Mornin' all, I'm pretty sure I know this one, it's still well used at our house but only by Basil now. It's a no-no for Percy.

Annette

Hmmm, one idea sprang to mind, but not sure if it fits with Annette's comments. We'll see if I land on my feet with this one or tumble around as usual until everyone's clues make the answer obvious to me.

Cynthia

Good morning all,
the calm before the storm here. I really don't know if these dopler radar gizmos work any better than just sticking your head out the window and smelling the air. Seems they're just wasting money on guessing. lol to each his own.

"For every action there is an equal, yet opposite reaction." Sir Isaac Newton.
simply stated...I need more clues to come to any conclusion.
:) Laura

lol. Well, this invention creates equal and opposite reactions!! All the while relieving pet and owner. My girls are not familiar with this invention, however!

{{gwi:599053}}
Newton built the first practical reflecting telescope and developed a theory of colour based on the observation that a prism decomposes white light into the many colours of the visible spectrum. This is where I thought Cyn was going yesterday - silly me.
This is more how I imagined it, though:
{{gwi:599055}}

Nancy.

That reminds me of a pink Floyd album

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:599051}}

Isaac Newton and cats! Man, where do you gals come up with this stuff? Need more clues ( laughing).

hmmm, I might be on to something.:)
reflecting light from a prism, cat and dog owners are thankful,Sir Isaac Newton.
but your daughters don't know about it, puzzles me.
do your daughters own cats?
I'm still learning the game, Am I allowed to ask question?

:) Laura

Painstaking research goes into this question every week!! lol. - then, sometimes you wake up Sunday morning, and what looked like a genius question the night before looks pretty lame!! That would be this Sunday morning, but desperation seems to be the source of the best questions!! Laura, very good. We will make you an honourary old person!!

Many think this to be an early example of an urban legend, but one of Newtons contemporaries at Trinity College reported seeing it - so perhaps he did not think if sufficiently important to patent!! My Midnight did, however!!

Nancy.

Laura, the more questions, the more clues, the closer we get to answers! Yes, ask questions!!

haha about lame questions when you wake up Sunday morning! I get that feeling almost every Saturday!

Is gravity involved? Combined with my previous post, that would be where I am headed. Hot or cold?

Cynthia

Well, hmmm. I love this science trend we're in this weekend. I know a couple of things about Newton and even wrote a song about him once for fun. That doesn't seem to be helping me with this question though. Cats like it, but yours don't know about it. Hmmmmmmm again.

TM

Aghhh, again, forgot to post!! I am taking a break from putting curtains up, finally, in my bedroom. The old vertical blinds were beyond repair. I have a pair of pink and orange silk curtains I picked up at the big yard sale last year. They're not wide enough, but I have added a butter yellow sheer, and will swag each set to one side on the matching windows. I think it will look good with the paint - Para Earthenware. Pita is sitting on the windowsill, talking to the birds
Gravity it part of the action and reaction.

Nancy.

Then, I think I was right. At least, I hope so and will stick with it. If I am right, I included hints in my first post. Of course, if I am wrong...

Cynthia

Laura, my girls are my cats - lol. I didn't notice what you said, at first! Getting things done on a ladder is like torture. Now Pita is playing with the curtains - she like the way they swing!!

Nancy.

Saw this poem when we visited the Book of Kells at Trinity College - nothing to with the question, btw, I just like the poem. Pangur is a typical irish cat name from the time-period, and ban means he was white - cool, huh??

The scholarly monk and his cat, Pangur Bán

(from the Irish by Robin Flower)

I and Pangur Ban my cat,
'Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.

Better far than praise of men
'Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill-will,
He too plies his simple skill.

'Tis a merry task to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.

Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.

'Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.

When a mouse darts from its den,
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!

So in peace our task we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.

Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.

Nancy.

The thing I thought of as a possible cat toy is also something that I ruled out because it wasn't discovered or invented by Newton. It is named after him, though, so maybe that has led you just a little astray, Miss Nancy. The way the clues are shaking out, I think I'll go back to my first thought, because tick-tock, time's a wasting.

Or maybe I am out in that left field again.

TM

nice poem,
life is good when you are good at enjoying your life.
thanks for sharing :)
my husband brought home something that caused poor chin-chin to run into a cabinet. I said that wasn't very nice, he claimed it was an accident. Ok then why was he laughing?
The pets in my house are room mates. Not very good ones at that. lol. We're learning to tolerate each other.
:) Laura

lol. Never heard of a cat toy named for Newton - do tell!! This, as I said, has been cited as an early urban legend, save for the fact a friend of his saw it on his door at Trinity, or at least the evidence it had existed.....as I said, he never did put his name on it. Hmmmm....any help??

Nancy

No laser? rats!
:) Laura

Oh jeepers. I am wrong again. I wasn't even thinking of a toy-I was focusing on something completely different about cats themselves and a certain movement. Oh well. Back to re-reading to look for clues.

Cynthia

OK, left field it is.

It was hanging on Newton's door. Probably.
Grind, grind, scrape, skreek, skreek.
(The sounds of thinking)

Wracking brain for Newton knowledge. He is known for
-Laws of Motion
-Optics
-Universal gravitation
-Inventing calculus
What else ?????

Wild guess: Is this some kind of crystal thingy?

TM

________________

That is my brain flat lining. ;)

I give up. I had been thinking you meant the way cats flip in the air to land on their feet when they fall, but I have been wracking my brain here and coming up with nothing. I liked the laser idea, Laura.

I will just wait for the answer.

Cynthia

I have been reading along and like TM was thinking of crystals but the comment about doors has me thinking another direction.

I'm sowing my tomatoes tonight and reading about all the ins and outs of different ways people start them. Heat mat? On top of frig? Guess I will go try the heat mat as picked one up for a pittance awhile back. It is small so some will also go on top of the fridge. Starting 13 different varieties.

Ahhh, ins and outs.....that is a good way to think, but Bobbie - what I have heard is that it is only the older fridges that produce the heat needed to start these seeds. It is like the pit and pendulum, figuring which way to go, and I always forget to keep moisture to those poor fridge top dwellers.

Nancy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garrison Keeler

I saw a cartoon on face book, can't find it now.
any way it was st Peter holding open the pearly gates and a cat just standing there. So St peter asked "are you coming in or not?"
The caption on top said "Why cats have nine lives".
I wish i found it to show you all cause it was so cute.
:) Laura
you kids stay up way too late for me. good nite.

I know that refrigerators are better insulated now but since warm air rises it should be a little warmer up there. Decided to try some on the frig, some near a southwest window and some on a heating pad on the kitchen counter. I sow three seeds of each and usually have 90-100% germination.

I put the containers inside larger clear air tight containers until they germinate so they stay moist. This year I am trying some in recycled styrofoam cups which are placed inside a sandwich bag.

Our Percy is strictly an inside kitty, Basil on the other hand comes in and out, does this help?

Annette

A cat door/dog door?

TM

I saw that cartoon, too, Laura. It was very cute!

We have snow here today. It started last night and is still coming dowm. Happy 1st day of spring break to me! I will post a pic with my iPad on a new thread.

Cynthia, who apparently has not even one functioning brain cell...

Well, Cynthia - I do believe you had it!! - you lacked faith?? lol.

Yes, we are talking about a cat-flap/cat-door! The savior of pets and pet owners everywhere.

In an apparent early modern example of urban legend, the invention of the pet door was attributed to Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727) in a story (authored anonymously and published in a column of anecdotes in 1893) to the effect that Newton foolishly made a large hole for his adult cat and a small one for her kittens, not realizing the kittens would follow the mother through the large one. Two Newton biographers cite passages saying that Newton kept "neither cat nor dog in his chamber". Yet over 60 years earlier, a member of Newton's social circles at Trinity, one J. M. F. Wright, reported this same story (from an unknown source) in his 1827 memoir, adding: "Whether this account be true or false, indisputably true is it that there are in the door to this day two plugged holes of the proper dimensions for the respective egresses of cat and kitten." Several sites say this is fact, so I will go with this reality!! I did not find, till a searched, reference to it being called a Newton door, though!
{{gwi:599056}} Cat holes have probably been with us since cats domesticated themselves in Egypt!! The innovation of the flap is modern, and the bit attributed to Newton!!
{{gwi:599057}} This pic makes me think of my Midnight!! That car door/tunnel in my old cottage saved both of our sanitys!! lol.

Innovations continue: Some use a permanent magnet mounted on the pet's collar to activate a matching electromagnetic mechanism that unlatches the door panel when the magnet comes within range; several pets can be fitted with collars that match the same door. Pet doors with infrared locks open only when a collar-mounted device transmits the correct code to the latch's receiver, allowing owners to have multiple flaps that different pets can use, e.g. a small cat flap to the back yard and a large dog door accessing a dog run. Either type can be used to selectively allow one pet outside access, while denying it to one that does not have the necessary equipment (e.g., an ill animal that needs to stay indoors). Like I could keep a collar on any of my outdoor cats!! lol. Some of the newest models use radio-frequency identification to electronically read a pet's microchip implant rather than the pet having to wear a collar that triggers the mechanism.

Newton was not, btw, hit on the head by the apple, but the idea did strike him while taking tea in an orchard. He observed the perpendicular fall of the fruit, wondering by it did not travel sideways or upwards. The resulting theory was progression on his work. Several gardens in England lay claim to 'the' apple tree in question, but there is strong doubt it was only one particular tree

So, I think everyone did get it, yes?

So, again, thanks for playing. See you next week, and we'll see whether genius or madness strikes!!!

Nancy.

Newton was a genius no doubt.

This is the thing I was first thinking of, called Newton's cradle, or the name you want to avoid when teaching high school kids: Newton's balls.

{{gwi:599058}}

I've never seen a cat play with one, but I'm sure some cat somewhere has done so.

Fun question and answer, Nancy. Thank you, yet again.

TM

Oh fun! No, I do not deserve stars at all-not even one! I was thinking of the way cats seem to twist in the air to land on their feet when they fall.

I think it is very cool that Newton had cats and kittens and cared enough to give them a way in and out (or maybe he was just tired of getting up!). Funny that he cut two holes!

TM, Newton's balls-haha. Definitely one to avoid in high school...middle school and probably even elementary schools these days.

Thanks so much for the fun, Nancy.

When we first installed the pet door it was for Heidi, more for our convenience then hers, we just had to open the kitchen door she'd go down the stairs and out the outside door. I looked it up then to see who'd come up with such a step saving (for us) invention, was surprised to find out how long the concept had been in use.

When we inherited Basil an outside cat our neighbor had to leave behind, he used it to get out of the weather. We put a bed in the stairwell for him during the winter. He's getting to be an old boy now (18) and spends most of the winter inside in front of the fire, but now that spring has sprung he prefers to spend most of his time outside camping out, he has his own little tent :).

Annette

TM - so not where I was going!!! Not sure how you'd give clues for that.........
omg, Annette - so true for me, as well. When I had my first little cottage, my Midnight made me insane - in/out, out/in!!! Yikes. Some at the local pet store said put a cat flap in!! lol. A weird old cottage cat flap turned into a 17" cat tunnel. My Midnight did not know what to make of it at first - at first I had to shove his rigid body through the hole. Upon seeing the outside, his body relaxed, and he was gone!! lol. And as they say, that is all we wrote!! Nici came in this way!!

When you see the black cat with paws about to hit the ground, you see why Newton thought to put upper and lower egress into the works - just saying!!

Nancy.

Fortunately I wasn't clueless or I would still be wondering what the answer is. Thank for the interesting question and good clues.

My cats did not have a cat door and I don't recall seeing one in anyone's home.

Nancy, Thanks for the stars and the fun!
My friend has a cat door and her pinecone loves to bring her presents. Yuck. often they're still alive, once it was a baby snake. Her DH flushed it down the toilet. LOL For weeks she was afraid it was going to slither it's way back up.

:) Laura

lol - Laura. My Nicademus was a might hunter, catching red squirrels and twice bringing partridges home. The multitude of chipmunks, voles, mice and baby bunnies were annoying. No snakes, thank god!!

Nancy.