Hibernating with a snow storm on the way!

Can you find the Timber Lake Tiger in this photo?

How about now?

We are celebrating our first holiday season at The Cottage and my second overall. We had freezing rain this morning and there is snow everywhere.

Mommy Bonnie is trying to find a way to Iowa to visit her son and granddaughters that will keep her on good roads. It is 11 a.m. and she hasn't left yet. Mommy hopes the weather is better tomorrow when she tries to get to Logansport to visit Grandma for the day.

There just isn't much going on here. We sleep a lot. Mommy has lots of books and a movie to watch over the weekend. She worked yesterday and will get a couple extra days next week too. So far both of my mommies have been able to get to work. They say the hardest part is getting to a main road. Mommy Bonnie has to get to 9 and Mommy has to get to 24. There are lots of curves and hills between here and there.

I recovered from my fall just fine. My leg never did swell and I only limped a couple of days. I haven't been on the railing since though Tacumwah has.

No other news here. I hope all of my readers have a safe and joyous holiday season!

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

The bigger they come....

...the harder they fall.

First casualty of the railing...your blogger.

Tacumwah and Little Bear are best buds.

Tacumwah is using LB as a pillow while they share a wool blanket.

Toasted cat...Tacumwah on the toaster.

Lucy helping Mommy paint on the last sleepover.

Yes, it is sadly true that this morning I became the first casualty of the loft railing. I was walking the railing and Tacumwah was pawing at me from Mommy Bonnie's hopeless chest wanting to play. Mommy was on her way up the stairway to try to prevent a mishap when I lost my balance and tumbled into the dining area below. I managed to hit every countertop and hand railing between the loft railing and floor where I landed. Mommies couldn't do anything but gasp as I flew through the air. I landed on my feet (sort of), and walked away. But now my right front leg is giving me fits and I keep licking it and looking up at Mommy and telling her it hurts. I am putting weight on it so she doesn't think it is broken. Mommy Bonnie hopes it will keep me off the railing for the rest of my life!

Mommy has had two sleepovers since I was last able to post to my blog. Let's see if she can remember the food and movies.

The November sleepover featured some beef tenderloin fillet that Mommy thought was a whole piece but ended up being trimmings. Grandma had baked potato and a salad with it if Mommy remembers correctly. The menu for the December sleepover (just this past Wednesday) was sauerbraten, red cabbage and noodles that Grandma does in a crockpot, and Mommy said it was yummy.

Mommy tried to paint this one wall in Grandma's bedroom that has issues (long story), but there wasn't enough paint to do a good job. Grandma is going to buy more paint and Mommy will try again in a month or two.

Movies: November - Burn After Reading with John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and George Clooney. Mommy and Grandma both give this movie a thumbs up and 4 stars. Destined to be a cult film in the future, this was a witty, wonderfully-acted movie with a most uncharacteristic performance by Brad Pitt. Well-written and directed by the Coen brothers, this movie is hard to categorize; i.e., is it a drama or comedy? It involves blackmail, infidelities, double-standards. Absolutely hilarious with unexpected twists and turns. You could watch this movie over and over and see things you didn't see in previous viewings. Rent this movie.

December - The Visitor with Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass, Haaz Sleiman, and Danai Jekesai Gurira. Jenkins plays a widowed professor who is teaching only one class so that he can concentrate on finishing his 4th book. When told that he must go to New York to present a paper at a conference, he arrives in NY at an apartment he owns to find a young couple occupying it. This young couple are both illegals. Jenkins' character befriends them, lets them stay on, and the relationships that develop enrich the lives of all three of them, particularly Jenkins, who feels depressed and whose life has become mundane. Jenkins takes a leave of absence from his job while he tries to assist Sleiman's character, Tarek, after he has been arrested and detained as an illegal. Not a great movie, Mommy still gives this movie 3 stars.

The Namesake with Kal Penn, Tabu, and Irrfan Kahn. Mommy watched this movie last night and enjoyed it (3 stars). Arranged marriages, trying to keep ones culture alive in a foreign country (Indian-born couple lives and works in New York), and attempting to instill those cultural values in children born in America who appreciate all that America stands for and have little understanding of what life would have been like for them if they had grown up in India (until they take a 3-month trip there with their parents) are what this movie is about. And surfacing throughout the movie is the fact that the father names his son after a Russian writer, Nikolai Gogol. This name causes the son some problems in school and in his life in general though Mommy isn't certain exactly why. Here is a brief excerpt from one of Gogol's books which Mommy thinks is excellent:

"The moon is made by some lame cooper, and you can see the idiot has no idea about moons at all. He put in a creosoted rope and some wood oil; and this has led to such a terrible stink all over the earth that you have to hold your nose. Another reason the moon is such a tender globe it that people just cannot live on it any more, and all that's left alive there are noses. This is also why we cannot see our own noses - they're all on the moon." (from Diary of a Madman, 1835)

Mommy has no book reviews. She is currently reading Dan Brown's latest book, The Lost Symbol, but has not read a book cover-to-cover for a while.

Mommy Bonnie is working on a paper for her class and Mommy isn't doing much of anything. She has two days off the middle of this month and additional holidays that will give her two 5-day breaks. She doesn't have much to do to keep herself busy, but she says she will come up with some projects.

Mommy Bonnie will be going to Iowa over Christmas to see her son, Scott, and her two granddaughters, Maya an Nala. Mommy will go spend part of Christmas day with Grandma. Grandma may also have all of her children and their spouses over on the 13th for a get-together, and Mommies are going to Wolcottville on the 20th to spend some time with one of Mommy Bonnie's cousins, Janice.

No other news here. The most exciting news was me taking a tumble from the loft railing. Little Bear also had an issue with the front porch steps and he refuses to go up or down them any more. He may be injured because he yelps every once in a while and won't chew hard treats...only wants soft ones. And Millie is stiffer now in the colder weather. So we are the walking wounded here.

Mommy says she will try to update the blog soon so that my readers can get the latest news about my fall.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Spending the day under the quilt!

Your blogger

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Marquette (L) and Tacumwah

Mommy's new cellphone seems to take pretty good photos. Her old one couldn't have gotten as good a photo of me looking through the loft railing.

Once again Mommy has gone a very long time between posts. She has been busy doing not much of anything. And once again she is on vacation trying to use up some hours before she loses them at the end of the year. She hasn't even read any books and has only seen one movie, Mama Mia.

Movie review: Mama Mia with Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan. Mommy really wanted to dislike this movie and wouldn't even have watched it except that Grandma owned a copy and forced her to bring it home. So, one day last weekend, she and Mommy Bonnie watched this movie. Well, people either like this movie or hate it. Mommy expected to hate it. When it was all said and done, Mommy had to admit that she liked the movie because (1) it made her smile and (2) she enjoyed the music. The acting was not that good, there were numbers that could have been cut, the dancing could have been much better, but more important than all of that was that the movie made Mommy smile. A patron at the library took the movie home the same weekend Mommy watched it.They decided to compare notes on Monday. The lady came in and said, "Well?" Mommy said, "You know, I liked it. The lady indicated that she did not like the movie. Mommy asked her, "Did it make you smile?" The lady replied with a reluctant, "Yes." Mommy said, "I rest my case."

My mommies were very busy the last two days cleaning the cottage like I have never seen them do before. Today I found out why. About 11 a.m. Grandma and Aunt Jane showed up. I raced for the quilt on the upstairs futon and hid. I was there for hours. Tacumwah was all over everyone sucking up. Marquette was missing. After tearing the house apart, Mommy discovered that when she put Little Bear in his kennel to keep him from being a pest, Marquette must have been in there, because she found him in the back of the kennel curled into a ball.

Mommy gave Grandma and Aunt Jane a tour of the cottage and it included the loft. She pulled the quilt down a little so they could see me. But I refused to come downstairs the whole time they were here. I waited until I didn't hear their voices any longer and Mommy called up to me that they were gone. Then I came flying down the stairs.

Mommy Bonnie got a job at DePuy in Warsaw. She starts this coming Wednesday. We will miss having her home with us...especially the dogs. It is a contract job for 6 months.

The barn is done, the deck is built and all but one storm door is on. At least Builder Mike won't be around much and I won't have to hide under the quilt. There are rumblings of other smaller projects but maybe they won't happen for a while.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Book and movie reviews

Trying to cat nap on the counter.

Tacumwah in her box on the heating pad.

Mommy has returned from Sleepover #10. No movie for the second month in a row as she and Grandma were busy.

Mommy determined that lightning had taken out Grandma's phone and the modem in her computer, so off the twosome went to purchase a laptop for Grandma. They had already decided not to put any money into fixing Grandma's antiquated computer. They bought a 17" Toshiba only to get it home and find out it did not have a phone jack. (Grandma is still on dialup.) The man at the store said it had a phone jack but the fine print said "available on some models." So back they went to exchange the laptop and they had to get a 15" which was more expensive because it had more bells and whistles than the 17". Grandma did get a 10% discount on it for their trouble. Mommy also had Grandma buy a wireless mouse with a bluetooth USB device and a surge protector.

Setting up the laptop was a breeze as the bluetooth device was instantly recognized and set up by Vista, and as soon as the mouse was turned on it worked. Mommy set up Grandma's email and added all of her contacts and tried to make everything easy for Grandma to read. The computer boots up very quickly and shuts down quickly too. It will take some getting used to, but Grandma should be able to handle it. Mommy also changed Grandma's cellphone battery. She didn't get the painting done she wanted to do, but there is always next month.

Dinner was the last of the scallops. It took 8 months to eat all the scallops in the package. They also had fillet mignon, baked potato, a yummy salad, wine, coffee and homemade cookies. After dinner they did watch The Good Wife which Grandma had taped.

This morning Grandma had to leave early to meet Charlie to go to Indy for a concert, but Mommy and Grandma still had breakfast together and Mommy got back to us fairly early.

Book review: Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow. Mommy enjoyed this short novel. She said it was beautifully written. Though Doctorow took great license with his story, having the Collyer brothers live into the '70s when they died in 1947, she believes that the basic facts were probably accurate and taken from documents and news accounts written at the time the mansion in which the brothers lived was broken into by the police who were notified of a foul odor coming from the house. Homer and Langley were two brothers who inherited a mansion on 5th Avenue in NY from their parents. Reclusive hoarders, there was hardly a square foot in the house that was not piled high with stacks of newspapers and other things collected throughout his life by Langley. There were 4 or 5 grand pianos in the house, a Model T Ford, and anything else Langley thought they might have a use for. The house was booby-trapped by Langley and the doors and windows barricaded on the inside. Langley was crushed to death by one of his own booby traps while trying to reach Homer to help him. Homer starved to death. The police had to break into the house, and Wikipedia has photos of the things that were thrown into the street so that they could try to reach the brothers. It was days before Langley's body was found. A very good novel; however, Mommy wonders if an equally good non-fiction accounting of the brothers' lives could not have been written, sticking more to the facts. It seems to be the trend today to speculate and write fictional accounts of famous people; i.e., Frank Lloyd Wright, who had interesting enough lives that it seems silly to write things that aren't true.

Movie review: Flash of Genius, starring Greg Kinnear. Mommy always enjoys watching Logansport native, Greg Kinnear, in movies and she was not disappointed in this based-on-a-true-story movie about the man who invented interval wipers. Kinnear was very good as Dr. Bob Kearns who sued the Ford Motor Company for stealing his pattens...and won! Three stars.

Movie review: Sunshine Cleaning with Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin. The writing, directing and acting in this movie was excellent. A story about a family and, in particular, two sisters, who start a crime scene clean-up business. Their mishaps, their relationship with each other and with others, is the crux of this movie. Each sister is dealing with her own story-within-a-story, Adams, a single mother dealing with her high school sweetheart who married another woman but with whom she is having an affair, and Blunt tracking down the daughter of one of the crime scene victims whose ID and photos she took from the scene to use to find the daughter who she felt should know about her mother's death. This movie might not rate 4 stars, but it gets at least 3 1/2 from this reviewer.

I guess this blog was all about Mommy, huh?

Tacumwah is all better from her cold though she is still using the heating pad in the box. Marquette is not coughing any more, and I never got sick.

Each day when Builder Mike comes I hide under the quilts upstairs. Today Mommy came home from the sleepover and found me there and told me it was ok to come out. I came out within a few minutes and stayed out the rest of the day because I knew Mommy wouldn't let anybody hurt me.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Frost advisory

Your blogger

Wow! It hasn't been a week and Mommy is letting me blog! Not that much has happened around here.

We are all keeping an eye on Tacumwah who has had a cold. Mommies got out the heating pad and wrapped a towel around it and put it in a box Miss Becky gave Mommy. Tacumwah has been sleeping in it almost non-stop. She is eating, drinking, etc., and seems a little better today. Her eyes and nose aren't running as much. Mommy is worried that Marquette and I will get Tacumwah's cold since we have been taking care of her.

Mommy gets her car fixed next week so that will be behind her. And her other big news is that she filed for early Social Security which she will begin receiving next January. I asked her what that meant and she said it meant that my catfood would not have to be rationed. I asked her what that meant and she just said, "Oh, Possum, you ask too many questions."

Builder Mike and his crew were here today and I spent a lot of time under the quilt. Mommy came up to watch a kids' video on clouds and told me it was ok to get out from under the quilt.

No book or movie reviews today though Mommy is almost done with Homer and Langley and will be watching a movie today or tomorrow.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Sweeping it all under the rug....

I worked my way under the kitchen runner.

Here we are and another week has come and gone.

Mommy finally got everything taken care of with the Honda Pilot and a check is in the mail from the insurance company of the lady who ran into it. Soon it will go into the shop for repairs.

Karen met Mommy at Ziffles last Monday and, as usual, they found plenty to talk about. Mommy thinks Karen is just about the neatest person she has ever met.

No books or movies to review but Mommy is very much still enjoying Homer and Langley. She wishes she had time to just finish it, but there is much to do and little time to read.

Mommy does want to mention a new TV series she watched last week, The Good Wife, starring Julianna Margulies. She says the writing is excellent as well as the acting, and it is her new favorite show. Tuesday nights at 10 on CBS. Mommy can't stay awake long enough to watch it so has to watch it on the computer the next day.

Mommies took off yesterday to go to an apple orchard southwest of Huntington, to tour the Forks of the Wabash museum and the Richardville house, to pick up a cache for Mommy at Evergreen Park, and to go to the Pioneer Festival at Hires Park.

Tacumwah is sick. She has a runny nose and eyes. Mommies are keeping a close eye on her. She has never been sick before.

Builder Mike will be back this week to begin work on the barn. They will pour the concrete slab. I don't know what I will do. I must learn to overcome my fear of strangers so I don't have to spend entire days under the quilt on the futon in the loft.

Grandma's computer is up and running again. Changing the monitor did the trick and Mommy has an idea of how to restore the settings and maybe get the flat screen monitor to work again.

There were sirens last night and some emergency vehicles went racing down the road headed south. Mommy saw Mr. Taylor in one of them. Mommy has seen him almost every weekend!

Mommy needed a new cellphone, so last weekend Mommies went to The Fort and ran lots of errands and picked up a few caches. Mommy wanted a phone like the one she had, but AT&T didn't carry it any more. She picked out one that was similar and the young man who waited on her said, "That is a very popular phone with seniors." So Mommy calls to Mommy Bonnie and says, "Come over here, Bonnie, and look at the senior phone I like."

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Smokey or Possum? YOU decide!

Lucy at last Wednesday's sleepover.

Mommy had her sleepover with Grandma and she said it didn't go well. Oh, the company was just fine, but Mommy said the steak she bought was not very good, the melon she brought from the garden wasn't very good, and none of the people she wanted to win on America's Got Talent won.

Mommy talked Grandma into watching the final vote for America's Got Talent instead of watching a movie. Besides, Susan Boyle was making her American singing debut which Mommy PREDICTED many months ago would take place on the finale of America's Got Talent. Mommy likes Susan's voice but did not care for the song that much. THEN, a guy who CAN"T SING worth beans won the contest over people much more talented than him. Mommy got worked up watching the show and Grandma had to shut the windows on her porch because she was afraid her neighbors would call the police because she (Grandma) lives a very quiet life and Mommy was talking and swearing pretty loudly.

The turtle sundae was good...the first of the season for Mommy and Grandma. Good thing they got to Sycamore because they will be closing in the next couple of weeks.

Then Mommy couldn't fix Grandma's computer. She is getting a monitor resolution error and Mommy couldn't even boot in Safe Mode (whatever that means) and Grandma is still without her computer. One of Mommy's brothers is going to take a monitor over and hook it up and see if Grandma's monitor is just bad. Mommy and Grandma may be shopping for a new monitor or a new computer on the next sleepover.

And then there was the touch-up paint job where Mommy touched up Grandma's walls with the wrong color paint and then wondered why it didn't look right. It really is kinda funny. Finally, with the right paint, Mommy touched up the walls again, and the spots with two coats look fine, but Mommy may have to repaint one whole wall for Grandma on the next sleepover. There may not be a movie that night either!

So Mommy Bonnie got her car back from the shop today (I did mention she got back-ended on her first day of class, right?) and it looks great. But a lady ran into the Honda on Tuesday as Mommy was turning into the grocery store near her work and now the Pilot will have to go through repairs! It is such a pain to get estimates and loaner cars, etc.

We are getting a pole building put up that will be a garage for the cars and house bicycles, lawn equipment, etc. Every time I hear Builder Mike and his crew I run up to the loft and hide under the quilt on the futon. I was under there a very long time on Thursday until Mommy came up and told me that everything was okay. The building will also have a shop for Mommy Bonnie to make wine in.

So Mommies were in Roanoke last Saturday for the Fall Festival and ran into Mr. Taylor again. This time he was with his wife and his son and daughter. I really liked his son a lot. His son told Mommy that they looked and looked for me when it was time for them to leave the campground and his parents told him that they knew Mommy would find me and would give Smokey a good home. Smokey...that is the name they gave me. So now I have even another name to add to the name my mother gave me and the name Mommy gave me. Even though it has been a year, Mr. Taylor and his family haven't forgotten me and I think that is really special.

No movies and no books to review. Mommy is reading E.L. Doctorow's Homer and Langley and says it is beautifully written.

A busy weekend for Mommy. Lots to do inside and out.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Possum Taylor? NOT!

See the water drop? I am waiting to catch it!

See the drop on my face that looks like a tear?

Lucy on the last sleepover.

Sometimes things that happen are just strange.

Mommies went to Roanoke today to the farmer's market. Mommy saw a couple of volunteer firemen and thought one looked familiar...that it was Mr. Taylor who didn't adopt me last Labor Day because he couldn't find me when it was time for his family to leave Timber Lake.

Anyway...it WAS Mr. Taylor and he remembered Mommy and, more importantly, he remembered ME!!! He said he and his family often talked about me and wondered what had happened to me. They had assumed that Mommy had adopted me and given me a good home. So Mommy told him that she had, indeed, taken me to Fort Wayne to live and that now I was back at Timber Lake living in the cottage. Mr. Taylor knew right where the cottage is. He told Mommy that he was very glad to learn that I had a good home and that his family would be very happy to find that out. Mommy told him my name and how much I weighed, and Mr. Taylor was impressed with what a big boy I turned out to be.

But here is the strange part of the whole encounter...that it was exactly one year ago that all of the adoption craziness took place...over Labor Day weekend. And on the exact same holiday weekend a year later, Mommy runs into Mr. Taylor and gives him an update on me. Don't you think that is weird?

Do you remember earlier this year when Mr. Taylor's photo was in the Huntington Tab and Marquette told me about it? Mommy wanted to email Mr. Taylor then and let him know about me. Mommy still has the note the Taylors wrote and left on the camper saying they couldn't find me when they left. I don't think we have seen nor heard the last of the Taylors. It is a small world.

And Possum Taylor? If I had gone home with the Taylors I wouldn't now have a last name no one can spell and most mispronounce!

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Celebrating a year of adoption and blogging!

Your blogger.

Marquette (L) and Tacumwah on the cat ledge.

Those danged blinds!

It is September. It was a year ago that I was adopted...the 7th of September to be exact. My very first post was Sept. 10. Wow! That is hard to believe! And here I am, a year later, back where it all started, at Timber Lake, having a very good life...just like Mommy promised me a year ago when we talked over Labor Day about the possibility of me going home with her. So one year of my 20-year contract is gone, and boy did it fly by!

My brother and I hit it off the second we were reunited, but it took Tacumwah a very long time to like me. We play together now and she doesn't ever hiss at me any more. I am not afraid of her and we both initiate games, but even though I am almost twice her size, I know who is boss.

Mommy is my favorite human and I still haven't warmed up a whole lot to Mommy Bonnie. She is very nice to me, but I can't get over that she wanted Mommy to find me a home and separate me from my brother forever. I still think that if I let my guard down, she may ship me off somewhere. So I don't love on her or anything. I just kind of tolerate her.

Mommy is on vacation and it is nice having her home for a couple weeks. She has been working in the vineyard. Today she went shopping with Mommy Bonnie for the staples...cat food, ice cream, and beer and wine!

Because Mommy has had a cold, she hasn't done much reading or movie watching. She just wants to get better so she can go to her next sleepover on the 16th. She has a book on reserve at the library...E.L. Doctorow's latest book, Homer and Langley. She is looking forward to receiving it.

I guess I am done for today. This will be the last big weekend at the campground so there may be lots of people about.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Yes, I am a BIG boy!

Why does she do this to me?

Big, but very handsome!

Another week has flown by since my last post. Things have been very busy here. Mommy Bonnie started classes on Monday and - wouldn't you know it? - a young girl ran into the back of the Jetta while Mommy Bonnie was slowing down for an accident in front of her. The damages are not too bad since the bumper did what it was supposed to do and absorbed the impact.

Mommy spent the last two days mowing along the road for the second time. She said it was easier this time and she was hoping she would not get poison ivy, but she did. Maybe it won't be so bad this time.

Book review: Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. This is the book that the movie was made from...the insane challenge one woman gave herself to make every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in 365 days (and blogging about it). Mommy didn't think she would like this book when she first began reading it, but it turned out to be pretty funny and entertaining. What Mommy appreciated most about this book was the honesty. Powell wrote of her failures as well as her successes, and pulled no punches in describing the filth that built up in her kitchen over the year (sinks that would not drain, flies, maggots). Mommy thinks this book is well worth the read and thinks it would make a great book club book.

Mommy will be on vacation starting Wednesday of next week. She will be home for 12 days and is looking forward to doing nothing!

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Life is good

Lucy and friend

Me

Mommy and Karen

Another day at The Farm. Mommy has been gone for her sleepover and got back before noon today. Mommy Bonnie took care of us and she did a good job. She doesn't put quite as much food in our food bowls as Mommy does, but we get by.

On Monday Mommy and her friend, Karen, met at Ziffles's for barbeque. Mommy so enjoys the time she spends with Karen! They laugh at everything!

On Wednesday, Mommy and Grandma got their August sleepover in. They had scallops, slaw and spicy fries, and a WONDERFUL cherry pie made from sour cherries from the trees belonging to our neighbor, Denny. Mommy's brother, Connie, stopped by to say hi. Mommy loves seeing both of her brothers and their wives. The older she gets, the more she enjoys the time they spend together.

Movie review: The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke. Of all the 2008 movies up for Oscars in 2009, Mommy put off watching The Wrestler, thinking that a movie about pro wrestling could not be that good. Wrong! This was a wonderful movie with Oscar-worthy performances by Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. Rourke plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson whose story is less about his success as a pro wrestler and more about his failures at his personal relationships with his estranged daughter and Tomei, a professional stripper. Mommy and Grandma did not expect to like this movie and LOVED it. Just goes to show you, I guess. When the movie is over, unless Tomei had a body double, the viewer is treated to just about every inch of her body...nude! We should ALL have such great bodies! Four stars, without a doubt!

Mommies went to the BMV yesterday to change their legal residence to The Farm, and to get plates for the Honda and Mommy Bonnie's VW Jetta. Mommy loves both of the vehicles, but she just adores driving the Pilot, which she plated and pays the insurance on.

Movie review: Grey Gardens with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. Mommy gives this TV movie 4 stars. She very highly recommends that our readers first watch the original Grey Gardens (1975) with the real Big and Little Edith Beale. Without watching the 1975 movie first, you will not be able to appreciate the performances by Barrymore and Lange, nor the makeup. The 2009 TV movie is incredible, but you won't know that unless you see the 1975 movie. Mommy does not want to spoil one minute of these movies by telling our readers anything about them. You have to experience this to believe that anyone could live this way. You won't believe what you see!

Mommy is about halfway through Julie and Julia...the book. She has come up with a great idea! Mommy thinks that when the movie comes out on DVD, that people should have Julie and Julia dinner parties. Someone hosts the party which includes a viewing of the movie. The host makes the main dish...perhaps Boeuf Bourguignon. All guests are to bring an accompanying dish from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This format could also be used for book clubs. Anyway, Mommy is going to do this on a verrrry small scale. Miss Marra invited herself out when Mommy gets a copy of the movie, and Mommy may ask a couple of other people. Sounds like a good time!

Mommy Bonnie starts class on Tuesday! Mommy is going to enroll at IPFW so she can take a class now and then, too.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

A hot day predicted for The Ridge!

Who? Me?

My brother lying next to Mommy on the front porch futon.

It has only been a week this time since I have been able to get Mommy to sit down with me and post to my blog. I suppose since there is not much going on with me these days, that once a week will have to do.

Mommy was up verrry early this morning...like about 3:40 a.m. She made coffee and went outside and sat on the porch. I thought this was very strange behavior until HE showed up. Mommy's son, KJ, stopped by on his way to Hiner to drop off some movies for Mommy and to have a cup of coffee. I didn't know what to do. I ran around anxiously, trying to figure out the best place to hide. You see, whenever people come over I run up the stairs and dive under the quilt on the bed. But Mommy Bonnie was on the bed sleeping and I am still not 100% cool with her. So I ran into the kitchen, then past KJ and on to the front porch, then finally I ran up the stairs. I peeked through the railing to study KJ before getting under the quilt. But there was Mommy Bonnie's body, so I didn't stay long.

These massages I am getting are just great! Try as I may to get more, I only get one a day.

Mommy Bonnie has been sick so Mommy did not got for her sleepover on Wed. She stayed home and took care of us animal companions and Mommy Bonnie. Then she was going to try to go to Grandma's Saturday but that didn't work out either. So now they have rescheduled for this coming Wednesday.

Mommy has been busy cleaning the cottage since it has been too hot to work outdoors. It does look better, I must admit.

Book review: Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich. Well, Mommy thought this might be the last Stephanie Plum novel she might read. But then she laughed so hard in a couple places that Stephanie has a reprieve for at least one more novel. Stephanie still can't apprehend skips, still blows up a car or two a book, and still can't make up her mind between Morrelli and Ranger, but the book was still a fun read. Stephanie Plum was just over 30 years old when the novels began. At one novel a year, she should be mid-40s by now and she still can't settle down with Morrelli?? Let's get real, here. Make up your mind already, girl!

Today Mommies are going to watch Grey Gardens with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. A review will follow. Mommies watched the original "movie" with the two Beales.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Heat index hits 100 at Blossom Ridge Farm!

Mommy Bonnie's Great Stuff pepper. It is huge!

Great Stuff is the name?

Me trying to nap behind the TV in the family room.

Another long time between posts. I guess The Farm blog is more important to Mommy now...and that new weather station she writes about. So the heat index today hit 100 degrees! Who cares?

There is absolutely nothing new with us cats. Same-old, same-old.

Mommy Bonnie is going back to college. She starts the 25th. She and Mommy bought a used Honda Pilot, trading in Mommy's Ford Focus. Of course all this info is on The Farm blog, which gets updated more often than MY blog!

So Mommies brought the used mower Mommy Bonnie purchased from a co-worker back from The Fort Thurs. night, and today, before the heat index got to 100, Mommy mowed some of the weeds around the cottage.

Movie review: Taken with Liam Neeson. We had to listen to this movie last night and it sounded pretty suspenseful. I heard Mommy say things like, "Wow!", and "Awesome!" When it was all over, I gather that she liked it, because I heard her tell Mommy Bonnie she would give it 3 stars. It was about this guy who used to be in the CIA. His wife divorced him and he lost touch with his daughter because he was too busy off hunting bad guys when she was growing up. His wife remarried and was making it difficult for him to have a relationship with his daughter. Then the daughter gets kidnapped, and Liam Neeson's character is off to Europe to save her. Mommy says if you like an entertaining action film, pick this one up. Lots of violence though. Mommy was surprised this was rated PG 13 and not R.

This is sleepover week. Grandma has been in Chautauqua but will be back Tuesday. Mommy and Grandma are almost to the bottom of the huge bag of scallops they opened many, many months ago, so they will have another round of them...along with a cherry pie Grandma made from the sour pie cherries our neighbor, Denny, gave Mommy some weeks back. The movie of the month will be The Wrestler.

Mommy finally moved up on the holds list for the latest Janet Evanovich book. She will review it when she is done. This may be the last Evanovich book Mommy reads. She says the stories are beginning to repeat themselves.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

You call it grooming...I call it a massage!

Tacumwah helping to hang the vertical blinds.

My brother and I love the scratching post.

Napping on the stairs. I will nap just about anywhere.

Here is the latest news at Blossom Ridge Farm...I get a daily massage! Yep, you heard right. One evening I was in the bathroom watching Mommy get ready for bed and she just got down on the floor with me and started to give me a body massage! It was wonderful! She kept reaching up and putting a little water on her hands; then she would use her fingertips to rub me all over. I rolled from one side to the other, trying to get her to include my entire body. Every once in a while she would collect all the loose hair that the massage generated and put it in the bathroom trash. Marquette told me that I was dumb...that Mommy was really grooming me because I shed worse than any other animal companion in the house. I told him he could call it whatever he liked...that I was calling it a MASSAGE, and that it felt GREAT! I think he is just jealous that I get all that attention. I show up every time Mommy is in the bathroom now, hoping for a massage, but I only get it once a day. Mommy thinks it has helped to cut down on the dust kitties.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

If rock is wet...

My feet...

...and the rest of me between the Dutch door
and the entertainment center.

OK, so this is my new favorite place to nap (see photos above).

BTW, have you noticed that I am the ONLY cat not wearing a collar? I won the right to run around naked while we were still living in Fort Wayne only I forgot to tell you about it. After working my collar off day after day for a few weeks, Mommy finally gave in and said I could just go around buck nekked if that was what I wanted. And so I have.

Mommy Bonnie has one more week of work and then she will be home with us. We will like that. She found out this week that she is no longer borderline diabetic and she will be seeing a doctor on Thursday to see how she is going to need to handle her diabetes. Today she and Mommy went to the store and bought lots of low sugar things for Mommy Bonnie to eat. She is going to exercise and try to lose some weight too. We will know more after Mommy Bonnie sees the doctor and has some more tests run. Mommy brought home some books on diabetes for Mommy Bonnie to read, and Mommy Bonnie picked up a magazine today for Diabetics.

Mommy and her brothers and their wives tried to surprise Grandma with a dinner in Wabash on Wednesday, but Grandma is just too smart and had it figured out. Mommy Bonnie wasn't feeling well and had to miss the dinner. But a good time was had by all who attended. Mommy paid for it. It was her Christmas present to her brothers and their wives and she is going to do it every year for Grandma's birthday.

Mommy ordered her Davis home weather station on Thursday and it will be here on Monday. She is putting it in the middle of the vineyard so she can keep track of the micro climate in our vineyard. Our neighbor, Denny, is going to help Mommy put it up because he likes that kind of boring stuff too. Mommy got a couple of books about weather to read and one was Weather for Dummies. Miss Marra told her that weather was easy: if rock is wet, it is raining; if rock is white, it is snowing. Isn't that silly?

And speaking of silly...Book review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. Mommy couldn't understand why Miss Marra hadn't suggested that she read this book since it, and the others in the series, are so popular. So Mommy picked it up and read it and thought it was really, really cute. Get ahold of a copy of this book and share it with your grandchildren who are old enough to appreciate it. It is about a young boy in middle school and his adventures with his best friend. He has an older and younger brother. Mommy just liked the way this kid's mind worked. Maybe it reminded her a little of herself. Anyway, his Halloween and Christmas adventures, running for a class office, the unit of wrestling in gym class, being on the school safety patrol...all make for a fun read. And then there is "the cheese." Read this best seller even if you don't have grandkids!

Mommy was saddened to receive word this morning that her Uncle Bob had passed away. She said he was a wonderful, wonderful man who was a role model for the many Boy Scouts who had the good fortune to be in his troop. He was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Just hangin' around....

Here it is at long last -

Mommy's favorite photo of your blogger!

It is just awful how long it has been since Mommy and I have updated this blog. I apologize to all of my readers for the delay. It seems that when Mommy does have a day off, she is very busy in the cottage, running errands, or working in the vineyard. But isn't the photo of me today worth waiting for?

Mommy did have her sleepover with Grandma and the filet mignon was very good she says. Of course, everything else was good too. When isn't it?

Movie review: Gran Torino - Mommy says that this was not Clint Eastwood at his best. She and Grandma were glad they saw this movie, but it was predictable and not the best acting or story line. Only luke warm thumbs up for this one and maybe 2 1/2 stars. You can skip this one unless you are a big Eastwood fan.

Book review: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - Brooks' first novel, and a wonderful read. This woman puts so much research into her books and it shows. This is a novel about a village in England in 1666 that quarantines itself from the rest of the world after the inhabitants discover that they have been infected with the plague. Social order, religion, superstition, medicine, all play a part in this story. And the ending! What a surprise it was! A "must" read, as are all of Brooks' novels.

Book review: Oh, Johnny by Jim Lehrer - This was Mommy's first Jim Lehrer novel. A quick read about an ordinary young man whose only ambition was to be a baseball player. Off he goes to war (WWII) where his experiences during a troop train stop in Whichita KS and The Battle of Okinawa affect him for the rest of his life. Thoughts of Betsy, his ideal woman, get him over the rough spots in his life while his memories of Okinawa haunt and torment him. If you want a cute, easy read, pick this book up. Mommy would probably have enjoyed this book more if she hadn't just read Year of Wonders. She also didn't like that the entire book covered three years in the life of Johnny, our hero, and was followed by an epilogue that covered the next 62 years. Mommy looked forward to each time she picked up this book over the weekend, so maybe she was disappointed that it wasn't longer and that the last 62 years of Johnny's life were summed up in just a few pages. Mommy said she would read another Lehrer book.

I haven't walked the railing recently and neither has Tacumwah. I guess we don't have anything to prove by continuing to do it. We really haven't done much of anything lately. Right now I am plastered next to Mommy's leg on the downstairs futon dictating to her.

Mommy is going to update the farm blog soon, so she can put the boring stuff in it.

Mommy Bonnie has two more weeks of work left...just 10 days. Then she will be home with us, reinventing herself.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

It's all about napping!

Napping in the bathroom.

I have no idea what that bottle of Merlot is doing there!

Napping in the kitchen sink.

(Yes, it is a LARGE sink!)

Napping by the front door.

It is hard to know where to begin since it has been a while since I have blogged. Mommy has been on vacation and has been busy working in the vineyard and using her trimmer-mower along the road. That is 300' of tall weeds and rough terrain. It is done, but not without cost. Mommy has her second worse case of poison ivy ever. She doesn't expect to have to go to the doctor, but she has been very uncomfortable, and one of her eye lids was all puffy this morning.

Mommy has tomorrow off and I think she will work mostly indoors. Maybe she will even read, nap or watch a movie! That would be a novelty for her. Tuesday it will be back to work and Wednesday is sleepover day. This month, in addition to a few scallops, Mommy is taking a couple of small fillet mignons to Grandma's house. She is going to make a wine reduction sauce with Cabernet Sauvignon and shallots, and she thinks she will ask Grandma to do baked potato with sour cream and chives and a tossed salad this month instead of fries and slaw. The Cab will also be the wine that will accompany the meal. For dessert Mommy is taking some peach-raspberry pie she picked up at Kroger a few weeks ago. She said it was very good and she froze two pieces for the sleepover. It will be served a la mode, of course. The movie will be Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino.

Mommy is currently reading Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders and she likes it very much. That woman can't write a bad book. This was Brooks' first novel.

Mommy was saddened to receive a phone call from KJ on her first day of vacation telling her that Sherry's father, Allen, had passed away. It was the same day that KJ left on his first solo haul for Hiner.

Mommy had known Allen for more than 20 years and liked him. He was 63, only two years older than Mommy. So Mommy went to the funeral service in North Manchester and cried the whole time. She got to visit briefly with Sherry; KJ; Derek; Allison; Sherry's sister, Billie; Sherry's mother, Mary; and the husband of Mommy's youth, Ken, who looked very well and very happy, which, of course, made Mommy very happy. Allen was one of 12 children, so the service was very well attended. Mommy said it is sad to think that she will never see Allen again at another event for the grandchildren.

Mommy Bonnie went to a wedding on the same day as Allen's service (the 4th of July), and Denny and Barbara went to a birthday party for their daughter, Shelly, who was born on the 4th of July. Their son, Keith, and his finance joined them. Mommies got to meet Keith and thought he was a younger version of Denny, who, by the way, has a brand new 2010 Toyota Tundra!

It was an overcast 4th and there was a light rain for hours, causing the postponement until Sunday of fireworks for most cities. The fireworks over Timber Lake began after 10. Marquette was already living with Mommies in Fort Wayne last 4th of July, but I hadn't been adopted yet, and I remember the fireworks. I was on my own by then, and the noise scared me.

KJ stopped by today and Mommy followed him to Hiner to look at his tractor. He is very excited to be driving on his own. Last week he went to Wyalusing PA, and today he left for Maryland. Mommy says his tractor was very nice. He has a small fridge, a microwave, the TV Mommy Bonnie gave him, a CB radio, a Tom Tom GPS, and soon Mommies will give him one of their laptops. What more could he possibly need? His tractor is maroon and has over 300,000 miles on it! They don't give rookies new tractors.

Mommies worked a couple of days getting the villa in The Fort ready to show. They moved all the furniture off of the carpet and into the garage or the 4-seasons room. Then carpet cleaners came. After that, Mommies did some cleaning. Today they had to put some large pieces of furniture at the curb, so back into Fort Wayne they went. Not much of a vacation for Mommy, but then she isn't one to just sit around. We hope she will take a nap with us tomorrow, but she will probably find something to do.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

A break in the weather

Me trying to nap on the wine cooler.

Marquette up close and personal on the buffet.

The blur on the railing is ME!

See the whirring fan!?

Tacumwah looking through the railing into the dining area below.

Will she jump?

There has been a break in the stifling weather and Mommies hope to get outside and do some work today. Mommy Bonnie will work in her veggie garden while Mommy runs the trimmer-mower along the road.

Mommy Bonnie has announced her retirement from Cooper Industries, effective July 31. You may read about it on The Farm blog.

Book review: People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks.

Mommy enjoyed this book very much. Though she would not equate this book to Brooks' Pulitzer winner, March, she said it was very good. It is about a woman who is asked to restore a very old haggadah, a Jewish book used during the Seder. She finds in it an insect wing, a white hair and a red stain, clues all, that reveal the history of the book - where it has been and who has had it over the past 500 years. The reader is privy to the history, but the main character of the story is not.

This is a delightful and entertaining book. A "must" read.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~

Ledge cats!

Me on a front porch window ledge.

Marquette through the screen in the window

that divides the front porch from the dining area.

Marquette from the dining room side of the same window.

See me in the background?

Marquette in the same window.

He looks a little mean, doesn't he?

Another shot of me. I am in the dining room window now.

Mommy says she has enough photos now for several posts. Today's photos are of us on the great window ledges we have here in The Cottage!

It is 93 degrees outside and we are really glad the AC is on and the fans are going. Mommy got her outside work done early today, went to town for cat food, and then decided to catch up on the blogs. I think she may take a nap in a bit and read. She says she has earned it. She will soon have a review of Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book. She is anxious to get back to it.

Mommy would have a review of Angels and Demons except that she fell asleep during it. She says that is no reflection on the movie...that she had worked outside all day in the hot sun and was beat.

There is not much going on here for cats, but Mommies have been busy working in the garden and vineyard and going to their jobs.

~There is no such thing as a FREE kitten!~