Stuff

I'm not doing so great lately.  I'm healthy, just a bit stressed and depressed.  I am putting in about an hour of overtime per day and that puts a crimp in my blogging time.  I hope to get back to the limericks soon, but it will probably be at least a day or two.  I'm not really complaining; I just don't want any of you to worry about me.  I'll be fine.

Anita

Anita is a calico cat who lives in the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain.  She blogs in both Spanish and English, though her earliest blog entries are in Spanish only.  She is a gatorrista with plans for world domination.  She has done a pretty good job of dominating her Mami and Papi with both adoring looks and demands.  That just leaves the rest of the world.  She loves to go outside on her balcony for fresh air and bird observation.  She also likes to taste her Mami's plants out there.  Lately she has had her sun time restricted because she slept in the sun for too long and, despite her Mami having put sunscreen on her ears, her ears got sunburned.  Anita is very playful and one of her favorite toys is a felt rat.  She also likes to play with crumpled up balls of tinfoil.  Anita really loves her food and got too fat at one time.  She got put on a diet and lost the extra weight.  Some time ago she was diagnosed with renal failure, but with good food and medication she seems to have overcome this problem.  The last time she went to the vet, her prognosis was very good.  Anita was born in a closet to a Siamese mother.  Her Mami had always wanted a cat, but hadn't had good luck with adopting one.  Her Mami heard about some kittens through a friend of the niece of the woman who lived with the Siamese who had given birth.  In August of 1997, Anita and her Mami first saw each other and it was love at first sight.  They have been together happily ever since.

                                  Anita is a gatorrista.
                                  World domination is in her vista.
                                              She dominates her beans
                                              By various means.
                                  She works hard for the cause of the gatorrista.

Aelou

Aelou is a little tuxie girl who doesn't blog much, so I don't know a whole lot about her.  She recently moved from Illinois, where she lived in an apartment with her two human slaves and Thaddeus, the dog, to California, where she now lives with four human slaves and the dog.  She approves of the move because she now has a glass door, which she regards as one of the best inventions ever. Aelou is a kitty with big plans.  She intends to take over the world via the internet and she is working hard at it, which may be why she blogs so little. Aelou is a great fan of the creative things which can be done with toilet paper.

                                  Aelou loves to look out of her glass door.
                                  She can see much more than ever before.
                                          She plays with TP,
                                          Happy as can be,
                                   Then goes back to look out her door even more.

Dana

This picture of Dana is from when Tybalt nominated Dana as the Best Fur Sibling.  Tybalt chose Dana because she was the first furry to love him and she is the one he spends the most time with.  The funny thing is that Dana loved Tybalt as soon as she met him, but Tybalt didn't know what to make of Dana.  She is quite active and exuberant and would run up to Tybalt to lick him, but she scared him and he would hiss at her and run away.  He soon got used to her and now they are best friends.  The hissing didn't bother Dana at all, because she was born totally deaf.  Dana is a purebred miniature Australian Shepherd, but was the victim of poor breeding practices.  She didn't do too well in her first home, because her people didn't realize that she was deaf and thought she was just being naughty and disobedient.  The Mom found her through a deaf dog rescue group and decided that she was just the dog companion that Loki needed.  Loki and Dana have a great time doing patrols of the back yard together and playing together.  Dana has great eyesight and will bark at any intruder squirrels she sees.  Being an Australian Shepherd, Dana doesn't have a tail, so she wags her whole backside instead. She adores all the kitties and will give them kisses until they are quite soggy.  She also prefers cat toys to dog toys, but the cats don't mind.  Ivy adores Dana and is always checking up on her and snuggling with her. Dana is so glad to have found a home where she is accepted for what and who she is that she is always happy.  She never gets grumpy or sad or loses her patience with the kitties.

                               Dana was born deaf, but that can't slow her down.
                               She is one of the happiest dogs around.
                                       She gives kitties kisses;
                                       Her tongue never misses.
                              She doesn't even know how to make a frown.

Loki

Loki loves lying on this couch.  It has been his favorite place since he was a puppy, about four years ago.  You can see that the couch has a bit of wear and tear from Loki's bouncing and romping on it.  When his Mom first moved into the house, it was her first time to live all on her own.  She got furniture from Goodwill, then decided what the place needed was a good dog.  She went online to find what dogs were available for adoption in her area and found Loki.  He was named Blue then, but he turned out to be a bit of a mischief-maker, so his name got changed to Loki.  He is an Australian Shepherd/Siberian Husky mix and has one brown eye and one blue eye.  He is very friendly and thinks that he is a lap dog, in spite of his size.  His Grandmama used to come over to check on him and play with him while the Mom was at work when he was the only furry and he still gets all excited whenever she comes over and insists on sitting in her lap.  Before Dana, the other dog, was adopted he used to amuse himself in the backyard by herding sticks and tree limbs.  Loki is the guardian of the house.  He makes several tours of inspection around the house and yard each day to make sure that there are no intruders around.  He loves the cats, though he has gotten a little grumpy with them at times, and lets them cuddle with him.  He wasn't too fond of Tybalt when Tybalt was first adopted.  Tybalt was fascinated by Loki's feathery tail.  Loki had quite a time convincing Tybalt that his tail was not the best kitty toy ever.  They are good friends now.

                                    Loki was a mischievious pup.
                                    He always wanted to know "What's up?"
                                          He bounced on the couch
                                          Until it said, "Ouch!"
                                    He doesn't bounce so much now he's all grown up.

Ivy

I'm using this picture of Ivy again because it shows her in her favorite place.  She's sitting in her nip bed in front of the heater box.  The nip bed was supposed to be for all the cats, but the others have a hard time getting a turn.  When Ivy hears the clicking noise that means that the heater is coming on, she maked a beeline for the bed and curls up contentedly.  Ivy gets very disappointed when the weather warms up and the heater box stops coming on.  Ivy and Holly are both very mischievious cats, but Ivy is the one who gets into the most trouble.  That is because she is always getting caught.  Ivy chirps excitedly when she is up to something and this tips her Mom off that she better investigate what Ivy is up to.  Last Christmas, Ivy was the one who decided to climb the Christmas tree.  Holly and Tybalt were content with a little ornament whapping.  Ivy is the one who waits by the door to the basement to make a break for it when her Mom comes home from work.  The basement is also the garage, which makes it a dangerous place for kitties, so it is off-limits.  That doesn't keep Ivy from trying it every day, though.  All three cats are very fond of the dogs' food.  Tybalt likes the kibbles, mostly to bat around the floor, but he eats them sometimes.  He also leaves one on his Mom's pillow for her quite often.  Holly and Ivy like the dog version of Stinky Goodness and will "help" Loki and Dana eat their dinners.  Mom leaves the can in the sink for Ivy to fish out any leftovers. She dips her paw into the can and licks the gravy off her paw.

                                    Ivy's the one who gets into trouble.
                                    She's not more mischievious than her Tortie double.
                                              She just gets caught more
                                              In her pranks galore,
                                    'Specially when she dashes for the door on the double.

Holly

Today I'm starting on the Terrible Tortie Twins, as their Mom calls them.  I chose this picture of Holly because it shows off her thumbs.  Holly has extra toes on her front feet and she really knows how to use them.  She can open cabinet doors and drawers with them and she has learned how to turn doorknobs, as well.  She hasn't yet figured out how to push or pull the door open while turning the knob, though.  Holly and Ivy were dumped off near a highway one winter near Christmas.  The Mom's cousin found them and took them in.  They were half-starved and very bedraggled-looking, but still very playful.  The Mom was thinking of adopting a kitty at the time because she missed having cats around and Loki, a woofie, needed a playmate.  The Mom decided to adopt both Holly and Ivy as soon as she saw them.  They turned out to be a real handful.  There is no end to the mischief they get into.  However, they both took to Loki very quickly and Loki likes them, too.  They are three-and-a-half now.  Holly has found out that banging cabinet doors at 3am will get her attention.  She doesn't really like to sleep on the bed with Mom, Tybalt and Ivy unless it is very cold.  She does like to pat her Mom's face to wake her up, but will run away if her Mom picks her up and puts her on the bed.  Holly loves to snuggle with the woofies (there are two in the house now).  It seems that woofies make great pillows.

                               Holly's a tortie who has lots of toes.
                               They work like thumbs and she knows
                                         How to open the doors
                                         To the shelves where Mom stores
                              The kittycat treats.  She wants some of those.