Spring is Coming

Hi Ducky here. Can you see me? I can see you! I was watching the lady outside tonight, walking around with no jacket on, taking pictures of the ground. Well not the ground but what is coming out of the ground.
A Hi-ya-cith sticking its purple nose up from inside its leaves.
A red tulip trying hide in all the green, but he couldn't hide from the lady.
Windflowers, grecian windfloers, just up.
A bunch of daffs which a few are barely open, the rest about to join them. I bet since the weather guesser is saying we will have warm weather, lots of our flowers will show up. Plus now that the weather is warm again the lady opens the windows as soon as she gets home. Love those fresh airs.
Now you can see me better! Me waiting as the lady comes back inside! After she came in she ate her supper and shared a tiny bit of ice cream with Derby and I. It was yummy. We also got to play with the red dot. Well I play more than Derby did, he just sorta sat and watched me go.

ManCat Monday

Is there anything as beautiful as a cat's eyes? Jewel-like they captivate the heart. - Author Unknown

No there isn't and I think most of us have pretty good looking eyes. This is mum's favorite picture of me and my eyes. Way back when, I was still wearing my collar! My eyes are a light gold color.
Ducky has gold eyes too, but his are darker, mum says sort of amber like color. They go well with our ginger furs.
Sunday I was just hanging on one of our window perches, I had just inhaled some food and it decided to come right back up. But is wasn't the nice dry yak, it was all mushy, so mum had to wash the perch cover. She actually washed both perch covers and then dried them outside. They smell so nice and fresh now.
So since our perches were out of the windows for a while, Ducky and I had to use the window ledge in the kitchen to see out. Lots of robins and squirrels for us to watch.
Later in the evening, we were catching a few z's on the bed and the lights were out. Mum realized we were both there and went to get the flashy box. Before she actually could get the picture I decided I better move. Never trust the flashy box.
Mum after 6 days of working hard has the puter back exactly how she wants it, so now we can have more time to visit.

Abby asked where mum hides stuff on the 'puter. Well it isn't hidden on OUR 'puter, mum sends it off into cyberspace to a company called Mozy, it auto backs up our picture and other files. Then when your 'puter gets sick like ours did, once it is fixed you can download all of your stuff back to the 'puter. It does cost green papers to do this and there are other companies that do the same thing. So check around, compare prices and all of that good stuff. Millie's mum had recommended it to mum and mum used it at her old work too.

So guess we are back to normal for now. Happy almost the end of March!

Bummer Friday

We are all bummed here. For the first time in over a week when mum got home she did not open the windows. Said it was all cold out. Here you can see Ducky at the window the other day, it isn't open much, but fresh air is fresh air.

Me I napped on my Gizzy and caught a few afternoon rays.
But it has been rather nice for the past few weeks so we think spring really is here. All sorts of green stuff coming out of the ground. Daffs, tulips and such.
A few crocus flowers coming up and flowering. Mum said she looked a couple of days ago and didn't see anything, then today. Pow, there they were.
Some catkins off of one of out trees, pussy willows if you would like to call them that.
Mum keeps using the 'puter lots, still downloading pictures back from her hidey spot. Scooby, Shaggy and Scout wanted to know if she was part squirrel. I doubt it, but she thanks Millie's mum for telling her where to hide her files. Then you don't lose them!

Happy Weekend one and all.

My First Award!

Hi everyone, Ducky here. Over the weekend Miss Chey and Miss Gemini were so kind to give me my first award. They said "You Rock". Well cool! Thank you.
Plus Zippy, Speedy and Sadie gave this award to both Derby and I, you rock too.

Now I guess the rules are that we is supposed to pass it on to five more kitties. We have been off line since the 'puter was in the fix it shop (we have it back now!) So we don't know who all has this already. But I think the whole Cat Blogosphere rocks, so take the award, one and all.

Then we also got the Beautiful Blogger award from Casper, thank you too. This is neat getting awards and sharing stuff. Maybe Derby and I should get some sort of an award together. Hmmm, gotta think on this one or get the lady to think on this.
In other news....like I said, we have the 'puter is back. Mum is working to get everything back where we like it. Mum has to download all of the backup stuff from the place she hid it online. She said it costed green paper to get it fixed, I hope that doesn't take from our treat and toy funds!

Guess that is it for now. Gotta go nap or maybe check out the birdies outside before the sun goes away.

Bye.

ManCat Monday

...You are my cat and I am your human. - Hilaire Belloc
When we woked up on Caturday there was snow back on the ground, but it all wented away again. We want spring full time. Two years ago yesterday we had this and this! Mum is happy we didn't have that this year. We are ready for spring.

Mum cleaned lots this weekend, extra laundry too. She says she has lots more to do to get the extra stuff done. All of this just because it is spring? What is nice is that the windows are sparkly and all of our nose prints are gone, at least for a day!
Picture taken after mum cleaned the windows, vacuumed the leaves, cobwebs and deaded old spider legs away.

Ducky and I napped during the bucketball games. Mum is bummed as Bucky Badger lost and mum's bracket at work is what she called 'a shambles'.

We also had a bit of war and peace.

One Thousand Posts!

Goodness, when I started this back in November 2005, who would have thunk I would still be doing this and get all the way to 1000 posts, about four and half years later! When I started this I had lived with mum for about 6 months, so I am coming up on my fifth Gotcha Day.This was my first picture on my blog saying hello to the world. I had found Max, The PyschoKitty and wanted to share my life with all of you. Little did I know how many of you there are! We started out as a small group, now there are hundreds of us!

Kitties have come and gone, along with their blogs, but somehow I am still here. The biggest change for me has just come in the last few weeks, with Ducky moving into our home.

Ducky in the windows close to where I had one of my first photo shoots. Let's see if we are both still around for 2000 posts.
Ducky here! I have been pleased to meet so many of you. I hope we are all around for another 1000 posts, I gotta get my time in too! Yesterday for the first time I ated a treat right out of the lady's hand. Derby does that all the time, but I wasn't sure about doing it. Plus I stole some foods off of the lady's plate, it was just a bit of bread, but she better watch out or I will take something more yummy.

A note from mum:

I would like to say hello and thanks to all of the kitties and their beans for being such great furiends and friends over the past years. Amazing the community we have here, supportive and caring, funny and serious. We have laughed and shed tears together, celebrated and mourned.

I am happy that I have met you, and in some case met you face to face, but even our cyber meetings have helped to make connections between us.The feedback we can give each other by what has happened to us and our furkids can help the others.

BTW, the second litter box from the bathroom went to the basement on Wednesday, no accidents that I can find in the past day and half. So I have my bathroom back for me, no more gritty floor!

We won't be visiting much over the next few days. My main computer is having issues, so it went to the fix it shop, and the old one doesnt' have all of my links on it. Oh well, guess I will have to watch basketball, read a book and if the weather is nice, get outside.

Thanks to all of you for your friendship. May it continue.
Happy Weekend everyone.

St Pat's Day

Ginger and green go together, yes they do!
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. We can all be Irish for the day.

A Cat Mom or Dad questions

The Lady Mum here! Gee that sounds rather high and mighty, like The Queen Mum.

Two questions as I finished getting Ducky and Derby all settled.

1 - Can I just up and move the litter box that has been in my bathroom for the past month to the basement?

2 - Derby seems to be a bit of a glutton on the food, if there is a food bowl he wants to eat from it. I want to be sure Ducky gets his fair share and Derby doesn't overeat. I now have two bowls near each other where I put out crunchies twice a day, I don't care what bowl they eat from but I only put out so much food at a time, about 3/4 of a cup AM and PM which should be enough for both of them.

Overall, they are doing great. They have been together since last Friday around 5 PM when I got home. They chase each other and it does switch from who is chasing who, then other times they ignore each other, sit next to each other or just nap, apart, like they are doing now. No injuries to anyone including me. I also did manage to clip Ducky's hind claws yesterday with no issues.
Otherwise, my day's off are flying by, weather is excellent. Did some outside yard work, picking up dead branches, a bit of raking. Plus all of my home improvements are done, they installed the water softener system this AM.

Thanks for the feedback.

Mini ManCat Monday

Happy is the home with at least one cat. - Italian Proverb
Hi, Ducky here. The lady said I can do ManCat Monday this week and when I do it it will be called Mini ManCat Monday since I am such a tiny boy. With the saying of the day, this must be a really happy house, 'cuz we now have two cats here. The lady says two in the maximum number of cats that will be here at the same time. The pose above lasted all of 2 minutes!

First, thank you for all of your kind words on my life story on Caturday. It is nice having a good home. I am happy I am not back at my first home too, much nicer here, specially the lady. Always crunchie foods, water and treats; pets, snuggles, purrs and hugs.

Second, as of last Friday night, the lady has left big kittie, Derby, and I together overnight. Up until then I always had the lady's sleepy room for just me and her. It was OK, I roamed around that night, but last night I spent most of my time with the lady anyway, sleeping on top of her legs.
So that means I am totally into the routine around here now. Caturday AM the lady got up and watched birdies out the back windows. I jumped up on her lap and watched with her. With our snow almost all gone, the lady says we are seeing birdies that come back north in the spring. Early last Wednesday morning we saw our first ever robin of the season, so they and other birds are back. That must mean spring is here.
Other nice thing this week, the lady said she will be home for a couple of extra days. Just chillin' and taking it easy with her two ManCats.

The only weird thing is that Derby thinks he has to eat all of the foods in every bowl. The bowl can be empty, he is not around and the lady will put some crunchies out for me. I swear Derby shows up within a minute to snarf down the foods. The lady told him he better watch out or he will get fat. He is a big cat compared to me anyway. I need my foods, I am a tiny boy.

Plus on Sunday I watched mum and some other bean cutting off part of a tree. The guy climbed up a ladder, climbed around in the tree and took off a few branches. This is not the same one that stole part of the tree a few weeks ago. The lady says she has nice peoples here that help her do stuff she can't do by herself. That is very nice.

Happy week every one.

Ducky's Story

Hi ya all, I have been here now for a month today, so as you guys say I can celebrate my one month Gotchaversary.

The lady said I can tell you my story. Well as much as I can remember, or she has been told.

I was first at the shelter as a kitten, in late summer 2008. They figured I was about 8 weeks old at the time. I got treated for worms as I had an icky grub on my furs that finally got taken away. Plus I got my manbits taken away. Over the next couple of months I was a bit sick, and got treated for being a sneezy guy. But once I was all healthy, I got adopted.

Can't tell you much about my first home, they had my front claws taken out and I kept getting outside and finally got outside for good. In winter of this year I got found with another kittie at a business called Briggs & Stratton, so I got the name of Briggs and the other kittie Stratton. We were brought to one shelter which ID's us by our chips and I went back to my original shelter, HAWS. Also from my chip they called the people who adopted me first, but they said they didn't want me back.

Once I was all healthy again, I got put with the other kitties for adoption. I had some nice neighbor kitties to chat with. Some like me had been on the run, other had peoples who couldn't care for them any more. One kittie was probably three to four times my size, his name was Meatball. I was just hanging out one day and visiting hours were just starting when this lady came in, she said hi to me and to Pouncer who was next to me. This is the main kittie room at the shelter. The lady says this is all new and yes it is, I don't remember this at all. There are two fancy display rooms at the end and the windows on the far side are along the main entry walkway. There are nine apartments on the side, another display area, another nine apartments to the right off the picture edge. To the left are three large apartments for large kitties or bonded pair kitties. Then the lady went to look at Meatball and went WHOA, what a big kittie. Then she talked with a shelter bean for a bit.

Then a shelter people got me out of my apartment, and took me in a little room. The lady was there too and she had toys that we could play with. I got played with, cuddles, scritches and all. Then she left. Here is me in the little room with the lady when she played with me. In a little bit a different shelter people came in and put me in a carrier and took me out front. The lady was in a chair signing the papers for me. I was going to go to live in her home now. On the way back she talked all about this Derby guy, and how nice I would have things. Once we stopped, I got taken inside and into a back room and the doors closed. The lady just had me sit in the carrier for a bit while I heard her getting stuff together in the nearby room. Then she opened the carrier and left me alone. I jumped out and for safety headed under the bed! When the lady came back, she just laid down on the floor and watched me. I soon got over my shyness and came out. The lady then sat on the bed and I jumped up there too. So my first days continued like this, having my own suite of rooms. The lady would spend time with me and time with the big kittie. Then she actually let us see each other, and in a few more days had time together. I can hold my own against the big kittie, but the lady is only letting us be together when she is around. She says she needs to referee us at times.

Well for now it is nice as I get to sleep with the lady at night. She doesn't mind when I jump on the bed at night and snuggle with her. The other morning my crunchies were gone, so I kept pouncing on her until she finally got out of her sleep and fed me! The lady says in time that Derby and I will share our lives he will accept me and be nice to me and I will be nice to him. That means he has to share his blog with me too. Oh yes he does!

Vital Statistics
Date of Birth (estimated) - 6/28/08

Latest Gotcha Day - 2/13/10

Weight - 7 pounds 5 ounces

Full Name - Mallard Olympus CutiePie - A Mallard is a duck, Olympus since I was adopted while the 'Lympics were on. The lady's dad said I should be Oly since Derby is for Derby Day, but the lady said no, it could be my middle name. CutiePie, because I am!

Ducky is better, I am a tiny boy, I don't need a super long name! I see so many kitties out there who like me now have wonderful homes. I am happy for my new home and for your nice words and kindness in welcoming me to the great big world of the blogosphere.

Thank you.

Dungeon Tour with Derby

Before the runt had his show of the dungeon, I had a video. Mum just never posted it. Now you can get a movie of my dungeon.

Mum is keeping us apart yet when she isn't home. The runt wants to cuddle, I am not sure I want to cuddle. I give him a few licks, then put some moves on him. He does hold his own and strikes back.

Our snow is going away, we can start to see lot and lots of the grass again. Maybe mum will open the windows again this weekend.

ManCat Monday

Cats are seductive. It's hard not to love an animal that's so in love with itself. - Author Unknown

Mum let us be together for most of Caturday. So after the open windows and the runt down in the dungeon, we chilled in various parts of the house but later in the evening we ended up on the couch with mum. When it was time to sleep then mum took the runt into her sleepy room for the night.
When she got up she let the runt out and we spent the whole day together. Well not always together, but there wasn't any closed doors between us.
At one point he came to mooch room on the couch with me and mum. I started to give him a lick or two. Then got him into a headlock!Hey! Be nice, I was willing to cuddle you but you is getting way too rough. I can play that way too. Go away big kittie.
What? I am going to defend myself! I am not going to be pushed around by big kittie! Just remember that lady, I will stand up for my self. I can be all cute and purry, but I will hold my own when I have to against big kittie.

Open Windows and 'Sploring

Mum took off for a while this morning, but then she came home with Grampie, but they just sat outside in the sunshine for a bit. Plus they talked to some of the neighbors who have sticky little things that came over too.

But after mum took Grampie home she opened the windows! Yes she did!
The fresh air is delish!
I agree Derby! Oh my, we actually agree on something!
The lady even opened the big window in the back, just a tiny bit so we could get fresh air and see the birdies.
Then the lady got busy, even going down those stairs to do something. I followed along to see what I could find. Hmm, a bit cluttery, messy and dirty, just your basic basement. Derby calls it the dungeon.
Boxes and a fake tree.
Sort laundry, plus the washy machine was working on a load at the time.
More litter boxes.
A big old room with tools and stuff. The lady says it is the work area. I smell mousies here too.
Guess I gotta go by the big kittie if I want to go back upstairs. No problem, I will just jump over him. I won't get lost if I have to go down here again. Places to 'splore but no place to get outside.