Friday Night Fish Fry

Cot Day- Bad Investment

Rule of Feline Frustration: When your cat has fallen asleep on your lap and looks utterly content and adorable, you will suddenly have to go to the bathroom. 

Andree is hosting this week.  Please go over to Andree's and watch the You Tube video on Engineers guide to Cats.  That is so funny...I have laughed so hard.  Cat lovers will adore it.

After all the neat photos and stories of fellow COT Bloggers I was delighted to find this cat gym at Target on a recent shopping outing with mom.  Toonces was not very happy with it and was only concerned with the cost. 

Unfortunately, all the pieces were not in the box and it was made pretty flimsy-ish.  And I could lure the cats in with cat nip but they are too big and heavy to hop through the holes of the gym and play...it couldn't hold their weight.  A kitten would love this but mine were a bit beyond it in years.  They preferred their regular balls and stuffed mice toys to the gym so I took it back to Target....only to have the sales service rep make fun of me for "throwing my hard earned money away on a cat gym" before she dumped it in the trash.

(I'd still like to find them a little tent one day like I've seen at a few of you guys.)

We've been having some seriously bad weather lately.  High winds, tornadoes and constant tornado warnings, thunder storms...no blooms left on my azaleas anymore and my pretty Iris bed is taking a beating.  It has also meant no nightly blog time.  Every time I've sat down to blog lately lightening has come up and I've had to shut down and unplug or the winds have been so high it has actually disrupted our service.  Baby keeps going out and attacking debris such as piles of those maple tree "worms" and the mulch pieces that have washed into the yard like they're prey.

Anything not nailed down is a cat toy.  - cat wisdom.

I made this last week when construction got to the point of putting a roof line up for the new room.  The banging was coming through the wall...another reason I haven't been online, I am avoiding the house and noise.....anyway Calista walks in and just stands there looking at me like "Would you please make them shut up, I can't nap in all this racket!"

Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat. -- Robert Heinlein

 

COT- Cat Overload

"I put down my book, The Meaning of Zen, and see the cat smiling into her fur as she delicately combs it with her rough pink tongue.
Cat, I would lend you this book to study but it appears you have already read it.
She looks up and gives me her full gaze.
Don't be ridiculous, she purrs, I wrote it.
- from "Miao" by Dilys Laing

   For more Cats on Tuesday visit Gattina and her kitties.

Calista and Darius show you the new screened in room construction.  Darius takes to the red dirt pile.  Calista models by the lumber.

"A cat sees us as the dogs...A cat sees himself as the human." - Unknown

Calista proves to the dogs that she is above doing tricks for treats and runs back and forth between Toonces and the Thugs.

Everyone, including Rollie, was happy to have T back home.  We spent the evening playing by the creek and in the cats and dogs favorite meadow. 

(Amy please note who keeps taking over my water bottle...)

Well almost everyone loves to go to the meadow.  Someone refused.

"I'd rather sit here and look out the door thank you."

Enjoy your Tuesday...enjoy Cats!

Cats on Tuesday

"The cat has too much spirit to have no heart" - Ernest Menaul

If you'd like to play along visit Gattina.  (sorry my icon won't come up today).

Darius often hunts in the field above the house.  I always think he looks so growny, so proud, yet so vulnerable on his long walk back home.

Anyone that drives too fast down my driveway gets scolded.

I was mopping and cleaning the house so I sat the dog's beds out on the back deck.  I'd also pulled their beds out of their house to air out in the warm Spring breeze.  I came by the back door moments later and Dale the Cat (DTC) was making herself at home on one fluffy bed.  Earl, lower right first pic, was making sure he didn't share his property.  It looks like even Larry and his hen might be eying a bed.

I am always just walking by a window or door and stop what I am doing to go back and get my camera.  I am easily amused.

I was on my way from the bed to the coffee pot when Toonces said "you're not going to believe this."  I reached the kitchen window and there was Darius, up on the beam that supports the trellis section of the back deck.  None of our cats have ever been up there.  It couldn't have been an easy move for the D man.  I turned around and got my camera before I even fixed my cup of coffee.  I guess that is why the shot sucks...but you get the picture point.    Honestly we didn't think he'd be able to get down. 

Toonces sat being entertained while eating breakfast with D's maneuvers back down while I tended to the chicks in the barn.

Happy COT Day to Everyone!

And a very happy birthday to our good friend Michelle!

Year 3 and COT DAY!

I used to believe that marriage would diminish me, reduce my options. That you had to be someone less to live with someone else when, of course, you have to be someone more.

Candice Bergen

Cats on Tuesday friends meet at Gattina and her kitties.

Calista's Picture Day

Hidden.

Today is our 3 year anniversary.   

Today we are not only celebrating our marriage but what this marriage has brought to our lives in the past 3 years...what our home has become to us.   And how much we treasure each little life that abides here.  Darius and Calista have been with me a long time.  But Toonces went out of his way to make a special life for them when we moved here.  He has never been anything but good to them.  Dale was just so happy to get to have something to eat rather than the Kozy Kitten T fed her.  Wet food to her is like heaven.  Baby, whom we rescued a year ago, seems to feel right at home in the midst.   Earl and Eudora were born six months after our union and have been nothing but a bright spot in my life since.  Our home is complete...our home is filled with love...and I am very blessed.

Darius is demanding that he get to try champagne tonight as we celebrate.  Maybe he can have a lick with his cat ham treats.

Happy Anniversary Toonces... I had no idea when we married that it would be this wonderful.  I got way more than I ever bargained for.  I love you....Rollie.

*The flower people never showed up to do the arbor...and well it is the Bahamas.  We laugh about it now.  If that was the only glitch I guess you're lucky.

Cats on Tuesday- Heads or Tails?

You can't own a cat. The best you can do is be partners. - Sir Harry Swanson

Toonces always misses our old Golden Lilly when he cleans the fish.  Lilly LOVED the fish heads.  It was a big day for her.  My Our dogs don't really think much of the fish heads.  Earl will eat rotted deer but he isn't really crazy about fresh water fish.

But the cats enjoyed the time bonding with Toonces and they were delighted he'd share his catch with them.   And he enjoyed their company.

 

All but one.  One had to make sure he vexed me while I took pictures of the girls hanging tight with Toonces.

In big cat news Baby finally caught something. 

Toonces came running down the steps last week wanting me to look out the window.  Sure enough Baby had a vole.  She played with it, lost it, found it again...but didn't seem to understand she was supposed to KILL the thing.  We ended up letting Darius out after she finally lost it in the tall grass.  Darius is not short on killer instincts.

Baby was beaming.   She'd handled big cat business and she was proud of herself.

For more Cats on Tuesday please visit Gattina and her cats.

Looks like we're done!

Have a great day and do at least one thing nice for someone.  Make yourself feel good.

 

Cats on Tuesday- Living with Vultures and a Gullible Mother by Darius the Cat

Prowling his own quiet backyard or asleep by the fire, he is still only a whisker away from the wilds. - Jean Burden

To join in the fun visit Gattina and her cats.

Cats on Tuesday...

Hi, I'm Darius.  The cat.  I chose this photo to prove that I know what a chicken is.  Well in this case a rooster.  But I'm not stupid.  I chose this picture to prove that I live in harmony with the other members of our clan.  I know my tribe.  But I will be danged if I am going to be respectful to a bunch of vultures.

That's right.  My mama is raisen' a bunch of vultures.

Look at that and tell me that ain't a vulture.  When mama and Toonces debated why the chicks were black I knew something just wasn't right.

Then Toonces confirmed my suspicions.  He told me over breakfast one mornin' why mom was out stuffen' the screaming things worms that he thought Caleb and Papa had done this as a joke.  That they were laughin' it up at the thoughts of mama out their diggin' worms and raising actual vultures.

They have got long spindly legs.  They can already fly and they are already gettin' big.  They are gonna dwarf Larry the Rooster.  And do you know why?  'Cause they is vultures.

Someone once told mama that if you looked up the word gullible in the dictionary there'd be her picture.  That ain't far from the truth.

Mama refuses to let me eat one.  At least I could cut the numbers down.  Baby almost had one today in fact.  Even the city cat knows these little creatures are for torturing and eating.  But fine if she has to have it her way so be it.  About the time they start growing that nasty thing off their heads maybe she'll see.

That or 'bout the time they fly off with one of those precious Labs of hers.

Baby eying the chicks in the flower bed.

Baby and I are getting along better.  Sometimes, like today, I let her watch me play.  But she does look like she swallowed a basketball.   We don't go without around here, that is for sure.  She was hunched up after a bug today and I swear she had wrinkles all up and down her side like one of those wrinkly dogs.

And this bright bulb...geezy peezy...lil' sis, I love her, I do, but she ain't got no sense.  Those vultures have been staying in the front room for almost two weeks now when they ain't outside, and Calista just noticed 'em this Saturday.  Mom and T found her in there all hyped up, messin' with the cage.   

Mama wanted me to leave you with some pics of her babies modeling the day she tried out her new lens.  She'll picture you to death if ya ain't careful.  It's a wonder anybody can even open a page here. 

I was out that day too but wasn't cheesy enough to pose by a bunch of flowers for her.  What I did do though was wait until mom had been intensely studying a tiny spider on a bud of a new dogwood tree she planted.  She had worked and worked that camera tryin' to get her focus and I walked by and rubbed against the tree.  This caused the tree to flick the tiny spider ON to mama.  She had a few choice words for me after she got done screaming but it was all worth it.

So here's the silly girls modeling with some flowers around the house.

Hope you all have a pleasant day.  Come back and see us!

Thanks for your time....Darius the Cat.

COT Day- The Impish Aunt

"When a cat chooses to be friendly, it's a big deal, because a cat is picky." - Mike Deupree

  To play along please visit Gattina and her lovely cats.

Belly Shots...

I love the way Calista's hair curls on her tummy.

This is my nephew Ben.  Ben is 4.  Many of you already know that Ben and Jackson spent the weekend with us.  Ben does not like animals in the house.  At all.  It seems that people are actually born with that preference.  Ben has 3 dogs and a cat named Frankie.  An old cat that his mom has had since high school.  He doesn't want them in the house either.  Ben just doesn't like animals near him.   

Ben is all the time telling me I could get a fence for the yard so the dogs could stay in it.  He can't understand how I could let them in the house.  Especially when they are dirty.    He watched in disgust Saturday morning as the cats lined up by their breakfast bowls.  He told me then that Frankie didn't get free roam like that at his house. 

I tell this because Saturday night watching the Bee Movie Ben fell asleep.  Calista who normally despises Ben (and all the children) as much as he dislikes her, finds the kids aren't so bad while they are sleeping or sitting quietly on her sofa.  Jackson and I who had been squished by Ben to the end of the sofa got so tickled when Calista started making biscuits on Ben's back and settled in snuggling with him for the night.  By the time we carried him to bed Calista had a paw around his neck. 

I was literally in tears, I know that sounds awful but Ben would've died if he'd known that cat was on him.  Jackson was laughing right with me.  Hopefully part of it was just exhaustion and I am not just a mischievous aunt.  I told Jackson that Ben wouldn't even let Frankie do that.  Jackson replied "Ben wouldn't even let Frankie Jr. lie on him like that."  Frankie Jr. is Jackson's stuffed cat.

 

But they make a lovely couple don't they?

Sorry Benjamin.

We told him about it the next day.  When I showed him what "making biscuits" was on his back he said "Well that feels pretty good!"  Maybe he will become a cat lover now. 

Happy COT day! 

Cats On Tuesday- Guardians of Easter Surprises and Mouse Probation

When God Made Cats

When God made the world, He chose to put animals in it, and decided to give each whatever it wanted. All the animals formed a long line before His throne, and the cat quietly went to the end of the line. To the elephant and the bear He gave strength, to the rabbit and the deer, swiftness; to the owl, the ability to see at night, to the birds and the butterflies, great beauty; to the fox, cunning; to the monkey, intelligence; to the dog, loyalty; to the lion, courage; to the otter, playfulness. And all these were things the animals begged of God. At last he came to the end of the line, and there sat the little cat, waiting patiently. "What will YOU have?" God asked the cat.

The cat shrugged modestly. "Oh, whatever scraps you have left over. I don't mind."

"But I'm God. I have everything left over."

"Then I'll have a little of everything, please."

And God gave a great shout of laughter at the cleverness of this small animal, and gave the cat everything she asked for, adding grace and elegance and, only for her, a gentle purr that would always attract humans and assure her a warm and comfortable home.

But he took away her false modesty.

Lenore Fleischer

Visit Gattina and her cats for more Cats on Tuesday.

I've been accumulating small gifts for each child for Easter in the guest room.

Baby is guarding the gifts for me.  The Easter Bunny may have a fight on his hands.

Ooops, sorry to bother you.

I found these cute kitty photo holders at Pier 1 when shopping with mom.  They were just the ticket for the loose photos I had on the shelves.  There were 3 in a set.

I went down to retrieve my Hallmark singing bunny to get ready for my Easter Egg Hunt and what did I find?  I found little rat poopies stuck all over his snow white fur and he had to be thrown away.   That bunny was stored in a bag in the room downstairs where Calista, Baby and Dale sleep each night.   Darius, the king of the house, is up with us or outside or wherever in the house he wants to be...he will not use a litter box and prefers to wake me instead when he would like to go out.  So Darius is off the hook on this one.  Dale is too old.  So Dale is off the hook.

Calista and Baby are on mouse probation.  I was not happy that they didn't protect my treasures any better than that.

Enjoy your COT .....Cheers from me and mine. 

COT Day- Share The Secret

I'm only a cat,
and I stay in my place...
Up there on your chair,
on your bed or your face!

I'm only a cat,
and I don't finick much...
I'm happy with cream
and anchovies and such!

I'm only a cat,
and we'll get along fine...
As long as you know
I'm not yours... you're all mine!

Author Unknown    Play with us... visit Gattina and her kitties.

Last week almost everyone I visited that participated in Cats on Tuesday had photos of their cats cuddling.  Not just kittens but full grown non-related cats.  So what is up with that?  What is wrong with my cats?  What is wrong with me?  Is it Toonces?  This is about as close as it gets unless Darius and Calista do a game of cat and mouse...better known as Nascar Cat Tag...I mean Baby isn't even in this picture because she is too far over to the left. 

I couldn't imagine mine in a basket all lovey dovey with each other.  Somedays I can't even get them to line up to eat beside each other.  I may have to feed two, then the other two.  Is it because I had Darius and Calista so long on my own and Darius isn't a lovey boy anyway?  Were they all too old when they were threw together to make it work?  Are mine too spoiled individually?

I told Toonces last week that it depressed me seeing all of ya'lls cats just rolled up in baskets together or on the beds...happy as a can of worms.

We came home from dinner Friday night and the front hall was covered in balls of Calista's hair from a fight with Baby.   In this house it is all about one cat not being the other cat's b**ch.   If I tried to force them to cuddle I'd probably lose a finger, or worse an eye.  So what gives? 

Helping out around the house..........................

  gardening, fish releasing, putting away groceries.

We feel a little hard work never hurt anybody.

Accidental Sightings:

That's what happens when they accompany you on nature photo outings.

Have a great Tuesday!  Hugs from me and the four fur balls that own me.

Cats on Tuesday- Cat Hair

  Visit Gattina for more Cats on Tuesday or to play along.

CAT HAIR

Cat hair on the bedspread,
Cat hair on the chair.
Cat hair in the casserole,
Cat hair EVERYWHERE

Cat hair on my best coat,
Even on the mouse!
You live and eat and breathe cat hair,
When cats live in your house.

author unknown

Calista is a nip-a-holic.

Cat hair covers my cushions.  Dog hair has to be swept up daily along with catnip from the living room floor.  White poofs of soft hair can occasionally be seen rolling like a tumbleweed by me as I work at the computer.  Toonces's antique fainting sofa from his mother has a soft almost downish nest beginning. 

In other words don't bother coming to visit us if you hate animals 'cause you're probably not getting out of here without a little hair on your pants...especially if you come wearing black.

Just a warning.

Have a great CATS ON TUESDAY! .....from Darius, Calista, Baby and Dale.

Cats on Tuesday- The Feline Construction Crew

If there is one spot of sun spilling onto the floor, a cat will find it and soak it up.
- Joan Asper McIntosh

Please visit Gattina and her kitties to play along.

The new room construction has started.  I am so excited about the screened in room looking out above the pond.   I don't exactly know how I am supposed to work on my computer when they start breaking through my window to make a door, I guess I will be back relying on the Notebook for a bit.

Anyway, it was a nice sunny day so while the workers went into town for lunch Baby and I took the opportunity to check things out.

The sand pile arrived last Wednesday but several little cat feet imprints let me know that the cats had found it immediately.

I bet they thought their ship had come in when they found that big pile.  Even Calista would choose that over her litter box.

I noticed when I was editing the photos that Calista was sitting up in the window to the left spying on me and Baby cat.

I happened to glance up and what do I see?

I see little Batman ears peeping up over the metal on the truck's roof.

"Darius!  I swear...get your little hind end off those people's truck!"

He is the world's worst to climb right in or own anyone's vehicle that happens to come to our house. 

I can just see him scooting down the highway one day popping up out of the back seat and scaring the bejuzzles out of some Jehovah's Witness that happened through.

"Darius Heath Clark get down from there. "

I gave up on D man and went to feed the horses and walk the dogs.

Later when all the workers left I went back out and had to take this picture...  Darius is just as happy as a clam up on the back of the truck sunning.  (the black spot in the middle in one of the yellow cubicles) Dale is exploring the new site (underneath the truck).  Thank goodness they leave this particular work truck overnight.

The contractor has done so much work for us this year he is used to the pets antics but I guess I need to warn the brick masons.

I have a feeling the kitties are going to love sunning in this new room too.

Have a great COT.  I am off to the eye doctor.  I can't put it off any longer.  I can't even start a new book because I can't see the words anymore.  Well, I can see with one eye but the other just sees a white smudge of paper.  So the mix of the good and bad eye is driving me nuts.  I hate getting old.  The hypochondriac in me has started worrying that I am going blind in my right eye.  Or maybe I have glaucoma or something.  Toonces had to hear that one during dinner tonight.

Oh, and yes, Darius did finally come down. 

He had to eat.

 

Cats on Tuesday- Toonces's Assistants

"People who love cats have some of the biggest hearts around." - Susan Easterly

Please visit Gattina and her cats for more or to play along.

I've always heard that a guy that is good to cats is a good guy...and Toonces certainly is a good guy and the cats all adore him.   I read an article recently that stated first, women adore men who love cats and second, men don't think of their cats as their "babies" but as their friends.  Women tend to think of their cats more as their "babies".    Isn't that probably true of all pets though?

If you saw the video in my weekend post of Darius and the fish, I hate that I accidentally didn't record the part where the fish flopped all over the place and Darius was a bit taken aback.  But not in a cowardly way, just in a cat cautious way.  Yet somehow he instinctively knew that fish was prey and soon he was right back on top of it, flopping or not.    I can never tell if he is bummed when we throw them back or just fascinated by the whole process.  He pushes his body to the very edge of the dock trying to get a good look of the fish, just one more time, once it gets put back into the water.

Darius likes to fish with Toonces, help T in the barn...me with yard work.

Calista is Toonces's TV buddy.

And Baby, well Baby helps write novels.  She is T-man's office mate.  (Rollie is rarely allowed into the office domain.)

Here are some shots of Baby in her normal writer's assistant position and taking a break from all the excitement writing can bring....(T is normally at his desk but this arrangement seems to work well for both of them while re-reading edited copies.)

Uh, what?  No!  No I am not sucking up to my husband by writing nice things about him because I have a birthday next month...don't be silly.

One more vet day...Last visit today.  Baby's turn.  And a simple rabies shot for old Dale.  Last week I did wait 40 minutes, just as I predicted.  They let a walk in go ahead of me, but I have to say they were very good to the cats and very thorough.  I think they like Darius and Calista better than Earl and Eudora.

   

Cats on Tuesday- the dreaded Vet day

"People that don't like cats haven't met the right one yet." - Deborah A. Edwards, D.V.M.

Cats on Tuesday.  Visit Gattina and her cats for more or to play along.

I hope it is a good omen that Darius and Calista's annual vet visit fell on COT day.  After Earl's ordeal Friday this will be a brief in and out visit.   (yes I knocked on wood)  Darius will cry.  Calista will tremble.  We will sit there for 45 minutes longer than our scheduled appointment and I will be told Darius is overweight.    I am crossing my fingers that things are calm enough in the office that I can set up Baby as a new client and get her rabies and other necessary vaccines.  The last several attempts at making her appointment has been put on hold for 10 minutes and lost on the phone with every re-call being, "Can I put you on hold?" or the office being so overrun with walk-ins standing around that the girl barely could concentrate on getting my bill paid.   Can you tell Rollie has become a disgruntled pet owner and is seeking a new establishment?   Not disgruntled with my pets, with their healthcare options. 

I dread even sitting out the pet carriers...the drama begins then.

Have you noticed just how well a cat can hide when they want to?

The Eyes Have It.

Baby has natural permanent eyeliner.  What some women pay for that.

Snuggle Bunny.

Calista still has a few battle scars on her nose thanks to Baby.

Narcissism.

Darius likes to lay in the lap of his look a like.

****************************************************************************************

Valentine Contest winners go up Wednesday Evening and stay up all day Valentine's Day. 

Earl and Eudora sent this candy to their favorite human little people.....

Calista was kind enough to hold the box for me.

Happy COT...wish Calista and Darius luck!

Cats on Tuesday- Life's Simple Pleasures

"I purr, therefore I am." - Anonymous

Please visit Gattina and her kitties for more info on Cats on Tuesday.

A nice roll in the hay...and sunshine...and a little red dirt for Baby.

She sure makes it look like fun.

Have an excellent day! 

COT Day- Pretty Weather gets us out, Darius gets Bodyguards

I've gone into hundreds of [fortune-teller's parlors], and have been told thousands of things, but nobody ever told me I was a policewoman getting ready to arrest her.

New York City detective

  Visit Gattina and her beauties for more Cats on Tuesday!

What happened to my prissy girl?

"What?"

Yesterday it was beautiful here.  The kind of day when you only need a sweatshirt to make you comfortable.

Calista hadn't been out of the house in weeks.  I don't understand why the cats love to go out on sunny days and roll in the dirt?  Darius does it all the time and even Baby.  Does it feel good?  Does it scratch their back?  I mean cats are clean creatures so why do they suddenly decide to be little pigs?

It was so nice out that after feeding the horses and after spending 30 minutes getting Spirit, my young Paint, out of the tack room because I didn't lock the door when I walked out with their sweet feed...and he found the open bag of sweet feed.  Anyway after that fiasco everyone went for a walk.  Every kitty...both Labs.  We hadn't had a group walk since the weather turned bitter in December. 

They were all so happy to be out that no one fought. 

The cats Calista and Baby normally lag behind.  Dale barely gets anywhere before we've turned around and met her on our way back, and Darius always stays with me and the dogs.  Yesterday we hadn't gotten to our favorite meadow when we discovered a neighbor weed eating weeds around the creek....and the neighbor's dog had come too.  Normally no one is around.  It is very peaceful and safe for the cats.    The Thugs like this dog, an older large Husky type dog, but in his younger days this dog was known to kill cats.  So I grew very concerned when I realized he was looking at Darius sitting behind me in the path. 

Calista and Baby had already high tailed it back to our little farm road when they heard the machinery.  Darius crept easily to the edge and into the woods sensing this dog was watching.   It's funny how he has street smarts and knew not to run or panic causing the dog to go after him.  But I know Darius and I knew he was concerned for his safety.   I called Earl and Eudora and told them we were going to take walk back up through the woods and they needed to protect Darius in case the larger dog came to hurt him. 

The neighboring dog followed to he edge, nose in air and paced in the path below but my sweethearts Earl and Eudora, normally hyper and crawling all over their visiting friend, walked obediently back up through the woods one on each side of Darius.  They seemed to understand that this dog could harm little D man.   

They were so well behaved and took such good care of the D man that I wished the cats would be friendlier to them.  Of course, once back home we continued our walk to the pond...I grabbed the camera along the way and the dogs went back to being morons.

Dale does like for the dogs to lick her.

Baby, who is not the devil by the way, spends at least one hour in the mornings on the back porch and patio trying to hunt.  She works so hard at it that sometimes I wish maybe a little sick bird that was going to die anyway could be caught by her.  Baby attacks pieces of mulch.  She bats leaves blowing by.  She throws the peanuts for the squirrels in the air, but she never catches anything real. 

On the coldest mornings she sits...she stalks...she paces...she comes in and warms and back out she goes.  Sometimes to the point she drives us nuts...in and out, in and out.  She just works so hard it breaks my heart to see her become so sad that she cannot capture anything.   I think that is why she respects Darius so much.  He brings home rats and can take the birds out...but only if he knows I am not going to catch him because he knows catching my little birds is not something I approve of.

She wants one so badly!

Happy COT Day and may you each get something you've really really been wanting...no harm to any little birdies of course!

Calista's Post- A Female Feline's Revenge

"A cat isn't fussy--just so long as you remember he likes his milk in the shallow, rose-patterned saucer and his fish on the blue plate. From which he will take it, and eat it off the floor."- Arthur Bridges

Please visit Gattina and her delightful cats for more COT!

That's right.  Who's your daddy now Darius? 

Cat got your tongue?

With mom dealing with insurance adjusters and her back sore so she doesn't want to sit long I get my turn to post for cats on Tuesdays.

BTW- she does want to thank everyone for their nice wishes and concerns for her and T's health and safety.  I don't know what I'd of done if they hadn't made it back home 'cause I am not leavin'  this house.  This is my house.   The day mama moved me in over here from our old house I took one look around and said "Girl you done good...Calista you have done found your home sweet home." 

Now I am not the vindictive type.  I don't mind if Darius calls me dumb because I don't have to be smart.  I'm beautiful. 

I admit I can be a tad jumpy at times.  But I was a mother.  I had four kittens.  When D man shoots 4 golf balls out his rear end we'll talk.

Then those tiny humans..the things she calls nephews and niece.    I see one get big enough to not try to pull my tail and I'll be *$*  (^$$ (*$#$*** if another one wouldn't pop up.  There ain't a cat alive that isn't lying when they say looking up and seeing this coming at 'em doesn't scare you ****less!

And on top of all that my humans had to go out and be nice.  No they couldn't go to the old folks home and read stories or something like that, no they gotta go out and bring home another cat.  And if they had to adopt a cat why couldn't it have been some poor soul with one foot in the grave...or pitiful like Dale...or even a kitten.   

No, they have to bring home the devil.

I'm not Darius.  I didn't get whipped up by the Toms when I was a young chap so I didn't get any experience in kicking ass.  I mean look at that cat.  I am a prissy, delicate, ball playing, romancing kinda girl.   I don't wanna be Calista Ali or somebody.  I'm always having to peep around the doors and corners to make sure she isn't sitting in wait for me.   

Darius can take "neurotic" and shove it.

Since my human mom has schooled me well in how jealous ones may treat you I have reached a conclusion...

I told her, I said "Baby, don't hate me because I'm beautiful..." and she darn near scratched my face off.

So Darius all I have to say to you is don't come a knockin' if you don't want me to open the door.....Wait is that right?  Maybe it is something about big dogs stay on the porch...hmmm..how about just be careful who you pick on big brother.

 

Have a great COT day everyone and thanks for letting me do the post...I'm glad you got to know me purrsonally....lol...I am a funny girl...

"Meow 't a here"

Calista Heath Clark 

*** Remember to be sending in your photos, surpisingly I have very few doggie Valentine's, yet I have soooo many friends with adorable, most handsome canines!...The Thugs will be so disappointed to think that no one considers a cute cuddly doggie a Valentine! 

email deanaheathclark@embarqmail.com

Greetin's from Darius the Cat- Happy COT

"Dogs have owners, cats have staff."  - unknown.

Visit Gattina for more Cats on Tuesday..and the rules.

I'm not sure if mom's happy about it or not but so many folks liked me that she told me to have at it.  Calista wanted to know why she couldn't do the Blog just one time but I told her "Calista you can barely get from the food bowl to the sofa without a panic attack and you think you can sit down and post..." right.

The most excitement we've had here since that tiny human left Saturday was mom and daddy landing on G4 on the satellite with the Adult Expo coverage in Vegas.  Even I had to sneak a peek at the screen.  They were trying to find mom's blogger buddy Joe in Vegas with a bunch of women hanging off of him, or lurking in the corner.  Apparently he works right there at it so when mom yelled "Stop, I wanna see some of this." daddy T was like, Alright!   She couldn't stomach it long and finally got the remote away from dad.

He still has a mark on his forehead.

Just kidding.

Hey, here is my impression of mom and daddy T watching Bret Michael's show "Rock of Love."...

T- "God he's a moron."

mom- "sigh"

T- "God he's nasty..." 

T-"Why can't he take that bandanna off?"

mom- "s-h-u-t-u-p."

T- "God he's an idiot."

mom- "Why do you even watch this with me?...can you not be quiet one minute and let me watch the show."

T- "sigh"

Since nothin' too exciten' s been goin' on I thought I'd show you around a little in my own way.

You might be a redneck......

Mama can't see good enuff to find her hook in the mulch- blends in.  This was her temporary replacement she pulled out of the Christmas wrapping supplies.   Her temporary replacement has been up for almost 2 months now.  Somehow she and daddy T over look it even though we look like a buncha ignorants.

Now here's brains for ya...Earl, mama's pride and joy, hurt his leg.  Couldn't walk hardly.  Big brown eyes playin' up to mama...napped almost the whole day, whined....Daddy T goes to the store and decides to let Earl and Eudora take a little ride to lift their spirits.  Daddy T picks ole Earl up so he won't hurt his leg...all easy with him.  They are headed back up the drive home and Mr. Genius Earl Doggo decides to leap off on the neighbor's dog Harley.  Harley'd kick Earl's ass.   Now once the idiot gets over the side onto Harley he freezes and cowers down.  Daddy whips him.  So by the time he gets back to mama he's just a cry baby.  All blubberin' up  on her leg.   Mama says "Well I'm sure he just fell off."

Mama can't see the writin' on the wall where that boy is concerned.  If she didn't love me so much I'd be jealous but I know I'm her boy, and I got her back unlike that sissy Lab of hers.

vexing Baby.

Now Calista got by  with saying she wasn't fat she was fluffy for a long time.  The vet even stood by her.  But if she gets any fluffier that girl is gonna damn near explode.

I'm just sayin'.....

Thanks for havin' me back....don't forget mom and the kid's Valentine photo contest.  She's got her directions up on the sidebar.   All you cute kitties need to enter, you might even get a greetin' from the old D man himself.  Happy COT...peace out.

 

Darius The Cat Gets To Post

No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch. - Leo Dworken

Please visit Gattina to play along or for more cool cats.

After a holiday break it is time to return to CATS ON TUESDAYS!

   

With unpacking to be done and things to be attended to after my humans came in from their weekend gambling junket to Tunica, Mississippi this evening mom finally agreed to let me do the post.

'Bout time.  I don't know all the details but I know that things didn't go so well.  Hell I've tried to warn 'em that gambling is a sin but they don't listen.  Now there is barely enuff left in the cookie jar to get my cat ham.  Good thing mama had the good sense to stock the pantry before she left.

Daddy Toonces said this would be it for a while for him as far as travelin or gambling.  Old T man got sick with a stomach bug right after the plane landed.  Didn't stop him from having the good sense to go lie down immediately though did it?  Thought it might be some sort of jet lag and trip anxiety so he lost a good deal of money before he started spendin' most of his time in the litter box.  Poor old fella was looking a might skinny when he got home today.

He was up all night Saturday night sick.  Mama said she wished she was up sick last night instead of having to be up all hours of the night listening to the nasty sounds of the neighbors doing it.  I don't know exactly what "it" is but it can't be good.  Mama went to bed early tonight to make up for her lack of sleep.

I think they had a power outage once they got to the airport in Greensboro, then they was late, then the young pilot missed the runway and had to turn around...daddy T said the plane was so hot you could fry an egg in it but of course he was sick and too dumb to know it.  Then the casino lost all their play and didn't give 'em any comps.

That's what sin money will do for ya folks.

The good news is that we got Grandma.  Yeah she came down to babysit and Calista and me, well we had the run of the house.  Grandma likes us.  She does not like the Labs.  She told the Thugs to quit lickin on her, that it wasn't going to get them anywhere with her and that she was not going to play with 'em.  Like to have tickled me to death.  Even young Baby got a kick out of that.  Fat Dale is the only one that doesn't appreciate Grandma but then Dale ain't got much sense now does she?

Fat and skittish is about all I can say for poor Dale.  Not a bad girl just didn't get much of a good raisen' without me and Calista and mama doing it. 

Baby whined a bit about Grandma being here.  She misses Daddy T when he is gone cause she slobbers all over him like an idiot when he is in his office.  Grandma shut her out of his office which didn't make Baby like Grandma any better.  But the main thing is that Calista and me, we love her.  Calista stayed with her all day and I slept in the room with her at night.

A grandma that hates dogs is about the best thing that could happen to a cat. 

Anyway it sounds like things might be tight around here for a while til daddy gets the piggy bank refilled.  Mama's a sweetheart, she is, but she ain't much help in that matter.  Course she is the one that spoils me and vetoes daddy T and his way of seein fit to raise a cat.  So if you liked my bloggin' then feel free to send food.  Fancy Feast will do just fine.

I thank ya for this opportunity!

Sincerely,

The D Man 

For more Toonces and Rollie in Tunica pictures click HERE.

Roughing it...A Cats on Tuesday adventure

"You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats." - Colonial proverb

Please visit Gattina, our hostess for Cats on Tuesdays.

Helping Toonces fish.....pulling their weight.

Mountain Lions creep around the property.

Trees need to be tested. (Climber=Calista, Freaked out cat=Dale)

Oh, and for my buddy Joe a little d mixed in with the c....how's that?

I wish I could find t-shirts for my cats that said "Lab Lover" or maybe "Lab Owner"..wouldn't that be cute? 

Then the Labs could wear one that said "Cats for sale" or "Cats are my homeys"!

Maybe that should be a new business venture for me....the brother/sister love/hate relationships do well.

Have a Very Happy COT Day! 

7 Random Darius facts on COT day!

A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.
- Indian Proverb