The Usual Suspects

When you have cats you never know what you'll find in your bed. I woke up to find a ball right next to my pillow and I set out to find the culprit.

Banu is the greatest fan of the fluffy balls, but she looks innocent.

Lupe is giving me her best, "It wasn't me" face.

HA! Case closed.

The Michael Jackson Yard Tour

The reason it's the M.J. Tour is because as I was strolling with my camera in the yard this morning Michael Jackson music was floating throughout the neighborhood; it was nice. The music I am listening to while writing this post, however, is Aahun Aahun from a new Bollywood movie. You can listen too by going to the link and clicking on that song (it's the first two in the album list.)

Music aside, this is a post about what's growing in our yard at the moment. Coming out the back door are gardenias on the right...

...roses straight ahead...

... and hibiscus buds everywhere!

This hibiscus has a little white friend.

Perhaps this little white moth will end up being a pest but I think it looks like a soft, white angel. Actually it's head looks like a miniature parakeet's, doesn't it?

Hibiscus blossom.

That pale blossom will bloom into this stronger pink color.

Even the pests are cute.

Spiders are building webs everywhere. This web has been barely visible for days, but the tassels thrown down from a tree above has ruined its camouflage.

Of course our magnolia tree is full of beautiful white flowers again.

We have these beautiful bushes all along the front, full of tiny white flowers.

Up close.

Our elephant ears have multiplied and its offspring are everywhere. They will be huge in a month but at this point just create a nice backdrop for the roses.

Such a brilliant color; photo not color-enhanced.

I always love to catch nature in its progression. These are the beginnings of our red berries that grow all year round.

Already this neighboring bush's berries are slightly redder...

... and this bush's berries are coming to the end of their cycle.

We've had great weather and sufficient rain (so far) this summer for good growth. Let's hope it stays that way.

Visual Feast

Stumbled upon this video. The website said these dancers are deaf, from the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe, which means that what they are doing is even more astounding.

Deck Of Paradise

In addition to the hibiscus and tomatoes on our deck we have this beautiful plant which has many clusters of small yellow flowers:

Apparently I'm not the only one who loves this plant.

Tomato update: the first one is really red now and there's a second one turning orange...

... and a third!

It's been a beautiful summer so far and our plants look great. Perhaps this weekend I can snap a few pics of other things in the yard. It's good for the soul.

Tomato Progress

Today when I watered the plants on the deck I saw the first red tomato! It's one of the grape tomatoes. It's actually still an orangish-red and needs more time but it makes me drool just thinking about the flavorful sweet "summer tomato" taste it will have.

It's so interesting the way the tomatoes closest to the source stem develop first. (click on pic to see it enlarged)

This cluster is so laden with fruit that I had to support it with one of the basket wires. I am so excited about all my baby tomatoes!

Is It Time To Move On?

It's been eight months since Teddie died. I've been toying with the idea of changing out her picture from the top of my blog for weeks, months really, but I just don't seem to be able to do it. Removing her picture feels like I'm letting her go. Saeed and I have her pictures as the background wallpapers on our desktops and laptops, so it's not like I would be taking her pictures away from anywhere else, just the blog. Perhaps it's not time, since writing about it makes my eyes tear up, but it seems like I should move forward. Sometimes when Layli (the torti who is mostly black) runs by I think it's Teddie only to be jolted back to reality. I just don't want to be one of those maudlin pet owners who talk about FiFi as if they are their long dead spouse. Maybe I'll just change it to other pictures of her over a period of time and then begin to rotate her pics with others.... a sort of weaning. I'll give it a try.

The Last Picnic

We had one last picnic in honor of Father's Day (since we will not be together next weekend) at Winthrop Lake yesterday. Though hot in the sun it was cool and comfy in the shade of one of the big old trees that grow on the shack side of the lake.

After eating our lunch Saeed took Cyrus off on a walk and must have given him some last minute man to man talk.

Cyrus steals some of his mom's water. He has mastered the straw but its diameter is much larger than his toddler-cup straws and he usually ends up coughing and sputtering. There is still so much for the little bubsy to learn.

Cyrus holds still just long enough for Shirin to get in some...

... very yummy...

...schmoozling.

Enough of that soft stuff... where's the guy that plays hard with me?

Such a lovey boy.

Uh oh... Grandpa starts tickling...

... and Cyrus tries to make a break for it and run to mom...

... safe!

Safe on goal away from tickling hands.

This is Cyrus...

... from Shirin's point of view!!

Everyone is exhausted and passed out.

After our picnic we had much to do at home to prepare for Shirin and Cyrus' departure. After packing up, eating a nice dinner, and a shower for Shirin and a bath for Cyrus, they climbed into the car for the trip home to Athens and Gabriel. Saeed and I had such mixed feelings - such sadness at their leaving and a bit of relief that the two old folks could return to their quieter, simpler life. All the kitties came out from their hiding places and sprawled out in luxurious relaxation in the peace and quiet.

Today I've been picking up the pieces of the life I left three weeks ago. I've been cleaning the house and finding plastic balls and bits of bunny grahams on the floor, cleaning up the deck and finding plastic sea horses in my potted plants, dumping the little blue pool's water for the last time, spraying stain remover on the mango, avocado and samosa stains on my 20-plus dirty T-shirts from the week, collecting the squirting blowfish from the tub, and returning the Aaja Nachle CD to its proper place (don't think I can listen to that for a while!) All the toys are back upstairs in a bedroom and the place looks clean and a bit too sterile. The kitties have stopped freezing in their tracks when a door opens because a noisy little boy has quit coming through it. I guess I don't need to feel too sad because one day....

he'll be back!

My Last Full Day Caring For The Bubsy

Today is Shirin's last day at her Charlotte externship and my last day caring for Cyrus solo. Tomorrow the day will be spent with Shirin doing laundry, packing for the trip back home, and then she'll leave at the bubsy's bedtime so he sleeps all the way home. At least that's the plan!

As you can see from her posts and mine, Cyrus has taken a liking to a particular Indian CD and will "ask" to hear it by walking up to our stereo, point to it, and start dancing. If I put him in his highchair for a meal without the music he leans to point toward the stereo and begins his Indian head wobble. Per his request we must listen to that soundtrack (to the movie Aaja Nachle) six, seven times per day. I will make Cyrus a copy to take home.

To complete his indoctrination into the pleasures of the Indian culture we had samosas yesterday. They were a bit spicy but he loved them. We kept the milk close by in case he couldn't handle the spice but he did fine. I guess all that spicy food Shirin ate during pregnancy and while breastfeeding inoculated him against what most of we european-types suffer from. It took me years to up my spice tolerance. So I hope Gabriel doesn't mind having dropped off a Georgia Bulldog baby and getting back the next Kunal Kapoor.

Grandma feeds the Georgia Bulldog his first samosa.
Don't let his facial expression fool you!

He grabbed the samosa for himself and said, "From now on call me Kunal Kapoor." Avocado was placed for easy access to cool the palate after the spicey stuff, but Kunal didn't need it.

Two unrelated videos from yesterday:
Waking up from a nap is tough. Normally I never turn on the light to make the transition as painless as possible, but I needed light in order to tape. I apologized to Cyrus later and promised never to do it again. (that's a mosquito bite on his cheek)


Saeed trying to write his report with lots of interruptions.

Preventing Kitty Stress

Before Cyrus came we all wondered how our cats would deal with the situation. Cyrus is actually very good around the kitties but he is, after all, a one-year-old. He can get very excited about seeing one of them and squeal loudly in happiness... not a good sound to cat ears! We've been working with him about petting them gently and I try hard to make sure most of his activities take place in cat-free zones. He's done very well with learning to approach a cat softly and gently. Still, only a couple of them don't run away as soon as they see him! I think we've managed to keep the kitties relatively stress-free so that we don't end up with angry kitty behavior (like peeing where they shouldn't) and we've kept Cyrus scratch-free except for once in the very beginning when Frosty popped him on the head.

The good thing about cats is that they are very good at getting out of the way. Here is Banu on her cat pole, high up out of harm's way. She'd prefer to be in a totally different room but if Cyrus surprises her, up the pole she goes!

She even has a higher level above the one on which she's sitting. (That's Layli jumping out of the cat bed.)

Tippy totally disappears while Cyrus is around. Here I caught her behind the couch, but usually I can't even find her.

Calvin is almost always hiding in the coat closet when Cyrus is around, but here I found him behind the couch and the big potted plants.

Obi likes to hang out in the sunroom most of the time. Although Cyrus likes to go in there sometimes he's learned to stay away from the kitty lying on the sleeping bag. Obi doesn't mind Cyrus as much as the others and will even tolerate a petting from Cyrus if it's near the food bowl (he likes to be petted while eating.)

What a cutie.

Lupe is another one that totally disappears when Cyrus is around. I really had to hunt for her and found her under the couch in the piano room, a room Cyrus rarely goes.

I found Layli in the piano room too... can't see her? Go to the next pic.

She used the help of the glaring sun to hide in the dark corner. Layli often stays in the middle of our bed when Cyrus is there. She's learned that he can try to grab her from all around the bed but can't reach her if she's in the middle.

Frosty often gets away by climbing up the cat tree. He appears to dislike Cyrus and is very wary if Cyrus comes into the room. Frosty always tries to avoid him, but if Cyrus runs up on him he gets "that look" and I whisk Cyrus away to safty. Frosty wouldn't really injure him but he would probably pop him on the head again and that can really hurt.

Frosty sweetums can really pack a whallop when needed.

Last, but in no way least, is Chappu. Here she's hiding for a quiet nap but when she's awake she has no problem hanging out with Cyrus. She doesn't mind him petting her but flinches when he does it too hard. She has taken the most abuse from him and still tolerates him the best. I guess it's all personality. If you remember the early pics of when Cyrus was still just laying on the floor it was Chappu who was always the most interested in him.

The kitties have learned Cyrus' schedule. When he goes up for a nap they all come out and do their usual things. In the evening after he's gone to bed you can almost hear an audible sigh of relief as they plop on the couches and spread out in the middle of the floor to hang out with their humans. Cyrus is leaving us on Saturday night to go back to his normal life with mommy and daddy. Sunday will be a happy day for the Modaresi kitties, but a sad day for the Modaresi grandparents.