Kitties and Peeps!
I have the BEST news ever! Here's a semi-bad cell phone picture:
Do you see? DO YOU SEE???
It's an adjustable work station that I can stand up at! Or sit down, if I so desire. You might ask why this is such a big deal--it's because I am such a shorty that despite whatever chair I sit in at work I have to lean in at strange and unnatural angles to use the keyboard and see the monitors, which aggravates my lower back to no end. I thought this day would never come...it's great. I only work at this particular plant two days a week but we will be getting a similar setup at the other one too. Hopefully soon. I find that I move around a lot more, which should be good for extra chocolate consumption, right?
We had glorious warm sunny spring days last week, and Friday Scott discovered a few hundred bees (really!) hanging out in one of our arborvitae bushes. (They were very docile, not Africanized I don't think.)
I asked a blogging pal--The Fabulous Knatolee--who keeps bees (as well as cats, dogs, and assorted over-amorous fowls)--about this and she thinks the bees are most likely collecting the sap on the arborvitae branches to take back to their hive. This sounds reasonable to me, we always have tons of bees in our back yard but right now nothing much is blooming yet, so apparently they are foraging whatever they can find. Scott and I are going to set up a bee-watch to see if we can discover where the hive is located.
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| Bees! |
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| Hungry bees at the Hummer feeder. |
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| The Porta Potty in the distance! |
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| Stake-Out. |
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| Help me keep my trains on time! |
Oh! I almost forgot...I finally got my hair cut! I've only been threatening to do it for about two months...I got three inches off and now its shoulder length again, perfect for pony-tail weather. It's astounding how curly my white hair is. Eventually I'll be a frizzy white-haired crazy cat lady. Maybe I'll carry a cane, too--just for fun. You know, to whack slow people in line, and such. Whippersnappers.
Happy Sunday, and have a great week!
xx Trish xx
you are not short, you are under tall ;)
ReplyDeletei've used seb, but not regularly. i usually take a capsule and mix the contents in the food and let the kitties eat of it.. not much help for you, just another voice who has used it.
Oh Bast! We thought that was the home computer station that all you kittehs werk at makin all the great pictures! Like, in the secret part of the catio we never see.
ReplyDeleteWhew, that makes our secret "Mad Cat" lab still one of the top 10 (Dexter and Robin beat us out of 8 and 9)... Senor Senior Senior got 1st as usual, followed by The Professor.
We have the same tree in our back yard, and bees are very attracted to them. We even spray some sugar water on them some times to help the bees with their "sweet tooth"!
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that bees are in trouble, and they are dying by hundreds for no apparent reason. We do see some of them dead every day.
Congrats on the cool work station. I haven't used the slippery elm. Sorry. The bee problem is quite serious. I hope the construction going on there doesn't displace the ones you have.
ReplyDeleteEeek!! Bees!!
ReplyDeleteCool work station!!
ReplyDeleteBees give me the willies.. I know they are in trouble or whatever and we need them, but they still give me the willies..
We don't use slippery elm, but I'm pretty sure they do over at Daily Dose. You might want to ask Chrystal if you don't get an answer here. Love and hisses too, I think.. Trying to remember who all I've heard use it and I think I hear about it more on kitten rescue blogs.
It is good to be comfortable at work.
ReplyDeleteFelix is quite handsome.
My human tried slippery elm bark on me - she put some powder in little #4 capsules, rubbed them in butter and shoved them down my throat. (She is the only human who is allowed to do that to me!) But it did not seem to make any difference in my appetite (I am a picky eater and my human thought it might be a digestive issue even though the vets couldn't find anything), so she stopped. I know it worked well for Abby at ManxMnews, though.
ReplyDeleteThat is a cool work station. I'm not sure I'd like it. I mean if my human got one of those she wouldn't be in a place where I could sit on her.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what our Mommy says bout her white hair and bein a cat lady! HaHaMeow!
ReplyDeleteOur mom wants to carry a cane for that very same use! Today she said she was about ready to start ramming some peepul wif her grocery cart...den she sed a bunch of words from da bad werd list.
ReplyDeleteDear Trish,
ReplyDeleteIn France, our neighbour country, there is a man, Coluche, who created the "Heart's Restaurants" but sadly enough died much too soon, in 1986, who said: "as long as your feet reach the ground, you are tall enough":-)
And regarding the cane, it's "classy", even Dr House uses a cane!
Smoochies to the wonderful cats!
looloo
That looks like a cool work station. Mummy works over two Campus's over the week and both desks have a big window. She says that's the best bit :)xx
ReplyDeleteYay for poopin Felix, short people, beautiful bees and reading!
ReplyDeleteNow what's going on with the surveyors? Building? Yikes!
Happy Sunday! Take care
x
Trish, re: slippery elm, I've had this recipe for years, though haven't had to use it. A former co-worker used to sprinkle a TINY bit on the food of one of her cats, rather than make it up as a syrup.
ReplyDeleteSlippery Elm Syrup Recipe
(A good /food herb/ tonic to help with vomiting, diarrhea, and other intestinal upsets in cats)
Put 1/2 cup of COLD water and 1 teaspoon of slippery elm powder (you may have to open the capsules if you don't have it as loose powder) into a small saucepan.
Whip it up with a small whisk or fork. Bring it to a simmer over a LOW flame, stirring constantly. Do this for about 1 to 2 minutes, continuing to stir. Cool it off and refrigerate.
This will keep for about a week.
The best thing to do is to give to kitty about 1 teaspoon of the syrup about 15-30 minutes or so before meals.
Alternatively, you can sprinkle some of the slippery elm powder on the food, but in acute situations (vomiting, nasty diarrhea) giving the syrup BEFORE meals can be much more effective.
I know I should be looking at kitties...but that work station sure caught my eye! Wouldn't that be great to have at home, too? Imagine how many kitties could be displayed on all of those screens!
ReplyDeleteAw, "fabulous" thank you so much! ANd the "overly-amorous" remark made me laugh out loud.
ReplyDeleteKatnip Lounge fans, please don't be afraid of honeybees! They are not aggressive (unlke hornets and wasps can be) unless provoked, and they are so vital to our foodchain. If we didn't have honeybees, we wouldn't have much fruit or veg either, just for starters. And they are in a lot of trouble these days
One of my goals is to write and illustrate a book that will make people fall in love with honeybees the way I have. :)
Love the new workstation! ANd glad Felix is doing well. I haven't tried slippery elm before.
PS I totally forgot you can get Africanized honeybees there. THey haven't made there way here (and probably won't, allthough with the way our climate is changing, who knows?) Anyway, I read that Africanized bees are more easily provoked, (duh) but that that's still more likely at the hive, rather than when they are out foraging.
ReplyDeleteAre they getting any pollen? You can see it stuffed in the pollen baskets on their hind legs if they are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_basket
We have a tall hedge made from trees that look like that. (Ours are Lleylandii.)A few years ago I heard a loud buzzing and couldn't understand where it was coming from and looked everywhere. Then I saw Eric and Flynn staring intently at something on the trees, and it was bees in about a 2 foot by 2 foot mass. We have a neighbour who lives about a mile away as the bee flies, so I rang him and he came and collected them and took them to one of his hives.
ReplyDeleteThat work station looks very impressive, but the boys wouldn't appreciate not being able to block the monitors.
Hi ya, Sheebie! Mom will comment.
ReplyDeleteHey, if I had seen all those bees I would have freaked! Bees terrify me for some reason. Whether they are docile or not!! I see Kea (Fuzzy Tales) gave you the recipe that I have for SEB. I have done this and gave this to one of my cats (now gone). I think you can mixed the powder in their food too, like others have mentioned as well. I hope Felix continues to do well. And congrats on your cool work station!! Our workstations at work are adjustable so you can move it up or down so you can stand or sit...I mostly sit...but others who have back issues adjust it up or down depending on how their backs feel. Enjoy yours!! And have a happy Sunday!!
Sue
Congrats on the work station!
ReplyDeleteHave you read "Cathedral of the Sea" by Ildefonso Falcones ? I have been taking advantage of this weekend away to get into it (it's 700+ pages) and it's awesome!
Is that workstation where you count the drips? Looks like star trek :)
ReplyDeletePerhaps they are going to build a sky scraper opposite?
I've linked Goodreads to facebook. Didn't know you could link to blogger?
We at CATachresis love bees. We try and save them from precarious situations in the garden! Such fun!
When you carry a cane you are allowed to be a crochety as you want to be so we say go for it!
ReplyDeleteCareful of those bees! Whatever you do, don't eat 'em. Some of us here at my house speak from some experience in this matter.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very impressive work station. If I had that I'd feel like I actually had to do work.
ReplyDeletenice work station! Ergonomics are important I hope it helps reduce the pain!
ReplyDeleteI must of missed something about the construction. Are they building a park? what kind of park? business park? theme park? recreation park? water park?
I used to sprinkle slippery elm bark powder on food for Rilli as it helped his stomach acid and stopped him vomiting. I did not use it regularly, just a few times when he vomited - it stopped the problem. I am not sure how it alters things at the 'other end'. But as for separate doses, Tuomo has his thyroid tablet crushed up in creme fraiche every night and it's become a real 'special routine' for him - he definitely gets upset if I forget it, as he is pretty greedy for monopolising my attention!
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
Karin
Well I'll bee! Happy Easy Sunday everyone!
ReplyDeleteHurray on a back friendly workstation and Felix being back on track.
ReplyDeleteLOL at curly gray hair. I used to have one that literally stood up in the middle of my head. Despite the old wives tale of pulling it will make 2 come back...I pulled it. Never did get two in the middle of my head.
Hugs C
Very cool workstation! Cool that you have bees visiting, too. Every bee matters.
ReplyDeleteI've already got the cane (from when I first hurt my back), so I'm practically there! :-)
Your workstation looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteOh Trish - that work station is to die for. I have such back problems that sometimes I don't know where to sit anymore. I'm the opposite - tall, so we have our problems too. Hope the work station solves some problems for you.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Human, one of the very, very, very best things about living in San Francisco is the overall lack of insects, especially those hateful, sadistic, pain-inflicting little buzzing horrors your other commenters seem so sadly fond of. Bees: We does not like dem.
ReplyDeleteBut me, I like other bugs. Well, to be perfectly accurate, I likes to EAT dem, not be pals wif dem.
Felix! I was verreh happy to hear of your mad blood sport skills!
Those bees are pretty interesting. We have tons of great big bees here because of all the trees and bushes blooming.
ReplyDeleteAlso glad for the Slippery Elm recipe. I have two or three that like to toss their cookies and sometimes have the trots. Have a great Sunday
I've missed you as I've been gone. Good to be back and see you here.
ReplyDeletexox
Wow! Great work station!
ReplyDeleteOMC, that work station is beyond amazing! The others shots are cool too especially the bees!
ReplyDeleteNeat work station! I had one of my kitties out to enjoy the weather yesterday and there was a giant bumble bee out there. I have keep Phoebe away from bees, because she can't have Benadryl, if stung. She is the one with epilepsy. Benadryl is not good with epilepsy.
ReplyDeleteYour rock garden is neat! I need a low maintenance outdoor garden, because I can't keep up with weeds and watering out there.
I would love to add you on goodreads, so I will have to dig around to see if I can find you there.
I too aspire to be a crazy cat lady with a cane! At least we know we'll have company.
ReplyDeleteI too aspire to be a crazy cat lady with a cane! At least we know we'll have company.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very cool work station! That would be awesome to be able to stand sometimes while doing desk work. I like it! Hopefully this will help your back and for the chocolate consumption. ;)
ReplyDeletexo Catherine
We found this article on a site we like, Little Big Cat: http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/
ReplyDeleteI've never used slippery elm. My vet recommended Laxatone (sounds similar to petromalt) but they've never said not to use long-term. They also recommmended canned pumpkin which I give via syringe 2x daily to 2 of my babies. They like it pretty well and one will even eat it from a spoon.
ReplyDeleteIn our last train-strike, about which you know, Bugs scarfed slippery elm powder mixed with chicken baby-food. Worked great (along with Laxatone and Colase stool-softener; these two I wanted him off asap). Laxatone has preservative so not too thrilled with that, and Colase the vet said was short-term only -- but the slippery elm has been a help after he puked too. Fuzzy Tales's recipe is the same one I got but I'm way too undermotivated to cook it -- I just bought it in bulk powder form from the health food store and gave it in powder form along with the chicken baby-food. YAY YAY YAY things have been regularized and I'm so glad to hear Felix is "back on track" heheheh too. Cheers Sheebie.
ReplyDeleteWell the girl is SWOONING over those screens! I am of course imaging MY face on all four screens at once.
ReplyDelete; ) Katie