It's Not a Banana Slug, but . . .

It looks like my dad is going to settle down in the Santa Cruz Mountains just outside the city of Santa Cruz, California. Mom plans to go out to visit him again in late October.

As Grr, Midnight, and Cocoa pointed out to us recently, the University of California at Santa Cruz has the most unusual of school mascots: the banana slug.

Here I have one of our common Virginia slugs out on my deck. Mom cruelly poured salt on him and he shriveled up. It was fascinating to watch. When Mom was a girl, her first cat Tony loved to eat bugs including slugs. Unfortunately, it would get his chin and neck all slimy, and Mom would have to help clean him up. I don't care to eat slugs.

Here's to you, Dad!

Your son,

~Jake

P.S. Our hearts go out to our cat friends as we end a very sad week in the Cat Blogosphere. For a little cheer, visit the adorable kittens staying with Grr, Midnight, and Cocoa.

Love,

~J&B

Meme Answers on Tabby and Torbie Tuesday

The famous Skeezix tagged us for the Scattergories Meme. RULES: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...they have to be real places, names, things...nothing made-up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

We will combine our answers.


What is your name? Jake and Bathsheba


4 letter word: Jerk, Barf


Vehicle: Jaguar, Bentley


TV Show: Jetsons, Bob Newhart Show


City: Jamestown (in honor of its 400th anniversary in Virginia!), Berkeley (in honor of Dad who is in California)


Boy Name: Jeter, Benjamin Fuzz


Girl Name: Justine, Brooke (two of Mom's many nieces)


Alcoholic Drink: Jagertee (I had to look that up on the Internet), Beer

Occupation: Janitor, Butcher (two jobs that could serve us well)


Something you wear: We don't wear anything besides our furs, but people can wear Jeans and a Belt


Celebrity: J-Lo (Is she still called that?), Britney

Food: Jolly Time Pop Corn (I'll share some with you, Daisy), Banana (for Daisy's big sister Pixie)


Something found in a bathroom: Jars, Bathtub (and Bathsheba)


Reason for being late: Just fell asleep,

Because I didn't feel like conforming to someone else's idea of time










Cartoon Character: Jerry (of Tom &), Bill the Cat



Something you shout: Just hand over the food! But I want Temptations NOW!

This was fun. We tag anyone else who would like to give it a try.

~J&B


P.S. The great Jeter was also tagged and I swear that I did not cheat by looking at his answers before posting mine. Mom says that I can compare after we publish this post. ~Jake

Man Cat Monday's New Car

As a Man Cat, I had to check out Mom's new car. You know the stereotype that men like new cars and new technology.

Here's a closer view of me. I must say that the dashboard has plenty of room. If I didn't think that I'd be catnapped, I might take a snooze on it. But it is a car after all, and I don't like to go for rides in cars.

Mom apparently got over her aversion to the space age design of the Prius and broke down and bought one. At least it's better than that Camry she drove that was as old as Bathsheba.

~Jake

One Year Blogoversary and Pawsitive Thoughts for Our Friend Anastasia

Wow! We've started blogging one year ago today! We're up to post 232 so we average about one post every day and half--not too bad considering our secretary always claims to be too busy to let us blog as much as we would like. Our first post was not particularly exciting, but our friends Rosie and Cheeto discovered us right away so that's why they'll always be special to us and appear at the top of our links list. Skeezix also gave us publicity so we'll always be grateful to him.
Mom has been a little worried about me lately because she thinks that I have been grooming myself incessantly.

I think that it's important to be well-groomed.

I like to look good for the ladies - especially my beautiful DaisyMae.

~Jake

Jake, as usual, you are so full of yourself. We need to thank all the wonderful cats who have visited us over this past year. We're very grateful for all the warm friendships we have made. We only wish we had more time to visit everyone and that we had the ability to leave witty comments! Daisy is our idol in the visiting department. The cat blogosphere is a welcoming and nurturing place.

Speaking of the friends we have made, we join our fellow cats in the blogosphere and pledge to send all our positive energy over to the desert southwest at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time for the safe return of our friend Anastasia. She has been missing for several days now and Karl, the maid, and the butler are frantic with worry. Now I know that I worried my mom very much when I ran away from home about ten years ago for two weeks at a time. Let's all hope that Anastasia is just asserting some independence and that she will return on her own unscathed. (Credit to Skeezix for the creation of this great graphic.)

~Bathsheba

No Longer an Orphan on Wash Day Wednesday

Mom finally returned home from California Tuesday morning--at 4 a.m.! She switched planes in Denver and there was a long layover because of an unexpected delay. We got a little bit worried about her, but we were confident that she would return. Kathy the pet sitter took good care of us while she was gone.

She and Dad had a great time in the Santa Cruz area. Except for a little fog on the Monterey Bay in the early morning, Mom said that there were clear blue skies every day. They didn't do the beach scene since they're both very fair skinned and burn easily. And compared to the Atlantic Ocean that is warmed by the Gulf Stream, the Pacific is quite cold.

Instead, they did lots of biking, walking, and even some hiking. There were wonderful trails to explore. Here's a view they had while biking in Wilder Ranch State Park. Absolutely spectacular scenery!

Mom liked the Santa Cruz Mountains because they were green. Mom and Dad visited Henry Cowells Redwood State Park and this was one of the trees. Note the tiny person in the lower right corner.

Like Rosie and Cheeto's magical Gramma and Grampa, Mom and Dad also drove down to Monterey for the day and toured the fabulous aquarium. One of the sea otters was named Rosie. Mom liked watching their antics when they were fed.

I'm glad that Mom is back, but I still miss my dad.

~Jake

A Great Birthday

It's been a great birthday. I feel like a celebrity (celebricat?) with all the birthday wishes I've received. Thank you, all!

A few days ago I received a box in the mail from Siamese Rescue! Mom made me wait until today to open it.


Hmm, something smells good!

Mom sometimes thinks that I like boxes more than the contents!

Rub, rub, rub!

There's lots of toys and nip and a catnip banana! I wonder if Pixie likes this kind of 'naner.

On, no! Here comes Trouble! He always has to spoil everything.

Jake, that's mine!

He's bunny-kickin' the tissue paper! He's all high on the 'nip!

Oh, let me look at the card to see who sent all these goodies. Why, it's Skeezix and Mao and Rocky and Tripper! Presents from a family of thoughtful man cats. I'm so honored. THANK YOU!

And what did Mom get me, you may ask? Well, she's always so practical. For one thing she got me a saucer dish. She thinks that it might be easier to eat out of it (and not scatter my dry food everywhere).

She also bought me this little cat cave. (The opening is turned to the side. We used to have a chest at the bottom of the bed so I didn't have to jump all the way up on the bed, but Dad (who built it) took it with him when he moved. I like my new intermediate jumping point, but it's really not necessary. I can still jump fairly well; Mom just wanted to make it easier on me. She looked at special steps, but she said that they seemed to take up too much room.

As for food today, I had my regular dry food, Science Diet Senior. I just don't like the Stinky Goodness. Mom also gave me lots of Temptations. Now those are a real treat.

Mom leaves for California tomorrow to visit Dad and we will be stuck here without computer access! Bummer! I'm glad I got to go to the big party yesterday and see lots of you cats. I can't believe that I actually walked on the ceiling! That was exhilarating. If anyone would like to teleport over and visit us while Mom's away, I still have lots of Temptations to share. We'll try to catch up with visiting everyone around the 15th*.

Love,

~Bathsheba

*Update 8/22/07: Sometimes our secretary, Mom, is a real ditz. We wanted her to type Wednesday August 22, not August 15. Even we cats know how to read a calendar better than that.

Happy Sweet 16, Bathsheba!

I'm 16 today! Hooray!
I plan to spend my day relaxing inside

and out!

~Bathsheba

Five Things Meme

Adan tagged Jake for the five things meme, and Luxor tagged both of us.

Five Things that Changed Our Lives:

Jake: Mom fostering my biological teen-aged unwed cat mother. A kind woman from my mom’s office found my cat mom on the streets on a very cold winter day. She took her in temporarily, but was going on vacation to Arizona. Mom agreed to foster my biological mother and even named her Katerina Kitty. When Mom’s friend returned from vacation, they found a permanent home for Katerina—with a guy who worked for their IT department. Mom had noticed that Katerina had a voracious appetite, but she had never been around a pregnant cat before. When the new guy took her to the vet for a checkup, it was confirmed. Mom agreed to take one of the kittens so that’s how I got my home.

J&B: Having Dad move in with us in August of 1994. He worked from home so we were very fortunate to have someone home with us during the day. Plus, he believed in FREEDOM. Mom had only let us outside under CLOSE supervision until that point, but Dad let us in and out as we pleased. It was great!

J&B: Having Dad move away last month. That makes us sad and we miss him a lot. It hasn’t quite sunk in, though, that this is permanent and not just one of his long vacation trips.

J&B: Reading the interplay between Kismet and Skeezix on Kismet’s blog last summer. Mom introduced us to reading some cat blogs (actually her former political blogger brother told her about cat blogging), but we were hooked after following the witty comments on Kismet’s blog. We’ve met so many great friends on the web.

J&B: Skeezix’s valentine contest. DaisyMae Maus, my beautiful girlfriend cat found me, Jake. And that wonderful Bubbles produced the most awesome Valentine video for me with the Monkees’ song “I’m a Believer.” We both were very lucky in love. ~Bathsheba

Flower Friday with Jake

When Mom got home from work tonight, and after I had my dinner, she wanted to do a photo shoot for Flower Friday. I had to humor her. She put me atop our fence and asked me to pose with the dusty rose-colored Joe Pye Weed, a native wildflower that grows tall and is a magnet for tiger swallowtail butterflies. Mom even saw some monarch butterflies on them a couple of mornings this week.


Once up there, I wanted to explore the arbor. The darker purple flowers are New York ironweed which is just beginning to bloom. It also attracts butterflies. The orange flowers are trumpet vine, and they attract hummingbirds.

It's actually a bit treacherous up here as you can see from this photo taken from the back yard. I'm way high up! The birdhouses are what Dad dubbed the "chickadee condo" that he built a few years back. We get birds nesting in them every year, and this year we had both wrens and sparrows, but not at the same time.

Mom says that because she's going out to California on Monday she won't be able to post a man cat Monday photo. I think that this one would have been an excellent choice for the occasion, so I couldn't resist posting it today.

My older sister Bathsheba keeps talking about being "Sweet 16." Her birthday is Sunday. She may be 16, but she's not sweet to me.

~Jake

Our NOMSS Friend Professor Bernard Armstrong

We accepted Karl's challenge and sought out our very own "Not of My Species Special Friend." We found Professor Bernard Armstrong, a cute miniature schnauzer d-o-g who lives in the U.K. We picked Bernard because our mom used to have miniature schnauzers in her family starting when she was a young teenager. First there was Dapper (Dan), then Mitzi, then (Annie) Oakley. All three of them had to live with cats and loved them. Oakley lived with Toby, a meezer, who liked to play chase with her and who also liked to groom her. We love Bernard's floppy little ears; Mom's dogs all had docked ears and that was something that she did not like about the American standard.

Miniature schnauzers are fun little exuberant bundles of energy and very affectionate. We're very pleased to make Bernard's acquaintance and look forward to a long friendship.

~J&B

BTW, our Wordless Wednesday post requires a little explanation. I always eat my meals in the kitchen, and Jake dines out on the deck. Mom separates us because Jake is such a hog and would push me out of my food and eat it all up if he had the chance. I like to take my time eating; Jake likes to inhale his. Anyway, sometimes I do not feel like eating my whole dinner right away. On this occasion, I ate a few bites, then wanted to go outside. Jake was still eating his dinner, but I was too polite to try to nose in on his food. If you click to biggify the photo, you will see that the bowl on the left is a water dish with Jake's name on the inside.

~Bathsheba

Wordless Wednesday a Wee Bit Early

Man Cat Monday

When you're a big man cat, you're the center of the universe. You demand to be noticed. So if you feel like sleeping in front of the stairs and people have trouble passing, so what? You are not to be disturbed. They can either step lightly around you, or just wait.

Here's a close up that shows my manly mussed up furs. I also have my long tail in the "Reverse Latte."

Happy Man Cat Monday to my fellow Man Cats!

~Jake

Hot!

It has been so hot here lately. And so dry! Let me clarify that last point. I mean that there has been very little rain, because it has been humid. Despite an intense rainstorm yielding more than 2 inches of rain last Sunday, we're in the midst of a drought in our area this summer. Because Mom likes to keep our jungle garden nice, the water bills have been extraordinarily high. Some people who have not watered are losing nice little trees like dogwoods. The air conditioning has been running in our house, but we don't always like to sleep in air conditioned rooms. I especially like this plastic chair out on the deck because it has ventilation holes. Mom says that she doesn't like to sit on this chair when she's wearing shorts because she sticks to it when it's hot. I don't have that problem with my fur.

I wonder how my friend Kismet is enduring the hots this summer. He wrote about that last year when he lived in Brooklyn. That's about the time that we first started reading cat blogs. ~Bathsheba

I tend to like to sprawl out when I am hot. Our deck is cooler than a lot of other places because it has a roof over part of it, and the other part has a big maple tree growing through it to give it shade. With this drought we've been having, a lot of trees are losing leaves. You can see some of the maple leaves surrounding me. Not to worry though, I think my maple is in pretty good shape.

~Jake

Flower Friday for Mom

Mom's been kinda down in the dumps lately and we thought that we'd better help cheer her up with flowers for Friday. Here is the Virginia State insect, the tiger swallowtail, extracting nectar from one of our butterfly bushes.

Mom had what she thought was a minor fender bender on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, it caused her car's radiator to crack so it leaks when the engine is running. This happened to her old beloved 91 Camry for which she had dropped all collision coverage. She has another old car, a Buick, that Grandpa (her dad) bought shortly before he died ten years ago. When she went to use that car, the battery was dead because she doesn't drive it very often. She knows she needs to buy a new car, but she hates the hassle, and no car out there really "grabs" her. She could get the Camry fixed, but she knows it's time to move on. She's a rather practical person and doesn't really want or need all the expensive bells and whistles that cars come with these days. And she's so disappointed in the gas mileage of most cars out there. Maybe she should go with a Prius, but even it comes with so many extras.

Then there's grandma. She's now under hospice care in a nursing home, and continues to deteriorate. It makes Mom sad.

Then there's the termites. When Dad took down his big picture over the mantel as he was preparing to move, they discovered termite damage. After getting some estimates from exterminators, Mom had the house treated for termites today. She's using the bait method. The technician told her to wait a month or two before she has the drywall and mantel repaired or replaced.

And, of course, she misses Dad as we do. She plans to visit him in California for a week starting August 13 so we won't get to blog then. She's worried about Grandma during that time, but the hospice nurse urged her to stick with her plans.

Back to Flower Friday, Mom tried to catch Mr. Swallowtail with his wings fully opened, but she could not get him to cooperate with her inexpensive camera.

Here's a native plant, cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) that Mom put in a pot for the deck. It had seeded itself outside the flower bed and Mom wanted to rescue it from the path of the lawnmower. This flower is a great nectar source for hummingbirds.

I did give Mom some good news today. I had blood work done at the vet's (I was a good boy unlike some sister who shall remain nameless), and my thyroid level is 4.0. "Normal" is 1.5 to 4.5. That means that my medication dosage (1/2 a pill with each meal) does not need to be increased. Hooray! More meds would probably make me lethargic.

I told Mom that if things go really bad, she can run and hide like I do. She replied that you can't hide from problems because they will still find you.

~Jake

Wordless Wednesday