Wannabe Swiss

I'm one. Figured if I'm gonna stay in Switzerland for the rest of my life I might as well get a passport. Realize I don't know enough about Switzerland to qualify, especially when it comes to politics. Have to read up on it. All I know is that the extreme right wing party is not my style. Plus I probably have to learn the names of all the cantons. All 26 of them!

Then tonight I thought about that I don't even know their national anthem, and tomorrow it's ze Swiss national day.

Which of course means more of a day off than anything else to me, but I could always hum it while cruising the lake...

Socializing

My kittens are not yet very social. They are ok with me, but other people are suspicious. They appear to sleep when I have people over, but they cannot really relax.

After my visitors leave, they first sleep like there is no tomorrow, then play like the same. I never get a full nights sleep these days. If I throw them out of my bedroom, they spend the better part of the night miaowing outside it, demanding to get in.

But who can get angry with little ones looking so sweet!?!

Homemade lasagne

And with that I mean it was made in my home, but not necessarily by yours truly. Friend demanded me to provide her with a good bottle of red, and so I did. What a waste to open a splendid bottle of Merlot just to use a deciliter! Now I gotta drink the rest!

No hairballs yet

Still waiting for the result...

Hairballs

I had the good fortune of being invited for a really nice dinner this afternoon/evening. And since my cats shouldn't have any less I went to buy special grass for them today, so that they can digest all the hair they are swallowing with the intensive washing. Now I'm eagerly (?) waiting for the result.

Today I also got a lift to the pet shop. Now there are 60 kg's of cat sand stored in the basement, along with some food.

The little creatures should be grateful. Just spent more than 200 francs on them!

My old home

My upbringing was pretty typical. When I was born my parents had a small 2-room flat. When I was 7 years old we moved to a chain-house. When I was 16 my parents built a house, and there I lived until I moved out 3 years later.

The house was sold some 10 years ago, and I lost track of who moved in and out since. A while ago I saw the house advertised (built by my Dad and my Grandfather) and it was completely transformed. To the better I must admit, although it was pretty clear it had been styled for the pics.

Last pic shows my old bedroom. Looked completely different back then. Good thing they restyled it!

Luxusleben

My neighbour was visiting this evening and she claims that the kittens have a luxury life. But I dunno know. It seems they prefer to drink water out of the one-month-old still water including a dead big bug in the can on the balcony, rather than from the designer bowl I bought for them placed in the kitchen and that is filled with fresh water twice a day.

Spicy

Was watching one of these design shows again, and they were planning on renovating a kitchen this time. They found very old spices, and it looked really unclean.

Realized something. I haven't had a decent clean-up of my own spices since, well a long time. Think it was the ex who bought most of them.

As I suspected most of them had expired like 2005. And now they are gone.

Pretty Zina

Pretty Zetti

Balcony exploration

First day on the balcony. Zina of course was the first to explore, whereas Zetti took it slowly.

Clean bed

Cats enjoy newly washed sheets too. Still have to learn that a bed is for sleeping though.

Gotta say I do not enjoy being clawed on at 2.30 in the morning.

Norway

Most of last weekend I spent following the news in Norway. A terrible tragedy, and I do not find the words. One coldly calculating person destroying the lives of so many.

I participated in the quiet minute held at noon today. I registered on the hug-chain on www.vg.no. I listened to the prime ministers speech, it was heartbreaking.

I don't understand where so much hatred comes from. Is it really Utopia to want to just live a good life and in peace?

Toilet training

Kittens have behaved impeccably with regards to going to the toilet. But I got tired of sweeping up sand outside the box twice a day, so bought them a mat where they can dry their little paws on.

This was very suspicious, since I also turned the box around to face the balcony. Mat smelled funny, but finally they went in, only to jump out of the box avoiding the mat. Hmmm.

Siblings

When all is said and done, a sibling is a sibling. Blood is thicker than water. At least this is true in the cat world.

It socks

Socks are fun!

Love

It is said when you're a parent you love your kids equally. That probably has some truth to it, but I think you love children for different reasons. Not more, not less, but differently. Cause nobody is the same.

Zina for example, I love because she is daring, she tests me, she was also the one who took to me pretty quickly. She doesn't mind me picking her up petting her. And she's not worried. When I come home, she stays where she is, knowing it's me.

Zetti on the other hand took longer to win over. She doesn't like being picked up and petted, although she does really, but she doesn't want to admit it. I can appreciate that. But one thing I learned thru reading all these websites about kittens, is that if you pick up a reluctant kitten, make sure you set it down again when you choose to, and not because they fight. I did, and now what Zetti likes most is when I pet her on her belly. She rolls over every time. A sign of subordination. And she always comes to greet me at the door.

My darlings, and I love them both! Equally.

Training session

Tonight we had a training session. Sooner or later I will have to take the kittens to the vet, and I want them to see the transportation box as comfortable. Therefore I have it standing on the floor, open, at all times and they visit it on and off..

Tonight I locked them both in, carried them around for 5 minutes, then let them out again. They were quiet, if a bit moving around, and after I let them out they both went to the toilet.

So not completely comfortable yet, but they will learn. My kittens, IQ high. Except for when it comes to walking around the kitchen counter when I'm not around!

Fresh shoes to bite into

I don't wanna blame the kittens, but they do like to play with my shoes. Smell like roses I'm sure. But it was probably time to invest in new sandals anyway. So did. Likey?

Zingo

Had a dream last night about the brother to Zina and Zetti. His name was Zick, which I thought was not right so in the dream I renamed him to Zingo. The funny thing is he was brown. And they do have a real brother, black-and-white.

But I guess dreams are not real. But Zingo is a good name for a male cat, no?

Is having kids a right?

I'm reading a lot of news. Very often it is about people being poor. And the kids suffer. Of course! Kids cannot defend themselves, and they are in the often evil hands of the parents who chose to have them.

But why is having kids a right? My opinion is that if you cannot take care of your kids, you shouldn't have chosen to have them!

That goes for civilized countries and for "developing" countries. If you don't know how you gonna care for your kid, keep your legs closed. 'Cause you're not gonna get any empathy from me when it doesn't work out.

The kids do though. They cannot help they have stupid parents. And I dunno know if it's because news travel faster these days, or if people have gotter dumber. I fear the latter.

Hoover monster

Ok, another cat story. Was hoovering today (myself!), since there all of a sudden seems to be hair everywhere. Well, at least I did the living room.

The cats disappeared quicker than you can miaow. And then I couldn't find them. Anywhere.

Eventually after calling them I heard a rustle, which I located to the bedroom. Turned out they had crept inside the plastic wrapping of a painting I had standing on the floor. I practically had to pour them out of there.

My poor little scared kittens!

Just like kids

When I watch my kittens play with their beloved mice, it reminds me of any large company. The men (and they are almost always men!) in charge want to play, and they all want to play with the same thing. Like a project, a takeover or whatever.

When my kittens play they prefer to do it with the same mouse, even though they have several.

Exactly the same in business. Whatever is hot for the moment, the "big guys" wanna fight about.

Go figure.

Dishcloth gone awol

You think my blog is all about the cats, do you? Well what can I say. They give me so much joy, and I miss them when I'm away, so I'm afraid you gonna have to live with it for a while at least.

We are still in discussion about walking on the kitchen counter when I'm away or asleep. This morning I got up, found the dishcloth on the sofa, and accusingly asked them how that happened. Four very innocent eyes looked back at me. Very, very hard to be angry then. I'm becoming mellow.

But only when it comes to the cats!

Together

Pavlov

I never liked kids, so I decided early in life that I wasn't gonna have any. Now I have kittens, and that is like having kids but speeding up the growth times a hundred or more.

Whatever I do, whatever I say, however I act, the next few months is gonna shape those little ones into grown-up cats. It's a huge responsibility.

I just realized today. I was calling on Zetti, she didn't react so I whistled and poor Zina who was powdering her nose came running before she had finished. That's when I remembered I had whistled a few times before when it was time for the daily Whiskas.

Now I'm thinking, should I teach them to come when I whistle? Cause it's no point in calling them for food, they're gonna learn that soon enough anyway. Am I right?

One 30-year-old and two 13-weeks young

Went to a birthday party tonight and it made me think how disrespectful people are. She had invited people, asked them to reply within a time period, booked a party room and a live band. And 20% of the people never showed.

Despite that it was really fun, but when push came to shove I chose to take the last train home and not continue elsewhere in the city. After all, I have two eager ones at home waiting for me. And that my friends is a good feeling.

Pee time

In this household we're into sharing and checking on each other. At all times!

Beauty me up

Thought about this beauty thing, and realized it might be time for me to start using some. I mean, not that I'm old or anything, but more like a prevention. So went shopping.

I may have gone a wee bit overboard.

Red square

Have a friend who is travelling a lot these days. This pic landed in my inbox today.

I like the fact that I can see it through her eyes, meaning I don't have to go there myself.

Teenagers in the house

Realized I haven't written an update on the cats in some time :), but gotta document how much they've grown already! And they lost that baby-woolly-fur.

It is amazing how quick it goes. They've been with me less than 3 weeks, and it is clear already that Zetti is going to be bigger than her sister, and Zina is the braver one with an attitude towards Zetti.

Examined them today, ears, eyes, bellies, teeth, paws and the lot. They look really healthy to me. And only mildly appreciated me poking them.

And can they jump! They have found a place on top of a cupboard, where they like to lie and look down at me.

Exhausted

Incredibly fun

The first rikscha in Zürich

I saw it today. A rikscha in Zürich. Very cool. Perhaps not as cool as a segway but still.

A happy day on the lake

All blue

It is really difficult to locate my boat now when I changed cover. It's a hip blue, blending in very well with the other 10,000 blue-covered boats in Zürichsee.

Only the lake was green today.

Beautiful Zürich

Walking home today I couldn't help myself but take a pic. How beautiful is this! Just there on the street.

Mice

It took a few days for the mice to disappear last week. I haven't been able to locate them, and neither did the cleaning woman (hmmm).

So today I got them new mice. After about 5 mins an ear was missing on one of them. But the kittens love'm. They sound (have some sort of filling) and they look like real mice. Good for me, I can hear where they are. It's when it's quiet I get worried.

And I got a spare one.

Carpe diem

Tomorrow it's gonna be 32°C in Zürich, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend it than to go on the lake. So that I will.

Just thought all you losers out there wanted to know :).

2-year guarantee

As difficult as it is to understand in September I have lived in my new place for 2 years. I cannot believe how time has flown.

And after 2 years the first guarantee runs out, and we are required to fill in a list with what we think is still missing or needs fixing. It is to be sent to the architect firm who built the house.

My letter was adressed to Anika, who I don't know. I spell my name differently. And it was also adressed to a "Herr" and my surname. What?

As far as I know I haven't married since I bought the place. It's like you cannot owe a place alone being a woman. I know ze Swiss are oldfashioned, but this is just not on. And of course I wrote an email to them pointing this out! I am tempted to add some stuff to the list just to make a point!

Blogspot unavailability

Sometimes when I try to post items here on the blog, I get an error message: "Service Unavailable Error 503".

I know I'm not much for manuals, but it would be very helpful with a translation into what error 503 means.

Communication without borders

I am of the opinion that if you want to communicate you can. Today was a good example. A friend was visiting with his parents. They spoke only Portuguese, and he had to translate. But it worked. For hours we talked, and shared opinions and values in a comfortable way.

Language is just a small hurdle to communication. Good for me who lives in a German-speaking country!

Bathroom - oh yeah

Since a few days I'm trying to get my cats to socialize and not run away as soon as there are visitors, as well as keeping them up during the day.

I am mean enough to close the doors to the bedrooms so that they have no choice but to be in the living room.

But they are clever little bastards. A sink is as good place as any. Apparently.

And of course I couldn't resist to flush some water on them.

Spontaneous visit

I have some friends who are really "spontaneous". On Friday this guy rang my door, asking if his wife was here. Turns out that she had planned to "spontaneously" visit me. So much she had told her husband the day before.

But who cares. Anybody who visits is welcome. Except for Jehovas witnesses.

And anybody who thinks my cats are adorable are my friends :).

Ze Swiss were late

In the quiz I watch every Monday to Friday there was a question about which country last allowed women to vote 1971. I knew the answer, which is very, very embarrassing.

On top of that, the canton Appenzell were forced to join the rest of Switzerland only in 1991! Like 20 years ago.

Modern countries adopted this more than 100 years ago. Which I think was too late, but still.

"Switzerland was the last Western republic to grant women's suffrage; although women could not vote in the Principality of Liechtenstein (governed under a constitutional monarchy) until 1984.Women did not gain the right to vote in federal elections until 1971.In 1991, following a decision by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, Appenzell Innerrhoden became the last Swiss canton to grant women the vote on local issues."

Or as my very old-fashioned neighbour phrased it: "well, since the women always are the bosses at home, we men felt like it was our right to vote."

I gave him the evil eye, as he so much deserved!

Neutral?

I adore West Wing. It is the best series ever shown. And I was laughing just now (again) when president Bartlet talks about ze Swiss. He was remebering a cat they had who used to bring a mouse in his mouth to the door..."this is how I begin to feel about the Swiss", ze Swiss being neutral and always being the in-between-guy. Bringing a problem that somebody else has to resolve.

Neutral means that you don't have to take a stand, but as everybody is allowed to have an opinion. Except for in certain countries of course. Mostly muslim I understand when reading the news.

Is it anything else than religion that has ever started a war?

My family

Out of sync

I think that we need to introduce a family meeting once a week, the cats and I. On one hand they have learned that the dinner table is off limits, but they wake me up by miaowing miserably outside my bedroom door early in the morning, and when I finally cave in and open the door, they come in and play like crazy on me and my bed.

Then I give up and get up. Five minutes later they fall asleep and sleep until late afternoon. This is just not on.