so what kind of neat hobbies do you have
well i like gardening a lot i like to be outside um
i like gardening i wish i had a green thumb though
i've got a brown thumb that's what everything turns
uh oh is but do you try keep trying anyway
i keep trying uh you know you just can't can't give up on it uh i uh i bought some uh plants from Michigan Bulb Company they send them to you all ready alive
no no i've never had any luck with their's
oh really
right
i guess i guess these are going to croak too since i've got cats i decided to get some catnip
oh
lots and lots of catnip so it's it's still green and it's been two days so i'm encouraged
no i i haven't had had good luck with that company uh i think some of it depends how long things stay in the mail probably
yeah
but i've had to to get my money back from them and had better luck with with some of the the more expensive companies
yeah there's a uh i don't know do you have Lowe's up there
because they
uh well
its uh building uh contractor or building supplies place
no
um they they also have a garden shop and they they offer just as good a guarantee if you buy it from them
uh-huh
oh that's great now our local stores don't don't offer any guarantee
yeah
um
but some of the the mail order ones that i've dealt with for roses and that they offer through through the first Summer
hum
yeah
which at least if they if they take off the first year they're probably going to come up unless there's uh a terrible freeze or something
yeah yeah
yeah something like that uh i got a whole bunch of bulbs along with this stuff so i'm going to wait on those
oh they're bulbs for Spring or Fall
uh probably Spring but uh i don't much care about things like that i'll i'll make a little sort of greenhouse a miniature greenhouse to put all this stuff in
something something to keep me occupied you see
uh-huh uh-huh
i'll uh buy some plastic and make a little house and
cute
yeah and watch the cats tear it up
right i don't know that do cats bother bulbs i think more the mice or other rodents
they they just like to get in and dig
oh i see so if you have fresh dirt they'll
oh they love to dig i had i had some uh i don't know what kind they are i've already forgotten just regular old flower seeds
and i planted them and i was so i was so thrilled because they came up i mean nice green shoots coming up all over the place and then my cats got into it and started digging and that took care of that
uh gee
so i have to hang these things high so they can't get to them especially the catnip
how many cats do you have oh okay
three
actually i just put a uh little fence around my yard uh um
which is i suppose technically illegal but i had so many groundhogs last year that i think they'll let me get by with it and it it's got this one inch mesh and what i've noticed it's kept the cats out and i love it
um yeah yeah because they they like to get in and fertilize things too but uh why would it be illegal
well because we have these town uh i live in a townhouse and anyway all of our areas have associations that you have to get permission
oh
uh yeah right
and you know they want uh privacy fences
well if nobody yeah if nobody complains you're all right
right right well they do walking tours too so
um
but at least because i back up to um a hillside where the uh wild animals are i think i can probably justify it
um
yeah an and if somebody raises a stink about it you can always go before the association and argue your case anyway
right right i mean
you know you don't have to put up with all these wild critters coming into your property
right the first year the deer ate my garden and i was just astounded i'm going deer right here in the city
yeah right here Bambi
exactly
uh gosh
and so
well let's see other than gardening which i fiddle at i'm not very good at what else do i mostly just computer stuff
oh
i just like playing with my computer and doing stuff on that uh cooking that's not really a hobby it's a necessity but but i enjoy it i like to think that i'm a very good cook
oh great
hobbies that's about it i don't have much time for hobbies so uh
between being a student and trying to run a business on the side you don't have a lot of time
right that keeps you busy
yeah and raising cats
i mean that could become a hobby
well it's it started out as a hobby actually uh it just it developed into sort of a business uh you know we breed them and all that
uh-huh
um
but we didn't you know we didn't really start it for the money it was just they were fun to have around and we figured if we're going to have them we might as well have some purebreds and
and now it developed in to going to cat shows and finding studs for them and you know all this kind of stuff
uh-huh
uh-huh what kind of cats are they
uh i've got a uh a Bombay a Turkish Van and a Himalayan Persian
wow
yeah the himmy is probably the sweetest one she's she's just a little sweetheart
we uh the the Bombay had a litter uh last October and i just got her back from the vet this morning getting her spayed only going to breed them once
oh okay
and uh she's not she's not feeling too great today
um is that typical to only breed them once
no uh most most breeders are in it for the money so they'll breed they'll breed them twice a year
uh-huh
uh-huh
and i i just think that it's kind of i do n't know it's kind of cruel you know they just they just breed these they breed them before they're ready uh and
right
you're never you're never real and and they they do a lot of inbreeding too and so you end up with you know kind of strange kittens
uh-huh uh-huh
and i just don't like that
so will you uh breed one of the litter then next year
we're we sold all that litter
oh
um
we there's not that much call to for Bombay's
uh-huh
um they're they're registered but they're not they're not uh they're not show cats
oh i see
uh so all you can do is sell them as pet quality
uh-huh
uh so what you've got is a registered pet and not too many people want Bombay's they want things like himmy Persians and Turkish Vans
uh-huh
Turkish Vans if you've never seen one i mean you wouldn't know that it was a pure bred it's just uh medium size short hair cat it's got he's mostly white with uh brown and black patches
oh
but they have nice personalities and they're very inquisitive
um now the himmy we'll probably breed her a couple of times and we'll we'll end up keeping one out of each litter and then breeding those
right
it's just the stud fees are so much though it'll cost about three hundred dollars for a stud for her we we want to breed her with a champion so
uh-huh
right now these are long haired
yeah the Persian is
uh-huh uh-huh
and the other two are short hairs
right
oh that's nice
yeah she's uh she's sweet going to have some nice kittens i hope
uh-huh
she's uh she's if you if you know what a Himalayan is generally they look something like uh well they come in a lot of different colors people don't realize it but they're sort of like uh Siamese in a way they have the uh they have the uh
they have the gloves on the paws and they're they're usually two colored uh but this one is uh
is she's predominantly predominantly uh black but she has chocolate uh paws chocolate stomach and silver on her hindquarters
and yeah she's she's quite attractive looking
gee
uh-huh uh-huh
hope hope the stud will find her attractive
and that she has kittens that look like her
and and that she has a whole bunch of kittens but we have to be careful uh you know we have to get a particular color point uh stud you can't just breed them with anything we have to get a uh we have to get a silver point himmy
so the silver will be predominate in the kittens
i see
that's it that's the fun part trying to figure out what you've got to breed them with can't just go out there and say okay you guys breed you know
you can't just tell them that anyway but oh dear well it really sounds like uh uh a business more than a hobby
that's right
well actually i mean it it is a business in a way but it it's a lot of fun as a hobby especially when you go to shows and get to see all the different cats we're we're about to get another breed we're going we're going to buy a Devon Rex
and i didn't i don't like Devon Rexes at first it's a well actually it's a mutant it it comes from England and uh from in the county of Devon
what is it
oh
and it's a mutant cat and they're they're pretty expensive we're going to we're going to shell out probably about a thousand bucks for one um they're
very thin they're they're they're long and lanky and skinny and they have real short hair it's curly as a matter of fact
um
um yeah it it it's a strange looking cat uh i didn't like them at first they've got great big ears
huh interesting
