Thursday in the Garden

Today's Garden post is rather random in nature...out weather is way to hot to be outside, but thankfully we have been getting a bit of rain. Our rain barrels are all full again!

The fence seems to be keeping the rabbit away, and our newly planted tomatoes are growing and blooming!
I am not sure what this plant it, but it was huge last summer...it died back in the winter, but is coming out again. We love plants that will return year after year! You can see how think the stalks were last year...it has a long way to grow.

A new addition to our garden this year is Cone Flowers. Auntie read that the birds really like them, so we are giving it a try.

This last picture is looking over the fence at the yard. We have a huge bank behind our house and the other row of houses in the neighborhood and it is covered with large grasses. This grass is a wonderful home to many rats, which makes the neighborhood cats and the halk happy. These rats love to come up to our bird feeders and eat seed from the ground. We are ok with this as long as they stay away from the house :) In the picture below, you can see their paths from the tall grasses to the feeders...

Well, that's all for today...

For more interesting gardening post (probably with actual cat pictures) check out Jonesie's page and the other members of the Society of Feline Gardners.

Wordless Wednesday

Trio on Tuesday

I was thankful to have my camera ready last weekend when the boys gave me a great Trio shot. Smokey was in a frisky mood and claimed Devon's chair! Devon and Tanner just laid on the table. There were several birds out in the feeder for their entertainment.
A view from behind :) A lazy day is a great thing sometimes!
Hope you all have a great day!!

Mancats love the Cube

The boys are all enjoying the Cube they received in their Christmas in July package. Someone is in it just about all the time! Tanner is more conservative in the cube than his brother Devon, and usually manages to keep the cube upright the whole time :)
The cube is a great place to sniff for other kitties. I'll bet he is smelling Devon!
The cube is also a great lookout spot to watch other kitties passing by...there goes Pirate.
Sometimes toys land on the cube and need to be attacked...
Sometimes it is fun to just sit and see what will happen next!
What are some of your favorite toys? Does everyone in your household like the same thing?

Thursday in the Garden

Today on the Garden post, we will discuss Viscus Introoders and how we stopped them!
We seem to have a rabbit that likes to help with the garden. I am fine with animals eating some of the bounty of foods, but please do not destroy the plants. This rabbit, chewed two of the tomato plants in half, near the bottom. Therefore, no more tomatoes from those plants!

This is all that is left of one plant...can you see the stalk?

After this happened twice, we got down to work installing a barrier to keep Mr Rabbit from the garden.

We installed these posts around the edge...and bought some new plants to replace the old ones.

Then we hooked this chicken wire to the post all the way around the garden. It is only about 2 feet tall, so we can easily step over it to water and pick.

How have you dealt with introoders? Do you have many where you live? Happy Gardening!

For more beautiful gardens head over to Jonesie's page!

Wordless Wednesday

As far as I know Smithfield is still alive and painting...here's his website, in case you want your own Pig-Casso!

Two on Tuesday

These are older pictures, from about 4 years ago. I have posted some before, but they are perfect for my theme today, and really, who doesn't like some kitty love? We were moving into an apartment after our townhouse sold, while we waited for our house to finish. We decided to board the cats at the PetsHotel for one night, so the movers would have an easier time, and we wouldn't have to worry them running out or being in the way.

Tanner and Devon roomed together in a large cage because they get along quite nicely. Smokey and Mojo were roommates, and Pirate and Sophie shared a cage. We looked like crazy cat ladies for sure bringing in all these cats for one night! It took two shopping carts to haul them in :)
We tried to get the apartment all set up for them before picking them up, so it wouldn't be so scary for them. They did well, and found their favorite spots quickly.
Devon and Tanner needed a bit of extra time with each other. I almost felt like I was interrupting a moment :)

Love bugs! Big brother Devon, comforting his baby brother, Tanner.

It's nice to have a friend in the world to help soothe you in times of worry...

All better now...time for a nap.

Thank God for best friends!

Black Mancats are hard to Photograph

Trying to get good pictures of Smokey is especially hard. I almost always end up having to 'flash' at him just so he will show up...otherwise he is a shadow cat!
Thought have the window would be good enough...camera thought it had plenty of light, but Smokey didn't show up...
I turned the flash on and at least you can see him, although his eyes look funny.
Now he isn't cooperating...I can't blame him though, getting flashed all the time!
One from above...you can see he is getting a bit thin in this picture. We are encouraging him to eat, and providing him with lots of special AD canned food. What are you other senior cat owners doing to help with this weight loss and 'old' look?
Looking better, although his eye is a bit puffy...such a gorgeous boy though!

Life is Good - Award

Eric and Flynn were offering this award to anyone who had not received it before, so we thought we'd give it a try. 'Life is Good' was Mojo's life mantra...he could always find pleasure in whatever situation he was going through.

This award is for the mom's and dad's out there that help their kitties write a blog. If you haven't accepted this award before...please help yourself!

1) What would your perfect day consist of? My perfect day would be hanging around the house, working on a scrapbook and getting some valuable snuggle time in with my boys. My second perfect day would be laying on the beach with a good book.

2) How would you describe yourself if you were an item of clothing? Lounge Pants...I'm super laid back and am comfortable with who I am.

3) What hobbies are you currently working on? I have many scrapbooks going right now, one I just started working on is for my dad...I have most of his pictures and slides from when he was in Vietnam, and I am trying to get them ready for a book for him.

4) Walking in the woods with wellies or bare foot on the beach? Bare foot on the beach, without a doubt. My dream is to own a beach house one day.

5) Have you hugged or sang to a tree? I can't say I've done either, but I will talk to our plants in the garden.

6) Growing our own veggies or nipping to the supermarket? A bit of both...we don't have enough land to grow everything we would need, although we like to supplement in the summer with a veggie garden.

7) Have you found anyone exciting in your family tree? I am kin to George Washington.

8) Slap up meal in a posh restaurant or fish 'n' chips from the wrapper? Fish 'n' chips for a couple of reasons, 1) I love fish and 2) I would obviously be on vacation in the UK, which is somewhere I've always wanted to go!

9) Which element do you most resonate with; Earth, Air, Fire or Water? Water...I love to swim and being near the ocean brings me such joy and peace.

10) Do you believe in fairies? Sure, why not?

Well, there you go...nothing too exciting, but hey, I'm lounge pants remember? :)

Have a great weekend everyone and remember...Life is always Good!

Thursday in the Garden

Today we will answer the question...what are the boys looking at out the front window...
This flower pot arrangement sits by the front door. We got the idea while on vacation in Nisswa, Minnesota.

These pretty flowers are in the front beds too...not sure what they are called, but I love their color.

We have many gerber daisy plants as well...here's one of our favorites when it is blooming.

This is what our gerbers look like at the moment though...we are in need of some rain, so no blooms right now...
These pretty white and pink flowers are also in the bed out front...they look so dainty compared to the larger gerbers.

Here is one of the knock-out rose bushes flanking the garage. This thing blooms almost all summer and is usually more full of blooms that it is right now. The lack of rain is having an impact on all flowers this year.

This little guys sits on the front porch near the door too...

There you have it...we also have some mums that are starting to bloom, but I'll save them for another post...when they are more full of blooms this fall.

For other great gardens...pop over to The Feline Society of Gardeners and read the blogs there.

Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday

Sometimes canned food is better if you stand in the cabinet to eat :)

Devon

Mancats bathe

Tanner shows everyone how to wash your belly...not sure why he doesn't get on the carpet where it would be more comfortable.
Leg extension and suspension in the photo below...

WTG Tanner!

Sorry we haven't been around lately....mom spent some time at home last week and over the weekend just enjoying her time with us. We were all quite lazy, but hope to get back around to visiting more this week!

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas in July

Our Christmas in July package arrived last week, but mom was going out of town for the holiday and didn't have time to post...so we are a bit late. Our package came from the kitties at Manx Mnews.
Devon and Tanner checking out the box...they had been sniffing it for days until finally it was time to open it. The box was very tempting because it rattled when you shook it!

We got this awesome cube!! Tanner was a bit afraid of it at first, but he finally got used to it. Devon loved it from the beginning and there's a video of him playing in it below.

Here's a look at all our loot! We love the treats and are looking forward to trying a new type of canned food. The balls and mice are a big hit at our house too. Of course anything catnip is a winner! Mom loves her photo album too and thought Abby was wonderful to include her in the gifts :)

Here's Devon playing in the cube...Enjoy!

Thanks again to Abby, Ping, Boo, Jinx and baby Gracie. You can read more about these wonderful kitties at Manx Mnews!

Thursday in the Garden

Today's post will include plants and other features in the garden...

Here we have an important feature...Mr Rain Barrel. We have 4 barrels (55 gallons each) on one side of the house to collect the rain water from the roof. We use this water to keep the garden happy during our dry summer months. It is surprising how little rain you need to keep these barrels full.

This purple plant is on the hill behind the house. I am not sure what it is called, but it takes spells of looking really pretty, then looking pretty bad. It is in a bad stage right now. The bees love this plants though and there were several hanging around when I took this picture.

This is part of the new butterfly bush. We have two now, one white and this purple one. Birds adore this plant, and although it is named Butterfly bush, I haven't really noticed an increase in their numbers.

These are some of my favorites...Nandina. I love their wild and crazy look. I love how in the fall/winter they turn a nice bright red. They are the dwarf variety, but are finally growing a bit this summer for us.

This is in the corner of our yard...we planted a holly tree/bush and some gardenias to go around the blue house. So far, we have not had any nesting in the box, but the blue birds always fly over to it to look around.
Next week's post will show us what Tanner and Smokey are looking at :)

If you enjoy reading about gardens, pop over to The Society of Feline Gardeners for more fun sites!