Chris & Joy's Critterweb » Cricket

Facing a brand-new year, head-on

Chris — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:27:03 +0000

The holiday leftovers have all been eaten, the cards taken down, and I think there’s maybe half a glass of eggnog left in the fridge. The cats have scattered their Christmas toys under various large pieces of furniture and Gwen’s are already quite well-chewed. Winter Solstice brought us the promise of the days beginning to lengthen again, with Christmas came time spent with reconnecting with friends and family (some in person, others maybe only by phone or online) and then 2011 wound itself down to an end. And now here we are, in a brand new year again.

Last night we got a half inch of snow followed by a day of bitter cold, but I can’t complain as we’d been hammered with three heavy snows by this time last year and it’s been very mild. Perhaps winter will go easy on us this year. On New Year’s Day we had breakfast of homemade breakfast ‘sausage’ Joy made and eggnog pancakes I contributed, then relaxed for a few hours reading in front of the fire with all seven critters sprawled out around us. Then we went hiking with Gwen in the DuPont State Forest – it was brilliantly sunny and very warm for this time of year, a beautiful day for a hike. After we returned, we had another nice home cooked meal and a movie from Netflix. It was a relaxing and restorative holiday weekend and I hope it sets a good precedent for 2012.

Last year saw a lot of change and turmoil in the world around us, and it seems likely that pattern will continue… especially when you add in this being an election year here in the US (and the coming onslaught of nonsense that is going to bring), the ongoing recession, and all the Mayan calendar silliness. If there is actually some sort of ‘change of consciousness’ happening, maybe it’s that people are beginning to wake up on a mass scale, and really see what is going on around them. It needs to happen, the world is facing so many challenges and I’m hoping that all the protests and unrest are the first stage of people learning to work together and solve some of these problems.

On a more personal level, in 2011 we had a few changes around here. We added an unexpected family member… everyone has been too tactful to point out the ‘foster fail’, but guess we need to come clean, especially since our foster kitten, Ishi, is over a year old now! Equally unexpectedly, but with much regret, we also lost one this year. What happened with Paddy is still a sore spot… we never saw that coming and it still hurts.

Cricket made it through another year, for which we are grateful, though both she and Olive have gotten so old and frail… I’m not sure either of them has another Christmas in them, all we can do is make them as comfortable and happy as we can, and enjoy the time we have left with them. Time seems to flow faster with each passing year… I look at Simon, who is ten, and wonder where that black kitten disappeared to? Winter is six now and even Calvin is already all grown up, though still prone to flying through the air like superman. Gwen and Ishi, at 15 months, are still the ‘babies’ of the family, but not really babies anymore. I look in the mirror and see the inevitable passage of time etched in lines on my face , and glistening in the ‘few white hairs’ that are becoming a white streak…and as I stare at my reflection, I ask myself the important question, “is there ‘enough’ grey mixed in with the dark brown yet?” You know, so that I can dye my hair some outlandish shade of purple and actually be able to see the purple? Almost, I think. Maybe next year.

I thought that the above picture of Ishi that I’d been playing with in Photoshop, seeming to look out the window pensively (actually she was watching our new neighbor working in his garage) was a good image to start the year with. From this angle, you can’t even see that she singed off half her eyebrows last night sniffing a candle. Come to think of it, maybe that’s an even better metaphor to live by for 2012 – having the initiative to explore new experiences in the coming year, face them head on.

Even if you lose a few eyebrows in the process.

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Chris — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:12:21 +0000

The stockings are hung, good things are cooking in the kitchen, and the animals are all getting ready…

Some of them are pretty excited:

Others are maybe a bit more laid back about it:

It’s a good time to put on a costume, if you’re so inclined:

Or your fancy party clothes:

And there’s possibly even been a bit of caroling going on:

Of course, there’s always that one family member who puts away a bit too much of the spiked eggnog at the holiday party:

Calvin is having somewhat of an impulse control issue about waiting till Christmas morning to open presents:

This is the second time I’ve had to drag him out of this one, and rearrange the (increasingly more shredded) paper in the bag. And it’s not even his present.

Winter has decided the presents don’t need to be unwrapped to be useful:

We hope everyone has a safe, wonderful, and abundant holiday, and good things for the year to come!

The Annual Halloween Critter Costume Party

Chris — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:38:39 +0000

Fairy Princesses in the sun

It’s that time of year again… we took the pictures a day early because it might be dark by the time I get home from work tomorrow. The full album is here.

Turtle high five!

Cricket, Gwen, Simon, and Calvin

The usual disclaimer applies: no animals were physically harmed in the making of this photo album, but we can’t make any guarantees as to psychological effects. It’s payback for every lost night of sleep, and everything chewed, clawed or smashed throughout the rest of the year.

Double take.

Chris — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:30:35 +0000

So I was walking through the living room, past the dining room window, when something out of the corner of my eye dimly registered as ‘not right’…

Can you spot it?

Of course she’d moved by the time I took this, so you can’t see the full unnerving effect of two large ears appearing much higher off the ground than I ever expected to see them. I had my Blackberry in my hand at the time and managed to snap two pictures of the supposedly frail little sixteen year old blind dog, who had managed to inexplicably find her way up onto a three foot tall table, before hurrying outside to remove her before she decided to jump.

A new year comes bounding in…

Chris — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 13:21:55 +0000

…like a hellhound out of some frozen Hell. That is what a friend jokingly said about the above picture, and that description seems to fit the weather of the past month rather well. It’s a shiny new year, but that’s because of the glare bouncing off all the snow and ice. We’ve had four snows – three of them significant, the last one still with us. Each time the snow was followed by days of bitter cold. Yesterday morning, it was four degrees outside when we got up. It’s very unusual for NC to get weather like this, and with this being the second year of it, I think we’re beginning to suffer from snow fatigue.

The dogs, on the other hand, (Cricket being the exception here) are loving the snow. They frolic in it until they are exhausted. Paddy eats it, snorts it, digs in it gleefully. Gwen bounds through it and ends up coated in snow, looking like some sort of miniature yeti. At least someone is enjoying it, right?

If you click on either of the above pictures it will take you to a gallery of their “Fun in the snow” from January 10.

Last year wasn’t the greatest one, but I am thankful for everything we have. These are hard times, a lot of people are struggling hard, facing incredible losses, and we’re fortunate to have stable jobs and a roof (of our own, yet!) over our heads. We lost Lindsy this past year, and it’s still weird and sad to have her gone. She was part of our lives for what felt like forever. We had Paddy and Gwen (who I still haven’t properly introduced here, that’s coming) join the family, and the little kitten we adopted in December of 2009 blossomed into the most wonderful big hunk of orange cuddliness. We adore our Calvin.

Cricket – amazingly – is still with us and thanks to some advice from our vet, her stomach trouble is better than it has been in years. Olive reached her fourteenth birthday! Simon is nine – nine! Holy crap, how did that happen? Winter, the ‘baby’ before Calvin came, will be six this coming June. Time just seems to go faster and faster.

This year ahead is going to be a tough one, I think; we have family members facing serious health challenges and it feels like there is some uncertainty and change possibly in the wind with other parts of our lives. But I also feel that these are all things that everyone could emerge on the other side of better than before. We just need to buckle in for the wild ride, and remember to be grateful for all the good things in our lives.

‘Twas the night before christmas…

Chris — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 15:37:24 +0000

…and all through the house,

not a creature was stirring,

not even a mouse.

OK, actually it was the morning before Christmas, and the house was alive with the cacophony of dogs playing, cats milling, and two humans trying to police the situation and make a vegetable cobbler at the same time. But I couldn’t make that rhyme.

The animals have already spoken to Santa about their wishes…

Though, if Cricket’s wish was “make Paddy and Gwen go away,” she’s going to be a bit disappointed.

Simon is ready for the big day, all decked out with his personalized collar tag Auntie Caroline at Wag! gave him.

and the stockings are hung by the fireplace, ready for tomorrow. Even though Paddy actually has been playing with his Christmas gift for weeks already… it’s not like we could have kept THAT in a stocking.

Calvin (who has been with us a whole year as of this week!) is keeping a watch for Santa.

We’d like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season, with peace and happiness for the coming new year!

-Chris, Joy, Olive, Simon, Cricket, Winter, Calvin, Paddy & Gwen

Somehow, they instinctively know

Chris — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 19:26:34 +0000

Today, I found myself without any actual dispatch events to work on, so I was doing remote stuff from home. After careening around the house up until Joy left for work, the animals had all crashed… the house was silent except for Calvin snoring on the bed in the office.

Right up until I picked up my cell to call a client.

As I dialed the first numbers, out of the corner of my eye I saw Cricket’s head pop up in the living room. She’d been asleep on the couch. She stretched, hopped down off the couch, and came trotting into the office like she was on a mission. Paddy, seeing her moving with such apparent purpose, jumped off his chair and followed her. They both came into the office, woke the puppy up, and all three began milling about at my feet making all sorts of commotion. I had to hang up mid-dial and regroup.

I took Gwen out to potty, locked her in her crate with a snack, and leaned the office door closed so that the person on the other end wouldn’t hear a puppy whining in a crate, and dialed again. Paddy began trying to bump the door open with his nose. I could hear Cricket dancing in hallway in front of the door. Simon came out of the bedroom yelling at the top of his lungs, having suddenly become aware of this alarming change in the house.

Translation of Simon: “OMG, did you know this door was closed? Why is it closed? It wasn’t closed earlier. What if I wanted to go in there? I think I need to get in there RIGHT NOW.”

Could someone explain again why we didn’t just get a turtle or a goldfish?

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Chris — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 22:25:59 +0000

It’s that time of year again! The full album is here but below are a few highlights…

Cricket the flapper

Winter in her Sunday best

Simon butterfly

Calvin the purple dinosaur

Angry Olive Tiger

and last but not least….

Paddy the Cheerleader!

Simon sauntered around the entire time in his wings, I don’t think he wanted to take them off. Cricket also enjoyed her dress. Calvin wasn’t pleased with his outfit at first but eventually got into it. Paddy was cool with the dress and pink toenails, but not so much with the wig. They all enjoyed the treats, though.

Feeding frenzy. If you look close, you’ll see everyone is in the picture.

More Yappy Hour fun

Chris — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 14:50:03 +0000

We took the dogs to another Yappy Hour at Wag! Caroline is going to be having these every Friday from 6 PM to 9 PM until Thanksgiving, so if you live in the Hendersonville area and have a friendly dog, it’s a lot of fun for canines and humans alike.

Grace the Pit mix wasn’t there last night, but Paddy got to see his friend Matilda again…

and Matilda proceeded to work him over.

These were all taken with cell phones and Matilda just moved too fast to focus. This one looks like something that would have been posted by the humane society as part of an undercover fighting expose.

I think this is my favorite for sheer artistic value. On first glance, just a blur of color. If you look closer you can make out a leg here, a jaw there, Paddy and Matilda had a great time.

June, one of the store ‘owners’, worn out after playing hostess all night.

After all the other dogs left, Paddy decided it was time to go home.

Cricket had a great time again and I tried to take a picture of her in her party collar, but she was really excited and I only captured a vague black and shimmery pink blur. Maybe next time.

Paddy and Cricket out on the town

Chris — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 21:29:49 +0000

Paddy and Cricket got to attend a ‘Yappy Hour’ at Wag! this past Friday…

Paddy all dressed up and ready to head out.

Cricket was determined not to be left behind so she got to wear her dress and foofy collar. The flash made her blink.

We had intended to take Pete along, but since he had a pending adoption (more on this to follow) we were just going to bring Paddy. I’d already locked Cricket up for the evening but she aparently heard me get out the costume box, as evidenced by the anguished wail that emitted from her crate when I started putting Paddy’s tie-dye shirt on him. It sounded like someone was pulling her soul out with a wine corkscrew. So we got out her fancy duds and brought her, hoping that we wouldn’t be Those Awful People Who Ruined Yappy Hour Because Their Elderly Blind Chihuahua Had a Massive Coronary In the Middle of The Store.

Both dogs had a blast. Paddy got to meet a Wheaten named Sedona that played with him, and a little devil of a Pug puppy named Matilda, and another Pit Bull mix named Grace who arrived wearing a tutu and looked a lot like him. He was very smitten with her. He was careful to mind his manners around Winnifred, who ‘owns’ the store and had given him what-for in the past for being an obnoxious ass. He managed not to destroy the store, though he and Sedona did knock a few things off a display rack at one point.

Cricket stayed in a corner for the first part of the evening, and I eventually just took her leash off so she wouldn’t keep getting tangled. She later decided to mingle and strutted around the store, even approaching several of the other dog owners there and saying hi. I’ll have to be careful not to be so overprotective of her bad heart and feebleness and get her out more. She really had a lot of fun.

A big thanks to Caroline and her mom –and of course Winnifred– at Wag! for putting together the Yappy Hour, and we’re all looking forward to the next one!