Post 358: 11:05 and I haven’t stopped for breakfast…

The day’s out of sync. I not only slept till 4 AM, it’s 11:05 and I haven’t stopped for breakfast.

Dougy woke me up, growly, whining because of the time. That’s Dougy, not me who was growly, whining because of the time! I was content to stay in bed even after I realized it was, by Dougy’s reckoning, “late”!

Andy’d hopped up on the bookcase by my bed at some time in the night, and was content to continue his doze. I pet him a little, rubbed his ears, but he was conked out, not interested in getting up.

2011-01-01 Andy in window and on desk 004

Dougy persisted with me, though. Damn those opposable thumbs! If only Dougy had a set, he could open that cat food can for himself! (And would!) But since he doesn’t, he prowled by my bed making unhappy cat sounds and scratching my bed.

I got up and put wet cat food out for the boys.

Then what? After catching Andy, I gave him his medicine. “Catch” as in “pick up a sleepy cat off the bookcase and carry him into the kitchen where I had a towel to wrap him in and his medicine waiting”. I’ll stick with “catching”. Sounds more athletic and adventuresome than the sad little kidnapping this morning! Even I felt cheated out of something, it was so easy!

Let’s see. Watched the news. Said things at the television since I live with two cats and they never repeat what I say. Played with Dougy because he was pumped. Andy and I were still sleepy, but Dougy kicked into high gear, tore through the house, stopped by Andy and me, crouched in a low pouncing posture to alert Andy and me he wanted interaction from one of us, either one, he didn’t care which!

Andy joined the chase. I dug out some toys. Andy came back to rest, I took over. Dougy was still pumped! Next thing, it was 11:05. I think I’ll stop for breakfast. The boys, in the meantime, have gone back to sleep.

Post 356: Andy’s and Dougy’s teddy bear cuts revealed!

Andy and Dougy succumbed to hunger and revealed themselves. I took some photos to show you their groomer’s art.

Andy: What a pretty boy!

I started to take another photo of Andy, and Dougy walked into the scene. Oops! Flashed! Dougy hates flash cameras, and this little accident made the photo after this one very difficult to take.

Dougy (in front) and Andy: Dougy got flashed!

Now, this is more like it.

Dougy: Isn't he pretty, too? The teddy bear look is much kinder to the cat thaqn a lion cut, which makes the cat look cartoonish.

Dougy: Isn’t he pretty, too? The teddy bear look is much kinder to the cat than a lion cut, which makes the cat look cartoonish.

…from the Persian Rescue of Johannesburg blogsite, here’s a Persian with a lion cut. This particular cat was a rescue and was severely matted.

Cat grass for the boys is something I need to cultivate more regularly. After the stuff I put them through this week – a spa day for cats… – they deserve something extra and special.

Also, the cat grass is coming up., Andy is especially appreciative of grass.

Post 354: Sox’s new toy

This is a lazy day post because I have several things to take care of outside the house today.

The boys have their semi-monthly day at the “cat spa”, where they’ll be washed, trimmed, and turned into pretty boys for a short time before their normal cat activities muss up the froufrou their groomers work so hard to do. Yes, they will look like normal cats minutes after I bring them home!

I talk with my financial advisor a bit later this morning. I’m doing OK in this matter, so don’t have to fight my cats for food yet. 😉

Then, I’ll spend the afternoon at the military museum.

What I have to give you today, though, is a photo of my boys’ cat-cousin Sox (my Seattle sister’s boy) with his cat lounger and a new favorite toy, a toilet paper tube cut on the ends to… well, you can see it in the photo! Sox is one handsome boy, eh?!

Cat-cousin Sox stalks the toilet paper tube critter…

He’s a tuxedo cat, something you can’t tell in the photo, and is a particularly beautiful example of that type of cat. I don’t say that because he’s my cat-nephew. It’s just the truth! Hey, here’s a second photo of Sox:

Cat-cousin Sox, a real fox!

I especially like his white whiskers!

Post 353: true colors

Andy and Dougy have amazing coats of many colors! You see them in one light, and they are black cats. In another, they seem reddish with black and gray tones. In yet other light, they look like Siamese cats with longish hair, but much darker.

Andy’s a bit lighter in color than Dougy, and this is what he looks like in bright light.

This is pretty much what Dougy looks like in bright light.

It’s not a great photo (fuzzy focus from camera movement), but it shows his colors well.

I thought I’d show you these color variations today because tomorrow they go in for their semi-monthly grooming appointment, and will come out of the shop looking different in color again!

I don’t look forward to catching two cats tomorrow and putting them in their carrier, especially since Andy is easy to catch once a day, but rarely twice! It’s shedding season, though. Both boys need grooming going into the warmer months.

“Dang cat hair! It gets in and on everything!”

Dougy has a mat under his left arm, but that’s about the only “bad hair” issue they have, unless it’s shedding hair all over the place. Even Andy gets cat hair on him! Take a look at his face, between his eyes and by his right ear in this photo. Poor kitty!

Post 351: Why!? Why!? Why!? An eventful day…!

I misjudged the roasted coffee bean level in my coffee grinder yesterday. I thought I had enough for one more day, today, but actually had enough for about a quarter cup! Why!? Why!? Why!?

After I had my moment of horror, I realized life goes on without coffee. In fact, I should enjoy the next batch all the more for having suffered this terrible deprivation!

Stirred with something like a rotating Archimedes screw turning in the center of the glass cylinder, the beans are subjected to hot air and agitation till they are roasted to perfection! The aroma is heaven!

[This is what my roaster looks like.]

Yes, I finished a batch of beans in my little roaster. You can use a hot air popcorn popper, too, but this little roaster I use gives you more control over the roast.

Yum! Done! Let them rest till tomorrow morning, and they will be perfect for grinding.

While I had the roast on, Andy drew my attention to something happening in the other room.

Mischief is afoot. Spelled D-O-U-G-Y!

Andy didn’t point his tail in the direction of the mischief, but I could trace a line from his eyes to…trouble!

Dougy sees me watching, watching. What ‘s up, pussycat? Eh!?

Yes, once again, Dougy had his eye on the tub Andy and I know is ANDY’S TUB! Dougy knows we know he knows we know he knows we know he knows we know he knows…um…yeah! It’s Andy’s tub, folks!

Andy gave Dougy “The Eye”. Dougy left to take Andy’s favorite sleeping spot in the bathroom, by the shower. Dougy will be naughty one way or other! It’s his day!

Dougy just walked by to tell me “Mrow-mrow-mrow!” which is as close to an apology as Andy and I will get from him! Yes, it’s been an eventful day here today. 😉

Post 349: Against the odds, I celebrate my 66th birthday anniversary today!

I’m not a birthday person. It’s just another day for the most part. Of course, about this time in 2003, I had a guest show up for my birthday: Wegener’s granulomatosis (now called GPA). I thought I had a cold, but by December, the disease was full blown, and I was barely alive, riding to the hospital in an ambulance. After that experience, every day is special: I survived death!

This is what confronts me all day today: Google’s birthday greeting!

It snowed overnight. I think the worst birthday weather was the year my childhood pet, Peanuts the dog, managed to yank out the ground anchor to which his chain was attached. In a blizzard on my birthday, my dog went missing! And he was dragging a 15-20 foot chain behind him!

Happily, he was found by the animal control officer the next day, cold but OK, in the high school practice field only a few blocks from home. He still had his collar and tags on, and he was dragging the chain behind him.

As usual, when the animal control officer opened his truck door, Peanuts hopped right it. Peanuts had a history with the animal control officer. He knew the animal control officer as a buddy who took him for a ride in his truck, then dropped him off at home!

My Dad was Chief of Police then, but I think the rule of thumb was you didn’t have to pay a fine if you called the police to report a missing pet before the missing pet got picked up as a stray. Peanuts was a bit of an embarrassment to my Dad because of this “relationship” between the animal control officer and the Chief’s dog…! 😉

Yeah, snow on the ground. That’s a birthday tradition of mine, too…and a good excuse to stay inside and enjoy doing nothing!

My intention is to have a quiet day at home. Though I managed to get through all the things I needed to complete yesterday, the day ended with a great four-hour telephone call with a favorite cousin! We’d still be talking but my cell phone battery ran out of juice. Best of all, we made plans to get together to go out for supper one of these days when she comes to town!

Andy (above) and Dougy lurked in my bedroom last night, and decided 1:30 AM was a good time to wake me up on my birthday! (Notice Andy’s horn is showing. I guarantee there was another one on the other side, too!)

Now that I’m wide awake, as of 1:30 AM because of the cats, where are the cats and what are they doing? Well, they are both curled up, warm and comfy, asleep! Did you expect anything different? 🙂

Post 346: Snow! Oh no!

I agreed to drive a veteran to Scottsbluff one sunny, warm day last week, a day very unlike today!

snow 3 18 2014

What did I expect? This is the forecast.

In a cliché moment in the front doorway, Dougy sees it’s snowing, again! Oh no!

dougy in snowy doorway 3 18 2014

Maybe this afternoon it’ll be better…!

Yow! I guess not.

!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!+!

Only later happy note, the guy I was to take to his appointment called the VA clinic and cancelled his appointment because of the weather!

I was not unhappy about that!

Post 345: Andy’s check up day

The boys began the wake up harassment around 12 midnight, continuing up through a quarter till three. As usual, I gave in to Andy and Dougy’s hints. Dougy ran off to the dining room to wait for breakfast.

The day started out surprisingly well, though. Andy likes to rest on an atlas on a bookcase by my bed. There’s a fan on the bookcase next to the atlas, and Andy likes that for whatever kitty reason he has.

“This will be a great start to the day, if he doesn’t run off when I turn off the fan,” I thought. Fan turned off, Andy still on the atlas, I snatched him up! He wouldn’t turn medicine time into a hide away game today!

Andy doesn’t struggle (much) if I hold him on his back, cradled in the crook of my arm, so I carried him that way into the kitchen to get the medicine from the refrigerator. He started to wiggle, though, finally getting the hint of what was to happen next!

Andy is a good kitty.

I returned to the dining room, where I leave a bath towel on the table to swaddle cats for medicine or eye drops, when needed. Andy is very supple, with a long, sleek body that he can turn and twist in ways that defy belief or attempts to wrap in a towel. (Dougy is more squat and thick of body, less supple, so easier to keep wrapped!)

Holding a struggling towel-wrapped cat with my left arm, I somehow managed to fill the medicine applicator using just my right hand. I couldn’t do it if I thought about it!

Poor Andy! I got the medicine into him in less time than it took to write about the process.

Now, I somehow have to capture him for transport to his 10 AM veterinarian’s appointment. Today is the day I find out how he’s responding to the medicine for his heart. I am hopeful. He’s been more interested in cat games and toys lately. Though he’s played with Dougy right along, the cat toys didn’t prompt much reaction.

Post 343: What Andy saw…

What captured Andy’s attention yesterday while monitoring the error check I had run on my computer? Why was he transfixed?

The error check screen, of course!

Andy thought the computer error check screen was fascinating. I made a video showing how file data flashed by, the sort of thing a cat is bound to get wrapped up watching! It’s short. I’m pleased with how it turned out. Take a look!

“Mrow!” Andy said, which I’m pretty sure means he wants you to see it. Dougy might pull your leg, but Andy is as somber as a Presbyterian. Watch it, please. Don’t make a kitty cry! Those big Persian eyes will rip your heart out when they fill with tears!

Andy thanks you!

Post 342: Home Guard

Andy and Dougy serve a useful function. They aren’t “just cats”! Here, you see Andy on my computer. The warm sun may have something to do with it. Lazy boy in the sun! See how his head glows?

Or is there something else on Andy’s mind?