Herman Serves Drinks and Swivels His Hips for Charity

Herman was invited to be a barktender for the #WLFHOP dance today based over in the UK.

The Anipals dressed up 1950s style, played 1950s themed music and had great food and drinks. As we live a few miles south of Graceland, Herman of course had to dress up like Elvis.

The pawty was to benefit St Francis Hospice for Cats in Derbyshire England. I wish I had his life.

Dori Meets Opie

The last kitten we had in our home was Opie, five years ago! I've gone through a lot in those five years and I'm no longer loosey-goosey when it comes to letting a 4.5 pound kitten roam free about my home. So many dangers she can get into, like hiding inside the La-Z-Boy sofa, or shut inside a closet or cupboard, or escape into the garage...or maybe get her ears boxed by Peaches who is our Alpha Cat. Since I didn't ask Peaches for purrrmission to adopt Dori, I'm a little nervous about their eventual face to face meeting.

So far Dori has met Herman in my office. He isn't thrilled, but then...Herm isn't thrilled about much unless it's all about him.

MY CHAIR -- go away!

Today Dori and Opie spent a little time together in my office. She was thrilled to find the great homemade knit catnip toys made by honorary auntie Jennifer Niemi (mom to @Nerissathecat, Herman's bestie).

D: Can I come up? O: What's da password?

D: How bout a smoochie? O: How about a smack in da puss?

D: Oh! I wuv dis toy! O: Hey! I was gonna play wif that.

D: Mom likes me better than you. O: Brace yourself, I'm gonna smack ya!

If you have any suggestions for introducing a kitten to older, established cats like mine, I would appreciate hearing them.

Humans Should Have Tiara Tuesday Too!

Herman aka @TattleCat on Twitter has such a nice life. I envy him.

Every Tuesday is #TiaraTuesday to support @NewtTheCat and his liver shunt awareness program. Please click on Newt's Twitter name to visit his site.

Wouldn't it be fun if we "hooman's" wore tiara's every Tuesday? To work? Grocery shopping? Banking? I would love to walk into a bank and see everyone decked out in tiaras. Or maybe at a Fortune 50 board meeting? CEO on down...all decked out in tiaras.

Makes me smile!

for Jennifer & Nerissa

Sandra Dee Paper Dolls

I love memorabilia from my childhood. When I saw these paper dolls in a Michigan antique store (paid $4.50), I was instantly transported back to the times I would cut out the clothes using plastic safety scissors...usually snipping off a tag or sometimes a part of the clothes.

I don't recall watching Sandra Dee movies as a child, but in my teens she was a favorite. Gidget, Tammy Tyree  (in Tammy Tell Me True and Tammy and the Doctor), Molly in A Summer Place, and Mollie in Take Her, She's Mine! And Chantal in my all time favorite - If A Man Answers with her husband, Bobby Darin.

 In 1959, the year these paper dolls were made, Sandra Dee was 17, the year of A Summer Place. The clothes -- there has to be two dozen in the folder --  are super fragile with age, but they have maintained pretty good color and the dolls are in near excellent condition.

Were you a fan of Sandra Dee? If so, which of her movies was your favorite?

Just Another Manic Monday

This morning I made Ray tuna salad for lunch.

I saved the tuna juice to mix with the cat kibble for their dinner.

I put the juice in a bowl and covered it with foil.

That was at 7am.

At 6pm I was hungry. Ray has month end closing and won't be home till late.

I wondered... What is in that foil-covered bowl?

Did I mention I'm A.D.D. with a memory of a goldfish?

I jerked that foil-covered bowl out of the fridge...

and wondered...

What is that water slopping all over my hand....

onto the floor....

onto my SPERRY'S!!!!

Dori the kitten loves to lie on my Sperry's.

Even though I washed the tuna juice off them, 

something tells me now she's really gonna love my shoes!

*Sigh!*

One Year Later: Without Nick

Yesterday I mentioned my gentle giant, Nicholas, to someone...a memory I had of him, something funny he had done to a-mewse me. As I spoke about him, it occurred to me that he had passed away in February 2012. I checked the date on his urn, and saw it was today, February 20th. I couldn't believe it has been one full year since Nick passed away from a mold-related respiratory infection.

I still can't believe he's gone. I tried not to think about him too much during those first awful weeks. His bed lay untouched where he last slept in it. The other cats didn't dare nap in it--it belonged to their missing leader. His dinner bowl, a wobbly, pottery mishap with an apple painted on the bottom and a chip on its rim went unused. His black cloth collar with magical decorations and a giant red heart name tag dangled from my bedside lamp. For months.

I still have not inserted his photo onto his urn. I have a photo of him propped against it, but its not the right photo. The one that I will forever associate with my sweet Nicky is this one, and I have yet to have it printed from my computer.

I realize now that I have to print it. I have to cherish his memory without tears. It's just that it really hurt to lose him. In the beginning, Nick wasn't an easy cat to love, but love him I did--for reasons I didn't understand at the time, but now I do.

Sometimes someone -- be they human or animal -- comes into your life for a reason, to teach you something, to give you something you didn't know you needed until they gave it to you. That's what Nick did for me. He arrived on the heels of the death of Genny, an angel who touched my soul, who Ray and I mourn still, fourteen years later. He filled the need to be needed in me. He had spirit, and intelligence. He had a silly personality, yet clearly his heart had been wounded from neglect. So I guess you could say I filled that need in him.

From December 1999 to February 2012 Nick and I were best friends. I love my other cats, but Nick and I had a deep bond that lingers still.

In January a stray cat family arrived in my yard, hungry and desperate for help. Mom cat had four kittens with her. The daddy cat...looks like Nick, sounds like Nick...and has that silly, goofball personality like Nick.
He's not Nick, of course...but that Nikolas arrived in my life almost a year to the day I lost Nicholas makes me wonder if perhaps he was sent to fill my arms, and let me hug on a gentle giant of a cat, one last time.

Nicholas Ridiculous!

Nikolas Ridikolas!

Nikolas

 Please click for links to the stories: Celebrating Nick, Black Mold, and Mold Symptoms.

Buddy the Tabby Celebrates 22 years!

I remember Valentine's Day 1993 because the love of my life joined my family.

I'm not speaking of my husband, although he is indeed the LOVE of my life. I'm speaking of my tabby, Buddy.

We lived in a small patio home in Jacksonville, Florida with my Turkish Angora, Genny, and my Tortoiseshell, Mandy. I also had numerous stray cats thanks to a feral mother who was impossible to trap, and littered my neighborhood for several years until I lured her into a cage with grilled salmon sauteed in butter.

On that particular Valentine's Day, Ray was in the front yard hacking away at an Oleander bush. The thing was poisonous and he had a horrible skin rash on his arms every time he pruned it. I have a memory of standing in the garage, looking toward the driveway where Ray was sitting, sharpening a tool...and I saw he had a cat watching him. "Who's your little buddy?" I asked. "Don't know," he responded. "Haven't seen this one before."

At first I thought I hadn't either, but something about the tabby struck a familiar chord with me. A couple years before Angel, the feral littering my yard, gave birth at Christmas. Ray and I came home from Eve services to find six kittens crowding our front doorstep. "Is this a joke?" Ray shouted. The kittens scattered. Angel had been in the habit of bringing me her kits to take care of, so she could go back to being footloose and fancy free. The slut. The following week she brought her kittens back to me, this time into my yard, where she left them during the day. Naturally I fed them and provided a dog house for their shelter.