Farewell, Tazz

As you can see, Tazz was quite a character. She lived with Margaret and she and ML often joked about their "twin" woofies. They were actually no relation to each other, but their personalities were very much alike. Bear and Tazz loved each other very much and they both loved playing with the kitties. Tazz was 17 years old and she had lost both her eyesight and hearing, but she still loved to play with the kitties. When she went into renal failure, there was just nothing more that could be done for her. She was in pain and Margaret, though it hurt her enormously, sent Tazz off the the Rainbow Bridge. I am sure that she and Bear are playing together and with all the kitties they can find. I can just see a herd of kitties, with Bear and Tazz right in the middle, playing a huge game of Thundering Herd of Elephants.

                                          Tazz got old and deaf and blind,
                                          But 'til her kidneys failed, she didn't mind.
                                                  Then she hurt so
                                                  Mom helped her go,
                                           Though it made her eyes with tears blind.

Fenris

Doesn't he look sweet? Fenris joined the kitties at Alasandra's house on February 9th of this year. He was rescued from a shelter after some mean human dumped him and his four littermates in a cardboard box at the Space Center. He is either a Great Pyranees mix or a Pyrean Mastiff mix. He is not quite six months old now. He is going to grow up to be a BIG dog. He is a very gentle dog. He likes all the cats, but they are not quite sure what to make of him yet. Socks just ignores him. Scylla likes to get up on a high perch and watch him. Charybdis thinks she might like to play with him, but then gets scared of him when he gets close to her. On his part, Fenris doesn't really chase the kitties, except when he thinks Charybdis wants to play. Fenris got his name from the youngest son. Fenris or Fenrir is the Wolf of Ragnarok, which is a rather fierce name for such a sweet puppy. Maybe it is those ice-blue eyes that caused the youngest son to choose that name. The characteristic that really stands out about Fenris is that he is such a happy puppy. He loves everyone and everything. He really loves to sit in Mom's lap. This might become a problem, as he has already doubled his weight since he was adopted. He loves to play with the soccer ball and with a tennis ball and with any stick he finds. If no one wants to play with him, he will amuse himself with a stick.

                                   The word that best describes Fenris is happy,
                                   Especially when he's in his Mommy's lappy.
                                                      He runs and woofs
                                                      Despite tail poofs.
                                   Fenris is just a happy chappy.

Straw Hat Day

Here is my straw hat. I'm wearing it, but you can't really tell from the picture. I tried taking my picture in a mirror, but I couldn't persuade the camera that it didn't need the flash for the photo. This straw hat has been all over with me, as I love to take it on vacation.

Charybdis

This is Charybdis watching Fenris when she feels safely out of reach.

This is Charybdis when she feels that Fenris is getting a bit too close. You can see her back beginning to arch a little and her tail beginning to puff a little bit. Charybdis can't decide how she feels about Fenris. She thinks that he would be fun to play with and gives him play signals, like rolling on her back and waving her paws in the air, but when he gets close, she jumps up, arches her back, puffs her tail, then runs from him. Of course he gives chase, thinking that it's all part of the game she wants to play. Eventually Charybdis will jump up on something out of reach and calms down again. It may be that Charybdis does want to play, but finds Fenris a bit too big close up to be comfortable with. Charybdis has always been the cautious kitty of the household. She is the first one to startle and run from anything new or strange.

Scylla and Charybdis were originally taken in as fosters. They were abandoned or orphaned at three weeks old and needed to be bottle fed. The Mom got very attached to them and asked the Dad, "They're so adorable. Can we keep them?"

The Dad replied, "Only if you let me name them."

The Mom thought it over and agreed, "If you stick to girl names, you may name them."

Charybdis was a hungry kitten and could suck down her bottle of kitten formula in nothing flat, which reminded the Dad of the Greek myth of Charybdis who could cause a whirlpool by sucking in the sea, so he named her Charybdis. Scylla was the natural complement to that.

Charybdis is a very active cat and can tear around the house like her tail was on fire, though she doesn't cause the chaos that her sister does. She also likes to climb some, but not nearly as much as Scylla. Charybdis mostly does her climbing outdoors in the tree or jungle gym. She hunts, like her siblings, but isn't as much interested in it as the other two. She loves to pounce Scylla and start a round of kitty wrestling. She also loves to play with toys and anything that she can turn into a toy. She will go on a walk with the Mom and Fenris, when Fenris is on a leash, and she stays ahead of him far enough for her to be comfortably sure that she can't get to her. She has been known to share the couch with Mom and Fenris, with Fenris in Mom's lap and Charybdis on the back of the couch. She is something of a lap kitty and will take any lap that's offered when she's in the mood.

                                        Charybdis is the cautious one.
                                        Though she thinks Fenris could be fun,
                                                       When him too close she'll see,
                                                       She'll puff up and flee.
                                         She wants both to play and to run.

Scylla

Scylla and Charybdis really are sisters and were adopted together as kittens a little over two years ago. They may look very much alike, but they each have their own characters. Scylla is very active and loves to get way up high. She loves climbing trees and discovered that she could get to the hummingbird feeder. She probably just wanted to bat it around, but the Mom was afraid she had designs on the hummingbirds, so she moved the feeder up higher in the tree. Like Socks, Scylla is a very good hunter and likes to bring her trophies home. She gets a bit disappointed when Mom won't let her bring them inside. Scylla is also the cat most likely to tear things up or knock them down. Don't let her anywhere near the paper towels or TP, unless you want the house redecorated. She got up on top of a tall piece of furniture near the windows once and saw a bug. She wanted to catch that bug very badly, but it hid behind the curtains. Scylla knocked the curtains down trying to find the bug. Scylla gets along with Fenris the dog by staying out of his reach. Whenever he gets too rambunctious for her, she just jumps up on something and watches his antics from above. Scylla loves her food and even tried Fenris' food once. She didn't like it. Scylla also loves the catnip plant that is growing in the garden. One day she got so blissed out that she almost forgot to come in for dinner.

                                      Scylla has a destructive streak.
                                      Chaos throughout the house she will wreak.
                                                  She shreds towels of paper
                                                  And down come the draper-
                                      Ies when like a whirlwind all around she'll streak.

Socks

Sorry I have been away for so long. Things just started happening and I didn't have any time to blog. Hopefully those things are settling down now.

The oldest cat at Alasandra's now is Socks at eight years old. He was picked out to be adopted and named by the eldest boy. Socks is very fond of the eldest boy and loves sleeping on his bed. He will even hop up for a nap before the boy has time to make up his bed. This gives him a great excuse to skip that chore. All the cats are great hunters, but Socks is the best. He took it upon himself to show Scylla and Charybdis where all the best hunting spots are and just how to go about hunting in the best way. Socks' favorite places to be when he isn't napping on the boy's bed are the Whiskers Memorial Butterfly Garden and the woods beyond. There is always great hunting there and this may explain why Socks just nibbles at his food. He caught a bunny once, and this made his Mom very sad. No one knows what he catches that he doesn't bring home. Socks enjoys catnip and is delighted that the catnip that his Mom planted last year is starting to come up once again. He was afraid that he and the sisters had killed it off with all the rolling around in it that they did last year. Socks wasn't too happy when Fenris the puppy joined the family, but it didn't take him long to accept the situation. I don't think you can really call them friends, but Socks tolerates Fenris quite well.

                                   Socks is a great brother and teacher.
                                   He has taught his sisters to hunt any creature.
                                                They hunt in the wood,
                                                 As well they should,
                                   For Mom feels sorry for the hunted creature.

Award

I got this really cool award from Angel and Kirby. I get a real kick out of it. Thank you so much.

"The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken -- excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens to read their inspiring words."

The recipient is to pass the award on to five other blogs. I would like to give this award to:

Cats of Wildcat Woods
Darling Millie
Us 4 Gatos
Manx Mnews
Little Pink Pig