Relaxing on Sunday

A typical Sunday at home...4 cats perched in various places, at safe distances from the dogs, who lay claim to the floor.

First in sight was Sadie, stretched out comfortably on the couch, with not a care in the world.   Spike, who rearranged himself on the chair several times within 5 minutes, doesn't realize he is too large to fit in this chair. Angel tucked himself into the corner of the couch, asleep almost instantly once he was in place.

And then there is Sebastian.  Ever wary...ever watchful.  He has been venturing out into the living room, which for him is very brave when there are dogs in here. In an effort to catch him still on the chair it had to be a quick shot ...hence the lack of focus and the unplanned flash.  You can see his right paw is not relaxed - rather he is always ready to flee at a second's notice.  He will push himself off this paw and be out of the room in a flash.

IKEA shopping - but I didn't see this in the store

We were at Ikea the other day (one of my favorite shopping places!) and picked up some plastic storage boxes, among other things.  I left them in our dining room for just a few minutes when I went to unload groceries in the kitchen and came back to this sight.  There was very little available room in the box but somehow Angel managed to wiggle his way in, although he didn't have enough room to sit down. The fuzzy head just barely visible in the foreground belongs to a curious sheltie, trying to see what the appeal of the box is. I must say, I was puzzled too.  Cardboard boxes...attractive to all our cats.  Plastic boxes - very rarely.

Pepperoni..or cat..on your pizza?

On Wednesday, hubby decided it was time to have a pizza dinner which did not come from our freezer.  There is a local pizza joint which makes a good pepperoni pizza and it is very convenient for me to stop there on my way home from work.

I brought home our usual order and put it on the counter for a few minutes while I went upstairs.  This was the sight that met me when I came back into the kitchen.  Sadie must have thought she found a nice, heated sitting spot which would also be great for sleeping (probably would have been snoozing if I had come back into the kitchen just a little later).  Needless to say, I removed her very quickly ..but not until I had a couple of photos for the blog!

Curious Cat

This is our occasional guest, Champ,getting his bearings in his new home. I laughed when I saw this photo, seeing all that curiosity oozing out of those big green eyes.  When he stayed with us, I would spend some time in the evening with him, sitting on a chair in the guest room.  I would be in the midst of reading my book, when I would feel his gaze on me. When I turned my head to look over at him, I would invariably find him sitting still as a mouse, watching me intently.

And here is that curiosity again, his head rising up over the foot of the bed, looking to see what is going on.

Soccer fan

Hubby is a supporter of the German soccer team whereas I, of course, support the Socceroos (Aussie team). Earlier this week he had his German soccer shirt out on the coffee table waiting for the game.  Sadie decided it would make a great cat blanket and she curled up right on top of it. As is usual with Sadie, she chooses something that isn't quite large enough for her  whole body, even if she sticks her little nose as far into her chest as she can!

I guess, in her own way, she was keeping me company as I waited for the game to start.  I was on the chair right beside her so she could have had much more room if she sat in my lap :-) but Sadie always marches to her own drummer.

Carbon copy kitties

A most unusual scene in our house ..where we have no bonded pairs of kitties ...just 4 very independent souls who really don't have any interest in others unless someone is in chase mode.  In fact, yesterday was the proverbial den of snakes where we kept hearing hissing in various parts of the house. Angel is often on the receiving end of a chase so the hissing will come from his end.  Sadie's first response when she sees a cat or dog coming her way is to hiss at the offender until she finally turns tail and runs away.

Hubby saw this "book end" tableau play out earlier this week. Sadie had curled herself up on the chair and was fast asleep.  Angel carefully made his way into the empty space she had left and tucked his little body into the opening. Within minutes we had two sleeping kitties sharing one space (and no hissing anywhere!)

Spike keeping me company

Spike looks so peaceful when he sleeps.  His big paws hang over his cat bed and the tufts of fur stick out like "bed head".  He is generally a laid back cat, not too concerned about the busy activity of humans or dogs.  In fact, he often wanders by the dog water dishes and helps himself to a quick lick on his way by.

These days, it seems that we see the cats more often in the living room when we are sitting here.Spike continues to hold siege to the cat bed on the table and has coerced two cats so far to move out of his way when he has decided it is time to lay down (cat bed seems to be even better if it is pre-warmed for him!)  Sebastian is wandering through the room more often now, enjoying some prime time window viewing.

It has been three weeks since Dakota has left us  - and while the cats have adjusted quickly, it still brings tears to my eyes when I look down and I no longer see my little black and white girl sleeping by the front window.  You never really think about it ahead of time ..but those little creatures work their way into one's daily habits and one's heart during their time here with us.

Thank you all for your kind comments and sympathy on our loss of Dakota.