What passes for amusement at our house

Yeah.  We’re easily amused.

Happy Holidays to all

This morning started with some Santa Hat silliness:

Simon, modeling the Santa hat.

Some of the zoo were less into this idea:

"Do.  Not.  Want."

Dash wants nothing to do with this nonsense

And some are game for anything:

Toshie Claus

John got power tools, because he’s been a very good boy this year:

John got TOOLS for x-mas

Brian and I took a walk with Tosh:

Bri and Tosh

And all that’s left is to make and eat a fabulous dinner and wish everyone a safe, happy, and healthy new year:

Nutcracker

All the best to you and yours.

One heckuva dinner party

We’re doing Thanksgiving at our house this year – our usual routine is to go to my aunt’s, but she’s had an emergency in her family, so we dropped back, punted, and John’s brining a turkey this very minute.

As the household baker, I am in charge of pies.  Mom and I powered through pumpkin and had the apple in the oven, when I came in to see Dash on the counter and this:

Dead cat.  Dead, I tell you.

Dead.  Cat.  Walking.

You wouldn’t think he was evil, to look at him:

Arty Dash

Anyway, there’s another pie in the oven. Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, and happy Thursday to the rest of the world.

Thanksgiving still-life

Priceless.

We’re not huge cat-toy buyers.  Our cats aren’t terribly interested in gee-whizzery, and the Kitty Can’t Cope Sack represents the pinnacle of technology to them.  Milo’s favorite toy, when he’s not getting his kitty buzz on, is a crumpled receipt (and his zeal for pursuing them, even in an uncrumpled state, makes entering expenses into Quicken an exercise that would impress the Flying Wallendas).  We are well aware that for the feline imagination a cardboard box is a castle, a TARDIS, and a treehouse all in one.

So why we were enticed by a $5 IKEA nylon cat-hut, I don’t know.  But I’m happy we didn’t listen to our wiser voices for once.  The thing’s a hit at our house, and for some reason we find it endlessly amusing to find our cat-family enjoying its cozy Swedish vibe.

Simon a/k/a "Big Papi" (for his increasingly strong resemblance to David Ortiz ):

Who'd have thunk the evil cat-hut would be such a hit?

Little Milo, happily sharing space with several Kitty Can’t Copes:

$5 very well spent at IKEA

Dash, examining the environs:

Even skittery Dash likes it.

The toys help

…and deciding that he draws the line at sharing.

He draws the line at sharing, however.

Dash – not so brave, dear heart

We’ve had heavy rains around these parts recently (though nothing to what the folks in the Gulf Coast are facing – I’m watching those reports with dread).  Dash, always afraid of thunder, now seems to have extended that trepidation to mere heavy rain.

Even heavy rain makes Dash nervous

Not usually a lap cat, he sniffed at the slider the other morning and insisted on sharing the available space on my lap with my computer.  I was able to snag his chagrin with the PhotoBooth program.  Poor dear.

Just in case you feared I had become anything resembling hip…

…No, it shall never be.  And to prove it, just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, several minutes of pointless video that might only be of interest to a small subset of my friends and relatives*:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrDbrlIofWE

“This is not how I am” indeed, Simon – get yer paws off of the coffee table.

Happy holiday weekend, at least to the US folks who are looking forward to beer and barbecue tomorrow.

*And of that small subset, there’s probably an even smaller subset consisting of John and my mom who will actually be amused by this video.

We interrupt this blog for…

Cute cat photos…

Statues

…and also arty cat photos

Dash

Things I have done recently include:

  1. Going to see Eddie Izzard (love you!  Call me!)
  2. Going to MD Sheep and Wool with friends
  3. Purchasing a spindle and managing (with a quick tutorial from my friend Rachel) to actually produce yarn with it (portable spinning!  Brilliant!)

I will (hopefully) talk about these things anon.  However for now, the cute cat images will have to do.

Rainy days and Sundays

We have both here today.  It has been pouring out for most of the day – a storm system stretches from north of us in the DC area down to Savannah.

For Milo, born in a summer drought, and having lived through one almost snowless winter, this is a novelty:

So much rain...

For Dash, who is terrified of thunder, this is a very, very bad day.  He has been clingy and moan-y, sticking close to anyone or anything who can give him comfort:

Dash is horribly afraid of thunder

A closeup of feline misery

Poor little guy.

These animal-related “thank you’s” could get elaborate…

Robynn has promised some 4theanimals dosh, so here’s my first YouTube effort to say “thanks!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYZYpWq9M6U

Not much to say…

…Though we are sad here at Chez Writingortyping, because wee Milo is off to the vet for that… operation.  The one all good cat-owners have done if they don’t want to be vicarious kitten-mommas or -daddies.  So, despite the fact that I have been a lame blogger of late, I shall only give you a few photos of the little guy.  He’s going to be gone for a whole 24 hours, and John and I are wondering how we will cope without our dense, warm little fur-bundle purring away on our laps.  We have already suffered through this morning’s agony of trying to ignore him on doctor’s pre-surgery no-feed orders as he squeaked furiously at us, completely incensed that his usual demands were met with no kibble.  (Our neighbor likes to say, “Dogs have owners; cats have staff.”  It is all too true.)

We had a party recently – Milo appointed himself Sommelier:

Milo, Your Sommelier for this evening
“May I get madame a glass of champagne?”

Feeling like quite the wildlife photographer, I also caught Milo and Dash performing the elusive head-lick:

Head-licking!

Lastly, a similarly elusive group photo of all three of the feline members of the household:

a rare shot of all three cats

At least I don’t have the heartrending task of actually leaving the wee one at the vet’s – that job goes to John, as the vet is on his way to work.