Cats and Xmas Trees, advice please

"John F. Eldredge" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:36:34 +0100, MatSav wrote:

"hopitus" wrote in message
news:cc888744-1ad1-4d6e-
...
On Oct 25, 12:57 am, "MatSav" matthew | dot | savage | at | dsl | dot
| pipex | dot | com wrote:
"Sharon & Smudgie" wrote in
m...



Last xmas was Smudgie's first xmas. She watched with great interest
whilst I put up the tree and it made me wonder how long it would be
before she;

a. pulled it over on top of her
b. got stuck in it
c. ate the baubles

...

When I came to pack the tree away I discovered the source of the
lighting problem .... hundreds of "bits" of lights and wires fell
into a heap on the floor. The little madam must have been chomping
on the wires after I had gone to bed! I would really like to have
lights on my tree this year but can't
fathom a way to do so unless I fork out more cash to buy a pre-lit
tree....

I have a fibre-optic tree with the varying colour light source in
the base of the tree. I think it's wonderful, and much better than
ordinary lights.

--
MatSav

Where I live now, many residents of these old 1850-and-on constructed
houses which mostly have *no* driveways because it all went up before
the auto became a staple and all transportation was by horse....they
like
to try to keep up holiday decorations as if those days were still with
us:
i.e. *candles* in holders, clipped to branches of the holiday tree.
Not only
that, but the whole thing is usually at the foot of the stairway, so
if it goes
up in flames for any reason the front doorway exit totally
blocked...the
first time I saw this, it blew me away. They put it in that spot so it
may be
seen easily from the street.
Hopefully you live someplace where this insanity does not go on
widespread.
Instead of light strings, have you considered using what is recommended
for
metallic trees - a battery-operated spotlight from the floor?

I agree with you that candles on trees are risky. Fibre-optic trees
aren't metallic though - they're glass and plastic. Something like this
one:

http://www.godfrey-diy.co.uk/gallery/24030140-large.gif

Hopefully, most of the people are using electric candles, not real ones.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

I hope so also a lady went to sleep in an apartment complex a couple nights
ago in our local area and the candle was knocked over by the family dog
many people lost their lives to a single air freshening candle

On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 01:50:17 -0400, "Matthew"
wrote:
"John F. Eldredge" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:36:34 +0100, MatSav wrote:
"hopitus" wrote in message
news:cc888744-1ad1-4d6e-
...
On Oct 25, 12:57 am, "MatSav" matthew | dot | savage | at | dsl | dot
| pipex | dot | com wrote:
"Sharon & Smudgie" wrote in
m...

snip

I hope so also a lady went to sleep in an apartment complex a couple nights
ago in our local area and the candle was knocked over by the family dog
many people lost their lives to a single air freshening candle

Don't take this the wrong way but there seems to be some affinity
between woman and candles that men don't seem to be able to penetrate!

It probably isn't the 'phallic' significance because those scented
tea-lights seem to produce the same sort of emotions in girls/women
I've discussed this with.

And once a month we hear stories of someone dying because a candle
tipped or was knocked over whilst the owner was asleep.

Welshdog
--

News and views... for people like youse!!

Australian Opinion
(http://australianopinion.com)

Not as strange as it looks!

"Welsh Dog" wrote in message

On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 01:50:17 -0400, "Matthew"
wrote:
"John F. Eldredge" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:36:34 +0100, MatSav wrote:
"hopitus" wrote in message
news:cc888744-1ad1-4d6e-
...
On Oct 25, 12:57 am, "MatSav" matthew | dot | savage | at | dsl
| dot
pipex | dot | com wrote:
"Sharon & Smudgie" wrote in
m...

snip

I hope so also a lady went to sleep in an apartment complex a
couple nights ago in our local area and the candle was knocked over
by the family dog many people lost their lives to a single air
freshening candle

Don't take this the wrong way but there seems to be some affinity
between woman and candles that men don't seem to be able to penetrate!

It probably isn't the 'phallic' significance because those scented
tea-lights seem to produce the same sort of emotions in girls/women
I've discussed this with.

Coz there's nothing quite as pretty relaxing and indeed comforting as
candlelight (or an open fire for that matter). Yes, its hard to explain -
must be something in the 'genetic memory' so to speak.

And once a month we hear stories of someone dying because a candle
tipped or was knocked over whilst the owner was asleep.

Used to be cigarettes whilst the smoker was asleep.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

"ScratchMonkey" wrote in
message
Sara wrote in news:70p3g4tgsp3vj7ljs4bbo78id4ibcmjjdd@
4ax.com:

the last couple of years I bought those cans of spray that the cats
hate (bitter apple?) from the pet supply store and sprayed the tree
several times a day -- might need to pay special attention to the
wires on your tree. might want to get some and try it out on
something else first to see how it works for you...

The idea of my Harley turning into Fried Harley had me training her
at a very early age that wires of any kind were Very Bad to mess
with. And having multiple computers and being a gamer, I've got lots
of wires around me. She's very responsive to a bark of "No!" and the
very rare smack on the butt. I've got some of the spray but haven't
had to use it.

Fortunately for both of us I have no love for xmas trees so there's
none here to tempt her.

I loooove Christmas Trees. The only problems is that, as a concept, they are
totally stupid in the middle of the Australian Summer. But now some places
have started "Christmas in July" and that makes far more sense.

Thena gain, I was born in England to Engish parents, I think I'll never
truly ebrace either a winter or a summer Christmas, because there will
forever be 'something missing'.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

Welsh Dog wrote in
:

Don't take this the wrong way but there seems to be some affinity
between woman and candles that men don't seem to be able to penetrate!

Agreed. I look at those "romantic" scenes on TV with a bathtub or bedroom
surrounded by candles and all I want to do is get a fire extinguisher.
Scares the living bejeesus out of me!

(We're having a drought where I live and fire risk has been high all
summer, and I'm praying for wet weather soon to abate it.)

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
"ScratchMonkey" wrote in
message
Sara wrote in news:70p3g4tgsp3vj7ljs4bbo78id4ibcmjjdd@
4ax.com:

the last couple of years I bought those cans of spray that the cats
hate (bitter apple?) from the pet supply store and sprayed the tree
several times a day -- might need to pay special attention to the
wires on your tree. might want to get some and try it out on
something else first to see how it works for you...

The idea of my Harley turning into Fried Harley had me training her
at a very early age that wires of any kind were Very Bad to mess
with. And having multiple computers and being a gamer, I've got lots
of wires around me. She's very responsive to a bark of "No!" and the
very rare smack on the butt. I've got some of the spray but haven't
had to use it.


I have found some bitter apple spray on a website, think I will give that a
try. Saying "No" to Smudgie usually has no effect!

Thanks for all the help everyone
Sharon

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:40:51 -0000, "Sharon & Smudgie"
wrote:

I have found some bitter apple spray on a website, think I will give that a
try. Saying "No" to Smudgie usually has no effect!

Thanks for all the help everyone
Sharon

Saying 'NO' to Sammy always has an effect. She give me the ear and
continues doing whatever earned her the no
--
Steve Touchstone
Little Bit, Sammy, Spotty, Princess, Furby
and Rocky (RB)
Pix at http://tinyurl.com/22pfn8
Vids at http://tinyurl.com/4yb6nj

I had my tree up last year for three days. The cats climbed in it, tipped
it over and made a general mess.

Am thinking about a lighted toperiary (?) tree this year, No extended
branches to sit on.
"hopitus" wrote in message
...
On Oct 25, 11:33 pm, "John F. Eldredge" wrote:
On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:36:34 +0100, MatSav wrote:
"hopitus" wrote in message
news:cc888744-1ad1-4d6e-

...





On Oct 25, 12:57 am, "MatSav" matthew | dot | savage | at | dsl | dot
| pipex | dot | com wrote:
"Sharon & Smudgie" wrote in
m...

Last xmas was Smudgie's first xmas. She watched with great interest
whilst I put up the tree and it made me wonder how long it would be
before she;

a. pulled it over on top of her
b. got stuck in it
c. ate the baubles

...

When I came to pack the tree away I discovered the source of the
lighting problem .... hundreds of "bits" of lights and wires fell
into a heap on the floor. The little madam must have been chomping
on the wires after I had gone to bed! I would really like to have
lights on my tree this year but can't
fathom a way to do so unless I fork out more cash to buy a pre-lit
tree....

I have a fibre-optic tree with the varying colour light source in
the base of the tree. I think it's wonderful, and much better than
ordinary lights.

--
MatSav

Where I live now, many residents of these old 1850-and-on constructed
houses which mostly have *no* driveways because it all went up before
the auto became a staple and all transportation was by horse....they
like
to try to keep up holiday decorations as if those days were still with
us:
i.e. *candles* in holders, clipped to branches of the holiday tree.
Not only
that, but the whole thing is usually at the foot of the stairway, so
if it goes
up in flames for any reason the front doorway exit totally
blocked...the
first time I saw this, it blew me away. They put it in that spot so it
may be
seen easily from the street.
Hopefully you live someplace where this insanity does not go on
widespread.
Instead of light strings, have you considered using what is recommended
for
metallic trees - a battery-operated spotlight from the floor?

I agree with you that candles on trees are risky. Fibre-optic trees
aren't metallic though - they're glass and plastic. Something like this
one:

http://www.godfrey-diy.co.uk/gallery/24030140-large.gif

Hopefully, most of the people are using electric candles, not real ones.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available fromhttp://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

No, no, that's what blew me away! I dunno if they had electric candles
or
tree light strings back in the 1800's but these wackos here want
*total*
authenticity from their houses to the *real* candles on their trees. I
would
not be surprised during the holidays to see a *** ****** *horse* in
front
yards of these relic houses here.
And as I said, they stick the flaming candles on the drying tree right
at the
foot of the stairway, which is right in front of the front entrance
door! How
stupid can you get?