Lucy's Blessing

Tomorrow is the feast day for St. Francis of Assisi, and every year a local church holds a blessing of the animals. Mama took Lucy because of her special medical issues.

The priest had a nice doggie crowd present. There was another dog with just one eye like Lucy, another dog with a broken jaw like Lucy, two blind dogs, and one 3-legged dog.

Dogs without medical needs included a flirtatious pug, a poodle who was shaking because she thought she was going to the v-e-t, and a salt and pepper colored terrier who gleefully read and sang along with the service!

It was a beautiful autumn day, and afterward she got a little treat and walk in a city park she'd never visited before. A big day for a sweet little girl!

Post-Script (added Monday): Lucy's blessing made the front page of our local paper!

Company's Here...

...and I don't like it! Sure, my cousin dogs Bobby (in the picture, who's visiting now) and Freckles are cute, but when they come they compete for attention that should go to ME!

I enjoy playing with them for a bit, but I get all worried that people will forget who's the royalty around here and then I get all snippy.

This post will help feed shelter dogs!

Pedigree has decided to donate food to shelter dogs if people post this in their blogs or "Like" them on Facebook! And since my sisfur and I are both rescues from shelters, we thought it would be nice to help out!

It's a Tough Job...

...but I'm good at it! I'm watching over my sick mama as she recovers from a cold.

Normally little sniffles and coughs don't bother her, but this is her first illness since the cancer battle.

So I'm helping her out with snuggles & kisses!

Meerkat Invasion!

My sisfur Lucy was trying so hard to get to the meerkats on tv! She reached over as far as she could from our pink chair, then she stood beneath and balanced up on her tippy toes, but no luck. She only gave up after she Mama got upset because she was trying to dig them out from behind the television.

Wordless Wednesday: New Haircut!

Photo Hunt #4: My Bed

Once upon a time, I had a favorite dog bed, but then Cricket (a foster cat who lived with us a while back) gave birth to a litter of kittens on it...

Now, my sisfur Lucy has claimed my new dog bed...

...Since I seem to have no luck with dog beds, I prefer to snuggle up with my mama! (See the post below for the pic of moi in bed...)

Wordless Wednesday: 6 AM Already?

My Sisfur, the Mighty Guard Dog!

Lucy and I went for a picnic at the park with Mama and it was exhausting! We were just lazin' around, but then we decided that we needed to tell the two big dogs walking by just who was in charge of our spot. And boy, did we tell them over and over and over again!

This is Lucy, putting on her big mean dog look. Isn't she convincing?

Anipal Photo Hunt #3

This is for an activity run by the editor-in-cheif of the Anipal Times, Cokie the Cat. I'm posting a picture of my favorite toy, the previously mentioned Mr. Squeaky and friends. It looks like such a fun little project that I wanted to start, and Mr Squeaky IS worth writing about twice!

Now, as for my sisfur Lucy, her favorite toys isn't really a toy. She's obsessed with chewing on the handle of our little pink brush. She'll dig all the way to the bottom of the toy box to find it!

Yes, world, I'm still here...

...I've just been a wee bit busy over the past few months. Mama had a long battle with cancer, but all is going well now.

I have some new meds myself to help with heart and lung issues (I am getting to be a senior, after all) but I still love my Mr. Squeaky toys and inspecting puddles.

My sisfur Lucy has turned into quite a little clown! Sometimes I get jealous because lots of people see her special face and fawn over her instead of me, but Mama makes sure all the attention evens out by the end of the day.

Miss Marple is living on a friend's farm now for her own safety (let's just say that one neighbor lady isn't very nice to cats), but everything else has been going normally.

I'll try to write more often now that Mama's better...

A Trip to the Park!

It was such a wonderfully warm day today that Mama took us for a walk in the state park! We didn't have time to stop and pose for pictures because we were busy running ahead of Mama the entire time!

Oh, it was wonderful! It was the first time Lucy had been there, so I showed her the best places to sniff and pee!  And after a run around the field, Mama put a bowl of water out for us!

The place was still brown and dull from the winter cold, but it'll soon be green and lush and beautiful again. I just LOVE the state park!

No Dogs Allowed!

Miss Marple has recently claimed the top of the refrigerator as her personal territory. She's moved into the old bread basket, just in front of the pasta and bean jars.

I suppose it's a nice space. It's probably warm and has a nice view. But how am I supposed to terrorize her when she's all the way up there?

Hey, That's MY Prize!

I won a prize during a Twitter PawPawty and @frugaldougal shipped it from the UK! I think he sent it via Royal Mail because he knows I'm a princess!

Inside the package is a placemat (a good thing too, because Lucy is a messy eater!), a blankie for my dogbed, and a very cute toy sheep!

As soon as Mama started taking the pictures to post on Twitter as a thank you, Lucy came over and took off with MY sheep!

Sisfurs... 

I Love My Sofa!

The couch is my favorite place in the house!

This is a picture of me doing one of my favorite hobbies- stuffing my nose down the cushions! Sometimes I hide my Mr. Squeakies down there, and sometimes I find a treat I stored for safe-keeping.

Most of the time, however, I inspect the "sofa caves" just for the fun of it!

Dreams of Summer

Today I am sitting in my pink chair, looking out of the front window at my yard. It's cold and wet and full of mud.

I have cabin fever, which means I want to go out every 10 minutes, but as soon as I get out there I remember how icky it is and then I want to come right back in.

I'm daydreaming of a warm, green, beautiful summer day. Mama and I would go to my favorite park and walk on my favorite trail. There would be all sorts of lush plants to sniff and bugs to chase.  Mama might even let me play in the creek!

For now, I just have to patient and wait by my window...

She's SO Brave!

Lucy went through another surgery today. Her jaw is broken in three places, and the vet has been slowly fixing it since she was adopted. Sometimes she only has to go in to get her wires tightened, but today was a big event- a second set of wires was added for more stability in the lower jaw.

She's home tonight, but waking up is slow and painful. Mama used to work as a vet tech, and loves doting over her little "patient".  I've been nice to her, too. When she got home, I sat with her and sniffed and kissed her.

No matter how much she goes through, she's still happy and loving.  I'm so proud of my brave, sweet sisfur!

Lucy the Snow Dog

My goofy sisfur Lucy just loves the snow!

She gets so excited when it's time to go out that it's hard for Mama to get the leash on her because she runs back and forth and back and forth!

When she's outside, Lucy runs, hops, leaps, and dashes like a hyper puppy!

When it's time to come back in, she puts on the brakes, like when this picture was taken. She is NOT happy when it's time to leave the snow!

You'd think she was a Malamute or something instead of a Peke! 

A Valentine's Day Surprise

When Mama started to leave this morning, I must have looked either very neglected or very bored because she asked me if I wanted to go for a car ride! Oh, do I love car rides!

And this time she had a special surprise for me! You see, today is Valentine's Day, when people give chocolate to show how much they love each other. But I'm a dog, and dogs can't have chocolate, so she had another plan in mind. Something very special that happens very rarely...

I got my own little hamburger! She made sure it was from the place whose burgers have the least amount of grease on them and she ordered it plain, so it would be as easy on my tummy as possible, but it was still SO YUMMY! And it was all mine! I didn't have to share it with Lucy or Miss Marple or anybody!

Forget the silly chocolates; if you want to show someone how much you love them, break out the BEEF!

Ick, Ick, ICK!!!

SNOW STINKS!

Actually, I don't like it because it sticks.  It sticks to my curly coat like little matted snowballs and makes my fur all heavy and wet. It's difficult to walk like this after a while, and sometimes I just freeze up and Mama has to carry me back to the house.

My sisfur Lucy, however, loves the snow! Her coat is straight and the stuff just falls right off of her. She can run and hop and jump into drifts without any trouble. Mama usually brings me back to the house earlier so she and Lucy can go play outside a little longer. 

ICK!

Where's That Kitten?

A few nights ago, Mama somehow got an entire kitten to fit inside of her laptop! Seriously!

Lucy and I were snoozing as she was watching videos on YouTube when suddenly we heard a little kitten mewing over and over again. We went nuts! We ran around the room searching for the poor kitten. After we knocked a few things over in the process (Sorry, Mama...), she put her laptop on the floor for us to hear from where the mewing was coming. We must have circled the computer and sat and stared at it for a good five minutes as she played the video over and over again. After she finally picked up the laptop, we kept sniffing the carpet where she had put it.

We never did figure out how she squished an entire kitten into the computer or why she was laughing so hard...

Click HERE for the link to the video she was watching.

My New Sisfur

Lucy has finally moved in with us! We don't really "play" together, but we do follow each other from room to room for company. She's claimed my dog bed as her own, which is okay because I really prefer to sit on Mama's lap instead. 

She's a happy, kissy girl who just loves to go for walks and socialize. Mama also jokes that we snore in stereo.

The vet found that Lucy has a broken lower jaw that no one knew about for months. She has an appointment next week with a doggie surgeon, and hopefully after it's fixed she'll be able to play with some of my Mr. Squeaky toys with me!

Happy Howlidays from Florida!

Okay, so I was BORED beyond belief during the long car ride down: And I stayed up almost all night at the motel guarding the door:

But I had a great time lounging in the sunroom once I got here: And dressing up wasn't so bad after all:So overall I guess I had a great Christmas vacation!

Think Pink!

Lucy's bling is ready and waiting for her to move in! It looks similar to mine, except my collar has pink stripes instead of dots. 

It's been a long wait, but it'll be worth it! Just two more days until the car ride to Florida, which will be a great way to keep me occupied while I'm waiting for the big adoption day!

Lucy

Meet my new sisfur Lucy! She will be moving in with us on January 3rd, after the chaos of my holiday schedule is over. 

She's about 10 years old and she loves to give kisses! She lost an eye due to infection, but her foster family says she's recovered nicely.

I had fun meeting her in the park today and I gave her a Christmas present. MY Christmas present is that I get a new sibling!

I'm Back! (Again...)

I haven't written in a while, so I thought I'd update y'all on how I am.

The house is very quiet now. My older bro-fur Max passed away just before Thanksgiving. It was a peaceful event, and we sniffed each other good-bye. My mama misses him, but she's relieved that he's no longer in pain and having so much trouble walking. She says now he has a bottomless food bowl and he can explore the woods in Heaven as long as he wants, so it's okay.

The only cat living with us now is Miss Marple. She's still very quiet and very odd.  Now she likes to sit on top of piles of mail or magazines. 

I'm getting ready to go to Florida for Christmas!  I'm going with Mama to visit her family, which means a very long car ride first. I think it will be fun because I'll get to be the center of her attention for two weeks!  The picture above was taken after I supervised Mama putting up the tree.  I love to nap under it and look up at the lights.

A Touching Gift

A few months ago, I won an essay contest and my prize was a beautiful clock made by Not Forgotten Arts. I told them I didn't want the clock for myself, as fabulous as I may be, but for my older bro-fur Max.

Max is very old, you see, and showing his age more and more each month, so I said it would be a nice tribute to remember him by. Mama sent three pictures of him in to the company, and they picked the one that best suited their needs. The result is a wonderful piece of art that will soon be hanging in our living room.

Thank you so much to Not Forgotten Arts!

Another Thud from Another Room

Who knew one tiny kitten could generate so much noise? It seems whenever Mocha is awake there's always a thud coming from this way or a crash/bang coming from that way. When she first started exploring, I would go check it out to see if she was okay, but now I just take it for granted that, by the time I get to the source of the sound, she'll have already moved on to another "project".

Summertime!

...and the living is easy...

My mama is a teacher, which means that in the summers she's all mine!

It's so wonderful! We sleep in, go to the park, have picnics, find extra snuggle time, and get to stay up as late as we want. I especially like it when she gets down on the floor with me and plays hide and seek or zoom zoom with us.

Sometimes we go on trips, too. This year we're going camping!

Because she's a teacher we can't afford very much, but the trade off is worth it: Quality Time!

Betrayed...

One of the worst days ever of my whole entire life!

First, Mama was all excited and said we were going for a ride, but then she forced us to march in the pouring rain to go potty before we were allowed into the car.

Next, we drove toward the state park, but we went right past the entrance. Only one place is past the state park...

...the vet.

I was so scared that I left a little trail of poop all the way from the front door to the scale and on into the exam room. He poked at my ears (and then into my other end...) until finally...

...the shot.

Oh, the horror and misery! And my mama even paid for him to do all of this! Would you believe that she tried to make it all seem better because I got a new piece of collar jewelry out of it!

Betrayed by my own family...

Top 5 Things Mama Says to Me...

...and my responses to her

5. Hey, Pumpkin Butt!

Where on Earth do you come up with these nicknames?

4. Do you need to go potty?

My bladder is smaller than a walnut! What do you think?

3. Where's the kitten?

Probably on Twitter about now...

2. High five!

Well, okay, but soon I'll be increasing my fee to two treats per trick.

1. Now what?!?!

Excuse me, but I'm the princess here! I should be the center of attention at all times, thank you!

Thunderstorms

They are a part of life every time spring changes to summer in Indiana, but I'm still horrified of them. I will hop up on my Mama's lap, hide under blankets, and have been known to have bathroom accidents because of them.

Why are they so loud on my sensitive little ears? Why does the lightning have to be so bright that it's spooky in the middle of the night? Why does the wind have to knock branches into the house?

Thank goodness I have my family to huddle around me. They let me snuggle closely and they nuzzle my ears to help me feel better. I am just so very little, and t-storms are so very big...

I've Been Wrongly Convicted!

First of all, I'd like to say that it was NOT my fault!

MAMA was the one who put out yummy yummy cat food and then only gave me cardboard to eat. MAMA was the one who put it way up on the table where I have to risk life and limb to climb up to get it. And if she didn't want me to use the kitchen chairs, she shouldn't have put them there!

So Miss Marple told on me by hissing and growling loudly, and Mama heard and came out and told me, "NO!" Then she got all mad and said we'd been through this before (the picture is an older one of an earlier incident).

Furthermore, I'm not guilty of repeating the same violation as before! In this photo, I'm using the chair on the eastern side of the table, but this morning I was on the chair on the western side of the table. And in the photo I'm going after dry cat food, but this morning it was canned cat food.

So you see, I'm NOT guilty as charged! My previous violation was for a different felony, so I had never been told not to commit this particular crime...

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

My Little Sis-fur

I love this kitten...

Her name is Mocha, and she's my calico girl. Everyday I wash her ears and then we play hide and seek. Sometimes she rears up on her back legs like a big lion, which just makes my tail go even faster!

Aren't families just the best?!?!

Another Haiku

Gasping for some air

It's really "reverse sneezing"

Instead of asthma

She Can Be a Little Odd

Miss Marple is about as ancient as Max, so she has earned every right to be a little eccentric.

When she's sitting atop the armoire in the living room, she knocks off the cat and angel figurines one by one to clear her view of the rest of us down here.

When Mama gets up to take a shower in the morning, she rushes into the bathroom and hides behind the toilet the entire time.

A few days ago, Mama bought a new disposable litter box for the kittens and Cricket, but was distracted before she had a chance to take it out to them and fill it with litter. By the time Mama got back to it, Miss Marple had moved in and was napping happily! Since then, she has only gotten out of the box to eat and to use her own litter box- it's still sitting on the green chair by the front door!

I Hate My Tummy...

I have a sensitive tummy that is ALWAYS giving me trouble. No matter how cute I look or how long I sit pretty (see photo), Mama hardly ever gives in to my requests for people food because she knows how delicate my stomach is.

Several times a year it flares up and I can't even keep down water. My vet is great, and he knows just what medicine to give me to make it better, but it still makes me feel so puny that I hide under tables for days.

Why, oh why can't I have an iron stomach like my brother Max? He can eat anything and it doesn't bother him! Sometimes life just isn't fair, even for cute little princess dogs...

Enjoying the Little Things

Puddles, sweet puddles!
Rain is a wonderful thing,
Making pools for play.

Another Twitter Surprise!

A few days ago I got two boxes in the mail! Me! In my very own doggie name! I was so excited but Mama made me wait until the next day to open them so she could take pictures...

They were both surprises from Twitter anipals. @LouPeb sent me a wonderful assortment of treats in just my size- little bites! They were made by @LaineysPawtique. And @BabyHaroldK sent me two beautiful dog cookies made by his mom's bakery, Three Amigos Dog Treats.

I am very blessed to have such wonderful friends! If you need to talk your family into buying you some treats, check them out! They are great people (and pets) to know!

Can You Overdose on Cuteness?

The quads are one month old now, and are growing more playful and curious everyday. They make clumsy attempts at wrestling and have started to venture out of the kennel. They have personalities and names now as well. Going clockwise from top left:

1. The calico kitten is Random. She's the LOUDEST and will SCREAM as soon as Cricket leaves her side. She's also the pushiest when it comes to feeding.
2. The stripey kitten is Corduroy. I think he's the bravest, because he's always the first one out of the kennel, wanting to look around on his own.
3. The kitten with brown patches is Mocha, and the one that Mama said I could keep. He doesn't mind being held by people and accepts me when I wash his face and ears.
4. And finally, the grey and white kitten is Sparkle. She's very shy and delicate, and still shivers if Cricket is away from her for too long.

It's been so wonderful having a garage full of kittens again! Now I can kiss all the little ears I want to and soon I will have a playmate again! Life is good!

A Sweet Old Man

My brother Max has begun to show his age in the past few months. His face is going grey, he moves more slowly than ever before, and his awareness of events around him is fading.

Sometimes it's difficult to watch these changes, but I still love him very much. He gets excited about the simplest things, like being brushed or getting a treat from the jar. He still enjoys pushing his head into Mama's lap and having his tummy scratched.  He's my sweet old Max man!

Kitten Kisses

Ah, kitten ears! Cat ears! Aren't they just wonderful?!?! So cute and kissable! So soft and fuzzy! I could just wash ears for hours...

My mama thinks that I love it so much because my first dog brother, Denver, was obsessed with cleaning my ears. All I know is that being the Executive Feline Ear Cleaner is the best job in the world! 

My View of the World

From my pink lookout
I see an empty driveway.
Mama's not home yet.