Happy February

My February calendar. The photos on this page are of Mojo last year. The one in the grass just looks like pure contentment. That boy loved to be outside, unfortunately he couldn't go out as much as he would have preferred because of his allergies.

The photo on the right, is the last picture of me and Mojo together. He was euthanized shortly after this shot. His tumor was huge and causing more discomfort that we could control. So on February 25th, 2009 Mojo's time on earth ended. It's hard to believe it's almost been a whole year. Fly High Superman!!

On a happier note, my great aunt, will be 97 this month. Here's a picture of her in summer 2009, at 96. She looks great!

My sister, Great Aunt Irene, and me.

Can't wait to see what the groundhog says tomorrow about our weather...

Thankful Thursday - an Award

We are so thankful for all the kitty friends we've met through the CB. We were given this award by the girls at Zoolatry and we are honored!

Wordless Wednesday

Mancat Monday

Smokey has a good view on his brothers from on top of this table.
He takes his job as oldest mancat very seriously. It's tough keeping his younger brothers in line and out of trouble!

You're doing a good job Goose! Now if you could just teach that Devon to squat in the litter box, we'd be all set.

Family Friday

The other day when I posted pictures of Pirate, some of you were unsure about who he is...so I thought I'd take a day to write about him. My sister and I live together and we each have cats. I have Smokey, Devon and Tanner currently. She has Pirate and Sophie.

Pirate came to live with us in 2003 as a kitten. He had a stump of a leg, or a peg leg, hence the name Pirate. He could get around fine, but he would continually hit the stump on something and just shake it off...I image it was like hitting your funny bone or something. The stump kept a sore on it from being hit on things. The decision was made to have the stump removed up to his hip. He spent one night at the vet and was back home. He healed really quickly, and without that part of a leg, he was able to get around much better. He can climb stairs like a champ. He can jump, but not high enough to get on the counters...he is one of our best cats :)

He loves to play with fevvers especially and Da Bird is one of his favorites. He can wrestle with the best of them too. The main problem with have is because he is slightly curved, when he runs at the others, he looks threatening, so they (mainly Tanner) are afraid of him at times. Other than that, he is just like any other cat.
His tail is super thick to compensate too. The vets have to alter where they give some of his shots because of the missing leg. He is also a bit sensitive to you messing with the remaining leg. He potties fine and loves to dig!

Don't think though that he doesn't get into any trouble...he can find ways to be naughty just like his cousins! Here he is in a potted plant on the porch at the apartment.

Well, that's Pirate. I'm trying to get my sister to be a guest blogger and explain why he believes he is Canadian. I think she'll be posting soon to tell that story...since the Winter Olympics are about to start up again and they are in Canada this year.

Window Views - A Painting

My mom painted this for me for my birthday last year. She took the idea from a photo I had of Devon and Smokey looking out our window and she modified it a bit to include the bird feeders and some better scenery. I think she did a great job!

Wordless Wednesday

Tent on Tuesday

We have several tents in the house, that the boys enjoy laying in. Tanner, Smokey and Pirate are the most common cats we find in the tents. Devon likes to just scratch the sides and play around. Have I mentioned lately that he's a nut?
This tent that Tanner is modeling for you, was a gift from Devon's godmother. She likes to visit the boys on occasion, and usually Devon hisses and acts ugly, unless she brings some sort of bribe. This was a peace offering on one visit :)
I don't think there's a cat in this tent, but Smokey could be in there with his eyes closed! He loves this tent, and hangs out in here quite frequently. One really nice thing about this tent, and the one below, is that they help raise money for a rescue group. The Marley Fund works with FeLV and FIV positive cats.

They also have a group called Marley's Cat Tails that Devon's Godmother helps run. They work with all cats and dogs.

Pirate hanging out in another Marley tent. They are easy to wash and hold their shape nicely because of the plastic supports. Here's the link to these tents if you are interested in purchasing one. They have many colors and patterns to choose from.

Happy camping!!

Flashback Friday

In 2006, we moved out of our townhouse, when it sold, and into an apartment. We hadn't been living there long when it became known as the dungeon. We were on the back of a building, and so did not receive any direct sunlight. It was small and crowded and cluttered as you can see by all the boxes stacked everywhere. We tried to keep everyone happy, so here are Mojo, Devon and Tanner all giving me the lasers to help me hurry up with the canned food!

We lived in this dungeon for 5 months, while the house finished. This picture was taken about two weeks before we moved again.

Tummy Tuesday

This post combines two themes...Tummys on Tuesday and Flashback to Fostering! This is Derek. He is a kitten we fostered back in 2003. He came to us with what was thought to be neurological problems because he was so wobbly. We later determined that he was extremely weak, so food helped in that regard. (You can tell by that buddha belly above that he loved to eat!) He also didn't walk around a lot and when he did he limped.

We took him to the orthopaedist and he determined that there was a massive infection of some sort in his joints, primarily the elbows. We started on three times a day antibiotic injections (I learned how to give shots with Derek). It's amazing what we'll learn how to do for our babies! Because of the time schedule of the shots, I brought Derek to work everyday with me, and he hung out in my office. He was the sweetest little fella, with no meow, he would just open his mouth at you! It would melt my heart every time and I'd have to hold him.

After three weeks of the shots and fever reducer, etc...Derek was not getting any better, and in fact, was getting worse. The infection was spreading and more joints were impacted and he was in pain. It was determined that he had some sort of auto-immune disease that was attacking his little body, and we made the decision to have him euthanized. I had only known Derek for 4 weeks, but I'll never forget him.

Derek's ashes are in a sugar pot on my mantel because I had already decided if he were to get well, I'd adopt him. The rescue group was wonderful in letting me keep him forever!

Mancat Monday

My Mancats are all calendar cats this year. I've been playing around with my new digital software from Creative Memories, and made a calendar for my office.



In more exciting news, we've been given the Superior Scribbler Award from our friends Eric and Flynn.

The Superior Scribbler Award was started by The Scholastic Scribe to celebrate their 200th post. To read more about the Superior Scribbler Award click HERE.

As with every award, there are some rules that need to be followed:

1. Each Superior Scribbler (SS) must pass the Award on to 5 deserving blogger friends.
2. Each SS must link the author and name of the blog from whom he/she received the award.
3. Each SS must display the award on his/her blog and link to the post which explains the award.
4. Each SS is asked to visit the post which explains the award and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List.
5. Each SS must post these rules on his/her blog.

We would like to pass this award on to the following serious scribblers:

Perfectly Parker, Brian's Home, The Creek Cats, Raymond and Busby, and A House with Two Cats

Flashback Friday

These pictures are of Devon when he was a baby. The top one is when he was still living with his foster mom. He was found in the woods by a lady on a horse when he was about 10 days old and bottle raised.

The second picture is him at my house. He's probably only been there a couple of days, but already was right at home :)

Thankful Thursday

With the small threat of some white stuff tonight, we wanted to remember to be thankful for the promise of Spring. Enjoy these sunny photos today and keep warm!!

I hope we get some of the white stuff tonight...I don't have anything to do this weekend, so it would be a perfect excuse to just hang out with the boys :)

Wordless Wednesday

Toys on Tuesday

The boys have a room in the house where the majority of their toys are kept. That doesn't mean there aren't toys and condos in every other room, but this is where most of them reside. We bought this house with kitten fostering in mind, and so we made sure to have an extra bedroom that we could dedicate to that purpose. We haven't had any kittens since moving, so this room is for the boys. We still call it the kitten room though.

Tanner looking at a basket of overturned toys, wondering which one to play with next.
Smokey showing how to use the scratching post in this room. This is the oldest one we have, and it's held up remarkably well. This room is on the second floor, so the cats love to lay on this condo and look at the backyard where the bird feeders are located.

We have the "Anti-Tanner" cage set up in this room, so the skinny cats can eat when they want. The hole at the front is small enough that Tanner can't fit, so this works pretty well. Devon, pictured here, also doesn't think he will fit, but he can if he squeezes just a bit. I finally found him in the cage this past weekend, so that made me happy that he's figured it out!

Tanner and Smokey walking around the tunnels. These are great fun...Tanner loves to run through them chasing a string. He also enjoys sleeping in them.

The only bad thing about these tunnels is you have to hand wash them, because the wires that hold them up won't go in the washing machine.

The closet in this room is the one Smokey opened yesterday on the video. It holds their carriers and extra blankets and beds.

Tanner and I play in this room every morning...sometimes Devon joins us, but he is usually too busy helping Auntie get her makeup on to be bothered.

PS - Thanks to Zoolatry for another wonderful Header...we love it!

Mancats Are Unruly!

Smokey has always been fascinated with closets. He loves to hide in them and sleep. He loves the closet doors in the new house because he can open them whenever he wants. I seem to constantly go around and close doors only to find them open a little while later. I've given up :) I finally caught him in the act though...now I am trying to catch him opening the dresser drawers!

What naughty things do your kids do?

Happy New Year!!

Happy 2010 to everyone! We are enjoying having mom home for the week, although our blog isn't getting updated as often as we'd like, nor are we visiting as many kitties as we want, we are still loving our snuggles! Today mom had her traditional New Year's day meal...Collard Greens (so you'll get lots of cash money in the new year), black-eyed peas (so you'll get lots of coins), and pork chops just because they are tasty. We also had cornbread muffins, but I don't have a picture of them. Do you have traditions like this where you live? This meal is definitely a Southern thing here in the USA.

Devon is worn out after all the partying last night. Here he is curled up in mom's new Snuggie on the couch.

Tanner is laying in the purple puff...his favorite nap spot.

Smokey is in the CM room with mom 'helping' her with some scrapbooking. She's trying to get caught up on a few projects during her time off.

We hope everyone is enjoying this first day of 2010 as much as we are...Well, it's time to get off here and help mom make her special meal again for dinner.