San Francisco Sunday

Here's what it looks like from the top of the hill where I live. That's the San Francisco skyline you see. And you also see a nice birdie who was on top of the hill today. Maybe he will fly down and visit me in my back yard.

It was a pretty day. When the sun came up, I played "cat alert". That's when the people should get out of bed and do as I say. I jumped on the bed. I pushed my head under their hands. I meowed really loud. I ran to the back door to be let outside. When the Food Lady drowsily opened the door, I ran away and laughed. I'm the boss!

Formerly Feral Happy Housecat

I was a feral kitten. Sometimes I still act wild and crazy. But right now, I really like this spot on the comfy cushion in front of the sunny window, right next to the feather toy. That way, if the feather toy misbehaves, I can whap it and make it behave!

Cat Boxes Galore!!! And My Nicknames....

It is early February in San Francisco. This is a view of the area in front of my house. This area gets a lot of sun. That must be why the people put all these great cat circles out for me. The mulch is nice and toasty when the sun has been out. And I use the circles for anything I want! Let your imagination run wild - or even not so wild. I don't know why the Food Dude yells at me when I squat in the circles. I do wish those green things would go away. The Food Dude yells, "Get off the tulips, Weenie!!!" Which brings me to the next part of this blog entry.

I was tagged by the Zoo, http://cole200.blogspot.com/ for the nickname meme. I am Halloween because am black and orange. But I get called these other names too:

They call me Weenie. Totally undignified. Unacceptable. Beneath me.

They call me HalloweenCat. A more formal name, befitting my station in life. This is ok.

They call me Queen of the Cats. That is more like it!

They call me Whiny. That's when I use my annoyed voice, when the people aren't behaving and fulfilling my every wish.

They call me Barfola. I don't like this one either but it does fit sometimes. To all the cats who offered fine and kind advice about curing my barfolaness, I take tasty meds every night for this. The V-E-T has been monitoring my barfiness my whole life.

Time to go look in our neighbor's - the Pink People's - back yard and see if the pit bull is there...

Sleepy Sunday

It is sleepy Sunday around here. Usually I sleep, the people sleep and drink that rancid stuff that drips on top of the stove, and they put their faces in front of those crinkly things with lots of words on them. That's pretty much the score today as the weather is grey and sprinkly.

But here's a picture to bring some color into the day. It's ME, ME, ME and a painting of this lady artist called Freda Kahlo. The painter is from San Francisco. Sometimes I sit on the couch in front of the picture so people can admire ME, just like the painting! Why admire a painting when you can engage in cat adoration????

I have been tagged by the House of Mostly Black Cats. http://catsnmom.blogspot.com/ The Hotties have just had some very bad news about some good friends, so be sure to stop by and send them some love.

I have to tell you seven strange things about me.

1. My NOMS special friend is Garden Snake. Garden Snake lives in the garden every summer. He is very exciting. I like to watch him slither around the plants. Sometimes I bring him inside to play, but the people always put him back outside.

2. I am a scaredy cat. You'd think I'd be all scary myself with this name, but it works sort of the opposite with me. Loud noises, yelling, trucks, you name it, I'm scared of it.

3. I pretty much hate cat toys.

4. I am a barfola cat. Pretty much several times a week. The people are annoyed by that.

5. I like to watch reruns of Perry Mason with my people. They have the same job as Perry Mason and won't shut up about it, except when the tv is on. It is the only relief I get from their constant people yapping!

6. I am only interested in whapping pen tops. I have never learned how to whap all the stuff the rest of you cats whap. Do I need professional help?

7. I like to Food Dude's used socks.

I tag Mickey in the wilds of Canada: http://mickeytheblackcat.blogspot.com/.

What Would You Do If You Could Get Away With It?

I've been tagged by my pal Mr. Hendrix, who is named for a very important cultural icon. You can find Mr. Hendrix here: http://mrhendrixthekitty.blogspot.com/

Mr. Hendrix's meme is this: What 3 things would you do that you've never done before that you would do if you knew you wouldn't get caught or suffer the consequences?

The first thing I would do is chase the coyote who lives up the block a little bit farther away! Here is a picture of him taken by a neighbor a few months ago. It is winter now and I think he would like a nice, cute geezer cat for breakfast or maybe a snack.

Another thing I would do if there were no consequences is give a big cat kiss to Lady, my cousin. She belongs to Auntie Estelle, the most wonderful animal lover (even if it is dogs!) in the world. Auntie Estelle saved Lady from being euthanized, after 2 other families took Lady back to the pound because she was too much for them. Auntie Estelle worked her special magic on Lady and she is sort of well behaved now. Lady would have hundreds of ideas about how to respond to this post! As you see, Lady has a great big smile now because she ended up with the best person in the universe.

One other thing I would do if I wouldn't get caught is put a bunch of anti pit bull medicine in my back yard - where it is raining now - to make sure the Pink People's new dog doesn't come over and eat me up!

Go on over to http://www.petspics.blogspot.com/ and see their site, as Mr. Hendrix ordained.

I tag the Zoo Crew http://mkandthecrew.blogspot.com/

and Tripper the Psycho Stray Cat http://tabbytrip.blogspot.com/

and also Lady the Dog.

MuffinMindi Gave Me An Award!

http://fatcatmuffin.blogspot.com/ Here is the place on Mindi's blog where she gave me the award. It is called the "You Make My Day Award". The Food Lady is still working with very rudimentary tech skills, so she has to learn how to make the linkie thing say Muffinmindi and direct people to her site. We got some good tips in the last comments from the blogging cats, but we wanted to get this post up before too much time passed.

The award is given to cats whose blogs bring happiness and inspiration to others, and make you happy about blogland. Thank you so much, Muffinmindi! I was feeling sad and alone last week. You and the other cats have made me feel much better and have given good tips to the tech dunce who runs this thing for me!

I have to give the award to up to ten other cats. I give this award to Caesar and Prinnie's Happy Place, http://thecornishkitties.blogspot.com/. It is a very hard time for them because Caesar has gone to the Bridge. But Caesar and Prinnie's blog shows the best of the catblogosphere right now. There are lots of very kind and compassionate cats and people on the blogosphere.

I also give the award to Maddie, whose blog is called "I Crap in a Box" - http://caterwauling.com/cat/. Maddie's blog is one of the funniest cat blogs on the net. If you haven't read it, stop by and have a read. Maddie has lots of good ideas for activities for indoor cats!

If you've read my post about the Pink People who live next door, I have an update. Some new people came to live there for a while. They have a pit bull now. That is what has made me worried about going outside. The last time they had pit bulls they attacked the neighbor's gardener, and the dogs had to be put to sleep. I think I will be staying inside until the dog leaves.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by to offer encouragement and give tips. We'll be by to say hi to you all some more too.

Thursday Thirteen - Thirteen Things About My Life Today

Here is a picture taken of me today. I am sitting in my favorite spot - on the Food Dude's legs while he is stretched out on the couch. Since I am a sixteen year old geezer cat, I thought I'd tell you what life is like for me everyday.

1. I am formerly feral and I used to go outside all the time. These days, I only go out for a short time. But a few days ago, I ran outside like a kitten, tore through the garden, and ran up the big cedar tree in the back yard. This is just to show all the neighbor cats, raccoons, the coyote, and other animals that I am still fast and that they should fear me!

2. I usually sleep with the people. I've been doing that since I was a kitten. They fixed up a bed for me under the picture box in their bedroom that has a heater in it. Sometimes I sleep there now.

3. The people have a new chair. They put the feather toy in it so it hangs off the side so I can play with it whenever I want to. But now the rule is that if someone sits in that chair, they have agreed to play feather toy with me.

4. The people also have a few other new pieces of furniture. I like to sharpen my claws on it! The Food Dude yells when I do that. I just wait til he leaves the house and do it a hundred more times.

5. The people have big pots out in front of the house. Sometimes these flowery things grow in them. It is nice of the people to put flowers in my outside cat boxes.

6. I think my blog sucks. Not many cats visit it. Maybe I need some new people to make it better.

7. I like reading all the other cat blogs. Since my Food Lady is my main person, I especially like the blogs that make her face leak. Then she pets me alot and gives me treats!

8. I have learned how to control my people. My Food Lady understands most of my remarks. I control them after dinner by telling them to go to the couch. They sit in their assigned spots and then I sit on them.

9. I also control them when I am hungry. The Food Lady now knows when I need a Temptations treat, or a snack from the people food, or stinky goodness. She understands cat speak.

10. I also control the people when I want to go to bed. Usually this is about 9:30 P.M. They say I am a border collie. I meow and whine and stand at the stairs and tell them it is snuggle time.

11. I run after the feather toy like I am a kitten. The people like this very much.

12. I still hate the VET.

13. Rocky the Gutter Cat is the mancat of my dreams.

Hope to see you all here soon.

This Is My Sister

Here are two pictures of my sister. She was my feral littermate. Our neighbors adopted her. We call her August - that is the month we showed up in the back yard. The neighbors call her Leila. My people take care of her sometimes. As you can see, she is much bigger than me. But she has xray eyes like me! They reflect in the floor! She likes nip, as you can see in the pics.

When we were kittens, we were very good pals. Even after August went to live with the neighbors, she would still come over and run through the house and get treats and pets. When my brother Onyx came to live with us, he wouldn't let her in anymore.

She is a very friendly cat, but I like having my people to myself. The food dude is sorta sick, so I am being a comfort cat.

Happy New Year to all.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here is a picture of me with my Christmas tree, and also one of my admiring my tree. It has ornaments hanging low so I can bat them around. It also has presents underneath. I got a big dose of nip!!! MMMMMMM.

It has been pretty cold in San Francisco, so I've mostly been staying inside, doing a lot of lap sitting, napping in big warm Irish wool blankets, and chasing pen tops when I get bored. The racoons visited a few nights ago. I laughed at them out on the deck. They wanted to come inside but the cat door was shut. I guess they were looking for Santa.

Also I have been watching the sad news about the tiger killed at the San Francisco zoo when it somehow escaped from its cage. I don't think I would like to be kept in a cage all the time. We are also sad for the people who were hurt and who died. This was a tragedy. So I am saying kitty prayers for them all.

Kitty prayers and good wishes for the New Year to the cats and the bloggers. Maybe one of you blogging cats could email my people and tell them how to make my eyes look right. I really don't have xray vision!

Thanksgiving

This is the turkey we had at our house on Thanksgiving. It was 25 pounds of free range turkey. I like turkey very much. This is a picture of me as I waited patiently for the turkey to be given to me - every single morsel of it!

There were many people here for Thanksgiving. I am not very social so I stayed in my bedroom for a long time. But I got lots of turkey and that made me very happy.

I am thankful for my people, for all my new kitty friends, and also for the medicine that makes me healthy. I hope the coyote had a very full Thanksgiving meal too, and maybe he will fall asleep for a long time like Rip Van Winkle.