Kitties - Blanca and LuLu

Earlier this year I wrote about Mackenzie's new cat, Lulu.  Lulu is all settled in now.  She's such a pretty cat and very sweet - from a distance.

She has a great relationship with our dogs (sometimes I think she thinks she IS a dog), and she definitely loves us from that distance.  Please don't touch me.  She loves when we feed her, when we play with her and when she can follow us around like a dog.  She is also pretty good at coming when you call her.

My husband likes Lulu, but misses the cuddly cats we had before the kids were born.  Lulu will never be the "I-love-to-sit-in-your-lap-and-sleep-next-to-your-head-at-night" kind of cat.  So when he heard of a lovable, guaranteed kissable cat who needed a new home, he volunteered.  This was HUGE - the idea that we would bring a fourth animal into the house, especially coming from Kent, was crazy.  (Mackenzie and I would be cat ladies if allowed.)  Enter Blanca:

Blanca is so different from Lulu.  She's an Oriental, so her body is longer and sleeker, she's a talker and she's a lover.  She does give genuine kisses, but she does stay on the move.  You can see her here drinking from the faucet - Lulu wouldn't get caught dead near water.  And yes, she is pure white (hence the name).

At first we were very nervous about introducing our little kitty ladies, but it turns out they have something in common - they BOTH think they are dogs.  They sniff each other (both noses and butts) and there is no hissing or growling involved.  There are a few swipes, but they are getting playful more than aggressive.  What may be even more remarkable is that they both are very comfortable with the dogs.  (I guess that shouldn't be surprising from cats that act like dogs.)

The other thing we've noticed is that each cat is getting to be a little more like the other.  Unfortunately, the small improvements we've seen with Lulu being close to us have come at the expense of Blanca becoming a little more distant.  We're still looking for the happy medium.

So now we are a family of 8 and the pets are close to outnumbering the humans.  I don't think we'll let that happen - we need to get the 8 we have comfortable under one roof.

cindy

Lu Lu

This Christmas brought a new addition to our family - Lulu

Lulu is an adult domestic shorthair (at least that's what the Humane Society called her).  

She's just a sweetie cat to us.

It took us a long time to get a cat that Mackenzie REALLY wanted.  We have two dogs, both terriers, and one is a Westie.  I was so nervous about a kitten which is why we adopted a cat - with claws - and no fear of dogs.  Lulu slapped Brodie the Westie a couple of times and now everyone understands who's the new sheriff in town.

While all is well in Animalville, we are still trying to get Lulu to give us humans the time of day.  She's been happy to follow me around talking up a storm while I'm getting her food (never fast enough, mind you).  But try to pet her?  Forget about it.  

In the last day or so, I think she's decided to let us live in her world.

And now we know who's the new diva in the house.

cindy

(If you were looking for the next installment of Scarf Week, it's coming after a bit of a detour.  Let's just say I had a "craft fail."  I'll show off my "creativity" when I'm ready with a regular scarf, which should be in the next day or so.  Stay tuned.)

  

Puppy Love

Last weekend Mackenzie and I finally made it to "As You Wish," a place where you paint your own ceramics.  I love these places.  There are so many things to choose from.  We both chose dog dishes with double sides - one for Shellie and one for Brodie.

You paint three coats of paint, but it's not easy to tell the ultimate color because at this stage it all looks pastel.

We had an awesome time.  Here's what our designs looked like when we finished.

Once you finish painting, you have to leave it for a few days so they can coat it with glaze and fire it in the kiln.  Here's the completed products. Mackenzie's

If the dishes look a little spotty or dusty, it's because the dishes were filled with dog food before I could get a picture.  I had to wait until they were almost empty.

Our dogs like them too:

Success!

cindy

The End of the Great Hamster Experiment

It's finally over.  The Great Hamster Experiment is over.  About six months ago I wrote about our adventures with hamsters.  I ended that post saying that Mischka (Furry II) was the last man standing.  I also mentioned that it was my responsibility to clean the cage and I wasn't always so good at it.  My daughter, who begged for the hamsters in the first place, never cleaned a cage, fed a hamster or showed much interest.

On Tuesday, Mischka died.  Alas, like Teddy, another previous hamster, Mischka likely died from a cage that was too dirty.  I feel very guilty, but honestly, I think we were all over the Hamster Experiment.  (Too bad I just bought a 20 pound bag of hamster bedding over the weekend.)  When I told Mackenzie onWednesday morning, she said "O.K., I'm done.  We don't need to get another hamster."  That works for me too.

I did have some fun with the four hamsters we had.  I was proud that I overcame my fear of small rodents (at least domesticated ones).  Heck, I could even pick him up and get my fingers out of the way when he wanted to chew on them.  Now we just need to find someone to take the cages, food and bedding.  Hamsters are cheap but their equipment is not.

I do feel a little nostalgic, but when I think of the noisy nights where he took his hard food with him into the wheel or cleaning the cages, not so much.

Goodbye Mischka, Teddy, Furry and Cutie Patootie.  RIP

cindy

The Joys of Online Shopping

This has been a banner year for online shopping and I have certainly done my part.  But now it's December 21 and my shopping (online and offline) is DONE!!  Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the rest of my family.

This is Brodie:

He was caught in the act of online shopping, probably shopping for a new bone.  His big sister Shellie couldn't keep her nose out of unwrapped Christmas gifts.  Now the bones are gone and this sad tale has taken an unexpected twist.

Time is running short for last minute shopping.

cindy

Hamster Tales

A couple of years ago my daughter begged for her own pet (we already have two dogs).  I'm a sucker for pets so eventually I caved and we bought her a teddy bear (Syrian) hamster.  She promptly named him Cutie Patootie and before we left the pet store, we signed him up for hamster races (in a ball on a track) the following weekend.  We bought all the hamster paraphernalia (cage, toys, ball, fence and food).  We set it all up on a table in Kenzie's room.

The following Saturday we took Cutie back to the pet store for the hamster races.

Wouldn't you know it, he won!  Kenzie was so excited and we took a picture to celebrate the big win:

Alas, poor Cutie Patootie, a winner one day and a chew toy for a terrier the next.  My husband and the kids came home to find the cage on the floor and Cutie dead on the patio.  They gave him a proper burial and we went back to the pet store for another hamster.

Our second hamster was dubbed Furry.  He was a notorious escape artist and a very loud roommate for Kenzie.  She kicked him out after two nights and he was banished to the laundry room where we could close the door and let him bang around in his wheel all night long.  He escaped his cage numerous times, but we always managed to find him.  One morning before school I accidentally left the cage door open.  About five minutes later, just as the kids were about to get on the school bus, I noticed the dog on the back patio carrying something in his mouth.  I hustled the kids out before they could see and confirmed that it was poor dead Furry.  Dogs 2, hamsters 0.  I called in sick and rushed up to the pet store and looked for a hamster that looked like Furry.  (That wasn't too hard to do because teddy bear hamsters all look alike.)  I found one and secretly named him Mischka.  Every one else in the family thought he was Furry.  About a week later I let my husband in on the secret.

From the beginning, my very responsible daughter made sure that I fed the hamster and cleaned the cages.  So the hamster actually became my pet.  Mischka (Furry II) proved to be as impressive an escape artist as his namesake, but we always found him before the dogs did.  I thought it might be fun to get another hamster, even though I know you can't put two male teddy bear hamsters together.  No problem, get more cages.  This hamster we called Teddy (our names aren't terribly original).  Teddy was a little more feisty, wanting to taste fingers on occasion, but I thought he was a real sweetie.

I've learned a few things about hamsters over the past year or two.  One, they are great Houdinis.  Two, they are messy.  Three, they sleep all day, so if you want to play you need to wait until about 9:00 p.m.  Finally, I learned that if you fail to regularly clean their cages, they will die of a bacteria that develops in their waste.  That lesson I learned with the tragic death of Teddy.  Kenzie lost almost all interest for hamsters after that.

Today, Mischka (Furry II) is the last man standing.  The kids still don't know that he is a substitute for a hamster that left this world over a year ago, but that's just as well.  I'm still the one who cares and plays and talks to the hamster.  He's sweet and a little clever.  I hate cleaning his cage, but I love those little rodent eyes that recognize me as the person who cares for him.

cindy