Happy New Year!

Mom and Dad are gearing up for their New Year's Eve party. They are having a Roaring 20s party and turning the house into a Speakeasy. It will be lots of fun for them. We will be ushering in the new year in Mom and Dad's bathroom, safely away from the people and Aunt Tiff's fireworks. Everyone have a safe and happy start to the new year.

Happy Secret Paws!

We received an amazing Secret Paws package all the way from France from The Poupounette Gang. They sent us some great stuff, including two packages of Catisfaction treats and some great cat toys. We also received from chocolates for Mom and Dad.


Here we all are checking out all the prizes.


Josie really enjoyed the Catisfaction treats (French Temptations).


See -- Catisfactions...


I was reading the card, but got distracted by the box.


Here is a closeup of the front of the card.


And here's the inside.


Thanks Poupounette Gang for the incredible Secret Paws gifts! And Merry Christmas to everyone. It was a great day.

Secret Paws is here!

Our Secret Paws package arrived today. Unfortunately both Mom and Dad are sick so we're going to wait to open it. Their illness has also delayed us sending our's out ... Sorry.

Ready for dinner.

Ready for dinner.
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Tree inspector

Maggie is in charge of inspecting the Christmas tree.


So far, so good...

Josie snoopervising

Josie is a big big helper this time of year. I'm not sure why the picture became "unavailable" on the previous post, maybe because the Flickr app rotated the picture and we had to rotate it back, but here she is again.



Of course, she's not the only helper. Mom has a bunch of pictures of Maggie all in the tree, and an exciting video of her jumping out of the tree. Of course we have to test the tree each year to make sure it's OK. Additional lights and ornaments go up tonight, and you can expect a similar theme of pictures.

Big big helper

Big big helper
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

THoE and milk

This remains the eternal question: Why is it that Thundering Herd of Elephants is best played in the middle of the night. We were playing so hard last night that Dad heard us at 1:34 am. He couldn't see which of us was playing but we rumbled up the stairs, into the bedroom, made a U-turn, and back down the hall, and possibly back down the stairs. As a plus, there was no hissing, so it was just us having a big fun time.


Last weekend, Josie was very interested in Dad's glass of milk, so Dad was nice enough to give her the remnants of what was left. We don't get a lot of milk, but we do enjoy a little sip every now and then.

Ship mouser

I learned on Free Kibble Kat today that my breed of cat (Maine Coon) was known for being a great mouser on ships back in the day. While that sounds interesting and like good work, I think I'll stay right here at home, curled up in the linen closet where it is warm.

Mom and Dad went skydiving

Mom and Dad went sykdiving on Sunday. It was dad's 40th birthday present from back in September, and they happened to schedule it on their 17th wedding anniversary. FYI -- if something happened to them, we would end up with Aunt Tiff. Dad said we'd have to teach her cats how no to hide whenever someone came over to visit. Fortunately, it didn't some to that, but there was a plan.


Here are Mom and Dad in the plane on the way up to 14,000 feet. They look pretty happy for people who are about to jump out of a plane.


This is Mom during her free fall. They go 120 mph during the fall, although they said it feels more like you are flying.


And here is Dad during his free fall. They are nuts, because they are already planning their next jump. But they said it was so much fun, they can't wait to do it again.

I really like to be in high spots, but the top of the stairs or the top of the cabinets will suffice for me. But I'm glad Mom and Dad had fun. And to answer what most people say to Mom: no, she was not scared, and yes, her jump partner was really good looking.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend

Mom and Dad were out of town for Thanksgiving visiting Dad's 94-year-old grandmother. Although we wish we were with them getting spoiled with turkey and ham, we are happy they could make the trip to Richmond, Va. Then Mom and Dad came home and went skydiving to celebrate Dad's birthday (in September) and their 17th anniversary (Sunday). They say they had an amazing time. We're glad they are back and safe. I'll try to get pictures up soon.

Mom and Dad are back!

Mom and Dad went to the beach last week, which is why it has been even longer between posts. They went down to Orange Beach, Alabama, which is near Gulf Shores. Can you believe they drove all that way and still didn't bring us any fish, or shrimps, or birds? And they had their chances. The beach was pretty deserted, so the birds visited Mom and Dad a lot. (Mom's not a bird fan, so she was not happy about this at all.) I do have some bird pictures that I will get posted soon. We're just happy to have Mom and Dad home, so we didn't even discuss bird pics last night. But they are coming!

Josie loves the couch

Josie is our "hang out downstairs cat" and this is her new favorite spot. You really can't beat a cozy couch cushion.

Plus Dad figured out how to post from his Kindle Fire, so I can post when not at the computer. I just have to use some basic html codes. I think it is odd that Blogger and Android are both Google products but you touch the text field and nothing happens. But I can type in the html field and it works. And no Blogger app for the Fire.

Blogblast for Peace, and invaders

Today is the Dona Nobis Pacem Blogblast for Peace. We usually make a peace globe to mark this event, and even though we didn't make a graphic, we are still blogging for peace today, and every day. I firmly believe that there will be a day that political callers will stop Dad's parents can turn the ringer back on their phone (they live in Ohio), that cats and dogs can co-exist (when the dogs learn that we're the boss), and, seriously, that peace is possible.

I would have had a graphic, but we've been invaded. Mom and Dad are giving a friend some much needed sanity time by keeping her twins for the weekend.


This is Elliott on the bed, trying to figure out how to get to Huggy Bear while Maggie watches from a safe distance. I've kept my distance, sniffing them from the landing as Dad up the stairs. Josie has been the bravest, actually allowing a little petting, sitting next to Dad while he gives the boy a bottle, and snoopervising in general. She's always the first to meet new people anyway. They go home this afternoon, and things will return to a more normal routine. In the meantime, we are milking this for extra treats.

And that is how we find peace in our home today...

Hurricane Sandy

We are hoping all our cat friends in Sandy's path are OK. We're fine here, just some cold air. Stay safe. We're purring for you.

Locked in the garage!

Can you believe it? Dad's little girl, Josie, slipped past him and into the garage without him noticing, and she spent the night in the dark garage. Mom and Dad are feeding the neighbor's cats, and Sunday morning Dad was walking back to the house and heard someone meowing from in the garage. He rushed into the house and poor Josie was locked in there in the dark. He gave her lots of love and treats. It looks like her rescued her, but we all know he's the one who locked her in there in the first place. Dad's now on cat-count duty before the garage door gets closed.

Our 8th blogoversary

Yesterday was our eighth blogoversary. I had hoped to make a post yesterday, but it got a little hectic and I couldn't get Mom or Dad to take a break from their day to help me type.

Looking back, I really can't believe this has lasted for eight years, but I'm so happy it did. This blog began as a fun place to post a couple of fun pictures before flickr was big. Shoot, there weren't even comments on Blogger, we had to use haloscan. But this amazing group of cats has grown and grown, and although I don't get to post and visit as much as I used to or would like, I'm still just thrilled to be a part of the Cat Blogosphere.

Wednesday night Mom and Dad had friends over to help carve pumpkins, which reminded Mom of one of her favorite pictures:

When the blog first started, Huggy Bear and Josie were two out of four kittens who were hanging out by our apartment. Mom and Dad carved their pumpkins, and got pictures with the kittens and the pumpkin. It remains one of her favorites. Look how little they were!

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me all these years. I look forward to seeing what adventures are yet to come, and what friendships are waiting to be made.

Cat Bounce

OK, we're having a little too much fun watching this website.

Mom vs vishus deer

So Mom got back on her bicycle last night and dragged Dad around Fort Jackson for some exercise. With their schedules, night is really the only time they can ride, which works because Fort Jackson is pretty safe to ride on, and at night there are very few cars to get in the way. Well, last night Mom was riding (way ahead of Dad because he can't quite keep up -- he blames his bike). As Mom is riding, Dad can see a deer standing in the middle of the road. Mom kept riding, thinking the deer would scamper away. Well, Mom got nearly within 10 feet of the deer before the silly thing could make up it's mind what to do. It turned, hopped, and went running off across Mom's path. Mom said she thought it was going to run into her for a second, right before it went away.

Once, Dad had a deer run alongside him for a few seconds, but going the opposite direction, before jumping a fence and taking off. Always an adventure at the base.

This past weekend, Mom and Dad went to Knoxville for the Tennessee-Alabama football game (boo -- the bad Bama team won). But on the way home they drove through the Smoky Mountains. Mom hoped to see some bears, but no luck. But they did see a herd of elk in a field as they came out of the mountains in North Carolina. There was one male and nine females or babies. I'll try to get some pictures up to show you. They were territorial, but fortunately not vishus.

National Feral Cat Day

Today is National Feral Cat Day. I was not a feral cat. I was actually born in a shelter. But Josie, Huggy Bear, and Maggie were on the verge of feral before Mom and Dad rescued them. And Mom and Dad befriended a lot of the feral cats in our old apartment complex before we moved. One was midnight, a solid short-haired black cat who started greeting Dad when he came home from work. Midnight would on rare occasions actually let Dad pet him. This cat fought off a fox that was coming around our are, which is when Dad started looking out for him because Midnight got nicked a little and Dad didn't want him getting sick. Although Mom and Dad would never really clean his scrape up, they could make sure he had food. Others also put food out for him and the handful of other ferals, but Midnight really seemed to like Dad. We considered trying to bring him with us when we moved but thought he was in his territory, and a bit too wild to socialize. But he sure was nice to have around patrolling and watching for foxes. Dad still keeps treats in his car just in case there's a cat out there who needs one or two.

Tabby Tuesday

Sometimes Josie tolerates Maggie giving her a bath. But usually it ends in hissing...

Apple picking ... not peacock picking

Mom and Dad went up to Flat Rock and Hendersonville, North Carolina with some friends and went apple picking. There were some animals at the orchard, including these peacocks.


You'd think they would think about us if they went that far, and maybe bring back one of these birds for us. Clearly there are plenty enough there that they wouldn't miss just one.

Then again, if we wanted one, there was this guy to contend with...

Dad got a new book

Dad's new book he pre-ordered arrived in the mail yesterday. (He kind of forgot he had ordered it ... always a good surprise.)


He thinks it is funny. We would not dignify it by posing for a picture with it, despite Dad's best efforts.

Catnap

Sometimes a mancat just needs a good nap. Mom and Dad were out late both Friday and Saturday nights doing the right thing and making sure their celebrating friends made it home in one piece and without a criminal record. Of course that means that our usual sleep was thrown off. But don't worry, I made up for it on Sunday. I found the big orange bag that Mom uses to tote her stuff back and forth from work and took a good long nap all over her stuff.


I mean, even a mancat needs his beauty sleep...

Bad haircut

Poor Josie got two really bad mats on her back. Dad tried to brush and pick them out, but just couldn't, so he had to cut them off instead. Josie seems more comfortable with them cut off, but Dad feels real bad about her haircut. For her dignity, there is no picture...

Livestrong Day

Today is Livestrong Day, and I would turn the whole blog yellow except I'm afraid to mess it up... There has been a lot of loss in the Cat Blogosphere lately, a lot from cancer. It seems hard to find anyone who isn't affected by cancer anymore. Mom's mother died of cancer 17 years ago. Dad's mom is a cancer survivor. I know DKM and Max's Mom seem to always be walking for cancer (or riding the sweep van). It is so wonderful that everyone is taking the day to rally. Hopefully one day we can say, "remember when there was cancer?" Love on your people a little extra today...

Clara Ann tells on me

We have a few kids who like to visit, and I'm usually pretty good around them. But sometimes I just want to be left alone. A couple of weekends ago our friends Gracie and Clara Ann came to visit. Mom and Dad were taking them to go see the play Pinkalicious and they were pretty wound up. Well, I was lounging in the linen closet when Clara Ann came to visit me. This is how she tells it:


I deny any of that happened.

Mom Paula sighting

Dad had a Mom Paula sighting on Friday, which always guarantees a good day!


Dad was smart enough to grab his phone and get a picture. We're convinced she will meet every cat blogger at some point.

Rest in Peace Vic

I was going to amend my spider post to add Meow Like A Pirate Day, because I scheduled that post the other day without looking at the calendar. But then I saw the news that Ann's husband Vic from Zoolatry had passed away yesterday, and it just didn't seem right to meow like a pirate this year. The Cat Blogosphere experiences loss frequently. It is the unfortunate byproduct of a large community and time. But because of the Cats With Blogs group on Facebook we have been there to experience the daily struggles of hospitals and hospice care along with them. Our hearts go out to Ann and all of Vic's family. We will be purring and praying for them.

Friendly neighborhood spider

This is our very intimidating-looking, but very friendly bug-eating spider. It hangs out (literally) in the shrubs near our front porch. So long as it stays right where it is and continues to eat bugs we're all OK. But as soon as it tries to come inside all bets are off.

We didn't get a picture of the other one, but we have a very adventurous spider who makes big big webs all around the yard. The other night he had made one that stretched from a tree to a bush about 20 feet away, spinning a web across the driveway. Dad saw the spider in mid-air, creating the one strand of web. He has no idea how the first strand came to be because it just seems like an impossible web to create. But he did it. Then the other night he had a web build right in the walkway going up to the front porch. Dad was bringing some house guests in and stopped inches from walking right into the spider itself. He politely moved the web like opening a door. Like I said before, as long as they are eating the bugs, we're OK with these spiders. This one isn't as pretty as the one pictured, but it works hard to keep the bugs in check.

Happy birthday Josie and Huggy Bear!

Happy birthday to my wonderful sister and brother Josie and Huggy Bear! I can't believe they are eight years old! My how time flies (so fast, that I missed posting this on their actual birthday on Saturday ... oops.)


Here we are back in the day, when Josie and Huggy Bear were still tiny and recently came to live with us. You can see how happy I am to have a new brother and sister. My life has gotten so much better because of having them around.


They were very cute and playful kittens. Josie and Huggy Bear were two of four kittens that Mom and Dad brought in to foster and find homes for when we lived on our apartment. Mom fell in love with Josie the minute she saw her. (Yes, we loved Huggy Bear too, but there was something about Josie that reminded Mom of Fluffy who came before us.)


It's hard to imagine Huggy Bear being this tiny, since he grew into such a big mancat, but he was originally my little buddy. He's still the friendliest, lovingest cat in the house. And he still purrs the instant he enters the room that Mom and Dad are in.

This weekend was very busy with the show at Mom's theatre starting, and Dad going to see Neil Gaiman speak and hosting two of the other participants in the event. To top it off, our fridge went on the fritz. Fortunately we have an extra refrigerator in the garage that is now stuffed. So we'll be getting birthday cake later this week when live gets back on track.

Thanks to the Cat Blogosphere for always being there and remembering our birthdays, even when we get behind and (almost) forget. As always, you are the best bunch of cats out there!

Simon's Cat and boxes

Did you see the latest Simon's Cat Box Guide? I really enjoy Simon's Cat!

And is there any way to get this setup without having to go through the ear drops?


That is one dedicated cat dad!

The smell of dogs...

There's a little bit of outrage in our house right now. Apparently Mom's theatre is doing Legally Blonde, the Musical, and this show has two, yes two, dogs in it.


This is Cabo who plays the chihuahua Bruiser that Elle carries around. There is another dog named Ella who plays a a boy dog named Rufus. I'll be sure to upload a picture of Ella, but she is part chocolate lab and part something else.

It seems that Dad has been recruited to be "dog wrangler" backstage during the show. That means he sits backstage and pets these two dogs for hours. Seriously, that picture is Cabo sitting in Dad's lap. Do you have any idea how much work we have to do when he gets home to cover him on our stink so he no longer smells of dog? I don't think he considered this at all.

New nip mouse

Dad went to the pet supply store to get our cat food and picked up a purple Kong corduroy mouse that you can refill with catnip. He is on the hunt for a new favorite mouse because our favorites are no longer in the store and one day they will have to go. (We still have a wish list for some toys from William's Feline o' Mine store, if Mom and Dad would just get around to ordering them.)


Here's Josie meeting the new mouse.


And of course, you can't have a new toy without a new toy standoff.


Huggy Bear was very happy with have a new mouse to hunt. He likes to hunt throughout the night and bring toys to Mom and Dad's room.


I even got a turn with the mouse. (I'm not sure why my picture has an orange hue to it. I guess my orange-catness just overwhelmed the camera.)

The nice thing about this mouse is that, when the catnip loses its potency, Dad can empty it out and refill it. We're hopeful that this will become a new favorite.

Company coming

Mom's cousin from California is coming for a visit. She hasn't seen him in years and years, so she is very excited. But that meant a lot of cleaning around the house last night. They had to wash our furs off of the guest duvet cover. So you know where we'll be all day? Trying to fur it back up, of course! He gets in tonight, and will be interviewing for a job as a firefighter in Charleston this weekend. Please purr for him that the interview goes well, thanks!

Grasshopper or Glasshopper?

Huggy Bear found a grasshopper on the glass door. Does that make it a glasshopper instead?


This guy is huge. And he's been hanging out because Dad saw him around the deck the next day too. Huggy Bear wanted him to come inside and play but Mom and Dad said that was a bad idea.


Here's a close-up of him.

How Huggy Bear sees himself

I'm pretty sure this is how Huggy Bear sees himself.

Toad rescue

So the other night Dad was putting some stuff in the garage and saw a little toad in there, so he ushered it out to safety. We would have toadally helped him if only he had toad us it was out there. Seriously.

Maggie eating celery?

Yes, that's Maggie eating celery. Mom was trying to cook, and Maggie found the leafy bits cut off the top and actually ate some. I always knew she was a little crazy, but celery?

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And we made a post every day this week, Monday to Friday. That's what happens when Dad actually uploads some pictures and takes a few minutes to help us!

Towel tower

This is one of my favorite spots, napping in the linen closet. It is also one of Mom's least favorite spots for me to nap, since I get hair all over her towels, which means she gets my hair on her when she tries to dry off.


And then, of course, Maggie joins me up top, because that's what Maggie does ...

Wordless Wednesday

Tuxie Tuesday

Happiness is napping on a secluded scratcher.

The actual picture

Since Josie totally photobombed me, I thought I needed to show the picture minus her whiskers.


Here I am, relaxing in a cat tent. I don't do this very often. I prefer a good sink or one of Mom's bags.

Josie photobomb

I was all settled into my tent waiting for Dad to take my picture then, all of a sudden, Josie's whiskers blocked my shot. Not cool. Not cool at all.

Neil Gaiman is coming to town

Dad is super excited because he found out last night that his favorite author Neil Gaiman is coming to town to do a reading. He's glad he found out beforehand, because if he missed the chance to see him he'd be really bummed. But now he's like a kid knowing Disney is on the calendar, but still weeks away. Dad can't even buy tickets for three weeks, but since there are only 200 seats available he has the ticket order page up on a tab ready to go (already). Dad's a nerd. But he gives us treats so we love him. (Mom won't get to go because it is opening night for the first play of the season at her theatre and she has to be there. She's not a Neil Gaiman super fan, but she's happy for Dad.)

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Also, here's a funny story about a bear who broke into a candy store, with a security video of the bear.

World Cat Day!

So today is World Cat Day! Sparkle offered up a good list of activities to help your human celebrate this special day. We'll be celebrating the old fashioned way, with lots of cat naps. Mom and Dad are cat-sitting the neighbor's cats. They have five, although one chooses to not visit Dad when he goes over in the morning to give them their wet food. So Dad gets to celebrate World Cat Day by feeding nine cats. I can't think of a better way to start a day!

Have a wonderful World Cat Day! I hope you get extra treats today!

The Oatmeal has a book...

Dad likes the comics by The Oatmeal. They have a new book titled "How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you." It has funny comics like this one. While Dad knows we are not plotting to kill him (although he did let us run out of food today), we think these comics are funny, and a good reminder for our people to keep us happy -- just in case.

The computer appears to be fixed

I helped Dad troubleshoot the desktop. It appears there was a corrupt updater that was bogging things down, to the best that Dad and I can figure. But it is handled, and the computer seems to be running much better now (for a seven-year-old computer).


You can see I was a big helper. I offer vital input, like moving the mouse with my head, or blocking the screen when Dad needs to rest his eyes. I'm not sure how he could have done it without me (and some tips from William).

More pictures?

It's hard to do a Wordless Wednesday when I don't have new pictures. I think it is time for a photo shoot. Mom just finished some final reports for three different grants for the theatre. Dad's computer is acting up. It is running super slow, and will hang up, and sometimes goes to sleep and doesn't want to wake back up (but don't we all?) ... so Dad may be in the market for a laptop. Then he'd have no excuse to not update our blog for us. ("But the desktop computer is all the way upstairs...")

So as a sign on protest, since I have no new pictures, here's one of the oldest:

Little Jasper kitten in the sink. And apparently, a wet sink.

Now here's hoping for new pictures soon so I can go wordless again next Wednesday.

Busted being nice to each other

Dad had to come home from lunch today for a quick shirt change. He was helping Mom get her bike off the back of the car, and he's never had trouble with grease before, but today Mom said, "Be careful not to get grease on you," so of course he got grease on his shirt. So he rushed home to change. When he came upstairs, Huggy Bear and Josie were leaving the laundry room, and Dad saw Maggie napping on the futon up there. He suspects there might have been some friendly, close quarters napping going on between the two girls who usually prefer to tussle and hiss at each other. He didn't see it directly, but there was tell-tale fur. In their defense, the air is coolest in that room.

A nice reunion story...

This cat found his way home from six miles away! I find these kinds of stories to just be amazing, and uplifting.

Maggie's birthday cake

It's a little belated, but here's some pics from Maggie's birthday cake for her seventh birthday. I still can't believe my littlest sister is seven!


Maggie got the first taste.


She was nice and shared with me. Then Dad divided the cake up into bowls for the rest of us so no one hogged all the Stinky Goodness.

It is our tradition to get a birthday cake in the shape of our year. Being the oldest, that means my cakes will just keep getting bigger!

No birthday cake pictures?!?

I just realized last night that we got preoccupied with little Rocky and never uploaded Maggie's birthday cake pictures. I will see about getting Mom and Dad to fix that tonight.

A little Rocky update ... He got to take a big road trip from Columbia to Atlanta. Aunt Tiff's mom was sick and in the hospital so Aunt Tiff took Rocky with her and went to spent some time with her Mom. Mom and Dad have been checking on Lucy and Ethel (as much as they can, since they are scaredy cats and hide under Aunt Tiff's comforter when Mom and Dad come over). But Aunt Tiff's mom is feeling better and will be out of the hospital soon, so Mom will be able to squeeze on Rocky some more. I hope that takes care of her kitten fever.

Visiting Rocky

Mom and Dad visited with Rocky the other night. He had a rough day the day before. Aunt Tiff had to take him to the vet because he was drooling excessively and foaming at the mouth. He's been very ill from the day he was trapped, so everyone is very cautious with him. But by the afternoon, Rocky was back to being a high energy kitten again. Mom and Dad think he licked a bug or some litter or something else that tasted bad. But since he only weighs 1.86 pounds, it's better to be safe.


Here's Rocky on top of his little BoyCat Cave.


Mom and Dad also got a rare Lucy sighting. Lucy and Ethel usually hide out when Mom and Dad go visit Aunt Tiff. But I guess since Mom and Dad were in with Rocky for so long, Lucy must have relaxed and got back in her cat tree. Hopefully they will eventually socialize.

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And here's a little non-cat related bit ... for the Moms out there: Mom and Dad went to see Rick Springfield in concert on Friday night. It was an outdoor concert, and 98 degrees, so Rick got a little hot and, well, this happened...


Dad said it was a great concert. And they got to hear Jessie's Girl live...

Here's Rocky!

Aunt Tiff picked up Rocky yesterday around noon. She brought him by the theatre for Mom and Dad to meet him, and it was right before rehearsals so Rocky got lots of love by all the great kids in Camp Rock.


Here's Mom holding Rocky in Mom's office. He's still getting used to different surroundings. He's very fast and likes to hide under stuff. But he's getting more comfortable by the minute. Later last night Dad went to Aunt Tiff's to visit Rocky again. Dad turned Rocky's purr on. He has a very good, loud purr. It was late, and Rocky almost purred Dad to sleep. At first Rocky wanted to climb out of Dad's hands, but by the end Rocky was curled up on Dad's lap.

Well, Rocky is a brave bot for sure. We were having horrible storms last night with lightning and thunder and Rocky got right up in the window to take it all in. I can only imagine what kind of life he had before he was rescued. Non one really know how old he is, but he is pretty tiny -- about two hand fulls.

His sisters (Lucy and Ethel) are getting introduced to him slowly. They are undergoing scent neutralization (rub a washcloth on him, then on them, and vice versa, and then leaving the cloth near their food so they associate him smell with something good like food). There was some hissing yesterday, as expected. But it won't be long before there's a big cat pile, because they are all snugglers.

We are very happy for Aunt Tiff. But we are especially happy for Rocky.

Another orange cat!

We are so excited for our Aunt Tiff! It appears that she will be adopting an orange cat named Rocky! And we all know the no house is complete without an orange cat. ;) Rocky will be joining Lucy and Ethel. Rocky had a rocky start. He was a feral cat that was rescued by the same group who rescued Lucy and Ethel. But the poor guy had had a toughie, and his lower lip had gotten ripped back pretty bad. It was touch and go for him for quite some time, and no one really knew if he was going to make it. But he has pulled through, and it looks like he is going to get a wonderful home. We couldn't be happier! If you want to learn more about Rocky, you can find updates on their Facebook timeline (http://www.facebook.com/midlandskittens.rescue), although you may have to scroll down some and hunt for it, because that's how Facebook is...

Seriously behind on updating

I am getting way behind on updating. My assistants (the ones with the thumbs) have been very busy and haven't taken the time to help me. Mom's Dad was in for Father's Day (and Mom's birthday, and Maggie's too), and then back visiting the last weekend too. He was traveling through on his way to and from Charleston so we got to spend some time with him. He's funny because he calls us funny names.  Huggy Bear is Buggy Hair, and Josie is Jose. I know he had names for Maggie and me, too, but as soon as I started typing I forgot. But I thought Buggy Hair was the best...

I still need to post Maggie's birthday cake pictures. I haven't forgotten.

Two very happy birthdays

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! You are all too kind. Maggie and Mom both had very nice birthday celebrations. We'll be posting pictures of Maggie's birthday cake soon. On Friday night Mom had a disco party so we were sent to the master bathroom. Dad meant well and bought us some turducken flavored wet food as a treat. Well, the juice was good, but the turducken was not so much. As a new rule, Dad -- no food that's not really found in nature, OK?

On Sunday, Josie brought Mom a birthday present. Josie had been out in the garage and caught a lizard (really, a salamander or skink) and brought it into the living room for Mom. Josie set it down, then chased it again. Josie was having so much fun, too. But then Mom realized what she had. Dad just said, "Josie! Come on," and walked with Josie back to the garage, Josie with the lizard in her mouth. Dad tried to get the lizard from her, and it took him a while before she would drop it. Dad evicted us all from the garage, then went to find the lizard, but he was gone. Later, Dad found him outside, but he didn't make it. Poor lizard, but they should all have learned by now, really. The worst part, I don't think Mom really was excited about the gift. (OK, she was excited, but not how Josie thought she would be.)

Happy 7th Birthday Maggie!

I really can't believe it is Maggie's seventh birthday! Time goes by so fast. I still remember when Mom and Dad were nursing her back to health.

Maggie is the third from the right. She was one of a litter of 10 (or maybe nine, with a tenth joining from another litter). They all had nicknames so Mom and Dad could keep up with who had gotten their baths and meds. Momma cat tried to care for them, but it was too much, and most got some sort of upper respiratory infection. So Mom and Dad were up early each day de-fleaing and medicating them. They were all good kittens, but Maggie was the sickest of the litter and got spoiled by Mom in the process of getting well.

Well, seven years later she's still being spoiled by Mom and Dad. She really likes to try to boss us around. Every now and then we have to tussle just to make sure she knows who's boss. (OK, I have bad tussling technique, so a lot of time she wins. But it's not fair, because she bites my butt...)


Here's Maggie the other day, snuggling with Mom and Dad while watching The Big C.

I never imaged that I'd have three other siblings, but I now I imagine not having them. Happy Birthday little sister!

(Oh, and Maggie shares her birthday with Mom, so Happy Birthday to Mom too!)