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Greetings former caturdenizens! This diary has been conceived as a weekly diary with rotating diarists in response to the loss of caturday, whose author has, alas, moved on to bigger and better (diners). So, to fill the void left by the great one, a few of his diehard fangirls got together and decided that it needed to be done. Of course one doesn’t have to be a fangirl to both enjoy reading and to take turns authoring, (volunteers encouraged to speak up), this attempt to fill a wonderful man’s shoes. So far myself and bgrothus have agreed to share the duties but I think the diary should reflect the great diversity represented by the readers of the former one. Please bear with me though. I don’t know anywhere near as much about our kitteh friends as the SouthernDragon knew but I will endeavor to get you a good answer if you have a question.
It’s been an interesting week here. Kuroneko has been bouncing off walls. Thursday she caught a mousie and then kept me awake half the night torturing the poor thing. Then Saturday morning I woke up to a cat looking very guilty indeed:
See the feather behind her? There were a whole lot more, (along with the remains of her gruesome breakfast) on the front porch. As soft and warm and cuddly as they are to us, never doubt that any house cat is only one opportunity away from ruthless hunter. On a sillier note, Kuroneko likes to help me make the bed:
And here she is this morning after a big rain storm standing in the puddle outside the door:
Her mouth is open a tiny bit because she’s meowing at me. I think she thought she was going to get scolded for standing in the puddle because last time, she brought her wet and muddy feet into my bed to show me.
Lion version of the security blanket
I don’t have the obligatory cute kitten pics cause I’m really new at this. I tried to post some but apparently I don’t know how. I was able to find a great montage set to an old classic though:
Hope you cat, (and dog), folks will stop by and share your cat tales with us.
117 Comments
Hello! Hope everyone is having a great weekend and spending some time with the animals in your life.
Dan’l has been settling into life here in New Hampshire for a couple of weeks now. So now that he is getting comfortable, I’m having to shoo him off the antique rush bottom ladder back chairs when he decides he wants to use them to scratch. I guess I should find an empty box to place downstairs for him to use (he uses one upstairs) as he has often clawed up/destroyed empty boxes in the past.
He’s sleeping on the couch beside me at this moment
Sorry about the risk to the antique furniture but I’m really glad you two are back together. Bet both of y’all are too!
Yeah, he’s comfortable enough now that he has moved from sleeping hard against my leg to the other side of the bed (so at least I’m not inadvertently kicking him off the bed when I roll over at night.) :})
Poor Neko gets really nervous when it’s thundery outside these days. She woke me up a couple of times last night. She seemed to be trying to burrow under me.
That’s one of the areas I’ve been lucky with Dan’l as I’ve not perceived him as being too upset with thunder boomers and such.
It does seem (at least from what I read on various Facebook posts) that a lot of dogs are scared of thunder
Hey, Peg. (Just a glutton for punishment, are you? Kidding.)
No new Picky stories. Maybe fewer when they are oldsters? But, he’s spending his cooler mornings outside in the yard on his chair, or under the table. There’s plenty of shade. And, he and Brindle both think that the little kids wading pool I put out there is their new Big Water Dish. Then, when it gets wicked crazy hot, he comes in and graces us with his presense.
It’s kinda fun having both of the 4 leggeds on the couch at night watching tv.
PS – I neglected to say thank you for doing duty today.
Fine, fine job, lady.
Caturday lives on!
Thank you so much for putting up the livestream Asange thread earlier. Very exciting.
Almost as exciting to see Margaret and BGrothus carrying on a wonderful Sunday tradition.
Thank you both – Margaret and Elliot – for all you do to make Firedoglake a great place to visit.
(I don’t suppose either of you would take a zucchini or tomatoe off my hands?) Ha!
Yay, Margaret and (un)Cat for the day!
I was thinking it would be entertaining if this Sunday Community would post under a different title every week, as in “Where in the World is Caturday?” It would be a hunt to find it. . .like (un)Chat. Last week, I was surprised that my post found readers, but we are a generous lot, and so we began to remodel our cathouse. I did not remember, if I knew, that Christy calls her blog by the name I used.
At any rate, I could not bear the loneliness that Margaret expressed yesterday at PUAC, and though some people think there should be a short hiatus until the weather is cooling (but it is cooling already, I think), I believe we have a good purrpose here, and so I am supporting it now and always.
I am going to try to post some photos of the cat fence I have been working on. I have been adding decorations to it, and Lucy was the first to take big notice of the little plastic flappers I put up the other day. She had to stop, sit down, and look up in wonder at the addition. They make a lot of clicking sounds when it is a bit breezy. If I can get some photos, I will add them in a bit.
Even though this is about cats, may I post a link featuring a dog that is just too awesome?
Not waiting for an answer.
TreT, The Parkour Dog.
Sorry, there’s a short adverstisement, but the video is worth it. You will smile, and you just might loose a few pounds just watching.
Oh nooos. My batteries are not just tired, they are EXHAUSTED! So, it will be a while til I can take some photos.
Christy’s blog is actually “Home Celebration: a blog of comfort and joy” and I’m quite sure if you wanted to call this one “Comfort and Joy” she wouldn’t mind a bit.
I no longer can have cats (allergic grandkids who visit) but I’m still a cat lover so I usually stop by. My 18-year-old college freshman seems to have inherited his father’s and grandmother’s love of cats. So interesting for a young man who is into metalcore music to be a cat lover.
Gotta go…my bike riding friend is expecting me for another ride today. And besides, the %$&@#!! neighbor’s dog is barking nonstop again, so I need to get away before I go over there and commit mayhem.
That would be “my 18-year-old college freshman GRANDSON…” LOL.
Sure! Post however you feel fit! And it is just a teeny bit cooler here today!
Thanks for stopping by Molly.
Hey demi, thanks for your vote, I wasn’t as happy as I could be with the post. Next time I do it, I should be better prepared…
One of the elements of passing the hosting around is that it also gives each of us more experience in posting and learning the ropes. Power to the people!
Also, don’t forget to recommend so the post moves up the ladder.
I’m off to our GA, so maybe when I get back the camera batteries will be UP AND READY and I’ll take those photos.
You did just wonderful, on such short notice.
And now see you should not feel isolated.
What did you think of the dog video?
I’m doing nuttin’ today. This whole week I worked with the stupid garden, pulling and weeding and cooking, oh and then washing up. I’m not freaking walking into that kitchen today. Okay?
Well, tomorrow is trash pick up, so I might have to go in there to deal with the kitchen trash cans.
Otherwise, I think I have to be a lazy bum today. :)
That dog has definitely been watching too many kung fu movies.
I think this is just dandy, Peggy. You did just fine. I think we all need a place to drop by and chat about cats, dogs, veggies, whatever.
Now I am really out the door. Looks like we may get some rain later. W00t!
*poof*
Could be.
Packour is something that humans do, too.
Check this out, not saying it won’t make you feel oldish. These kids rawk.
Oh yeah. I’ve seen that video before but what surprises me is how few views it’s gotten.
Caturday has more than nine lives!!!
Much appreciation, Margaret, for picking up the paws and carrying on the whiskers, and making more space for all the tails to tell.
;~DW
My sons were watching some of that stuff on tv. Maybe it was a video. Not sure, but I’ll tell you it made me squeemish to learn that the older one was doing that stuff. You know, the truly crazy one, not the Asperger’s one. Wonder where he got that itch?
Woof!
Hope you enjoy it DW.
We’ve watched it numerous times, Margaret, and have even showed it to the wee YorkiePoo, who feigned disinterest … but his bounces seem to be becoming more “lateral”.
He is still much perplexed that the deer, who are no longer moved by his toy-in-mouth barking, have shown no interest in joining him in playing with said toy.
And, in the catnip-bowl pecking-order, he is still … number three.
A dog’s life … among cool cats …
DW
You know, upon reflection, I decided that “Pull up (un)Cat” just didn’t make as much sense as “Pull Up Your Cat” so I changed the title. Good move? Mistake? Ambiguous?
I like it. I say Good.
Since I’ve vowed to avoid the kitchen or any housework today, I’m going to try to open a flicker account, because I’ve got a great picky photo to share.
Wish me luck.
WooHoo! I wanna see a Picky pic!
I second, demi.
Good move!
(I think I know how this vote is gonna go, Margaret …)
;~DW
The Michigan Humane Society has a new video called “Purr Michigan,” a takeoff on the popular “Pure Michigan” ads for Michigan travel.
http://www.michiganhumane.org/site/PageNavigator/PurrMichigan.html
Wonderful photos, great post. Highly recommended.
Cats are primarily nocturnal hunters. They should be kept in at night so they don’t kill birds and other night critters. Except house mice – which you don’t need anyway.
Oh, lovely, thanks Peggy. Since I’m involved in elderberrying right now, I don’t have time on my hands, but here’s spuds’ Miss Kitty horning in on pics I was taking. She’s old and toothless, but keeps on keeping on.
https://picasaweb.google.com/RCalvo8/RandomPictures#5778464383486255730
Hey Margaret & KittehPups:
Kuroneko’s a pretty little thing. As for over here on the western front, Maestro is hiding out (as he does every day), and Diva is taking a snoozer, after having spent some time in the kitchen helping me put together a wild rice concoction. She got some kitteh treats out of the deal, of course. (If I was a cynic, I’d suggest she was acting in her supervisory capacity only for the treats. If I was a cynic.)
Neko kills most birds during the day. They dive bomb her when she’s sunning herself. Until they get to close.
Very regal. Thank you!
Thanks for the link. :)
Thanks for stopping by. Welcome.
Meow!
Tommy the Cat with a “lion cut.” My son and I rescued him years ago, and he lives with my parents in Seattle. He had hairballs, so had a lion cut.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70377872@N04/7817462042/in/photostream/lightbox/
Your Neko kills birds, but our Nikko would likely make short work of cats, so even though we love cats, we do not have any:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70377872@N04/7817417710/in/photostream/lightbox/
Nikko is a long story, but when we got him as a Seattle Humane Society rescue, he spoke Spanish, so we named him Benicio, and that got shortened to Nikko. We came to believe several years later that he is actually the bird we tragically lost…we think he was found and lived in a Spanish-speaking home for a time. The people also had a puppy- Nikko made puppy noises. And they fought. He imitated a woman crying and a man’s voice perfectly along with the sounds of a scuffle.
Caturday continues!
I’ve missed the furrstivities this morning thinking we were on hiatus until fall, but yay! Here we are. Now to read the comments…
Pull up a Cat makes perfect sense. It infers chat time and cats as a subject. Now, I would *never* actually try to pull Abner up to the computer as he would send me to the Emergency room if I tried to force him to do anything.
Uhh, isn’t that bird hari kari?
I don’t have a cat to pull up but love the title. It’s fun to read about other peoples pets.
The bird here whistles for the dogs like his late owner, spuds’ father. He also becomes the dogs’ squeaky toy, calls the cat like spud, and yesterday tried to be the smoke alarm when I set it off making french fries. His ‘pretty bird’ isn’t quite so convincing, tho.
We’re back. Kuroneko and I simultaneously decided to take a nap and then equally simultaneously woke up. She’s now perched on my left shoulder. Maybe she thinks she’s Crane-Station’s parrot!
Hey Ya, alls.
I got the flicker account open, geeeeez they have a coupla hoops, as does everyone, I guess.
But, now, I can’t find the Picky Picture. Don’t exactly remembered where I saved it.
But, ya know, it could be like a soap opera.
Click here next week to see blah, blah balh.
Youz know what I’m atalkin’ about.
Kudoz Mzzzz Pegs.
I’m notta a catalike, but I do luvs the Sunday Open Forom.
Well, now, lookee here.
Good job Margaret. Nice crowd, too.
Posting images from elsewhere is just as easy as posting pix of Neko. Ya have to add a couple steps at the beginning, though. When you find a pic you like right click on it and choose Save As Image. I made a separate folder for Caturday pix. Then you can go to your Flickr account and upload them. Then you post ‘em from there. There’s a process to follow if you don’t want to show a Flickr page with all the other stuff on it. I’ll walk ya through it whenever you like.
Thanks for that SD and welcome. I wondered if that was how it was done, as it’s the only way I could think to do it but I worried about copyright issues.
I only used pix I took myself or from ICanHasCheezburger to avoid any copyright issues.
Thanks for the advice. Maybe I can make some improvements in the future. Cute kittens are necessary to such a post I think.
I also used pix that had originally been posted by other Caturdenizens, like Tejana’s Itsa, Smoodgie, et al.
Losing Itsa still rankles the livin’ shit out of me.
Welcome Twain. Good to see you lady. :)
Yep. Not a happy memory.
I heard that.
Today my son and I worked on crafting a homemade cat excercizer toy. We took a a long wooden dowel, drilled a hole at one end and threaded an elastic string through it. On the “bird” end, we took an old nasal spray cap, filled it with glue and stuck feathers in it and strung it to the elastic.
As with all things cat, I think we like it better than Abner or Gracie. They’ve batted at it a few times to be sure, but it’s really more a human toy than anything.
LOL! Cool.
Abner and said hoomin toy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73310045@N07/7818239550/
LMAO! He looks somewhat less than interested. Neko does the same thing. There are times when she reacts really well to it but if she doesn’t want to play with it at that time, there’s no enticing her to do it.
Pet stores sell something similar for cats, but I think there’s a curved wire between the pole and the toy, so it springs as they chase it. I agree, though, more for hoomin entertainment than kittehs. But you can give your sedentary indoor cat a decent romp with one of those toys. Affix a catnip mousie to the other end and watch the fun!
Your buddy Nagi. Friday night I tried to burn up my cast iron skillet by not turning the burner off completely. Moron. Place wAS filled with smoke. Repositioned fans and opened some more windows. Sat morning all clear but I didn’t close the kitchen window but it was only cracked an inch or 2. Crank louvres, remember. I go to feed them this morning and no Nagi. I’m lookin’ all over. No Nagi. I go into the kitchen and look out the windows. Guess who’s sitting in the yard looking up at me? He can get up to the window but can’t get in. I go out and he doesn’t move, just lets me pick him and carry him back in. T.R.O.U.B.L.E.
Hello, people! Greetings to our lovely hostess, and hi to SD — looks like you trained her up right.
Not much happening cat-wise chez HotFlash. The days have been warm and sunny here in Toronto — 25 out right now — and the cats are all asleep in their favourite places. Mr. Dass and ShyShy are in a heap in the ivy next to the front porch, Cutie is on her cool rock under the barbary, Little (real name Neferkiti) is asleep in a sunbeam on a box in my office and Princess Julia is snoozing out back on the picnic table under the apple tree. The nights have been cool and the girl cats have been spending the last few nights indoors — it got down to 13 last night! — but the guys have stayed out most nights.
Shy and Cutie are the only ones fast enough to catch a bird and Cutie mostly can’t be bothered. And I can’t blame them for catching the odd bird — I rather like the taste of bird myself.
Miss Daisy, the elderly tuxedo cat I was cat-sitting, is amazingly well, considering she has a pretty aggressive tumour in her mouth. Her person came back last Saturday and Miss Daisy was still quite alive and very happy to see him, against the vet’s predictions. She had been in good appetite and spirits for the three weeks Chris was away despite all. Part of ‘all’ is that a chunk of her jaw (I am pretty sure that’s what it was)fell out about the 5th day, but it only slowed her down a little at the food bowl, and she has not shown any sign of pain so far as we can tell. Chris told me that the other side of her jaw seems to have disintegrated and fallen out, too, but she is still eating well. So we are all soldiering on and intend to continue doing so until she gives a sign that life is no longer good for her. I hope somebody will do the same for me when it’s my turn.
On the other end of the spectrum, friends who took in a stray who happened to be a pregnant female are now the proud godparents of five charming little kittehs, three tabby and two tuxedo (or the other way around) and the demon who lives in my head volunteered to take two. I may regret this, but we delivered an instrument last week, and have another order that we are building, so looks like we will be able to afford the shots-spay-neuter and to chip in to have Mom spayed as well.
Never a dull moment!
Thanks again for keeping the cats coming, Margaret and all, and regards to Kuroneko-sama.
Oh, here we have a thing called a Cat Dancer, sounds like what you are describing. I got one from the vet (he gives cat toys, kinda like dentists give you a toothbrush) and my Tiglath Pileser of happy memory just loved it until he got the wire wedged between his teeth and panicked big-time. I got a few really good scratches extracting the toy from the cat and we put that toy away, never to be seen again.
Nagi the escape artist. Maybe he was just showing you that he could!
Thanks for sharing but poor Miss Daisy. Animals are so much better at suffering from illness without complaint than most people I know. Best to you, her and Chris.
I kept looking at how little the window was open and even tried to open it by pushing on it. No way he could have gotten through here, thinks I. Little devil’s gotta be part cockroach. Flattens himself enough to squeeze through anything. He’s really the most curious creature.
Neko can become incredibly, unexpectedly long and skinny when the mood/need strikes her. Just astonishing to me.
Pull up your cat’s what?
Sounds like a matter for the SPCA to investigate. :>)
Thanks and recommended
Nice Book Salon. Now I have something new on my reading list.
What a *wonderful* idea, Margaret & Friends! Thank you so much! I haven’t been around regular-like at all lately but I had begun checking in with Caturday (and the Diner, of course) IF I was around. Purrs to everyone.
Nice job, Margaret….I had a thought earlier that the “fur needs scratching.” Nice to catch up and a pleasant surprise.
Forgot to say I LOVE the picture of Kuroneko standing in the puddle meowing ~ I have seen that face on my cats many times ~ you captured it perfectly.
I have lots of trouble with muddy feet here in the spring ~ so I have to have a towel near the door and I insist on *attempting* to sponge feet off quickly. We have our protocolz. LOLz.
Look, Margaret, you started a great thing today!
I am trying this to see if you can see the cat fence and what Lucy saw. There is also a photo of my art work “Watershed” in the gallery.
After I post, I’ll check the link.
Oh, I am sleepy …. STRAY CAT STRUT rawks!
I get a Google 403 forbidden screen, but that just might be *me.* :-)
So, it looks like the albums are available, the link is the August 19 album.
Love your post. We have six cats: four were rescued strays. They are our babies.
Our backyard is certified as a natural habitat by the National Wildlife Federation: it’s a small yard, but we have bird feeders, baths, and bird houses; brush piles; vibernum bushes; squirrel feeders; and we feed a family of skunks (the babies are so cute), possums, racoons, chipmunks, and anything traversing our yard…LOL!
Our cats love us unconditionally. Too bad some people don’t, huh?
Oops…forgot to mention, recommend! Thanks.
Thanks for coming by on the inaugural day. Yep, I was surprised she stood still long enough for me to get that one.
Maybe it is public now, sorry for the BS.
70707070707! Aren’t they ALL human toys?
I’m glad you enjoyed it and thank you very much for taking in rescues! Far too few people do. Kuroneko is a feral but she wasn’t likely to starve to death where she was, though her brother didn’t make it.
Glad you made it Bev!
Please sign my petition on Moveon.Org to allow Jill Stein to debate against Romney and Obama: http://signon.org/sign/allow-jill-stein-to-particip
It still says “403 Request Forbidden” when I click it.
oops…didn’t mean to post that here: so very sorry
You betcha….Is that the phrase? Thanks.
It was a good salon.
And, I mean it about the editing help. For sures.
Shite, I guess I had to change everything. Is this one good? I am really not very tech oriented, so very sorry.
I mean, I like the fence and all, but really, I guess I didn’t need to go overboard with posting about it.
Though that is a worthy goal, please don’t post political stuff here. Thanks.
Nope, sorry. Still getting nothing.
Thanks for that. :)
Pegster!!!!
Long day for you here. You just put your feet up and I’ll make whatever you want for dinner.
Oh, shit, I’ll even wash the dishes.
And, what would little Missy want? I don’t do mice, she’s much better at that. :)
P – Whoops I did it again, again. I forgot I said I wasn’t going in the kitchen today.
So, let me amend. I’ll order out anything you girls’ want.
K?
And, then, no dishes for me to wash. It’s a win-win.
Luv ya so.
Nagi! Yeah, had enough of the outdoors, then? Why that little…
Heh. I think Abner has a few conditions for condescending to love me. But that’s why I love him.
Little Missy shared a small portion of my baked chicken earlier. She’s sleeping her food buzz off.
Niiiice.
I’m going to sign off for the day with the story of a brief, but beautiful encounter with a Yellow and Black Monarch butterfly just now.
Just watched one looking just like that having a party around the new red bouganvilla I put out there.
(I hope that link worked. ‘puter’s being strange. Like mother, like computer.)
Thanks for coming by demi! Pat the pets for me!
Done! :)
LOL!
Thanks for hosting, Margaret. I was soooo excited to see that we had a cat forum today. :)
Hello, all. I have been running like crazy the last few weeks. I drop by once in a long while, but I haven’t had time to read the long threads. I have looked at them. All that is just to say that now that I have a couple of minutes I’m surprised to see that SD is not the leader of the pack now. I always marvelled at how he was able to do such a great job six days per week and hold down a full time job. I guess it got to be too much. Anyway, this looks good and, with experience, I’m sure that it will get back to the full plate that SD always presented. Unfortunately for me, I have to start running again, so I won’t be around for another stretch. I will try to peek in as much as possible.
Thank all of y’all for being here on opening day and a special thanks to the cat man for stopping by. Goodnight and I hope your coming week is better than the last one.
Thank You, Margaret! great job everyone!
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Among my activities today, I picked up a trap for a feral cat that needs to be fixed. He was caught easily, and I have dropped him off for his “attitude adjustment.” I hope he will be home again on Tuesday, and he will stop with the fighting and save his handsome face.
I stopped in at a nice neighborhood potluck held at a beautiful community garden I have been admiring for the last few months. Saw a variety of old friends, met some new neighbors and had a lovely plate of foods.
Pretty good day, aside from my internets obstacles.
w00t! Worked that time!
Never freaking give up!
Thanks again, Margaret! U R my twisted (arm) sister, not so bad after all!
Wow! 113 posts!Peg,your “Pull up a Cat” (love that title) is a roaring success!
It’s past bedtime again, so I’ve skipped to the bottom, but can see I will have to come back this week and read it all, and check out all the pix promised at the top.
I’ll be more than glad to take a turn…but lately my Sundays are nuts so I think I’ll volunteer for one or two past Labor Day (think I’m going to be away Labor Day weekend).
Hope our esteemed Caturday inventor is enjoying his computer-less Sundays, jus’ relaxing with the herd or with human friends.
And now,I must go tobed. Thanks, Peggy. Great pix of Neko, too,especially the”talking” one in the puddle.
Thanks Margaret, I like having a cat thread!
Thank you Margaret,
Absolutely great diary and conversation people. Left the computer in sleep mode the whole day, turned off both phones and even the radio. Did not start the vehicle, but cranked a few turns of the pedals to visit some not too distant neighbors, who because of my pace, I was able to wave to and say hello to and briefly chat with. Its a different world if we let it be so.
We kayaked all day Sunday and I just finished reading the comments. It is a very sincere compliment to SD that you are carrying on the Caturday tradition, and you did him proud.