The stuff is OURS

Abby: The world is ours. The sun belongs to us. It went missing for a few days, so we were glad to see it return to us, its rightful occupants.


Stygia: We are also happy 'cause our chair is back! It was "out of commission" (Mr. R says) for awhile, but now it's back! Yes, it really is back, if I may stress our excitement over the matter once and for all. Abby and I took turns jumping in and out of it, and jealously spectating as the other slept in it.

Abby: There is this pink bear that Ms. C won that I have adopted as my pet. I wrestle with it, and I sleep with it too. Ms. C said something about "compromising position" but she didn't try to move me, which I appreciate. She also wants you to know that no cats were ever stored in that box behind our chair. It's just short for her full name. I didn't know "Cat" was short for "Mom," but who am I to argue with humans' weird ways?


Last but not least is THE TUB. The picture of me isn't the best because I am on the move. They dropped in the catnip mouse and I flipped, rolled, jumped, bustled, wrestled, and had a great and slippy old time in the TUB! I hope they keep it in the middle of the living room floor forever! What?? You aren't going to? .....

Sun-Days

Stygia: It's potentially Sun-Day every day here. Now that fall has arrived, the sun spends all morning and afternoon coming through our windows, a little longer each day. And did you know, those Plague Ratsies smell even better in the sun? Here I am after a really wild session with my ratsy, keeping my paw on its tail so it won't get away:

Of course, there is someone else, She Who Shall Not Be Named, who does not like to be left out. Ms. C caught the action with her secret security camera which is why it is a bit murky, but you can get the idea:

It's all about the Plague Ratsies!!

If We Were Authors

Stygia: You haven't heard from me in awhile, so now you are going to!

I was thinking of writing a new novel... (as if I have written one yet...). I think it should be a mystery novel. Why? Because....

There are some mysteries only a BLACK CAT can solve.

Don't you agree? Not to sound as if I am better than a Persian, a Tabby (yeah, you Abby!), an Abyssinian, or even a frog or an English Spaniel, but...! I believe there are only some mysteries that can be solved by Black Cats. We all have our specialties, after all.

Would you want to read this book? I love being in cahoots with Ms. C, I think we could easily solve a mystery together. It would look like this:

But I sure get curious sometimes... and distracted. Perhaps these features of my purrsonality will be to my benefit in the end...

You wanna read it? !

Growing Up

Abby: My Mom has been telling me for a long time that part of growing up is learning to share. Sharing can be one of the finer things in life, she says.

I didn't really believe her until recently. I mean, I like playing "Queen of the Cat Condo" as much as any other cat does. Sharing the bed with Stygia to comfort the people when they were not feeling well was okay. But... but sharing space with Mom like this, oh! It was wonderful:

Warm! Comfy! It's not so warm outside any more, so sharing Mom's lap was a great comfort to both her and me. She was right.

The Deward

Abby: So!!! After our Mom and Secretary promised us last month that the "hiatus" was over, she did it again! This is so . . . so totally unforgivable. Therefore, we are dishonoring her with this deward:

If any of you other cats, dogs, and other wonderful creatures have a similar situation, you are invited to dishonor your own Moms with this deward as well. BAD Mom. BAD!

And what have they been doing that is so terribly important as to neglect secretarial duties? I will show you some examples:

Exhibit 1:
Mr. R CAUGHT eating sushi!!!!! It could have been forgivable IF he had shared it with me. Which he did NOT.


Exhibit 2:
Ms. C (and Mr. R, too, for that matter) CAUGHT skydiving!!! How stupid can you get? I would never, ever deign to set PAW on a plane, never mind jump OUT of one!


Most important here is, what have we been up to? We have been really good kitties. Right now our humans both have strep throat, and in spite of their neglect of our blog, we have been comforting them by sleeping with them during their time of need:


Yes, that's right. We have out aside our fears and we both sleep at the same time with them on their bed. It's really not so bad. In fact, it's kind of nice and extra-warm!

Now we need to go campaign for our 4pm feeding time.

Back from Hiatus!

Abby & Stygia: We are back from a hiatus that was totally NOT our fault. It was Ms. C's fault. First, she had the nerve to go on a week vacation without Our permission! Needless to say, we were very lonely, even though Mr. R was still here for company.

We cannot be entirely upset about Ms. C's vacation. After all, she got to spend time with her mom, and she is our mom, so we understand about that. Also, she attended a Cat Lady Convention in Prince Edward Island along with #1 of The Poupounette and the PM from Sumac Stories! If you haven't heard about it, check it out in #1's post here. As far as we are concerned, as long as she is thinking of us and doing something feline-related, we cannot object.

What is really reprehensible is the amount of time she has "taken off" since she came back. Oh, she says that it's been tough getting back into things because she has switched from part-time to full-time work, but what kind of excuse is that? We cats snoopervise pretty much 24/7, and without slacking off, so we don't buy it.

You can see how lonely we were. And yesterday was Stygia's 3rd birthday and she missed that too!!!! But we will celebrate tomorrow cause tomorrow is Styggie's GOTCHA day, which is almost even better.

Repose

Abby: Around here, one of the best ways to spend your time is "doing nothing, then resting afterwards." Although, personally, I think staring at (aka. Snoopervising) the humans is a very important task, one not to be looked down upon. If you humans don't understand what I mean, I am sure you remember a time in your youth when you were thinking hard about something--some plan, some project--and one of your parents tried to make you do a chore or homework or something because they thought you were just "doing nothing."

So, now you understand much more about the very active life of cats, even those of us in this position:

Ah, yes, it's a wonderful way to spend the day!

What can I get away with?

Abby: Mr. R isn't looking and I don't think Ms. C is either, so I am going to approach his desk (which I have been prohibited from being on!). Hmm....

Look at these things, they are what humans call "tewls" and they seem to prize them. They are nice and shiny and I can reach them without getting on the desk!! (paw, paw, paw)


Ha HA!! I got them. I wonder what havoc I can create with them? How am I supposed to get my paws around them? My claws are kind of getting in the way! Hmm...


Is there a user manual up there somewhere, maybe hiding in this spot right under the desk?


Uh oh... someone's coming. Oh, no! I think Ms. C has caught me. I better make my getaway while I can! Hee hee!

In the paper

Abby: You can't get me!!

Happy and safe 4th of July to all of you celebrating.

Be sure to stop over at House Panthers and see how Stygia celebrated the day....

Friends on Thursday: Haunted Dogs & Plague JOY!

Abby: Today we are going to share with you some images of some friends of ours! We loved our Plague Ratsie so much that we had to make sure they got one too.

Ms. C's friend Ms. A is lucky to be owned by 3 kitties (Autumn, Loki, and Brutus) and 2 doggies (Argo and Llyr).

But first, we'd like to show you one of Brutus's favorite activities, which is haunting Argo. Brutus is about a year old now, and he is extremely frisky. Argo is a Min-Pin approaching his second birthday. It's a good thing he has spirit and a sense of self-depreciation, because he is obviously not quite a match for a cat:

No matter where Argo goes, Brutus follows, paw lifted and ready for any opportunity to pounce! Look at the tail-fluffage beginning!


Inevitably, Brutus GETS Argo! But don't worry, though Argo looks ferocious, no cats or dogs were harmed in the making of these photos. They are playing.


And now: it's time for PLAGUE RATSY fun!! Here is a Brutus-eye view of Loki playing with the ratsy. Loki was the biggest fan of the rat.


Here is a move we just learned from Autumn, the 9-year-old Queen of the household-- it's very deceptive. In order to pull a swift one on your toy, keep all your toe-pads in contact with it while stretching and yawning. It will think you are going to sleep, when what you are really doing is getting ready for a four-leg strike 'n bite!


Look at Brutus getting friendly! He helps Loki to keep his scalp clean because Loki is too busy with that ratsy to wash right now. So nice.

Only something really good can make any cat make an expression like this:


Autumn is always ready to strike even when closely inspecting that ratsy!

Because we are cats we did not mention it right away, but the dogs also got toys: this very doggy tennis-bone. It's only right that the cats get a chance to play with all of the toys first, right? Here is Brutus initiating the toy for the dogs:


And here is Llyr, finally allowed to play with the tennis-bone after the cats have passed it through proper inspection.

What have we done?

Stygia: What?


Abby: Yes, what?


What have we done to deserve this?

New Adventure Park

Abby: Wow! Look at this, a new Cat Adventure Park! Ms. C says it's called a "desk" and that it belongs to Mr. R, not to me, but that so-called fact is disputable in my unhumble opinion.

Lots of things to see here. But part of this Adventure Park is quite frustrating, it's a little cubby covered in glass. Now how am I supposed to get up in there?

This drawer is really fun to play inside of, too. There's a cabinet on the other side with a shelf, sometimes Mr. R leaves it open just for me, so I can play inside it. I bring my mouse with me.


I looooove this desk and bathing myself in the lamp on it. Love it!

The Joy of the Plague!

Ms C: Abby and Stygia received their very own package in the mail today..... and inside it was:

Actually, Abby did not notice it at first. Stygia was immediately intrigued by it, especially its scent. She got at least a whole 20 minutes of solo play with the Plague Ratsie before Abby realized it was present.

In fact, at first Abby did not realize that there was a new toy -- but she could smell it! It smelled very, very strange to her, and she was looking at Stygia with great suspicion: was Stygia the cause of the scent? Her ears went back as she approached Styggie, and her tail fluffed up. I had to bring the toy to her and dangle it and let her sniff it, before she stopped blaming Styggie and began to realize that this was something to be enjoyed and attacked!

Who gets to play with it first??? Actually, there are two Plague Ratsies, but I only took one out of the package for them today.

Abby rolls with it!

Styggie bunnykicks it! Notice her tail fluffage!

Abby makes The Face about it!

What fun!!!

Prowl and Play

Stygia: Abby has been hogging the blog so far this week, and with good reason. It was her Gotcha Day, but I have been doing some exciting things, too!

Today, it involves a green furrymouse. The green mice are my very favorite! Ms. C got a new green mousie especially for me, and as you can see, I adopted my predator pose immediately:


I pick it up and take it to where I want to play with it. I stand on them and let them surprise me when I discover them with my back feet and I bunnykick them! Best of all, I just like to roll all over them:


Where did it go? Ooooohhhh, I will GET you, green mousie!!


Just to be fair, I am going to let you see what happened to Abby today. Yes, Mr. R loves her very much:

Hee hee!

Feed Me

Ms. C: Is it Cat Time?

Abby: (very softly) Meow?

Ms. C: Cat Time?

Abby: (loudly, stretching) Meeeeeeooooow!


(thundering herd heads out to the kitchen where Ms. C prepares the bowl of tuna, meowing and circling ensue, followed by the great Prairie Cat pose)


Abby: num num num num num..... I love you!


Hope you are having a great weekend!