Walking Wednesday

Our friend Khyra the Siberian Husky does "Walking Wednesday," so we thought we would do likewise. Walking is the best part of Alice's day (except for dinner!) . Check out the flapping ears as Alice runs! (Alice: What is that thing she keeps flashing at me??? ) After a good walk, a restorative nap is always in order.

Birthdays and Baby Bean

Baby Bean has been thinking hard about how to celebrate her birthday in May. She's leaning toward a luau swimming party at our house, but she generally changes her mind about the theme a few hundred times!
BB know that careful planning makes a great party -- here are pictures from Alice's fabulous birthday party taken in January 2008. Baby Bean sure knows how to throw a fun party!

Cats with Strange Tastes

Baby Bean often likes to eat her meals from a tray on the floor so she can watch her tv programs while she eats (I used to like to do this too). Last night we had penne a la vodka for supper, which is BB's absolute favorite meal; we guess it it Tiger's as well! BB got up for a moment and Tiger quickly zoomed in to lap up the sauce. Who knew??!

Since I've been so busy snoopervising the yardmen ( it is finally finished, thank goodness!) I've had little time for blogging, so I missed posting Cat Art on Monday. Today we have Hodge, the oyster-eating cat. This bookend is a replica of the statue of Samuel Johnson's most famous cat, Hodge, who is immortalized in James Boswell's Life of Johnson. Johnson loved cats and always kept them as pets. The statue stands outside Johnson's house in London which is now a museum and open to the public. Hodge evidently was a huge fan of oysters, so the artist included oyster shells in his representation. It is Johnson's 300 birthday this year, so there are many events planned at libraries and museums in the UK and the US to commemorate it. Johnson, if you don't know, was one of the literary giants of the 18th century and produced a famous dictionary as well as many works of criticism. He was highly regarded in his own day. For me, the bookends represent two of my favorite things: cats and the 18th century!

Alpha Cat , a song by Baby Bean

Tiger singing "Alpha Cat"
---- featuring the Nemesis (a neighborhood black cat)

Well I was found in a Walmart parking lot,
but now I think I am pretty hot stuff.
When I roam the alley I am super tough;
Because I am super cool, I'm all that:
I'm Tiger the Black Cat!
I'm super cool, I'm all that:
I'm the alley's Alpha Cat!!!
(now you can join in, Nemesis!)
WE ROAM THE ALLEYS TOGETHER!
WE DO IT NO MATTER THE WEATHER!YEAH!
BECAUSE WE'RE SUPER COOL, WE'RE ALL THAT:
WE'RE 2 BLACK CATS!
WE'RE SUPER COOL, WE'RE ALL THAT:
WE'RE THE ALLEY'S ALPHA CATS!!!
THE END

Alice and the Art of Lounging

Alice prefers cushioned furniture for relaxing after a big walk ....I love the elegant paw action here! Happy Friday everyone!

My Happy Day

Yesterday was a happy day for me! I am lucky enough to share a birthday with Siena and her Mom at Cat with a Garden and with Maggie May over at the Creek Cats. I had so many birthday emails, cards, and calls from family and friends; I loved hearing from everyone and appreciate them thinking of me!
My big birthday present from Dad Beane (BB's Dad) is a new backyard! All the flower beds have been cleaned out and are being amended (we don't have very good soil in our part of the world, at least for growing flowers) AND I'm getting a sprinkler system in the backyard. Needless to say, I am thrilled & can't wait to get planting. Here are some pictures from yesterday. All the animals were mighty curious about the goings-on, and here you see GK checking it all out!
Baby Bean gave me the most wonderful gift; a poem of her own creation. It is called a Cinquain, a five-line descriptive poem (her library teacher helped her with the format). Here it is:

MOM
beautiful, super
Loving, caring, working
I Love you Mom
MOMMY

What could be better than that?

Cat Art Tuesday and BB's nail art

Here is this week's cat art selection: a beautiful mug my dear friend Jocebeane gave me for Christmas. (She gives the best gifts!) She said it reminded her of the Monger, who was (we think, as he was a rescue cat) part Siamese. The profile picture looks just like him! One of the other cats on the mug reminds me of the lovely Luxor, tho Lux is all white. The mug is English fine bone china and the series is called "Cats Galore" by Roy Kirkham.






The Easter Bunny was especially generous to Baby Bean this year; I think it is because she left him extra carrots on the special bunny plate we always leave out for him. Baby Bean painted her nails in honor of Easter!

Since I finished chapter 3 on Wednesday (yay!) I took Thursday off to do some fun things, like visit my favorite hardware and garden stores. After hearing that Siena and Chilli from Cat with a Garden have about 300 potted plants to look after (!!), I decided I had better get my own pots ready. Here you see two kinds of basil, two kinds of thyme, cat nip, cat mint, & patio tomatoes, all for pots. I also bought some Mexican oregano for the garden because it has lovely spikey blooms and the bees like them. The bulbs are jumbo caladiums, I forget the variety, but the leaves are a deep red. Alice is ready to get stuff planted -- she's a very keen gardener, you see!

A little lizard checked out our garden goodies too.

I think GK spotted the lizard!



Happy Easter to all our blog friends!

THE NEWEST HIT SINGLE!!!

YAY! THE NEWEST HIT SINGLE IS HERE!!!! ALICE IS THE LEAD SINGER.

LUCKY DOG
SOMEBODY LET ME OUT! SOMEBODY LET ME BACK IN!
THEN REPEAT THOSE STEPS 5 TIMES AGAIN.
THEN FLUFF UP THE PILLOWS IN THE DEN
I WILL CRAWL UP ON THEM, BUT DON'T MAKE A PEEP!
THIS BEAUTY NEEDS HER SLEEP!
WAKE ME UP IN AN HOUR OR SO --
THEN TAKE ME ON A WALK & GIVE ME A DUCKIE
THEN YOU MAKE THIS DOG LUCKY!!!
(ALICE: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
PLAY THAT GUITAR TIGER! GOLD K ROCKING THE DRUMS!
KEEP UP THE BEAT!)
SINGING A SONG CALLED THE LUCKY DOG

--Newest hit single "Lucky Dog," coming out soon!

NEW! ROCKSTARS FORM " I THE ANIMAL" BAND!

GOLD KITTY

ALICE THE DOG
TIGER

WOW! CHECK IT OUT! THIS FUNKY BAND"I THE ANIMAL" HAS FORMED!
STARRING TIGER, ALICE, AND GOLD KITTY! THE ROCK LEGENDS FORM A BAND
ALICE SINGS : GIVE ME MY SUPPER BLUES! TIGER SINGS : ALPHACAT! AND GOLD KITTY SINGS:THE PURRRRRRRRRRFECT KITTY! AND THERE NEW HIT SINGLE"LET ME OUTSIDE!"!!!!!!!!! LOOK FOR MORE C.D'S COMING OT SOON!!

Nip, Nap, & All That

Out in the yard on Saturday, I was pleased to see that one pot of our Nip made it through the winter -- it is really very hardy! Tiger and GK like to go take swig from the pot now and then, you know, to relieve some stress, let their fur down, and have a good time.




Gold Kitty's favorite way to relieve stress is to Nap; he is such an expert at napping technique that we have decided he is the new Sandman. Don't look at his picture too long -- you might get inspired to catch a few zzzzzz's yourself!





Tiger likes to use some advanced stretching exercises to wind down -- or up! Kitty Yoga is just the thing!


Note to all Blog Friends: Please visit Becky's Barnyard (link is under "More Blogs We Like") to see some really nifty pictures of our family's "pioneer" house!

Cat Art and Macro-Noses

Here we are on Cat Art Monday, & today's selection is a kitty planter that sat in my grandmother's kitchen window for many years. It was probably made in the 1930s-40s. It is meant to have a cactus for a tail (& it needs a new one as you can see!)







Saturday was warm and sunny, so I headed out to the backyard for a little yard work. I found that the macro setting works excellently on animal noses; Alice and Gold Kitty are pictured here. Tiger was too cool, so no macro nose of him!

Happy Friday! Alice Celebrates with a Walk!

Every morning after I drop Baby Bean off at school, Alice starts lobbying for a walk by following me around and beaming me wistful looks. As soon as I get the harness on her, she starts dancing and howling, ready to go. Her is a short video of her excitement for a Friday walk. The funny thing is, as soon as I pulled the camera out, she got stage fright and had to be coaxed a bit! After we got going, Alice did some quality sniffing and joyful running. Happy Friday!!

Wordless Wednesday: A Girl and Her Dog, Part II