Hanging Out

Who says cats and dogs can't get along?

Book Pillow

Emu

Do you know what an emu is? This is Maxine gnawing on a BIG emu bone. It was bigger than her face and she had to work really hard to pick it up and trot from here to there eating it.

The question Jimmy always asks when she is eating a big bone is, "Do you think she could take that down in the wild?" Well what do you think?

This is a picture of an emu.

Do you think a cat could take down an emu? Well, that's the rest of the story . . .

That same night at around three in the morning, we were in bed and woke up to the sound of something banging on the floor. I got up to check and see what kind of mischief the gatolinos were in at that late hour. They weren't doing anything! And I couldn't locate the sound. When I got back in bed Jimmy asked what it was and I told him I didn't know. So he says, oh I think I know and gets up, grabs a flashlight, turns off the alarm and goes outside. He comes back. Mystery solved. He flashed the flash light under the house and it was MAC RIB gnawing on that emu bone! So she had found it in the yard and dragged it all the way under the house and as she was chewing on it the bone was knocking the bottom of the house, right underneath the bed!

How she dragged a bone bigger than her is an even bigger mystery!

Stray Cat

Last week we were in old Main Street in the Heights and we ran into this little black stray. She looked like a cross between Felix and Simone. It looked like she lived back behind the brick wall, there was a crack where she could get through. She didn't look very healthy. Life on the street must be pretty rough!

Computer

Sorry I haven't blogged! Someone is always on my computer!

Halloween

It is that time of the year again! The time for black cats to come out at night. Witches (Felix), ghouls (Simone) and imps (Lulu) roaming the Black Radishes club house. This is the time of year we celebrate all the animals birthdays.

Max is turning 7. Felix is 6, Simone 5 and Lulu is just a wee 4. Do you remember when we would post pictures of Lulu when she could barely fill half of the clam? She has grown bigger (although not her head really) and is much more mature. Well, maybe not mature but she has developed a big, endearing personality. Lulu has the best chirp and trill of the whole group. She will always be the little ghost, the one we love the most!

When we first got Simone she was sick and spent a lot of time cuddling with us. That lasted about 48 hours and she has been the lone wolf ever since. Her eating nuances give her a charming if not sometimes gross quality to her. She has the cutest voice and a very coy way of begging for pets but then stepping just a hair away from your reach so you can't quite give them to her. Closet pets are her favorite!

Felix, the oldest and voted most mental for five years in a row (we got him when he was 1 year old). He is definitely the cat most attached to their owner, sometimes in an almost stalkerish way. He has the strongest voice with an almost shrill intonation to it, especially in the morning just about two hours before your alarm goes off. He is also the most indulgent of the cats and enjoys to an almost extreme level evening hour pets on the bed.

That is our Halloween crew - witches, ghouls and imps! Happy Birthday guys! A round of jack mackerel for everyone!

To read more about imps go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imp.

Marley and Succulents

Marley poses here with the new succulent plants we bought today hoping to create a little oasis of plants amid a bunch of rocks in the big aluminum planter we were growing the watermelon.




You probably can't see it, but there is a little cat buddha which will go in the planter as well!

Max vs. Planting Season

Today was my big garden planting day, with temperatures in the mid 70's it was a perfect day for planting a fall garden. A few beans survived Max's pillage a few weeks ago and I planted a new set which are already growing like . . . well beans!

I went out to survey the situation this morning only to find the entire garden dug up AGAIN. I don't know if this is part of the Marley protest or just Maxine being Maxine but I was very sad. Most of the beans made it but certainly none of the seedling lettuce (third try) were left.

This is Maxine, after I planted my new plants and fixed the garden's gate to include more twine in between the tiers, looking like I just spoiled her new favorite trick. I guess in a way, I did!

She quickly moved onto her sand box where she furiously dug!

Marley Stays the Weekend

Can you see Marley in this picture?! She is pretty camouflaged on this gray blanket!

Marley arrived Thursday and she and Max played Thursday night in little spurts. Maxine almost immediately upon Marley's arrival started staying outside and refusing to come inside. She will bark and carry on like she wants to come in but then when you go to let her in she acts defiant and refuses.

Marley has been really good. She settles in well after learning the routine and being asked to behave. Although she is strong willed, she is actually very good with commands and is very obedient. She has stopped jumping up on me and trying to "nip" at me, which is something she does all the time lately at doggie playtime.

We use a gate system so the cats always have free space to roam. Here, they are all holed up in the bedroom appreciating the nuances to laundry day. Marley would really like to play with the cats but that is of coarse not going to happen. She and Felix like to kind of stare each other down across the gate. Lulu seems to be the most fearless. This morning she sauntered into the office where Marley was laying on the bed and Jimmy was working on the computer. He was cautious about the situation and told Marley to stay. Lulu walked in, sniffed Marley's kennel, sauntered up to Jimmy and sat in his lap for awhile. She scamped out soon after and Marley didn't move a muscle.