I wish I hadn't..................~Scylla

First since many of you have asked us what this is I thought I would try to tell you. It is a tent full of tent caterpillars. They will turn into moths one day.

Now for what I did that I wish I hadn't. I tasted Mommy's coffee. I really wish I had listened all the times she told me I wouldn't like it cause she was RIGHT. I have been trying to get a taste ever since I can remember. Mommy usually deftly moves it out of the way and tells me that it would be bad for me or that I wouldn't like it. One time I made her spill it which resulted in her saying bad words and Daddy going nuts cleaning the keyboard. Who knew coffee was bad for computers, Mommy doesn't seem to work very well without it. And beans get awfully grumpy when they spill hot coffee on themselves. But today I got a taste!!!!!! Mommy said the look on my face was priceless, she described it as a cross between YUCK and the baddest bad word you can think of. That stuff is nasty, I don't know why beans drink it. I'll NEVER taste Mommy's coffee again. ~Scylla

Twins on Thursday

When it is hot outside Scylla likes to drink ice-water.

Charybdis likes to lay around the house.

Now that Charybdis is awake she wants to play Halo. She will zap the bad guys with her laser eyes.

Tattle Tail Tuesday by Scylla & Charybdis

We went down to the butterfly garden to look at the flowers and we saw a very BAD SOCKS, rolling around in Mommy's flowerbed. You are going to get in trouble Socks cause we are tattling on you!

Our Purple Heart is blooming. Mommy is going to dig it up and put it in the greenhouse this fall so it can get a head start on the Queen Anne's Lace. The Queen Anne's Lace is trying to take over the flowerbed.

We never get tired of looking a the pink hibiscus. There was a beautiful green hummingbird visiting it, but it flew too fast for Mommy to get a picture of it.

Mancat Monday by Socks

When it is hot out you should find a shady spot. Here I am sharing the shade created by the picnic table with Scylla.

Mommy's Dream Car

Easy like Sunday Morning by Charybdis

Sunday is a good day to relax. Here I am taking a nap on Mommy's hat. She wears it when she is working in the garden so she won't get sunburned.

Now it is time for a bath.

Now that I am all clean I am going to read a book. This is mine and Mommy's favourite place to read inside. She has a reading lap and the over-sized chair is very comfy. I like to sit on the table though.
I finished the book, I think I'll take another nap. Daddy is playing video games again, that is how he relaxes.

Photo Hunt ~ Hanging

Daddy gave this wind chime to Mommy. It is HANGING from the house. Daddy got it at the San Diego Zoo.

The Greenhouse

Daddy borrowed a monster from a friend to paint the greenhouse. Daddy is taking a break from painting to talk to eldest boy bean and Mommy never managed to get a picture of the monster spitting paint on the greenhouse, our apologies.

This is the greenhouse all painted.

Daddy even painted Mommy's table and you can see where he replaced the metal shelf with a wooden one. He also installed something to hold the hose when Mommy isn't using it. This will make it easier for Mommy to water the flowers in the greenhouse, once they are back in there. Daddy is very thoughtful and considerate, his improvements will make caring for the plants in the greenhouse much easier.

Flowers on Friday with Scylla

Hi everyone, come look at the flowers with me. I just love all the blooms on the Flowering Maple.

This is a close up of our mystery plant. I just love the fuchsia color of it's blooms.

The Angel Trumpet is so pretty when it blooms.

The orange Tiger Lilies aren't suppose to be in this bed, but we kinda like the way they look with the white hibiscus.

Daddy is busy repairing the greenhouse. He had to take all the plastic off because the wind tore it. We will show you pictures of him painting it soon. He used a monster that spit paint to paint it, he also built Mommy another shelf and installed a hose for her. Next he will put Plexiglas on the roof. We are hoping we will be able to raise vegetables year around with the greenhouse.

The Twins on Thursday

What does Scylla see?

She sees a turtle, hey Charybdis come look!

Hm mm, it's not very interesting, it's just a shell.

I wonder what happens when you whap it?

Hey Mr. Turtle would you like to play with us?

My name is Charybdis, the rude cat that whaped you is named Scylla. We are pleased to meet you Mr. Turtle.

Goodbye Mr. Turtle, come visit us again any time.

* No turtles were harmed in the making of this story. Mr. Turtle cleverly pulled his head in whenever we got close and boy bean took him down to the pond when Mommy was through with the flashy thing. We just wonder what he was doing up at the house in the first place.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Mommy's Little Helper

Why are beans so mean and judgemental?

The Litter Box is certainly the right name for his blog. The mean bean said

While in Santa Monica, one of my friends wanted to pay a homeless man money because he had a (well groomed and friendly) dog. I asked her - you want to give money to someone who would require such an animal to live without proper food and shelter? You support a guy who chooses for that dog to live like that? He’s a cruel and mean person. He could ask at any pet store, and get in contact with a half dozen no-kill dog shelters, and could give that dog a good life.

Apparently he doesn't understand that some people consider their dogs and cats part of the family, and would sooner amputate a limb then abandon a pet that has shown them loyalty and love. And his blithe statement that the guy could just contact a no-kill dog shelter shows how little he understands the problems facing cats and dogs in today's economy. The no-kill shelters are filling up fast and many do not have room for any more doggies or kitties, fewer and fewer people are adopting. We don't know this homeless person, but since the dog appeared well groomed we are betting the homeless guy is taking the best care of his dog he can. We know lots of beans that will do without themselves just so their cats or dogs can have the food or medicine they need.

At it really bothers us when some elitist snob says that only the people that can afford to properly care for their pets (and of course the elitist snob gets to define what properly care for them means) should have them. We know lots of people who have opened their homes and hearts to abandoned dogs and cats, even though they don't have the money to 'properly care for them' according to some people. We are sure that a cat or dog who is loved by his/her person is happy even if their person is poor and can't afford to give them 'caviar'.

We think beans should be less judgemental and more understanding, who knows one day it may be you on the street with only the love of a dog to sustain you.

~Socks, Scylla & Charybdis

PS: We wouldn't let Mommy write this post cause she would have said too many bad words.

Tattle Tail Tuesday with Charybdis

I am going to get that mocking bird one day and gobble him all up.

Mancat Monday ~ Socks

The beans think this is for covering up the ice-cream maker when they make home made ice-cream. I think it's perfect for napping.

Don't quit your day job! Doodle ~ Body

Sunday with Scylla

Remember when Daisy was going to have a flea circus. Well I thought being in a circus would be fun and that cats would be much better performers then fleas. Here I am practicing a balancing trick. I am very good at standing on my hind legs and do it very often when I am curious about something.

Balancing tricks are very tiring, so I am taking a well deserved rest in the butterfly garden. My adoring public may come adore me. ~Scylla

Our Doodle Pets

Our Doodle Pets need help.

Photo Hunt ~ What is That?

PhotoHunt
This is a type of hibiscus. Daddy's co-worker gave it to him. It is a Texas Star Hibiscus.

Doodle ~ Evil

We think Fire Ants are evil. They bite Mommy on the foot and make horrible sores. They even bit Scylla on the tummy and made awful blisters all over her tummy. It was red and itchy for ever so long. They build ant hills in our beautiful flower beds and kill the plants. So we designate them evil. Does anyone know how to get rid of the evil things?

Flowers on Friday

This is a Tiger Lily. This Tiger Lily survived Katrina. It used to live in the front yard under the Sweet Gum Trees. Bad Katrina knocked the Sweet Gum Trees down. When BIL came to get the trees he plowed up Mommy's flower bed, she was still in Meridian so she couldn't rescue the flowers. As stuff came back up Mommy would dig stuff up and put it in pots until they could make a new home for the plants but the Tiger Lilies didn't come back up. The Queen Anne's lace that was planted near them did though and Mommy dug them up and planted them in the flower bed with the Hibiscus eventually. Guess what the Tiger Lilies came up, apparently when she dug up the Queen Anne's lace she dug them up too and they were just waiting for a new home to come up and bloom.

Charybdis is Mad at Daddy

I caught a mousie, but the BAD Daddy took him away from me. Hiss, Hiss, Hiss

I am running away from home!!!! Not really, really I am going out in the garage to eat my supper.
~Charybdis

Just thought I would let everyone know the mousie is fine. The last I saw of it, it was running back to the field where it belongs. ~Scylla

Vacation Doodle

Butterfly Weed

Butterfly Weed An extremely hardy, long-lived perennial native to North America. The flowers produce a large quantity of nectar which attracts butterflies throughout the growing season. Blooming period: June-September Produces a very deep taproot making transplanting difficult. Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a type of milkweed, and as such is automatically a potential host for the monarch's caterpillars (although the common milkweed is perhaps superior in this regard). Butterfly weed is deer-resistant. This plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birds. Drought-tolerant; suitable for xeriscaping. Self-sows freely; deadhead if you do not want volunteer seedlings next season. We have the Asclepias tuberosa 'Hello Yellow' which produces many golden yellow, flat-topped flower clusters in early June. Butterfly weed grows best in full sun, with sandy, well draining soil. The first year we planted ONE, I only saw it bloom once because the caterpillars kept eating it. Apparently we had plenty of seeds though because I have a flowerbed full of it now.

Visit More Thursday Thirteens.

What Have you Read?

Here are the rules:

1) Bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you have started but haven't finished.
3) Place an asterisk by those you intend to read/finish someday.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Garden Doodle

Help the Wild Horses

Visit USA: Speak Out Against Plan to Kill Thousands of Wild Horses to find out what you can do to help.

Wordless Wednesday

Doodle ~ Outer Space ~ Whiskeria, aka The Planet of the Cats

Happy Birthday Sassy's Mom

Sassy is having a birthday party for her Mom in absentia. That's a fancy way of saying the Mom of the house is AWOL. It's a great party and Sassy has lovely guest gifts for everyone. We just adore the painting she sent home with us. ~Socks, Scylla & Charybdis

Tattle Tail Tuesday by Charybdis

I was sitting in the bag minding my own business when Scylla jumped on me.

Then she stole my bag. I think this was very naughty of her. I don't know how to get her to come out. ~Charybdis

Our Doodle ~ Bugs

Mancat Monday ~Being a Big Brother by Socks

A big brother has to teach his sisters how to hunt. Here I am taking Scylla hunting.


A big brother also has to keep his sisters out of trouble, if he can. If you biggify the picture you can see me trailing behind Scylla to hopefully keep her out of trouble. She is very bossy, so it's a very hard job. She even throws Daddy out of Daddy's chair!

So far my biggest job has been keeping the little monsters from tearing up the garden. They think it is great fun to play hide and seek in the corn. Unfortunately it smashes the corn.

Our squash is nice and big, we picked some yesterday.