Happy New Year and Happy Birthday B Kliban!

Happy New Year, Everybody!

Mom is a big fan of Kliban and his cats. We tried to research him on the internet because we know that he died before we were born. He actually died one year to the day before I was born - August 12, 1990. We searched for his actual birthdate, but most sites just listed the year. Since the "Dead or Alive" website listed his birthdate as January 1, 1935, we decided to honor him for New Year's Day. Mom gathered some of her Kliban stuff and then asked us to pose on the big "Mousies" beach towel. Jake got to go first:


He's trying to pretend that he's a blues guitarist as well. Here are the lyrics: "Love to eat them mousies, Mousies what I love to eat. Bite they little heads off . . . Nibble on they tiny feet."













I joined him at the top of the towel, next to the original Cat book. Mom's edition is all yellowed; it's from 1975 when she was still in high school!


Mom also has a Kliban San Francisco cat T-shirt, a Supercat pot holder, and a couple of mugs.













We salute Kliban for his cutting edge cartoons and wish he were still with us. One of his definitions of cat is "One Hell of a nice animal, frequently mistaken for a meatloaf." We don't quite see the humor in that, but Mom thinks it's funny.

~Bathsheba

We wish everyone a warm, healthy, well-fed, and Happy New Year!

Love,
~J&B

P.S. Our secretary has been pretty busy lately so we haven't been able to visit as many of our friends' blogs as we'd like. We'll see you in 2007!

Thursday Thirteen - Resolutions

13 New Year's Resolutions We're NOT Going to Make:

1. To lose 10 pounds. (Heck, there'd be next to nothing left of us!)
2. To exercise more. (We feel a nap coming on.)
3. To read more classic literature. (We can't even keep up with our friends' blogs.)
4. To get the paperwork organized. (We'd rather just knock the piles onto the floor.)
5. To eat more fruits and vegetables. (C'mon! We're carnivores.)
6. To stop smoking. (Um, we never started such a disgusting habit!)
7. To get an annual physical. (We already do this against our will.)
8. To vacuum the house at least once a week. (You'll never see us near that toy sucker-upper!)
9. To clean out the shed. (Are you kidding? If it involves heavy lifting, we'll make ourselves scarce.)
10. To stop procrastinating. (Maybe NEXT year.)
11. To eat fewer sweets. (We don't even like sweets anyway. Give us a good tuna truffle!)
12. To clean out our closet and take the excess clothes to Goodwill. (Unlike Skeezix, we have only one outfit each - our lovely fur coats.)
13. To be better people. (We're CATS - we already are perfection!)

~J&B

Christmas at Jake and Bathsheba's House

Here are just a few images of Christmas around our house.

These are two of the embroidered and stuffed cat ornaments on our Christmas tree that Mom's friend Annie made. Remember that Mom's favorite color is green.

The lion is really detailed. Look at his mane!














This kitty thinks he has a scratching post:





















This is our dogwood tree in the front yard. Contrast this with what it looks like in the fall.
















Mom didn't get to go to North Carolina to make cookies with her sister, but she whipped up some gingerbread last week. We like this kitty and gingerbread men group.









Here's a brave kitty fending off a vishus reindeer. Look at how bushy the kitty's tail is.












Here I am checking out a new cat bed that Santa Claus brought. It has a compartment for catnip:















Unfortunately, Jake has staked his claim on it.















Mom said that Santa Claus brought this new water dish for me. Jake was a little freaked out by it. Maybe that means I won't have to share it with him!















We also had lots of Temptations Treats and some yummy cheddar cheese. Jake had some ham and liked it. (He likes almost EVERYTHING.) I don't care for ham and am more of a picky eater like a true self-respecting cat.

Anyway, we hope everyone had a great Christmas and that the spirit of goodwill lasts throughout the year.

~Bathsheba

P.S. Congratulations to Lux's Fuddy-Duddy Daddy for winning Skeezix's Food Dude of the Year Contest!

Peaceful Christmas

Merry Christmas to all -





~J&B

Warm Cozy Fire

Dad made a fire for me tonight. It was warm and cozy.

I like to wait until the fire dies down a little then it's so nice to relax nearby. I don't like to sit TOO close because with my thick fur coat I would get a little too hot.




Here's another pose. Hey, it makes my ears look big! Do you think I qualify for frootbat Friday?
















Mom's artwork won "Most Loving" in Eclair's art contest! That's appropriate because she loves us lots!

~Jake

Thursday 13: Cat Ornaments Part 2

We started our Thursday 13 in our previous post. Blogger was acting up for us and wouldn't let us post additional photos. So here we pick up with

#8 - a little blurry "Tiny Reincat"
Why do people insist on turning us cats into reindeer by attaching fake antlers?





















9. Here's a "two-fer," both handmade by Mom's friend Annie:















10: A wooden tabby:




















11. Another masterpiece by Annie - note the little mousie cuddling with the kitty:















12. A blue wooden kitty:















13. And finally, a handpainted cat by a friend of Mom's named Carol nearly 20 years ago. She painted these colors to reflect the coloring of Precious, Mom's torbie Maine Coon kitty.



















Take it from us, cats make for a very festive tree. Merry Christmas!

~J&B

Thursday 13 - Cat Ornaments - Part I

Our Christmas tree is decorated with an eclectic mix of ornaments with a high percentage of cats as well as a good number of birds. We'll examine some of the cat ornaments as part of today's Thursday 13.



1.
Most of the cat ornaments are gifts. Here is the first in a series of embroidered stuffed cats handmade by Mom's dear friend Annie from college. This was made for the Christmas of 1978 and combined two of Mom's favorites, cats and the color green. Annie and her family came all the way from Wyoming to visit us this past summer.






2. Cats with bells















3. Very fat cat made of clay:


















4. Cat with cardinal on his back:



















5. A Black Jack-in-the-Box:


















6. Tabby cat with a grey mouse in his mouth:














7. A meowmy Christmas:



















Blogger is giving us trouble so we'll try to finish the 13 in another post.

And here's the tree, an 8-ft Fraser fir from the Mount Rogers area of Virginia:


Most of the birds are in the top of the tree and the cats are concentrated more at the bottom.

~J&B

Another Wacky Wednesday

These days it looks like they'll let just anyone blog:





















~J&B

Tabby vs. Tortie Tuesday

We received a festive Christmas card from the famous Skeezix the Cat and Mao yesterday. I was reading the inscription last night when guess who had to come along!















Come on 'Sheba! Outta the way! I want to take a look. My name was on the envelope, too!











I win again! Yea!


















I'll be back . . .







Anyway, thanks for the card, Skeezix and Mao! Merry Christmas!

~J&B

Flowers for Our Friends

In our garden jungle, sometimes the flowers get a little confused about the seasons. But this time we think that Mother Nature has given us some winter flowers for special reasons. We think these lovely snowdrops are for Libby Marie Riley who left us last week:














And this delicate phlox (Phlox stolonifera - Sherwood Purple) gives us hope for friends like Smudge as we enter the deep dark winter.








And, finally, this lovely golden Alexander (zizia aureus) brightens our days and gives us cheer.


We send best wishes to Luxor's cousin Eva that she is doing okay. We hope that everyone who is having a bit of trouble or sad times can take a moment to enjoy these fragile gifts from Mother Nature.

Love,
~J&B

Good News/Bad News

Good news: Mom is staying home with us this weekend!

Bad news: Mom was sick yesterday so she had to cancel her trip to visit her sister in North Carolina for their annual Christmas cookie baking. Mom is almost never sick so this was unusual.



I kept her company on the bed. I was leaned up against her all comfy, but unfortunately, she always seemed to have to move. That annoyed me a bit and I would jump off the bed. But then I would remember that she didn't feel well so I'd come right back and snuggle in again.

~Bathsheba

In the evening she came downstairs and lay on the sofa and I took over snuggling duties. I didn't mind when she had to move around. I'd just adjust and mold myself to the available space.

~Jake

Mom appreciated all the nice comments everyone left about her drawings of us. She always wanted to try her hand at sketching us, and Eclair's contest was just the impetus she needed. Please tell your moms, food ladies, lap ladies, your beans, people, or whatever you call them to try their hand at this. Mom says to be sure to have a nice pencil and a separate big soft ERASER. She said that makes all the difference.

~J&B

Art Contest Entry #2

Now it's MY turn. Mom did this entry for me:


You can click on it to "biggify."

I'm a little worried that it makes me look fat, but you can blame the heft on the artist, not me.

~Bathsheba

Hey, no fair! Bathsheba got color and I didn't!

~Jake

Art Contest Entry #1

Mom tried to enter Eclair's Art Contest tonight, but the computer is giving her trouble and she cannot log in to that blog. Here's the entry she made for me:

She used her favorite photo of me as her guide since she claimed that I wouldn't model for her. That's not entirely true since I would have modeled, but I would have either been in Kliban's classic "cat as meatloaf" pose or all stretched out on Dad's legs.



Here's a closer look at the pencil drawing. Note that she had to get an extra piece of paper because she miscalculated my size after drawing my head. I guess I should give her a break since she probably hasn't done much drawing since high school or some other time back in the Dark Ages.



















~Jake

Behind Bars

Finally! Bathsheba behind bars where she belongs:















Okay, okay, my mean sister is not really in jail. But a guy can dream, right?

~Jake

Living with The Grinch

Hmm, so Jake is in cohoots with THE GRINCH. Look how cozy they are together. The Grinch is even petting Jake on the back. Maybe they're plotting a Christmas overthrow. And what's with those eyebrows? Is he related to our Virginia Governor?






Wait a minute, Mom! Why are you putting those Tempation Treats right by that nasty Grinch? You KNOW how much I hate him! Why, when I was a young kitty, I used to grab that Grinch by his face and drag him down the stairs. Remember how you used to come home and find him lying in odd places around the house? You eventually locked him up in the closet where he belonged. But you know how I can't resist Temptations!
















It's brainwashing, I say! You've got me eating out of his hand!

The whole world's gone mad.

~Bathsheba

My Magnet Collection

As I've said before, unlike Skeezix, I don't like to travel.

Still, I do enjoy the magnets that Mom buys for me when she and Dad travel. I have them stuck to the big filing cabinet next to my throne, my huge pile of blankets and comforters at the bottom of my bed. (And it's a real people bed, too, but a small one.) Anyway, when I sleep on my throne, I can dream of the places on the magnets without having to leave the comfort of my home.

Hey, Rosie and Cheeto, do you see the San Francisco one? I have a couple, but only one is really visible in this shot.

~Jake

Wacky Wednesday with Jake

You don't want to know where my tongue has just been!

~Jake

Tummy Tuesday/Widebody Wednesday

As we promised last week for all you fluffaholics out there, here's our lovely cousin Chelsea to model for a combined Tummy Tuesday/Widebody Wednesday.

~J&B

What Am I? Tortie or Not?

I think I'm having an identity crisis, and, at 15, I should be too old for such a thing. I always thought that I had an unusual colored fur coat - mostly gray with some tan mixed in and areas of white (like my chest and tummy). Just once I heard one of the technicians at my vet's office call me a "calico," but no one else ever called me that. Mom always thought that calicos were more patched in color. Well, a while back, cute Little Cat Zee said that I was a "dilute tortie!" I was SOMETHING and belonging to the torties was a cool thing for me. But then I read somewhere on the internet that torties are not supposed to have white on them. Well, that blows that, since I have LOTS of white. I think the torties have accepted me since I'm even on the tortie page of the blogger calendar, but I don't want to be a poseur or something. What do you think?

~Bathsheba

More Mail!

We got our first issue of the Best Friends magazine in the mail today, and I had to start reading it right away:














Uh-oh, there looks to be some kind of vishus deer news in the "thinking globally" section. Not to worry, however. There's a big park that's opening in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbawe where they can live, so unless you live in Africa, they won't be appearing in a back yard near you.

We won our subscription in one of Skeezix's contests. We also sponsored Cinders by winning. (Thank you , Skeezix.) Best Friends seems like a very nice organization. Mom and Dad said that its sanctuary is located in southern Utah near the border with Arizona. They traveled in that area a few years back and told me that it's beautiful red rock country. Too bad they didn't know about Best Friends back then or they could have stopped in for a tour.

Now, let me get back to my reading . . . .

~Jake