Too many birds?

Check out this crazy bird video ... a flock of starlings trying to land in a tree. Watch how the tree bends like some invisible force is springing it down and back up. I like to watch birds, but this is just a few too many!

Bunk beds

This is our version of bunk beds. The Rosemount box has become mine and no matter where it ends up, I manage to find it and sleep in it.

Wild "Ones"

There must be something in the air that is getting the one-year-olds fired up ... Scout was a wild thing the other night, and maybe Maggie read about his activities because she was into everything last night. She even had her "getting geared up" tail wag going, and that's never a good sign for those of us seeking sleep. And it seems Dolce is being a troublemaker, too... Looks like we're going through the Wild Ones before we even reach the Terrible Twos.

New collar for Josie

Josie got a new pink camoflage collar from PetSmart. Mom and Dad considered the leopard print collar (top, in picture from link) for me, but they know I have little tolerance for collars. I don't like the dangly tags, so this personalized embroidered collar may be the way to go. Dad always thought if someone made a collar where the info was on an engraved sleeve or tube around the collar (picture the tubes homing pidgeons wear on their legs), that would be ideal. Mom and Dad also considered some bling for Huggy Bear's collar, but they had spent enough already on harnesses for HB, Josie and me. (Josie's actual pink collar is not pictured, but they had one that matched her new collar ... Mom and Dad elected for the slightly less expensive solid pink since we'll probably do our best to never wear them again...)

Box on sale

Look at Mom's great find! She was out browsing and went into this nice store and found this box that was on sale so she bought it and brought it home for us. There might be some filler inside, but really, the box is the best part afterall. Maggie wasted no time getting up there and spreading out.

Litter Genie

When Dad finishes off a container of kitty litter, he sometimes keeps the empty plastic container and empties the litter box back into it. He calls this a Litter Genie because, much like the Diaper Genie, it is filled with poop and stinks when you open the lid. I think he can come up with a better system.

Pet Med

This morning, Mom and Dad put us all in our own harnesses, loaded us up in our carrier (Huggy Bear, Josie and I in the big one, Maggie in the small one) and we got in the car and went for a drive. We ended up in a Publix parking lot and this van pulled up and suddenly we were in line with all these mouth breathing, drooling dogs. At the end of the line was a V-E-T and we all got our annual shots. Maggie wouldn't come out of her carrier, but he was able to give her her shot anyway. Then Dad put the leash on Huggy and he was so good ... he came right on out, no fussing. Same with Josie. When Dad wrangled me from the very back of the carrier, Mom had the keep a curious Huggy Bear from slipping out also. But overall we were all very good, and not a peep from us on the ride home (unlike the serenade on the way over from Josie and I). Once we got home, the harnesses came immediately off, thankfully. I'm all of a size 18 in the harness, it seems, and that doesn't leave a lot of stretching room ... some of you bigger cats know what I mean. And Mom and Dad gave us some treats and even I inhaled them. I have to say the Friskies Indoor Cat Treats are my new favorites. I got a little eye ointment from Mom ... I've been squinting, probably from wrestling with Maggie, and it looks like another round of Drontal for wormies. Hopefully it will take this time. But we're all glad to be back home in the a/c. We went first thing and it was already getting hot. High today should be near 100! I feel for those cats (and even the dogs) who are going to meet the Pet Med at noon. It's been a busy morning already. Time for a nap...

New bed? I wish!

Mom was vacuuming and to help, Dad moved all the chairs away from the table and placed them together. Of course, Huggy Bear wasted no time identifying this as a new bed. Too bad they didn't stay that way longer!

Maggie's birthday present

Maggie got a new scratcher for her birthday -- it's called a Scratch Pod and Mom and Dad bought it at Target. The cool thing is the scratcher part locks in and it can hang on the door. They also make a carpet insert instead of the cardboard. Of course, my favorite part is the elastic string that holds it in place on the door.

Meow Mix House

Meow Mix House Episode 2 is on Animal Planet Friday night in the 9:00 hour. If you missed Episode 1, or don't get Animal Planet, you can watch it online at the Meow Mix House website and watch the live webcams, too. Tonight's competition is the Climb-a-thon. I can't wait!

Midnight on pot patrol

Midnight is a good outside neighbor. Lately he's been guarding (but not pottying in) Mom's little tree out back. He's getting a little chunky because one of our neighbor's feeds him a lot, including a big bowl of milk once or twice a day (which Midnight shares with other cats in the area), plus the food we put out. But he's real nice and he deserves the special attention.

On a side note, he had gotten pretty torn up on his right cheek a while back, and I'm happy to report that Mom and Dad got a good look at his face the other day and he's healing very well. With the heat lately, he's been scratching it pretty bad from itching, but it's finally healing right and that's a relief.

Huggy's portrait

Dad is always trying to catch a good picture of Huggy Bear's face because he has such a pretty face, but it just doesn't come across in photos a lot, but I think this one looks pretty nice. Huggy was studying out back on one of our prettier days this week.

Lawnmower day

Yesterday was lawnmower day ... that's the day that the groundskeepers come around the apartments and stir up the dust, since we have more dust that grass out back. They drive their lawnmowers past our place time and time again cutting through to the other side of the property and this just drives Josie nuts. She's the protector in the family, and I'm OK with that since she has that mothering instinct, so she has to monitor everything that goes on. So all day, she's streaking from one window to another, room to room, back and forth. It really wears her out (and us, too, just watching her) ... and in the end, she is thankful the offending people are gone so she can nap, although she still naps by the back door, just in case they come back sooner than expected.

My nemesis

I almost got to eat my nemesis the other day. That's him in the black -- Joe Bender Cat -- I've had it in for him for years. Mom was unloading groceries and I saw my chance. I hopped onto the open refrigerator door and got almost all of him in my mouth before my plan was thwarted and Joe Bender Cat escaped by dropping and catching under the fridge door. But you just wait, Joe Bender Cat ... your day will come!

Good sisters

Aren't they such good sisters, giving each other baths? Huggy Bear and I don't do this for each other, but the girls do groom us well, too. Of course, no matter what, it always ends in a wrestling match...

Two lessons

I learned a couple of lessons two weeks ago when Mom was doing a little baking. One, if Mom is cooking mini-cheesecakes and Maggie starts to chase you, it is best not to run across where the mini-cheesecakes are cooling. And two, if you do choose this path, don't leave four perfect footprints in the mini-cheesecakes, because you will get found out.

Not the card I wanted

I was playing Solitaire Showdown with Mom and Dad the other night but I kept getting bad cards. This King of Diamonds was NOT the card I needed, so I decided to put the bite on it instead.

Birthday time!

Maggie got her first birthday card in the mail yesterday. It was from our vet, so maybe they're not all bad afterall. Although we aren't exactly sure what her birthday is, it's close enough to Mom's that they have decided to share it. So we will be celebrating two birthdays on Saturday -- Mom's and Maggie's!

Between pieces of birthday cake, we will be tuning in to Animal Planet to watch their coverage of the Catolympics (unfortunately, because of the birthdays, we are not there in person this year...) Good luck to everyone with their events!

The games we play

We play a bunch of games, too many to list here, but there are a few we've been playing more than others lately. Maggie's favorite is what she calls Broom -- when Mom pulls out the broom to sweep up the scattered litter along "kitty litter lane" Maggie will hide behind the nearby door and try to get the broom bristles from underneath the door. This one looks fun, but the door gets pushed out when I try to get behind it.

The other game we like to play we call Stare (sometimes we call it Where's the Bug?, but it's essentially the same game) -- the premise is very simple, you sit still and stare at a very specific spot, usually the center of the ceiling or where the wall meets the ceiling. This will make Mom and Dad walk around in circles staring at spots on the ceiling. It's very funny because they look silly. To keep them interested in the game, you may want to actually spot a bug on the ceiling every once in a while (like I did tonight) so the threat stays real. Get your siblings to play along with you and it's even more fun because then Mom and Dad get really curious ("What are they all looking at?") ... good fun for all and it encourages Mom and Dad to get some exercise.

Cat trees bear

Now this is one impressive cat! Apparently this cat chased the bear up a tree -- not once, but twice -- before the parents called the cat inside (in fear for the bear's safety, I'm sure) and letting the bear go on it's merry way. (New York Post article)

Dad found this on Neil Gaiman's Journal in a long post (this was the third-to-last remark, an update on his own bear situation and his cat's lack of response -- can't blame them...)

Cat Reality TV

Animal Planet is starting a cat-based reality show with a Meow Mix job tie-in -- Meow Mix House. Since TV can't handle the charisma of cats for an entire show, each segment will only be three minutes long, starting at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, June 16. We'll have to DVR this one!

Surviving on cuteness alone

Right now, Huggy Bear and Maggie are walking the fine line between cuteness and mischief. Huggy Bear seems to think that buttons are bugs. I can't criticize him too much for this since I did eat two buttons off of one of Mom's favorite shirts when I was a kitten, but that still doesn't make it OK. Huggy Bear attacked the duvet cover on the futon this morning and was quite determined to kill those buttons and eat them. Dad eventually turned the buttons under and HB was content to go elsewhere. But then there's Maggie. Little Miss Maggie, all full of cuteness, decided to launch herself at the back screen door last night, climb to the very top, and pull the screen free from the frame. I'm not sure if the "pulling the screen free" thing was an escape attempt, an assault on a bug, or just an unfortunate effect of seven pounds of kitten hanging free on a screen door. We lost our open door privileges last night because of this, and the weather was so nice for South Carolina in June, too. Dad has learned to be handy and actually managed to repair the screen, but Maggie got back up and Dad had to soak her pretty good. Hopefully she's learned. She did sleep with Dad last night, so I think she's playing the cute card now to get back in the good.

Josie perching

Something really had Josie's attention. She's not the one who usually stands in the plant, but if there's a hunt you can be sure nothing will stop her from scouting things out. One of our favorite posts is what she's doing here -- standing in the plant and using the security bar as a foothold to perch on. I never did see what she was hunting for, but I'm sure it was a good one, whatever it was.

Naptime

It was "kitty-cat naptime" and we all decided to nap together this day. I was comfortably in my box when Josie joined me, then Huggy Bear and finally Maggie plopped down and let out a nice big yawn. Good napping.

The one that got away

Maggie and Josie had a blast trying to get this bug on the screen. It just kept fluttering against the screen, drawn in by the indoor lights. Josie, being the huntress that she is, led the attack, swatting at it several times, and chasing it from screen to screen. Eventually, the bug got too high on the window and the hunt ended with everyone sharing treats and stories of the one that got away.

Harlie

Mattingly's sister has a name!

Moving the ball

Huggy Bear tried to move the ball with telepathy, but before he could show his skills Maggie walked by and swatted it away.