mom's purrthday adventure

miss gingerour moma nearby corner; folks must be related to the ones in skeezix's neighborhood!flea market (who on the good green earth BUYS fleas? we got ours for free! but we'd gladly sell 'em! maybe we should ask mom to take 'em ofurr there . . .)sign inside the flea market (nobuddy listened; the big white litter box was plugged up . . . nobody'd scooped in AGES--ewwwwwwwwww)yummy spinach quesadilla, chips, some 'lishus salsa, an' the best guacamole she efurr had. oh, yeah; an' a negra modelo, her new favorite sody pop!some pretty flowers growing on a side streetthe "town square" parkoh, no! she spotted this inna store window--a GANG SIGN!! the vishus deers are here!! we're so glad she din't run into any!an' this is pretty much how the whole day went! she was so glad miss ginger could hang out wiff her!

we thanks ya!!

our mom had a WONDERFUL day yesterday, an' gave us spinach quesadilla leftofers for treats when she came home!!

she said to thank you all who wished her happiness--it sure worked. her jaws are sore from grinnin' an' she hadda use her asthma inhaler three times 'cause she was laughin' so much!!

we are gonna let her post a few photos from her day on the weekend, so stay tuned!

mom's birthday

it's our mom's birthday today. here is the card we gots for her!!she's takin' the day off from day hunting, an' she an' her ladyfriend ginger (who also has four kitties, so she's automatically OK in our book) are planning what we heard mom call a "go-to-hell" day--we really don't unnerstand that. we thought the point was to avoid going there . . .

wacky wednesday

our wacky dad. he saw max's commander kitty tower, so he hadda get one. he doesn't even have a tail to help him balance gracefully, so we were a little worried as he crawled from branch to branch. and since he doesn't have claws, he was rubbing a big piece of metal on the branches. every once in a while, he'd make some noise, but it didn't sound much like meowing . . . . we're furry concerned about his mental health; is this a "spring" thing with beans?(mom: actually, he was trying to trim out the last of the ice storm damage, but only spiderman could manage that without a bucket-truck, so the tippy-top snags will remain.)

"cat tale" tuesday

look, mom!! somebody wrote a book about xing!
      no, ed. that's a picture of somecat that looks a lot like our xingxing.
did she pose for the picture?
      prolly not. i haven't seen any royalty checks in her name at the mailbox lately.
well, what is it then? it's got about a thousand kitty stinks on it!!
      that's a book about a girl and her kitty, so i suppose beans who love kitties have read it, and their kitties have investigated it just like you're doing.
why is there a book about a girl and her kitty?
      well, from the couple of pages i have read so far, they go into the future to help people.
help people in the future? why don't their OWN cats help them?
      ed, even in our real world, not everybean has a kitty or kitties. or even a woofie.
*gasp!* why efurr not?
      good question. because they don't know any better, i suppose.
well, i still don't see why they hadda go.
      maybe they don't have any kitties in the future, and they need to see one.
*wheeze! gasp! choke* (faintly:) no kitties?
      i don't know, ed. it's just an idea. i've only just begun to read the book. i'll tell ya how it comes out.
oh, mom! if there's no kitties, i don't wanna know!!!
      ok, ed. i'll make up something and won't tell you if there's no kitties.
*shiver* oooooooooo. even for a kitty with laser eyes, THAT's too scary to think about!!

ATTENTION, DREAD PIRATE BLOGGER!!!!

*look deep into my eyes* *deeper* *deeper* *deeper*


NOW FIX MY COMMENTS, DAMMIT!!!!!

UPDATE: he heard, he obeyed. you may now comment on my pulchritude in mancat monday!

mancat monday!

MRRRRRRRAW!
(MEEEEEYOW-WOW, middie!!
*nudge-nudge* *wink-wink*)
we doesn't know why there's no comment button; DPB, we guess. please email us through the profile if you wanna comment! thanks!!

UPDATE: aha! scared DPB into it!!

you can "get" AND "give" at the same time:

mom sez that when ya wanna treat yourself, this is a good place 'cause it treats lotsa ofurr folks to foods they need when you buys something. an' here are some examples of the goodies you can get--but there's LOTS more! please encourage your furriends and fambly to look at the site, and buy something if they can!

(fake) fur furriends

mom found this place on line an' thought some of you or your beans might like it!

nitro defends himself on 13 points

aCOURSE i do these things; i'm a kitty, ain't i?

   1. sleep on ed. there's no one fluffier in the house to sleep on!
   2. pounce ed until he hollers. ahhhhh, that ain't hard. he's a sissy, for all his girth and bluster.
   3. put the bitey on nels. because he runs slowest.
   4. walk through the kitchen yowling for no reason. makes mom & dad wonder what i'm up to.
   5. chase nelson, ed, and xing, and eat their foods. why not? they hardly feed me enough; and besides, usually porker ed noses me outta my kibbles before he's finished with his, so i just get even!
   6. knock mom's earrings on the floor. they're sparkly, they move an' roll around in strange ways, and they're THERE. what more could i ask of a toy?
   7. tinkle in the not-yet-cleaned pottybox while mom cleans the ofurr one. then poop in the clean one. because i'm an equal-opportunity kinda guy.
   8. help himself to any foods left unattended. hey, you snooze, you lose.
   9. wake dad up early efurry day by singin'. i'm NOT singin'--i'm hollerin', 'cause cocoa has me pinned to the door. don't they hear all that bangin' an' thumpin'? what do they think i'm doing? they're tone-deaf if they think that's singin'!!!
  10. wake mom up FURRY early onna the weekend by singin'. ditto; cocoa just seems to want to get up earlier on weekends.
  11. drink mom's coffee while she's not lookin'. see #8. besides, she puts cream in it--what kitty wouldn't go after that??
  12. chase the red dot up ofurr cocoa's head. cocoa just LOVES surprises, so i do what i can to accomodate her!
  13. play wif mom's makeup when she leaves it out on the sink. no, i'm not tryin' it on--it's just that i can't help battin' around all those nice roll-y pots and tubes. if she doesn't want me to do it, she shouldn't leave them around!! she doesn't leave her shoes out where cocoa can chew them, does she? nope. i rest my case.

HAPPY OCCASION!!!

HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY, KAT! thanks for acres and acres of puddy-tat pictures--efurry one a winner. just like YOU!!
PURRS AND HEADBONKS FROM ALL THE MEOWERS!

about that fur growing in different . . .

here's our woofie buddy, felix. (his ears has medicine on them, so they looks kinda straggly, but he's a cute fluffy boy when they don't has the yucky stuff on 'em.)
he had an owie on his tail, an' when the furs grew back, they was 'way darker than it was before! so it's not just us kitties that happens to.

P&P

we can't be at the purrayer & purraise bloggie later, but here's our candle mom lighted while we remembered furrriends who have gone to the bridge, furriends who need healing in mind and body, furriends who need other kindsa help, and in purraise for nels' continued improved health and the nice vet lady who helped him!!

thursday thirteen

things nitro likes to do:

   1. sleep on ed.
   2. pounce ed until he hollers.
   3. put the bitey on nels.
   4. walk through the kitchen yowling for no reason.
   5. chase nelson, ed, and xing, and eat their foods.
   6. knock mom's earrings on the floor.
   7. tinkle in the not-yet-cleaned pottybox while mom cleans the ofurr one. then poop in the clean one.
   8. help himself to any foods left unattended.
   9. wake dad up early efurry day by singin'.
  10. wake mom up FURRY early onna the weekend by singin'.
  11. drink mom's coffee while she's not lookin'.
  12. chase the red dot up ofurr cocoa's head.
  13. play wif mom's makeup when she leaves it out on the sink.

wonderful wednesday

this is dedicated to my sweetie girl. . . nose-kisses from your ed!(mom's learning "the gimp" graphics software, so edmund asked her to make this for her first project)

turrible tuesday

no matter how bad things are going for YOU, consider this poor kitty's day!this is THE most PO'd kitty we've efurr seen!

no pinching allowed!!

hugs & kitty kisses to all of you!
--the o'meower clan

friday feast!

looky! looky! it said it was a "feast for cats", so mom's ordered this for us--we can't WAIT for it to come!!!

furrsday furrteen

random things we has thunk or learned about fur:

  1.   if you have light-colored fur, your beans will always wear dark clothes.
  2.   sometimes birdies line their nests wif furs that outside critters has shedded.
  3.   bunnies' furs can be improved by giving them linoleic acid on their food, just like kitties!
  4.   fur is tickly, 'specially on/in the nose!
  5.   fur can change color: grandma's black kitty had her arm shaved for an i.v., and when it grew back, it was WHITE!
  6.   a little fur in the dinner plate nefurr hurt nobean.
  7.   a polar bear's furs are really colorless, not white. they looks white because the air spaces inside the furs scatter light of all colors, an' all that's left is white.
  8.   some seasonal fur grows out in a different color (like midnight's ruff, or buns who have white furs in winter and brownish in summer for camoflage).
  9.   some beans' head fur is different from their face fur--mom's cousin curt has yellow furs on his head, but if he grows face fur, it's ORANGE!
10.   glue manufacturers are studying the sticking properties of kitty underfur to see if they can find a clue to better glue ;-)
11.   some beans spin yarn out of woofies', kitties', and buns' underfurs, and knit and crochet clotheses from them--they are just jealous 'cause they don't have furs themselves!! see?
12.   a cross-section of naturally curly fur is elongated and rectangular. wavy fur tends to an oval shape, while straight fur is almost perfectly round.
13.   we shouldn't judge a kitty or a woofie or a bean or nuthin' by whether they gots furs or not--gosh, look at our sphynx furriends, our cheehooahhooah furriends, and our dad! all of them are furry fine critters!

wacky wednesday: short subject

nitro sings for ravioli

we has entered the acatemy awards!

we has posted our "opening the care package" AND edmund has re-cut his "valentine to Miss Midnight" movie--the way he wishes he could have done it the FIRST time. go see!

an' if you're a kitty or bean "trekkie", you will like today's Two Lumps comic!

MOVIE MONDAY: we opens our care package!

mom finally got herself together and finished editing our raw paw-age, and here it is. sorry it took so long, cousin pam!! *nose kisses all around* we thank you again!
we are still enjoying some of the treats and even the fev-ver toys that mom has managed to save from the dawg's jaws!

HUGS!

we love the idea of tagging cats to hug others, so:

HUGS TO ALL OUR READERS!!

we are furry sorry that there are bad feelings, and hope those go away, permanently and forefurr, furry furry soon! we loves our blogosphere, and wants it the way it useta be!!

am i a cattibal?

yesterday, My Mommy and Daddy had some 'licious-smelling food. we sat nicely, waiting. then they gave me a piece and i scarfed it down--it was WONderful!! they gave me anofurr. more wonderfulness!! then i saw all the boycats laughing at me. they were yellin', "xing is a cattibal, xing is a cattibal! don't you know what you're eating??? it's CATfish! CATfish!!"

i ran away in tears. did i really eat something CAT?????

a blustery day . . .

we hasn't had any of the ice or snow that weather people are talking about in the midwest, but oh, my! the wind!! it has gusted between 45 and 50 miles per hour, which means if we'd been flying the kites that mom's so fond of, we would have waved at toby in boston as we flew overhead several hours ago, and would be well on our way to visiting our buddies eric & flynn, and fat eric across the pond (if we din't get dropped into the sea)!!

now I had to go to the vet!

I AM SO ANGRY!!! those rotten brofurs of mine (i won't mention any names, but their initials are edmund and nitro) always chase me, tag-team me, gang up on me. they hiss, they yowl, they scratch. all they efurr get is my hinderparts, 'cause i'm faster than them, but darn it! a couple days ago, one of them (i don't know who) BIT me in my BEEhine, and today i hadda go to see dr. flathers acause of it. (nels is right, she IS furry nice, but she's quite a bit bigger than my dainty 7# 4 oz).

if it's sunny outside, My Mommy always lets me go sleep in the window in their bedroom when she comes home at lunch. that way, i have a nice warm perch and she closes the door, so i get a rest from the evil ones. well, today, as i was settling into my nest there, she stroked me from my nose all the way down to my tail, as she always does, and her thumb found a mooshy spot just to the left of the base of my tail. it was REALLY mooshy, and i didn't want her touching it, but i didn't bite or growl. it just felt funny. she said my ears and nose felt hot, and thought i had a fever, so she called Angel Animal Hospital and made an appointment for me. good thing there was one open at 5:00.

so out came my pretty brown, soft carrier. when My Mommy came home at 4:50, i crawled right in it, and off we went in her green machine that she calls guinevere. the vet aide did that indescribably rude thing, and said i had a fever of 103.2, and actually, i DID feel a little warm. too warm to be comfortable on that cold metal table, so My Mommy put me back in my nice soft cozy den until dr. jane came in to see me. she looked at my owie and said, "do the other cats bother her?" hah! as if "bothering" were the only thing! she said, "this looks like an abscess. would you mind if i shaved off some of this fur (*oh, no! my lovely fluff!!!*) and expressed that gunk out of there?" My Mommy said SHE didn't mind, but she was sure I would! and i did, but i didn't bite or holler, just squirmed a lot.

so now i am at home, and i still love My Mommy. i'm purring while sittin' on her lap to type this. she knows just how to cuddle me. an' she loves me, even if i have a bare patch on my lovely soft fluffy BEEhine. i have to take a pill every morning and evening to kill off the nasty germs that made me sick. see? i always KNEW boycats had cooties, and this is the proof!! rotten boycats.

peevishly yours, xing lu

peeyes: ed is sitting on top of the puter box, trying to put the bitey on the power cord where it goes into the box. My Mommy's afraid of shooting him with the water gun acause of the electrics, but i say, GO FOR IT!! serve him right. miss midnight, you should have a talk with that boy! --x.l.

wacky wednesday

O SOLE MEEEEEEEYOWWWWWWWW . . .

another nelson "adventure"

i had a furry trying day yesterday. part of it's pretty hazy in my memory; the other kitties tell me i chased an invisible monster round and round until i was tired and lay down, and then mom and dad just petted me and kept me warm with a blankie. they kept saying something about "seizing", but they didn't grab me at all, so i don't think it was me they were talking about. mom told me at one time that it was ok to leave if i needed to, but i REALLY didn't feel up to going anywhere! i kept thinking at them that they should get the license plate of the truck that hit me. they just didn't hear me, though, so i guess the damn guy will get away with it. odd that someone drove through our living room and nobody noticed but me. mom wiped my mouth with a tissue and dad sponged up a few pee dribbles; i don't remember doing THAT, either, but i sure felt wobbly.

after they let me rest a bit, they shined a flashlight in my eyes, pried open my mouth and inspected my gums, bent my feets and hips and legs, made noises and wiggled their fingers at me--as if i hadn't had enough annoyance already! i seem to remember a man doing that to me before in a furry cold room. but that musta been a dream. . .

after a long rest, i got up and walked carefully over to my spot behind the woodstove and napped for a quite a time. later on, i got up and went to the Uncle Eeker Memorial Cat Window and Perch in the kitchen, where my food plate and water bowl are, and hollered until someone paid attention and gave me stuff to eat. gosh, beans can be thick sometimes. but i began to feel pretty much like my old self then.

i showed up for supper, too, and even asked for second supper (like a hobbit--after all, i DO have hairy toes) -- and they GAVE me some! so i had a long slumber but was up at the crack of 5:15 dancing for my kibble this morning. i don't know why dad was so glad to see me--usually he's pretty grouchy about it.

but tonight when mom and dad came home, instead of supper like usual, i got bundled unceremoniously into the brown PTU and hauled off to the v.e.t. our favorite lady doc, dr. harders, was at a veterinary convention in las vegas (yeah, sure) ;-) ;-) ;-), so we met dr. jane flathers; she is furry nice, too, and not much bigger than me! well, ok, a little bigger. she listened to my heart for a long time, and finally said that in light of the previous episode and symptoms, and the fact that cats rarely develop epilepsy--especially in geezerhood--she felt that my sickness was due to not enough blood getting pushed out of my heart. so she prescribed a medicine that will help my heart push. now we'll wait and see. i hope it works; i really was tired after yesterday, and i now and then i need energy to whip up on ed and nitro when they get cheeky!

when we got home, we all got special stinky goodness and i got some mixed with my KD. it was yummy!! then i rested lots more, and mom poked that damn pill down my gullet. she told me to be happy it was only a half-pill, since i only weigh 9.75#. so that's my story, and i'm stickin' to it.

thanks for all your purrs and purrrayers, furriends, and i hope you will continue. mom & dad like their kitties to last until they're 20, so they get their "money's worth", an' that means i gotta stick around for at least 3 more years! (i don't get that "money's worth" phrase, either. dad got me for free while i was mousing in their warehouse--WHAT money?)

purrs, nels

the meowers wish all their furriends . . .

toesie tuesday

here are my lovely toesies! i hardly ever get a chance to groom them uninterrupted, but this time it was only My Mommy with her flashy-box, so i allowed it. if my face looks a little blurred and pinkish--that's 'cause my tongue is faster than the flashy-box! meows to you all!!

xingxing

MOM ROBYN'S THE GREATEST!!!

YAY FOR MOM ROBYN! SHE MAKES US LAUGH - SHE POSTS FUN STUFF - SHE MAKES BEAUTYFUL JEWELERY - SHE PRETTIES UP WEB PAGES - SHE CONTRIBUTES HER SUPER-HANDY ABILITIES WIF GRAFFICS TO MAKE PRETTY BADGES AN' CALENDARS - SHE ALLUS LENDS HER HELPING, HEALING HANDS TO THOSE WHO NEED HER - SHE'S SUPER-ROBYN!!!!
an' all us meowers in missouri think she's swell. if we could whip around graffics like she can, your eyeballs would be spinning by now from the magnificence of this post. but we can't. so all we could do was cop the badge above an' post it, but that doesn't diminish the love and admiration we has for her!

THANK YOU, MOM ROBYN, JUST FOR BEING YOU!!

ed's valentine poem to miss midnight

Sweetest Middie, kitty mine,
Won't you be my Valentine?
Every time we cuddles up,
Eye to eye and fluff to fluff,
Tingles tickle all my toes,
Electric pink my wiggly nose glows!
Soft and plumy, your tail waves
The feline invite catboys crave--
My manly whiskers twitch 'n' wriggle,
I just melt and start to giggle!
Darling sugar, honey-pie,
Dainty goddess, golden-eyed,
I offer you my endless purrs--
Efurrything I have is yours!

(you can see the video featuring this poem at skeezix's vd contest.)
(special thanks to kc & missy's mom for helping mom get me middie's post up in time!!)

amazing, happy-ending story

Cat who disappeared after Dec. 31 Missouri accident found
ASSOCIATED PRESS
02/02/2007

BETHANY, Mo. (AP) -- A regional effort to find a cat who became lost when its caretakers died in a car accident more than a month ago has come to a happy ending.

Frankie the cat, a lilac-point Siamese male, was found Wednesday, hungry but healthy near the site of an accident that killed his keepers, Dale and Forrest Weber, on New Year's Eve.

Making the story even happier, Frankie's owner, Ben Miller, the Webers' grandson, got word his cat had been recovered less than a week before he was scheduled to return to duty in Iraq.

Plans were being made Friday to fly Frankie home to Miller in Oconto, Wis. Miller's mother, Jackie Miller, said she is preparing a "welcome-home party for the cat" before her son heads back to Iraq on Thursday.

The Webers were on their way home to Wisconsin when they were killed in a three-car crash on Interstate 35 north of Bethany. Frankie escaped from a broken carrier, and no one was aware that a cat was involved until the Webers's family called law enforcement a couple of days after the crash.

That call prompted media stories, which led to search parties from as far away as Kansas City. Frankie posters were plastered around Bethany and several sightings kept hope alive that the cat might be found.

That's what happened Wednesday, when Bill Pierce saw Frankie sitting under the I-35 overpass about 50 yards from the accident site.

Pierce, who lives less than two miles from the site, said he slammed on his brakes, got out of his vehicle, crouched down and called Frankie by name. The cat came right to him.

"He was just sitting there acting kind of cold and bewildered-looking," Pierce said. "He was glad to see somebody, I think. He was crawling on my shoulders and everything else."

Pierce took Frankie home, where the cat gorged on two cans of tuna and a can of pet food.

"You can count every rib on him," said Pierce's wife, Teresa. "It's amazing that he's still alive."

Ben Miller, who took an extended leave from Iraq after his grandparents' funeral, said he had mostly given up hope that Frankie would be found. He said he was astonished by the effort Bethany residents made to find his cat.

"To do that for a complete stranger and under the circumstances," he said, "it's probably the best thing that's happened to me since I've been back."

the LAST of the ice pictures, i promise!

mmm sez:

first, though, a picture of nelson and the poodle-cut on his leg fur. he seems back to normal, for which we are ALL thankful! the angle of the light makes his undercarriage and paws seem yellow, but they're not. (note the food debris. what pigs cats are when they eat; amazing, for what are supposed to be such fastidious creatures;-) not to mention how they polish each other's bowls for whatever crumbs of food might be left behind. you think they'd do that to the surrounding area, too, but evidently "out of bowl, out of mind." well, most of 'em are a little of that last, anyway.)

the "crystal cave" of branches that fell on our west fence; they were behind me, too, like a real cave!

devastating beauty (biggify to see the destruction parts piled at the side of the road)

crystal chandeliers

not perzactly ice cream, eh, cocoa?

now this you don't see often: two rows of ice have melted and pulled away from the fence they formed on, but kept their shape, sagging from their own weight!

(almost) wordless widebody wednesday!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

follow-up on nelson

ed sez: this morning, mom took nels to our regular vet, dr shelly harders at angel animal hospital, and she agreed with what the emergency vet said. she thinks a course of watchful waiting will be the most prudent, and so we'll watch him like always (which makes him nervous!) and wait. it may have been a one-time event when two neurons had a head-on crash. it's prolly not epielepsie, she sez, cause mostly only dawgs get that. so we is hoping and purrrayin', and thanks you for doin' the very same!!!

GOODEST NEWS!!!!

xingxing sez: our great g*d is spectacularly good!!!!! NELSON GOT A FURRY GOOD REPORT from the vet, and WILL BE COMING HOME later this afternoon---to a house WITH POWER!!! My Mommy will type the technical stuff now, 'cause i don't unnerstand it, but i wanted to be the first to blog the news!

mom sez: the e.r. vet said it was prolly a seizure, not a vascular event, and there doesn't seem to be any neurological or other impairment. they did a chem panel and only two readings were slightly above normal. ofurrwise, he was within normal ranges for a geezer cat. he does have a heart murmur (scoring 3 on a scale of 6), which could be tied into it, but he has prolly had that for years, along with the congestive heart failure, for which he eats k.d. feline, and has never had any more trouble with that since it was identified and treated. the e.r. vet sez that seizures are by no means as common in cats as in dogs, and rarely repeat unless they are tied to a brain tumor or some other dreadful thing, which we are hoping and purrraying not. we will take him to our regular vet tomorrow for a follow up. WHHHHHHEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!

nitro: at 11:49 this morning, we gots "the juice" (as dad sez) for our ceiling fan to blow all the warm airs down from the ceiling again, so we are toasty warm. an' nobody's even tried to sit in nel's chair--we been really good, acause mom and dad's eyes been leakin' so much. we sat on 'em as much as possible (the beans, not their eyes) and cuddled for all we're worth an' it's worked pretty well. but sometimes they started leakin' again and cuddled us a little harder than necessary. oh, well. we're glad nels is comin' home!

edmund: we thanks each and efurry bean and furperson who has sent purrrayers and purrs and healing and energy to our older brofurr!!! we thanks you from the bottom of our furry little hearts. it has worked!!! you are all our fambly, now an' furrefurr!! nose kisses and warmest of purrs to you all!

mom: we are so humbled at y'all's response--it's almost overwhelming. i don't know if i'll ever be able to answer you all personally, but i will try. the sweetness of your love will stay with us a long, long time. thank you, each and all.

HELP! PURRRAYERS NEEDED FOR NELS!

nelson john lapurr (pierce) has had a stroke or seizure. he is at the emergency vet right now (saturday, 20th, 4:00 p.m. central time), under close watch. the vet will call this evening around 8:00 to give a progress report, but unfortunately we still have no power, so will be unable to communicate what he says to you. i'm sending from grandma's house just now, but will be leaving soon.

they are doing blood tests on him, and sending them to the lab. nels seemed to be doing better the longer we were at the vet, so that's a hopeful sign. PLEASE PURRRAY and purr and send good vibes and all such things his way!!!! we'll be in touch as soon as possible!

nope; not EVEN yet.

biggify pix for best viewoutside work at 7:45 a.m.

some icy grass

an artsy sepia shot for those of you who like that . . .

thursday thirteen

(phoned in to mom at work)

why ice storms are not good for kitties:

1. our potty room is furry, furry cold.
2. there are enchanting shadows on the ceiling from the candles & lamps, and we can’t catch them.
3. mom won’t let us sit on the kitchen table while she reads, ‘cause she’s “nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs” that we’ll swish our tails in the candle flames. (OK, I don’t guess we’d like it either.).
4. oil lamp fumes stink ferociously bad, even to a kitty
5. beans get grumpier the longer they’re without power.
6. we get stepped on more frequently, ‘cause lamp- and candle-light aren’t enough to see us by (poor beans, with their insufficient eyesight—not like US!)
7. laps go vertical—frequently without warning—as the beans get up to go toast their butts against the woodstove.
8. there are no warm windowsills for sunning.
9. there is no sun for sunning. period.
10. our suppers are below par on preparation and presentation – again with the poor lighting excuse!
11. that brown cow, cocoa, is feistier than efurr when she comes back inside from a potty trip and chases us with more vim, vigor, and vitality than is good for us.
12. nelson hogs the chair closest to the woodstove—he only leaves to eat and go potty, and if one of us gets into the chair while he’s gone, he rousts us!

And worst of all:
13. WE CAN’T VISIT OUR BLOGGIE FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we’s thinkin’ of yas all, and wonderin’ what’s going on in the blogosphere. mom has read all y’all’s comments and told us about ‘em, but it’s nefurr the same as really seein’ ‘em for yourself! an’ she can’t take the time at work to explore bloggies, so we don’t get much news. we’ll be back eventually, though!

purrs,
nels, ed, nitro, and xingxing

insult to injury

(the kitties promise to phone in a Thursday Thirteen after they wake up a bit)

Yesterday's headline: "Recovery Begins!"
Today's headline: "Pace of restoring power will slow, City warns". big whoop. how can no progress get slower? i was so peevish upon reading that, i forewent reading the rest of the article, lest i declare an amok and run about with a kris between my teeth.

and btw, i must mention our newspaper carrier, kenny, who has delivered a paper every single day throughout this whole wretched time! kudos!! unlike the "neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night" guys, who finally showed up about 5:30 yesterday for the first time.

i am so frustrated, i feel like max the psychokitty: i wanna bite things!!!! no targets better present themselves within' chompin' range, that's all i can say.

and from our local on-line version of the one professional TV station in town:

WINTER- ROUND 2
Watch for falling water drops today... and trees and power lines, too. As the Ozarks fencerows and ornamentals begin to lose the hundreds of pounds of ice they're holding... the urban forests will try to right themselves, adding another tug to stressed pole and power lines. I wouldn't be surprised to see more outages as a result of the movement today. There's also a breeze. The Westerlies have been a bit gusty this morning, and while that's adding to the warm up... it's also adding stress to the icy situation. Highs this Thursday will warm into the mid to upper 30s under heavy clouds.

Just when the melting begins... signs of another winter storm is on the horizon!

For Southern Missouri, look for 3 to 6 inches of snow. In Northwest Arkansas, snow may be the predominant type of precipitation... but East of Eureka Springs to Harrison, the mixture could include rain, changing to freezing rain... then to sleet, perhaps ending with some snow.

Light snow showers and flurries will continue into Sunday... with flakey leftovers continuing on Monday.

as cap'n jack sparrow would say, "oh, bugger."

nope, not yet

power at home, that is. i always say, if there were railroad tracks nearby, our neighborhood would be "on the wrong side" of 'em. the west side is old and poor, and we just don't rate on the city's services list. so we do for ourselves. pfui! i just now see i saved these darn pictures as black and white. well, they weren't much more than that, anyway. this is what it looks like at our house:the twig itself is on the "0" of the ruler, and if you biggify the picture, you can see the southern edge of the ice is on the 1".

good thing i hadn't left any laundry outside!

you can see how long the tree struggled to keep its branches upright by the length of the sideways icicles--and the drip trails that formed after the tree had surrendered.

in again, out again

mm sez:

we have had power and phone/internet at work until about 11:30 this a.m. when the phones went bye-bye. about 30 minutes ago, the power went away. now it's back. no telling what will happen in the future . . .

the voice of the chainsaw is heard in our land . . .

meower mom broadcasting from work:

although STILL without power, we are doing ok. the "fridge" is right out on the front porch. we have long metal forks from the camping gear to make toast and hot dogs with when the woodstove is down to coals, and soup, etc heats nicely on top of it. it was just blistering cold last night, though. we got out tom's polar-rated oversize sleeping bag, zipped it open, and used it for another comforter on the bed. nitro and xing snuck into the bedroom, too, but with my allergies, that's verboten--so there was a lively chase until we convinced them both that they would be MUCH warmer in the living room! *sigh* why couldn't this have been my beloved SNOW?!? sun's out this morning, but hazy; temp was 5 degrees fahrenheit on our carport.

the Boy stopped by last night. he finally knuckled under, took his kitty (powder) and went to grandma & grandpa's. of course, by that time, THEY didn't have power either, but they have tons of quilts, a gas fireplace, a bbq grill built into the back (outside) of their fireplace sharing the chimney, and a screen porch around that, so at least they have ready access to real cookspace where they won't get snowed or iced on. we haven't been desperate enough to fire up the propane grill out on the carport yet, but if power doesn't come soon, it may come to that! we give SERIOUS thanks to g*d that the 2nd and 3rd waves of the storm were not even close to as severe as had been forecast!

we are fortunate to have always lived a bit on the rustic side at home (with the woodstove, clotheslines, garden, camping and scouting, etc). our accumulated old-timey tools and ways rendered this time a bit easier for us. we've always sincerely admired the folks who lived through the frontier (and earlier) days, and collected, studied (and in some cases, made and tried) the things that allowed them to do so. it's very satisfying to feel that connection going back, in some cases, to the middle ages--realizing your flesh-and-blood ancestors had done the very same things you are doing, in the very same way, with the very same motions, is just awe-some.

thanks so much for the cheerful well-wishes and purrs and purrrayers. it was very nice to log on at work this morning (i was here yesterday, too, but although there was light and heat, there was no phone service or internet) and see how kind everyone has been to purrray, purr, and wish the best for us. please continue to remember all those who are still without light and heat! the city power company says that "only" 35,000 remain without electricity. allow me to say, "bah. humbug."

ICEBOUND, Part the Second

meower mom again: posting from grandma & grandpa's on the southeast side of springfield, where they din't have near the breakage we did (although the lights flickered twice during lunch today).


it's worse today, although yesterday's aggregation of wetness was not as severe. we are battening our hatches, though; a friend from joplin (70 mi west of here) just told us it had begun to sleet there, so it's comin'. and wind, we hear, will be in the mix, too. devastating for ice-laden trees and poles and power lines.

this morning's paper (yay for the paper guy---boo for the mailman, who din't make it yesterday) now says upwards of 65,000 are without power, and several of the little hamlets nearby are 90%=100% without power too. you couldn't buy a generator in town for love AND money. there's no power at tom's store anymore.

plenty of 'nip and food. top of woodstove warm enuf for instant coffee and cocoa, heating soup and canned stew, so we'll be fine. the deadly dullness will kill us, if anything. painted my nails by candlelight, re-read "snowbound" for the millionth time. napped. kitties like that!!

all for now. don't know if will get to a puter tomorrow or not. thanks millions to all who are praying and purring and wishing us well. we'll make it fine; pray for those who aren't so well off!

ICEBOUND!!

meower mom sez:

ice. oh, yeah. whatever you've seen on the weather channel about southwest missouri in the ice storm is probably true--and the reality is probably even worse. i'm writing this from tom's store on the southwest edge of springfield. up on the northwest side, we went off the power grid about 8:50 last night, and we're not back yet. our kid's on the east side, also with out power, nor does his girlfriend house, so we expect them over at our place later, where at least it's warm. i guess we can play UNO by lamplight. the inlaws are o.k. my workplace is without power; we drove by and the lines to the building were sagging within an inch of the ground. but not that it matters--there were NO buildings with power between our home and my work.

except for fact that buildings are still standing, you would think this was a war zone. torn trees everywhere. there were 3 places east of us on our street with trees or big limbs in the street. and 2 places to the west. people were out with chainsaws by 7:30 this morning.

our morning paper (delivery of which is a testament to a driver who evidently took the postal letter carrier's oath) said that 50,000 were without power, but by the look of the tour we made to get here, i'd have to believe that was FAR below the reality.

anyway, even if we're without power for a couple of days, we won't starve. got lots of peanut butter and crackers;-) and thanks g*d, a wood stove, oil lamps, and candles! this is an inconvenience for us, but disaster for so many who did not (or could not) get out beforehand to buy supplies, and who depend on electricity for heat. our shelters are filling up. please pray for all those who are without--and especially for those who for whatever reason live outdoors, both 2-legged and 4-legged.

now that tom's had his coffee fix, we're going to get out of here and back home before much longer . . . the roads (once you've got past the downed trees and lines) are not even slick, just wet. but that will change, now that it's been in the 20s for a considerable amount of hours.

i will blog the whole story (with pictures, even!) when we are back on power, but since it is beginning to rain again (and it's only 28 degrees), and another inch of ice is forecast for today--and sleet, ice, and snow for tomorrow. lovely; simply lovely. great weather for polar bears.

hope y'all are having better weather than we are! see you online soon, i hope!! i think i'll sign off with those immortal words of Mr. Red Green:

keep yer stick on the ice! (not a problem here, red!)

we're still here!

nitro sez:

mom's been drefful busy at work lately, so we has been pretty scarce around these parts. let's do a quick catch-up:

xingxing's scabbies and fleasers are all gone, an' she's tapering off the medication. the boo-boo on her lip is almost gone, too! an' mom's found out that xing really LIKES being handled and brushed or combed. luna sent a brush in xing's secret paw package, and that's her favorite! but g*d forbid one of us boys should try to groom her--there'd be new scabs, and not on her!

ed is relentless in his pursuit of nip. mom caught him tryin' to jimmy open the cabinet door where she hides it. he was read the miranda, but it din't really worry him much. i caught him doin' it again after she left for work! right now, he's sittin' infront of the computer face, staring at xing where she's tryin' to be unobtrusive in the bookcase. mom can't see the screen at all.

nelson's doin' fine on his glucosamine supplement, an' mom thinks his spindly little bee-hine is maybe fillin' in a bit, since he's moving around a bit more. we guesses that's because it doesn't hurt quite so much. he's even gotten into the tinsel-wand play in the evening.

and speaking of the tinsel wand--xingxing has started to play with it! a lot. she has nefurr played with ANYTHING before! and she'll even jump after it if I am already playing with it!! maybe that means someday we'll be furriends. i sure wish so; i want to play all the time, and nokitty will oblige me. just that clunky dawg who smooshes me in her efforts to be friendly.

ofurrwise, there's not been much goin' on here--mom and dad works hard all day, and dad's puttin' in some extra hours to get ready for the yearly home show. his work is selling plumming. (we thought for a long time that he sold fruit, but now we know it means the tubes that the cool water we drink comes from!) mom sez she's a minion; we kinda thought that was the vegetubble we can't eat (funny how we relates efurrything to food;-) but she's really a helper who types and prints and phones stuff for a man named jeff. they make puters at her work, but she doesn't do that part.

efurry day, we are remembering all those kitties and dawgs and beans among us who needs help and healing--we purrs an' purrrays regular for them all. an' for all of us who don't SAY they needs help, too. an' for all of us who is doin' OK, even!! we loves our furriends, and hopes the furry best for each an' all.

the LAST of the secret paw pictures

do please scroll down--there are several posts about our paw loot! it's taken mom a l-o-n-g while to get herself together and get it ready to post.
now you know why some of the videos that follow are smeary!! thanks, nitro.
as far as mom remembers, this was nelson's secret paw. he wasn't feeling furry perky that day, so he deputized ed & nitro to do the honors. they did, and with a right good will!
MUST. HAVE. FEV-VERS. MUST HAVE FEV-VERS! MUST HAVE FEV-VERS!!!
ed discovers the luxury of soft catnip puffs!

mom din't feel furry good the day edmund's paw got opened and couldn't remember where the camera was, so we're sorry there's no pictures or video of those festivities. but we sure had a good time wif all the mousies and catnip and treats!!

xingxing's secret paw

here xing investigates her pressies from her secret paw, luna. then she gets distracted by a squirrel she sees through the bedroom window. (well, wouldn't you?)

and here are all the goodies by themselves (mostly, with a couple cameo appearances by xing herself). efurrything from a home made fluffy ball to boughten toys to yummy treats & food (even for the beans) and a package of dried fishes!! that's why mom let xing explore her paw goodies by herself--the boys were sniffing around the envelope like circling wolfers, hoping for some of whatever smelled so enticing. yes, xing shared later at supper--and they ALL fell on those fishes like wolfers! yum!! YAY, LUNA!! thanks again!

secret paw joys, part 2!!

nitro whips up on the fev-ver wand he got in his secret paw box from yuki. when mom & dad got tired of holding it for him, he proudly dragged it all ofurr the house! and then the next day, the fev-ver thingy wasn't on it anymore. the jingle bell still is, so we hadda snap on the tinsel thingy to the string, and now he's playin' wif that. we dunno what happened to the fevvers. he worked 'em over really hard and they were showin' their age (1 day!) when last sighted. we din't find any crunched remains, so we don't think cocoa ate it; maybe he hid it for later, or hockeyed it under the frijamerator!

secret paw joys, part 1!

nitro hears the delivery truck pull into the driveway!

ahhhhh! riches beyond measure!

enjoying the first taste of fev-vers!

well-loved fev-vers!

ed's favorite part of nitro's s.p.--he's a glue & tape sniffer! (is yer mom missin' some tape, yuki?)

what a beautiful package xing got from luna--decorated front and back with sparkly stickers!!

an' miss luna was so kind as to include some nougat candy (yum!), and a pretty fan for meower mom--it has a map of the part of spain where luna lives! mom has it displayed in her studio between castanets from puerto rico and cuba.

we doesn't have a fireplace, but we gots a mantle! you may see your card there, but if not, there were lots of ofurr cards on our bookshelves!

two-fer tummy tuesday! (late edition)

nelson and ed sleep off their new year's celebration!

it's mom's fault this is late: she helped us prepare this post last night, but forgot to post it this morning!!

we had a fan-furry-tastic time! (we think . . .)