#fyrasha

[copperbadge]

could you share the app/camera setup or whatever it is you use to monitor the cryptids while you travel? thanks!

Sure! It's a set of security cameras; most brands come with an app these days, and you can buy ones that are specifically pet-oriented (some have a laser pointer or a treats dispenser) though mine aren't aimed at pet owners.

The cameras are Kasa brand; I like them and they're reliable, but I would caution that Kasa is a little odd. The company has a website but only sells through third parties, so if you go to the site and find the camera you want and click "buy now" it sends you to Amazon. On the plus, while Kasa does offer a "premium" subscription plan, they don't push it at you through the app (I didn't realize it existed until I checked just now) and there's no basic subscription. Once you buy the cameras your monetary commitment is complete.

I have a couple of the Spot Pan Tilt camera (I think mine are an earlier generation of what's sold now) which let you remotely move the camera's field of vision; they have night vision and also have a speaker, so if you press the microphone button on the app you can speak through the camera. They don't record unless you put microSD chips in them (sold separately) but they do have motion detection, so like when you check the app it'll say "motion detected 12 minutes ago". The app is pretty intuitive; setup can sometimes be a little finicky but that was true of the last cameras I used, too, which were a different brand. The only issue I have is that depending on the strength of your internet connection, there's sometimes a lag between you telling the camera to move and it actually moving.

Kasa has a line of "smart" electronics which you can control through their app or a hub like Alexa (I just use the app), but most are designed to be "dumb" as well, because they aren't the device itself but rather something that interacts with it. I have a number of the Kasa smart plugs, and because they plug into your existing sockets, they're easily removable, and they also have manual off switches. I use those for setting timers on lamps, occasionally for switching the lamps off without getting out of bed, and one of them controls the heated mattress pad. All of the Internet of Things stuff in my home except my thermostat is Kasa brand, which is convenient, but it's all easily removable/replaceable, in case the company goes under or something. Kasa smart devices are also compatible with IFTTT if you really like to program shit yourself.

So yeah -- while I like Kasa and they've been pretty sturdy and reliable, it's really just strategically placed security cameras, you can go lower or higher end depending on your needs.

[naamahdarling]

I'm thinking about your Fancy tonight, because I need to think about hopeful things. About how she had everything going against her, and one would think it would have been over, except that people decided to be Good and people decided to Help. And now she has a home and a family and is a loved little brat, and that is awesome, and it helps.

God she is so spoiled.  She is relentlessly indulged in her awfulness. There are some base rules, some places she isn’t allowed to be because they are unsafe, no eating people food, no excessive treats, etc., but if she wants to be held, she gets held, if she wants to lie in the trash or empty boxes or full boxes or laundry, she is allowed to do so, if she wants to play, she gets played with or directed to one of her brothers who will play with her. She is always petted when she asks for attention. She is gently bothered as much as a cat of her temperament wants to be (being approached for physical play or a grooming ritual is an important social thing, we leave her alone if she doesn’t respond favorably). She is incredibly indulged and spoiled. I figure if any cat deserves it, it’s one who has been through as much as she has. It took us a year to get her nonsense sorted out. A year. Tests and surgery, eight weeks total of the crate, the cone. She’s been through a lot, especially for a cat so small.

I am very grateful people helped us help her. It was expensive, and I know some people think that money would have been better spent on helping more cats, but the thing is...we wouldn’t have, because we wouldn’t have had to. And the $5 and $10 donations from strangers? Would have gone to other things (like food, like gas, like meds) which is why I am so very grateful. She got saved because a lot of people wanted to help her, and gave a little. Some gave a LOT, y’all know who you are, and you have my infinite gratitude.

So she’s a victory for all y’all.

From this:

To this:

She literally doesn’t understand the word “no.”

I know we aren’t supposed to play favorites, but...damn.  This kid. She deserves everything.

[madlori]

What are some good parks/trails for hiking or nice scenery in/around Columbus? Have been to Inniswood, Shale Hollow, the trails near Creekside Gahanna, and Highbanks so far, and I am looking for more!

There are lots! Hocking Hills is one of the top hiking spots in the country. Clear Creek Metropark has some good, challenging trails, then there’s Mohican State Park, the Dayton Metroparks are also great (Germantown, Sugarcreek and Englewood are my fave). Other parks in Cbus proper that are good for hiking/walking are Slate Run, Battelle-Darby, Prairie Oaks, Sharon Woods, and Blendon Woods.

[naamahdarling]

What are the stories of how you got each of your cats? I know Fancy's, but would love to hear the rest!

Smooch and Etrigan were adopted after my best cat ever died. I waited a few months, then started looking on Petfinder, found Smooch’s listing with a really bad picture that didn’t even show his face, left it open all weekend, then called to see about meeting him.  They brought Etrigan along, too, since he had some scabs on his face and was missing some teeth, they think from being thrown from a car.  They knew I wanted a cat with a funny face.  They’d been fostered together so they were friends, despite a 6+ month age difference and a significant size difference.  In the beginning, when Etrigan was being too annoying, Smooch would literally lay on top of him until he fell asleep.  I came out of my room several times to find Smooch loafed on the hallway floor, with little spidery black limbs sticking out from under him.  His missing teeth grew back in crooked, then fell out, then grew back AGAIN, meaning he actually had 3 sets of front teeth. There might be more in there.  We just don’t know.

Harley, Raleigh, and Sid were Bear’s cats before she moved in.  

She took Harley, a longhair tuxedo, from friends of friends, to keep her out of a shelter.  Harley’s been quadruple-declawed, which is awful, but she’s a very sweet kitty.  She has her own area in the house that Fancy and my boys don’t go into, because she can’t defend herself.  Like Smooch, she has kidney disease. 

Sid was a spontaneous adopt. They were offering a huge cut on adoption prices with a food donation, she saw a black kitten, she snatched him up.  He’s a really weird little guy. Anxious, smart, handsy, no identifiable neck, tiny but built like a beer barrel, cute little voice but has the deepest growl I’ve ever heard on a cat.  He sounds like the AC unit coming on.  It took him 3 years to decide he likes me, but now he lets me pet him all over and will even purr for me and stand on his back legs with his weird little front toes spread out so I can rub his head.  As a baby, he once tried to jump into a heated oven, and we have never let him live that down.

Raleigh was a parking lot stray at Bear’s apartment complex who adopted himself into the family by wooing Sid, then inviting himself inside. As a certified lover-not-fighter, he immediately endeared himself by being snuggly as hell, and she decided to keep him. I was skeptical and thought she should try to find his owners until I met him, at which point I realized that, no, he had made his choice and also he was definitely worth stealing.  He was neutered as a young adult, probably between 9 months and a year old, so he had time to mature sexually, and he has fun with that. He and Sid are gay for one another.  No, for real. Like, literally, Sid bottoms for Raleigh pretty much every night, and I have even seen him jump down and go right over when Raleigh calls for it. Raleigh is confirmed bi (would readily mount Fancy when she was in heat, before she was healthy enough to be spayed), but IDK about Sid.  Is “anxious bottom” an orientation?

And Fancy who, for completeness’ sake, was a starving stray in Bear’s delivery area.  She had an abscessed bite wound, someone had shot her with a BB gun, and her tail was broken.  Bear scooped her up, and $4k and 2 major surgeries later we have a 7-pound house devil who is remarkably healthy and also sometimes very, very sweet.  We’re still $1k in vet debt, but it’s getting paid down slowly. She was infinitely worth it.

I did NOT intend to wind up with 6 cats. It’s a bit much sometimes.  But we do our best, and I do love them all very much.

[copperbadge]

Holiday cards, holiday cards, covered in glitter from the holiday cards! 

Santa on a rocket -- it’s captioned “Houston, we have a problem!” is from @rsfcommonplace, thank you for the Hannukah wishes! The one creature stirring (I think I may hang that card up in my kitchen, over the KitchenAid) is from Ishmael aka @mooseman13579 -- the kittens say hello and thank you! @traykor sent me the fun glittery blue Season’s Greetings, and @tehcoah sent me the glittery reindeer Season’s Greetings, both lovely; Tehcoah, I’m so glad you enjoy Trace so much! 

The dinosaur Santa -- IS t-rex santa trying to eat his reindactyls? Who can say? -- is from @yannrens, and I have definitely petted Deebs and Dot in your honor :) The wonderful red and green flowers card, supporting the Breast Cancer Network Australia, is from @amelioratrix -- thanks for the good wishes! The city postcard of downtown Toronto is from @booksnchocolate -- thank you for being such a loyal reader, and I’m glad I could be such a positive influence for you! 

The cardinals card (CARDinals!) is from @celtprincess13 and I have to say I’m so glad so many people included Deebs and Dot in their holiday wishes :D @fyrasha sent the three of us the gorgeous glittery kittens-and-books card, and in the middle there, and the fun Avengers-logo card in the middle is from @hddnone -- don’t think I didn’t notice the pun in “Have a marvelous time of year” :D 

[copperbadge]

winds-wanderer replied to your photo “Dearborn would like to remind you all it’s important to take the time...”

Look at that stretch!!! Why do the Sisters love the tub so much?

I don’t know! You’d think they’d find it cold and unyielding, but they seem to love the noise they can make thumping around in it.

fyrasha reblogged your photo and added:

Your cryptid is not a solid.

She’s non-Newtonian!

batbetbitbotbut replied to your photo “Dearborn would like to remind you all it’s important to take the time...”

Polk is the slightly bored museum tour guide showing off this strange exhibit

She’s definitely like “Dad. Make her stop being weird.” :D

radio-charlie replied to your photo “Dearborn would like to remind you all it’s important to take the time...”

omg Dearborn looks like an abstract sculpture of a cat

I love that idea! THE ABSTRACTED CAT.

[naamahdarling]

Does the setting your OCs are in have any werecreatures besides wolves?

Definitely.  Cats and bears for sure.  There are selkies.  I’ve never put any real limits on what kind of shifters there are, and if you include people who can use magic to transform themselves but are not natively shifters (animagus-style) the pool of potential creatures gets even bigger.

I really, really like shapeshifters.

[madlori]

What're your favorite restaurants?

Well this won’t mean much to anybody who doesn’t live in Columbus, but my current faves are Wolf’s Ridge Brewery, Watershed Distillery & Kitchen, The Eagle, and 101 Beer Kitchen.