Caturday Saturday

LAZ:  Im annoyed today.  Well, I was annoyed yesserday and I expect ta be annoyed tomorrow too.

OK, yesserday, he stuffed me into the PTU.  Yeah, I know most of us dont go into one easily but I REALLY fought.  TBT said it was like trying ta force a big-box-sized python into a small box.  But in spite of my pythonlike efforts, he DID force me in.  He IS stronger.

But then he had ta figure out how ta let GO of me!  I had my claws out on his bare arms, and HE had ta figure out how ta get his arm out in one piece AND close the door before I could force my way out.  I had my back paws braced on the back of the PTU, ready ta jump.

Eventually, he suddenly pulled his hand out and pushed the door.  I did get my head out but not the rest of me an he pushed enough to get my head back in and closed the door.  And he checked the latch several times because I was really banging on it.

Well, I was afraid he was sending me on ta some different place, and I desperately like it here.  Thats worth a struggle, right?  My first place was RATHER HORRIBLE!  Here, I can go out, I can sit among plants and catch shrews, and sniff the excitin outside smells.  Inside, I get good foods, nap in nice spots, sleep up against TBT at night, and wrassle with Marley.  I dont much bother Ayla annymore, but it IS fun pretending to stalk her.

So it was natural to fight against being in the PTU if I was gonna be sent away.  Naturally, there are no pictures of all that.  TBT would have ta be an octapus ta manage getting me in the PTU AND take pictures.  Ya know how we cats can glare at Beins when we are upset?  Well, Beins can glare too.  His look would have frozen a fire!

But I wasnt done YET.  In the PTU car, we all normally sing the mournful songs of our people.  I pawsitively SCREAMED!  Ayla and Marley hid in their best most secret spots.

And it was just a trip to the VET.  Im kinna OK about that.  Stabbies and handling and The Probe.  But I was pretty worked up.  I didn't stop yelling the entire time I was there.  Not that TBT would know since he just sat in the car...

[TBT:  I've had my Moderna shots (last one 6 weeks ago) and wore an N-95 mask, but they STILL wouldn't let me inside.  Their policy IS a bit extreme.  My presence would have reassured Laz a lot.  Fortunately, our next scheduled visit is March 2022, so I HOPE all that is done with by then]

But they brought me back to him outside afterwards and we went home.  Whew!  What a bootiful word "home" is.  But then he went away to hunt down his kind of food and was gone "a long time".  After an hour, when I was fed and TBT was sure I wasn't wobbly from the stabbies, he let me outside.  

HURRAY!  So of course it began to rain soon after.  I was so desperate to be out, I tried to hide under the deck, but that didnt werk too well.  So (also still being hungry) I came in when he called me.

So that was yesserday...

Today it is still raining.  And worse, TBT says it will tomorrow too.  I cried about THAT all morning.  He told me "the flowers need water sometimes".  Now THAT was a problem.  I wanted to go out and hunt mousies, but I hate rain.  But the shrews like bugs and the mice like dry seeds from the flowers and rain keeps them down in their holes.  But the flowers need the rain.  

My brain kinna exploded inside trying to get around that.

So I think I will have sufferred the PTU, sufferred the VET, screamed my lungs out and stayed inside almost 3 days by Monday.  The food better be the REALLY GOOD STUFF, Marley had better be willing to wrassle, and TBT better be willing to let me push up HARD against him at night...

[TBT:  There are no pics to use here.  I have a few from Thursday, but the weather was good then and that wouldn't make any sense.  I have some new ones of The Mews inside, but naturally, the camera battery died as I started to download the pictures and it takes hours to recharge.  I should just buy a 2nd battery.  I have sometimes mentioned that I am generally lucky about major things but not minor things.  This is a perfect example]

Im staying calm.  Food is good, rain ends, sunpuddles appear again.  Patience, patience, patience...

Flashback Friday

Today we look back at this week in 2011.  It is sort of "the tale of the tail"...

A little paw-spread.

And relaxed again...

But he woke up...

And gave me "the paw".

Apparently, he was not thrilled with the flashie...
 

5,000 Posts!

The earliest header we can find is from 2010, so we are posting that.  Why?  Because this is about beginnings.

THE MEWS:  The Blogger Dashboard tells us this is our 5,000th post!  We trust it of course, because eleventy is about as far as we can imagine.  And because of that we turn this over ta TBT.  He can count that high, we think...

TBT HERE:  OK, thanks guys...  Well, this has sure been an adventure.  And don't worry, it isn't over yet.    I remember before I started.  I read Max's blog for 2 years starting 2004 then a couple others.  I found the idea of cats blogging amazing.  I never would have thought of the idea myself.  I'm creative, but not inventive.  Sort of a Beta.

One day, on one of the blogs, I saw a button that read "free blog".  I checked it out.  And I mean I REALLY checked it out.  "Free" is suspicious after all.  But it did seem legit and actually free, so I gave it a try. In August 2006.

I was COMPLETELY confused at first.  But I had learned Basic, Fortran, and Cobol in college.  I taught myself spreadsheets and databases, so how hard could it be?  Yeah right.  Took me days to get a post up and more to add a picture.  But I managed it.  And even then, the part about "comments" escaped me at first.  

I "think" I got an email about allowing comments from someone.  Sure enough, I found that part.  And got some.  The first was from The Meezers.  And I was so inexperienced, I first tried to reply with a comment on my own blog.  You can even see that HERE:  I thought it was sort of like email.  But I figured that out soon enough.

After that learning curve, I started commenting on other blogs and other cat-bloggers visited US!  I look at the earliest posts and cringe.  Skeeter and LC didn't know basic stuff like doors and fences.  Well, "they learned".  And I learned how to post pictures eventually.

And that didn't work well at the start.  I struggled hard to put text "next to" pictures and that drove me crazy.  Everything kept moving around.  Then I saw that some bloggers put text over or below the pictures.  That was great!  It meant the pictures could be larger and the text didn't go all weird.

There was a time when I couldn't think of anything to write.  I wasn't very used to taking pictures of the cats every day and pictures sure make writing about them a lot easier.  Duh, keep the camera in your pocket...  That helped a lot.  

So I got into a habit of writing a post every few days.  I enjoy writing.  I would rather sit and write instead of passively watching TV.  And then I discovered the idea of "theme days".  Cool, Monday wasn't just Monday, it was "Mancat Monday", etc.  Organized the writing.

And there were phrases I learned.  Canned food was "Stinky Goodness".  Sunday was "Easy Like Sunday" for togetherness.  The Mews watching birds at the feeders was "Birdie TV".  

I think I invented "MOL".  I can't prove it and don't worry about it much.  But when I started posting, other cats were saying "LOL".  And one day early-on, I thought "no it should be Meowing Out Loud" and used MOL.  I was asked what that meant and explained.  I saw it catch on.  A few months later dog-blogs were using "BOL" which I assume is obvious.

Some bloggers have had more and lost more cats than I.  I've seen the sadness.  I respond, and always with tears streaming down my face.  A lost cat-companion always means dozens of tissues to dry my eyes as I struggle to type a reply.  Every cat who goes Over The Bridge is to them as Skeeter was to me. And sometimes I re-read the condolences on his departure from my life and the tears come again.  We all have holes in our hearts for the departed ones.  

And I have seen famous cats come and go now.  There are downsides to cat-blogging for almost 15 years.  Old friends leave our world.  Sammy and Miles Meezer, Eric and Flynn, and lately Max and Spitty come quickly to mind, but there are so many others.  I cried for them all.

And some just seem to vanish.  My feedly list has some who haven't posted for years.  I keep them in case they return but I know it isn't likely they will.  Still, "just in case" is OK; it's not like it costs money to leave them there.

So, today is 5,000 posts.  I'm both thrilled at the number and uncertain about the meaning.  In one sense it is just a number.  In another sense we Beins consider big round numbers to have meaning.  So that way, it means a lot.  

I never in my wildest dreams when I started cat-blogging had ever considered such as number.  I was amazed at the 100th and 1,000th posts.

And it isn't like I had a goal or anything.  I post when I have a picture or a thought to work with.  Some years I posted only a few per month.  And lately, I had problems taking pictures (solved that).  But here I am at 5,000.  Feels weird...

Part of what I am getting at is that I wouldn't be posting if "you" weren't reading them.  I continue from a desire to write about The Mews, but if no one was reading, I would probably spend my time on my Cavebear blog, discussion boards and strategic computer games.  I get returns from them too, but I value Mark's Mews more.  Thank you all for each and every comment or read.

So here are pictures from the start, and some of the newest.  Old is good, but time moves on.

Skeeter and Ayla...

LC...

Ayla climbing down the ladder...

Ayla and Iza together...

Ayla WAY up high...

Napping close...

Marley even got up high.

They all got along waiting to get out,

Now it is Ayla, Marley, and Laz...

Laz loves Marley; his Big Brofur.

They wrassle peacefully...

Some good days, all of them nap together.

More wrassling.  Laz always starts it.

I love Princess Ayla.  Sweet cat of my days.  It is good that she stays near me more lately.

And they nap together...

I have to say that perhaps I have been unbelievably lucky with cats getting along so well.  I mean, I used to post about Ayla and Iza not getting along "purrfectly" but that was because they did really get along together and was the surprise days I mentioned.

And yes, Laz was an actual struggle.  I never blamed him, he had a hard early life.  But since about his Gotcha Day, he has really calmed down.  Getting outside has been good for him.  And him probably realizing that when he comes in, he can go out again, has made a difference, I think.  

And with Laz being calmer, Ayla feels freer to move around in the house.  That matters to me.  I love having her on the back of my TV chair and she is on my lap, purring, so much more often.  I enjoy her apparently increased relaxation and happiness.  

I would never say I had a "favorite cat" among The Mews anymore than a Mother would admit to having a favorite child.  The Mews are all different and I love them all.  But when Ayla is happy, it sure means a lot to me.  

Marley is ALWAYS a pretty happy cat, so that is good.  In fact, he may be about the happiest cat I've ever had.  It would be hard to decide "happiest" between Marley and Iza, though.  They were both about as happy as I can imagine cats being.  

Marley loves the outside, and Iza loved her "warmy mats" but both loved being on my lap and sometimes got a little fussed about it, but Marley was a good Brofur and declined to contend.  Now that Iza has gone, he goes for my lap anytime I make one.  I sure miss Iza a lot, but Marley does is best

And Ayla has become more of a lap cat than before.  I cherish their attention and love of being near me. I know some people are not that lucky with theirs or some individual one.

And as I have said, Laz is not a lapcat.  But he demands to spend the night pressed up against me.  Why he wants to spent the night in contact but not while I'm sitting in a chair is beyond my current understanding, but I bet that changes in a year.

I'm surely a lucky cat-guy!

BTW, I went nuts with the "5,000" label for 2 days.  It was The Comma!

Womancat Wensday

AYLA:   This isnt my usual place.  Im more "back-of-the-chair" or bedroom-oriented.  But the guys were asleep in the bedroom, so it seemed good.  I DO like to be close to TBT.

Yes, I DID get on The Lap, but when TBT pointed the camera at me there, I hopped off.  A Princess is careful about TOO MANY pictures with The Staff.

Twofur Tuesday

MARLEY:  Yeah it is me again, but Laz is in the picture too, so that counts two!

 

I was getting scritchies.  Laz was grooming his furs on the floor.  I dint need that since TBT had just brushed and combed me.  I enjoy that.  Laz doesnt.  He doesnt know what he is missing.

I had just finished pawing a post and TBT was turning it into better werds and stuff.  I mean, I type and all, but I dont unnerstand commas and stuff an some werds are tricky ta spell.  He fixes it "just enough".  He says we "have our voice" and he doesnt mess wit it too much.

That paper on the side is where he keeps track of our pictures.  I dont unnerstand THAT part at all.  But I gather that he lists the pic numbers, who is involved, and what what happenned in the pics there.  I'm glad HE does cuz I cant.

Mancat Monday

MARLEY:  TBT finally got a decent close up of me...

 

Easy Like Sunday

AYLA:   I dont get on The Lap often (TBT is a bit too moving for me) but I smelled something good.  Of COURSE I had ta go check it out...

He had HAM for dinner!  

When he saw me hesitating (I'm a polite Princess, though of course everything belongs to ME) he put the bowl on the floor.  Now, I USALLY make him carry my food bowl around until I decide where to dine.  But in this case I accepted it where he placed it.  I mean it was HAM...

I can deign to not be fussy about location once in a while...  That he said "I'm NOT getting up" had nothin ta do with my decision.

Caturday Saturday

 LAZ:  TBT caught me chasing a "thing" I found in the house.  He says it is a thing womanbeins use ta hold their hair together.  

But Ayla liked it and carried it around so I got curious.  Fast-action pics and low-light, so none are very good...

But I sure liked playing with it!  Maybe I'll check out other toys...

Flashback Friday

This time we are actually cheating a bit.  The pictures were from 3 weeks ago in 2011.  But they were too good to pass up...

Those were GOOD DAYS...

Thinkful Thursday

 MARLEY:  Yes "thinkful".  TBT took this picture and wondered out loud what I was thinking.  Ayla said she knew me pretty well and that SHE knew what I was thinking.  She said "NOTHING, sometimes that boy sit there like a cleaned blackboard"!  She can be sarcastic sometimes...

Granted, I was only wondering what we would get for dinner, but I WAS thinking of SOMETHING!

Werdless Wensday

 

Toesie Tuesday

MARLEY:  We are just NOT having much luck with the camera lately!  I was on The Lap and flexing a paw.  TBT gets a kick out of that, so he tried ta get a picture.

Yeah, right...  First, the camera waited until my paw was unflexed (you CAN see a claw though). 

Then it was flexed but not on "macro".

Then on macro but it was blurry annyway!

Sometimes ya just cant win...

Mancat Monday

 MARLEY:  I rediscovered the TurboTrak the other day.

It was fast fun.  It was on the other room and I was moving fast, so the pics are weak.

But I stayed still fer one...

Easy Like Sunday

Well, it was Easy Like Sunday for US annyway.  We spent most of the VERY nice day outside and were greeted with warm clothes when we came in. 

TBT has been weerd lately.  Something about "taxes and bad pictures and cold weather".  He get's easily upset sometimes.  "Taxes" are weerd and apparently that's why we were allowed to stay out so long.  He doesnt dare let us walk the keyboard then.

And even after he called us in (lots of foods), the computer room door stayed closed.

He says it is all fixed now.  Ya can see it at https://cavebearslair.blogspot.com/2021/05/tax-form-troubles.html

But that's up ta you.  We don't have ta worry about that stuff.  We got lots of good foods, the litter boxes were clean, and there were some new toys on the floor.  We got some fresh NIP last hour, so we are feelin fine.

Friday Flashback

This week, we revisit 2011 the same week !

Ayla and Young Marley wrassled.  Iza watched in amazement.

Well, it was equal then.

Sort of...

But Ayla was a contender then.