Better with cats...

Sure we all know everything is better with cats, but a Russian artist has gone on to prove that classic paintings are better with cats too. The article is here, with pictures!

Huggy Bear's calendar day

Thanks to Derby and Ducky we were reminded about Huggy Bear's calendar page. We got behind on our page flips and totally missed it. Ironically this is the pose he is in right now.

Sweet Maggie

Yes, the title says "sweet" -- that's not a mistake. Maggie is definitely the stinker in the family, but she can also be very sweet.


Here she is curled up on her favorite blanket. It is a fuzzy picture because Dad didn't want to disturb her to get a good picture.


And look at this perfect cat pose on the stool as she snoopervises Mom in the kitchen. (Mom and Dad are trying to re-grow their Romaine lettuce after cutting them. Apparently you can soak them in water and they will start to grow, and root, and can be planted. That's what you see behind her. It's off to a good start.)


Maggie got a little bored with the snoopervising and the photo shoot. It happens. At least she wasn't pouncing her sister.

Mancat Monday

We haven't done a Mancat Monday in quite some time...


Here is Huggy Bear on the back of the couch enjoying some sun. It can be difficult to get a good picture of his face, but the light was perfect to see how handsome my little brother really is.

Our friends the Carolina Wrens

Every year we have a Carolina Wren couple who builds a nest on the top of the column on our front porch near the front door. Momma bird flies off quickly when Mom and Dad come by (and Mom screams every time), but even though Momma bird gets disturbed she still sticks around and comes back.


Here is Momma bird looking over her nest of eggs.


This is when the baby birds were just born.


And here are the babies about to head out. We hadn't seen Momma bird and were afraid she had abandoned the nest and we were checking on the babies.


But it turns out they were about ready to move on, because the next day we had an empty nest. (There was one egg that never hatched, but the babies were all healthy and out in the great big world.)

The funny thing is we never seem to see the little ones leave. It must be when we are asleep or not paying attention to them. It's just one day they are here, and the next they're gone. We have no idea of the life span of these birds, but assume that they are either the same birds, or offspring, that come back every year. We are probably wrong, but we like to think they are anyway.

The many sleeping positions of Josie

Josie loves Dad. either that, or she loves the couch he sits on. I'm not sure, since every time he gets up she moves to his cushion. But I'm pretty sure it is Dad she loves. Lately she likes to get up in his lap, knead dough, then stretch out by his legs and sleep. The following pictures were all taken during one catnap.










I'm not quite sure what's going on here...








After all that, this is how she ended up, zonked out and asleep while Dad watched TV.

The treat givers...

So last Friday night Mom and Dad brought little Eliza and Elliott to the house. These are two of their godchildren and they will come and visit and stay the night every now and then. They really like to give us treats, but they need to work on their treat-giving technique.


Maggie was on the steps. She's cautious around the twins. But Elliott really wanted to give her a treat. I'm not sure if this is the best approach. But he gets an A for effort.


Josie is much braver, and will visit the kids. But even with a handful of treats in the hallway, Josie still wasn't ready to relax and eat. Elliott gathered them up (gave a few to his sister), and chased Josie into Mom and Dad's room trying to make Josie eat the treats. I think the treats eventually ended up in the food bowl.