Easy Like Sunday

I am just relaxing with my toys.  When Mom went to get the camera, I was up on the kitchen table, helping her read the Sunday paper.  I jumped down and came in here while she was gone.

Karen Jo:  You are really good at moving while I am off getting the camera.  So instead of a fun picture of you sitting on the paper while looking out the window, I got yet another shot of you lying next to your Star Chaser.  It looks like you are ignoring your toys again, but I know that you play with them.  I found fluffy beaver down the hall next to the night light today.

Sometimes I just like to play by myself, without any help from you.  Mom's war with the ravens over the suet feeder continues.

Karen Jo:  To recap:  first I put the suet feeder in the crab apple tree in the front yard, but the ravens found that they could unhook it from any branch I put it on.  Next I got a snap hook and put it on one of the eye-bolts on the clothesline.  They discovered how to get the cage open and take all the suet.  I wired the cage shut and they discovered that they could unhook the cage from the chain.  Once they got the cage on the ground, they could eat all the suet very quickly.  Now I have closed the hook from the chain completely and so far it is working.  I don't care if the ravens help the starlings and the flickers eat the suet; I just don't like it when they find a way to eat it all at once, so the other birds don't get a chance at it. I give the ravens Herman's left over canned food.

Not much else is going on around here.  Mom's new computer came in, but she hasn't hooked it up yet.

Karen Jo:  I am excited to get a new computer, but I dread all the stuff I have to go through to get it up and running.  My new computer has Windows 7 on it and I am afraid that most of my programs won't work any more and I will have to get new ones.  I might even have problems getting it online.

Moms!  All worry, worry, worry.  At least I can help her relax at night by demanding my petting.

Mardi Gras!

 We took the Mardi Gras Challenge from Jacqueline's Cat House.  That is Mom took it and dragged me along.

 Here I am wondering what the heck Mom put around my neck.  She told me it was Mardi Gras beads.  Wha?  I'm a MANcat!

Here I am putting the bitey on them.  Mom took them off before I could really bite them up.  You want to know that the problem is with a Mom that is all well again?  She has the energy to do stuff like this.  Happy Mardi Gras, everyone!

Mancat Monday

I am looking at all the toys Mom got out for me to play with today.  It's kind of hard to see, but there is a ball with feathers right in front of me.  I picked it up and smelled it right after Mom snapped the picture.

Karen Jo:  I don't know if Herman was interested in the ball with feathers for itself, or if it still has a slight aroma of Emma on it.  She used to play with it a lot.  He just picked it up, sniffed it and put it down again.  He hasn't been interested in playing at all today yet, but that is not unusual.  He prefers to play in the early evening, just before sundown.

I got Mom up again this morning.  It was just before dawn this time.  I wanted breakfast, but she wasn't ready to give it to me yet.

Karen Jo:  If I feed you that early in the morning, then you want lunch early, too, then dinner.  It's much better if I feed you later in the morning.  I did give you your breakfast the second time you woke me up.  I am feeling much better today.  I am almost back to normal.  All I have left of the cold is a stuffy nose.  Some of that could be my allergies.

We have nice sun puddles for me to lie in today.  Mom didn't go out and feed the birdies, though.

Karen Jo:  The sun is shining, but it is very cold outside and we have had some wicked wind. I only went out there to do what I absolutely had to do.  The wind knocked over the recycle bin and I had to go out and set it upright again and put some more stuff in it, so it wouldn't get knocked over again.

Mom had tomato soup with cheese shreds last night and I got some cheese shreds.  I love cheese shreds.

Karen Jo:  I am getting really sick of soup.  I think I will get some cheesy chicken out of the freezer for supper tonight.

Yay!  Mom got some real milk for the tomato soup and she gave me the milk ring to play with in the kitchen.  I watched it spin across the floor, but did nothing with it while Mom was watching.  As soon as she went back to her cooking, I started playing with it.  When I noticed that Mom was watching me again, I stopped playing with it.

Karen Jo:  I don't know why you don't like my watching you play.  It gives me a lot of pleasure.

I don't know, either.  It's just something I do.  Mom gave me a good brushing this morning.  I loved it.  She hasn't been brushing me as much since she's been sick.

Easy Like Sunday

This isn't a great photo, as the sun was behind me when Mom took the picture.  I am up on my platform watching what's going on in the living room instead of looking out the window.  The weather is variable here. We started out with bright sunshine and wind and now it's snowing like crazy.  Team Tabby gave me an award yesterday, but Mom isn't quite up to posting it today.  Maybe tomorrow.

Karen Jo:  I am feeling a lot better today and I think I am getting over my cold, but I still don't have a lot of energy.  You have enough for both of us.

Mom was talking on the phone last night and I bugged her until she got out my favorite wand mousie and started playing with me.  I even rolled over on my back to swat at it with my paws, which is very unusual for me.

Karen Jo:  I would have loved a picture of it, but I can't talk on the phone, wave a wand mousie around and take a picture all at the same time.

I want you back to normal, so you will start doing more stuff with me and cooking and everything.

Karen Jo:  I am working on it, but who woke me up out of a sound sleep at o-dark-thirty just so I could go show him that he still had plenty of food to eat?

I did, of course.  I like company sometimes for my late night/early morning snack.  As soon as I got you into the kitchen, I started munching on my dry food.

Karen Jo:  I should be thankful that this is the first time you have done it since I got sick nearly a week ago.  Luckily, I got back to sleep in no time.  I should be back to normal in a day or two.

Nothing else happened yesterday or today, so we'll end this short post now. See you tomorrow.

Caturday

I'm just taking my afternoon snooze in my hammick.  Mom took this picture yesterday, but that's where I am today, too.  Mom had a really bad day with her cold yesterday and didn't do much of anything but read and sleep.  She's feeling a little better today.  I think she has the sads about not being able to go to her aunt's memorial and that isn't helping her get better.

Karen Jo:  I think you might have something there, Herman.  I do have the sads, but I also feel a little better.  I did manage to write a few words to be read at the memorial and e-mailed them to my cousin.  That made me feel a little better about the situation.  I have been trying to think about it for days, but my head is so full of goop that it is hard to think.  I had to do it today because the memorial is tomorrow.

I am glad that you didn't leave me.  I hate it when you leave me here all alone for days on end.  Mom fed the birdies today and even managed to give them fresh water.  She is out of suet, though, so that cuts down on the number of birds around.

Karen Jo:  I am going to have to start wiring the suet cage shut.  Those ravens are eating up all the suet the same day I put it out or the next day.  A suet cake should last for several days.  I wish I could just go to the store and get more, but I don't feel up to it yet.  I have a friend who shops for me when she can, so maybe we can get more suet soon.

At least I have plenty of food.  Mom stocked up before she got sick.

Karen Jo:  You have plenty of everything but your dry food.  You are getting low on that.  If you run out before I get well, you might have to make do with Fancy Feast Filet Mignon dry food, as I can't ask my friend to go out of her way to get your Now! at the pet store.

Hey, I wouldn't mind that at all.  I love that stuff.  Speaking of food, I pulled a fast one on Mom the other night.  She was getting her supper ready by opening a can of chicken noodle soup.  When she walked over to the rack to get a sauce pan to heat it up in, I jumped up on the counter and started lapping it up from the can.  Yummy!

Karen Jo:  I noticed before you got too much.  I wasn't too worried, because it doesn't  have anything in it that is bad for kitties.  I would have shared some of the chicken and noodles with you, but you lost all interest in it once it was heated up.

You heat things up too hot.  Last night Mom had tomato soup again and I got some cheese shreds.  I want Mom to get all well so she will start eating good stuff again.  I know there is some cheesy chicken in the freezer, but all she eats these days is cereal and soup.  She doesn't even use real milk on her cereal.  I tried some of the stuff she does use and it doesn't even taste good.

Karen Jo:  I use almond milk on my cereal to help with my slightly elevated cholesterol.  I am sorry you didn't like what you found when you stuck your nose in my cereal bowl.  You are getting quite bold about wanting to help me eat my food.

You know the kitty rule:  What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine, too.  Speaking of which, some kitties might wonder why Mom can keep my treats out in the open like that without my helping myself to them.  The truth is that I get so much good food and I know I can get a treat just by asking, that I never bother the treat packages.

I got some good play time in the other night.  I got frisky while Mom was cooking dinner instead of waiting until it was ready.  We played soccer for a little bit and I even batted Da Bird around a couple of times.

Just Hanging Around

I am just snoozing on the carpet today.  It's cloudy, so I don't get the good rays on my platform.  Please ignore all the bits from my cardboard scratcher.  Mom isn't a very good cleaner.

Karen Jo:  I am afraid that your Mom has been a shockingly bad house cleaner lately, Herman.  Once I get well, I am really going to have to do something about it.

Mom didn't play with me yesterday evening after all.

Karen Jo: You didn't get frisky until my dinner was ready to eat.  I tried after I finished, but you weren't interested any more.  We did get in a little play time before your midday nap today.

Mom has taken to putting my fuzzy balls in a bag with catnip.  She got one out for me today and I batted it around for a little while.  When the catnip got all knocked off of it, I lost interest.

I didn't get my usual amount of petting last night in bed, either.

Karen Jo:  I got chills really bad last night.  I petted you as long as I could stand having my arm outside the covers, then I just had to tuck in and try to get warm.  I finally had to pull up the throws that I keep at the foot of the bed to get warm enough to sleep.  This is the first time this winter I have had to do that.

I got a good laugh at Mom this morning.  She heard some noises and came hurrying into the living room to see what I was meowing about.  I wasn't meowing at all.

Karen Jo:  Ravens are excellent mimics.  We have some around here that quack like ducks, which they picked up at the duck pond.  There was one for a while that barked like a dog, driving the neighborhood dogs nuts.  Now I have one that makes a sound that, when filtered through the closed windows, sounds like Herman meowing for attention.  I hurried to see what was up, because Herman never makes that particular meow unless he is with me.  I thought there was something wrong.  Ravens must also have very good hearing, because Herman's meow isn't all that loud.  He does meow at the ravens sometimes, but it is a different meow than the one that is being imitated now.

I thought I would fill you in on a change in my behavior that Mom has noticed lately.  Ever since I moved in, Mom has liked to do what she calls walk-by petting.  She walks by me and rubs my head on her way.  I used to hate it.  I would duck and swat at her hand.  Now I hardly ever duck any more and I never swat at her hand.  I guess I just got used to it.

Whiskerhump Wednesday

Mom finally got a decent picture of my whiskerhumps for Whiskerhump Wednesday in honor of Kismet, the big mancat who had huge ones.  Mine usually don't show up very well.  I am spending a lot of time up on my platform, both to watch the birdies and catch the rays.  We didn't get all that snow that was predicted.

Karen Jo:  I am both glad and sad about that.  We really need the moisture, but I didn't need all that snow to move around in.  I finally got out and filled the bird feeders.  The ravens have figured out how to get the suet feeder open, so I run out of suet much faster than I used to.  I am feeling a little bit better today, but not much.

We didn't do anything interesting yesterday, so we are going to catch you up on some of the stuff we were doing while Mom wasn't blogging.  The reason that I am disappointed that Mom isn't playing with me now is that I have started playing with her more.  Back when Mom was so worried about her aunt, she would try to get me to play to take her mind off it.  She tried rolling my balls around on the floor and tossing toy mice around, but nothing was working.

Karen Jo:  Then I tried something a little different.  I took one of your plastic balls and rolled it down the Alpine scratcher and that caught your attention.  You chased it and batted it and chased it some more.  We found a new game that lasted quite a while.

It was lots of fun.  We need to do it again.  You might even try me on the wand toys again.  You haven't done that in a long time.

Karen Jo:  Maybe this evening when you start to get frisky.  I haven't tried the wand toys in a long time because you usually just ignore them.  You even ignored the laser dot the last time.

I have that laser dot all figured out.  I know where it comes from and that I can't catch it, so it isn't fun any more.  Mom even tried throwing treats out and shining the laser dot on the treats.  I ate the treats, but wouldn't chase the dot.

The other thing that I have discovered is Mom's screen saver.  She has the pipes that run all around the screen.  I sat on her computer chair and watched them for a long time.  I wanted to get closer to them, but I didn't want to step on the keyboard.  The one and only time I tried that there were a lot of loud noises that I didn't like.

Karen Jo:  I am grateful that you are wary of the keyboard.  The one time you did step on it, I don't know what you did, but you froze up the computer completely.  Not even the mouse worked.  I had to turn it off without exiting Windows first, which I hated to do, but no real harm was done.

Mom sits in her rocking chair a lot.  I don't like it because there is no room for me unless I get in her lap.  I get even by clawing her legs.

Karen Jo:  That does get my attention.  I get up and see what you want.  Usually you just want some petting or other attention.  Sometimes you want to be fed, even though it isn't time for it.  You could get up in my lap for petting, you know.

I know, but I am not a lap cat.  I don't even want to be a lap cat.  You tried picking me up and putting me in your lap just the other night and I got right back down again.  I want to be next to you, not on you.  The only time I get up on you is to get your lazy body out of bed in the morning because I am starving.

Karen Jo:  I guess I should be thankful that you don't want to sleep on top of me at night.  You weigh a ton.

I'm not that fat.  I am just a little chubby.  I have been jumping up on the kitchen sink for a drink again. This morning there was some interesting water in a pan in the sink.

Karen Jo:  That was the pan that I warmed up my soup in.  The same soup that you wouldn't eat the meat from.  I noticed that you really preferred the tap water and soon switched.

I love water straight from the tap.

Karen Jo:  Finally, I want to thank all of you for the well wishes and purrs, both for the loss of my aunt and my cold.  I really appreciate it.

Happy Valentine's Day

 Happy Valentine's Day!  Here's Mom's Valentine's Day stuffie.  I am glad that she has never gotten me a Valentine's Day hat or anything else to wear.

I am up on my platform looking for the birdies.  There aren't any at present because Mom hasn't filled up the feeders.  She also hasn't blogged in, like, forever.

Karen Jo:  Sorry, Herman.  Shortly after our last post I got the news that my last aunt was dying.  I needed something to take my mind off that at times, so I started playing an immersive computer game.  I didn't feel like blogging.  Then my aunt died, so I was busy getting ready to go to her memorial.  Then I caught a bad cold, so I can't go.  This is the first day that I felt up to blogging.  I am still pretty miserable, so I probably won't be visiting much, but at least we can let all your friends know that we haven't dropped off the edge of the Earth.  I might feel up to filling the feeders tomorrow.

You sure haven't been much fun.  At least you spend more time in bed, so I get lots of snuggle and petting time.  You have even been forgetting to feed me on time.

Karen Jo:  You always get breakfast on time.

That's because I make myself impossible to ignore in the morning until you get up and feed me.

Karen Jo:  It's just lunch and sometimes supper that have been late.

I guess I can be glad that you eventually remember to feed me.  Your food has been pretty crappy.

Karen Jo:  I have been eating sandwiches and soup.  I offered you a bit of meat out of my soup, but you didn't want it.

You aren't even trying to play with me.

Karen Jo:  I haven't felt up to it.  I pet you while I read on the sofa.

That's great until you start making all those weird noises.  Sometimes I get up and leave because of them.

Karen Jo:  I can't help coughing, sneezing and having to blow my nose.  I should start to get better in a few more days.

I hope so.  At least you are home with me all the time.