O is for...

OUTSIDE - Tanner sits on the patio enjoying the warmth of summer...outside time is actually quite infrequent, and highly supervised.

OVERTURN - Smokey pointing out that their toy basket has been overturned. I eventually moved their toys to the larger basket mom made...

OTTER - I love otters and this is a river otter at Brookgreen Gardens in Myrtle Beach, SC. He came out to see our tour group because the tour guide was throwing food to him. The others still chose to stay away.

OPEN - Pirate opening wide...maybe preparing for the dentist?

OX - Babe, the blue ox is a prominent legend in Minnesota...

OCEAN - I love the beach, and hope to own a beach house one day...this is at Wrightsville Beach, NC. I think the water is just beautiful.

Well, there you have it...we'll take Sunday off, and be back on Monday with our P post.

N is for...

Well, we are over half way finished with the Alphabet challenge, and some letters are definitely a challenge! Today we have a mixture of cats and other things...representing the letter N...

NOSE - This is Ali, one of the cats I catsit for...showing off her pretty pink nose.

NAPPING - Smokey has good form and looks very pretty on his purple blanket.

NAPPING again - Cats are the only ones that can nap...Here's my Granny and my Dad taking a quick, dare I say, Cat Nap after lunch.

NIP NANNER - Devon got the prized nip nanner for his birthday last year, and just loves it!

There you have it...the letter N. Tomorrow will be O...Oh boy!

M is for...

There are quite a few words that start with the letter M...not all have to do with cats though :)
MAZE - This was in Minnesota, at the science museum. I believe it is in St Paul.

MARRIED - My cousin getting ready to drive off from his wedding...

Mojo - How could we have an 'M' post without Mojo? I love this picture because you can just see his blue soft paws on his front foot. He wore these so he would be able to do less damage to his mouth when he scratched it.

MONUMENT - This is the Washington Monument...I took a trip to DC a couple of years ago, and enjoyed visiting all the various monuments and memorials. One thing I love about that area is you are very close to Maryland and can enjoy plenty of steamed blue crabs :)

MOUSTACHE - A perfect example on Mr Mojo...our Granny once asked if we drew that on him everyday!! We told her, Of course :)

Tomorrow is the letter N...stay tuned...

Happy Birthday Smokey

Happy Birthday to my sweet snuggle boy...you have been a blessing in my life! Here's to many more years together.

Smokey as a baby in 1996. He came to live with me on a Tuesday, after I graduated from college. I called an ad in the newspaper to find him (because the kitten I was supposed to get for graduation, died the day we picked her up!). The lady said there were two kittens left, but she had three people coming over that night to look at them, and for me to call back the next day. When I called, I was afraid all the kittens would be gone, but they were both still there. I was very excited!!

Auntie drove me down to a very small town to look at these kittens. The cats were living on a screened porch, and there were lots of adults all growling at the kittens. Smokey was the tiniest of the two, and he had stripes....so that's how I chose him. I wanted a kitten with stripes, since the one that died had stripes too (she was a brown tabby). Little did I know, Smokey would lose those stripes within a month or so, and be solid black. Solid black is now my favorite :)

Smokey was very quiet on the ride home, he just sat in my hands and finally fell asleep. He slept in the bed with me and didn't move all night. Because of all the adults on the porch with him, Smokey growled when he ate. We worked on this, and it took a couple of days for him to realize food was always going to be there and no one would take it away.

He was a nervous kitten/cat and most people never saw him. He laid on me, if I was in my bedroom, and didn't move a muscle. So I made a point to lay in the bed and 'read' everyday with him. It took us several years, but he finally would 'read' with me on the couch. As he's grown older he is more and more confident...he's turned into a social butterfly. Other people can pet him, although he still prefers my lap. He loves to be held and kissed. He enjoys reading as much as always.
Smokey is my first cat and I couldn't have made a better choice. He's taught me a lot and I am so glad he's a part of my life.

Happy Birthday Goose...we'll celebrate tonight with a bit of tuna, since that's his favorite. Thanks for stopping by to visit :)

L is for...

Today we actually have two posts, so don't forget to stop by Smokey's 14th Birthday post as well!!

The letter L will be featured today...here goes...
LASER EYES!! Cats are great at giving the lasers to ward off the evil flashy box...Smokey demonstrates this technique.

LOUNGING - I believe this is Walker, another foster kitten...he knows how to lounge!

LICK - Devon licks a tree in the back yard, while out on a walk one day.

LADIES LEGS IN LAKE!! Well, technically its our feet, but you get the idea :) This picture was taken on one of our many trips to Minnesota. This trip was planned around the lakes and we decided to drive around and put our feet in as many lakes as possible one day! We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the beautiful scenery as we drove. The water was very cold!!

Tomorrow will be the letter M...

K is for...

Today's post will be short...although I have many pictures of our first word, I'll only show one :)
KITTENS!! - The kittens pictured here are Cooper (orange), and Trevor. They were both adopted to loving homes with other kittens from the program. They will be 8 years old this year :)

KNEADING!! We all know how cats love to knead, or make biscuits...here's Tanner demonstrating this fine art.

Tomorrow is L...stay tuned

J is for...

The letter J allowed me the opportunity to review some older pictures looking for just the right ones...here's what I came up with...
JESTER!! Devon, at his birthday party in 2006, dressed up for his guests. He was so proud to have a party...we made crowns as our craft...he loved it!

JACK-O-LANTERN - Devon enjoys dressing up, although he doesn't wear anything for very long. We tried on a variety of Halloween costumes this year...he sat and watched tv for most of the photo session :)

JUMPING - An action shot of Tanner...boxes are fun, but so is jumping out of them!

JAPANESE TOILET - now on to a couple of non cat photos. This is the Japanese style, squat toilet. We found these in most bathrooms, but thankfully there was normally at least one 'western' style toilet as well.

JAIL - Auntie and a friend in 'jail' at the Paul Bunyun land in Minnesota.

Well, there you have it...several words that start with J and photos to go along with them! Tomorrow we'll have the letter K...stay tuned.

I is for...

I was about to say we'll skip the vowels, but I challenged myself and came up with the following...
INTERESTING! This is another shot from the Red Wing Parade...here are students from a cosmotology school dancing down the street with huge scissors! This was interesting, to say the least!

IMMUNOTHERAPY INJECTIONS - This is the box that Mojo's allergy (immunotherapy) serum comes in. This is the list of the various allergens that are included in his serum to help reduce he reactions. These shots worked wonders for him. Smokey also has a box of serum in the fridge, and he gets 1cc every two weeks.

ICE and snow...Tanner playing in, standing in, looking in awe at the snow we had this past winter. We had a lot of sleet (ice) that fell on top of the snow and really condensed it. The boys would not venture out until the patio was cleared :)

That's the last post this week...we'll take Sunday off and resume on Monday with the letter J...stay tuned!

H is for...

It was more challenging to find a cat picture with the Letter H than I thought it would be...but here goes...

HELPING!! Devon helps us wrap some Christmas presents...we couldn't have done it without him :)
HAPPINES! Mojo is experiencing pure happiness rolling in the grass during his last days with us.

HOUSE - Here's our house at the beginning of summer. Our grass doesn't always stay this green throughout the whole summer...it gets too hot for it.

HORSE - I know some bloggers have real horses, but this one was painted and on display at the State Fair. We hold our state fair in October each year in Raleigh.

Here are some real horses in a parade in Red Wing, Minnesota. These people really know how to put on a parade.

Well, that's our post for the letter H.

G is for...

The letter G is brought to you today by...

GREEN GRASS - Here's Devon playing in the grass last summer.
GARDEN - Our garden last summer. We grew squash (that's the large plant), basil, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos. We tried okra, cantaloupe and watermelon, but they didn't work.

Grey kitten...this is Cody. He was also featured in the B post. He is a bit older here, and also ready to go to his forever home.

Gorgeous Goose...Smokey's nickname is Goose, and he probably knows that as his name more than Smokey. :)

Geese...here's the real thing...some Canadian Geese chowing down on the grass at Brookgreen Gardens.

Happy Birthday Tanner!!!

Hi all...Tanner here and today is my 8th birthday!! I'm so glad you all came by to celebrate with me...
I've taken a nice 'nip' nap and am ready to P-A-R-T-Y!!

Just look for the balloons in front of the house to know where to go...

We are serving yummy fish...

Of course there is ham...we know that is a crowd favorite around here!

Roasted chicken...yum

Chocolate cake...my absolute favorite!

No party would be complete with a niptini or two...and look it's green...my favorite color!

There's also plenty of dried catnip, toys and treats to go around...Stay as long as you want...we'll party like there's no tomorrow!

Tanner

F is for...

F was actually pretty easy...here goes...
FRIENDS and FAMILY ...Devon and Tanner are brothers and best buds.

FISH - Charles is happy to be on the blog again. He is a betta fish.

FROGS!! Tanner is dressed like a frog for Halloween...he looks thrilled doesn't he? :)

FLOWERS!! Spring is breaking out all over these days, and soon we'll have tons of flowers everywhere. I took this picture at the State Fair last year.

More pretty flowers...this color of lantana is my favorite.

More Flowers...these were at a farmers market in Minnesota. So beautiful.

FLAIR-UPS...Mojo had really bad allergies, and he would flair up around his mouth. We were lucky that our vet at the vet school would let us submit photos of him, so she could track his progress.

FIBROSARCOMA - in this picture you can clearly see Mojo's tumor. It had many lumps and bumps on it, and a few sores. We were lucky that it never ruptured or oozed. Mojo was still enjoying what little bit of life he had left here...

Tomorrow is the letter G...