Lily has been up to her old tricks! Recently she became obsessed with sitting in the laundry room cupboard. Go figure! She would not rest until I made a spot for her.
Once inside her new perch, she surveyed the laundry room then quickly determined that doing laundry wasn’t that fun after all.
Good observation, Lily!
Wow, it's been crazy, dangerously cold for so many days now that we're losing track of time. We are very grateful that we are safe and warm. It's truly heartbreaking that so many people and animals are suffering.
We are keeping close tabs on our Texas peeps and so far, they are doing ok with no loss of power or water. Rory is staying as warm as she can and is reportedly spending most of her time like this:
Oh, and there's also the inside of my brown sweatshirt (not sure how it got on the floor):
Then there's the old state fair blanket, supplemented with an old baby blanket:
Then there's the fuzzy cat mat, accented with same baby blanket:
Hope everyone can stay as safe and warm as Lily!
Happy Feline Friday!
When I was growing up, we had a mama kitty who delivered two litters of kittens reliably each year. We always found good homes for them, as we lived in a small town with no shortage of people who wanted at least one cat. One year, our Peanut tragically lost her entire litter of kittens to a hawk or owl which swooped into our garage and plucked them out of the nest. It was a traumatic event for everyone -- especially me, and my parents soon found a kitten for me with hopes that it would ease my pain.
Enter Mittens, a calico kitten we adopted from another family in town. She wasn't well-socialized but she was certainly beautiful and I loved her immediately. As with all of our cats at the time, Mittens was an indoor-outdoor cat. As she got older, she spent more and more time indoors.
Mittens wasn't a friendly kitty and I soon became the only one who could really handle her -- as one would say, she was a one-purr-son cat. As you can see in this picture, Mittens had a spectacular coat and an especially sweet face. Unfortunately, her long fur was prone to matting and she was difficult to groom, so she soon became known as "mat cat".
In spite of her somewhat surly personality, Mittens let me feed her from a bottle and even dress her in doll clothes from time to time.
She was keenly interested in all kinds of "people food". I distinctly remember one year when she ruined Thanksgiving (at least in my mom's eyes) by eating the centers out of two of her famous pumpkin pies as they cooled on the counter. I was the only one who found that little event quite hilarious.
In spite of spending so much time outside, Mittens lived a good long life -- to at least age 22. As such, she was a big part of my growing up years. In fact, I can barely remember a time when we didn't have her with us.
Damien, Winter 1990, perched in the window of our old home
From reading my blog, one might get the impression I only have eyes for my sweet kitty Lily, her late sister Tinsel, and my daughter's kitty, Rory. But that is not at all the case. Over the course of my life, I have loved many, many kitties.
This is Damien, the first kitty we adopted after we were married and moved back to Iowa. He grew to be a very large, muscular kitty and was a bit of a spitfire, in between bouts of gentleness. Damien would attack unprovocked, once launching from the floor to my upper arm where he sank his teeth in deeply. Knowing so much more now than I did at the time, I believe we caused his agression by choosing to have him declawed. It was a decision I will always deeply regret.
In spite of his occasional naughtiness, I loved him dearly. It never once occurred to me that having Damien living in our house might be incompatible with the new baby who would arrive in January of 1993. Having grown up with cats, I thought I could manage his agression and keep him away from the baby once she arrived, but my parents eventually convinced me otherwise. So on the day Bailey was born, they swung by the house and picked up Damien to go stay with them "for awhile". The plan was that when she was older, he'd certainly come back home.
Time went on and Damien stayed at my parents' house. We saw him frequently on visits where we introduced Bailey to him and supervised them closely. All was going as planned.
Then one day my grandpa stopped by my parents' house and unexpectedly opened the back door to let himself in. Damien darted out and down the back steps with my dad in hot pursuit. Dad grabbed him before he went far but in return, Damien bit his hand hard. Long story short, Dad ended up in the hospital for 3 days on IV antibiotics. Thankfully, he fully recovered, but both of my parents were wary of Damien from that point on. Understandably, of course.
I still wanted Damien to come home but after The Great Escape, chances of that happening diminished. We saw firsthand how serious a cat bite can be, and no one wanted to risk our toddler girl suffering one.
Shortly after the incident, my parents decided to put Damien in their unused fenced dog run. This was upsetting to me but I understood their trepidation about having him in the house. He was safe in the dog run with a large, spacious, and insulated house, a shaded yard, and plenty of squirrels in the trees overhead.
One day not too long after this new arrangement began, my parents called to say that they'd found Damien dead. There were no obvious signs of illness or injury. I was devasted, and it still brings me to tears just thinking about him. My dad buried Damien in the yard.
I called my vet in distress, looking for answers about what could have happened. He speculated that Damien had died from a sudden blood clot: "Those big guys will sometimes throw a clot", he told me. To this day, my vet still mentions Damien when we see him. He was a legend in his time.
THIS POST, written nearly 12 years ago, sums up how I feel about Damien. I have enormous guilt about how his life evolved. Still, we did the best we knew how to at the time.
Damien will always hold a very special place in my heart.
What's happening with Cousin Rory down in Texas?
Let's have a look!
Rory had a lovely holiday, even though she has personally told me that Santa didn't bring her nearly enough presents. She did enjoy this festive basket after the treats inside it had been eaten by others! 😒
Since it's winter and Very Cold in Texas, Rory spends a good part of each day completely wrapped in a blankie, or completely burrowed underneath one. The cozier, the better!
Rory has the sweetest face! Look at those highlights around her eyes! I haven't seen her in purr-son since June and it would seem to me she MAY have put on a pandemic pound or two...but haven't we all?!
Rory is the official Protector from Neighbor Cat, Window Watcher of Bunnies, and Ruler of the Living Room!
We are hunkered down, hoping to get through these crazy times and busy month unscathed.
Lily says “Wake mee when it’s over!”
I think we'd all agree that our pandemic diets have been less than desirable. We've had too many English muffins in the house (which, when buttered, keenly interest Lily as shown here). Too many carbs, too much comfort food...it all results in pandemic pounds!
In an effort to eat more protein and feel fuller longer, I have been enjoying my new favorite microwave egg! Some (namely my daughter LOL) are not impressed with the cooking method but let me tell you, microwave eggs are amazing! And better yet, they can be made in a coffee mug. No skillet in sight!
Here's what you do:
Coat the inside of a mug with cooking spray. Crack one egg right inside the mug. Add just a splash of water (you CAN add milk but water actually results in a fluffier egg, and I never have milk in the house anyway). Stir with a fork. Cover the cup with a paper towel in case bits of egg splash out during cooking. Microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute. There should be no liquid in the bottom of the cup. The egg will be perfectly cooked! (In fact, it would fit great on the top of an English muffin, but I digress...)
Sprinkle with a bit of cheese and, if you're lucky enough to have some extra bacon bits, add them, too. The egg turns out fluffy and yummy, and the cooking spray makes for easy clean-up.
Microwave eggs make a great snack or lunch and will help you feel fuller longer. Lily says: Don't skip the cheese!
How fitting to end the year with another BREAK-IN! On Christmas night, I made a rookie mistake and left a plate of gingerbread cookies on the counter.
Naturally, we woke up to this!
There was no doubt as to the culprit. In her signature fashion, she had torn open the plastic and scraped the head of the gingerbread boy with her sharp teefs.
My tried-and-true gingerbread cookie recipe can be found HERE. You know the cookies are good if they warrant a break-in!
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2021!
Whether you've been NAUGHTY....
...or NICE....
MEOW-Y Christmas to all!
Janet & Lily
Could there be a cuter picture of Rory?
Lately, her Meowmy has to put her in a sweater to settle her down at night. There's just too much excitement with the Christmas tree up!
But THIS is really the best picture because it includes my favorite girl!
Rory hit the jackpot when Bailey adopted her. She's got a wonderful home, a Meowmy who loves her, and a Cat Dad in training. What a great life for this spunky kitty who was found on the streets of Tyler, Texas!
Happy Feline Friday, y'all!
It's been a couple of weeks since Lily has been featured on Feline Friday but no worries...she's the Featured Kitty EVERY DAY around here!
She has been doing very well since recovering from The Wipe Incident. In fact, she seems to be picking up speed, especially when it's time for us to go to sleep.
At bedtime, she joins me for a couple of Temptations, then wanders off to get a drink of water and use the potty. After she "exits the restroom", the running begins on the first floor. From the second floor, it sounds like thundering hooves. Occasionally she jumps up a wall and scrapes her claws all the way down (not good, as you might imagine). But mostly, she runs...faster and faster.
Eventually she lands back in the bedroom where she sometimes fits herself under a very low dresser (it's unclear why this is happening...) and finally emerges to hop up on the bed and fall asleep. We experience some version of this nearly every night.
But one night recently she added something new at 2:30 in the morning:
She jumped onto the piano keys! I must say this was quite startling as no one was downstairs at the time except for Lily who, as far as we knew, doesn't play any instrument.
Crazy girl. But I'll take it. It's great to see her running and playing again, even if it's in the middle of the night!
Happy Feline Friday!
