Oat City life

I’ve been known to carry a spray bottle when I go out taking pictures of flowers, because they look better wet. In this case that is actual rain on the iris.

A year ago today
Pic 1509
Westfest 3

June 12, 2012

Two years ago
Pic 1170
Reading to Ganesha

June 12, 2011

Three years
Pic 824
Beauty Salon

June 12, 2010

Walk

Robin Kelsey — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:04:48 +0000

A year ago today:
Pic 1508
Westfest 2

June 11, 2012

Two years ago:
Pic 1169
Madonna

June 11, 2011

Three years:
Pic 823
Grief ain’t good

June 11, 2010

Iris & Cat toilet training update 5

Robin Kelsey — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 21:41:37 +0000

Cat toilet training update 5 (Probably final)

If you’ve been following the saga of my smart cat Clint Eastwood learning how to use the toilet, you probably think he is now fully toilet trained.

See update 4 here… includes exciting video!

Well, almost.

I wasn’t able to remove the CitiKitty device entirely. It is down to the last cutout, and it only has about two tablespoons of litter in it at a time, but when I tried to remove it completely — such a small final step — he rebelled. I caved in to his demands and put the device back on the toilet, probably forever. That means I have to move it when I want to use the facilities.

I think this is a reasonable outcome, even if it’s not the perfect success I was hoping for, because …

Clint is an old cat, and he’s come a long way as it is.
It’s clean. The hole is so big that literally everything goes in the water, ready to be flushed away.
There is no odour.
There is very little expense for cat litter. One more bag might last the rest of Clint’s life. (Or the rest of my life, whichever comes first.)

I don’t think this outcome would be acceptable for larger families. If everyone in a family of six, say, had to move the device out of the way every time they used the facilities, that wouldn’t seem like a very good person-to-cat ratio.

On the other hand, a family of six probably lives in a large enough house to have an out-of-the-way place to put the litter box, such as the basement. They don’t need the cat to use the toilet. Families of six also tend to have more than one bathroom. Maybe they’d let the cat have one.

So… I think my solution is pretty good for small families of one or two who live in apartments. Which is exactly how CitiKitty is marketed.

We’re still learning. For example, in the summertime Clint goes outside in the evening, and since he has been doing that, he hardly ever poops in the toilet any more, although he still pees in it. I assume he’s doing it outside, which is fine with me, unless come fall he’s forgotten how to do it inside and we have to start over. We’ll see.

It has always been a lot easier for Clint to pee in the toilet than to poop in it. In fact it is so easy for him to pee in it that he has developed a treat-procurement strategy based on that fact. When he feels like having a treat — Temptations, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside — he gets me to come to the bathroom with him and watch him pee, in order to get the positive reinforcement that follows.

Smart cat! He has me very well trained. I think he’s working on a video.

A year ago today:
Pic 1506
Wolf

June 9, 2012

Two years ago:

Pic 1167
Moonlight peony

June 9, 2011

Three years:
Pic 821
Yardley’s

June 9, 2010

Girl in a striped dress

Robin Kelsey — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 23:53:02 +0000

I don’t know this person. I saw her across George St. on the day of the car show when they closed down Hunter.

OK, I was stalking her. There I am.

A year ago today:
Pic 1504
Duck

June 7, 2012

Two years ago:
Pic 1165
Duck business

June 7, 2011

Three years:
Pic 819
bikesmut

June 7, 2010

Chillen like a villain

Robin Kelsey — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:55:05 +0000

Bring Home Larry the Tortoise!

A year ago today:
Pic 1503
Flower

June 6, 2012

Two years ago:
Pic 1164
Tilapia

June 6, 2011

Three years:
Pic 817
Experimental farm

June 6, 2010

Flower

Robin Kelsey — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:31:49 +0000

I don’t know what it’s called. Tell me please!

(Later: Judy says it’s Allium.)

A year ago today:
Pic 1502
Reeds

June 5, 2012

Two years ago:
Pic 1163
Dandelions

June 5, 2011

New cat on the block

Robin Kelsey — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 02:04:03 +0000

This cat lives in the apartment above the Eco laundromat.

A year ago today:
Pic 1501
Crane

June 4, 2012

Two years ago:
Pic 1162
Flotilla

June 4, 2011

Four years:
Pic 816
Cowpunks

June 5, 2010

Train

Robin Kelsey — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 01:30:55 +0000

A year ago today:
Pic 1500
Sky line

June 3, 2012

Two years ago:
Pic 1161
Carp

June 3, 2011

Three years:
Pic 814
Purple

June 3, 2010

Window

Robin Kelsey — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 19:55:16 +0000

A year ago today:
Pic 1499
Shuttle bus

June 2, 2012

Two years ago:
Pic 1160
The raccoons of Parliament Hill

June 2, 2011

Three years:
Pic 813
Experimental farm

June 2, 2010

Car show

Robin Kelsey — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 21:46:56 +0000

They closed Hunter Street today for a car show.

I’m not a car guy. I haven’t got one and I’m trying not to get one, although Peterborough makes that hard by sticking most of the stores where you might want to buy something other than a used DVD on two big box strips on the outskirts of town.

Only the downtown Home Hardware makes car-free life possible in Peterborough. I try to buy lots of stuff there, just to encourage them.

Anyway, I walked down to the car show to take some pictures. Most of the time when I see those shiny millionaire sports cars all I can think of to do is to get myself right down low in front of them with a fish-eye lens, and then when I get home I amp the crap out of them on the computer. (Come to think of it, that’s what I do to almost everything.)

Here’s a Triumph. It says right on it.

I don’t know what this is, sorry. That guy looks like he’s pretty proud of it.

This is a Lotus. There’s a little kid in the driver’s seat, although you can’t see him very well in my picture. That muscley guy on the right is his dad. He told the kid to wait until his 18th birthday if he wants a Lotus.

Good thing little kids have short memories.

(To be fair, I can walk to Freshco or No Frills, both cheap grocery stores; to Main Ingredient, a good bulk food store; and to a Shopper’s Drug Mart and an LCBO. And I can get all the used DVD’s anybody could ever want. I don’t even know what I’m complaining about!)

A year ago today:
Pic 1498
Fountain

June 1, 2012

Two years ago:

Pic 1159
Gosling

June 1, 2011

Three years:
Pic 812
Poppy

June 1, 2010