Monday, September 24, 2012

Musical Monday

The boys have been in a Catty mood this week.  We're all going around with classic Webber tunes like "Memory" and "Macavity" stuck in our heads.  But here's another that I like:


I feel like I can identify with the Old Gumbie Cat.  Okay, maybe not with her outfit.  (The costumes we saw in a local production were far superior to the Broadway set and their clones.)  But I have my own "tiger stripes and leopard spots."  I was born bald, of course, and then grew blonde hair, as is the custom in my family.  When my sister Vae's hair changed, it went from blonde to brunette almost overnight.  But I just started growing hairs of many colors, which yields a striped effect in braids and such.  Some people refer to me as a redhead, but I think that has as much to to with my "leopard spots"--freckles.  It's all good camouflage, anyway, for a cat who may seem quiet in order to get along with the important things in a home: music, crocheting, baking, training boy-scouts...

Here's the original poem, which I like even better:

 
I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
Her coat is of the tabby kind, with tiger stripes and leopard spots.
All day she sits upon the stair or on the steps or on the mat;
She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!

But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.
And when all the family's in bed and asleep,
She tucks up her skirts to the basement to creep.
She is deeply concerned with the ways of the mice
Their behaviour's not good and their manners not nice;
So when she has got them lined up on the matting,
She teaches them music, crocheting and tatting.

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
Her equal would be hard to find, she likes the warm and sunny spots.
All day she sits beside the hearth or on the bed or on my hat:
She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!

But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.
As she finds that the mice will not ever keep quiet,
She is sure it is due to irregular diet;
And believing that nothing is done without trying,
She sets right to work with her baking and frying.
She makes them a mouse--cake of bread and dried peas,
And a beautiful fry of lean bacon and cheese.

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
The curtain-cord she likes to wind, and tie it into sailor-knots.
She sits upon the window-sill, or anything that's smooth and flat:
She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!

But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.
She thinks that the cockroaches just need employment
To prevent them from idle and wanton destroyment.
So she's formed, from that lot of disorderly louts,
A troop of well-disciplined helpful boy-scouts,
With a purpose in life and a good deed to do
And she's even created a Beetles' Tattoo.

So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers
On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears.

 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

First Day Birthday

Six years ago, D2 was born on the first day of school.  Very early on the first day of school.  A friend received his brothers in the middle of the night, packed their lunches, and walked them to school the first day. 



This year, his birthday was on the first day of first grade.

Which wasn't a very good day for having company, so D2 invited friends over a couple of days earlier, for a penguin party.


Scoot took them fishing in the real pond.  The koi knew to stay out of the way.


They tried to feed stuffed fish to this penguin.  It wasn't particularly hungry, unless people stood at very close range.  Rollo and D2 painted the penguin, and D2 helped Dandelionslayer build the supports. 


They tried to transport their eggs safely.  I thought it would be fun to see them waddle, but they quickly solved the problem by hopping.

 
 
The Caterpillar led them in an iceberg-hopping game.  The icebergs were very slippery.
 
 


Dandelionslayer taught them a silly penguin song and dance.


We took a break for igloo cake, before the big water balloon battle.  It was a fun party.

After school on D2's real birthday, he was tired and a bit cranky.  "It was boring," he declared when I asked about school, "and too long!" 


But things got better.  Here he is, full of birthday ice cream and energy.  Well past bedtime.  What a fun little boy!