Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house . . . .

Not a creature was stirring not even a mouse . . .  Cat . . . 

I would like to say with 3 cats in the house- only 2 shown here that we are mouse free but living in a 200 year old house there will always be mice, they have lived here far longer than we but amazingly we are in our 28th year in this house- how did that happen. 

Oren always loves to hang out and sleep here every Christmas season

Maggie finds all kinds of fun unique places to catch a nap.

Cat antics . . .

“Have patience with all things, but, first of all with yourself.”

—Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Roman Catholic Saint

This is after Thanksgiving and after the kids left for college- I was trying to have patience as I do not want cats sleeping on my table . . . . she must have been plum tuckered out as this is not a regular spot for Maggie.

Everyday October . . . .

 So Every Day October is about every day things . . . kinda like a day in the life . . .  trying to not miss the everyday   that some day will be completely different.

Everyday this is where my 3 cats eat . . . . They each have there own bowl.  We feed them on the stairs because Edna - our Yellow Lab does not climb stairs and she leaves the bowls alone.  Otherwise- Edna would always eat the cat food!!!!

Cats . . . just pictures . . .

Oren

Oren & Sol

Sol

Maggie

Maggie

Oren

Maggie

Maggie

The three independent minds of the house that keep us hopping!   This one of many posts caught sitting in Drafts . .. .

Look what the Cat dragged in . . . .

You know cats are just such interesting and independent creatures. This is Maggie- arriving in the early AM after a night out- covered in stick tights and a hair tie- heavens knows where she picked that up.  A little combing got all the stick tight out and had her looking smart in no time flat.  I just really had to wonder as to what she was up to that had her looking like this. Maggie has grown into a full bodied lady.  She must weigh a solid 15 pounds- but wears it well. She spends her days in the thick of it in the kitchen - either on a chair or right on the floor amidst us all. She does go in and out of the house- but stays close by when outside.  She is very vocal about getting her food and never passes up an opportunity to do so. Hence her solid figure. We are glad Maggie has joined us and she keeps us guessing as to what she has been up to.

Meet Maggie . . .

This is the beautiful Stray that came to our door early in December went away for awhile and then back in ernst in Early February until we finally had to make a decision and do something. A trip to the vet so she was safe for everyone and then we brought her in to see what would happen.  We already have a dog and 2 male cats, the vet was not that optimistic that it would be a good fit.  Almost a month later everything seems to be going ok.  Maggie seems to be my middle childs cat - he puts her to bed every night and gives her lots of love for a 17 year old. She is young- like a year and very playful which everyone is enjoying.  Running around the kitchen chasing toys and going in and out of a paperbag.  Lots of love and joy to be given and received.  We are glad to have Maggie join us here at Chestnut Hill !

Rescued Stray Cat . . .

Big Sigh . . . so this is "Maggy" or Jane Doe, this is the little 10.5 #  around 1 year old black cat that showed up just after Christmas and then went away for several weeks and then came back a week ago with the persistence of a desperate mosquito.  She would sit at our door ( full length glass) and meow from 5 AM to 12 Midnight - at least those are my hours of seeing and hearing her.  We did not do any thing at first-  growing up with the " don't feed a stray . . " but it has been so very cold here like -12 at night and 10 during the day and I did not feel right to not help it.   We had a nice place in the shed for it to sleep out of the elements but clearly she  had been a pet of someone and wanted to come in.   This made it difficult for us to go in and out of the house as it was always trying to run in and for our Yellow lab Edna and  Orange cat Oren, it would growl at them but our pets have been most gracious towards her.  We have had mixed opinions here about adding a 3rd cat to the mix. 
           After talking to the Vet it was decided to take it to a no-kill cat shelter nearby . . . . until I called and talked with the woman there that was clearly having a BAD day . . .  so back to the Vet I ended up and spending  more than we had hoped in order to be sure it was a healthy cat for us and our pets to interact with.  We learned it had been spayed so in theory it has been vaccinated but we cannot prove it  . . . so we have to do all of those again.  We did the Feline Leukemia test - again although a $65.00 test it defined what risk our other cats would be at.  Still trying to find it a home in order to keep our pets in Homeostasis, feeding it  but finding it still trying to steal food- got up on the counter to eat crumbs from making toast.  we are not really sure where we are headed with this little lap cat.  She is sweet but hard to say how she  fits into the rhythm we already have. We cannot have a jumping on the counter/table stealing food cat for sure- like biting into the bread bag.  Stay tuned . . .  Our existing pets have been here 9- orange kitty,8-yellow lab,7- black and white cat  years respectively.  they do well together and the Vet is concerned about us upsetting that balance. we'll see what the future brings I guess day by day.

The Sweet Spot

Every year the cat finds this sweet spot to sleep after we put the tree up. I am not sure what he really likes about it? Quiet, Peace, less traffic, twinkling lights?

Thoughtful Thursday

Taking Cats to the Vet, as one meowed in the car the whole way- What was he saying? What do they think when we take them to the vet? do they hate it as much as we hate going to the doctor? our cats hate the car ride but once they are there they are happy and content and all around good kitties.