Second Blogoversary on Mancat Monday

It's our second blogoversary! We started blogging back in 2006 after being inspired by our friends Kismet and Skeezix. Our first post was rather lame, but our secretary was thrilled just to be able to upload photos. Our dear friends Rosie and Cheeto were our first visitors. We have made the most wonderful friends across the US and around the world. This is such a great supportive community. I have a beautiful girlfriend cat DaisyMae Maus in San Diego and Bathsheba even found a nice mancat Bubbles to like and admire her. (Why, I'll never understand.)



As most of our friends know, I like to hang out on the deck. Here I am with a pot of cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis), and I am just waiting for a tasty ruby-throated hummingbird to alight.

Why don't they ever seem to visit when I'm standing here? Mom recently heard some cool hummingbird facts from a dear friend that she wanted to relate, but I told her no because this is MY blog and is supposed to be all about ME.









Well, if no birdies are going to come by when I am out in the open, I must go undercover and await them. You may think that I'm asleep, but this mancat is always on alert.






P.S. From Bathsheba: Jake, this is a joint blog, and it's NOT all about you. I want to let all our dear friends know that I really appreciated all the birthday wishes and hope to visit all of your blogs soon to thank you personally. I was overwhelmed by your sentiments.






P.P.S. We accepted Karl's challenge in memory of Anastasia and we encourage you to do the same.

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

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

Proverb Meme

I'm honored that the immensely popular cat fashion idol Skeezix tagged me for the proverb meme! The rules are: Make up a proverb!

A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of mankind. They are often metaphorical. Skeezix's proverb is "A kyoot owtfit a day keeps the Fashun Police away."

Here's mine:

It's no use crying over spilt milk when you can lap it up off the floor.

Now I have to tag some other cats. I will tag a few of those great man cats out there:

Kismet

Cheeto

Jack

Bubbles

~Bathsheba

Five Things Meme

Last week we were tagged by friends DaisyMae Maus, Tara, and Rosie and Cheeto for the Five Things Meme. Here goes:

What were you doing 10 years ago?
J&B: We were mourning the loss of our 19 year old big sister Precious and our grandpa. He used to take care of us when Mom went on vacations.
B: Actually, exactly 10 years ago, I ran away for the first time. I was gone from July 11-23. Mom worried excessively, posted signs, called the shelters, and searched and searched. I never told her where I went. I simply emerged from the woods that Wednesday evening by announcing myself with my little voice.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
J&B: Last year we were just discovering cat blogging. We started reading Kismet and Skeezix and some other kitties. We started our own blog by the end of August.
J: One year ago this month I had to start taking pills with all my meals because I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism.

Five snacks we enjoy:
J: Chicken, salmon, cheese, Bathsheba's food, Temptations and all treats. Am I limited to ONLY FIVE because I could go on and on here.
B: Milk (just a little taste is all Mom gives me), Butter (or margarine), cheddar cheese, Temptations and treats that Mom feeds by hand

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
J&B: The only song for which we know all the lyrics is the "Cat Anthem." That's what our grandma calls our purring. We leave the regular singing to Dad.

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
J&B: Being a millionaire is not what it used to be many years ago. We have simple tastes (just keep the food coming!) and a comfortable home with an awesome jungle garden so we are satisfied. We could have Mom home more if she did not have to go to "work." We read that some of the other blogging cats would invest in the Temptations company. We think investing would be a good idea. We could then split the income between Mom (so she didn't have to work) and donations to animal charities for years to come.

Five bad habits:
J: 1. Peeing on things in the house. (Very bad). 2. Digging my claws into Mom's arm to make biscuits when she's holding me. 3. Pushing Bathsheba out of the way and taking her food. 4. Scratching on the screen. 5. Peeing on things. (Do you get the idea that that's BAD?)
B: 1. Sometimes giving Mom the bitey when she touches me. (I then later apologize.) 2. Hissing at Mom sometimes. 3. Scratching and making my fur fly (This affects Dad's allergies.) 4. Making a mess of my meals by dropping my food all around the floor. 5. Waking Mom up on weekends. (I don't think this is bad, but she does.)

Five things you like doing:
J: Hanging out on the deck with Dad, chasing bugs, going in the woods, playing fishing pole-type games with my dad, EATING
B: Sleeping on my kitchen chair, sleeping on the bed with Mom (near her, but not generally touching her), playing with the dangling strings that hang from my kitchen chair cushion, getting drinks of water from the bathroom sink faucet, getting treats from Mom.

Five things you would never wear again:
J&B: That awful pink wig!
J: That French artist Halloween costume, the birthday party hat
B: That embarrassing hula girl Halloween costume, the birthday party hat.
We don't like to wear anything but our furs!

Five favorite toys:
Our answers vary depending on the time of the year.
J: 1. Bugs, 2. dangly things that Dad animates for me, 3. catnip toys especially when they're new
B: 4. Chair cushion strings, 5. hockey pucks/aka bottle caps

Since we're late in responding to this meme, most cats have been tagged by now. If you haven't been tagged yet officially, consider yourself tagged by us.

Thursday 13 - Places Depicted on My Magnets

Updated 3/31/07 with photos.

When Mom travels, she often buys souvenir magnets for all the people back at her office. When she has extras, she gives them to me for my magnet collection. It's on the side of the tall file cabinet at the foot of my bed next to my throne.

13 Places Depicted on My Magnet Collection:

1. San Francisco, home of my good friends Rosie and Cheeto. I have two of the Golden Gate Bridge and one of a Victorian house. The Bay area is also home to a number of our blogging friends including Skeezix and his family and Kimo and Sabi.




2. New York, home of Jeter, Kismet, Ariel, and Sammy and Miles (if it's the whole state, not just the big city).




3. Maine, three magnets showing wild blueberries and a loon.




4. Butchart Gardens, Victoria, British Columbia




5. New Hampshire, one with enormous vishus deer called moose.




6. Colorado, two with Rocky Mountains and wildflowers.




7. Minnesota, one with a 3-D loon.




8. Olympic National Park in Washington State.




9. Zion National Park in Utah.




10. Bryce National Park in Utah.




11. Stowe, Vermont.




12. Alaska, two of Denali National Park/Mt. McKinley and one of a wolf.




13. Yosemite National Park in California, with Yosemite Falls. Unfortunately for Mom and Dad, the falls were dry when they visited in October of 2002.

Mom has camped in or near all of those places except for San Francisco, Butchart Gardens, and Minnesota. She wishes she had a Banff magnet; that's the most beautiful place she ever visited. She needs a Wyoming magnet; that's where she and Dad met.

I prefer to just get the magnets. I'd rather stay home. I now have a new Skeezix "biker dude" magnet. Isn't it great?

Blogger won't let me post photos tonight, and Mom and I have wasted a lot of time trying. Bummer! (Update, 3/31: now I have photos.)

~Jake