alarmcat

earth day 2010

Happy earth day! My work project is coming along well. Whew! I may just get to have some fun this weekend!!

things that make me happy #2 – abby cat

Abby is my sweet baby girl. She turned 15 years old this fall. Originally my daughter wanted a kitten for herself. I wanted nothing to do with another cat. At that time, I had just recently lost a cat, so I didn’t want my heart broken again. I was determined NOT to get attached to another cat!

We found Abby at a pet store near where we lived. She was the runt of the litter and was so adorable. Her eyes were as big as her little head!!

Tym & Friend with Abby - Halloween 1994

She loves playing with string. These days the string has to come to her…she doesn’t chase it much anymore!

Over the last 15 years, my daughter moved out. Abby stayed. I married and moved away. Abby moved, too. Now Abby lives in Arkansas, spending her days sleeping on the couch, the chair, in the basket, back on the couch. In her old age, she’s developed some medical issues (I won’t go into them) but it requires that she have an enema every third day. My husband and I used to take turns but now Bob picks this chore over doing dishes! Crazy, right??

I know someday Abby will leave us and break my heart. But for now she makes me happy.

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Whew….the end of a very busy week. Well, almost. Tomorrow we are having a fall carnival for the kids at the shelter. I’ll be there for a few hours tomorrow doing face painting. The number one request last year was…..Spiderman!! Maybe this year I’ll get to do something besides spiders. I can only hope.

Here’s a pic I took of our new birdbath. It’s a very popular hang out. Most times there are at least 10 birds splashing around!!

And this one is a sketch of a sign I saw. Heading west from my house, there is a stretch of road with No Parking signs about every 20 feet or so. This one had what looked like Morning Glory growing on it but I’m sure it’s just some weed. I think all signs should have flowers or vines on them. As long as it doesn’t cover up the message on the sign, I guess. It’s just prettier that way.

the office

Someone asked me for pictures of my office. This room alone was the reason we bought our house nearly 5 years ago. Many of the houses we looked at were 3 bedroom/2 bath. My focus was always on that “third” bedroom. The room that would be my new office. How big was it? Was it too small? Enough light? What kind of view did I have? The minute I saw this office, I knew I wanted to buy this house!! It has 3 bedrooms plus the two offices. It’s perfect for us.

This is the built-in desk and shelves where my computers sit. As you can see, I have a thing for post-it notes!! Anything I need at-a-glance is usually on a note above my head.

I love books!! These shelves house most of my books. I’ve got them arranged by type. All my work books (software and design) are close at hand.

I have a large window with a view of the front garden and street. It’s very sunny and my plants love it. The garden has a bird feeder and bird bath in it. So my office mates love the view, too.

Here is co-worker #1…Lucky. He’s sporting his winter hair. The first nice day of warm weather…he’s getting a haircut!! Lucky is the one who tells me when it’s 5:00 and time to quit working. The food bowl is empty…not that he wants my company.

Here is co-worker #2…Abby. She usually comes to tell me when it’s lunch time. Who needs a clock when you have these two around!

 

weekend alarmcat

This is a story about one of the cats that live with us. His name is Lucky but we call him lots of things--Yucky being my favorite. He answers to about anything though. He’s pretty friendly but is a real slob.

We’ve adapted to these following sleeping arrangements: Abby sleeps at the foot of our bed, Yucky gets the rest of the house. He is a night owl and if we let him in the room, no one would get any sleep.

He keeps us on a pretty tight feeding schedule. He wants dinner at 5:30 PM, breakfast is at 5:30 AM. My husband is usually up by 5:30 on the days that he works, so the food bowl is usually filled at that time. However, on Sundays, neither of us have to get up for work. This doesn’t seem to matter to Lucky. When it’s 5:30, it’s 5:30. Sometimes I can tune him out for a while but his meow is not typical.

Abby’s meow is almost silent. Mew. Mew. She’s very timid. Lucky is a Talker. MEOW! MEOW! MMMRROW. Row row. MEEEOOOW! And he doesn’t let up until someone gets up.

I complain about him a lot, but he’s here for good. He likes to dip his dry cat food in the water bowl to soggy it up. This makes for food all over the floor. And water every where. Sometimes he has trouble retrieving the dry food, so he nearly empties the water bowl trying to fish it out. We have to keep his hair short so he doesn’t shed all over the place. He bites sometimes. Hard. And after three years, Abby STILL hates him.

He’s quite a character and a good lap cat. I just wish he would learn to sleep late on the weekends.  

fat cat

I’d like to introduce you to Fat Cat. He is keeper of the chocolate at our house. I found him at a flea market (where else??) and he is chock full of mini candy bars at all times.

I used to allow myself two a day but since I’ve been on weight watchers, I have to limit my visits to Fat Cat. Sometimes I get one a day…most days none. It’s comforting to know that there is chocolate available in case of an emergency though.

My grandson LOVES Fat Cat. We all love Fat Cat!! He’s our friend!!

office angel

Here is the angel of the office. He hangs above my desk from the ceiling fan. I love the smile on his face. Don't you?

Not much to write about this week. I was out of town last weekend and next weekend I plan to clean the house as it’s looking neglected. I can never manage more than surface cleaning during the week!! I have a long list of art projects to work on over Thanksgiving. I’m off work for 5 whole days and plan to work on some projects that are half done and waiting for me to finish. 

this week’s treasure

A friend and I went to a flea market over the weekend. We found a few things we had to bring home. Here is my latest CAT find…a little hinged box. I’m not sure what to put in it yet but I’ll find a use for it.

coincidence?

I think not.

alarmcat...explained

I thought I should probably give a brief explanation of what an alarmcat is…for those of you who don’t know. Here are a few things to help you determine if your cat is in fact an alarmcat:

• Does it wake you up 5 minutes before your alarm clock is about to ring?
• Does it like to howl loudly in the morning that the food bowl is empty?
• Does it complain that “food guy” aka “the husband” didn’t put enough food in the bowl?
• Does it climb over you, again and again, while you sleep as if you weren’t there?
• Does it knock things off the night stand or bat them around in an attempt to annoy you? Such items might include: cough drops, cough drop wrappers, hair scrunchies, hair clips, eye glasses, and water bottles.
• Does it like to be on your pillow so it can purr in your face?
• Does it like to tickle you with its whiskers?
• And lastly, does it like to sit on your chest with its entire 15 pounds of bulk constricting your breathing? Note: Not being able to breath will wake you up in a hurry.

Yes? Well you have an alarmcat!! We have two at our house. We used to have three but recently lost Max. He was more of a “night watchman” rather than an alarmcat though. 

Here’s a pic of the bed full o’ cats. They used to have the day shift while we got the night shift. Now the bed is off limits to cats.