Wordless Wednesday: Missing Mom

Tired Tuesday

We made it home from our mountain house, but it was quite a day! I'm going to need to sleep all day on Tuesday just to make up for it! First, we woke up to a little bit of frozen white water on the ground Monday morning....


But it was sunny and clear, so I had to check it out. It actually didn't feel too bad this time on my paws, and I dug in it a little bit. We did the whole patrol of the backyard.


Then it was time for the drive home. I love our mountain house, but I HATE the drive home. It is just impossible to find a comfortable position. So I complained to Dad everytime he took a corner. About half way home, while still in the moutains, we stopped to see some of Mom and Dad's friends who live there. They have two kitties and a woofie. When we drove up the drive way, I just about had a CATNIPSHUN fit! There were vishus deer all over! Their laser eyes were just eyeing my juicy little body!



Mom got out with me in my harness, and I just froze and stared at them. I must have really scared them, cuase they ran away! I was so proud! Then I got to patrol their yard, and give my approval.

Then, when we got home and finally got to blog, I discovered I'm a founding member of the Pink Ladies! Check out Daisy's site and learn about our cool girl gang! Just so much excitement in one day, I may sleep for a week! I might as well, mom is going to be gone 'till Friday to New York City and Washington DC. She better not visit Jeter Harris or Jake and Bathsheba without me! She promised to try to help me blog over the phone, we will see.....

Mountain Meezer Monday

We woke up to weather on Sunday that wasn't quite as nice as Saturday. It was kind of rainy and overcast all day.



I could see the water on the glass looking outside, it was like watching Mom take a shower. It made such neat noise that I begged to go out. When the rain slowed down, Mom took me out to do my patrol of the backyard. The smells were incredible! I could smell sage and bunny and chipmunk, and all sorts of things! And water came down this pipe thing off the top of the house and made a really neat noise.



Although it was rainy, it wasn't that cold, so Mom went for a run. She took her flashy box, but said she would only take a picture if there was something fantastic. And there was, a bald eagle! Mom says they come down from the high mountains this time of year cause the cattle in the area are calving (the cattle are down here cause it is a little flatter), and they eat the leftover after they are born (yuck). Anyway, Mom saw this one in the ponds, and was able to get real close...



and then it took off. Mom says I need to be careful, cause bald eagles can get kitties.



I was already inside by then, and it was a good day just to take a nap.

Spotty Sunday: Mountain spots

It was a gorgeous day here at our Mountain house. Mom went for a run, and I got to go outside in the backyard. Mom is trying to let our backyard go "back to nature" and look like the open space behind our fense. So we have these stepping stones that look like spots through the backyard.

Mom usually doesn't like to take the flashy box when she runs cause she doesn't like to stop (I don't understand this, as there are so many things to stop and sniff!), but I begged her to so I could have some pictures. Her pictures remined me of spotty things.


This is the open space Mom ran through. The bushes are spotty throughout the open space.


These are the ponds near our house. Mom says they are "constructed wetlands" meaning they use reclaimed water. The birds are spotty on the water (oh I'd love to get to those birds!). It got to almost 60 degrees here today, but it isn't always this nice the time of year. Last year Mom said it looked like this (I wasn't here yet).....


Here the pond is spotty with little icebergs!


This pond has spotty vegetation all around it, but no birds.


This is the open space right behind our house. Mom and I see this hawk hunting through the glass all the time. Mom was able to walk almost right up to it with her flashy box!

All in all, a great day!

Our mountain house

Our mountain house isn't really in the mountains, its on the other side of the mountains. We get in the big green moving box and sit in it FOREVER. It goes up one side of these big mountains, then down the other side. Our mountain house is at the bottom of the mountains just where it starts to flatten out a bit. The nice thing about this, is we get to see the mountains and frozen white stuff right outside, but don't get very much of it actually at our house. When we finally got here yesterday, it as about 40 degrees on top of the mountains, but almost 60 degrees at our house. Mom and I went out and supervised Dad in the back yard as he got the big outdoor tub full of heated water working (why would any one want to sit in that), but it was still a little cold out for me (I didn't have my shirt on), so we went back in.


We all slept really well last night! I snuggled up with Mom and Dad on the bed, and we all stayed really cozy. Dad got up earlier than Mom, I followed him and got some stinky goodness. But I don't like it when Mom stays in bed, so I went in and jumped in her face a few times and attacked her fingers, that finally got her up!



After we got up, I was looking outside the glass, and this furry creature with a little white tail went running through MY BACKYARD! I got so excited I jumped up on the back of the chair, and watched and watched.



But it ran under the fence. There is this big open space behind our fence with bushes and stuff for critters to hide in. Mom says it was a desert cottontail bunny rabbit. It looked about the same size as my stuffed CEC, so I could probably take it on. But Mom says bunnys are nice, and we shouldn't hurt them. We haven't seen any CECs yet, but I thought I'd better say on guard for a while.

What a long day!

Whew, we finally made it to the mountain house! It seemed to take a lot longer than I remembered. I had a hard time finding a comfortable position in the moving green box. I kept trying the hard plastic ledge between Mom and Dad (Dad did put a carpet square in it, which made it much more comfortable), and Mom's lap. My carrier was in the back seat open so I could go back there when I wanted, which wasn't too often. So I had to talk to them a lot on the way up, to let them know this was pretty difficult.





I complained when Dad took a corner too fast and I lost my balance, I whined when I was tired and couldn't go to sleep, and I asked questions when I saw things out the glass that looked pretty interesting, especially when we were stopped. But Dad needs to fix the glass in the front of the big green box, so I can see out better!

At the top of the big mountains, Mom and Dad stopped for coffee. At first I was pretty excited, cause I got to get out of the big green moving box for a minute. But then Dad put me on top of the moutain of frozen water! It was pure white! I froze, cause it was so cold on my paws. Mom was arranging my litter box in the big green box, so she didn't get the flashy box out in time. I was glad Dad put me back into the green box, as it wasn't moving, and I got a short nap while they got some coffee.

I was really glad to get to the mountain house! I sniffed and sniffed to make sure everything was still there, then took a big long NAP!

Travel Boudoir

Since we are going to our mountain house this weekend, Mom thought I might like some new outfits. It gets a little colder there, and if I go out on my harness, I might like a bit something on. So I got two new princess outfits! Here I am in my new princess shirt.



As you can see here, it even says Princess with a tiara! But its a little small, even though Mom got the size I always wear, so I didn't like wearing it as much. I'm playing with the other outfit, which has a princess paw on it! But I was a little tired of modeling, so Mom said I didn't have to put it on. We might try it this weekend.



Here I am posing for the boys. As you can see, most of my tummy hair has grown back.



We are off to our mountain house. Mom said she would try to help me post some pictures this weekend.

Thirteen Thursday CEC Facts Every Kitty Should Know

So we are going up to our mountain house this weekend. Last time I was there, I heard the howls of CECs (cat-eating coyotes), and it scared me and I hid under the bed. But I've been practicing on my CEC attack technique, and reading up on my adversary. In some cultures, CECs are known as "The Trickster". They can trick us into thinking we are safe in our yards, and then ZAP, we are snapped up in a minute! So here are thirteen CEC facts every kitty should know.

1. CECs like to hunt between sunset and sunrise, which is the same time you outside kitties like to be out. But actually, CECs can be observed at all hours and will not pass up the opportunity for an easy meal. SO BE CAREFUL!! A woofie or kittie in a yard can be taken in minutes.

2. CECs are cousins to the domestic dog and the wolf, so they might just looks like a friendly woofie from across the street.

3. You outside kitties, if you see tracks, you can tell the paw prints from a dog because the rear paw tracks are smaller than the front, while woofies typically have symmetrical paw prints.

4. And just because you live in New York, it doesn't mean you are safe. In fact, Mom was running in Central Park last summer when on a business trip, and a CEC was seen there! They started in the Western plains and deserts, and have spread outward across the country until they are found in every state except Hawaii.

5. CECs vary in size from 25 pounds in Mexico to 75 pounds in the mountains and the northern reaches of their range, with those New York CECs ranging between 35 and 55 pounds (us kitties weigh between 5 and maybe a tubby 20 pounds, so CECs have the weight advantage).

6. Like dogs, CECs have four canine teeth, two upper and two lower, for grabbing and holding us poor little kitties.

7. CECs can breed with both domestic dogs and wolves. So make sure your woofie isn't eyeing the large good looking stranger down the street, it might be a CEC! But if woofie wants to make a "coydog", its gotta be in January, as CECs are sterile the rest of the year.

8. While CECs kill small dogs, big dogs can kill CECs (like, wolves can kill CECs, and CECs kill foxes.)

9. In areas where there are a few wolves, wolves and CECs may breed and produce fertile offspring! This is one of the reasons red wolves are endangered- their numbers were already low when CECs moved in and the two species bred the surviving red wolves out of existence!

10. A CEC litter is between 2 and 12 pups (6 pups being the average), with CECs producing one litter per year. Only 5-20% of CEC pups survive their first year (hah, wimps!).

11. Like kitties, CECs maintain their territory by marking it with urine (but I bet in a marking contest we have some friends how could beat them in a marking contest!)

12. CECs have a lifespan of about 15 years in the wild, about the same as us.

13. A CEC can run at almost 40 mph and can get over a 8' fence!

CECs are a formidable adversary. While I'm practicing on my stuffed coyote, I think avoidance is the best technique, as these guys sound MEAN!!

Wordless Wednesday

Tummy Tuesday

This is Baby. He was Mom's kitty before she got me, so I guess you could say he was the big brother I never knew. Abby's Debra's post on Sunday about Sharky made Mom think of Baby. Her eyes used to water a lot when she thought of him, but not so much any more. He was a young male who strolled through her backyard one day a few years back, and adopted her. He was always an outside kitty, though Mom and Dad let him in every night for a few hours. He was Dad's couch buddy, he would sleep with Dad on the couch for hours, especially weekend afternoons. Mom said Baby was a mellow fellow, and never bothered the other ferals outside (some bean had already taken care of his goody bag before he adopted Mom).

But one day he got bit, and a month or so later started losing weight and his coat looked awful, and he itched all the time. The vet thought it was just an allergy, and gave him a cortisone shot and some antibiotic pills. Mom and Dad would cut the pill in half and Dad would hold him while Mom shoved a pill down his throat. He was actually very tolerant of this. He seemed to get better, and Mom was pleased. But then he started to lose weight again. As you see in the picture, when he adopted Mom, he was a big heathy boy kitty of about 15 pounds of all muscle. But when Mom took him to the vet a second time, he was down to 9 pounds. After some tests, the vet told Mom he had FIV and lymphoma in his tummy. But he wasn't in pain, and was still eating. So she took him home. But it was hard, and she watched him slowly waste away.

Mom and Dad had a Siamese years ago, and made a decision that when it was Baby's time to go to rainbow bridge, they would get a Siamese. Thats how they got me. Mom tells more of the story on my catster page, so some of you may already know it. Mom tells me he was a great kitty, and we would have gotten along great. Too bad I never got to know him.