The kittens are coming!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/scottbrand/ways-to-go-green-without-disrupting-your-life

That cat thinks it's a raccoon.

Weird true story.
I have a little bedside table/chest of drawers that I have had for so long.....despite it having been a cheap, gimcrack thing to begin with.....that I last recall painting it in the eighties!
Anyway, yesterday I opened the top drawer and was unable to close it again. It was stuck almost fully open. I tried everything! I could not find a single reason for it to refuse to close....but refuse to close it did.
Eventually I decided it had been so cheap that I would simply replace it.
I had a friend with me who stayed for a few days, and we popped into the second hand shop in Willunga, a local hamlet. There was a lovely scrubbed wood bedside table/chest of drawers with way more room and beautifully crafted going for a song.
Also, my friend having complained of a lack of bedside lights in the guest bedroom, I found a pair of truly lovely brass bedside lamps....also going for a song....they only need new lampshades because the current ones are ridiculously big.
I arranged for delivery and we went about our happy weekend business.
When we finally got home, I went into my bedroom. There was evidence of woolly mischief, in that a bedside basket was lying overturned with its contents scattered around.
Also, looking perfectly innocent, was my original bedside chest of drawers with the offending stuck drawer closed as though it had never been stuck!
What in hell the cats did to close it I cannot imagine.
Now I have a lovely new and much nicer and more capacious bedside thingy plus the old one, which remains very useful.
GOOOOOOOOOD woollies!

Love this post! Hope they all arrived safe and can find loving homes if not staying with you! Great comedy here by the way, couldn't help but smile.

They have been with me now for over three years. I guess they're staying. ; )

New delivery of toys a reasonable hit.

There's a new small scratching post treat deliverer, which is supposed to help stop furniture scratching. No help with that as Viola hasn't figured out that vigorous scratching of the thing will deliver her a treat. Sebastian prefers more substantial scratching areas but has quickly learned that jumping on it often gives him a treat. Viola has figured out that Sebastian lets HIS treats be stolen by her....so there's certainly interest.


the feather and wire wands are a hit

There are two cheap da bird copies. When real da birds come into the house all hell breaks loose. If I leave the package out it is ripped open and attempts are made to wrest da birds from their plastic tombs. If I put them in a drawer attempts are constantly made to break into the drawer. These copies are lying around unmolested, so we shall see what level of excitement is generated when I open them.

Tonight I managed to buy batteries for a weird toy that consists of a plastic wand with a softer plastic "tail" that fits into a circular piece of the toy that makes the wand rotate and flick around randomly. Over this goes a circular cloth thing, that rustles and moves as the wand flicks around. The tail can be seen as it moves around.

Big hit! There were tears when I turned it off. But I dont want them getting bored with it and also it's pretty flimsy construction, so I don't want Sebastian breaking it!

A final thing is a plastic circular track with a ball in it and cardboard scratching material in the middle, with catnip. They have hated catnip in the past, but seem to have taken to it now, so this one is a moderate success.

I need to rotate toys as you do for kids.

Wish I could train them to put them away!

I'm glad to see that the woollies are being entertained. Many of the things you describe sound like things I had for my cats, especially Mikey the monster cat. The circular thing with the ball inside was a carryover from Miranda. Mikey's feet were too big to fit in the slots. You don't mention flying objects. My felines loved little plastic helicopters. The problem with these is retrieval. I had to fetch.

Thanks for letting us know what's going on with these felines. I always enjoy reading about them. Now I gotta go get ready for the dog visit.

Dog visit day!!! Yay!!!

@dlowan,
Interesting times. Bushfire burning near here and alert says to prepare to evacuate. Had to stay home today because of cats....but will have cat evac plans operational from tonight, so I can drop them off somewhere safe and not miss work!

House pretty much indefensible so it's cest la vie re that. Only I'm upping my contents insurance! Signature
"I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way"...Jessica Rabbitt "Don't provoke the Bunny"....Monty Python "Yes, because nothing says masculinity [better] than getting just the right shade of pink." Kickycan

Yikes and sympathy. (Fire got within four blocks of us once, now long ago)

Is it possible to rent a transport truck and temporarily transport stuff to a storage facility?

In any case, I wish you the best of luck in avoiding the fire.

good grief!

I hope the fires stay well away.

They did.

Probably nobody watching this any more, but here goes.



Dee Lowan
Just now ·
Am I wildly anthropomorphising or did this happen?
This morning Sebastian was walking around the edge of the bath, as is his wont. I was facing away, looking in the mirror, cleaning my teeth.
Now, Sebastian is an extraordinarily loving cat. Also a sook. He sobs if I don't interact with him.....he cries if he's hurt or upset and I don't come and comfort him. He wails if I yell at him, until we make up.
So, I hear a very painful sounding noise from the bath. Sebastian has fallen awkwardly on the bath edge and clearly hurt himself.
He begins to wail and looks very upset.
I look at him via the mirror as he wails and talk to him empathically as one would to a little child. He makes eye contact with me via the mirror. I make empathic noises and look at him with a face that mirrors his pain.
His wails taper down as I continue to mutter soothingly and look tragic for him.
He settles....I smile and blink slowly in a cat smile. He smiles back and settles happily,blinking at me and purring.
Did I just co-regulate the affect of a cat? Via a mirror?!

Yes, there was definitely mirror coregulation. I'm impressed.

What a bunny.

I think the star here is Sebastian. He's a bright little bugger!

So....got the new robot vacuum going yesterday. Sebastian thinks it's the funnest thing. Ongoing reaction to be awaited......

Arrived home tonight to a parcel of woolly joy.......new toys for my little consumers. I have opened one, which is a bunch of enticing feathers and bells on a wire attached to a stick. Oh the joy! Oh the leaping! Oh how we have ignored the very similar da birds because they are OLD. Spoiled little bastards.
I have the left the rest wrapped in their bubble wrap to be enticing and unattainable. Unless they work really hard. Win win as far as I am concerned. I have also hidden the new toy to keep it fresh and desirable for longer. Cats are the perfect capitalist consumer....

feathers and bells? Sounds nice. Can I have one?

Sure.......