Fifteen!!

Patty:  Can you believe this baby kitteh is now a "mature adult?"  Okay, SENIOR CATIZEN!  I don't even know how many human years is the equivalent of 15 kitteh years, but it must be a lot because Bhu prefers napping to partying.   Part of Bhu's celebration is giving to other kittehs.  Here is a photo of a nap mat I made for Morris, a working country cat.  Morris works hard all night long doing barn security.  It's a rough job and during the day he deserves a special place for napping. 

And here is the handsome Morris himself lounging comfortably on his new nap mat! 

I'm thinking now that he might have needed an extra large, but it sure looks like he is successful at his job!  He's well-fed anyway!  Thanks to Morris's mom, Sally, for sending this photo and for sharing so much of her garden's bounty with us this season! 

Very sad

When a friend dies, other things just don't seem important.  We're very sad about this and send comforting hugs to Ann and her family.  xxoo Patty, Bhu & Sabryin

Macaroon Monday

Bhu: Well, mai mom just ate a half dozen macaroons. I watched her do it. Mom, you are gonna get porky if you keep that up.
Patty: Tell me about it. Gotta watch that.
Bhu: Poppy didn't get a new job yet, but he has been reading the comments and he is really grateful for the encouragement.
Patty: It's really pretty much a low-key thing these days to apply for jobs. You can do it in your jammies . . . it's all online! There isn't much satisfaction, though, like in the old days when you got all dressed up and went out into the day to deliver resumes and talk to people.

Look what we found lurking beneath the Bowl of Beauty peony! This thing is enormous -- about the size of a soup bowl.

Still purraying for the Zoolatry Family. xxoo

Worryin'!

Hai, effuryone! Furst, I wanna say thank you to all the furrends who have stopped by to wish us luck in our job search. My poppa is happy to have all the help he can get, he sez. Thank you so much, too, to Ann of Zoolatry. She made this very purrity graphic of me helpin' with the search. While we were visiting Ginger Jasper today, we found out that Ann had to go to hospital and is now under the weather, too! Maggie and Zoey needs our help with all their caregivin' duties! Mai mom sez she wishes she lived closer so she could help Ann & Vic. Maggy and Zoey sure look cute in their little nurses outfits, though. Anyway, we hope effuryone will purray and send encouragement their way.

And THEN we found out poor Goma is ill! Mai mom luvs, luvs, luvs Goma from the time he was just a tiny little kitteh, so we are all worried about him, too. Lotsa worrying around here lately. What do you do to keep from worrying? xxoo Bhu

Vicissitudes

Mai poppy lost his job Wednesday. At first I was really happy 'cuz I figured More Pets Fur Me! But then I thought, Less Money Fur Fancee Feest! So, as with efurrything in life, there's always a little bad, a little good all mixed together.   Anyway, I hope he can find another job so I don't hasta go on a diet!  Plus, I am needing a new nip toy.  Maybe I can help him with his resoomay today.

But some REAL good is we got rain!! YAY! The birds came out to play in the puddles but I haven't seen any rabbits yet. They sorta disappeared a couple weeks ago and mai mom has been trying not to worry about them.

Mai mom is going to start posting about her UFOs -- which are just quilting projects she never finished 'cuz she is just not smart enough to figure out what to do next or she didn't buy enuff fabric when she started or some other reason that they are sitting around collecting dust -- but she sez the 'puter is being really slow today. So, talk to you later! xxoo Bhu

Attack of the Teen Pods!

Another academic year starts tomorrow. We are now a town without pity, a teenage wasteland, with half of us having just graduated from high school ten weeks ago! It is not easy to be the adult in a room of kids whose babysitters just left the building! We go through this every year; it's getting a little old. It might be time to "GALLIVATE," as Sabryin calls it. Bhu, what do you think about that?

"I am willing to go with you if there is Fancy Feast and Appetizer on board. Otherwise, I stayz here."

It was a beautiful day today, more like October than August. I took advantage of the weather, deciding to haul my UFO project pile outdoors for photographs. I haven't looked at these projects for a very long time; they're overdue. The time period for these projects is from the mid-70's to the early 21st century. I'm going to present them one at a time and hope that it inspires me to finish them. So come back and see what challenges I have ahead of me! xxoo Patty

Fall is in the Air!

Bhu's floof is growing back and he is so soft! It's a good day to sit in the window and watch the skwurrels. The air is cooler today -- still no rain, but at least the oppressive heat is absent. On Monday the annual onslaught of 18 to 20 year olds occurs and the moving trucks will have to compete with the beer, food, UPS and FedEx delivery trucks that are always blocking the streets adjacent to campus. We do not look forward to this. In fact, I wish I lived somewhere else. Bhu is loudly "requesting" Appetizer so I had better jump to it. Hope you are all having a good weekend. Don't furget to send hugs and purrayers to the Zoolatry ladies! xxoo Patty

Go Team Floof!

Maggy and Bhu remind us that it's not impawtant who wins the games, it's fun getting to know each other. Thanks, Ann of Zoolatry, for this lovely graphic of the two BFFs (Beautiful Fluffy Furrends) cheering on the athletes! xxoo Patty

Boredom

BHU: Mai mom sez she is bored. That said, so far this morning (and it IS Sunday, the day of rest) she has trimmed the basil plants and made a pesto momma (everything except the cheese and then it goes into the freezer), gone to the grocer for garlic and sausage for our zuppa Toscana dinner, gathered branches from around the trees after the windy rain we had (YES!!!) last night, sawed some limbs and tied them up in neat little bundles for garbage day, boiled a dozen eggs to make egg salad sammiches for lunch this week and then she got online and experimented with picmonkey.com. Now she is holding her fingers that it works because, Lord knows, it has been a while since she posted!! Also, I realizes that effurybody is either pawticipating in or following the Catolympics, but I'm just not athletic. I neither likes spawts nor do I pawticipate. But I am visiting a bit just to keep up on the successes of mai furrends and hopes effuryone is having fun! xxoo

Summer Reading

Right Now:

Puddles from Heaven! Temperature dropped from 104 to 91 in just 15 minutes! New banner from Ann of Zoolatory! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! xxoo

I blame the SEC

As everyone knows, we are having an epic heat wave and an as-yet-to-be-formally-announced major drought. I am offering these photos as evidence.  My grove of redbuds looks like a scene from late October, not early July.  They are losing their leaves!  I am watering them daily, but to no avail. 

Remember the gorgeous magolia blossom I showed you a few months ago?  Losing all its leaves, too.  There is a robin's nest in this bush and the birds are totally freaking out.  I've added lots of impromptu bird baths about the yard and I think they appreciate it, but I think they are still dazed by the unrelenting heat and dryness.  You can see the grass is past history!  The only green we've got is the clover.  I swear, it's starting to look like Midland, TX around here.

Not to mention that even the areas that I have been very careful to water don't seem to know they have moisture.  I am pouring gallons and gallons on everything and it's just evaporating.  And to add insult to injury, my yellow pear tomatoes are punking out. 

Mostly, I'm pretending I live in Arizona.  There are a lot of people who actually move there because they prefer this kind of dry hot hell.  The last time we got any precipitation at all was on June 23 and we got less than 2/10th of an inch.  It's been 100+ degrees every day since the 24th and it's going to continue to be 100+ through next week.  There is some talk of rain Sunday.  I've never experienced anything like this and I just don't know what to do.   I'm hoping that people will refrain from using fireworks tonight, but I have little faith in humans.   Bhu is purrfectly fine with it, though!  "I gotz mai noo haircutz and it is very COOL!" 

Aside from looking exceptionally sleek and cool these days, he is also horking up a lot less!  He seems really much happier without all that fur!  Here he is posed with some laminated fabrics that I purchased to make a bed cover.  If he DOES hork up on the bed, I can just wipe it off!  The fabrics in the upper right hand corner are going to be used for a couple of organizing projects for the kitchen and bath.  Oh, and maybe a new pair of jammies pants for me.

As for the SEC, I blame the heat wave on them.  Since MU moved from the Big Ten to the SEC, I think Mother Nature thinks we are "southern" and that this heat is perfectly normal for us.  Uh, Mother Nature, we are not IN the South! 

Happy 4th!  Please be safe! xxoo Patty & Bhu

Who Luvs Ya Babee?

Yes, this is Bhu "Kojack" Skypants after his new grooming appointment. 

All he needs is a lollipop hangin' out of his mouth!

He's really got no furz excepting the tail and a bit on his face.  Sleek, huh?

I think he looks quite handsome, myself!

"Okay, mom!  Just go ahead and plant a big kiss on the toppa my head right there!"

xxoo Patty

This seemed to go well and, as you can see, Bhu apparently cooperated with the new groomer.  He even got a [shhhh!  don't say it out loud:  bath].  Ahem.  I just wanted you all to know that this turned out okay for us and we are now going to try to train Bhu to "take the brush," instead of taking him to a groomer every fifteen minutes.  Thanks for all your encouragement!! 

P.S.  Dear "anonymous":  uh, yeah . . . NO!  

Day After the Bad Hair Day

Thanks for the comments and questions about Bhu's Bad Hair Day!  Having a bit of trouble posting today and hope this one works (two failures under my belt so far)!

Why did the groomer DO this?
We figure she no longer wants our business after thirteen years of once-a-month appointments.  That shaver spot right in the middle of his upper back is sort of a Flip the Bird act, wouldn't you say?

Why didn't she just give him a lion cut?
That's where she was headed; but she didn't quite make it, eh?   She gave him back to me in the carrier, so I didn't know it was "incomplete" until I got him home and took him out.  I had no reason to think she would do something like this on the 156th time she groomed him.

I hope she didn't charge you for this!
Actually, she charged me $10 more than I usually pay because she used the shaver.  Apparently, the charge is based on the number of minutes and the type of tools used, NOT the end product!

How does Bhu feel about it?
He doesn't seem to think it has any effect on his general attractiveness.  He thinks it's "cool."  Actually, Persians have this wonderful downy stuff right next to their skin and it is SOOOOO SOFT!  So he is delightful to pet!  He probably feels more loved now than in his "full furz" outfit. 

xxoo Patty

Bad Hair Day

He got scalped. After thirteen years of grooming him, Josie has finally thrown in the towel. This is how she returned him to me after his Tuesday appointment. Needless to say, we are trying to find another groomer. We are trying to train Bhu to take the brush. He hates the Furminator and won't let us get near him with a comb. To be honest, we are liking the shaved butt, but he has one leg that isn't shaved and one that is partially shaved and this deep shaver crevice in the middle and . . . oh, what a mess. It's very sad; it's almost criminal. Sigh. I guess I just didn't tip well enough. Or, whatever. I made these aprons (his & hers) for my former assistant and her husband who are moving into a new house in Kansas. She's very cool and is going to have a great career (I hope) and do LOTS of good in the world (I'm sure)! I'm also piecing 30's repro prints together for another apron project. Love these cheerful, colorful prints! Other than that, we finally got some rain (but not enough), the rain barrels are full again (!), and there are little tomaters on the plants (but not big enough to eat). I've been able to get some gardening projects done and I paid off my mortgage early. The town has been named one of the top 25 places to retire again, but out-of-town developers are pouring in and building dozens of 700 bed units for students; nobody's building anything for retirees. Go figure! And here's a nostalgic peek at the preshave Bhu, when he had all his fine, glorious furz! Next Friday we try out a new groomer! FINGERS CROSSED! xxoo P.S. We are going to have a give-away for the $49 Furminator sometime in the next couple of weeks, so keep stopping by fur that! xxoo Patty