Us! (Plus sunshine...) 

Our crab apple tree... 

Our tulips... 

Miranda Needs A Home!

Miranda is beautiful, loving! and fiv positive. She needs a one cat family situation, or a shared household with other fiv positive cats...

Little Miranda! 

Another Of Course!

When the human went to work this afternoon, the house was actually... clean! Not only swept, scrubbed and polished, but even picked up! When she got home tonight, the hallway was already bestrewed with toys (2 mice, 1 pig, 1 ghost and 1 catnip sock - not excessive, but a start). What added insult to injury happened in the kitchen, as the human topped up the crunchies - 2 kittens (count them, 2) thundered through, nuking of course the biggest crunchies bowl... Of course. Of course. Of course.

It Must Be Spring

Because our human let us play in the attic this morning... (Unless of course it's Fall already.)

Shy... 

Knowing Their Places

Whenever I lose Cloud, I - eventually - remember to pat the tablecloth in the dining room - right where the chair tucks it in under the table: if it pats up all warm and firm, my search is at an end...

Spring (and time for Spring cleaning!) 

Lucy (least senior) and Buddy (least junior)(counter intuitive, I know) being sweet and good...! 

The Decision To Jump

Given that they are supurb, amazing jumpers, it should be an easy one. Not! Tonight I watched Cyrrie contemplate taking the plunge (distance from commode to bed, maybe 2.5 ', with the bed being app 6 " lower)... First there's the dance - all four feet testing the perfectly flat, perfectly unchanged/unchanging surface of the commode (he's on it, what, 10 - 15 times a day, probably more). Then there's the reaching out, patting what - air currents? patterns of ch'i?? Then there's the thinking it over, which can go on for a long time. Then the decision! Sometimes it's a go! And yes, we arrive, victorious, on the alien, utterly uncharted surface of... the bed. And sometimes it's a scratch - off we go in an entirely other direction - onto the window sill, the dresser, or even the floor... How can a poor human expect to understand the multidimensional perceptions and calculations of a ...kitten!!! (Or cat!!!!!)

Sound Sleeper

This morning the human actually woke Cloud up just to be sure she could wake up! Cloud might have been mad about it, but she went back to sleep so quickly you really couldn't tell...

When the replacement scratching thing arrives, the human has lots of help... 

"Stuff Happened"

Not bad stuff! Not important stuff...! !Just....!!! (TBC.....)

Don't Bother

We also got a new capnip-infused seafood-flavored treat, but only Cyrano was enthusiastic - Cyrrie who still doesn't believe that toothbrushes are not food...

Feathers

Yesterday, on impulse, the human went into a pet chain store. (Usually she patronizes a local small pet business for kitty litter and other essentials like toys.) Equally impulsively she bought a long wand with feathers and shiny stuff on one end. Well! We needed not only multiple wand toys but multiple humans to satisfy all the kittens and even cats who wanted to play. This morning, after play time was over and the wand was hidden away, the kittens continued to stalk the human, watching her every move - hope, afterall, being the thing with feathers...

10 min later: Extreme peace! 

Somewhat peaceful... 

Peaceful Lucy... 

More peaceful... 

Peaceful pedicure... 

Peaceful kitten... 

On my lap not sitting still but peaceful... 

Proof! Peaceful Petunnia... 

Huh? Well, for 10? 15 min this morning, Cloud was sprawled out in the loop by the vacuum cleaner... It was so funny and cute that of course by the time the human actually got around to taking her pic, Cyrrie had run her off! (Note remains of original purple octopus, still in circulation with kittens.) 

Exema? Non-specific Dermatitis?

Our human has a small patch of dry skin behind her ear. She scratches it (she knows she shouldn't). But she scratches it with the wrong paw! No wonder it isn't getting better...

Mixed Signals

The stealth kitten arrives on the bed so lightly that the snoozing human doesn't feel her land. The first hint of kitten presence is the taste-nibble-taste of finger tips so characteristic of our kittens... Cracking an eyelid, the human recognizes Cloud (light, of course) and gives her a sleepy pet. Then Cloud settles herself right across the human's knee caps, and... goes to sleep! Now what??

Fair and Balanced

Cats and kittens want it for their blog... And, to tell the truth, they do spend 16 - 18 hours a day - each and every day - being absolutely peaceful and sweet and good...

Chain Reaction

It started in the bathroom, where, presumably, Cyrrie startled Petunnia, who reacted/over-reacted with extreme and excessive bad language... The human came running. Lucy came running. And when Petunnia ran our of the bathroom, there was a confrontation in the hallway. Alas, more bad language... So the human waved Petunnia into the kitchen and Lucy into the livingroom, but, while the human was talking to Petunnia, Lucy got into it with Cloud, who got right into it back at her. Even more bad language... Only one question: How did Buddy manage to remain uninvolved?

Seussette!

A new nickname for Cloud! Our Cloud!! Just a little half sketch of a kitten, endlessly elaborated on with feathers, fflouncess and ffflourishesss...!!!

Squirrel, do you think? 

Petunnia, not-so-patiently waiting for the window well... 

A Very Beautiful Day

The human's car told her it was 78 degrees! Everyone had turns in the bedroom window, although Cyrrie, by "virtue" of his winkling technique, had more than his fair share...

Counting Issues

Typically we count 3 times a day: There is the waking up in the morning count, the going to work count, and the coming home from work (or other) count... Usually it's the coming home count that is the easiest - there are the passive participants, who just happen to be in the living room already, and the active participants, who energetically arrive in the time it takes the human to move through the vestible. Tonight, we were seriously short of cats and kittens! Cyrrie was there, in the window, while the human was still on the porch. Eventually she (the human) spotted Banshee - back of the couch - and Lucy - dining room table top... But that was only - how many? Then Toonya showed up in the kitchen, and the human got down on her knees, and there was Buddy under the Morris chair, but where was Cloud?? And then, ! Cloud was there, popping in so suddenly from that alternative universe she didn't even try to hide her metaphysical tracks... (All's well.)

And How Is Buddy?

Well you should ask - Banshee went to the vetz, but Buddy went into hiding...

And How Is Banshee?

Medicated treats were a go - for all of about 5 days. Now we're trying a long acting shot (steroids) while we explore alternatives, like seducing her into liking the idea of an inhaler (yeah, right, but we'll try it anyway) and doing some environmental stuff like air purifiers. And maybe the human will buy a new vacuum cleaner (she wouldn't do it for her allergies, but...). Other than the asthma, though, she seems to be quite healthy, and had even gained a little weight - now 13.something pounds, quite a tote for the shoulder bag cat-carrier....

They have it in for that rug... 

Self Diagnosis

Listening to her human and her doctor talk about causes for her asthma, Banshee has a theory of her own: She's allergic to... cats! Specifically, 921 cats and especially kittens - who eat her food, sit in her spots, and just generally get on her nerves... You'd gack, too!

Lucy! (On a pile of newly washed blankies...) 

Don't You Hate It When

Something sticks to someone's tail, and then drops off - a long way from the original destination? (Or is this one of our forbidden subjects??)

While Giving Them Their Morning Kisses

Cyrano, who "hates" being kissed, is never the less quite easy to catch, because of his unshakable belief that anything and everything could be edible... Bite the bracelet - oh, it isn't food (but it could have been...). Bite the checkbook - oh, it isn't food (but it could have been....). Etc. So nosy little Cyrrie always gets caught and always gets kissed. (And always purrs, of course.)

Psychological Explanation Needed

When super-junior kitten Cyrrie pats semi-senior cat Petunnia on the butt, is it because:

1. he's abysmally stupid;
2. he's incurably insane;
3. he's hopelessly suicidal;
4. he's a ... kitten*!

*Inexplicable, incomprehensible, also male, macho, etc.!!!

This one's for Stevie - Celtic cat stuff is just such a cool idea... 

Another Harbinger Of Spring

As warmer weather returns, toes become vulnerable once again to toe-stalking bed-monsters and their kitten proteges... Which is worse/worst: The tapping of tiny claws? The tickling of a tiny tongue?? Or the gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) nibbling of tiny teeth???

What's gotten into our human? First she makes the bed, then she makes the couch! 

Of Course!

On Thursday the human swept the kitchen floor; on Saturday, the kittens nuked a bowl of crunchies... The only questions is: What took them so long?

Looks like we need to replace the innards of the scratching post... (And, upper left, Can you see what Cloud did to the outards?) 

First night of new toy - Thanks to Christa, Nick, Hobbes, Calvin and Annie...