Two Random Images

This is Sarah during her last visit. I was excited to have company so I pulled out the creamer cow and some of my vintage coffee cups. I was pretty excited to see the cow in action.

And this is a picture of our kitties eating dinner! Today is Sidney's 11th birthday! It's an arbitrary day we selected and we don't even really celebrate it but it amuses me to know we could. Yes, I know the floor needs to be mopped but it's not like this is a blog about cleaning (thank God).

Anyway from left to right: Sidney Potier, Monty Clift, and Bela Lugosi.

A Visit to Betsy & Bryan's House...

You remember Sarah & Betsy, yes? Last time I went to visit Betsy was when little Owen was newborn! Well, Betsy and her husband Bryan have added another wee one to the family and my friend Sarah set up a visit so we could see the family.

Sarah and Betsy (with little Fern in front). The photos I had with Bryan turned out blurry!

Miss Sophie has gotten big! But she's as charming and precocious as ever.

She's also on the move. This one never stops once she gets going.

Owen is getting big, too! He tries to keep up with Sophie but as I said above, she's a bit of a blur.

And this is the newest addition to the family: little baby Fern! Aww. She's so sleepy. It's exhausting being a new baby.

And finally this is Zoe. She's the family's slightly perturbed kitty. She is on a diet and is not at all amused by the fact that she can see her food but not eat it. Poor kitty!

Sidney's Check-Up

I'm so behind on blogging!

Sidney had a vet appointment a couple of weeks back and I snapped some pics because he was being super cute and wasn't even nervous at all!

He is not amused by car rides.
Very curious about the vet and the exam room.

He did great and his blood tests came back all good! He's still got irritable bowels, tho! And that sucks for us. He doesn't seem to mind it too much, however.

The FURminator...

So we have a cat hair problem. With three kitties--and two that shed like mad--it's no wonder we've been considering buying a ROOMBA just to vacuum while we're at work!

I was at Petco and found a cheaper alternative...The FURminator! It's a cat brush that takes care of business! It's guaranteed to cut down on shedding and hairballs--needless to say we were intrigued. It's expensive at $40 but it's cheaper than a ROOMBA, you know?



Anyway, check out the DISGUSTINGLY huge pile of hair at sitting next to Bela and Monty as they get a second round of FURmination from Dale! That's one tightly-packed fur ball!



It's easily pulling out fives times the amount of hair a traditional brush would--and Bela seems to really like it!

Since getting the FURminator (seriously, that's its name) yesterday, Dale estimates that we have ganked about 10 to 12 tribbles' worth of out of our three cats!

I wish I had taken a video of Dale's first round of Bela being FURminated! So much fur came off it looked like Dale was shaving him down. If you check out the FURminator website, those pictures of actual hair pulled from pets is not a joke! Day two we pulled nearly as much off Bela as on day one!

Oh, and this is my FIRST video post! Exciting!

Weird Posting Problems...

Test...

I haven't been able to add to the blog in like a week! So this is a test post. Our FTP site is not playing nice with blogger's proxy.

Test photo...does not work. Boo. Hiss.

Yay! We're in business. And Monty is in the business of snuggling.

Sidney is Under the Weather...

I got some complaints for not giving Sidney equal blog time recently and so I took this picture. He loves to sit in the sink so we try to remember to close the bathroom door before he can sneak in there! Anyway, he loves to lounge in the bathroom (he seems to think its his own private spa) but the past week he's been spending all his time sleeping and sniffling!

He's always had a temperamental gastrointestinal system but it's gotten worse in recent weeks. We did some research and added a teaspoon of mashed pumpkin to his diet twice a day. That seems to have helped and he really loves the sweet bonus treat. However, he's also come down with the sniffles a couple of days ago. He still has a strong appetite and isn't showing any other signs of illness so we're just watching him closely and waiting for his little cold to pass. Send some happy thoughts his way! He's really such a sweet kitty. He loves people and loves attention and his only bad behavior involves eating anything he can put into his mouth! He only wants to sleep and snuggle, poor little guy!

A Tale of Two Kitties

A Cat's Tail, Part One...

This is Bela. Bela loves his stuffed animals. We call them his "babies" though each one is Mr. _______. So Mr. Teddy Bear is Bela's favorite. And he's also fond of Mr. Horsie and Mr. Frog. Last weekend we added TWO new babies to the mix: Mr. Sheep and Mr. Duckie!

When Bela gets a new baby he first rubs his face against the baby very aggressively. Then he pushes the baby around on the floor for a little while. Here he is rubbing Mr. Sheep while Mr. Duckie waits his turn.


After the baby is appropriately rubbed up, Bela then carries the baby around (though he usually does this out of our sight/our camera's sight so this is a very rare shot of Bela walking his baby around the house). In the middle of the night he can often by heard "caterwauling"--or yelling--at his babies. I do not know what he thinks they've done but he's very strict with them!

Finally he lets the new baby rest at his feet and keeps an eye out that his brothers do not get too friendly with the new toy before he's had a chance to really make it his own!

A Cat's Tale, Part Two...

At least once a week Dale sets about grooming our long-haired kitty, Monty! First Dale grabs Monty and pets and soothes him, being sure to rub his belly and ears!

Once Monty is good and relaxed the brushing starts--and then the scissors come out! Poor little guy. He gets really bad clumps of hair under his tiny pits (that would only get worse if Dale didn't work them out). Dale tries to brush them out first and if one is really bad, he'll grab the scissor and cut through the fur (very, very carefully and slowly) to break up the knot.

Little Monty is pretty used to this routine so he actually just lies there as Dale sets the scissors aside or switches back and forth from brush to hand to scissors. It's really too cute.


Finally, Monty is all neat and pretty! Brushed out and fluffed up and free of knots of hair on his tummy. And he hangs out with his big brother, Sidney (who doesn't need much but enjoys getting his hair brushed; he also enjoys playing with the stuffed babies but not as much as Bela).

Funny Monty Picture

Dale took this amusing photo of Monty recently. Monty always looks very serious and it kind of cracks us up. Poor little serious Monty!

Cousin Chuck Visits...

My cousin Chuck stopped in for a visit recently with his boyfriend Travis. Chuck is taking a photography class and Dale was nice enough to show off all his camera equipment.

And this is Chuck's roommate Mander or "Mandy". Our cat Sidney decided Mandy had a good lap for napping. Mandy has a place just the next town over, in River Forest. When they come to town, they occasionally meet up with us. Great to see them!

Bela

Dale traded in one lens for another recently because he liked the depth of field available on the new one. So he took this picture and he was very, very happy with it. This is Bela. He's a daddy's boy. I've never seen a cat more in love with a human than Bela is with Dale!

Pictures of the Grandkitties...

This is a picture of Bela that Dale took back in Rochester Hills. I just like it.

This is a picture of Sidney that Dale took in Rochester Hills. I like it. Sid loves to sleep with his little chin supported.

And this is a brand spanking new picture of Monty (or Baby Mo as we call him).

Bela's Teddy Bear

This is Bela. He is plum tuckered out and needs his rest. He's tired because he's been playing with his teddy bear all afternoon!

This is Bela's Teddy Bear. Clearly, he's seen better days. You know the story of the Velveteen Rabbit? Bela loves this teddy so much that it would not surprise me if he woke up one morning and simply walked away!

Bela carries little Teddy all around the house and even takes him to bed on occassion. He drops the bear in corners and howls at it and he makes odd "rowr!" noises while carrying this little guy around in his mouth! It's ridiculously cute.

Another Quiet Weekend

Dale rearranged the living room. And that's about it...
We're starting to bore the cats.
We're totally doing something fun next weekend or else!

Actually, we're thinking of going to see Body Worlds 2 at the Museum of Science and Industry next weekend. So we'll be sure to wake the cats for that...

Kitties Got a Brand New Bag...of Toys!

We had a lovely time in Flint for the Christmas holiday! We caught up with many friends and family members and we brought home quite the booty...for the cats.

Dale's mom got what amounted to a whole new toybox of toys for the kitties. I spread them out to show the cats (and to take a picture because I'm a dork) and Monty came 'round to inspect his winnings!

Realizing this was a bounty of toys for him, he took the appropriate action:

He started guarding the toys from me! God forbid he shares. Needless to say, he was exciting about his new goodies! The cats were particularly terrified by the battery-operated rolling mouse. They pounced on it at first but then grew frightened. It was pretty funny!

Happy New Year, Friends & Family! So happy we got to meet up with so many people but we're sad the trip was so short!

Crazy Cute Cat Pictures!

I'm going to continue to tell myself I post pictures of my cats because my mom loves to see them! Really? I should probably just give it up and have some kids.

Sidney has been taking over my pillow nearly every night since we got back from Scotland. He didn't used to sleep with us but now every morning I wake up to find him sleeping on the top half of my pillow. He knows a good pillow when he finds one, I guess.

This is Monty playing with the best.toy.ever! It's a wire with a piece of paper on the end. Not kidding. Whoever invented this is a genius because Monty is crazy insane for this stupid toy.

One morning I woke up and Sidney wasn't on my pillow. He was sound asleep next to the bed inside this here shoebox. Yep, he's sound asleep in this picture. Freaky cat.

This one KILLS me. I love it when they snuggle up. Bela has taken to giving Monty some of his own medicine. He nuzzles him like mad and imposes on Mo's space. It's pretty funny. Monty even looks uncomfortable at times but refuses to move because he finally has what he always wanted: Bela's undivided attention! Be careful what you wish for, I guess.


This is just a crazy cute picture of Monty, lounging on the bed. He LIVES on the bed. If he could do all business from bed--like John and Yoko--he would! Seriously, he's just always in bed.

Sidney, Bela & The Shadow

Bela had a hard time adjusting to little Monty! Monty is not so little anymore--check out that tail!--but Bela has come 'round! Anyway, wherever Bela is his shadow--little Monty--is not far behind! Above, you can see Monty laying in front of Bela.

I walked into the bedroom and there little Monty was--laying right next to Bela, his chin laying on Big Brother's belly! Awww! Please note my sweet new quilt!


Sidney is generally too busy sleeping in his basket to be bothered with cuddling with Monty and Bela! However, Sid loves to cuddle with his humans! He's very aggressive about it! Once when Monty was a baby he crawled into Sid's basket and fell asleep. A little while later I heard Monty crying. Sidney had completely cleaned him and then promptly fell asleep on him. Poor little Monty was soaking wet and couldn't get out from under Sidney!

And we're officially HUGE lame-o's for talking about our kitties this much!

Another dorky grandkitties post!

I am lame. But I love that they looked like they were having a meeting when I rudely interrupted them. And Bela looks so content with his eyes closed.

Grandkitties & Simple Solutions for Your Home!

Dale is a genius.

He suggested we use a boot tray to combat the growing Cat Food and Water Problem. The kitties tend to nudge their food out of the bowl. They also have this weird habit of stepping in their water, or worse yet, sipping water from their paw. This makes their food area quite unsightly! Dale came up with the idea of using a boot tray. Voila!

Note that this boot tray has only been in use two days and there is already a ton of kitty food on the tray itself. But now we've only got to lift the tray and dump in, instead of sweeping the floor and then mopping it up (food+water=paste).

The Grandkitties

Rebecca's mom requested pictures of the "grandkitties" so here are snapshots from last night. These are not the best pics but we do what we can on short notice! All three were snuggled up next to Rebecca--one on her lap and the other two right next to her on the sofa. Dale was on the other end of the sofa and received no love at all.

Sidney Poitier requires a flash photo! And he was not amused. But he purred anyway because he's just a good sport in general. He has a tendency to rush the camera whenever he sees it. I think it has something to do with flash trauma.

Young Monty Clift is especially photogenic--he really does always look directly into the camera and puts on an air of quiet dignity that is rare in a one-year-old! His quiet dignity is only disturbed by the sprawl of new Ikea purchases on the table behind him.

Bela Lugosi is a bit camera shy. He doesn't really enjoy having his picture taken (he had gained a lot of weight but is slimming down again thanks to Monty chasing him around the house at all hours of the day and night). He always looks slightly perturbed in photos, as if we've just bothered him to be frivolous while he was in the midst of a very important nap or bank statement or something.