Christmas Cat Pictures

I tried all day to catch the cats in front of the Christmas tree. All I wanted was a nice cat and tree photo. Not a lot to ask, you say? Well, if you think that, then you don't know cats. They have their own minds and rarely take human requests too seriously.

I got a lot of Miss Ellie and her beautiful tail, of which she is most proud!

I got a lot of Hammy's tail, too. Not that he cares about a tail, for heaven's sake!

Hammy actually cared a LOT about playing with the camera strap.

I finally had to enlist Warren to get a nice photo of Miss Ellie and the Tree.

Hamilton eventually cooperated and I got a very nice shot of the HammerMan and the Tree.

Merry Christmas from us and the Cats!

Waving Hello to Laurie

Waving Hello to Laurie
and Other Adventures in the Twin Cities

Yup. I actually waved hello to Laurie, figuratively not literally, but waved just the same. The waving to Laurie was one simple email I managed to get out of the hospital. Their WiFi wasn't really working much that weekend, so I was happy to get one email out. Fun to surprise her with a virtual wave!

We had to make an unplanned trip up to St. Paul last weekend to be there for my father. My sister, Laura, and her husband, Bill, were also there. Actually they'd been there all week and needed us to take over for the weekend. We gladly pitched in.

Dad had some complications after a total right hip replacement. Things happen, so we were there to help him get past them. We drove up Friday and back down on Monday. Very glad we did. He needed his family with him.

Our daughter, Sarah, flew up from St. Louis and nursed her him through the worst of it. If any one was the "hero of the moment," I would say Sarah was. Really sweet to see.

I'm happy to report that my Dad is now in rehab and doing well. We felt good about leaving him there. He's in good hands.




At one point, we got to show Sarah where we met, the old Chimera Theater, now a History Museum, in downtown St. Paul. She was very interested, newlywed that she still is.

When we left for the Twin Cities, we had to try to beat the snow bearing down on Kansas City from Colorado. No snow as we turned north on Hwy. 35. Yay! We raced through Iowa, feeling the snow at our backs.

When we drove back down on Monday, the area was really strange: the ice was still on the trees from last week's ice storm and now snow was added to the landscape. Here's a photo taken from the car in the southern part of Iowa.

When I got home, it was Maul the Kitty Time. Hamilton got bunches of hugs. I always try to make up for leaving him behind when I go on an adventure. You can tell he's putting up with me, not terribly angry, because his eyes are at half-mast and his ears are forward. Cat Language, for those of you un-versed in the language of the cat.

Gotta Have My Hot Tea!

These photos show the lengths to which I was forced to go when I was "forced" to endure three days of a state-wide power failure.

I worked on this little project until I got it worked out.

First, I had to realize my only simple sources of heat were hot water from the tap (gas water heater) and candles. Then I had to think, now what can I put it in? First I tried a regular mug. Too close to the cup on top. Black soot on the bottom of my tea mug. So then I tried a taller mug. Perfect.

The metal in between is my apple corer. I rummaged around my kitchen drawers looking for something heat-resistant and flat that I could set my tea cup on. This worked like a charm and was one of the reasons I survived the ordeal without getting really frustrated.

A good cuppa, they say. I agree!

Missouri Ice Storm

Click here: Missouri Ice Storm to see what's going on in my part of the world. The news is saying my town is the worst-hit in the state.

The cats are confused, so are the humans in this house. The world is covered in ice. Over 17,000 homes without power. We are in the third day of NO power! The darkness at night is total. Very quiet world, except for tree limbs crashing to the ground with loud cra-aa-acks.

They are predicting another inch of ice tonight. We got our power back for about a half hour last night. Then it was gone, not to be seen again, yet anyway. Pray for power, folks!

Addendum: Wednesday Morning: We have Power, folks! How precious electricity and living in the 21st century again! Thankfully, we did NOT get that extra inch of ice. Whew!

Mr. Hammy's Morning Milk Run

For close to a year now, I have not followed my morning routine. Specifically, I haven't eaten my usual morning mueslix cereal. I've been on a DIET, which means Mr. Hammy has been on said diet, too. Not very happily, I might add.

If you know anything about cats, you know they are creatures of habit. They thrive on routine. They know where every object is supposed to be in their house. They make a daily sweep of their domain to be sure everything is where it should be. They know when you will be leaving and when you are coming home and when you are going to go to bed.

And they know when to get up and run downstairs and look cute so they can get the cereal bowl with a smidgen of milk in the bottom. So now you can see why Hammy hasn't come to sit with me much in the morning for the last year, unless he happens to be hanging out in the den where I eat breakfast, and then, of course, he'll be there and may climb in my lap, even if there isn't any milk.

Recently, I've started back with my morning cereal routine. Yes, this means the diet worked and I am much more at my battle weight now.

The most curious thing happened on the FIRST--YES--VERY FIRST, morning I clinked a spoon in the bottom of the cereal bowl while I went to grab the cereal box and milk jug.

Hammy appeared as if by magic, from points unknown, and started rubbing my legs in anticipation. Then he ran into the den and jumped up on the black, leather cube where I used to set the bowl when I was done. I hadn't even poured my cup of coffee yet, and there he was, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready for a treat!

Someone once told me a cat has a memory of about 5 seconds and if you are going to spritz him with water to keep him off the Christmas tree, you'd better do it before 5 seconds has passed, or he won't know why he's suddenly wet.

Now, I'm thinking they must be wrong about this because the last time Hammy got milk in the bottom of my cereal bowl was last winter. But there he was, eagerly anticipating the reinstatement of his favorite morning routine!

He got the bowl, of course.