And The Winner is......

I was thinking about the ages of the cats today and I believe that Ming is the oldest and then Midge.  Ming was my mother's cat and she had him for about 4 or 5 years.  He was around four years old when she adopted him. Mother passed away and I've had him now for 12 years.  You do the math....he's OLD!
Ming does nothing but sleep, eat and use the box now.  He's usually the first one in the kitchen when it's feeding time though.  Sometimes he even runs to get ahead of another cat.
Here's Ming:

Ming has congestive heart and is unable to eliminate without meds.
















Next in the geriatric lineup is Midge.  I've had her for 16 to 17 years.  I have no idea how old she was when I took her in. She is now on meds for a sluggish Thyroid and has a neurological problem.  She still plays but is slightly unstable on her feet.                                     

Midgey is standing by her favorite rabbit fur mouse toy.  She loves to play with the laser light too.  She won't chase the light but if you shine it on her paws she bites at it.  My favorite way to play with all the cats is to take the laser when I'm tired of playing and run it under a door.  They stand there staring at the bottom of the door for quite a while before they give up and do something else.  That sounds sort of cruel, doesn't it?

On slow days I'll elaborate on the personalities of the fur kids.  Guess what?  It's a slow day, and here's my personality report.

Muttzncatz's Kitchen Stadium

This morning after feeding the cats I started our breakfast. Homer (Lil Chef) was perched on the kitchen cabinets that overlook the stove. I felt like I was on Food Network's Kitchen Stadium set. I don't know why he has to watch everything I cook since he doesn't eat human food. He stood there until I served the food and then he curled up and went to sleep. If you'll notice....the picture of Homer on the left of the page was also taken in the kitchen on the counter.

Take another look at the picture on the right. Notice (bottom right hand corner) that the drawer knob is rubber banded to the cabinet knob. I have all of the bottom cabinets banded together to keep the cats out of them. Mind you, I have child proof locks on every one of them too. I still get up in the morning on occasion and find a cat hidden in one. Sometimes I think it would be easier to have ten two year old kids!

I have a mystery. Victor at the evening feeding (they eat morning and night) spooks and runs under an antique chair that is next to our love seat. I chased him because when he hides I can't find him......... so I thought, Aha! Now I can see where he's hiding. I swear to you......he went under that chair and disappeared! I moved the chair, looked under the love seat, my husband tipped the loveseat almost over and there was no Victor. Three hours later he was standing in the middle of the diningroom. Do we have a timewarp that he has discovered? Maybe there's a Bermuda Triangle here in our livingroom. Victor is still very feral and doesn't even like to be touched plus totally freaks when someone new comes in the door. I have to figure this one out.

Well back to work..I have much to do before Christmas.

Turkey Hangover

Leftovers are wonderful if you're tired of cooking every night. The very best part is...... the cats sleep soundly after a few pieces of Turkey. There haven't even been any major disputes since they were served Turkey for a couple of nights. We have eight male cats (neutered) so there is usually some sort of fighting going on for the alpha position. So far the crown belongs to Paddington with Lamont challenging his credentials.

Homer is looking forward to Christmas for the Prime Rib dinner we cook. We have mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, parsnips, Watergate salad, horseradish sauce, rolls, a green veggie and dessert. We celebrate on Christmas eve every year. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas this year... think we have a chance?

I have to get back to my knitting. I have mittens and a sweater to finish before Christmas. The sweater is for Cherry. It's red, off white and black. She'll look so spiffy in it!

More pictures to come.......I'll try and get pictures of their live theater. (the birdy toes and squirrel tales)

Christmas is headed our way

It's time to drag out all the decorations for Christmas. I have a collection of Snowmen that are coming out first. The cats don't bother anything but the Christmas tree. I shouldn't say cats, it's only Homer that likes to climb the limbs and sleep in the tree. I can't understand why he likes that so much since it's an artificial tree and is super scratchy. It makes my arms break out just putting it together. So far he hasn't broken anything but I'm not holding my breath. I'm going to put it up soon and leave it untrimmed to see if he is still fascinated by it. Pray for my tree...please!

The weather here is still fairly frigid. I bought Cherry (dog) a couple of new sweaters to keep her warm. She has figured out how to squirm out of them. The first sweater I bought her was a small which is tight on her now. This time I bought her medium and she takes it off at will. Is there no happy medium here? No pun intended *snicker*

Yesterday was kind of a bust. I cooked a huge meal and nobody ate much. My son Jeff, and his son AJ came after they had gone to Jeff's dad's house for Thanksgiving. They weren't hungry. My husband Ed, had to get up early so didn't want to eat heavy. Next year there will be no Thanksgiving dinner here. I'm happy that Jeff is finally bonding with his dad so I don't want to whine and stop them from the progress they are making. On the other hand...I'm tired of cooking for three days and throwing away food. Little chef and I worked very hard on that meal.
The cats and dog certainly do enjoy all that Turkey though.

I'm not a black Friday shopper I guess. Today was the day to catch a bargin and I tried to go to Target to see if I could score some icicle lights at a good price. I wanted the kind that actually look like an icicle but have lights in them. There were no parking spaces so I went home. I like shopping online for whatever I need. I can't bear to think about driving around and around looking for a place to park. Then if you get in the store you have to deal with rude people. Thank God for the Internet!

Thanksgiving Countdown

Homer, the youngest of our ten little Indians, thinks he's an understudy for the chef position. He sits on the counter a distance away from me but takes in everything I do. I keep thinking about the Disney movie "Ratatouille". Remy the rat is a "little chef" in the movie. Homer is my little chef. I'm almost tempted to ask him what he thinks sometimes when he looks at me like," what did you do that for?"

Homer's schedule will be a busy one tomorrow since we are baking two pies (one Pumpkin one EggNog Custard) making the Corn pudding and boiling and making the deviled eggs. I'm betting he takes a nap between the pies and the corn pudding. Anyone want the corn pudding recipe? It's a war time dish (WWII). There was meat rationing and so they made dishes like this one. Now it's a darn good side dish for Holiday meals. It has corn meal, tomato sauce, egg, black olives, pimentos. butter and cream style corn.

Thanksgiving day all the cats will be on the couch with Dad who will be watching the parade. Well, at least the ones who don't believe in the sport of birdwatching. They'll be lined up in front of the sliding glass door watching birdie toes and squirrel tails flick and flit accross the decking in search of a morsel of food.....the aroma and warmth of the Turkey cooking wafting through the house making everyone a bit drowsy. That means it's time to make the Waldorf Salad, peel the potatoes, and get the veggies into their pans. No rest for the wicked!

I want to shop for collars for the cats and dog..... but I want colorful leather and crystal ones. I can't find them locally so I may have to shop online. They were, ages ago, easy to find in most any pet shop. There are hardly any pet shops around now. The big chain stores like Petco and PetSmart have taken over.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Thanksgiving week

Here it is Monday and tomorrow I start making the side-dishes and desserts for the big dinner. The animals love Turkey day....in fact.....we call it big Chicky day. Think about it...what do stray cats spend their time doing when they're in the wild? They hunt birds. This is just a big (cooked) bird. By dinner they're worked into a frenzy by the scent of a big juicy cooking bird! We settle down around the table and if you look on the floor....there, lined in a perfect circle are 8 expectant cats with their begging faces on. (The other two are in a separate room because they don't get along with the others.)

Anyway.... with the weather we're having, it really is puting me in the Holiday mood. I'm looking forward to making a big feast and having my son and grandson here to share it. Only an hour ago it looked like we were having a blizzard. Now it's stopped but it's (according to the weather man) going to snow somemore before morning. Fa La La!

Better get back to my knitting (gift for a friend)

Sundays are always a bit slower

Today is Sunday and it's a lazy day. The cats are in their napping places ( that would be their wicker baskets) The weather is chilly and the wind is blowing. Four of the cats retired after a bird and squirrel watching session. I feed the birds on the awning of our deck so the cats have an endless view of little birdie toes to watch. When the squirrels join in the cats have a heart attack.

In this house when they come in they don't get to go out again. I don't want them to be flea ridden or catch some horrid disease. There's really only one that cares to go out. Paddington makes an attempt every so often to break out. That's sort of dumb...... when he gets out he just stands there like, which way do I go?

I'm hoping we can stay away from the Vet for a week or two. We went to St Francis 24 Hour vet hospital (Vancouver, Washington) Friday. Victor's mouth was inflamed again so he had to have a anti-inflamitory shot. He's old and his immune system isn't what it should be and he's allergic to his own enamel on his teeth. We had all but four teeth removed but his body still thinks it has to attack the gums. If anyone in the area needs a vet there are some top notch vets there. Their prices are good too. We drive from Portland to Orchards just to take our pets there.

Comming Soon

I'm going to be puting up some pictures of my fur kids soon. These guys were all strays.
The list is now:

Cats
Lamont-Large blue short hair
Homer-Black long hair
Victor-Maine Coon
Tanner-Yellow Tabby
Fina-Himalayan
Midgey-pastel calico
Ming-Flame point Siamese
Lil Tabby Hunter-Maine Coon
A-Moosey-black short hair
Paddington-Yellow Tabby

And last but not least the dog...Cherry-Terrier/Chihuahua


Sometimes the words just won't come to me because I have Fibromyalgia so just hang in there and I'll straighten everything out that I mess up.

UPDATE

Since I wrote the last blog we gained a cat. I brought in a huge grey cat that is not very young. Since we have been caring for him anyway I figured why not. He does have people down the street but they don't ever let him in or take him to the vet. We have treated him for earmites and given him flea treatments all Summer. Now it's getting cold and we took him in. His name is Lamont. He's a sweet neutered boy and after all....what's one more?

Exploring money making ideas

Here's one of the interesting systems I have stumbled upon while surfing.


http://www.projectpayday.com/go/3172081

You can actually make money on this but it doesn't add up very fast because you spend some to make some.