Outside visitors

Usually our outside visitors consist mainly of neighboring cats intruding on our deck, or maybe a sassy squirrel or two. But with Mom and Dad working in the yard so much the last three days they have seen a lot of other visitors, too.

They saw lots of lizards (or the same two lizards over and over again)...


Huggy Bear really wanted to hunt this one.


But he was really quick and a challenge to get a good picture of.


This was a tiny baby lizard.


And what we assume is the momma lizard hanging out by the catnip plant.


There was a birdy investigating the new hanging ferns on the front porch. I hope she doesn't try to build a nest in the ferns because it'll get all messed up when the plants get watered.

Then the weekend before last, there was this guy:

A rat snake was sunning against the house. Sure, he's non-venomous, essentially a large worm, and chased out of the woods behind the houses across the street by some construction, but still, it's a snake where Mom and Dad would rather not see snakes. Fortunately he wasn't back this weekend while Mom and Dad were doing so much or else this weekend wouldn't have been nearly as productive for them. On the other hand, we might have had more Mom and Dad time...

Happy Easter

We hope everyone has a Happy Easter! It is a beautiful day here today. Mom and Dad have spent all weekend in the yard working, and are getting ready to go back out again. But that's OK, because they've been opening windows for us so we can snoopervise, and we've been getting some quality Mom and Dad time once they come in and collapse from exhaustion. We've got some great lizard pictures on the camera, and another visitor too (but I won't ruin the surprise) ... hopefully they'll be ready for tomorrow's post. Enjoy your Easter and I hope you get some good snuggles today!

Finally Friday

This is what we'll probably be doing a lot of this weekend: watching out the window.


OK, it was raining in this picture, but Mom and Dad are hoping for nice weather so they can do some cleaning up in the yard, and put out some mulch.


This is what's started to bloom out back already. (If you make it big, you'll see all kinds of pollen on it.)


And this is out front. There are tons of daylilies that we just can't wait to see bloom. And the azaleas are blooming right now, too (but no pictures yet).

Hopefully Mom and Dad won't be too busy outside and we can get some quality time too.

The Golden Awardy

Thank you Little Bunny (and everyone at Whippy Curly Tails) for the Golden Award! We're still working on our hiding skills. We aren't quite as good at hiding from the Boogeymanz and Bugbears as Little Bunny is, but we're trying. I hope you get a kitten to play with Little Bunny (and everyone else, go vote on whether they should adopt a beautiful little she-house panther).



I hope to have someone to pass this along to soon ... I'll keep my eyes out for good hiders and house protectors. And I love that this award in the shape of a bunny comes just in time for Easter!

Wordless Wednesday

Maggie Monday

... and on Monday, Mom rested. Her play she was helping produce wrapped up on Saturday with a big cast party afterward. Mom had to leave the party early (at 1:15 am) because she had to get up early on Sunday to finish some of the prep work for a friend's 75th birthday that she was catering. The party was a big success and Mom got all kinds of compliments on the food and offers to come cater other events and a few marriage proposals.


Maggie decided to help Mom rest by sleeping on Mom's grocery list. If Mom can't make a list, she can't go anywhere or do anything.

Finally Friday

Wow! This week flew by, most likely because Mom has a million-and-a-half things to do this weekend (and on top of it, she feels like she's getting sick).


This is what we'll be doing this weekend while Mom is running around like a crazy woman. The play concludes on Saturday, which means there's a lot to do for the cast party afterward. Then on Sunday Mom is catering a birthday party for a friend who is turning 75. So she has a lot of irons in the fire right now. And that means a lot of snoopervising by us!

Thursday Thirteen #43 -- No April Fools Jokes

I decided not to do an April Fools post on Wednesday. I had some ideas, but decided not to. Here's what I could have said:
1. We're quitting the blog.
2. We're getting a kitten.
3. We're moving.
4. We're getting a dog.
5. We're sending Maggie to join the circus.
6. Mom's going to start her own theatre (she's spending enough time at Workshop right now anyway).
7. Mom's having a baby.
8. I've had enough, I'm moving across town to live with Sweet Praline.
9. Huggy Bear is going to be Dad's "office cat" and offer therapeutic purrs to the patients. (Is there an insurance code for that?)
10. We're getting jobs to earn our keep.
11. We're going to cat jail after failed a attempt to abduct Cocky, the South Carolina chicken mascot (he's really big, and I bet he'd taste good).
12. The house is being divided into a boy's floor and a girl's floor.
13. Mom and Dad won Powerball and we're going on a Catblogosphere World Tour to visit everyone.

But, alas, none of those are true, and we know how excited people can get about kittens, and moves, and babies, and quitting blogging, so we decided to just do a Wordless Wednesday post instead. But it was a very fun picture of Josie relaxing in the sun with Maggie's shadow. (I wonder if Maggie knew her shadow was visiting Josie?)

Side note (or as mom likes to say Dad's To Do List): Dad's next cat project

Wordless Wednesday

Boys in the box

Dad left a box in the kitchen, which means that, within minutes, we had claimed it as our own. We have taken turns in the box as the rules require, although there are only pictures of Huggy Bear and me in the box.


Huggy Bear enjoys lounging against the side of the box, and partway out of the box.


I, on the other hand, curl up mostly inside of the box. I think Huggy Bear left the pink ball in here. It is his favorite toy, afterall.

Maggie Monday

The weekend weather cleared up by Sunday and we actually got to enjoy a nice sunny day.


Maggie loves to sleep on the tuffet when the sun is coming in and making a nice warm spot for her. I think she'll have more days like this very soon.

Kittens, inspired by Kittens!

If you haven't seen this YouTube video yet you really need to.

Easy Like Sunday

We've had some nasty weather this weekend. Mom and Dad said it was raining cats and dogs outside, but I looked and didn't see either, which is probably a good thing because they'd be wet and miserable. So we all decided to nap instead.


When it comes to nap time, I highly recommend a nice worn pair of jeans. It's a nice blend of rugged and comfortable.

Floofy Friday

Finally a new picture ... and of me, after things were starting to look like this was Maggie's blog. And poor Josie and Huggy Bear, not featured in how long? Probably because Maggie is such an attention hog.


Here I am at my floofy best. I am not as huge as this picture might suggest ... I swear it is just the angle and how I'm sitting that exaggerates my mass. But I guess when you have the floof you should probably flaunt it.

Thoughts on Thurday

We're still a little shy on pictures ... they're on the camera, but not here yet. Yesterday we used a "classic" Maggie picture, when she first discovered the joy of TP. Yes, she still gets the TP and unrolls it and occasionally shreds it. Mom is still very busy with the play, which is giving her some late nights. But Mom, Dad and Aunt Tiff all managed to sneak away last night and catch the late showing of Coraline. It leaves the 3D screens today so they wanted to catch it before they lost the 3D effect of the movie. They told me about it -- a little spooky, but I liked when they told me about the heroic cat. You can't beat a movie with a heroic cat! I hope to have new pics tomorrow ... otherwise it might be back to the vault ... maybe some old kitten flashback pictures.


Here's Maggie with button eyes, for those of you familiar with Coraline. I didn't pick on Maggie and her eye issue, but liked this picture because she's looking through her cat tunnel which resembles a key element from the movie. I did give her fancy buttons, because she's fancy. If you want to see what you look like with buttons for eyes, you can here.

Just for fun - Wordless Wednesday

Toothy Death!
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Tuxie Tuesday

Thank goodness for nice Spring days. We've been enjoying more sunshine, sharing some open windows, and watching out back for sassy squirrels. Josie really entertained Aunt Tiff the other day when Bella, the cat from two houses down, was on our back deck, and a squirrel was on the fence -- at the same time. Josie was running along the back of the couch, then to the back door, just huffing mad. As mild and sweet as she is, she really is the defender of the house.


This is Josie by the back door -- it's one of her favorite spots to sit and watch.

Maggie Monday

My goodness ... is it Monday afternoon already and just getting around to posting?!? we had company this weekend -- some of Aunt Tiff's nursing friends from Atlanta came in to visit and see the play. But everyone is gone now, Mom is finally able to relax, and we're just hanging out. Kind of like "Easy Like Sunday" but on Monday.


Makes me want to sing (to the tune of Manic Monday):
"It's just another Maggie Monday,
like Easy Like Sunday,
turned into a fun day,
not a Mom's gotta run day,
cause it's just another Maggie Monday."

Maggie's lovin' having some Mom-to-herself time today, too. They're hanging out and watching TV and relaxing. Hope you are too!

No photos?

Dad went to help me make a post, and looked for a new photo to upload, and (can you believe it?) he didn't have any new photos of us! The outrage! I know they've been busy and all, but come on ... all I'm asking for is a quick picture, one snippet in time. Well, I know he feels bad, and he promised me some good pictures from the weekend.

Mom's play opened last night to a great show. All the stress, the nerves, the tension were erased last night as they played to a full house. The casts' voices are stunning, the talent on stage just remarkable. It really was a good night for Mom last night.

Also, Aunt Tiff felt very confident about her test, and may even know her results tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for purring for Mom and Aunt Tiff.

I think things may be getting back to normal a little, which means we'll hopefully get to visit and comment more soon.

Big day today

Today is a very big day. First, this morning, our Aunt Tiff is taking her NCLEX nursing exam today. Please purr for her. She's very prepared, but a few purrs wouldn't hurt.

Then tonight the musical that Mom has been dedicating so much time to as producer opens. We have company coming in, so we'll also have a few extra people in the house.


And while I'm doing an update, last weekend Mom and Dad were visiting at Lisa and Brian's where the kittens from last month live, including Jackson, who helped with some of the birthday gift opening for Lisa and Brian's girls (Gracie and Clara Ann).


But the gift unwrapping wore the little kitten out and he fell asleep on Gracie's new sleeping bag curled up with her gifts.

Have we lost our minds?

Before I get on to today's topic, about yesterday's Wordless Wednesday: that issue of ReadyMade was out because it had an instructional article about installing a new light fixture, which is what Dad did last weekend and why we had that great box. Sometimes Dad needs a little confidence boost for his projects, especially when electricity is involved. And ReadyMade is one of our favorite magazines. It's where we got the instructions for the homemade cat scratcher (which Dad has yet to finish ... ahem!).

Now, why Mom and Dad think we may have lost our minds. First there's photo evidence:


Maggie is in the tub, which is rapidly filling with water. And she's just hanging out, exploring. What's with that?!?

Secondly, last night, Dad was standing by the front door, and he didn't realize I was right at his feet. So when he opened the door he felt me brush against him. I didn't go out, but I had one foot a little too far that way, and I stuck my neck out and too a good hard look. Dad "encouraged" me back into the house pretty quickly, and reminded me that it is dark and dangerous outside, then gave me extra attention so I remembered why it was good to be inside.

Yeah, I think we just lost our minds for a sec.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! Mom and Dad continue to be neglectful, so I have to re-use a Maggie St. Patrick's Day picture. At least she's cute and worth looking at twice...



Update: Mom got me a new Happy St. Patrick's Day picture ... with me in the green bag! Thanks Mom!

Mancat Monday

Is the weekend gone already? I didn't get a chance to blog or visit or comment or anything. I've really got to talk to Mom and Dad about this.


Maybe I should have spent less time sleeping on the tuffet and more time reminding Mom and Dad that we needed to be blogging. We did do a lot of snuggling with Mom and Dad this weekend, which was nice and long overdue. I even slept on Dad's chest ever so briefly, which I've never done before (I still prefer his pillow, though).

Finally Friday

It's finally Friday. It has cooled down a little since earlier this week but we may get some window time. Mom has been going and going a lot lately. Fortunately we have Aunt Tiff here to keep us entertained.


This is the bag that Mom just bought last week. She keeps taking stuff with her in this bag when she leaves. Maggie thought if she got in the bag maybe Mom wouldn't be able to go. Unfortunately that didn't exactly work out (and Mom didn't even take Maggie with her and give us a break). But I think we may actually get a few extra minutes with Mom this weekend.

Ugh ... I just realized that it's another Friday the 13th ... back to back months, no less. Nothing to fear ... we all made it through the last one. Huggy Bear is petitioning for it to be Black Cat Appreciation Day instead.

Thankful Thursday

Thanks for everyone visiting and commenting. I know I haven't been visiting as much lately. Dad has been busy at work, which is a good thing, and Mom is super crazy busy producing a play that opens in about a week.


Here's Huggy Bear in hiding/pounce mode. He's in packing paper that the lamp from Tuesday's box picture was in. (But, like Scooby, Shaggy and Scout said, it does look like sheets.) Whippy Curly Tails wanted pictures of how to hide from the boogeyman, like Little Bunny does, and this is the best we could do.

You can see how much paper was really in the box in this next picture.


We all took turns on the box. We had to lay it on its side once Josie got inside and couldn't get back out. But if you look closely, you can see Huggy Bear's tail sticking out of the paper, so he probably needs to work on his hiding from the boogeyman skills a little.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuxie Tabby Tuesday

I have a few rare Josie and Maggie pictures. Josie is very sweet, but she isn't always very tolerant of Maggie. Josie and Maggie just have different ideas about what "fun" is. The other day Dad helped Josie to the top of the fridge and Josie went up on the cabinets. Well, Maggie likes to go up there and wrestle with us and Josie was a little pinned down, so Dad rescued her back to the top of the fridge. Then Maggie came and joined her and all was OK.


Here the girls are hanging out together on top of the fridge.


A few days later we had a big box to explore and they were on it together again. I guess having a common spot to explore can get you through some rough patches.

Mancat Monday

The sheets were being washed, so what's a mancat to do?


Guard the pillow, of course!

The Secret Project sneak-peek

Dad has been working on a "secret project" and had hoped to finish it this weekend, but it is taking just a little bit longer than he expected. Mom and Dad grabbed a bunch of cardboard boxes a while back from when the theatre got new lights. They are all uniform sizes, and Dad cut them down to size to make a mega-scratcher.


Here, Huggy Bear is inspecting some of the pieces that Dad has cut out. Huggy Bear is always a big helper when it comes to projects in the garage.


This is the scratcher with some random objects on it to weight it down. The scratching edge is pretty uniform, but Dad is trying to sand out the bottom and back to make it cleaner, then the sides will be painted. The sanding is taking more than expected. Hopefully we'll have a finished project to show you soon. This is the first attempt, and Mom and Dad have plans for shapes and designs and other things once Dad figures out the challenges and pitfalls.

Finally Friday

Yes, it's finally Friday! Our temps are supposed to get up to 72 today and 80 tomorrow so we should have some good open window time and Dad should be able to finish a secret project that he's been working on in the garage but stopped when it turned bitter cold. Dad got some good pictures the other day, put they're still on the camera so sorry, no picture today...

Don't forget to buy your raffle ticket to help Sweet Praline with her high vet bill.

Thursday Thirteen #42: Grocery Day

Wednesday are usually grocery day. Mom will pick Dad up from work and they will go to Sam's, then the Fresh Market and Publix, loading up on all the necessities. Grocery Day is exciting for us. Here are thirteen good things about grocery day:

1. Maggie gets to put her stink on the apples (see yesterday's Wordless Wednesday).
2. Sometimes Maggie will try to put the bitey on the apples, too, although she has yet to actually eat one.
3. We get to play in the bags.
4. The pantry door is left open, so we can sometimes steal the treat bag or some catnip.
5. We get extra garage time because Mom and Dad unload the groceries into the wagon to bring them in from the car.
6. Sometimes we get treats or new toys.
7. If it's a good day, we get to smell a rotisserie chicken.
8. Sometimes Mom will get shrimp, too, which is one of Josie's favorites to smell (although she doesn't eat it too much).
9. It is always exciting to see what Mom has come up with for the week.
10. Sometimes Mom and Dad will get a drink at Sam's, so Huggy Bear will chew on the straws.
11. Fresh catfood!
12. It's another good reason to get on the cabinet and snoopervise.
13. The leftovers come out of the fridge to make room for the fresh food, so there are all kinds of smells and containers to examine.

This was our 42nd Thursday Thirteen. Dad contained the impulse to sneak in a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference while I was typing, and I'm proud of him for that. Happy Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday

Maggie putting her stink on the apples
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Traitor Tuesday

So the traitors, I mean Mom and Dad, took off to the beach last weekend to "visit old friends" but when they came home there were more pictures of dogs than old friends.


Apparently there was an Annie dog that they took for a walk on the beach. Annie is a former Nashville street dog.


Annie was very sweet, according to Mom, and walked right with Mom. She does have a sweet face.


Then there was Miss Brown, who really resembles a wolf if you ask me, but is mostly German Shepherd. Miss Brown liked Dad because he sneaked and gave her a bite of his muffin food one morning.


And if Miss Brown wasn't big enough, there was Patrick, who is a BIG BOY. But very sweet and friendly.


And this is Pearl. Pearl and Patrick spent most of their time hanging out in the yard and on the screened in front porch. But they still managed to put their stink on Mom and Dad.


Because Dad came home with dog stink on him, I had to "give him the business" and got a little carried away with my back claws and did a number on his hand. Good thing he doesn't need his hands for work. What's that? He does. Oops.


But to prove than Mom and Dad were thinking of us while they were at the beach, they took this picture. It looks like an actual city sign.


And they brought back some seagull pictures, too, for us to get excited about.

Mancat Monday

We were supposed to get snow last night, about an inch, which was enough of a threat to shut down most of Columbia. Dad covered all the plants that are now starting to resurface. But this morning -- nothing. But we'll be on patrol all day, just in case.


This was Huggy Bear on a sunnier day, showing off his whiskers in the sun. Today will be cloudier, for sure, but I expect he'll be in this same spot most of the day on snow patrol.

Mom and Dad made it back safely, but they had to drive through a monsoon to get home from the beach. They ended up staying an extra night, but that was OK because we had Aunt Tiff here with us. I'll get beach pics up this week (they're still on the camera).