Easy Like Sunday

IZA:  Well, first a minor bad news.  The Art Of Paws heaty mat that the wonderful Whiskeratti sent me (to replace the previous exact same one TBT bought before) died last week.  The original died after only a few moons and TBT thought he had damaged the weak plug when moving it to a new spot.  And after many emails, the Art Of Paws folks said they just werent selling in the US anymore and couldn't even replace it.

When the one The Whiskeratti sent also died, we concluded it was "just poor stuff".  You kitties in Britain may want to be cautious about them.  I mean, TBT even searched the innernet for the adaptor plugs both times and they cant even be bought (probably for good reason).  Well, chit happens...

So, the good news.  The one we have isnt quite as warm, but it keeps working.  And in Summer moons, I dont need it to be as warm as in Winter.  And, werking or not, the old dead heaty mats ARE soft.  So Dad piled them all up with the working but slightly less warm one (from a different company) on top.

I present you with proof of my enjoyment of "The Pile"!

So it is an Easy Like Sunday after all (even if I do enjoy some odd napping positions on it).

Caturday Saturday

A Poem...

"Iza, are you stealing my pens again?
I can't find a single one of them.

I know they are nice to bat.
And knockable to any cat.

But Ayla leaves them in plain sight,
While you take them off into the night.

Marley shows no intrest there,
If not a mouse, he does not care.

But they disappear when you're around
And I wonder where the stash be found,

Somewhere 'neath chair or hidey-hole
There is a pile of pens that you'll,

Be guarding like some ancient dragon
On your hoard of my writing tools.

Alert to any threat of theft
Thats why I buy them by the bulk...

Sneaky Iza, Tonky Girl.
Pen-collector, Daddy's Girl.



IZA:  Who, ME?  With an innocent face like this?

TBT:   I make lists of things to post about and cross them off as I do.  But my pen seems to be missing again, LOL!

Freaky Friday

IZA:  I got trapped in a closet yesserday.  Sure, all Dad did was open the door quickly to throw a Winter hat onto the top shelf but I ran in to look around.  Places we dont usually get to get into often are always so enticing.

So he heard me talking a couple of times when he was in other rooms but not when he was near the closet.

I blame Ayla, myself.  Well, I'm not going to blame ME of course.  But she didnt show up for breakfast 2 days ago, and by lunchtime Dad was panicking.  The last time one of us was "missing but in the house" was when LC had a stroke and had hidden in basement junk when he finally found her.  She went to The Bridge that day.  So he gets a bit weerd when he cant find one of us. 

So after finally finding Ayla just sitting unner the bed, he reminded himself that sometimes we just want some "alone" time.  So when he heard me talking a couple times but couldnt actually find me, he figured it was one of those times.  And it wasnt like I was in any distress.  It was an innersting place.  But I was annoyed.  One does want to visit the litter box eventually...

He eventually went around the den shaking the kibble bottle.  That made me call out, and he opened the closet door after his pathetic hearing finally located where I was.

I milked that for all I could (well what kitty wouldnt?) and after enough treats I got laptime too.  What I dont have are pictures of the closet release.  But trust me, it happened...

Be careful of closets, though.  Unlike kitchen cabinet doors, they dont open from the inside.

Veggies In The Garden.

We didn't show these before because they weren't very impressive.   But Miss Megan asked twice, so here is what we have...

 First, we had the Summer Squash unner the covers with the broccoli so the cabbage moths couldn/t get at them.  Of course, when the squash flowers opened, TBT had ta let pollinating bugs get at the flowers.

The tomatoes are doing well.  They are all growing fast. but no fruits yet.

The good news is no sign of diseases.  And these are all heirloom varieties.  Dad says the hybrids aren't worth eating after you have tasted a real heirloom tomato.

He uncovered the squash, but kept the boccolis safe from the bugs.

The Italian Flat Pole Beans have been growing great.  You can't see the beans from here cuz TBT just picked them.  They are like 8" long and flat, and taste better than regular pole beans.  He gets a whole bowl of them every 3 days all Summer long.

We also have cherry tomatoes.  You can't see them.,but there are tiny fruits starting.

Actually, he has 2 cherry tomato plants and is looking to see where they grow best.  

The bi-color corn is growing well.  Dad likes those better than all white or all yellow.  They are growing in blocks of 9 planted 2 weeks apart.  He pollinates them by paintbrush because there are so few corns at a time.  The later plants mean long Summer of them all spread out 2 months.

This is a bad picture of a few of the cherry tomatoes growing.  But it does show there are some.  Dad has a new camera and the macro setting eludes him so far.  

He will figure it out eventually...

Thursday Garden Tour

AYLA:  I'm doin The Garden Tour again this week.  Iza an I tossed toy mousies and MINE went higher...

So first, note the nice white hydrangeas behind me.  That's why Im starting here.  And while we start on the deck, we will end here too.

So lets go down and take a look at what there is to see!

First is the best flower Ive ever seen.  TBT says it is a Cleome.  Notice that it is about 3' tall too.  Dad says it self-sows, so we are hoping for more of them next year.  Who wouldnt?

The daylilies of better colors are starting ta bloom.  Like I said last week, they will be moved to the front yard this Fall.  We never touch them, but he says better to remove risks.

So after the Yellows of last week, now there are corals...

multicolored...

butters...

Hmmm, maybe THIS is coral...

Yellows...

The purple coneflowers are back again.   There are fewer this year, but Dad says he could divide them and move some around...

The volunteers actually have better color.  Should I tell Dad to divide these instead?

The "Leftover" bed is starting to grow.  They were tall but in little tiny growing celpots, so if they got THIS big in those, they are pretty hardy.  I can't wait to see them in a month!

The Stokes Asters are still blooming (they are my favorite flower).  Well, so are the coneflowers, but dont tell either of them that!

Here is a longer view of the daylilies...  Lots of yellows.

But some of the others are good.  In fact Dad says he should put bamboo stakes with labels in the better colors and use them in the front yard...  

 The hydrangeas are looking purrfectly white...

So let's go back up on the deck to get a better view.   The daylillies look good.  Dad has to mow the weeds and cover the area.  You might not see it, but trust me that there is a NIP plant between every daylily.  We always go for the NIP.

Now, back up on the deck, the Coreopsis Moonbeams are doing well.  They are older than me.

Now lets see what Marley has chosen for snacks...

Ooh, the last of the crunchy Roo treats, some Rabbit Stinky Goodness, some cheese bits (for those who dont have problems with it), and NIPTINIS!  And rainwater, of course...

Thank you all for coming along on our Garden Tour this week!!!

Werdless Wensday

Tummy Tuesday

IZA:  I love my Cat Mat...

AND showing my tummy.

But keep the flashie down huh, Dad?

Cat World Domination Day

Our favrit day of the YEAR!  We are totally in love with this one...


Iza taps Dad's arm on the chair (with claws out) when she wants some of his food.  And taps his eyes at night when she wants scritching.  I (Ayla) head bump him from the top of the dresser as soon as he gets out of bed in the morning or I stand on his tummy making biscuits iffen he doesn't get up.  Marley is very polite.  He just sits there staring at Dad until he finally gets up to feed us.   But that werks too.

Mostly, we make sure he allus pays attention to us.  Like the deck door trick.  Whatever side of it we are on is the wrong side.  Marley is best at THAT.  He will step out, then stare into the house forever until Dad opens the door again.  And he doesn't walk in...  Well, Unless Dad says that "dinnertime" werd....   We ALL respond to THAT of course.

In the evening, we REALLY take control.  Dad sits to watch the funny TV and Iza and Marley sit on him so he can' get up without feeling guilty.  Or if they are just nappin elsewhere, I do.  And THAT really nails him to the chair because I dont do it often so he will sit there forever until I hop away.

Of course, we dont spend ALL our time doing that.  We're cats and like to confuse him.  Like when we all walk past and DONT get up on his lap even when he asks.  Heh, heh, heh...

So yeah, we are like in total control here.

Ooh, just heard a can of Stinkey Goodness being opened; gotta run...

Easy Like Sunday, Sort Of

IZA:  Yeah we do the lap pics a lot.

But sometimes it is all Dad can manage.

When we are outside, we like ta go stand on his feet, and we are pretty sure you don't want ta see our backs...

Besides, all the action is on The Lap.

Like, here is me in "thinking pose".  I want to annoy Ayla, but that would mean giving Marley The Lap and I sure don't wanna do THAT!   Life is difficult sometimes.  I mean, jumping at Ayla would be very satisfying, but getting Marley off The Lap can be difficult.  He can settle in very well.  And quite frankly, he is larger than I am.

Just look at him looking for an inch of space...

I spend a lot of time defending The Lap...

Caturday Saturday

AYLA:  We got a new chair this week.  We LOVE it. 

Dad hates it.  He dint realize he couldnt sit at it with the TV tray (what holds his food bowls) while he watches TV stuff.  And he cant return it.

He put his old chair back in place.  So this one is ALL OURS!

Thursday Garden Tour On Friday

AYLA:  We are behind but CATching up...  And Im doing the Garden Tour again.  Dad said I could...  So please come down and let's look around the yard.

But of course there are the deck pots.  They were boring last month but are flowering now.   I dint know Zinnias came in so many colors.  These are called "Pinwheel" cause of the many colors I guess.

The Stella D-Oro are blooming like mad.

And the Stoke's Asters are doing really good.  They bloom well, and seem unkillable and they never need weeding.

The Lilly Pond is doing well.  

The hostas are loving the wet weather and cloudy sun.  We have them all over the back yard.  

Look careful at the Stoke's Asters...

Bees love them!

And love them.

And so do other bugs...  No, don't eat them...

The meadow bed is finally showing a few flowers.  There will be more soon.

Like these, I hope.

The daylilies are starting ta bloom.  They are for looking at, not leaf-nibbling.  Dad intends to move them to the front yard this Fall.  Not that we are tempted to eat them (they smell wrong) but he wants to be sure.

This is a weerd patch TBT planted last week.  All sorts of leftovers.  But it will be inneresting ta see how they all look in a month.

The Purple Coneflowers are as dependable as flowers can be.  They are older than *I* am.  But they keep blooming.

Well, that's the tour this week.  Let's go back up on the deck and see what treats Dad and Iza have arranged.

Ooh, Hill's Chicken crunchies, Nip Leafs, and OMC, Gerber's turkey food...  And fresh rainwater, of course...  My tummy is growling...