Apples Feast

St. John Eudes' Day

St. Sebald's Day (a/k/a Sebaldus) (Patron Saint against Freezing)

The Rustic Vnalia -- Old Roman goddess Venus, Festival of Ripening Grapes

World Humanitarian Day


Birthdays Today:

Snuffleupagus (year unconfirmed)
LeAnn Womack, 1966
John Stamos, 1963
Adam Arkin, 1956
Mary Matlin, 1953
Jonathan Frakes, 1952
John Deacon, 1951
Tipper Gore, 1948
Bill Clinton, 1946
Jack Canfield, 1944
Jill St. John, 1940
Diana Muldaur, 1938
Willie Shoemaker, 1931
Gene Roddenberry, 1921
Malcolm Forbes, 1919
Jimmy Rowles, 1918
Ring Lardner, Jr., 1915
Philo T. Farnsworth, 1906 (inventor of television!)
Ogden Nash, 1902
Coco Chanel, 1883
George Bellows, 1882
Orville Wright, 1881
John Dryden, 1631


Today in History:

Roman Senate compelled to elect Octavian, later Augustus Caesar, Consul, BC43
Augustus Caesar dies, 14
Crusaders defeat the Saracens in the Battle of Ascalon, 1099
Mary Queen of Scots arrives in Leith to assume the throne, 1561
Five people are executed for witchcraft in Salem, Mass., 1692
Presentation of Jacque Daguerre's new photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences, 1839
The New York Herald reports the discovery of gold in California, 1849
The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio, 1934
Hurricane Dianne kills 200 and does about $1 Billion in damage, 1955
Leonard Bernstein conducts his final concert, ending with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, 1990
A series of strong storms lashes Southern Ontario spawning several tornadoes as well as creating extreme flash flooding within the city of Toronto and its surrounding communities, 2005