Marnie

Among turkey circles, he was known as the terror of Mt. Tam. Tabs was infamous as a killer of…careers among turkey models, because he had no patience for imperfection when it came to working with other models, whether feline, human, avian or otherwise.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, he worked on many modeling campaigns with turkeys.

I don’t know how Tabs did it. When I spend two days “in the woods,” I’m ready to tap out, but Tabs was renowned throughout the feline backpacking and wilderness communities for his ability to live off the land for weeks, even months.

Must have been all those years he spent hustling between kitty modeling jobs. It made him tougher than the average tabby.

Next week we’re going camping up along the Russian River, and per (purr) usual, I’ll be in charge of navigation on the drives there and back.

I’m not worried because I learned the secret to navigation from Tabs. It was his tried-and-true map tip. Up is north. Down is south. West is left. East is right. And always use a compass. 😉

Speaking of camping, though, Tabs would have laughed at El Hub’s campfire building skills. Tabs was known to create a roaring campfire with nothing more than two sticks and his paws.

One thing we usually do get right are the s’mores. Yup, my marshmallow roasting skills are superb, but that’s only because Tabs taught me that secret too.

(The more marshmallows you use, the more chances you have to satisfy your tum. 😉)

That reminds me of the time Tabs designed a series of cat tents for REI. Some of the designs were sleek and simple, like this one, but there were also luxury options for the cat who believes that more is more (Tabs).

His personal tent was outfitted with a solar powered gravy dispenser and genuine Louis Vuitton print (of course it was). 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

If you’re a cat, there’s a lot to see and do on our little oak tree-covered hill.

Tabs was a BIG fan. We spent hundreds if not thousands of hours “patrolling” the hill.

Rosie isn’t quite as adventurous as Tabs was when it comes to exploring the neighborhood, but she’s getting there.

The hill is home to a thriving community of turkeys, deer, other cats (some nice, some malcontents), dogs, coyotes, quail, finches, owls, hawks, crows, woodpeckers, raccoons, squirrels, foxes and a rabbit (or two), to name a few.

Tabs administered everything to make sure the community performed at an optimal level, which he liked to do from one of his many perches, like his window shelf in the living room or his outdoor tabby command center.

But sometimes you have to get out there and get your paws dirty to see what’s really going on, which we did all the time on our walks.

The grass on the hill is all dead and dry right now, but the oak trees are green and action-packed.

Problem is, some of the critters in the area are no longer following proper procedures, like this ne’er–do–well who refuses to show his authorized tree pass.

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Rosie, as one of the world’s leading cat scientists, is still hard at work on the development of a new element to add to the Periodic Table. The symbol is expected to be CHKN.

Now, I don’t know how much you know about science, but this is kind of a big deal. Yeah, according to Rosie, CHKN is supposed to be delicious. It’s super tasty, and it’s also very lightweight, so one could, for instance, eat a big bowl of it without gaining an ounce.

The research was going great until about a week ago, and now it’s at a standstill.

Rosie thinks it’s because she needs a better microscope…

Marnie has been trying to help. She also works in the lab. But Rosie is a tough boss, and Marnie just mostly tries to stay out of her way.

Rosie hopes to be able to give CHKN to the world. That’s why she’s working so hard. She doesn’t want the research to go to a big conglomerate like Foster Farms. She wants to make CHKN easy and affordable for everyone.

And if she could gain a little recognition and, frankly, more treats for being a cat who’s able to do nuclear chemistry, that would also be great.

It hasn’t been easy, though. This CHKN is a tough egg to crack.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So, the back deck has been more happenin’ since Marnie started interning here at the company. You know how it is, though. Interns may mean well, but they’re still learning the ropes, so they tend to make a few…boo boos. In Marnie’s case, she’s made a few interesting gardening decisions. Like, by digging holes. She keeps digging holes in my potted tomato plants, and it’s driving me crazy!

Thank goodness for this awesome DIY irrigation system we put in last summer. It gives the plants a fighting chance while Jr. Assistant Gardener Marnie Madonna hones her green thumb. 🙂

So, while those of us of the bipedal, humanoid variety were in the islands last week, Rosie kept herself busy here at the home office, of course. Not only did she keep the business running smoothly, she also found time to invent a DIY irrigation system to keep our potted plants properly hydrated.

Sure, she could have used the watering hose, but that would have been too easy! 🙂

Here’s the gist of it: Everything’s available from Amazon, and the components are pretty affordable. Everything here can be purchased for about $75 dollars and be reused for many years. It combines a mini submersible water pump like the kind used to circulate water in a small aquarium, with a simple WiFi smart plug. You place the small pump into a bucket or other container of water, run some irrigation tubing from it to each of your potted plants, poke some holes into the tubing where you want the water to spritz your plants, and control everything from your phone with a smart plug app! You can even set an automatic schedule. Like, Rosie set hers to run for 30 minutes every morning.

A large tote like the one Rosie used here holds more than enough water to keep a handful of large potted plants happily hydrated for two to three weeks. When we got back from Hawaii, our tomatoes were going off! The bushes were bursting with bright red deliciousness. 🍅 Thank you, Rosie! 🙂

Note: The wine bottle watering spikes in these pics were from a previous effort to automatically water our plants. Rosie wasn’t too thrilled about how well they worked. They did alright for a couple days, but then they were empty, which is why she developed her WiFi water pump method, which could last a whole lot longer.

Here’s what you need:

1. Kasa Smart Plug
2. Submersible Pump
3. In-Line Dripper/Emitter
4. Raindrip 1/4 in. Supply Tubing, 50 ft.

The pump Rosie recommends has an automatic shutoff in case the tote or bucket it sits in runs out of water. She said the whole thing is really easy to set up, but give yourself a couple hours to cut the tubing, which you can easily do with a pair of household scissors, and poke the little holes into the tubing with a sewing needle. You can use little pieces of duct tape to cover up any holes in the tubing you decide you don’t want to use.

The Kasa smart plug Rosie used isn’t outdoor rated, so this one works best if it isn’t exposed to rain. Kasa does make a fully outdoor smart plug if you need one.

It’s a good idea to cover the water container you use, especially if it’s going to be left outside, because of, you know, MOSQUITOS. No one wants to come home to a billion hungry bugs.

Small plastic stakes are available that you can use to keep the tubing off the ground, but they really aren’t necessary. You can use a rock or something else to position the tubing and keep it where you want it.

You may, and probably will, also need an extension cord, because the submersible pump only has about a 4 ft. long power cable. Here’s a pretty good one.

At the very end of your tubing, you may want to crimp or fold the last inch or two of tubing and hold it crimped with a rubber band. If you don’t do that, that last plant in the line will probably get a lot more water than everything else — probably a lot more water than it needs. Crimping the end will increase the water pressure and the flow rate to the needle holes you make elsewhere in the tube.

Happy watering! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

You’re not gonna believe this, but guess who crashed Rosie’s 4th of July barbecue.

Yup, Harris!