cats & computers

Nicki & Sandi often like to visit the computer. (They seem most drawn to it when someone is working on it with great concentration) They seem to be attracted to it much the same way some cats love pianos. There are keys and that seems to be an invitation for walking upon aimlessly, creating mysterious and poetic sentences like :

asdanm,cvoier8towhnqhbsh gbyvitg9p;438j90c3-0ejwomxcdniu.

Then there is the "stand still , for as long as your paws can stand it" on a single key , resulting in the more simplistic: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Recently, there seems to be a new attempt at computer fun going on here: this image of Nicki appeared on photo booth. It is a close-up and as I did not take it, it looks like Nicki is dabbling in the age old art of self portraiture. Not bad for a first try at photography. I have a feeling it is currently beyond both cats to figure out how to post things on "you tube" & flicker but this does prove that they are a force to be reckoned with.

P.S. Did you know today is "Squirrel Appreciation Day"? Get out there and give a squirrel some love! And fresh nuts!

LOST

The weather has gotten cold this past week so it's not a good time to be finding new signs up around the neighborhood.

Here's to hoping they find their way home soon.

$ for a good cause

(Nicki keeps her eye out for her morning dove and pigeon friends)
I received an email from One lucky Duck today . Attached was an offer:10% of proceeds from all pet product sales would be going to several animals related causes. The motivating factor behind this offer is a rather wonderful adoption story -along with lovely photos of lucky Leon Quinn . Sweet.

Happy, happy holidays!

New news

There is a new member in our family:meet Maxx. He is 6 years old, rescued from a shelter , loves women (and is learning to love men), and looks like a horse when he trots here and there.

Also: Inky the wonder cat's brother "Toughie" has had surgery on the lumps on his head . Happily they were just cysts . Things got briefly complicated when Toughie decided to rip out all of his stitches - risking infection. A second surgery was done to clean his wound and stitch him up again and he is healing well-with the help of a radar dish collar.

(Photos of Toughie to come)

Perhaps the best news of today came from Fred of "One Bark At A Time": his photos of wonderful dogs can again be found online in his newest blog "Pound Dogs" . It was such a nice surprise to see this good friend of animals had come back to life, so to speak.

On a down note, Fred's dog Rocky is doing poorly. What a year 2010 has been.

With all that has gone on this year, personally, professionally and globally, we are chomping at the bit to get out of 2010 and into a better 2011 ASAP. The happy holidays and New Year can not come fast enough!

tornado 2010

Sandi has watched the clean up action from the bedroom window and I can tell you-neither she nor Nicki is a fan of the load noises made by all the machinery required to turn decades old trees into inch sized pieces of mulch.

the negotiation

Sandi thinks the kitchen should be open 24-7. The vet has warned her that her weight IS an issue but she has yet to associate her love of eating with increased inactivity and weight gain. She covets her sister's food and this has made Nicki somewhat frantic around food. I have tired to find ways to feed them to avoid this -with little luck.

Lately Sandi has taken to chasing Nicki whenever she gets the chance but Nicki is nimble and has found that jumping to high places ends things quickly. Her favorite new spot is on the VERY top of my desk.

Sandi then retreats to the kitchen and if I happen to be there she does all she can to try and get my attention so that I may understand just how much she really wants to be fed. Again.If it appears that I am not caving in to her demands Sandi stands up and hangs on my clothes with all of her weight. She has ruined quiet a few pants and skirts that way. She is lucky I love her...

Lola, lost & found

Lola's owners did an amazing job of blanketing the neighborhood with signs when she went missing. The signs are in color and there was a reward offered. Queens Crap did it's usual great job of getting the word out about Lola. And telling the story of how she was "found". The store in question is rather new to the neighborhood and you get a funny feeling when you walk by it-day or night. They have their dogs in baby cribs...I thought this was strange until my sister-in-law told me other stores do this too.

Here is the interesting thing:Lola's signs are still up, weeks after the fact-all over the place-on every corner's lamp post. I kind of like to think they are there as a reminder to whoever took Lola/sold Lola/ bought Lola/returned Lola/pocketed the reward.

This is not the first time someone has put up signs saying someone has taken their dog & as a life long resident of this area I have begun to wonder what has become of the lovely neighborhood I grew up in...