Ferret Fun & Frolic - Clothing & Costumes

I wonder how ferrets fare on boats...

 Ferret Car Magnet

Do they just enjoy tunnelling or do they gnaw on things and get into mischief? I sometimes think that our cats are part ferret because of the way they enjoy getting into tubes and things.

Well, Halloween is almost here, soon to be followed by Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Is your ferret prepared for the festivities?

Here's some interesting togs & costumes for your ferret from Amazon.com

Fashion Flower Collar - - - - - Bee Costume

Bandanna - - - - - Red Cap

Sweatshirt, Red - - - - Sweatshirt #2

Santa #1 - - - - - Santa #2

Fleece Tech Vest - - - - - Jean Jacket

Sweater - - - - - Tee

Hat & Sweater - - - - - Parka with Fur Trimmed Hood

Rhinestone Tee, Pirate - - - - - Harness & Lead

Rhinestone Tee, Blue - - - - - Rhinestone Tee, Pink

Here's a post from 2010 that you may want to visit again as it has a couple of great ferret videos!

Check out yesterday's post for costumes for dogs and cats... plus Amazon Halloween Store
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HALLOWEEN COSTUME SALE 2012 - People & Pets

Wow, it's almost that time of year again... Do you have your Halloween costume?

Amazon's Halloween Store is having a 60% off sale. Such a deal! Click HERE

While they have great people costumes that look like a lot of fun, don't forget your pets. Dogs really make out...

Batman - - - - - Hot Dog - - - - - Pirate

Police Dog - - - - - Shark

The shark would also be good for Jimmy Buffet concerts!

While we did find some spiffy outfits for cats, you can try dog costumes in small or x-small...

Cowboy - - - - - Jolly Jester - - - - - Little Devil

Hula - - - - - Elf - - - - Tie

Santa - - - - - Bumble Bee - - - - - Crown Hat & Collar

You can find more cat stuff HERE.


And what about you ferret aficionados out there?

Ferret Bee Costume

Plus there's more ferret frenzy here... Costumes & clothing for your ferret friends.


Here's a link to an old post that has a couple of good ferret videos.

Tropical Storm Rafael - US Virgin Islands

Well, I'm very happy to say that it is a beautiful morning today.

Yesterday was also a fine day (Rafael Day, part 1)... much better than the day before which was very breezy with lumpy seas. That's the type of rock & roll that I can do without!

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Saturday's NHC 11am forecast had Rafael going right over the top of us (note the first "S"), but that didn't happen. As it was, if we didn't know better, we would not have had a clue that a tropical storm passed within 85 miles of our location.  I'm NOT complaining :)

http://www.passageweather.com/

So,  after another cup of coffee, we'll retrieve our extra ground tackle, redeploy our solar panels,  unbatten the hatches, and see what the day brings.

Hope we will have decent wifi (such an optimist) so I can check out some Android Apps from Amazon.

UPDATE: It has taken well over 90 minutes to do these few lines and trying unsuccessfully to upload a 28KB image. BroadbandVI is really the pits... We pay $60/month for this "service". This is why I haven't posted anything since July 1st. When we do have a bit of acceptable wifi, I have to do more important things first, such as update our websites, etc.

But, today is a happy dance day! Waffles for breakfast, too :)

So it goes!

Picking Up a Mooring

Bareboaters... Here's a tip:  The term "picking up a mooring" does not apply when you are leaving.

Gallows Bay Moorings, Christiansted, St Croix, US Virgin Islands
(Click photo to enlarge)

I heard someone's anchor windlass going and I thought "oh, the catamaran must be leaving... but wait, they're tied to a mooring".

I looked outside and yes, they were still tied to their mooring but there was a person in the water diving between the cat and the mooring ball... The chain is going tick-a-tick-a-tick-a.

Why did they drop an anchor on top of the mooring they were tied to? What is the state of that mooring now? It's probably not that they don't care about the probable damage done, but they more than likely don't have a clue that they might have pulled out one of the two mooring screws and have made yet another one of these moorings unsafe.

This is why you should always dive and inspect the mooring you have just tied to... especially before leaving your boat unattended. 

So it goes...

Fresh Contact Lenses

First of all, I'd like to say "happy belated first day of summer" to everyone... Did you also celebrate the wonderful "Fête de la Musique"? Feel free to extend it throughout the weekend... or longer! Happy Alan Turing's birthday (he would have been 100).

Today I put on new contact lenses. My old ones finally looked past their sell-by date :) I have been wearing them for 9 weeks instead of the recommended 3 weeks... Not bad.

I use to wear Ciba Toric (monthly) lenses and I would usually get 3 months from them. They were great, except that Ciba has discontinued them and I can no longer find any in my prescription.

I now have Ciba Air Optix for Astigmatism contact lenses which the local optometrist recommended using for only 3 weeks per pair. I was at the end of my 6-pack and I didn't want to open up a new peroxide storage system until I received my new lenses so I soaked them in sterile saline solution overnight. This seemed to "plump" them up. They were comfortable to wear again. I did this for 7-10 nights and then went back to the hydrogen peroxide regimen with them. My new lenses arrived but my old ones were still going strong so I didn't change them... Yes, Ms Cheapseats!

I really prefer the hydrogen peroxide storage system to the "one step" type. It gets them squeaky clean... no champignons on my lenses anymore!

I guess I should state (before getting reprimanding emails) that if my lenses are torn or giving my eyes a problem, I will toss them and let my eyes rest up for a couple of days before starting with new ones.

Oh my gosh!  I just saw a news headline that says the average weight of an adult human is 137 pounds.  Well, at least I'm above average in something :)

Here's a link to the article: The Telegraph: The world's fattest countries: how do you compare?

So it goes...

Saharan dust

We've been having some Saharan dust over the past few weeks. It's nothing like the red dust we used to get in the Canary Islands but we were much closer to the source then.  I remember one day when visibility was extremely limited and we couldn't even see the shore.

I like the grayness of this...

The next night, the sky and water were very red... Too bad I couldn't capture the intensity of it in this picture... Photoshopping would be cheating :)

So it goes!

Vanilla Tops Lemon

The results are in... In a personal scientific study (not tainted by grant money or other "promotional considerations") carried out this week, cats prefer French Vanilla cake to Lemon cake.

The Taste Testers

Based on a group of 2 female felines, results are unanimous (100%) for the French Vanilla.

Findings also show that 50% of cats like peanut butter.

So it goes...

St Croix Animal Welfare Center Flea Market

The St Croix Animal Welfare Center (http://www.stcroixawc.org) Flea Market is a wonderful treasure trove. It is within walking distance from the boardwalk in Christiansted.

They have a very good selection of used books at good prices and the woman in charge of this section enjoys books which is a real plus!

We have found a variety of things there such as a hardly-used sextant with navigation tools & books for $10. Two life jackets in very good condition with a bag for scuba gear for $5.  Sportif shorts in great shape (like new) for $1 each. I bought all they had in my size!

They closed for a few weeks for renovations. We heard that they had reopened but when we walked by on Tuesday they were closed up tight and their sign was gone. Oh no, did they open in a new location?

Today I phoned the STX Animal Welfare Center (340-778-1650) and they said that the thrift shop is still in the same location but they have changed their opening hours (they are now closed on Tuesdays).

• Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 9:00am to 2:00pm
• Saturday: 9:00am to 4:00pm
• Sunday, Monday, Tuesday: Closed

The St. Croix Animal Welfare Center Flea Market is located at 151 Richmond (just east of Olympic car rental). If you are going from Christiansted towards Frederiksted, it is on a street to your right just before you get to the top of the hill before the post office.

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Give a cat a fish

Saw this on Moldy Chum and had to share it...

Don't know where they got it from, but thanks to the originator!

So it goes...

Memorial Day Weekend

This is Memorial Day weekend and we can expect many of these taking the short cut through the mooring field...

Overloaded little boats... It's nice they are having fun out on the water but I wish they'd have a thought for others.

Surf's UP! (do they have the required number of life jackets for all those people?)

Then there are the go-fast wanna-be cigarette boats who do laps around the anchorage or 2 or 3 of them will decide to race while waiting for their trailers to appear in the boat ramp/slipway to, thank goodness, take them out of the water and back home. Navigation lights do not appear to come standard on these expensive vessels...

Zoom Zoom Vroom Vroom

I must admit that I do take pleasure when I think of all the money they are burning up while doing this... shame on me...

Here's someone that doesn't make a wake when they pass through...

The kittens will be on alert :)

So it goes...

Talk Like Yoda Day It Is

Today, May 21st, is Talk Like Yoda Day...

Sorry that I haven't blogged in a long time (since Mardi Gras!) but we've had fairly crappy wifi (I actually got a couple of free days from our Intermittent Internet Service Provider) so when we do have decent service I use that precious time for updating websites, research, etc.

More blogging I shall do hope I...

So it goes

Happy Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday - HBO Treme series

Today is Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday...

We just finished watching the first season of the wonderful HBO Series, Treme. Many of the actors were from another excellent HBO series, The Wire. We can hardly wait for the second season to become available on April 17, 2012.

Need some tunes to get in the mood and begin your Mardi Gras festivities? Just click here and download the soundtrack to Treme.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!