Waiting for the New Year

The snow is piling up at the front window and 2 of the boys are waiting patiently to see the New Year arrive. (Well, actually, just watching to see who is driving by at this time of the night). It is minus 20 right now with a miserable windchill ..and it makes me think of what it must have been like for Sebastian 3 years ago at this time. He had not yet been rescued by the Humane Society and was living on the street in the east end of the city. Perhaps this was the month he lost a chunk of the fur on his soft little nose..or maybe one of many days when the tip of his ears froze in the cold. Most likely it was just another cold day which made the cracks on his paw pads grow larger and more painful. He has come a long way since we adopted him .... and it feels like he has always been a member of our furry family.

So tonight is a peaceful night at home..with the furry beasties dotted all around. Sebastian is curled up on younger son's bed, Spike has jumped into the box by the front door, Angel is sitting on the arm of the chair (looking over at me), Sadie has settled herself onto hubby's lap ..and the woofie has wiggled in beside me on the couch. Who could ask for a better New Year's Eve celebration?

The Series Continues: Spike in a Box

The scene begins with an old box on its way out to the recycling bin. We made the mistake of leaving it on the floor, expecting to take it outside the next time someone headed out the door. Within a few minutes, Angel quickly jumped inside and made himself comfortable. Well..we all know what happens when Angel finds a "nest" he enjoys...............................................

Yes...it is the master of all "nest nappers" who comes along to check out the new nest! As soon as Angel left the box to head into the kitchen for a bite of food, Spike hopped in and made himself comfortable.

Much as I'd like to toss this box out into the bin, it seems to be a popular spot now..even if only for a few minutes. So...during our travels this morning, we popped into a local pet store and picked up a furry little sleeping pad to tuck inside the box. We came home, put the pad inside the box, grabbed a coffee from the kitchen and then looked for Angel to show him the new cozy box. By the time we had Angel in hand, the box was already occupied by Spike. Argh!

Spike in a basket

This looks like an interesting cat bed.

But it seems a bit too high.

This is better...and I have a nice scratch pad to sit on (at least that is what mum calls it)

I think I have to move further back here. No..that's not quite it.

Aahh..this is better!

What to do on a cold winter's day

Curl up in a nice warm cat bed, of course!
Sadie's sleep has been disturbed by the house photographer. As you can see, she is slowly turning the black cat bed lining to a nice pale shade of white.

Sebastian looks out warily, wondering why someone is invading his space. This bed has been placed on top of the refrigerator - which is one of Sebastian's safe havens away from the reach of the woofie.

Angel has resigned himself to giving up the green cat bed and is now esconced in a small furry brown bed at the end of the couch. (A wee touch of catnip spray did help ease the way!)

Spike is enjoying the spoils of the hunt...stretching out luxuriously in the green cat bed as if to say..."This is mine...all mine....and I will enjoy every square inch of it!"

Romeo returns

Tell me your secrets....the light is shining in your eye and you will tell me.
I am waiting.....
Hey..don't turn away from me!

What are you doing?

Ahh..the evil eye. OK..no more questions!

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Actually the real story starts a frame or two earlier. Romeo informed his mom that he wanted to have an open window to sit at. Within a few minutes of nice fresh air (Montreal cold winter air) Romeo decided he had had enough and needed to warm up. He found a nice cosy spot on a nearby printer and warmed himself up under the overhead light. My friend was able to grab her camera to get these great shots you see above. The light makes Romeo look like a much lighter colored tabby and his green eyes really stand out. The last photo is the most fascinating to me since I can see the depth and variations of the different greens in his eyes.

Sadie enjoying the front window

Sadie loves the smell of fresh air and any window action she can find. She is the first cat to realize a window has been opened (although with this cold weather it will be a door rather than a window). She can be in a sound sleep, curled up in one of the cat beds, when one of us opens the front door - and we barely have it open when she is already sitting up, eyes wide open with her little pink nose sniffing out the elixir. She also loves to curl up on the window seat at the back of the house, patiently looking for any movement outside. Right now she is at the front window, giving the "evil eye" to papabear and his camera for disturbing her concentration.

Introducing Lady Gray

Isn't this such a glorious silver gray cat? Her fur reminds me of Jimmy on Cat's Cats...a most handsome silver gray sweetie. Lady Gray is a new addition to my friend's family. She joins the resident cat in the house - Fergie (yes, the talented kitty walking with the balloon in her mouth http://ourfurryboys.blogspot.com/2009/05/fergie-finishes-playing-and-puts-away.html ).

My friend decided to bring Lady Gray into her family after finding out through her vet that a family who owned Lady Gray had developed allergies to her. As soon as I read this, I thought of "Lucky 13" at Katnip Lounge. The thought of Sylvestor waiting so long at the vet's for a loving family to rescue him was so sad..but fortunately such a happy ending. Lady Gray did not have to wait as long, fortunately. My friend has a wonderful warm heart and this will be another lucky kitty with a forever home.

Leg Warmers

I could use a couple more of these when I am outside...weather here is -29 degrees Celsius, and that doesn't include the impact of the windchill. It would be a great day to stay inside and snuggle with the furry beasties.

(I will admit that when papabear said it was time that we took the woofie for a walk...I responded "We? I think you mean "you"!)

I'll make myself fit into this bed

You might remember this green cat bed from an earlier post ..when we were surprised that Angel managed to fit in. Well..it has been in the house for a few weeks without any interest from Spike. 3 days ago (and coincidentally about the same time Sadie started to sleep in Spike's favorite brown plaid bed) Spike decided to squish his quite large body into the green cat bed. We thought this would be short lived since he really looked quite uncomfortable at the time. However, every day for the past 3 days he has been jumping into this cat bed in the early evening. Right now he is fast asleep with his head and tail hanging out, definitely overflowing. Poor Angel who had claimed the bed for his own is now sitting beside me on the couch, with a not so happy look, occasionally looking over to see if if his bed is available.

What are you doing down there?

Spike often has an inquisitive look on his face, showing his curiosity about the world around him. He could well be looking at me "glued" to my laptop...work, work and more work! Just enough spare time to cuddle a cat or two, take a quick walk with the woofie and then back to the ever growing "To Do" list. I am looking forward to the upcoming holidays where I can enjoy time with family and catch up on my blog reading!

A Matching Set

A question one shouldn't ask is how many pet beds we have in the house. I think I've lost count by now. Just in the living room alone we have three cat beds and one dog bed. Almost every room in the house has a nice sleeping spot for one of the furries.

The woofie's bed is one of my favourites and came from Costco. We bought it because the beautiful soft green matched the house decor..but the woofie wasn't impressed with our sense of colour/style and ignored it for several weeks. Finally, she is starting to use it although it appears to be rather grudgingly sometimes. The cats are more appreciative when she is on her bed because they can race back and forth in the living room without having to scoot around a lounging dog.

When we were out at our regular visit to the Humane Society gift shop the other week, I happened to see a matching cat bed. The inside was fake fur, which our kitties seem to like cuddling up to and the outside microfibre was almost a perfect match to the woofie’s bed. We debated whether our cats would fit into the bed since it looked smaller than the beds we currently have but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to buy one that might actually look like it belongs in the room. When we brought it home, the first one in was Angel. It took him some time to figure out how to fit all of himself into the bed. He started out with a tail and a leg hanging out, then he turned around a few times until he could fit all extremities in. As you can see this photo is from one of his first few attempts! He now has claimed this bed for himself, figuring if he spends much of his time all curled up, then there would be no room for anyone else to climb in.

So how many cat beds does everyone have? I am thinking a ratio of 2 beds to every cat is probably the norm.

Before and After

BEFORE (peacefully asleep in his cat bed)

AFTER (look of annoyance as he sits up and turns towards the person who woke him up)

The Eyes Have It

Angel - with light green eyes

Spike - with his amber eyes. In real life, these are a deep gold colour.

Sebastian - with an odd mix of color. One pure blue eye..the other a greenish gold with a ring of blue around the iris

Sadie - with her tilted green eyes. They are similar in color to Angel's eyes but the shape is so very different and she has a thin white hooding on the inside .She actually tilts her head to look at us so I wonder if she has difficulty seeing clearly.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a great shot of Casper's eyes on Cat's blog. http://catscats-catrina.blogspot.com/2010/10/wordless-wednesday.html

I asked hubby to take photos of our four furries and it surprised me to see how very different each set of cat's eyes look when the rest of the cat is not in sight. For regular readers...can you figure out who is who? Hint...photos have been added in the order each cat joined our family. Nov 15th postscript...names now added!

Sadie is here to stay

Similar to Spike, when Sadie sleeps there is very little that will disturb her. This past week, she tried to stuff herself into a brown fake fur cat bed that we bought at Petcetera. As you can see by the second photo she hasn't quite managed to squeeze all of her into the bed and she is slowly tipping out of the edge. Hubby felt sorry for her and put one of our couch cushions (NOT intended for cats) by the edge of the cat bed so that she wouldn't slide onto the coffee table. Between the time hubby put the cushion beside her, went out to play* on the computer for awhile and then returned to the living room, Sadie had moved over to lie on top of the cushion. Of course, after she finally woke up and climbed down, she left a small present of white fur nicely laid out on top of the cushion!

* hubby maintains he is busy working on the computer not playing

The love of our animals

This past weekend I have been out of town attending a conference and several events (leaving the cats in the care of our youngest son). On Saturday, two of my colleagues were receiving their hard earned and well deserved professional designations and I was particularly touched by the comments they made as part of their recognition of the support they had received along the way. Both recognized the role their pets played in their journey..and it made me think about my own furry family members who give support in their own way. I have probably mentioned that Angel will invariably curl up beside me when it is late at night and I am working on my laptop. He seems to instinctively sense the difference between me watching TV and simply having it on as white noise when I am working - and it is the latter times that he will come to sit beside me. Our woofie is also quite good at staying downstairs with me late evenings - although she will occasionally whine and try to let me know when she thinks it is time to head off to bed (she then gives up and comes back to sit by my feet!) It can be quite lonely at 2 AM when the house is quiet and every one else is in bed ...so the company is much appreciated.

The Watch Cat

A new little baby..and already there is a guardian cat on the job! One of my friends at work is celebrating a new grandchild and had this wonderful photo to show me. The last time I saw this handsome furry was when he was a small kitty just being welcomed into his new family. My friend says her daughter's himmie is well behaved and is very careful when settling in beside the new baby.

The New Face In Town

Check out this new cutie at http://houseofmanycats.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-face-in-town.html Laura at A Life of Many Cats has added a beautiful new lady cat, Khia, to her household. Khia has a marvellous "coat of many colours" and has such beautiful green eyes. I am looking forward to seeing many more photos of this sweetie.

Testing out the sleeping areas

Our new little Sadie lady is testing out potential sleeping spaces. The first option was OK..but Spike kept coming over to sniff her with she curled up in this cat bed. The second option was the couch in the living room - and we found Sadie fast asleep looking oh so comfortable. She loves to stretch her paws out whenever she is lying down. Surprisingly, her paws are almost the same size as Spike's….which is unexpected for a little ladycat.

As we spend more time with her, we are better able to observe the characteristics which make her different from the boys..and those that are similar. She seems to be most like Angel in temperament and actions. The other day when I had my shower, I opened the shower curtain to step out and expected to see Angel sitting comfortably on the clothes basket (he loves the sound of water). But this time it was Sadie who was curled up on the bathroom mat with her head stretched out on my pajamas!

Please..please...let me out!

We have been very fortunate to have great weather this past week .....and we have had our windows open to enjoy the fresh, crisp, Fall weather. Sebastian is the cat who is most entranced by the smell of the great outdoors....and is the one we always have to watch carefully to ensure he doesn't escape out the front door whenever we come in or leave. Hubby was outside working in the yard when he looked up and saw this plaintive little face looking wistfully out of the kitchen window. He quickly whipped out the little camera he keeps handy for impromptu shots..and caught this one just in time for posting on the blog!

Busy day...long post

It has been a busy day today. Up early for breakfast at McD's and then over to the Humane Society...picked up a great little reusable shopping bag, a kitty magnet and a new Wubba for Spike. He really loves the ones that have the long legs with the soft fuzzy material. You can see in the photo above that Spike is enjoying his new treat!

Then down to the Forks to see the Rescue Inc guys who were in the city this weekend to help out in a fund raising event for the local rescue groups. (Above is a quick shot of them, along with their two favorite dogs.) It was great to see so many people out and many of them had their dogs with them as well. Many of the rescue groups had set up booths to sell products so we had to go check everything out. My favorite stopping point was one of the cat rescue booths where I saw several cute cat mats and matching catnip squares. Of course, I just had to buy a mat and a catnip square for Sadie. While waiting in line, I looked through the cat prints (pictures...not paws!) that were sitting in a display holder. One print was titled "Sebastian the Cat" so I had to add that to my purchases as well. Even though the cat in the print was black, I thought the title was a hint so we will now have two Sebastians (although one will be behaving better than the other!) In the other photo above you'll see how Sadie is enjoying her new treat.

Last stop was a local rescue we regularly visit to purchase salmon treats for the woofie. Yes, another place where we get a chance to pat some free roaming kitties! The other item we picked up was a holder with two large stainless steel water/food dishes. One would think this was for the woofie...well, yes and no. Spike and Angel often stop by the woofie's water dish to help themselves so we decided it would be a good idea to have a couple of dishes at floor level for whichever furry decides he/she needs a drink!

P.S. An additional comment for Angel's photo yesterday. Angel often sits beside me on the couch late in the evening when I am working late. A laptop on my lap....and a sweet little cat cuddled up to my right. When it is time for bed, most often Angel will follow me upstairs and sleep by my legs. I do feel guilty when the alarm rings and I try to move my legs away from Angel without disturbing him. I am never successful since he is a light sleeper..and he will quickly try to walk up onto my chest, where he promptly sits down facing me and tries to lick my face. So every once in awhile I do have to let him sit undisturbed on one of his favorite places (i.e. the chair...not me!)

Angel on my chair

After a long week at work, it is always nice to come home and stretch out. Not so today....Angel has called dibs on my chair and I don't have the heart to move him!

Monday is a day for sleeping

Hubby went looking for some photo ops today of the exciting cat antics we expected to see - but not so! All he found were four sleepy cats. Angel in the chair by hubby's computer. Spike in his cat bed in a high safe space in the main hallway. Sebastian in the baby bassinet in the guest bedroom upstairs. Sadie on her new cat bed by the dining room window.