Sunbathing Beauty

And the winner is ... Annabelle of Kansas City,  Ms. Sunbathing Beauty, 2011 !!!

Flower Children

Absolutely FED UP with winter, Phoebe Jo and Annabelle take matters into their own hands -- choosing their very favorite designer, Miss Sarah of Leawood, the girls model the upcoming Spring Fashion with feline flair.

A Dialogue Between Two Cats

Annie:  "Hey, doesn't that look familiar?"
Phoebe:  "Yea, sorta like that mouse in the house last December."
Annie:  "You mean the one you caught, and LET GO!!"
Phoebe:  "Yea, that would be the one."
Annie:  "Well, see what happens when you show compassion!?  It escaped the house, and now it's getting huge and fat from the outdoor cats food!  Which, by the way, why is mom feeding them better than us?"
Phoebe:  "Life sucks."

Creepy Kitty

Annie alleviates boredom by playing mindgames with her people -- by appearing to indulge in exorcist-style hovering and/or stiltwalking 4 feet off the ground! 

[doo-dee-doo-dee, whee-ooo ...]

Film Noir Cat

Lydia enjoys "Film Noir" where man appears to be killing a dog.

Sunshine On My Shoulders Makes Me Happy

There's nothing at all amusing about this one -- 

Annie's just so dern purty in the sunshine

that I had to include it into blog-eternity.

Phoebe Is Not Amused

Phoebe looks on with disdain as Annie once again

claims the favored spot upon Daddy's shoes.

Static Cat

Disclaimer:  This is NOT my cat.  The only reason I include it in this blog is because I experienced a similar incident with 2 previous cats from 2 decades ago.  I came home in a "snit" about something work-related, felt the need to destroy something, kicked a box in my living room that happened to be full of staticized packing wigglies, and said wigglies attached themselves to my 2 cats, who were not the least bit happy.  I myself went from fury to hysterical laughter, thereby determining that everyone should have a box of styrofoam wigglies in their house!

Crystallized Cat

Annie objects to being considered less attractive

than fake crystal.

Annie Becomes One with the Poinsettia

Farewell, Sophie Mae

This is a miserable Christmas for us, because our sweet 14-1/2 year-old Sophie Mae had finally reached her limit of elderliness.  She had a strong heart, but as is frequent with people & critters alike, other things were getting weaker by the day.  Much like her younger "sister" (Lily Rose), Sophie enjoyed every meal to the fullest, right up to her final breakfast this morning.  She would frequently give me a face that said, "well, that was a good appetizer, now where's the entree?!" 

When we first went looking for a puppy, we found an advertisement that said "mini-schnauzer puppies" for sale.  And me, being incredibly ignorant of what a real schnauzer should look like, was mesmerized by her oddball cuteness & little red bandana around her neck, and brought her right home. 

It wasn't until my veterinarian said "what is that?" that I realized I'd been schnookered by a pretty face, but by then it was too late.  We think she was probably half Cairn Terrier, maybe a quarter schnauzer, and who-knows what else.  Regardless, she retained the schnauzer protectiveness by growling at anything and anyone, yet at the same time, wiggling her little schnauzerized-tailstub ferociously (thus earning her the nickname of "wigglebutt").  She sang "operas" to any squirrel she spied, and she played rip-roaring games of tug and hide-and-seek with her sister/child Lily.  And whenever we came home, we could see Sophie's face at the window, usually with a look of distress, and we immediately knew that Lily had been up to no good.  Apparently, Sophie was incapable of controlling Lily.
As every dog-parent will testify, their's is the cutest, greatest, lovingest, protectingest dog that ever existed, and we will defend that definition of Sophie Mae forever.  And we will always remember Sophie and Lily together as mother/daughter, and/or sisters enjoying their days in the sun.

Competition

Annabelle sulks as Lydia gets first dibs on

the Wild Rocker Ride.

Boredom

Confucius say: 

"Humidity begets boredom begets silliness."

Krispy Kritter

Once again, Annie goes to extremes in food-finding maneuvers because, obviously, nobody ever feeds her.

Cola Cat

This may not be the "Real Thing," but I'll go to any lengths for that caffeine buzz!

Cup 'o Catte Latte?

So, who wants to come over for coffee?

Feed Me!!

I do not CARE that this is food is for the elderly dog.

I'm hungry NOW!!

Knick-Knack Catty-Whack

Of all the knick-knacks in this room, which one does NOT belong there?!

Good Morning ...

Everybody, SING !!

"Good mornin', good moooornin'!

It's great to stay up late,

Good mornin', good mornin' to youuuuu!"

And you thought Annabelle was the only entertaining cat! So did I. Little did I realize that Phoebe Jo has been secretly honing her singing skills just for me.

Let the Hunt Begin

Maybe I can intimidate my "twin" sister with my vulture impersonation and steal her roadkill stew!!



Now, I just SAW Mom get breakfast outta this, there's gotta be something in here for ME!!??

Ohhhh, life in the wild is soooo cruel.

Farewell, Lily Rose

May 22, 1999 -- May 30, 2009

This is probably a first -- a dog eulogy in a blog designed for cats. But hey, it’s my blog, and I can do whatever I want. People who aren’t pet lovers won’t care about this, and you who are will identify, and not think this is weird. Again -- my blog, don’t care.

Lily was a fill-in-the-void pet for a 19-year-old cat named Muppet who had died. Which reminds me of an amusing moment at the veterinary clinic. The vet asked the name of the new puppy, I said it was “Lily Rose” named after a distant relative (which we do with most of our pets), and the vet began laughing. She said, “I’m afraid to ask about your Aunt Muppet!!”

Anyway, little did I know how similar the personality traits were between cat and dog. Good thing I don’t believe in reincarnation, or I’d think that Muppet had transmigrated into Lily -- at least as far as the paranoid and needy qualities go. I was really not quite prepared for her type of personality because our other dog, Sophie, behaved like a grownup mellow dog from the time she was 6 months old. Lily was anxiety-ridden from Day 1 and stayed that way for her full 10 years. Her anxiety issues led her to destroy in a frenzy anything in the house, whenever we left her sight. It took ME 4 years to consider crate training. It then took LILY only a couple of weeks (she was much smarter than me) to kick the destructive habits. Not the actual anxieties, mind you, but she stopped shredding the house. It’s a pity we can’t crate train our children and spouses, isn’t it?

Lily was a Shih-Tzu/mini-Schnauzer mix. And that little Shih-Tzu tail never stopped whirling with joy, even while lying flat out on her back in total relaxation. It was also clear that she would eat almost anything, including things that weren’t edible, but we won’t go there now. She’d eat almost anything I’d put in a tossed salad, except for black olives. I dropped one in her ever-open mouth once and she looked at me with a “how-could-you” face and literally spit it 3 feet across the room. Now, who would tolerate that from kids and spouses?

Lily had an exceptionally cute method of begging. She’d sit up in perfectly-balanced “meerkat” fashion, eyes bugging with desire, eyebrows pinched together with fear of deprivation, and quivering lower jaw. Who can resist that? And who would let kids and spouses get away with that?

We brought her home very young, about 7 weeks. We were told she would sleep on her mother’s back. Sophie wasn’t thrilled with that arrangement, so I would let her sleep, belly up, in my arms. Again, not for kids and spouses. But Sophie was a very tolerant sister/mom. Being much bigger than Lily, and with long chin fur, she unwittingly became a Worlds-of-Fun ride for Lily, who would stretch up her head, grasp the Sophie whiskers, and literally dangle and whirl off the ground from Sophie’s face. My husband has chin whiskers, and although I’ve begged, never would he allow me to entertain myself in this way.

Oh yes, the most important bonding occurred between me and Lily at 4 months. It’s called shopping. I wanted my child to be impeccably dressed. Sophie would never submit to that at all, and really, I did it only once for Lily. I went to a Build-A-Bear Workshop and bought a silver fairy-princess dress, complete with wand, and sewed wings on the back of the dress. (I don’t sew at all, so you can see how smitten I was.) Then I entered her in a Best Dressed Dog contest, and of course, she won, and she reveled in the win, prancing all over the stage, gathering ooohs and aaahhhs from everyone. After all, what’s cuter -- old ugly dog with a pig nose strapped on, or Lily Rose in a dress? Big stupid-looking dog in a Superman cape, or Lily Rose with wings? I could go on, but I won’t. Except to say, what child or spouse would encourage this method of bonding?

Well, I suppose I should not continue with 10 years of darling stories, or even end it with what eventually did her in. Except to say, that her appetite never stopped. She had a full dinner the same evening her health declined, her tail still whirled upon seeing us, and she was oh-so-happy to go for that final car ride.

And as a final thought, I pray that when my last day comes, even though I may not have an appetite for food, that God will grant me tail-twirling happiness to be with those surrounding me, and even more joy to be heading off for my final ride, knowing Who waits for me.

Going Green

They say these special green storage bags keep food fresh longer. It was necessary to explain to Annie that it will not keep HER fresh longer.

Laundry Day

"I think I need a good drying off, after hours of playing in the sink/bathtub/toilet."

Remember the old commercial, "this is your brain on drugs"? Well, this is your cat kinda drugged-up after one too many joyrides in the dryer. And before any of you report me to the PCA, I'm kidding!! The truth is, I think she got lint on her tongue & was trying to shake it loose.

Kitchen Inspection, the Sequel

"When you want a job done right, ......"

Impatience

We've done all the shopping, now we're ready for our cooking lesson. So, what's taking so long?