Test driving the box

I love when Mom gets new shoes. She and Dad went to Cincinnati over Memorial Day weekend to visit with Dad's parents and sister (she's getting married and they had showers and such to go to). So Mom had to get new shoes for the event. Which meant new shoe box for us!


Here I am first checking out the box to see how I fit.


It seems an OK fit. (Sorry, I didn't realize this one was blurry until just now.)


I had to do a curly Q tail to get in just right.


See ... just right!

It's been a tough week

It's been a tough week in the Blogosphere with bad news about Skeezix, and Ginger Jasper struggling ... so I figured we needed to see a video of kittens to make things better.

Maggie's new spot

Well, there's still areas of the house that aren't quite put back together since the awful flood a few months back and the repairs that took longer than expected.


Maggie is benefiting from the stack of pillows on the guest bed. She likes to get way up on there and perch and sleep. Who wouldn't like to sleep on a giant stack of pillows? The guest room has become our new hangout. I sleep on a suitcase that needs to be put away (but couldn't during the repairs since it gets stored in the secret storage space we're not supposed to know about, but is off the room we were locked in during the repairs). Josie has been sleeping under the guest bed. I think Huggy Bear is the only one who hasn't migrated to this room. He still hangs out on Mom and Dad's bed.

Baby birds

Mom is not a fan of birds, but she likes these baby birds on our porch. She does get a little nervous that momma bird is going to dive bomb her is she's on the porch too long.


Here are the four babies a few days ago, on the fourth.


And here they are now, just five days later. You can really see how well their feathers are coming in. I doubt they'll be hanging out in that nest much longer.

Happy Cinco de Meow-O!

We hope all of our cat friends and their people have a very Happy Cinco de Meow-O! We don't put hats on for just anyone -- this is special just for you! Go easy on the nip as you celebrate. Those nip hangovers are no fun, and if you're going to be catnapping, let's make it because we're cats and not because we're still loopy! 

Mom time

Sometimes Mom and Dad get stressed out. Mom works for a non-profit, so you can image how it wears on her some days. I can't fix the things that stress them out, but I can do this:


And I think that's a pretty good thing to do.

An old box picture

I was looking through my pictures on Flickr looking for one of me standing on top of a door. I know there has to be one out there, but it's not in my Flickr set. But I did find this old picture of me in a box from December 2010, and I liked it so much I decided to repost it.


I think I need to go find another box.

11th birthday stinky goodness cake

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! It makes my day so special and enjoyable. I am so blessed to have such great friends in my life.

-----

It was a few days late, but we finally got to enjoy my stinky goodness cake!


The cake was very yummy, and, as usual, in the shape of the birthday. The 11 was easy for Dad to make. I was pretty quick to help myself t the cake, so the 11 got messed up pretty quickly.


I was enjoying the stinky goodness so much that Dad didn't even make me share. He opened a second can of food for the others.


Huggy Bear and Maggie are nice enough to eat next to each other.


Josie wasn't too far away, but it's best to give her a little space so she can enjoy the food without Maggie stressing her out.

Happy birthday to me!

Today is my 11th birthday! I really can't believe I am 11. That means I will get some yummy stinky goodness cake tonight. It has been a wonderful 11 years. I have had great adventures over the years, and was lucky to get to share most of them with you. Stay tuned for cake pics...

It's not ALL Dad's fault...

...but I'd say it is easily 90 percent Dad's fault.

As you know, Mom and Dad have been having to deal with some renovation issues in the house following the upstairs water pipe breaking. The master bathroom is almost done, thankfully. The new tile is in and looks good. Mom and Dad bought a new toilet, so they decided to paint the part of the wall they couldn't get to because of the old toilet. Dad did a good job painting, and didn't get any paint on the floor.

BUT, he left the paint lid on the bathroom counter right beside our water bowl. And Josie hopped up to get some water and got paint all over her side and one back paw. Fortunately Dad realized before she got down and tracked paint everywhere. She was such a trooper while Dad held her and Mom bathed off the paint. She's all cleaned up and OK, but it was no fun at all.

We're locked in the garage today (a new sequester since we started tearing up the carpet in the room we were in trying to get out). But today should be our final lock-out day. Please keep your paws crossed that this ordeal will end today and we will get our house put back together. It's about to drive Mom crazy (Dad's already crazy).

De-matting injury

I have some really bad mats and knots that Mom and Dad have been working on. Last night they were trying to get some off my belly. Dad had gotten a bunch of hair and clumps, but the mat was really close to the skin. Well, Dad got closer with the scissors than he realized and grazed me slightly. I fussed, but didn't run off so Dad didn't even realize he snipped me. But after I got up Mom saw a little red on my tummy (about the size of a dime or a nickle). I wasn't bleeding, exactly, but just a little ooze or seep of blood. Just enough to get them excited. Mom held a cold wet cloth to my tummy and cleaned me up, and Dad checked it this morning and cleaned it again. Other than having a bald spot that I want left alone, it looks OK. But don't you know I'm going to work this for all kinds of extra treats and attention.

Repairing the house

We have had repair guys in the house this past week working on the damage from the water pipe that broke about a month ago. The pipe was upstairs, which meant that there were water marks on the ceilings downstairs. So the guys were in the house working on that, patching holes from the drying out process, priming over the water marks and repainting. They made quite a mess, and Mom had to call the contractor who came in and made them start over. If they had done it right, they would have been done today, but since they didn't they spent a good bit of yesterday cleaning paint off of our cabinets and appliances and re-patching the holes. They should be painting today (and hopefully doing a better job).

What this has meant, though, is that we have been locked in the back room over the garage all morning while the guys are here. Fortunately Mom has our neighbor come down and lock up when they leave, and let us out. But we did get some stinky goodness the past two mornings to make up for the inconvenience.


In the aftermath of the pipe break all of Mom's shoes ended up in the guest room and most of the in a heap on the guest bed. I love sleeping on that bed, and on shoes, so I really couldn't think of a better combination!

Rest in peace, Eric

We are so terribly sad about the news of Eric's passing. We have followed the adventures of Eric and Flynn for a good seven years, if not more. I don't get to visit the blogs as much as I used to, but when I do, his blog was one that always made the list. I loved watching as he would explore the countryside and dig for mice. I remember him hanging out on top of the hedgerow, and relaxing in their outdoor enclosure, and taking pictures with his camera on him collar. I really feel for Flynn, who lost his partner in crime. There's just an emptiness right now. We'll be purring extra hard for Flynn and his Mom and Dad. And I know we'll be getting some extra love from our Mom and Dad as we are all reminded how precious life is. Rest in peace, old friend...

Resting on a Publix bag

You really can't beat a re-usable shopping bag for a nap ... that is, until your little sister decides to interrupt your nap. It's a good thing Maggie is cute.

Contractors coming

The contractors will start next week to repair the damage from the pipe breaking. We are not real excited about the pending exile to the back room, but we will be happy when the work is done and the house is put back together.

In the meantime, Mom and Dad are working on The Color Purple at Mom's theatre, and they have been very busy and coming home late. That is unacceptable, but should get better soon, too.

50 mile walk

Mom and Dad kick off their 3-Day, 50-Mile MS Challenge Walk today. We are comfortably warm at home while they were up at 4:15 am and getting ready to walk in 45 degree temps. Please purr for them this weekend.

Forced feline fun...

Well, in the aftermath of what we are now calling the Great Flood of 2013 (aka, the pipe bursting upstairs and getting nine rooms wet), we were forced to spend some time in the bonus room over the garage. It was a safe dry space, away from workers and the fans and dehumidifiers, with the laundry and a place for the litter boxes, and a TV.


Strange things happened because of this, like Josie and Maggie sharing a blanket (although they were not touching).


I really enjoyed some extra snuggles with Dad before Mom got back home.


Mom and Dad tried their best to make it a comfortable and safe-feeling place for us. They brought in our favorite blankets to make it smell like us, and make it a place where we'd want to be. You can see the orange blanket that we all love to curl up on.


Huggy Bear and Maggie are best buds, so it was no surprise to find them hanging out together.

We are out among the normal space now. The fans are all gone, and most everything is set back where it goes. The contractor looked at everything and thinks he can knock it out in about a week -- baseboards, paint one wall (the one they had to cut to get to the pipe), drywall, repaint every ceiling downstairs. That week we'll be back in captivity -- at least during the day when work is being done.

Fortunately the carpets were saved. The bathroom floor -- not so much. But Mom thinks she wants tile in the bathroom now. They had to pull up the linoleum and left some staples in the floor (pokey side down). I managed to bruise my paw pad on one, jumping down from the counter, and limped around for a few days. This made Mom very sad, but I'm OK now -- just sneezing a little from all the dust that got blown around by the fans. It'll all be OK. It can just be a bit overwhelming.

Party Cat

Here's the first in a series of Party Cat comics. We can relate...
http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/222317.html

Home improvement?

On the plus side, with all the work in the house, maybe we can talk Mom and Dad into making our house more cat-friendly like this place.

I just realized I haven't posted any picture in a month. I'll make up for that -- maybe some pictures from our "slumber party" away from the mess.

Monsters in the house

We had some excitement this weekend -- unfortunately, it wasn't the treat bag being left out kind of excitement. It was the wrong kind of excitement. We had a pipe burst upstairs. Water was everywhere, including flowing through the ceiling fan in the living room like a fountain. Fortunately Dad was home. Unfortunately, it took him some time to get to the water shut off switch because it had been buried over time. Now there are fans running constantly, and strange people in and out of the house.

We've been locked in the room over the garage, living with Dad like a couple of college roomies. Mom is up in Cincinnati until Tuesday night, so she's stressing from afar, and imaging the worst possible scenario since she's not there to see it for herself. We all were having a really good weekend until late Saturday.

The cleanup crew is really good, and Dad has a lot of confidence in them. But in the meantime we'll protest about our captivity, and wake Dad up at 5:00 am talking because we want to go battle those loud fans that sound like monsters.

It has been very stressful. In the midst of all the chaos Dad managed to wrangle three of us. Poor Huggy Bear was scared to death and was hiding in the garage under a piece of furniture. Dad got him safely into the bonus room over the garage with the rest of us, but I'll tell you, there was a moment when Dad couldn't find him that he worried HB had managed to sneak out. Thank goodness that wasn't the case.

Like Mom said, it is all being taken care of. The carpet isn't ruined, no furniture was ruined. The house is still standing. It's just not fun right now.

On the bright side, we all took turns snuggling with Dad last night. Josie even got under the covers with Dad.