How's life?

So how's life with you folks? There's nothing too exciting happening in my life at the moment. The cats are driving me nuts today. I have a dog gate across the entrance to the living room, to stop Alfie heading into the hallway and falling down the stairs. For some reason, which ever side of the locked dog gate the cats find themselves on, they want to be on the other side. Liberty's the worst. I'll let her in, and two minutes later, she'll demand to be let out again. She walks about six inches into the hallway, then demands to return to the living room. Grr!

I may try and get back into the swing of the old blogging business this week. I've decided that I couldn't give a monkey's intestine about Google and their murdering of my page rank on my blogs. Better yet - I can see again! A few weeks ago, Leo stole my reading glasses and bashed them about the room, leaving them scratched and useless. I finally got around to visiting the optician on Thursday afternoon, and picked up a new pair of reading glasses an hour after my eye test. I hadn't realised how much I was struggling to read without my specs. Hurrah for Specsavers!

I'm just trying out a new blogging feature called Zemanta, which I'm using via a Firefox extension. Not quite sure what it does, although it just tried to change Alfie's name into a link to the Jude Law and Michael Caine films of the same name. Ah, I see. It adds links and inserts a reblog button into my post. Hmm. Not too sure about this. I'll try it for a few days.

Ooh - I'm sh-sh-shaking!

Aaaaarrrrggghhhh! Big scary beast!


How cute is that little kitten? I absolutely love the I Can Have Cheezburger site. The scary thing is, I used to hate the Lolcat language. Now, I find myself speaking it to my cats. Helpz!

Anyone fancy a spot of babysitting?

The I Can Has Cheezburger gang has come up with antoher rib-tickler. Well, it cracked me up, anyway. Could you imagine my Leo letting that kid sit on him? Poor kid wouldn't stand a chance with demon-kitty.

Goat puke couch!

This cracked me up when I saw it. I recently walked into a furniture store, saw a similar couch, and was unfortunately overheard by a sales assistant as I declared: "yuk! that couch looks like something a goat puked up". Oops ...

Pic: I Can Has Cheezburger

Camera Critters

I've decided to give Camera Critters a try for the first time. I found some pics on a CD, of some shots I salvaged from my laptop, just before it finally died on me. As you will have seen in a previous post, I visited the National History Museum at St. Fagan's, near Cardiff, a couple of months ago. Shortly after entering the extensive grounds of this unique museum, I encountered this large black cat, and got two critters for the price of one. Note the mouse or baby rat in his mouth.


After walking around the grounds for a while, trying to locate a recently restored medieval church, I encountered some pigs rooting around in a patch of very muddy woodland, adjacent to the church. Despite my best efforts to get this sow to pose for a shot, she completely ignored me and kept on sifting through the mud with her snout, looking for some tasty roots and shoots. I even tried yelling 'apple sauce' at her, but she continued to treat me as a non-entity.


Click here if you fancy taking part in Camera Critters, hosted by Misty. Have a nice, peaceful Sunday!

Constipated kitty

My poor old cat, Liberty, has constipation. Apparently, it's something that affects old cats quite a lot. Plus she has kidney disease, so she sometimes gets a little dehydrated. Luckily, there's a simple fix - I'm having to mix a little bit of oil in with her food.

Unfortunately, Leo, aka Pitbull Cat, has become quite jealous of the extra attention she's getting, so he's taken to throwing things off shelves again.


Oh well, it's better than having him biting and clawing me, I guess. Anyone else have problem pets?

I hate cleaning!

I hate cleaning with a vengeance. Heck, I hate cleaning with anything! It seems such a horrible waste of a day. I mean, why spend time cleaning that could be spent lounging around on the beach instead? Oh yeah, that's right. No cleaning equals a dirty home and nasty pongs. Not good.

My biggest objection to cleaning is the fact that most of the mess isn't mine, but caused by my two naughty cats. Leo throws his food around everywhere, especially his biscuits. He likes to evict the green, vegetable-flavoured ones from his bowl. Liberty feels obliged to tunnel towards Australia every time she uses her litter, leaving mounds of it all over the floor. Of course, they sometimes help with the cleaning, too, by licking up anything tasty that gets spilled on the kitchen floor.

This morning was no different. I got up to the usual hideous mess. I used to have one of those little handheld vacuum cleaner things, which made light work of the cleaning up. Sadly, I made the mistake of buying a cheap brand. It conked out. So, I now have to do it the good old-fashioned way, with a pan and brush. Ugh! Too much like hard work. But not for much longer. I have my eye on a lovely, sparkly new Dirt Devil. I can't decide between the Accucharge Stick Vac or the Accucharge Hand Vac. What do you reckon?



Whichever one I get, not only will it save me a lot of time and energy, but it will also lower my carbon footprint, as the Dirt Devil Accucharge cleaners are the first handheld ones to earn Energy Star approval. They use 70% less energy than standard handheld cleaners, and I'm sure I'll be expending at least 70% less personal energy using one of them, instead of the pan and brush. Now, if only cats could be trained to use a Dirt Devil...

PhotoHunt - Emotion(s)

This week's PhotoHunt theme is Emotions(s). I thought I'd interpret the theme somewhat liberally. I don't have any pics of me looking in any way emotional. I have some suitable pics of family and friends, but they don't want their pics online. So, I've decided to use some appropriate pics of my cats. And don't anyone dare tell me that cats don't have emotions :). They do!

The first shot shows my cat, Leo, adopting a rather aggressive pose. It's his "I'm an angry rock star, fed up of having cameras shoved in my face" pose.


Here he is again, with a look that suggests indignation and a little anger. I don't think he likes having his photo taken.


This is a rare shot of him grinning widely for the camera. Stay away from those teeth. They're sharp - I know. Ouch!


Here's my other cat, Liberty, also having a jolly good old laugh. No idea what the joke was, as they wouldn't tell me. Probably something along the line of "how many humans does it take to change a litter-box?"


Here she is again, looking very pensive and contemplative. Or is she just eyeing up a wiggly caterpillar?


Here's Leo again, looking decidedly hostile. Note the narrowed eyes - definitely a "get that thing out of my face, stupid human" look.


Here's Liberty, looking positively outraged and offended by the intrusion of my camera lens. What is it with cats and cameras?

Oh well, that's all for this week, folks. Have a lovely weekend - and don't get too emotional!

Thursday Thirteen - Cavalier King Charles

Thirteen reasons to own a Cavalier King Charles.

It's been ever such a long time since I participated in the Thursday Thirteen meme. Too long. But it's been quite hard to find the time. I've also had difficulty thinking of topics to write about. Today, I thought I'd write about Cavalier King Charles spaniels. I recently got over a longstanding phobia of dogs, and can now happily play fetch with humongous Rottweilers. But my favourite breed of dog is the Cavalier King Charles spaniel. I hope to own one of these little dogs soon. So here are thirteen good reasons why I would like to own a Cavalier King Charles.

1... They look cute. Don't you agree? The coat colouring of this one is known as Blenheim.


2... They're very affectionate little dogs. In fact, they're known as 'the love-sponge of dogs'.

3... They're very gentle, and are generally very safe with children. Although I don't have kids, I know plenty of people that do, and would hate to own a dog I didn't trust around kids.

4... They get on with other pets, including cats. I have cats, so I can't risk introducing a dog into my home that might attack my cats.

5... I live in a flat, so I need quite a small dog. That said, I don't want a tiny little lapdog. I want one that I can take on long walks. Although the Cavalier King Charles is classed as a toy breed, it's probably the biggest of the toy breeds, and not much smaller than a cocker spaniel.

6... They're very easy dogs to train, because they're intelligent, and love to please their owners.

7... They're very sociable little dogs, so they make ideal pets.

8... They apparently have a lot of traits in common with cats, including a tendency to perch in high places, and chase butterflies. As a life-long cat lover, having one of these little dogs around the house won't be too much of a culture shock for me.

9... Because of their easy-going nature, they're considered one of the best dogs for first time owners - which is what I would be.

10... The Cavalier King Charles is considered to be equally suitable for able-bodied or disabled people alike. I have a mild disability, in the form of arthritis, so I really couldn't cope with a big, heavy dog that tried to drag me everywhere.

12. In addition to the Blenheim-coated dog above, there are three other Cavalier King Charles coat colourings. This one is a Ruby King Charles.


This little cutie is a Black and Tan.


Last, but not least, especially as it's my personal favorite of all the colourings, is the Tricolor. Awwww!


13... My final reason for wanting to own a Cavalier King Charles is - well, I simply do.

Now, all I need is about £500 - around $1000 - which is what I need to pay to get a puppy from a reputable dealer. Never, ever buy a Cavalier King Charles puppy without first asking the seller about the medical history of its parents and grandparents. Sadly, these lovely little dogs are prone to many genetic disorders, so it's better to be safe than sorry. Happy Thursday!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


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Diet woes!

I know how she feels!

More cat pictures

Awwwww!

Isn't this little kitten gorgeous? Anyone who says 'no' - be warned. I'll make a voodoo dolly of you and stick pins in it!

Image: I Can Has Cheezburger

Too cute!

Aren't they gorgeous? If you're not going 'aaaaawwwwww' right now, you're a mean, horrid, nasty critter!

Image: I Can Has Cheezburger