Snow!!!

I dont unnerstand! Somehow it snowed last night. Mommy has the cool air blowing through the floor cause it is hot out so I know it isnt supposed to snow. But when I looked outside there was snow on the ground! But it must have been smart snow cause it was only in the path.

She calls it 'Progress'

This is what the yard looked like before mommy got a bee in her tail...







And this is what has been going on in my yard in the past few days.































I thought she was just getting mulch but she had different plans. She didnt even clear them with me! I think it looks worse than when she started! She keeps saying it isnt finished yet and that when it is all done it will be a nice, inviting little space, but I gotta say...it looks BAD!!


She was telling the other bean that she ordered the Bee-strow set this morning. I think she pronounced it wrong. I think she meant 'Bee-Stow' set. I think that is where she is going to put that bee that is in her tail when it is done making her do lots of work.

She says that now she can start working on the other side of the house. She has been putting it off until she got one side situated but she cant work in the garden while the landscape artist is there so she might as well start on the other side. She doesnt want to get in his way and break his concentration. She is convinced he is an artist. I beg to differ...I dont see any pictures or any painting happening. I think all the sun has made her confused.

WOW, the mommy has been busy! She hasn't even wandered into the study to turn on the glowing box in almost a week! I keep trying to tell her that just because she is busy doesn't mean I don't have obligations to my fans, but all she hears is "meowmeowmeowmeow!"

Mommy has been getting the garden together. She says that now that the plants have started growing that she can figure out the pathway and where the bistro set is going to go. She finally got the front beds and the side garden mulched. I have to say that from my vantage point in the window, it all looks much better. I was starting to think it was looking kind of sloppy. I even told her that it couldn't look worse if there was a car on blocks in the front yard. Then I thought about it and started hoping she would put a car in the front yard. That would be a great place to play!

Yesterday she took the landscape artist with her and they gotted the rest of the stuff they needed to finish the side garden; Lots of bricks, some stepping stones, lots of white chipped marble for the walkway. It took almost 2 hours! They were going to start on it yesterday but as soon as they got everything unloaded it started to rain so they decided to just start on Saturday.

When mommy is stuck in the house she is painting. She finished all the big painting last summer but by the time she was done painting the formal dining room, the center hall, the foyer, and the living room she was sick of painting. She decided to put off painting the spindles on the stairway until she felt like painting again. She painted the spindles up to the first landing and then stopped for the day. It took 3 coats of paint - 2 primer and one color - to cover up the nasty beige that was there.

The last person who lived in the house liked the Shaker decor so everything was hunter green, beige and deep Burgundy. Mommy hates dark colors and has been spending the summers of the past 4 years painting a room here and there. Before they moved in, they had to paint the entire upstairs cause mommy said it was all a nasty brown color - even the ceilings! It took the beans a week to paint 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms since they were working at the same time. When they finally got moved in mommy spent the weekends painting the stairwell, that ceiling and the upstairs hallway. Now instead of brown they have pretty colors (in fact, mommy's study is lavender with hydrangea border!).

Another thing that the last owner did that mommy wished she hadn't was that she painted the wood. The kitchen cabinets were hunter green and the spindles on the stairs were ugly beige. When the kitchen and breakfast nook got painted mommy painted the cabinets white and they look much better. The last thing to get done is the spindles and mommy is a quarter of the way through with that (you didn't know I was a math kitty did you?)

I think the reason mommy is dragging her paws on the last little bit is that Autumn Savannah is a very curious kitty still. Mommy had been painting for a whole 2 minutes when Autumn ran through the paint pan. Mommy had to grab Autumn and clean her paws before Autumn could lick them, and when she was done with that, had to go clean the paint off the wood floors. Well by then the paint was dry and it took mommy some doin' to get it up. I just watched. I mean, it wasn't my paint.

Scandal at the CatOlympics!!!

I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this. I was hoping we could get through the CatOlympics without this being a problem. Unfortunately, the training schedule coupled with the stress of performing only exacerbated the problem. I was really hoping that I could get Cheese through this rough patch and then immediately after the CatOlympics get him into a treatment facility.

Cheese has a drinking problem

At first it wasn't bad. He was funny and passed out in odd places.

But after a while he started sleeping with strange kitties in order to support his habit. However, Cheese is neutered so all he did was sleep.

Finally, when he started getting paranoid I knew I had to take action.

He says that having to rassle Max drove him to drink; Max is his hero and the pressure was just too much. Cheese isn't going to pull out of the rassle but he needs to deal with this problem before it gets too late.

Wave to the nice kitties, Cheese.

Dear Magnificent Zeus

Please don't feel like you have to apologize for Isis. I wasn't offended at all. In fact, I kinda liked knowing there was another dilute tortie in the blogosphere. I was starting to think I was the only one with pink fur (mommy calls the color 'Fawn'). I welcome Isis' input.

Also, just because she is a little...Different...From the majority of poodins doesn't mean she is psycho. I mean, what kitty doesn't have little quirks? It is precisely these quirks that make us poodins. If we were all the same we would be...dogs. In fact, I have some things in common with Isis which I have included in my list of quirks:

• Who hasn't bitten her own foot while playing with another kitty?
• And I have chosen only one bean as mine (the mommy). Don't get me wrong, the other bean is good too, and when I hear him open a can of Stinky Goodness I can believe that I love him.
• There have been times when I see Mommy's hand come down to pet me and I squash myself almost flat on the floor to get away from it.
• I save most of my kisses for the middle of the night when I know they will be most appreciated.
• Who hasn't been spooked by another kitty entering the room unexpectedly?
• I too hate a bathtub full of water
• I run and hide when I see small sticky beans
• I barf all over the place when I eat beef in anything (dry and wet food)
• I wag my tail like a woofie
• My favorite toy is a duck

and...

Just because Isis is paranoid doesn't mean no one is after her.

Mommy says that loving a Tortie is like having a Hersheys chocolate bar with almonds...It is half sweet, half nuts. But, if you notice, a Hersheys bar with almonds is a top seller. There must be something about those nuts.

If Isis is as...unique...as you say however, I commend you for your patience and tolerance in the face of such personal hardship. It takes great character to be kind to those less fortunate than us perfect poodins. And...did it occur to you that perhaps she is smarter than you give her credit for and she is just getting back at you for stealing her toy?

Happy Gotchaversary!!

Mommy and the man bean celebrated their gotchaversary yesterday. They went out to supper to celebrate the day they gotted each other. They were actually a few days late since Mommy had finals on the same actual date. They got special leashes when they gotted each other. They don't wear them like regular kitties...They wear them on their finger...And they are pretty and sparkly (that is my new favorite color...sparkly). Well, mommy's is sparkly, the man bean's leash is kinda plain. He said he just needed a plain leash cause he always beats up his hands anyway. That is why mommy doesn't ever get him a really nice watch.

They gotted their special leashes 18 years ago. Gosh! That is a long time! And, I didn't know this but I am completely scandalized by the info, they already had Pretty before they got their leashes. Imagine! Having a poodin before your leashes! The horror! Well I guess times change, but I am still an old fashioned kitty...Well, as old fashioned as a 3 year old poodin can be. And you would think that after 18 years they would be tired of each other but the mommy flirts shamelessly with the man bean. I keep wondering if she is in heat but she seems to act all normal when he isn't around. I still cant figure out these beans!

To Isis:
I don't know how secret I am but I admire any poodin who has to live in the same house with boy poodins. I have 2 brothers (one litter brother and one house brother) and it is always the same thing: what channel is the game on? Where is the remote? Honey, where is the catnip? Here is Cheese hanging out with the man bean watching the game. Honestly, us pretty girls hafta stick together.

Whew!

Mommy has been busy!! She went out on Saturday to get some big bushes that would make the front of the house pretty and she came back with Rhodedendrons. I like the purple! She also had some Columbines and some Dwarf Columbines (I think they should be called Vertically Challenged Columbines). Then right in the front she put Coral Bells. She says that is the most amount of work she should have to do to that area. After this season, they all should come back and grow in nicely. I hope so, I hate having to watch from the window. But I did get to see Autumn help the mommy plant all those. Mommy would dig a hole, Autumn would come over and sniff it, then she would put her paw in it and try to play with the worms. after the hole met her approval Autumn would sit next to it and let mommy put the plant in. Sometimes mommy would have to move Autumn in order to move the dirt back in place, but not often. They started on Saturday and finished on Sunday. I think it makes the front of the house look much better. this is what it looked like on Friday.
Since it rained last weekend we didnt get our mulch for the beds. Mommy says that it is ok since she wasnt ready for it anyway. she is going to be working on the side yard this week to get it ready and then when the mulch comes everything will look pretty all at one time.

And mommy says the nice thing is that in spring the bulbs will come up first and when they start to die back the other flowers will start growing. When they are done blooming, the Gladiolas will start to bloom. When they are done, the mums will be out and then it will be winter again. I cant wait to see if she is right.

Lookit da bunbuns!

Oh Oh Oh!

Lookit what the mommy finded in her garden the other day! She was trimming some grass around the ivy in the back and just glanced over and saw these guys hiding under the big trees. Mommy thinks they have been there ever since she moved in so that is almost 5 years. She doesn't know why they were hiding under the trees.

At first she didn't know what they were so she brought them in and cleaned them up. I sniffed them a lot before mommy cleaned them...We all did. We didn't know that bunnies came in fuzzy green colors. When mommy cleaned them though they turned grey and they aren't fuzzy anymore. I am 'fraid that mommy scrubbed the fuzzy off! I hope she doesn't decide that I need a bath...She might scrub the fuzzy off me too!!

Turns out they are Magic Weather Bunnies. I didn't know what that was either. I know bunnies are mysterious creatures (to me at least) but I didn't know they were magic. Mommy is going to put them outside in the front bed so we can see them. Also, Mommy says they can tell the weather. She says when they are wet it is raining, when they are dry it isn't raining and when you cant see them it is either foggy out or it is dark. I cant wait until she puts them outside so I can see them in action!!

The Nerve of her!

Can you believe she did that? I have never been so angry in my feline life!! The nerve of her...going out and gardening without us! She just went out and started gardening! No warning, no asking if we wanted to come along...nothin! I gotted up in the kitchen window and reminded her that we were still in the house and that, maybe, we would like to garden too...or at least supervise her progress (you have to keep your eye on the help at all times). She just ignored me...and she wasnt even wearing her Ipod! Honestly, do you think her flowers would be this pretty if we werent around to constantly tell her where she needed improvement?
And I just found out that this weekend we are getting 2 truckloads of mulch for the garden and the 2 front beds. There are 2 problems with this: #1 Did I say that I was free to supervise the delivery and placement this weekend? and #2 I dont want mulch in my bed! It is hard enough to have to sleep on the poor excuse the beans call a bed, the last thing I want is ground up wood chips in it. What was she thinking? On the plus side though...there might be a bug in the mulch...that might be fun if she finds a bug. Lots of screaming and flailing kinds of fun. Hmmmmm

Mommy says she still has a lot of work to do in the garden so we poodins might get to go out more later. Mommy still has to weed it all, lay some plastic for the walkway, find some pretty stones for the gravel walk, find some border plants, find a pretty archway into the garden area, and keep it nice and neat so it doesnt get over grown. Mommy says it is going to take the whole summer to get the garden just the way she wants it. Then she is going to work on the front beds some more. She wants some Peony bushes to line the front of the house in the big bed, and a couple more Hydrangea bushes. Mommy says it wont look really pretty until next spring. I cant figure out why she is doing all this work now then...why not just wait until next spring when it looks pretty. Beans...you cant tell them anything.


Oh, and look what Autumn got to do today...now I am all mad again...Harrumph.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

The sky is spitting today. It is raining this morning and then in the afternoon we are supposed to get thunderstorms. Mommy says it just figures...Yesterday when she couldnt get into the garden it was beautiful out, today she can get into the garden but it is raining now. I tried to tell her that she can still go into the garden...she will just get wet.

Mommy went out for a while yesterday. When she left she smelled all anxious and worried but when she came back she smelled like BBQ!!! She got on the phone and told a friend that she was finished with Finals this semester and her and the man went out to dinner to celebrate. I tried to ask her about the finals...I mean final...what? Final answer...final warning...final countdown...I dunno, but it made her very happy.

As soon as the beans got home mommy let Cheese, Bumpers and Autumn out to play in the front yard. Cheese tried to climb a tree but his butt was too big and he couldnt even get a foot off the ground. Mommy laughed so hard she had to sit down. Then when it was time to come in Cheese wouldnt come! I think he was getting back at the mommy for laughing at him. He went and hid under the car in the driveway. Mommy just sat and waited. Finally, a neighbor kitty came over and meeted him. I dont think Cheese liked that much cause shortly after that he let the mommy pick him up and bring him in.

The mommy is still very very happy today. She has been giving us scritches and hugs all morning! I've had just about enough of that! Who said she could pick me up and snuggle me and kiss me? I am appalled that I liked it so much!! I am hoping she does it again soon but dont tell her, I like her to think I am mad at her so I get treats.

Waiting at the Rainbow Bridge, Conclusion

Pretty had a routine that any poodin would envy: sleep with the beans, get baby food and stinky goodness, sleep in the sunshine on the floor, get lots of head scritches, get brushed, get more head scritches, sleep in the sunshine on the heated bed, get baby food and stinky goodness, and finally, sleep all night with the beans.

After a while the beans notices that Pretty seemed a little stiff when she got up so they bought a bed for her. It is called a waterbed and they put it in the guest room for her. I cant imagine that any cat would want anything with water in it but Pretty loved it. The beans heated the waterbed to about 95 degrees and put lots of pillows and blankets on it. After that, they always knew where to find Pretty!

One day last December Pretty didn't want her stinky goodness. Mommy was worried but didn't think much about it since Pretty was a little old lady. That night Pretty didn't want to eat either. The next day mommy took Pretty to the vet and they drew blood to check things out. They said not to worry much cause Pretty was 19 years old now, and maybe she just didn't feel like eating. They gave mommy an appetite stimulant and said they would call her the next day. Pretty was completely normal other than the fact that she didn't want to eat. Mommy brushed her a lot and spent a lot of time with her. The next day the vet called mommy and said to bring Pretty in right away...Her blood test showed that her kidney levels were wrong. Pretty stayed in the kitty hospital for 5 days. The vet gave her lots of IV fluids and vitamins and medicines. On the 5th day they checked her blood again and sent Pretty home.

The next day the vet called and said that the kidney levels did not change and Pretty was in kidney failure. The beans decided to keep an eye on Pretty and just make sure she stayed comfy. They brushed her a lot and gave her lots of head scritches. They cooked ham for her (but she didn't want food) and made sure she had fresh water all of the time. Mommy stayed in bed the whole time and let Pretty sleep on her all she wanted. Mommy cried a lot and Pretty stayed with her while she was sad.

3 days after they brought Pretty back home she was too weak to walk very much so the beans took her back to the vet. The daddy held Pretty while the Vet gave her the first shot. She got very happy and the vet said the shot was a disassociative drug and that she was probably already chasing mice. The beans cried a lot more and then said it was ok to give her the second shot. The beans stayed for another half hour and cried a lot more and then went home...Without their beloved Pretty.

They got her back a week later and she was in a pretty little box with the Rainbow Bridge poem engraved in marble on the front of it. They keep her on a shelf in the bedroom so she can always sleep with them. Mommy still misses her and cries, but not as much as last December. She says it is hard because Pretty was with them for almost 20 years, and even though now they have 4 poodins, the house seems kind of empty without Pretty.

Waiting at the Rainbow Bridge, Part 3

When Pretty turned 13 mommy noticed that Pretty was getting thin so she took her to the vet to see what was going on. Turns out she had hyperthyroidism...she had a tumor on her thyroid that was making it not work right. The vet said it was no big deal and put Pretty on Tapazol. After a little bit of tweaking the dosage she started gaining weight again...all was good. She was a happy, sweet kitty who liked to sing.

When Pretty was 16 the beans noticed that she was ignoring them a lot. They would call her to take a nap with them, or for some treats and she wouldnt come. They would go to check on her and she would be sitting at the window or napping on the desk. They didnt think much of it cause Pretty was now officially a 'Little Old Lady' and she could do as she pleased. When the beans were able to start sneaking up on her they started to wonder if she wasnt ignoring them, but instead, was losing her hearing. They took her to the vet who confirmed that, yes, she was going deaf. 'Huh', thought the beans, 'another interesting part of Pretty.' It didnt seem to bother her much so they figured it just happened slowly over time. The good thing is that Pretty could really sleep deeply if she didnt feel any vibrations in the house (like people walking around).

Pretty still played a lot and was so lovable and sweet still. She would sit on the mommy at night and let her know how much she liked the book she was reading by rubbing all over it. She would get all happy and purry and start to drool. Then she would shake her head and spit would go flying all over the place. They called her Spitty Kitty when she did that. LOL.

Waiting at the Rainbow Bridge. Part 2

Pretty always adored the man bean and she was his favorite too. She slept with the beans and as she got older she slept on the beans a lot too. Mommy said that it was because Pretty liked a soft mushy place to sleep and mommy was good for that. Ha Ha. And Pretty never got sick. She didn't catch colds, didn't have infections, and never needed a vet visit other than her yearly shots and check ups. The beans figured she was a hardy cat since she was a mongrel. They said that she was so healthy cause she got the strongest genes.

For as much as she traveled Pretty was never a very social kitty. She would hide when visitors came to the house, and lots of times people thought the beans only had one kitty - Slippers. That worked out well when the beans would have to get a new apartment. They would tell the apartments that they only had one kitty and then they would have to pay less of a deposit.
Pretty also loved to sing. She would serenade the beans at different times of the night. Right after the beans went to bed Pretty would sing to them until they called her. When she heard her name she would go and sleep with the beans. Also, if she couldn't see the beans she would break out in song. After a while the beans figured out that she only used her singing voice for when she was sure the beans couldnt see her. Other than that she had a very petite little voice, but when the beans couldnt see her, she would belt one out like Ethel Merman! A couple of times the mommy would be doing something quiet and Pretty would forget she was there and break into song. When Pretty realized that mommy was in the same room Pretty would get all embarrassed.

Waiting at the Rainbow Bridge. Part 1

This is Pretty. Well, actually, her name is Scarlett, but she was like silk velvet so mommy and daddy called her Pretty. When mommy and daddy moved to Pennsylvania together they decided to get 2 kitties. One of them was Pretty, the other was a darling tuxedo cat called slippers. Slippers was a kitten, but Pretty was already a year old. When the beans were deciding who to take home the man insisted on Pretty cause she was so friendly and purry. As soon as the beans got Slippers and Pretty home, Pretty hid under the bed for a week! The daddy crawled under there and laid there with her. He fed her there and made sure she had water and lots of scritches. She eventually came out and loved the beans. She went all over the country with the beans...California, Iowa, Rhode Island, Maryland...She was never a problem when it came to traveling. I guess she figured as long as her beans were there then she was going to be okay.
Pretty hated to be outside but she loved Slippers and would follow him anywhere. Unfortunately, Slippers loved being outside and would break out any chance he got. That meant that Pretty would get outside, realize where she was, and try like heck to get back in. Many times Slippers and Pretty would find a screen that would give a little and squeeze out of it. But as soon as they were through it, the screen would pop back into place. Well, mommy adored her kitties, but still couldn't help laughing when Pretty would panic and start trying to jump back in the window they just jumped out of. In fact, sometimes that is how mommy knew the puddins got out...She would hear the bonk, bonk, bonk, of Pretty trying to get back in. HAHAHAHAAA.

Hello?

Is there anyone out there?

I can hear you breathing...

Rasslin' Trainin'

Cheese and I have been practicing for the sumo rassling part of the olympics since we were tiny ones. we have done our best to rassle in different places so we can get used to different surfaces. Sometimes we even do a Bi-athelon: we race around the house and when one of us stops, we rassle with them until we start running again. We dont do that as often as we used to. Cheese says it is to hard to run and rassle. He can do one or the other but not both at the same time. I keep telling him that if he does that more often it wont leave him winded. He says that it is his sheer size that makes him best at rassling. I kinda hafta agree with him there. He sat on me once and I am still trying to get up!

Finally! It is getting warm here and the mommy is leaving the windows open. We all love our shelves by the windows, but sometimes a kitty needs a change of scenery. This chair is good for that. I can get sun and be confused when I wake up. Look...it is the only excitement I get during the day...unless there is a bug in the house.

Gardening and the Catolympics

OK, we are still practicing for the olympics! Here we are so far in our floor exercises. I think we are making progress since Cheese only falls asleep half the time now. I think the reason he doesn't fall asleep all of the time is cause he is too busy waiting for mommy to open the door.

She has been gardening for almost a week now and we get to go outside with her sometimes. She brings Cheese out with her a lot since he doesn't go anywhere while he is there. He sits with mommy and tries to catch bugs. He also helps her figure out where all of her new plants go. Yesterday she planted some decorative ground cover, planted a Hydrangea bush, and placed the rest of the plants where she wanted them. She planted a Purple Passion Rhodedendron, transplanted some lillies, transplanted some Irises, and planted some ground cover today. It was an easy day. Thursday she is going to finish planting some shade plants, plant some bulbs, and get some morning glories started. She also put a plant that we had in the house out there. It was on a ledge and I would step on it every time I got up there so it was in sad shape. She said that she didn't feel like she transplanted it as much as gave it a proper burial. Ha Ha. If I get to go out there again, I am going to eat it!!