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!