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.