Moggie Madness

Well Christmas is not far off now and thank goodness I’ve finished off all the shopping for the human component of my family. I really do not want to be going anywhere near the shops in December. But I still have to get the furries a little something for Christmas and some are a little easier to buy for than others.

The fish are easy to please - a new piece of wood complete with aquatic plant or some other tank decoration and they are set. The birdies are also happy with anything that makes a noise. Because I’m dog sitting this Christmas and Mischa will also be here, I will be getting them a nice juicy bone each, a few treats and a new toy as well. But what to get the cats???

I would dearly love to get my two a Funky Hollow for Christmas but I think that might be a bit beyond the budget. They are pretty cool though right? I have a savings account for the kitties (I can hear you laughing now, don’t worry), so one day they may get themselves some funky feline furniture. But not this Christmas unfortunately. Mojo isn’t really one for toys - apart from the mice you can get that feel like real mice fur. He goes absolutely bonkers over them! So more than likely, that will be on his list this year, along with some Greenies Liver Treats.

I know Rosie’s favourite poison too - and it might not be what you would expect….

That’s right - the humble hairband. And boy would she go nuts over this pack of them! As it is we have them strewn all throughout the house on the floor but they are getting a little ratty so she could use some new ones to play with. I’m sure people assume that I just pull hair bands out of my hair and just chuck them on the floor when they come here. *hehe*

So don’t forget to put your kitties on your Christmas shopping list - it’s a celebration for them as well you know!

I’m definitely having one of those days today. My head hurts, I had really crappy sleep today and I have to go back and play some more tonight. I think my “happy face” is going to be pretty much the same as this one Thank god for I Can Has Cheezburger?….it really puts a smile on my face when I just don’t feel like it.

See here for moar funny pictures to make you giggle!

Oh hey! So mum doesn’t have time to blog so she’s letting me do the honours. Anyway, the human has been spending looootttsss of time in the rain cube and putting on her war paint….she must be going somewhere important because she never puts on war paint unless it is a big deal. We moggies are very helpful in letting mum know when she isn’t quite looking up to scratch. You see if we think she’s looking pretty spesh we will muzzle all over her legs and try to put as much fur on her as possible. It’s our way of adding our seal of approval see?? And you hoomans thought we did that to be a pain in the butt…oh how wrong you are.

First things first…..you must put on the fake skin. Not only does it make your legs look better but our fur sticks really well to it - then everyone knows that we approve of your outfit see?? Sometimes mum gets upset because we like her outfit soooo much that we put our paws up to really approve of it….and sometimes we put holes in her fake skin. Nevermind she has plenty of them so she can just get more….plus if she clipped Mojo’s nails more it wouldn’t happen as often so she only has herself to blame really. *hehe*

Next you really have to have the right colour happening for us to show our approval. Mojo really really loves all shades of blue but I love black the best. It complements my fur nicely and that lovely smooth fabric is just divine to rub up against! But you have to have a nice pretty colour in between…..mum often picks a white shirt but we think a blue or green would look much nicer. She needs to take us shopping with her so we can test fur attaching ability….oh and it has to show up clearly too or we just don’t like it.

The one on the left is not too bad….nice long pants which will soak up a lot of fur but you know, I’m just not sure that my fur would show up all that well against the grey colour. Would be better if it was darker. Now the one on the right is much much better. Nice dark colour to show up our fur! Oh and the long pants will be good for rubbing up against too!! Nice and smooth!!

Now finally, a nice pair of shoes, preferably suede or fabric. They really grab the fur and mum spends hours trying to get our seal of approval off her boots. For spesh occasions she always wears leather and for that, just stand on the shoe to leave a little pawprint. She will thank you and know that you care about her choice of shoes as well.

How do you hoomans know that we cats like your clothes?? Well we will come from nowhere to see what you are wearing. It doesn’t matter how far away we are, how sleepy we are, how hungry we are….we will come to approve or disapprove of your choices. The more we like it, the more we will make a fuss of you. If we don’t like it at all, we will just look at you and walk away. And if you know what’s good for you, you will take it like the hooman you are - with acceptance and gratitude!

Well I would have eaten peaches if the king parrots hadn’t gotten to them first.

Not content with having spent four days last week in the middle of nowhere, I had to go do it again for a night. Only this time, in the middle of nowhere somewhere south-westish of Ipswich in a place where the nearest pub looks like a country farmhouse. I took the camera, hoping to catch a few snaps of the koalas that I know are on my friend’s property somewhere but they remained elusive. Still playing with the damn camera and learning which bit of the mode dial is used for what, so I experimented this time with the sport function while her two bigger dogs were having a bit of rough and tumble play. Well it kind of turned out, except it wasn’t quite the shot I was after.

Lovely spot and they have heaps of room to run around in and go crazy. Just as well…..Nick (the setter) is somewhat manic and needs plenty of room to stretch his legs.

I’m talking about the haircut people - get your minds out of the gutter!

My hairstyle is generally called a layered bob by most people - short hair, just above where a shirt collar sits - with different lengths all through the hair. It seems to be a pretty popular “do” - Meg Ryan had one, so did Posh at one stage. So why oh why is it so hard to get it right?? I’ve found that very few hairdressers can actually achieve the look I’m after. I finally have the hair the way I like it, the right length, good layers but now I have a fringe. Oh I remember now the reason why I hate fringes.

They always get in my eyes so I end up pinning them back with hairpins and using copious amounts of product, so in the end, the resultant look would be the same as if I had a layered bob with no fringe at all. Bah! Next time, I hope I remember to tell them I’m growing the fringe out or else I will be stuck with this fringe for all eternity. To add insult to injury,  hairdressers seem to have this obsession with making my hair look more voluminous than it naturally is. They feel sorry for me for not having thick hair like they do, so they decide to make it look like I do when they blow dry it. The result is a combination between Fran Fine hair height and Margaret Thatcher hairstyling. Trust me, not pretty on a 28yo!

Thank god for small hairbrushes you can carry in your handbag at all times - that’s all I can say!

….a Borders bookstore!!

Today was my first experience at Borders…..it was just heaven! They have by far the biggest range of books in any category of any other bookstore chain in Australia. Fiction or non-fiction, they have it well and truly covered. I’m really into travel literature at the moment….not the guidebooks themselves but stories of real people and their experiences travelling all over the world. I was after Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. Fortune was not smiling on me this morning - the sun was out and shining when I left home, only to disappear behind a thundercloud half an hour later. Of course, this was precisely when I was to find myself walking from the service center at Mt Gravatt to the nearest major shopping complex. So it only makes sense that of all the books in Borders, the only one I wanted was the one they did not have. I must be meant to have this book though….fortune has smiled upon me once more and it will arrive in the post sometime next week - thankyou Laura! Oh and I just realised, that they have two books now, so I am still after Long Way Down but hopefully I will get it as a Christmas pressie.

With unlimited funds and a wheelbarrow to carry them all back to the car, I could have gone absolutely nuts in Borders. As it was, faced with an uncertain bill for car servicing looming, I was reluctant to go too crazy. I did bring home a copy of Bill Bryson’s Walkabout, which is two of his previous books (A Walk in the Woods and Down Under) in one bound volume. It is now on my “to be read” pile in my study….the place where I tend to stash all my recent aquisitions so that my nearest and dearest doesn’t quite get the full grasp on how many I have bought during my recent shopping excursions. I’m sure if I added it all up, even I would be astonished. *hehe*

Some women by shoes, handbags and makeup when they have a little retail therapy. Me? I just buy books…..and hell, for the price of one pair of Manolo Blahniks or Jimmy Choos, I could buy a hundred books.

Like many cat owners, Mojo and Rosie are not the first cats I’ve ever owned. My first cat that I can ever remember was a lovely black moggie called Sam. He was jet black all over and sweet natured. He was always around and I have a lovely photo of him, lying next to the bassinette when I was a baby. He unfortunately developed renal disease and was put down when I was still fairly young.

Puss was the next cat to enter our lives. He was a stray and simply came over the fence one day and decided our house was a nice place to live. He was long-haired and always looked to me like he was wearing a tuxedo. He loved sitting on the piano, listening to my sister play. He was fairly long in the tooth by the time he came to live with us - the vet guessed that he would be older than 10 yo. He stayed with us for quite a while, then one day vanished as quickly as he came. By the time he left us, we think he was edging close to 18 years. Still, I wonder if perhaps he thought his job was done and it was time to move on to another family.

My grandad found Fluffy when he was a tiny ball of fluff and could fit in the palm of his hand. He’d been abandoned by his mum/owners and so he adopted him. My nanna wasn’t really one for cats, so he was strictly outdoors and was only allowed to come up onto the landing for feeding. Eventually, Fluffy had the run of the house, well at least on the ground….only being allowed up onto furniture if it happened to be on somebody’s lap. Being so young when pop found him, he was hardly well socialised with other cats or with people. He was definitely a feisty character and always getting into scraps with other cats. I remember more than one occasion as a child when I would be walking down the side of the house and I would hear the bell on his collar. Even though I knew he was around, he would always surprise me - launching out from the bushes and latching himself onto my leg. Still, he mellowed out considerably as he aged and when my grandad passed, it wasn’t long before Fluffy went to join him.

And then there was Charlie. Technically she wasn’t my cat, she was my auntie’s but she was such a gorgeous cat. A bit aloof but affectionate nonetheless. She was another classy girl and very immaculately kept. When I look at photos of her, I see so much of Rosie in her - except Rosie is a little more clumsy than Charlie ever was. I think perhaps that’s what drew me to Rosie when I adopted her from Animal Welfare League.

It’s no small wonder that I have such a love of cats now, considering my whole life I have been exposed to them. They each had their own personality and funny little quirks…people who say that cats have no personality just haven’t lived long enough with a cat in my opinion.