Firstly I want to send out special purrs to Storm and Orange Boy. Storm's getting ready to tackle lymphoma again and poor Orange Boy was bitten by a rattlesnake. All of us out here in the woods are purring and sending healing wishes to those kitties and their families.

Secondly, on a lighter note, we succumbed to our curiosity and donated money to The Cat Realm to find out what Sassy was up to after their big party. We received the photos and you really should go check them out. All proceeds go to Cat Friends Helping Friends. I found myself giggling in the middle of the night thinking of the photos whereas Goldie tossed and turned all night as he was quite disturbed by them. I think it is available until Wed. night.

Now I would like to share with you my third photo tip. If you are worried about looking too round always extend a limb out very far to trick the eye. You will be perceived as being very long and lean.



Be careful though to keep yourself in balance. Nothing looks more "out of shape" then a tumble of the couch.

Um... I have a question to ask you guys.



Well... it isn't about me. I am just asking for a "friend" of mine. Yeah, that's it.

See, my "friend" has this rather embarrassing habit and I, no, HE was wondering if is something to worry about.

You see, my "friend" has the most attractive tail I have ever seen. It is long and full of floof. A dream tail actually.

Well... when my "friend" is in a relaxed state of mind, maybe he is even sleeping, he...um...well... he makes biscuits on his own tail.

I know, I know. It sounds pretty crazy but it feels soooo good. Um... I mean that is what he tells me.

So it that kinda weird or is it OK to do that to your own tail if there is nothing that compares to such beauty and softness around?

With all this fox business this week we are taking today to do our meme and pass on our award.

Firstly we were given this lovely rose from our friends Chica and Pumuckl.




Red rose has number of thorns in it
when it pricks your finger it hurts
Everyday in my life is just like red roses.
Sometimes life is not always a bed of roses.
But life is great with God.


Thank you so much, furr friends. We are going to pass this award onto Spooky who is still settling in from her move.

We were tagged by Sweet Ariel and Cute Tesla for the memoir meme.

The rules are

1) Write your own six word memoir.
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the
original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the
blogosphere.
4) Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5) Don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to
play.
6) Have fun!!

Shade's memoir

When in doubt; take a nap

Goldie's memoir

Apricot Floof, Foam lover, Vermin Destroyer

We had some blogs in mind for this but everyone had already done it or were tagged by someone else so if you have not done it, consider yourself tagged. It is pretty fun!

Well, yesterday I CAUGHT MY FIRST MOUSE OF THE SEASON!!!! I was very excited. I am allowed to go out without my harness if the PM and the wee ones are out so yesterday I went a-hunting. I presented it to the PM on the walkway but she was not as excited as I was.



She and the wee-est one took it out to the field and the PM left it there for the owls to get. The wee-est one asked "why?" and the PM explained that the mouse was dead and it would become food for the owl. The wee-est one replied, " The mouse won't mind". The PM thought that was pretty funny.

Goldie~ IWANTOUTIWANTOUTIWANTOUTIWANTOUTIWANTOUT
PM~ I hear you Goldie, keep your fur on.
Goldie~ Hey, what's that thing? Something for the wee ones?
PM~ No Goldie. It is for you.
Goldie~ WHAT???????
PM~ I don't want you to be fox food so I am taking you out with your harness.
Goldie~ That is so not fair!
PM~ Sorry buddy, too bad.
Goldie~ FINE!
PM~ There you go. See? It's not that bad.
Goldie~ I will go out but I won't walk.



PM~ That's fine Goldie but it'll be your loss. I am not taking you out again.
Goldie~ THERE IS SOMETHING ON MY BACK!!!!!!!!!
PM~ It is just the harness. Calm down, you are getting hysterical.



Goldie~ GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!
PM~ There is no need to elbow-belly-knee walk Goldie. I even have to where a "harness" of sorts when I am in a car.
Goldie~ Please stop talking now.

Goldie is not up to talking about this so I will. The rules for Goldie going out are that he can't go out before breakfast and after supper. The PM let him out around 8am a couple of days ago and a few minutes later she heard the barking. She opened the door and Goldie was puffed up on the doorstep and the fox was barking at him only about 5 feet away. She ran away a bit when the PM opened the door. Goldie was brought in and the PM ran after the fox to chase her.

The next day, the PM threw out some bread for the birds and a few minutes later she heard Goldie growling in the livingroom window. She looked out and the fox was back in the front yard. Goldie has never growled before.



Here's the fox that morning, looking for Goldie. Yes, it is almost May and we still have SNOW!!!!!

The next day she went out with Goldie in the morning and had a whistle with her. It was a test. Sure enough, about three minutes later over comes the fox. The PM blew the whistle but that didn't work. She picked up Goldie and started yelling at the fox who finally turned around and ran back into the field. The PM has come to the conclusion that the fox hangs around each morning and waits to hear the door open.

There is only one thing left to do with Goldie in the mornings...



The PM doesn't want Goldie to run to far in the mornings so she will take him out on his harness just incase. This will not be pretty.

We are having a debate on whose paws most resemble the lovely pussy willow.

My gorgeous cotton ball paw.



The wonderful willow of Spring



Goldie's champagne hoofer.



What do you think?

Yes, this is a mat. My mat, that was wedged in between my front legs, right on my chest. The PM had been "working" at it for months now. Her Grandmother got rid of mats that way, just keep loosening it and it'll come off. An old British trick I guess.

It was only about half off when I gave it a goin' over and pulled it right off. That's a mancat for ya! The PM went to "work" at it and couldn't believe it was gone. She found it on the wee lad's bed.

Now I am completely mat-free!! Yipee!!!!!

My last post got some great comments about more fav techniques. More experiments await.

Now for my top "up and at 'em" moves.

1. A classic whapping move, I jump on the bureau and slowly whap things off.
2. The PM sometimes sleeps with one foot out of the covers. Perfect. I pounce on the foot and play with it. The key is that I just use my paws-no claws, but I do administer a bitey every few seconds for effect.
3. I find any type of plastic bag or packaging and I lick and chew it. The PM gets worried that I am going to eat some of it so she gets up.
4. As my friend, Tiggie FOC does, I save up any hairballs and work them out in the wee hours of the morning. One time I hacked up a real juicy one on the stairs and the PM didn't get up. Guess who had something cold and slimy squished between their toes on the way to the bathroom? She gets up everytime now.
5. I have taken to harassing the wee lad. I jump on his bed and lick his hands or his face. He calls "Mommy!" and my job is done.
6. The best one that I have EVER come up with kind of back fired in the end but it worked for awhile. I warn you, this technique should not be tried by any cat who is a novice or a mancat in training. This takes a lot of concentration and skill. First, you need to find a cupboard or door that can easily be opened. It must make a impressive sound when it closes. You stand beside this door and slowly and in a perfect rhythm open... let it close, wait about 3 seconds, open...let it close. It is best if you can swing it open and let it close. The door I chose would close with some thumps. Open...let go... THUMP... thump,thump,thump. I chose the closet door in the wee ones room as I knew that would get the reaction I wanted. Well, it got a reaction alright! The PM thought the sound was coming from downstairs. She would get up and when she got to the top of the stairs, it would stop. That's because it had worked. Then she would go downstairs and I'd come bounding down with her. She thought I had just been sleeping with the wee ones and woke up when she got up. I did this around the same time, 2:30 am every few nights for about a month. Let's just say, she was totally freaked out. At the end she thought there was a GHOST in the house. She couldn't figure out what was making that noise downstairs as both of us cats were upstairs. The noise was in such perfect timing that she said it couldn't be a mouse or squirrel. I should have taken the echo effect into consideration (dang!) and had been a little more lax about the timing. Chalk it up to a learning experience. It back fired in the end as she would be too scared to get up if I did it again. The truth came out when she was getting the wee ones dressed and the wee lad had hid in his closet. I was not thinking and I did the exact same move to try and get in the closet. The PM couldn't believe it was me . Hee Hee. They then rigged this up so I couldn't do it again.



Oh well, it worked for awhile.

We had another visitor yesterday. We were all walking up by the compost when we came upon this critter. I think he had just finished his succulent rotten lunch and was taking a nap in the sun. The PM has only ever seen a raccoon at dusk or night so she was worried it was ill. I think it has been a crazy winter for everything and the forest creatures are a little nuts for Spring too.



I received some wonderful suggestions for my "How Can I Wake Up the PM" question.

I am slowly going through the list and trying each and rating them on ease of execution, effeciency and over all effect. It is very taxing but I am dedicated. The following is a list from my good friend Jake. I don't think he would mind if I shared it with you as there are lots of very good ideas here.

1. licking the eyebrow/eyelid
2. standing on the PM's bladder (or boobs)
3. sticking your nose in her mouth
4. pushing your paw up her nose
5. if all else fails - biting the nose (but that usually gets me yelled at, so use with care).

Wonderful, just wonderful! That list brought a tear to my eye.

I have been real busy with #2. I have been trying to locate the exact position of the bladder to ensure proper technique. My goal is to try and land on said bladder when I leap onto the bed at 4:00 am. It is a very tricky move so I have to do lots of planning. I am also not sure which paw to land with either. I have more control with the front one but I think there is more weight in the rear plus the paw is bigger.

In my next post I will disclose some of my personal favorite moves but I have to warn you, it may be scary for some of you younger felines out there. One of them involves a GHOST!

I missed Tuesday so I am having my day today!

The reason we have been so busy is that it is officially Spring here and a good chunk of snow is gone. This means yard work for the PM and sniffing and snoozing in the sun for us. They were actually out without jackets yesterday, woo hoo!

I stay close to the south facing side of the house to maximize the sun focus while cutting down on the wind.



Goldie has been pretty much gone crazy and is running and running and running. In this shot he is checking out the boughs that the PM took off of the roses but you can see in his eyes that he is getting ready to start running again. Yes, we still have snow but it is slowly leaving.



The PM is pruning the roses today so I better get a nap while I can as we'll be busy soon. I need all my energy to lay in the sun and watch.

**The purrs all over CB worked!!!! Mom Laura and her trio of kitties were reunited!**

Back home in the woods, they had an energy audit done and got the report on Friday. As I had expected, this place sucks! Heat wise, I mean, not the whole thing. (The PM just shot me a dirty look.) Now the fun part begins, making all the upgrades recommended. Also they thought that since they were going to be working on the house they might as well do EVERYTHING they wanted. Well, almost everything. The list is exhausting. From all new windows and a new door to flooring, insulation, a new bathroom, and new paint everywhere.

Get this, the PM is sick of almost everything being the same colour as me! I was quite offended. I AM the perfect colour! I am personally sick of the chocolate brown beams everywhere. Looks like a set from "Fantasy Island", only not a tropical paradise. Has that 70's chalet feel. I am surprised there isn't a shag rug around.

So this weekend, lists were made, plans thought out and measurements taken. I, of course, did my best to snoopervise. Please excuse the wee-ness of these itty bitty photos, the PM had a migraine and forgot to upload them at a normal size. You may need to haul out the magnifying glass. I tried to make her redo them but it takes so long out here in the boonies, she said NO!



Keep it movin'. Keep it movin', I'll tell you when to stop.



OK, Stop! Looking at those stairs maybe they should add restaining them too, they look like crap. The PM loves these stairs as they did them as soon as they moved in as they were covered in bright blue carpet. **shudder** They could use some maintenence work though. And see the beam beside me? Gross! Some are stained dark brown whereas some as painted that same hideous colour. They are all chewed to h*** and it wasn't me. I would be worried about lead poisoning. The people who lived here before had two HUGE German Rottwiellers that were insane and they clawed and chewed the beams, the walls, the mouldings.

Better run more work to do, I mean snoopervise. I better be getting good pay for this. At least five Temptations an hour.

A couple of weeks ago, Cecil had posted about the evils of eating bean food. Since then I seem to be obsessed with it. It is like when the PM tells the wee ones NOT to touch something and they touch it right away. I seem to have caught the "bean food bug". Every time the wee ones eat, I scour the floor searching for dropped crumbs. My favorites so far are muffins and frozen blueberries.

My biggest treat happened when the PM dropped a knife when she was making breakfast. I had to investigate and to my surprise I discovered. PEANUT BUTTER!



I enjoyed it greatly though it did take a while to consume.



A real long, long, long time.



Now I am worried that this food is on the list of cat toxins. I feel fine though, but now I want more. I find I am trying to distract the PM now when she has a knife in her hand, hoping it'll drop. I just can't stop!!!

What bean food do you secretly indulge in?

They came home with this wonderful news and I just had to share it right away. They were going to visit the PM's sister as it was the B.I.L.'s birthday get together. The wee cousin told them he had a surprise for everyone.



Aren't they sweet? The PM's sister had thought about getting a new cat as the house seemed a little too quiet and Sissy, their other cat was looking a little lost. At the B.I.L.'s work, one of the guys mentioned that his mom had two kittens she was trying to find a home for. She had rescued them from a farm as the mom cat was a barn cat and just kicked the kittens out, she was not taking care of them. They were going to get rid of them but this woman said she'd take them and she has had them for the last two weeks, feeding them with a dropper. She said though that they came as a pair as they were brother and sister and loved each other so much. The PM's sister's family went to see them and got both right then. It was meant to be.

This is the little girl. She seems like the wilder of the two.





Here is Sissy, showing off a bit with the toys. They had just come the night before so I was shocked at how well he was handling it. He hissed a few times but stayed close by watching.



The hissing must not have lasted too long as we were sent kitten update pictures last night and Sissy seems pretty happy.
Here he is with the little brother.





They don't have any names yet. Any good suggestions for a brother and sister set?

A great start to the week as I was soooo close to be being grounded from the computer. First off, a flock of robins descended and have been having a great feast of sumac fruit. The wee ones are all excited as that means Spring should be right around the corner. The problems started when the PM accused me of allegedly trying to "kill" them. I was NOT trying to harm our wonderful winged friends, I was simply crouched down near them to whisper a warm welcome to these parts and to ask how their winter was. Jeesh!!!!

Then the PM took the wee ones out as it was very nice and they were going to shovel away some of the ice. As you know, I have a fondness for using the "facilities" in the great outdoors. They scooped some frozen poo in the snow and did not realize that I had done my business in various spots in the yard, our really big yard. Shade had informed me that the snow turned to water so I guess I was hoping the poo would turn into a rock or maybe something pretty like tulips. Well, they turned into grey mush which was now half mush/ half buried treasure in a layer of ice. They also have taken on some magical powers as they seem to attract the wee ones boots like a nail to a magnet.

The PM spent the afternoon yelling "Watch where you are walking!", "Go walk in that slush puddle to get that poop off!" and "Goldie! $#@&*%!!!!!!" She also had to shovel it all and hack the frozen stuff out like a miner digging for gold.

When she came in she was fitted to be tied but I showed her these next pictures and she totally forgot about the poo problem, for now. Our new special kitty friends at Zoolatry and their super Mom made these for us and we are very excited. They are wonderful!!! What talent!







Thank you so much, Maggy and Zoey!!!!!

Last week we were also given the following award by our friend Sweet Ariel. Thank you so much!



We want to pass this along to:

1. Momo
2. Spooky
3. George Steppa & Babys

Whew!! That was a long one!! They are off to visit The Nanny for a couple of days so I wanted to make this a good !

Have a great couple of days!

I hacked up a furrball on that crappy blue plaid comforter so the PM would put this quilt on the bed.

Can you see why? I look absolutely radiant.



It compliments my colours perfectly. Here, I'll show you from the other side...



I heard her complaining though. "That is too heavy and I get too hot when I sleep."

Too bad! Maybe it'll get her up early.

Oh PM, please get up earlier so I can blog!!!!!!

This is so unfair! Normally the PM gets up around 5:00-5:30 so she can help me blog but since she has been sick she's been sleeping in until 6:30 when the wee ones get up. I miss the quiet time, just her, a coffee and me. Once those wee ones get up, it's game over for me. I try to get her on the computer after the wee ones go to bed but to tell the truth she is pretty useless by then. The Music Man is normally on it anyway with his music stuff and Facebook. I have a meme to do, friends to visit, stories to tell, awards to brag about!

I need some fool proof ways to get her up. Anyone have a rooster who needs a good home?

The PM got the seed catalogues out and I was very busy snoopervising. This is the exciting part of Spring approaching. The stress, mud, weeds, crying fits and threatening to bring in a bulldozer all come later. But for now, the PM plans and orders seeds and bulbs, envisioning a Eden like oasis come mid summer.



This is all I want. Nepeta, nepeta, sweet intoxicating nepeta.



I would like a whole field of it, in which to roll, frolic, chew and mangle. The Nanny transplanted some nip for us last year but it is Shade who really likes it. If They wanted to find us last summer, Shade was usually reclining under the nip and I was in the veggie patch with the catmint. The PM bought 9 plants last year but had to put them with the veggies until this year. She is going to try and trick me by moving 8 plants and leaving one. She thinks I will be happy with that one and leave the others alone. Think again PM!!! I think if I have a LARGE plot with the veggies for my mint, I will be happy. Maybe...

We had more visitors last evening. The PM put the wee ones to bed and when she came back down she looked outside and thought Goldie was out. It was getting dark and "Goldie" was laying on the snow in the front yard. She then saw Goldie in his bed and realized that the thing outside was not our apricot fool but a red fox fool. Then TWO more foxes came running over. They looked pretty cute, jumping and leaping with each other. The PM tried to get a photo but it was too dark. They must be younguns from last year. They then ran away and the PM realized that she should have scared them as there were in our front yard. Pretty much in the same spot as the three deer a couple of weeks ago.

Three fox, three deer; maybe the forest creatures know something we don't.

I am now going to share with you my photo tip #2.

When choosing something to nestle in, make sure it is big enough to fit your body inside. Nothing screams obese like a feline muffin top cascading over the side of a box or basket.

One of my favorite spots is in the bathroom sink. I really don't know why, it is cold, sometimes wet and it is the bean litter box for Pete's sake. But as you can see from the photo below, I look very svelte. Somewhat owl like but svelte nonetheless.