30 December, 2018

Hot Cocoa!

Da Boyz, in the bright sunshine!
There is no sensation on this planet, like the feel of sun-warmed black cat fur.  Even if their fur turns brown in the light, Manny, left, and Chili Bruce remind me of a cup of hot cocoa, or even coffee!  Yummy...🌞

28 December, 2018

Movie Review: A Street Cat Named Bob

Official Sites: Official Facebook
Country: UK
Language: English
Release Date: 3 November 2016 UK
Filming Locations: London, England, UK and nearby locations

Image grabbed from the internet
When this movie was released in America, there were only a few places it was shown in Michigan, and they were all on the opposite side of the state from where I live.  Alas, I had to wait to watch this film, which is based on the popular book, "A Street Cat Named Bob" by James Bowen, with author Garry Jenkins.

This holiday season, I found the movie DVD at a local library, and watched it last night with Angel (who didn't appreciate hearing Bob's meows coming out of my laptop!)  Although the movie storyline is a tad bit changed from the book, I feel the changes were in the spirit of the story, and in no way changed my delight in watching the film!

Street Cat Bob, playing Bob The Street Cat

Actor Luke Treadaway plays James Bowen,
with Bob on his shoulder

Seriously, Bob is a handsome cat!

"James" and Bob
James is a drug addict, who plays his guitar on the street for money.  A ginger cat adopts James, who finds that the cat gives his life direction.  It was fun to see London locations that I had visited earlier this year, on my first-ever trip to the UK!  Especially Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square, this movie about hardship, love, and finding one's path is a fine story, expressed very well.  And Bob played himself in much of the movie, with some stand-in assistance by six other cats.  James Bowen, the book's author and Bob's guardian, appears near the end of the film, asking for a book signature.

27 December, 2018

Farewell Tommy

#1 at The Poupounette lost her Tommy today.  His illness occurred very quickly, but he was greatly loved on, and richly cosseted in those last days.  Please visit her blog and leave a note.

Angel Tommy
Used by permission from The Poupounette

πŸ’”πŸ˜ΏπŸ’”

26 December, 2018

Toy Synchronization

We received wonderful gifts from Four-Legged Furballs in October, including two black catface silvervine cat toys, which I posted about in Halloween Prezzies.

Catface toy closeup
At table leg

In the doorway

In the parlor, with cat accompaniment

Behind parlor door
The dining room floor

Well, funny thing.  Manny and Chili Bruce tend to play with these two toys in tandem, so we find them all over the place...together!  Kinda cute, when we think about twin black cats, playing with twin black catface toys!  

Need I mention that Da Boyz are simply the cutest, most adorable cats EVER?  πŸ’•

25 December, 2018

Merry Catmas!

πŸŽ„Angel as Santa's Elf!πŸŽ„
Wishing you all a Very Happy Christmas!

⛄❆πŸŽ„πŸ΄πŸ»πŸ—πŸΎ

22 December, 2018

Kitten Synchronization

Taken 14 years ago, laser beam eyes and all!
Gawd, glad we've painted the walls since then...

21 December, 2018

Ouchie!

Stairway, with vertical scratcher.
The kitchen door is on the left.

In case you didn't know, years ago we installed a cat walkway around the walls of our dining room, and The Hubby created a stairway.  The stairway has a tall scratcher post (made from a discarded carpet tube and sisal rope), and pieces of commercial carpeting on each step.  Chuck and Angel enjoyed it, and Da Boyz use it to chase each other, and to look down upon the world as if pondering the meaning of life.  From this image, you can see Chuck's portrait on the wall, a horizontal scratcher on the floor, next to an old typewriter.  (You'll have to ask The Hubby about the typewriter...)

Now, the ouchie part.  I reached down to retrieve a cat toy from behind the scratching post, and managed to bounce my noggin off a corner of the stairway!  No blood, no concussion, but I'm telling you, it smarted as much as anything!  Still stings, even.  No medical intervention needed, trust me, but my warning to all: BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

Taking care of cats is dangerous work; there are teeth and claws, and spit and *you know*, plus the possibility of serious injury from cat toys and climby things!  Classifying myself as still an amateur cat-wrangler, this rookie mistake of clobbering my skull is an impawtant lesson learned.  You've got to keep your wits about you at ALL TIMES, and engender some own cat-like survival instincts!

Be safe out there, cat people!


Oh NO!
Tommy at The Poupounette is very sick...
Please drop by to leave comforting comments for #1

20 December, 2018

Thankful Thursday: Oh Canada!

Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of traveling to Windsor, Ontario for a office event.  How fortunate am I, that I can be in another sovereign nation within less than an hour's travel!  I tried in vain to find a good image of a Canadian flag flying while I was there, so I could snap a selfie, but the only flags we saw were at the border crossing.  Figuring that the authorities would NOT enjoy my jumping out of the car to snap a photo, I have no evidence of my day trip.

Haven't visited our neighbo(u)r to the North in years, but it turns out that I have some very, VERY dear friends who live there, and some of them are bloggers!

CAT BLOGGERS!

Today, I am thankful for our Canadian furry friends, and for the entire country, so to speak.  I'll never forget the kindness shown during 9/11/01, when U.S. airspace was closed, planes couldn't fly, and travelers needed help.  Canada opened her arms to those in need, and she will always remain in my heart for her genero(u)sity.  Oh, yes...and hockey.

Here is a list of cat bloggers from Canada that I follow:

I Have Three Cats
Pets Overload
The Canadian Cats
Just Cats
Wandering Cat Studio
Nerissa's Life
Marvelous Is Marvelous
Hairballs and Hissyfits
House Panthers
Mickey's Musings
Stillness At Cherith

If I mistakenly left anyone off of this list, please let me know!  Sorry...as they say in Canada. 😽


So, Let's Hop!

https://brianshomeblog.com/



19 December, 2018

I've Only Wanted To Be A Cat Bed

Manny sleeps on his mama, and she couldn't be happier about it!

When I write my autobiography, this is the title I want:
I've Only Wanted To Be A Cat Bed.

🐈😻🐈

18 December, 2018

The PO'M Tuesday

Someone was a bit wriggly this morning, and yet I managed to snap a few images before climbing into The Cat Car for today's commute.





Oh, how I love this cat!  Am also loving the fact that our temperatures have been not too cold, and very little precipitation.  I worry about The PO'M and Sweetie so!  And Winter hasn't even started yet!!!!! πŸ™€

17 December, 2018

2006: Angel with her foofoo in the air!

The last photo in my Flashback Friday: December 2006 post garnered some attention!

What the hey, Angel?!?

Well, here is the rest of the image...
Angel letting it all hang out up top...
In the doorway...
On the chair...

Under the table...

On top of the bed!
Angel was overweight at the time, as was Chuck.  Once we switched from dry food to canned food, they both lost weight, and now Angel is purrfectly sized near 11 pounds.  We rarely see her laying around like this nowadays.

14 December, 2018

Flashback Friday: December 2006

Chuck was husky and Angel a bit zaftig!


Um, we can still see you, Chuck!


"Stuff On My Angel"
(showing some serious attitude too!)

That's much better, handsome!



I have no idea what this was all about!  😹

13 December, 2018

Thankful Thursday: Cat Photos

Mango, under the tree in Florida
Used with permission from P&M
Sure, I love cats!  I take photos of the Eastside Cats, and the neighborhood cats, and any other cats that I am privileged to visit.

And I have friends near and far, who send to me a steady and LOVELY stream of images of their own critters, like Mango above.  Isn't he gorgeous?  Getting these images just make my day...I LOVE THEM!  Spied a t-shirt somewhere, that said, "Show me your kits!", and although it's totally inappropriate for a mature, professional woman such as I, it's the darn truth...whip out your phone, and show me your cat pictures!

Obviously, I have a bottomless well of desire to look at cats, and dogs too.  And my fellow bloggers...you too keep my need to peer at cats almost in abeyance!  This, I am thankful for.

Let's Hop!

Click here to join the hop at Brian's Home Blog!

12 December, 2018

Stay Away Wednesday

Image taken at 7:00 am this morning:

Angel:  "Don't get any closer to me, Mama!
Not until I've had my brekkie!"
Angel allows little to no touching before meals.  She's all business...the business of filling her belly!

11 December, 2018

Toesday

"No one can see me hiding!
WAIT...What?!?
How can you possibly see me...I'm invisible!"
😸😺😹


10 December, 2018

Da Sunshine Boyz

So cute!
My bet is the Manny is half-upside down, and CB is looking away, but don't quote me on it!
This weekend was very cold, and not a cloud in the sky!  Everyone was basking in the warm light.  We are sorry for the folks who've been socked by storms to the south and east.

The PO'M and me!
On a very sad note, Mary Ann at Feral Cat Behavior lost her husband Mike to illness early this morning.  Please drop her a note, and donate toward her feral cat care if you can.  A link to do so is on the side bar of her blog.

Photo borrowed from Feral Cat Behavior
Mike and kitten
😿

08 December, 2018

New Box...er, um...Oval!

New oval litter box

Chili Bruce, reviewing my purchase
When Chuck was alive, we thought for a long, LONG time that his inability to use the litter box for 'solids' was due to his dislike of: 1) the type of litter, 2) the size of the boxes, and 3) the placement of the boxes.  I changed litter...slowly, carefully...several times.  We went from a covered box, to several boxes, then to the largest boxes available.  And I moved them, over weeks, to different locations.

Nothing worked.  In the end, the veterinarian suggested that Chuck probably had Irritable Bowel Disease, although we refused to have the invasive tests done that would confirm it.  We treated him as if he did, with a steroid, and his litter box habits improved.

When Da Boyz joined the household last year, we kept the same boxes in place on the first floor, while Angel received her own boxes in her apartment upstairs.  All has worked out nicely.

That is, until I decided that rectangular boxes are BORING!  The search for round or oval 'boxes' began.  Although pricier than the hardware store cement mixer tubs, the 40-gallon oval tubs are now my go-to household accessory for the cats. 

The Hubby remains stoic, because he doesn't scoop.

Da Boyz now have three ovals.  Angel's daily output is so small comparatively, and her apartment is not in our public house area, so I haven't 'ovaled' her litter boxes...yet.  I will be out and about this weekend, and I'll have access to the feed store where I purchased the ovals from, so we'll just see what happens...

Previous posts about our rectangular litter boxes, and the oval ones:

Litter-box-a-palooza
Independence From Old Litter Day


07 December, 2018

Flashback Friday: Angel

"Who dat?"
This image was taken 14 years...and two iMacs...ago!  This was one of the only times that Angel paid any attention to the computer screen, and I'm glad I had my camera at hand to capture the moment.

With my new laptop, I have easier access to my thousands of photos, so I'll be flashing back more often.  Our kitties have made such a colossal impact on our lives, such as my desire for photography, The Hubby's need to sketch, and of course, this very blog.  Meeting all of you, getting to know your cats, their purrsonalities AND yours, is some of the bestest stuff on the planet, imho.

😻😻😻


06 December, 2018

Thankful Thursday: Pretty Angel

Angel loves that old hooked rug that I made a bazillion years ago!
She has attitude, our Angel.  One can never tip-toe around the house without Angel knowing about it, and meowing the news to all!  Her fur is super soft, but she isn't a softie, and won't give an inch.  I love her with all my heart, and sit next to her chair in the evenings, as I read a book, and listen to her purr.  We are beyond thankful for our precious ladycat!


Let's Hop!


Go to Brian's Home Blog to join the fun!
***

05 December, 2018

Wobble Like A Weeble Wednesday




This video was taken in 2014, but I have dozens of images of The PO'M rolling back and forth like this.  If you are of a certain age, you may recall toys that came out a LONG time ago, that rock on their base but don't topple over.  They are called 'Weebles'. That's my Paddy!

Random fact: The last scene from the film, "Throw Momma From The Train", starring Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito, Billy's character Larry makes fun of Danny's character Owen, calling him a 'weeble'.  So there! 

😺Happy Wednesday!😺

04 December, 2018

Magoo, Other Ohio Cats, and Horses

My niece found Magoo as a kitten, wandering in the yard.  He LURVs his people, and any other human who comes along.  I've posted about him before:

Magoo claimed my mother's lap immediately!
Magoo on my lap
(Note the cat scarf...)
Magoo sleeping on nephew

Magoo in the arms of his mom!
We didn't just stay inside just to play with Magoo, although I spent a lot of time with the 'chonky boi'!  While shopping in Lebanon's historic downtown, I found other cats:

I would have purchased this in a heartbeat, but couldn't do $150!

Photo of bird in a ceramic cat's mouth was for sale

This groovy statue sat on the counter at a sandwich shop, but I'm thinking that there are too many toes on each paw...

An honest-to-gosh shop cat!
After this image was snapped, said cat disappeared from view
After I spent all of my money (a pair of shoes, organic lotion, and the black cat statue from yesterday's post but no scarves), we stood in the rain to watch the daytime Lebanon Horse Drawn Carriage Parade.

One horse pulls a carriage


Mini-horse and rider!
Wells Fargo coach, pulled by four horses
Old-fashioned delivery truck!
We went in the evening to watch the nighttime parade, as horses and carriages were adorned with lights and jingle bells galore!  Here is a taste of the fun:


Needless to say, leaving my family and Magoo behind was difficult to do, and plans are to drive back again in the spring.