A morning in Barcelona

Tacumwah in the blanket she shares with Little Bear and Mommy Bonnie.

My twin

Blogger - yes, I sleep a lot! So what?

Mommy, Marquette and Tacumwah spent the morning in Barcelona with Vicky and Cristina. Mommy didn't want to enjoy her trip to Barcelona because she doesn't like Woody Allen. When it was all over with, Mommy had to admit that the movie was very well written and the acting was very good. (She called it an Art Flick, whatever that means.) The movie also had quite a message about love and how most people settle for less than they want, playing it safe. Mommy said she identified more with Cristina, for whatever that is worth. She wishes that they would have told what the wines were that flowed so freely throughout the movie. At one point either Vicky or Cristina asked about a wine and the question was never answered. Mommy is ready to go to Barcelona (or Italy or France) to taste wines and eat food. Mommy recommends this movie to our readers over the age of 13.

Mommy is also enjoying Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. She also identifies with people who enjoy a challenge and take risks. She has never wanted to go through life playing it safe.

Mommy went to Hicksville to have lunch with Mommy Bonnie and see the hickory cabinets for the cottage. The photos make the wood look much darker than it is. Mommy just loved the cabinets. She said they are the most beautiful she has ever seen. She may not upload any photos on the farm blog because they do not do the countertops and cabinets justice.

Marquette got in serious trouble. Mommy is writing a short novel and she backs it up on an SD card. She went to back it up yesterday after working on a chapter and the computer wouldn't recognize the SD card. Mommy thought she must have accidentally locked it. She pulled it out of the computer and noticed it had half a dozen tiny little holes in it! She knows it was Marquette and that he had chewed on the card when she had the drawer in the table open once. The card is ruined. Mommy found a brand new one and was able to back up the book. She put it in a heavy plastic case this time and will be certain to always shut the door from now on. Luckily she doesn't think there was anything important on the card, but she will never know.

Grandma called an hour ago and told Mommy she is taking the family to see Wicked in June. Mommy said it was just the perfect ending to a great two days off...two great movies, two good books, seeing the cabinets...and now, Wicked! Mommy will be having her second sleepover with Grandma and Aunt Lucy next Wednesday. They have so many good movies they can't decide which to watch! And I think Mommy is going to make scallops. She will probably take a fruity white wine to serve with the meal.

Oh, and Mommy signed up today for her next wine class - Wine and Food Pairing. She will work on buying the five wines and will probably take the class in a couple of weeks.

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

Snow Day!

Watching a commercial.

Marquette watching the water faucet.

Tacumwah (R) is the main faucet watcher in our family.

We got lots of snow overnight and this morning. Mommy Bonnie had a hard time getting to work and Mommy had to shovel a path for Little Bear to go potty in the backyard. Soon she will begin to brush the snow off her car though she has no place to go until Friday.

Mommy is doing laundry today and she just watched a movie. She has checked out Gone Baby Gone several times now and finally got to see it today. She highly recommends this R-Rated movie to our readers. Warning: it contains bad language and violence.

Mommy is also reading two books - Lisa Scottoline's Killer Smile and Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. More on those at a later date. Tomorrow, perhaps, another movie.

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

Drooling cats

A rare event - all 3 of us napping on one chair.

Clockwise from bottom: Marquette, Tacumwah, Blogger.

Blogger

Mommies went shopping again today. They bought two toilets, a sink, some ceramic tile and grout. It never stops. They weren't gone long, so at least we didn't have dinner at 7 p.m. today!

Marquette DROOLS! And it isn't just a little drool. It is like someone turned on a faucet in his mouth! He drools all over Mommy...and ONLY Mommy! Sometimes she wakes up in the night with drool running down her cheek and neck, her t-shirt soaked. Now Mommy knew why Marquette was drooling but she decided to look it up online anyway and here is how one vet put it:

Cat owners are surely familiar with the behavioral signs of kitty contentment. Happy cats will purr, knead their paws, and offer up a few head butts for good measure. Occasionally, cats really on cloud nine will drool on their owners. As the owner of such a cat, I interpret the flow of saliva as the utmost compliment.

Marquette will do anything to be Mommy's favorite! They have this special bond, as you know, and he seals it with a saliva bath on a daily basis. And Mommy doesn't seem to mind which I don't understand at all. Just like the vet in the paragraph above, she seems to think its special. Special! Good grief!

Mommy has never had a drooling cat before. How about my readers? Have you ever had a cat that drools that wasn't sick? Let us hear from you! And don't say Dogs Rule, Cats Drool. Cats both Rule AND Drool!

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

The 8-hour diet

Mommy's oldest grandson, Derek, and his girlfriend.

Mommy's favorite photo of your blogger!

Yes, that is a satisfied smile on my face!

My twin.

Today's top photo is of Mommy's oldest grandson, Derek, and his girlfriend. Derek calls her Missy but we aren't sure how he spells it. Derek goes to Warsaw High School and he will be 17 in July. Mommy thinks he has grown up too fast!

And what do you think of today's photo of ME? Aren't I just too much? Watch how you answer that!

What, you may ask, is an 8-hour diet? That was the length of time it took Mommy to take away our self-feeder and then give it back to us. This is how it went down. Mommy read an article about fat cats and it said that self-feeders were not good for cats because, when we were wild, we did not have food available all the time. We get fat when we can help ourselves to food any time we like. So Mommy decided to put the self-feeder away and put out smaller bowls of Cat Chow in the morning, take them away at noon, and then we would have our canned food at night. She put a bowl of dry food where I can't reach it (for Tacumwah) and I was supposed to go through the night fueled only by my evening meal of canned cat food. My bowl of Cat Chow would be available when Mommy got up in the morning.

Well, Mommy couldn't sleep last night and got up to read Lisa Scottoline, and she noticed that all but a very little bit of Tacumwah's dry food was gone. While she was up reading, she heard crunching, and there was Marquette, eating the rest of Tacumwah's dry food while I, (a cunning young survivor of the wilds of Huntington County), pretended NOT to be hungry, and to be okay with food deprivation. Well, it worked, and Mommy immediately put our self-feeder back out. So we were without it for about 8 hours. This morning, much to my relief, I weighed in at about 13 pounds, proving that I hadn't gained any weight for several weeks now. So now Mommy is okay with leaving out the feeder since Marquette's and my growth spurts seem to have ceased. Mommy calls them GIRTH spurts. Isn't that mean? She even told Mommy Bonnie that the window ledge in the cottage had to be 7" wide or my girth would spill over the edge! I guess I am never going to hear the end of my husky size! Pot-Kettle!

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

Saturday morning

I know Marquette looks sweet and innocent, but....

Blogger

It is Saturday morning here on Blossom Ridge, and mommies are getting ready to go to The Farm and meet with Builder Mike. There is much to discuss. Then they are going to shop for sinks and floor tile and toilets, etc. So, a long day. It has already started off badly because of issues with the printers. The laser printer doesn't want to print and the ink jet printer is almost out of ink. And Mommy Bonnie needs to print some documents for Builder Mike. There have been a lot of Spanish words spoken here this morning like Sonofabeeitch and Sheeit. I have noticed that when mommies speak Spanish, they talk loudly too. It will be a miracle if they are still speaking to each other by the end of the day. But then, a nice meal and some good wine is a great fence-mender.

Mommy has a new favorite photo of me. She has it on her computer desktop as wallpaper and she has promised to upload it the next time I post to my blog.

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

Ask and you shall receive!

Marquette (L) and Tacumwah

Marquette

Tacumwah

Blogger

Well, we got our way! Mommy Bonnie is going to have Builder Mike put a 7" window ledge on the picture window at the cottage. We are soooo happy! Now we need to get Mommy to put a long cushion on it for us. I wonder what kinds of Alerts we will call? Bunny? Deer? Raccoon? Possum? We should see lots of animals around.

Mommy went to Wal*Mart today, got some gasoline, and picked up a sample of tile that Menards has on sale so she and Mommy Bonnie can decide if they like it. It is lighter than Mommy would like, but she could live with it if it would save money.

The mudding at the Farm is coming along and next week they will sand. Then they will be ready for the paint. Things are moving right along!

Today Mommy cleaned the sliding glass doors leading to the patio and the glass door on the gas fireplace. I can see smudges on the glass doors. Mommy isn't very good at cleaning glass. The new fireplace will not have glass on it.

Mommy wants to recommend a wine to anyone who loves rhubarb or rhubarb pie. She opened a bottle of French Lick Rhubarb Wine and loves it! She says it is like eating a good piece of rhubarb pie and she highly recommends the wine. As you know, Mommy is big into, and promotes Indiana wines whenever she can, and this wine is from the hometown of Larry Bird. Don't know who Larry Bird is? Then you are way too young to drink anyway!

Right now our villa smells so good! Mommy made her spaghetti sauce and put in some hot Italian sausage and lean ground beef. There is Oliver Soft Red in the sauce. I love spaghetti nights though I don't get anything but plain pasta.

Mommy finished the latest Stephanie Plum novel last night. It is a between-the-numbers book called Plum Spooky. Though it did make Mommy smile (and even laugh), Mommy can't give it a really rave review. Some of the same things keep happening to Stephanie Plum over and over again, and Mommy is tiring of it. On the other hand, she is getting ready to read her 11th Lisa Scottoline novel and isn't tired of her yet. Mommy also has some really good books on hold that she is excited about reading whenever they come in.

That's it for today!

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

Do cats suffer from SAD?

Sofie and friend.

Sofie and Lily.

Sofie and Chuckie.

Marquette (L) and Tacumwah.

Blogger

I guess there was a discussion at the library recently about whether animals suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) like humans. I don't think we do. It isn't like we cats here on Blossom Ridge have to go out in this weather. We just spend more time napping is all. Mommy hasn't seen any change in any of the 7 of us non-humans in the house.

Today we have some photos from Miss Stephanie. The top photo is Sofie, and she is actually lying on heat. I will be more delicate here than Mommy would be and just say that Sofie had an issue after her recent surgery that required her needing to lie on heat. Miss Stephanie's husband, Jason, was able to rig up that cat in the photo with Sofie to contain the heat so that Sofie could lie on it and get the heat she needed. Way to go, Jason! I wonder if my mommies would have been that ingenious??

The second photo is Sofie and Lily doing what we cats love - watching and playing in tap water. (Tacumwah is really big into that.) Lily is really black! You almost can't make her out in the photo!

The last photo is Sofie and Chuckie. Chuckie is HUSKY like me! (See earlier blog about Husky and Plus Size.)

Here is some really good news! Mommies were at the cottage last weekend and there is this really HUGE window on the main level with a southern exposure, and mommies have agreed to have the builder put an extra wide ledge on that window. All three of us will fit on that ledge without touching! Maybe I can even get Mommy to put a pad or something on the ledge. And the ledge isn't off the floor very high either. Mommy and I will be updating the Farm blog today and you can see how great a wide ledge would be for us. The ledge we have here in The Fort is 7" wide and we are putting in a request with Mommy Bonnie, our architectural designer, for nothing less than 6".

Mommies are trying to figure out what furniture will go on what level of the cottage and which animals will go where. There has been a lot to consider, like age of pets and health conditions, ease of entry and exit into the cottage. And, let's face it, the two major issues are convenience in letting the dogs out to potty and the safety of General. Right now it appears that the dogs will be contained in the basement which has the double glass doors and three other windows. There will be no stairs for the two older dogs, Millie and Little Bear, to climb, so there will be easy access to the outdoors where they can potty in the back yard and not leave their calling cards in the front yard.

Mommy Bonnie wants General on the front porch but Mommy wants her in the basement near a window with the dogs. She has been with the dogs for years now, but Mommy Bonnie feels that if General were on the front porch, she could interact more with her and Mommy. But then we cats would not be allowed on the front porch. That would leave the rest of the main floor (including that HUGE picture window) and the loft for us cats. These arrangements will most likely change again before we move in. Mommy says they will evolve as the pet population changes, whatever that means.

Mommy is going to read today and maybe watch a History Channel video she brought home from the library. She is going to sign up for a wine and food pairing class soon too, and she is looking forward to that. The class pairs 5 wines (a slightly sweet, low alcohol German Riesling; an unoaked New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc; an oaked Aussie or California Chardonnay; an unoaked Califronia, Oregon or New Zealand Pinot Noir; and a Califonia, Chilean or Argentine Cabernet Sauvignon) with the 5 (yes, FIVE) tastes of sweet, salty, sour, bitter and UMAMI. More on that at another time.

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

Blizzard Watch!

Just let us nap! Which twin is ME?

We are on a blizzard watch here at The Fort. We seem to always be on some sort of watch. It is snowing steadily outside. Mommy needed an oil change for her car and headed to Wal*Mart to have that done and pick up a few staples. There was a hiccup about her tire rotation so she ended up waiting longer for the work to be completed. When it was supposed to be done it still hadn't begun, so the manager was not happy and told Mommy she would give her $15 off of her service. When Mommy went to pay her bill the manager told her the entire service was FREE! So Mommy was happy.

Mommy is just sitting around waiting to take her red wine class. She thought it would be a good day to stay in and sample wine. Today's wines are Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Mommy is very happy to get to the reds. The Pinot is an '07 Beaulieu Vineyard (CA) at $8.99. The Shiraz is an '05 Penfold's Thomas Hyland South Australian (not Mommy's favorite, but she was not about to open her '99 bottle of GRANGE!). The Cab is an '06 Blackstone Winery (Napa, Sonoma, etc.) at $8.99. Mommy opened the Pinot last night and thought it was light, fruity, and with low tannins. Mommy likes bolder wines. A favorite is Villa Antinori Super Tuscan which she gets at Olive Garden. Mommy is also big into Shiraz/Syrah and adores Dry Creek Old Vine Zin though she can't afford it too often and settles for Cline Ancient Vines Zin. So now Mommy is just waiting for it to be afternoon so she can begin the tastings. She says there is something wrong about drinking before noon unless you are on a wine trail and are forced to taste in the morning. We will give you a rundown on these reds at a later date. Mommy was not thrilled with the white wine class and really only cared for the Riesling. Anybody want a practically full bottle of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc?

We had quite the Bunny Alert a few nights ago! Mommy saw me looking out the window and knew from my posture that I was on Bunny Alert. When she checked to see where the bunny was there were TWO bunnies! Wow!

The third of the OH kittens was neutered about the same time Sofie was. Maya went in for her surgery. Only one kitten to go! We were sorry to learn, yesterday, that Sofie was a little under the weather, and we hope to get a report soon that she is back to her bouncy ways!

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

Here is an update on the red wine class. Mommy favored the cab but admitted that higher quality wines could have made for a very tough decision as to which was best. So Mommy got a perfect score on her red wine quiz and then another on her final exam. She will probably take wine and food pairing next. She learned today that you pair wine and food by weight. For example, a salad or a light, flaky fish would take a lighter wine. A piece of prime rib would take a bolder wine like a cab or a shiraz. There are many things to take into consideration, like the ingredients in the meal. Herbal meal? Then chose a wine with some herbal flavors. Fruity meal? Fruity wine. She should learn a lot when she takes her next class. Unfortunately, Mommy learned from this class that she was not blessed with a nose that can detect the subtle aromas in the wines. She will never be able to be a wine judge. But she can still be knowledgeable.

There is a lot of snow on the ground and we are all just as cozy as we can be. The dogs have to go out in the snow but we cats don't.

I forgot to tell you (and I should mention it before Mommy does), but Tacumwah and I got in a huge fight over the weekend. I heard Mommy went to work and told everybody that Tacumwah beat the snot out of me. What an awful visual! Anyway, it was all over a basket. Mommy had a straw basket on the fireplace hearth. It had magazines in it. We like to chew on it and tear it up. So Mommy decided to use another basket and put all the magazines in it. It is a much sturdier basket. She put the old one in the middle of the living room floor and told us we could play with it until after dinner when she would put it out at the curb in the trash.

Well, Tacumwah and I were both playing with the basket when she attacked me! I screamed and screamed and tried to get away but she was relentless. Mommy Bonnie hollered at us to break up the fight but Tacumwah wouldn't let me go. Mommy came running out of the bedroom just in time to see me fly by her with Tacumwah at my back paws! I ran under the bed and stayed there for a very long time. Tacumwah sat nearby just waiting for me to come out. She finally got bored and left. Mommy and my brother both checked on me. It took hours for me to go back into the living room.

I know it is hard to believe that Tacumwah could win a fight since I out-weigh her by quite a few pounds, but she fights dirty and she is almost 6 years old and I am not even 1 yet! She is a bully! And Mommy says she just had to prove that she is alpha. Geesh! I don't care about pecking orders!

So that is my side of the story! And I don't have any snot! I am a snot-less cat!

Speaking of Mommy Bonnie...I am starting to like her. I don't run from her any more. I let her pet me. And she calls me handsome now and tells me how wonderful I am. We have come a long way from her telling Mommy to find me a good home and calling me pregnant and a bowling ball. Now she just calls me Big Boy...and that is okay with me!

Mommy's sleepover

Aunt Lucy

Watching the refrigerator door!

Marquette trying to nap on the stairs to the loft.

Napping with my brother. He is in the process of yawning. Doesn't he look mean!?

Mommy got back today from her sleepover in Logansport. I wouldn't let her near me. She had been gone for 24 hours. That is a long time in cat hours!

I guess the food, wine and movie were all excellent. Grandma made Sauerbraten and Mommy contributed a wonderful bottle of Cellarmaster Riesling from Columbia Winery in Washington State. They also had yummy homemade apple pie. Mommy had hers a la mode. For breakfast today they had scrambled eggs, Roselyn pastry, and Kona coffee from Stephanie.

Mommy and Grandma saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Mommy doesn't normally like Brad Pitt, but she said he was excellent in this movie, which she considers his best-ever performance. The makeup was wonderful as were the affects that made Benjamin appear small and shrunken. Mommy recommends this movie for all audiences.

The farm blog has been updated with all the latest photos of the progress. Check it out at http://blossomridgefarm.blogspot.com.

Mommy picked up her wine yesterday for her wine class. The white wine tasting is first and then the red. The wines are dictated by the class. For the white wine class there is a Riesling, a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc. The Riesling had to be from Alsace, New Zealand, Austria or Germany. If from Germany, it had to be dry. Mommy picked a dry 2006 Moselland Ars Vitis (The art of Wine) from Germany. The bottles are very pretty. The winemaker is also an artist and one of his paintings is on each bottle. The opposite side of the bottle from the painting is clear and lets you look at the painting through the bottle. The artist/winemaker, Heinz Ames, does his watercolors using Riesling wine (instead of water) from the Mosel Valley which is also the subject of his paintings. Mommy has painting number 1, entitled Vinorell. I think Grandma would like that bottle. (Mommy hopes Heinz doesn't use watercolors in his Riesling!)

The Sauvignon Blanc had to be from California with minimal or no oak. Mommy chose a 2007 Kendall Jackson Vintner's Reserve that was aged, primarily, in stainless steel.

The Chardonnay also had to be from California and had to have lots of oak. Mommy chose a 2007 Bogle Chardonnay which was this week's Wine Spectator Wine of the Week (87 points).

The wines had to be within a vintage or two of each other and in the same price range. The Chardonnay should have been the most expensive bottle, but it was actually the least expensive. The Moselland came in at $11.99, the KJ at $9.99 and the Bogle was $8.99 at World Market. Stay tuned for results of the tasting which will take place this weekend or next Wednesday!

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

Husky and Plus Size

Marquette is yellow!

Aren't I cute?

Yes, we are talking about weight again! Mommy actually thinks I have leveled off and am not gaining any weight. I certainly hope so because it would be nice to not have to keep talking about how I keep gaining weight! Even Miss Marra is taking my side now and telling Mommy that she has not been posting very flattering pictures of me. Miss Marra actually thinks Baby Si-Si may weigh as much or more than me! And Miss Stephanie has a cat, Chuckie, who weighs MORE than me.

When a woman gets to be a certain size she is considered a PLUS size. I understand that women do not like to have to shop in that part of the department store. And young boys, when they gain weight, they have to purchase their jeans in HUSKY sizes. So I have decided that, in addition to being big-boned, I am also a husky size.

And did I mention that Mommy is a hypochondriac where my health is concerned? I didn't eat my dinner one night and she was ready to take me to the vet! Then she saw me drinking water and decided I am drinking too much water and peeing too often and I am diabetic! Get over it, already! I am just fine! You just told me to drink lots of water because of my cystitis!

We have had lots of Bunny Alerts the past week. This morning Millie got Mommy up at 5:15 and Mommy looked out the window and there was the bunny! She whispered, "Bunny alert! BUNNY ALERT!" But Marquette and I just ignored her. About half an hour later we found the bunny ourselves. He was still in the front yard after the alarm went off at 6:30.

Today is Mommy's first sleep-over with her mommy. She is heading to Logansport this afternoon after feeding us an early dinner. They are going to eat Sauerbraten and watch a movie. Mommy said she would be home before noon tomorrow after stopping at the cottage to check on it.

Mommies went to the cottage last night because the insulation people are going to be there today and they had to make certain everything was done that they wanted done. You can read about that on the Farm blog when it gets posted. Lots happening at the Farm these days. Mommies also checked to make certain that the camper was taken off the lot on Monday and it was.

We want to close by wishing Sofie a speedy recovery from her surgery! She tipped the scales at 6 lbs. 10 oz. yesterday. Way to go Sofie!

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