@#&*ing Cats

Hello! Everyone! Jemima Jones Beck here with some shocking news...a few days ago Mom and I discovered that SOMEONE has been killing Mom's sprouts!
An investigation into the matter ensued, resulting in the following evidence. A warning: these photos are graphic! Look away if you become squeamish at the sight of vegetable violence!
Photographic evidence item 1 shows a beheaded beet sprout. Oh! The horror!

Photographic evidence item 2 shows a stomped beet sprout...why? oh why lord are you allowing this violence to take place against our veggies?
Photographic evidence 3: stomped lettuce which is currently clinging to life in a vegetable ICU.

Photographic evidence 4, a swath of Earthbox soil that has been completely denuded of all sprouts! No plant life remains in this desolate kill zone!
And finally, photographic evidence 5 which may ultimately lead us to the culprit: cat hairs stuck to the side of the Earthbox!
Hard evidence that whoever did this horrible crime was indeed a cat.
This evidence leaves us with three suspects:

Wellington.

Spork, as seen through Wellington's whiskers.

And, our primary suspect due to the fact that he jumped up on Mom with dirt and plant covered paws, Netty. That's a plant killin' look in his eye for sure!

And me. While I am not a suspect, I am surely ashamed. Ashamed of the fact that I left my post as guard to Mom's sprouts just long enough for them to be stomped, chewed and generally destroyed. I am sorry Mom, and I promise that a travesty like this one will never happen again! Love, Jemima Jones Beck

Ugh, Snow

Hi! Everyone! Jemima Jones Beck here.
Well, after three months of abnormally high temperatures here in Colorado, we had a blizzard! That's right! There are about 14 inches of snow on the ground now, and, you know, there is NOTHING that I hate more than going out in the snow.
Thanks a lot winter!

"Uh oh, I know what the sweater means!"

"Please Mom, just let me poop in the house!"

"UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"My paws are FREEZING! Not to mention my hoohoo!"

"Maybe if I just stand in these four holes for a while the snow will melt around me and I can then go back inside."

Mom also received an award from Ladypug Mugs for growing veggies in her Earthbox. Thanks very much Rachel! How sweet are you for thinking of Mom and her sprouts?

Here are the rules of this award:

1. Link to the person who tagged you 2. Post rules on your blog

3. Write five random things about yourself

4. Tag random people at the end of your post and link to them

5. Let each person know they've been tagged

So, here are five random things about Mom, since technically SHE got the award...but I am not offended! Oh no, Mom can have all of the awards that she wants. I don't need any more of them. I've already got like four so Mom can totally have one. Hmph.

1. Mom wears glasses and has since second grade (I am wondering if maybe that makes Mom a loser dork, I think that it might).

2. Mom knits. I believe that this might also make Mom a bit of a dork (what Mom? Oh no, I really am not jealous of your award, not at all, you dork).

3. Mom was born in Page, Arizona. I think that this might make Mom an, ummm, an Arizonian! Yeah! Take that you Arizonian!

4. Mom likes Rocky Road Ice Cream. Ha! Everyone knows that the best flavor is vanilla! HA! Rocky Road liker!

5. Mom wears a size 9.5 shoe. What a big footed freak! Mom's a freak! Mom's a freak. A freak who stole my award!

Anyways...Mom thinks that almost everyone who reads our blog has gotten this award, so we aren't going to tag anyone.

Love,

Jemima Jones Beck

Massacre! Carrots! And a Visit to Grandma Andrea

Ahhhh! Oh my gosh everyone! Look what Mom did! After all that excitement about her lettuce sprouts and her beet sprouts, this morning I found her sitting by her Earthbox massacring the innocent little things! Mom claims that she had to "thin" (aka massacre) her sprouts because they were so crowded that if she hadn't "thinned" them, then they all would have died, but I just don't know. I think that they must have done something to make her angry. I am scared now, and don't want to make Mom angry for fear of the "thinning".

The carrots sprouted. Be afraid little carrot sprouts, be very afraid and anger Mom not so that the wrath of the thinning comes not upon you!

Before Mom got all wrathful with the sprouts this morning, she and I got to visit Grandma Andrea! Yay!

First, Grandma Andrea let us into her house, which, is always a good first step when visiting someone...(also, Mom made the slippers that Grandma Andrea is wearing - cool huh?).

Then, Grandma Andrea made us lunch. I got to have my own little bowl of food! I am so loved!

"snorf snorf Grunt! Grunt! Slurp! Chomp! Grunt!"

Mom and Grandma Andrea ate their food while sitting at a table. I had to stand on the floor, looking up at them, trying REALLY HARD to see the food...

"Come on you two, just let me SEE it for a second! I don't even want to EAT any of it, I just want to SEE it!"

And finally, I got to ride in the backseat of Grandma Andrea's car.

What a wonderful time (aside from the massacre and all that).

Love,

Jemima Jones Beck

A Beet Has Sprouted!

Hi! Everyone. Jemima Jones Beck here with, yet another, totally uninteresting update from Mom's garden.
The exciting news today: A beet has sprouted! WOW I am just super thrilled. How about you? Mom is excited though, so that makes me happy.
Mom says that the beets were supposed to take 25 days from planting to sprouting so this guy is a little early, and she may not see any more beets for another few weeks.
The lettuce is growing at an amazing rate (already the sprouts are about 2 inches tall), but there has been no sign of the carrots. Mom is not concerned about this lack of initiative on the part of the carrots as they are also supposed to take 25 days from planting to sprouting. I am not concerned about this lack of initiative on the part of the carrots because I, unlike so many of you other pugs out there, HATE carrots. I wouldn't touch a carrot with a ten foot pole (the same goes for you, lettuce and beets, you stay in Mom's garden and the heck away from me)!
Love,
Jemima Jones Beck



"Holy crap Mom! I think that I hear Beets sprouting back in the house - lets go inside! Hurry!"


"Seriously Mom! BEETS! Forget the stick! Lets go inside and look at a tiny little red sprout! YES!"

The Lettuce Has Sprouted!

Hey! Everyone! Mom is hijacking my blog and making me tell you that her lettuce has sprouted! That's four days from planting to sprouting which is pretty fast, and Mom is really excited. She spent about 15 minutes sitting on the floor next to the Earthbox photographing her little sprouts. The first picture is of some Romain Lettuce sprouts and the second picture is of some Black Seeded Susan Lettuce Sprouts. Can you tell just how thrilled I am and just how much I care from the last picture? Don't worry, I wont let Mom interrupt my regularly scheduled pugness with plant sprouts very often! Love, Jemima Jones Beck

Angry Face

Hi! Everyone! Jemima Jones Beck here today to show you my angry face.
Don't worry, this angry face isn't for you, it's for Mom, who DRAGGED me on a three mile DEATH MARCH this afternoon and then had the audacity to try to take pictures of me when we got home and I FINALLY got to lie down.
The ANGRY FACE says it all! "Do not disturb, except in the case of food".
Love,
Jemima Jones Beck
PS: (Jemimas Mom's note: I took her on the same walk that we go on almost every day - once around Sloan's Lake - silly pug).

Mom Wants a Garden

Hi! Everyone! Jemima Jones Beck here. As usual, not much is going on around the Beck home. So, I thought that I would tell you about something that Mom really loves to do...gardening. Now, since Mom, Dad, the Kitties, and I live in a studio apartment, Mom can't have a real garden (you know, real, as in with raised beds in the backyard, etc, etc), so she has containers, lots and lots of containers full of plants.
These two plants are Bob and Rita, the phaleanopsis orchids that Mom ordered from Hawaii.
Rita here really needs a bigger pot, but Mom is having trouble finding one of the correct size here in non tropical Colorado...
Mom recently (about a month ago) planted a whole bunch of new seeds...
Cilantro (above), also known as Coriander... Basil (below), also known as homemade pesto, and lavender, which does not photograph well (so isn't shown here), but smells really nice!

Here is Mom's Phallic Cactus Garden...

And Mom's purchase from this afternoon the Earthbox! Now, I know that the Earthbox is big, and damn ugly, but I am really excited about it because it will allow Mom to plant a miniature garden complete with it's own irrigation system, right here in the apartment! And if Mom can plant her own garden then I hopefully wont have to listen to her whine about wanting a garden, and wanting to grow her own lettuce, and wanting to be able to read her favorite gardening blogs without feeling like an interloper! Yay Earthbox! Today, Mom planted carrots, beets, and two types of lettuce in it...lets all hope that it grows so that I wont have to listen to Mom whine about her garden lust anymore!

Spork the cat is evidently very unimpressed with the Earthbox...
Love,
Jemima Jones Beck

A New Laptop, A Frozen Dead Guy, and Dad in Lycra

Hi! Everyone! Jemima Jones Beck here. I am sorry that it has been such a long time since I have posted, or visited any of your blogs, but our laptop, Mango, had a fatal accident a few days ago, and Mom and Dad really took their time about buying a new one. There was in fact talk of not buying a new laptop until more money could be had here at chez Beck. But in the end, Mom realized how hard it would be for her to find a job, do her blog, and keep up with her blogging friends without a computer.
In the mean time, nothing much new has happened here. Mom is still looking for work, Dad is still training hard for the beginning of the bike racing season, and I continue to beg for food at every opportunity. I was actually successful today, and managed to acquire some of Mom's homemade lasagna. I am saving a bit of it for later on my right ear, as you can see in the first picture.
The only exciting thing that has happened lately was a festival that Mom and Dad attended that I was not invited to: Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland, Colorado, is an annual event celebrating "Grandpa", an old man
who is cryogenically frozen in a donated TuffShed. Grandpa is kept at a frosty minus 109 degrees Fahrenheit using only the dry ice that is delivered by his caretaker once every five weeks. Frozen Dead Guy Days always includes a Ball, at which an Ice Queen is crowned each year, a parade of Hearses, the Polar Plunge, Coffin Races, and, of course, a Pancake Breakfast. Mom didn't get any great pictures but I have included the few that she did get here.
And also, just for you Norman, here are two extra spicy pictures of Dad in his birthday Lycra. The first features Dad right after he has "mounted" his bike, and in the second you can see Dad "just happening" to bend over to "check" something right as Mom took a picture. Yeah.
Love,
Jemima Jones Beck

Oreo the Orbea

Hey Everyone! Jemima Jones Beck here with some shocking pictures!
After Dad's birthday party last week Mom and Dad tied balloons on me. That's right! They tied more and more and more balloons on me -probably in the hope that I would float up to the ceiling like some extra cute pinata.
Fortunately, I never did get any "air", and Dad hung onto me for most of the time. Still, it was scary! What if they hadn't been able to get me down?
Goodboy Norman Featherstone wants to know if Dad got any spandex/Lycra-y gifts for his birthday. Indeed he did! Pictures to come! Stay tuned!









































The recent acquisition that Dad is the most excited about is his new bicycle, Oreo the Orbea.
Dad joined a bicycle racing team this year and bought Oreo through the team. Currently, Dad and Oreo are training hard for their first race of the season, which is in just a few weeks. (please ignore the damage that the bad bad bad kitties have done to our chairs in this picture. Thank you).


















Well, that's about it for me today. More news as it arises! And pictures of Dad in tight birthday Lycra soon!
Love,
Jemima Jones Beck
PS: What? Do I have something on my face??!