as many of you know, the tyler household is home to many pets, thanks to kade’s love of critters and kim’s complete inability to really say “no more animals”.
every time we visit, the menagerie has grown—even when one of the “family” has left the fold, at least two more take its place.
chica, of course is a given for starring in the blog—for some reason, she is my very favorite and she knows it. we talked about her quite bit during my last visit here with beckie, when she suffered an attack from another animal.
she seems a little distant this time, though; i wonder if a bit of old age is setting in.
obviously though, it doesn’t get in the way of hamming it up for the camera . . .
new on the scene here is maximus, a luxuriously large and powerful cat that kim picked up at petco, from the animal rescue league. she really wasn’t going to take him home, but then at the end of the day (literally) she went back for him.
and it turns out, he’s the perfect cat for her—she just loves him.
daisy, on the other hand, won’t have one thing to do with him
daisy was much harder to pin down for a photo, in fact, seeing as how she was preoccupied with getting some lunch
i finally got one semi-nice picture
she’s not exactly letting me take her portrait, but she’s conceding a bit of profile to keep her fan base from rioting . . .
another new, but temporary dweller is this hummingbird, who is nesting in the eves of the portico out front. when a human comes near, she freezes into position with her beak point up so as to “blend”, hahaha.
there’s franklin, the tortoise, enjoying a shady respite under his log the other day. he seems to double in size every time i see him—he outgrew the well at the base of the palm tree that was his previous playpen and now spends his outdoor time in a new tortoise “run” that kade built him. not that he actually runs in there, but it does have lots more room for moving around.
speaking of resting . . .
david has enjoyed a lot of that this week, i think.
actually, today was kind of a hangout day all around. since the weather dawned chilly and overcast with a threat of rain
we went walking early and then headed downtown instead of to the beach (seriously, this is their idea of bad weather. it did “rain”—for about ten minutes, later in the day, but i think i can handle that).
we’d missed our traditional first meal of thai food at saffron last thursday, so that was our destination this afternoon for lunch
if you ever find yourself on sassafras street at mealtime, this place is a must; the food is great and reasonably priced.
i cannot resist their noodles (front), but today we added a rice dish (back) to our selections that was delectable (as well as healthy).
kim’s fave is the chicken papaya salad, even though she also likes the noodles and rice—good thing we all like to share.
we rounded our lunch out with cold salad rolls and a gelato from the place next door.
YUM.
after lunch we headed back to the ranch, where the boys were just getting home from school. kade and i watched animal planet for a couple of hours while the birds worked out on the “gym” he made them.
matilda (above) has a new roommate, bluebell (below) since i was here last—actually, just since new year’s; he purchased her with christmas money.
while they do extremely well together in the cage, they do enjoy geting our once in a while, so kade built a set of monkey bars for them
which he set up today in the den so they could watch TV with us
and when i say “watching TV” i’m not kidding, hehe.
while we did that, kim went out for an appointment and came home with buttons for cole’s sweater
she got them sewed on before dinner and snapped a few photos of it on him after we all ate—how great does that look now?
tomorrow we have to head home, bright and early, sigh. as usual, i am feeling a little down about it—i love it here and i wanna stay!
but i guess we all have to get back to reality at the end of any vacation—see you on the other side . . . (maybe by then i’ll have some knitting to show you!)
33 thoughts on “creature comforts”
Kim’s home looks like a great place to live for all creatures!!
Nice job on the sweater Kim!!
Good news is that it’s warming up in Ohio. It’s predicted to get above freezing and stay that way for a while. And we have blue skies (finally). Welcome back.
BOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Just wonderful!
Such a nice menagerie!
I think Kim has me beat in the animals department. I have a passel of rescues too, but no birds or turtles, just cats and dogs.
What a glorious trip. (AND that pool!?!)
What a beautiful menagerie! Maximus has to be the most stunningly beautiful cat I’ve ever seen. I would have had to go back and adopt him too! 😉
Anne- What great kids Kim has- the animals are wonderful. Looks like my house, a bit.
Daisy looks very Maine Coon-ish.
The sweater is fabulous on Cole! He looks so handsome! (and the animals are adorable, too). I am so jealous of David lying OUTSIDE to rest.
I loved the pet and food photos. Those birds crack me up! And Cole’s sweater looks fabulous on him!
YUM is all I can say!
What a cute dog! I love jack russells. Seriously, bad weather? Still looks mighty fine to me too – just an excuse to put on a sweater, maybe.
Get lots of knitting done on the plane!
I Love Maximus. Stunningly gorgeous cat. I totally understand her going back for him.
Hey do you know the name of that cardi pattern? My brother (who is a similar height and build) wants me to knit him one in that same style!
Cole looks fantastic in his new sweater! Great job Kim!
Love all the animal photos! I’ve seen hummingbirds around my yard in the past, but I’ve never spotted one of their nests. Cool!
I love the zoo tour 🙂 Fly safely!
Thank you for all of your posts about the wonderful fun you’ve had in CA. Hope I can visit there one day. Looking forward to the release of Sprossling!!! Safe travels.
Maximus is such a pretty boy! And is the tip of his ear really missing? I’m not sure I could have resisted him, either!
It was in the mid-30s today and yesterday and a friend in eastern ohio said it was supposed to get that “warm” there today – so it could be worse!
Sounds like you’ve had a wonderful vacation. Thanks for bringing a little sunshine into my day 🙂
Any inkling as to when Sprossling will be set to go?
!
what nice photos; thanks for sharing a bit of sunshine and happy animals. I won’t even go to the photo of lounging by the pool…!! The new kitty looks happy; hopefully the resident kitty will adjust.
Nothing says home like the pitter patter of paws.
so glad to see that you are relaxing and enjoying the fabulous weather! looks like such a perfect place.
What wonderful animals, no wonder you don’t want to go home!
Does Kim realize I have a weakness for big, blue-eyed pretty boys like Maximus? She’s pretty lucky I live far, far away!
Kim, your buttonholes look stupendous!
Anne, I am so jealous you got to watch animal planet with Kade, Bluebell, and Matilda. I have not had the pleasure of meeting Bluebell or Maximus- BIG SIGH-.
I think Jack, the Guineas, the flock of Chix, and Pal probably have their feelings hurt
All of the the Pix, make me homesick for my handsome nephews, the critters and their parental units.
WHAT A MENAGERIE!!
I know all bout not being able to resist just one more cat etc….my teenage son arrived back from a trip down to the midlands (UK) with a kitten which he jut couldnot say goodbye to- the last one from his friend’s girlfriend’s litter! I really have had to say enough now!!
As ever, loving the foodie photos!!
I adore all of the animal pictures!
Thanks – I loved seeing all those happy beings!
I love all the pictures of your trip and Kim’s animals.
Cole looks great in his sweater. Any chance of posting the name of the pattern Kim used? I have a son the same height and would love to make it for him.
to Kristi in Ohio- Cole’s sweater is Retropolitan out of the book Son of Stitch n Bitch. . . . I did size medium and made the sleeves about 5 inches longer. . . plus the body about 5 inches longer. Sorry for hijacking your comments section Anne!!! Love you!!!
Looks like a great trip and many friends to play with!
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