The cats

My cute jungle cat. Should I tell Piper the plant is fake?

Ruby has a knack for looking scared in photos.

Sitting pretty

Piper enjoys having the windows open. She's probably been looking for her friends from next door. Their dining room window is across from our kitchen and sometimes their cats sit there too.

Piper's latest, favorite sleeping spot is Andy's office chair.

Flashback pantry puzzle

I feel like I'm being watched which, while a bit creepy, is better than having Ruby sitting on the puzzle.

This puzzle is called "Mom's Pantry." Just labels of food items a few decades ago and some still look the same, unless they have changed and I just haven't noticed. Complete!

‘Loud cat’ is back

"Loud cat" loves to sit on our railing. He hasn't been around much during winter but with the temperatures warming up, he's back.

New Yorker Impressionism puzzle

I like puzzles of New Yorker magazine covers (they remind me of my mother-in-law who appreciated the cover art) but this Impressionism painting one was hard. I tried to start with the border, then switched to the water and the title. The rest was piece by piece and a lot of luck.

This was a difficult puzzle but it's done ... and surprisingly, complete!

Piper chillin’

As much as I try to keep these cats off the counters, they insist. Piper looks like she's challenging me.

Grr.

And sitting pretty on the buffet.

The grass is greener

It was so warm yesterday (almost 70) I opened the windows to let some fresh air in the house. A few hours later, the neighbors sent a video of their cat watching Piper, who was sitting in the open window above the kitchen sink, with the caption, "The grass is always greener."

Pretty poses

Piper

and Ruby

Cat pose

Not sure I've ever seen a cat sit like this. It's giving me "the doctor is in" vibes.

Precarious situations

Good balance.

Well, this is interesting.

Early morning company

Andy is usually working at his computer every morning when I get up. The other day Ruby was keeping him company.

Volkswagen puzzle

Ruby kept trying to get under my puzzle board and then I realized she was grabbing at a pen that she had apparently rolled under it.

Who knocked the box of puzzle pieces on the floor? Ruby looks guilty.

I thought I was missing two pieces to this puzzle (wonder why, Ruby?) but we found them - and another piece - on the floor. This was a fun puzzle.

Cat adventures

A few times now, I've come into the house after work or running an errand to find Piper sitting in one of the Longaberger baskets I have on the back porch. She seems to like it.

And they both were playing with this Christmas bow. I thought I have all of the bows in the workroom, stored safely behind a closed door. Not sure how they got to it. Sneaky kittens.

Not sure what's going here - chasing the second hand or hunting a fly?

Ruby is so relaxed in her new home.

Creative Memories find and cats

This was a surprise Goodwill find - two Creative Memories album (old style) with tan pages, one new in the wrapper. They wanted $3 for the opened one and $4 for the other, but with my points earned from previous purchases (mostly puzzles), I got them both for about $2.50.

Cat update - This one was brave enough to come into the living room Sunday morning ...

and spent much of the day in my lap, ocassionally jumping at my face. Weirdo. We named her Piper.

How sweet is this? The neighbors dropped off a gift bag full of toys and treats. I used the wand to play with Piper and she yanked it out of my hand and ran upstairs with it, hiding it under L's bed.

Later in the afternoon, after Andy lured her out from underneath L's bed with a treat and food, this one came downstairs. Still scared, of course, but starting to explore. We've named her Ruby, for the July birthstone. Kind of like how we named August because he was adopted in August.

Raccoon vs. cat

This isn't what you want to see when you walk out the door in the morning. I had just transplanted a chick and hen in this pot and now it's knocked over. Andy suspected a raccoon. I suspected our neighbor cat, Frankie. A review of the Ring camera showed a raccoon on the porch eating the cat food that I set out for neighborhood cats, but it also shows Frankie at the bottom of the stairs. The raccoon got spooked by Frankie and scurried off the porch, knocking the pot over. I found the chick and hen on the side of the stairs.

The stand-off with the raccoon looked very similar to this incident the other day. This yellow cat wandered into the yard while Andy and I were sitting outside. Then Frankie hopped over the fence, they both started hissing at each other and I thought things were going to get ugly. Frankie may be scary to neighborhood animals but he's essentially a scaredy cat, at least when it comes to me, so I walked over and he jumped back into his own yard. Crisis averted.

A new feline friend?

This cat was hanging out in our yard when I went to check the milkweeds for Monarchs (none yet). So friendly. Pretty sure it's the neighbor's indoor/outdoor cat.

When I opened the door to go inside, the cat walked right in.

I put it back outside but it definitely wants to come inside.

And then the neighbors sent this pic of a cat they found (I think) and adopted. I said they need to find a cat for me.

In memory of August

We picked up August's paw print from the vet on Saturday.

It's a lot nicer than what we were given for Muffles. Such fancy packaging.

And when we got the mail that day there was a sympathy card from the vet's office.

RIP August

We certainly were loved by August, and we loved him. It was hard to watch him slowly deteriorate but he always perked up for a treat, always wanted to sit in our laps, lick our hands and "help" with our puzzles. He never seemed to be in pain which was a blessing. We thought he was going to be put down when Andy took him to the vet May 15, 2024, but they gave him some meds and he perked up. This was when we adopted him and Muffles. I love this picture of him as a kitten helping L do her homework.

This is such a beautiful picture of him.

And this one (February 2020). This is his "glamour shot" and this links to a beautiful fall shot. Such a good cat. As a young cat he would often hide in the basement rafters. He loved to chew on L's hair ties. Once we found a whole stash under the shelves. As he got older, and especially after Muffles was gone, he became our constant companion. Several times we searched outside for him only to have him casually reappear a few hours later.

These last few days he was barely eating or moving. He'd sit in the same spot for hours.

This was his last picture at home before we took him to the vet Saturday morning. I carried him to the car in my arms and we placed him the carrier once we pulled it out of the garage.

This was heartbreaking.

He kept looking at us and we petted him all the way through.

One nice thing of having this blog is that I can look back on all of his pictures through the years. He was such a sweet cat who would often paw at our hands wanting us to pet him more. He especially liked bring petted under his chin.

So sad.

Some of his fur and a cute heart stone.