Happy New Year 2012!

Keeping with the tradition started last year, I present to you my New Year's drawing. Since 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, 9, Chani and Sheamus Popoki are wearing dragon costumes. No, I haven't found any actual dragon costumes, maybe next Halloween? Hehe...

2011 was a good year for our little family. Our pipes in the condo were re-done. We now have a water softener. Mom's pottery business was more successful than she thought it would be. She also started up a Zazzle shop to sell some prints of her 2d work. After a mad bout of cleaning and purging, the guest room is a lot cleaner and better organized than before. Yes, we can have guests be comfortable there! AND Mom cleaned out her bedroom closet, so there are some empty shelves that we can climb up on. She really does think of us all the time, doesn't she?

2011 also brought our little brofur. He's fitting in well with us and can really endear himself to Mom with his cuddles and purrs.

We hope you have enjoyed our adventures this year. Mom might promise to be better about posting (we will do our best to gently encourage her to post more often!), but her real 2012 resolution is to clean our litter boxes more often. We have been letting her get away with being lax on this, but no more!

Happy New Year, everyone! We look forward to what adventures we will have and all your adventures too!

Merry Christmas!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas! Chani is dreaming of treats, tuna, warmth and when Mom comes home again.

And doing her best to block out the trouble the boys are getting into.

Happy Christmas everyone!

The 5th nominee!

On this day before Christmas, we would like to give Angel and Kirby of A Wizard and an Angel blog the award. I knew that there was one more lovely blog we needed to nominate!

Love you all,
9, Chani and Sheamus Popoki

Thank you for the award!

Our friends, Scarlett and Melly, gave us the Liebster Blog award. We are thrilled! Thank you :D

Here are the 'rules' for this lovely award:

Upon receipt of the award, one is to:
1) Link back to the blogger who gave it
2) Paste the award on the blog
3) Choose 5 blogs to pass this award to (they must have fewer than 200 followers)
4) Let the recipients know about their nomination by leaving a comment on their blogs

Now, we must admit, Mom has been seriously slacking in the reading of other people's blogs awards. She has been busy which we can attest to since she's been sick and coming home much later than she usually does.

But, here we go in who we think should be awarded:

1) Luna and Luzie
2) Purrfect Haven
3) The Adventure of Space Paws
4) Kittitas

Now, we know there is one more we can award to, but since Mom is leaving for Southern California shortly, she will have to just nominate four for now. Hopefully, she will nominate more from there!

Oh, and we are not going to the Kitty Hotel this time. Mom is having a friend come and visit us while she is off having fun.

We promise not to get into too much trouble while she is gone hehe...

purrs,
9, Chani and Sheamus Popoki

Manly Monday

 Soulful, handsome 9

Handsome Sheamus Popoki

Very good looking, not sure how manly tee hee.

Run free across the Bridge, Lucky

Dear Friends,

We are sad to let you know that our Southern California friend, Lucky, recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He was a lovely woofie who took care of his fellow woofie buddy, Scruffy, and his cat buddy, Fluffy.

Lucky lived a long life but in the end the dreaded cancer got to him.

We will miss you, Lucky! Run free and say 'hello' to Q who came before, please. Until we meet again.

Toesie Tuesday

 Chani Toes

 Sheamus Popoki Toes

9 toes

Bravery, SPAM is thy name

The other day, Fizzgig, Obie and Pica's mom came over with Pica. 9 did his best to scare off the 'scary' little woofie by getting big and hissy. Chani held the title of bravest for a little while because although she puffed out a bit, she didn't run too far away and later she actually kept a close eye on Pica.

BUT, dear SPAM-chan, my little boy who is the king of hiding in plain sight was the bravest of the three. He even tried to do a nose touch with Pica. And Pica, good girl that she is, allowed it.

Such a brave boy!

And he even did a nose kiss with Chani, who is getting much more tolerant of this little boy despite the fact he still goes up on her tower. Still, at least he knows that when he is fed, he goes up the green tower and not HER tower. Mishka, we're not sure how to help you out with your situation. We're sorry!

Then, SPAM-chan slept under the kotatsu with his big brother. They were even touching!

Actually, 9 has been very good with Sheamus Popoki. They haven't played much at all. But 9 did smack Sheamus Popoki in the head once, realized what he had done might not be acceptable and then ran off. Chani allows nose kisses but no charging at her.

Still, it's lovely to see my orange interloper gaining confidence and coming to greet me with the other two when I come home. He's not fully greeting me with purrs and stretches like 9, but at least he comes out from where he was hiding or sleeping.

ZAAIOOOOOOOOOOOOL

That title is courtesy of Spam-chan. Yes, he is taking 'naughty' lessons from his big brofur 9.

Originally, I was going to label this post, portraits on a Wednesday. Oh well.

9 posing as Mr. Handsome and Sensitive.

Chani posing as Miss Grumpy Pants keeping an eye on the Orange Interloper

Sheamus Popoki posing as Master Cutie Patootie attempting to avoid his sisfur's watchful gaze.

And here is photographic proof that 9 and Chani did get some tuna the night Spam-chan arrived in our humble abode.

Tockstober in December - about time!

 9 Tocks

 9 Tocks again

 Chani Tocks

Spam Tocks

SPAM - chilling

Sheamus Popoki: I don't know what the fuss is, I'm just hanging out here on the bed with everyone. I kind of like this purr purr purr...

I must say, this little boy has quite the engine. All 3 of my kitties do. It's quite lovely to hear them, though I have yet to hear them in unison. If I did, I doubt I'd be able to hear anything or even sleep.

Sigh... what a slice of heaven it is :D

Grumpy Chani

After viewing Scarlett's grumpy face, I just had to add this photo

What you don't see is 9 sleeping comfortably between my legs and Sheamus Popoki sleeping on my other side. I was propped up rather uncomfortably against some pillows and my head was leaning on the corner of the headboard. Still, it was a bit heavenly having all 3 cats in bed with me.

For the most part, there is peace at Chez Marlene's. 9 and Chani have accepted their new little brother and Sheamus Popoki is kind of oblivious to the disruption he has caused by living here. Chani does still snuggle with me, but has a hard time relaxing when she hears little SPAM-chan play. I think she remember when she was a tiny kitten and picked on by the other kitties her foster mom was fostering.

At any rate... oh, Chani has something to say here:

That orange interloper ate from MY food dish on MY tower. And you expected me to actually eat from the same dish he had eaten from! How dare you??? Yes, you bet I refused to eat until you gave me a new dish to eat my dinner from. Harumph...


Though, I do have to say, I will deign to allow him to share under the kotatsu with me and I won't hiss at him when he walks by. I'll even sniff him. BUT no eating from MY dish in MY tower! It's bad enough that he sleeps in my tower when I'm not there.


Mom, will you please train him that the green tower is his???

Ok, that's what Chani had to say. And yes, I will do my best to train Sheamus Popoki to go to his tower. He's kind of... well, laid back and does his own thing. So his personality is great for joining our little family.

The Debut of Sheamus Popoki Aloysius Mango

Greetings and salutations everyone! I'm Sheamus Popoki or SPAM as my new grandpa calls me.
I'm arrived in my new home last week and am settling in pretty well. I was a bit of a scaredy cat when I first arrived, hiding in the closet in a corner where Mom couldn't see me but 9 and Chani could. They stared at my location and Mom was able to get me out of my hiding spot. But now, I'm out and about and enjoying the front room. I've even begun to greet Mom in the morning when she wakes up, though, I'm not sleeping with her and my siblings yet...

After some initial hissing from my new brofur and sisfur, things have settled down. Oh, I made sure to growl and hiss at 9 to show that I'm not afraid, but so far, we're getting along well. Though, 9 tends to swat at my tail. I think he thinks my tail is a giant feather. Chani didn't like sharing the area under the kotatsu in the beginning, but last night we were just fine. Oh, and Mom managed to cuddle with me and Chani and then with me and 9 without any growling or hissing for any of us! To tell the truth, I think 9 and Chani were more annoyed with Mom than they were about being next to me.

Now, I do hide behind the futon couch a lot and Mom has to drag me out. But, when I do come out on my own, I make sure to purr and rub against her. She says I have the softest fur and paws ever.

In case you've forgotten, this is what I looked like back when Mom first met me. I know I tried to tempt her, but she resisted. So I had to be patient.

I made sure to use the big eyes on her. I'm not sure how she withstood my charm back then. I mean, look at me! And my cute little paws!

And I tried to use my belly, but I didn't have any discernible belly spots back then, so Mom resisted.

Now that my glorious coat has grown in fully, I have some belly spots. In some pictures, it looks like my spots are just shadows, but when my fur is all nicely arranged, I gots belly spots. Mom cannot resist me anymore!

I'm very happy to be here and in my new furever home. Mom will have to update the banner, though she won't change the name of the blog.

Oh! I'm supposed to say something like:

Douzo Yoroushiku Onegaishimasu!

Glad to meet everyone here on the internet!

Wordy Wednesday

Sheamus Popoki Aloysius Mango is now in our guest room. The kitties are dealing with it pretty well. A few hisses, a few nose touches. Chani only had an issue when Sheamus went under the kotatsu. She is not very good at sharing teehee. Other than that, he is not eating much and he is hiding under the stands in the closet. The guest room door is open though. Hopefully, he will come out soon. 9 and Chani are doing well with the new addition. Fingers crossed that grooming and snuggling will eventually follow. Well, hopefully, Sheamus Popoki will venture out of the guest room on his own. Oh! 9 and Chani did get tuna last night. So did Sheamus. And I finally found Chani's Halloween dress. It was in the crawlspace between my headboard and my bed. I have no idea how it got there!

Foster Kitten update

9:  Oh dear. Oh dear. We have some good news and some distressing news to relate here... Well, not really distressing, but...

Chani: 9! Just tell them!

9: Sigh... ok. Well, the good news is that Inky was adopted. Hooray!!!

Chani: Yes, that is good news... purr purr

9:Now, Mom is sad that Mango did not get adopted, but she is in love with him and has been unsuccessful in convincing Grandpa to adopt him! Grandma seems keen on the idea, but not Grandpa.

Chani: Oh, that is distressing.

9: No! That is not the distressing part! Mom wants to adopt Mango! She's thinking of bringing him here and and fostering him with us for a while to see if we will all get along!

Chani: What??? Inconceivable!

9: Will Mom still love us the same? Will I still be her favorite son?

Chani: Will I still be her Precious Princess Pretty Pants? Wait... why am I concerned? Mom loves me, I get the kotatsu to sleep under, and I'm ok with how you totally hog her attention.

9: That's not the point! I'm... I'm waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Chani: There, there. It's ok! We're going to be fine.

9: AND she forgot to give us TUNA for our birthdays yesterday! We are 3 years old and she didn't even celebrate it with us! I mean, I had my birthday in October and she didn't say anything. She missed Tock-tober! Waaaaaaaaah!


Chani: Oh my goodness, you are right! Mooooom! How could you??? Waaah!

--------------

Yes, dear friends, I am on the road to true Crazy Cat Lady status. I am going to test out Mango and see how 9 and Chani react to him. I'm sure that they will be just fine. Mango is really laid back and accepts whatever attention is given to him. I'm sure he'll be a bit freaked out being in a new place with 2 new kitties to deal with, but keep your fingers crossed.

And, well, I'm still working on my dad to make him see how wonderful it would be for Mango to live with them. At any rate, if that doesn't work, we shall soon be having a new kitty joining us :D

And I will probably rename him Sheamus... yes, after the Irish WWE wrestler... I can't help myself.

And I promise to give 9 and Chani some tuna for their birthdays before Mango/Sheamus comes over.

Don't think I can start another sentence with 'and'... my poor high school English teacher would be appalled :D

Wish us luck!

Foster kitties

On Sunday, Mom visited her other friend who fosters kittens. She has two formerly feral Siamese looking kitten siblings. Above is the boy. He's kind of shy and would often hide under the bed. Mom had a hard time taking photos of him.

His sister is a bit less shy and totally loves ear and neck skritches. If you do that, she flops on your lap and just enjoys the attention.

 Still, she's a bit shy. Such big ears though!

 And she also likes the kitty bed.

Remember Mango? Well, he wasn't called that when mom first saw him. But that's his name now. The rest of his siblings all found furever homes, but he hasn't. And for once, when Mom visited, she was not all about the kittens. She was all about Mango. Hmm... we don't think there's enough room for another kitty in our condo... He's still a sweet boy. Independent. It's hard to tell what he's thinking, but he did flop on his side for some belly rubs and he let Mom pick him up a few times. Yes, Mom is in love with him... not as much as she loves us, but you know how it is...

Finally, there is Inky. He's an older foster who needs a home too. Oh, and there is this tortie girl too, but Mom didn't get any good photos of her because she was mooning over Mango so much...

More new friends - Gazoo, PITA, Suki and Snowy

Mom went to visit a friend this past weekend and met 3 kitties and woofie. Above is Gazoo. Yes, he always looks paranoid apparently... Well, wouldn't you if you had to share your home with a big woofie like, Snowy (seen below)?

Still, Snowy is quite beautiful, don't you think? We're not sure we could handle living with a woofie, but Mom would love to have one heheh... pity she isn't home enough for a dog. Seriously, she's not home enough for us!

This is PITA (we'll let you guess what those letters stand for...) He was a feral rescue. Mom decided not to show off his whole body because, well... he's kind of big. Mom said something about a basketball on legs... He does have beautiful blue eyes though. Wow, just realized all of these new friends have beautiful blue eyes!

And finally, here is Suki. He's the sweetest of the bunch and feels very soft and clean. Pita and Suki stay upstairs away from Snowy. Only Gazoo is brave enough to be downstairs.

It's 9's turn

It's about time I get some attention around here!

Thank you. Now I can sleep better

The kotatsu

For those who don't know, a kotatsu is a Japanese table with a heating element under it. You can remove the table top and put a blanket over it. That way, your legs are all nice and warm and you can work on the table top. Yes, you do sit on the floor, but it's worthwhile.

Needless to say, Chani rather enjoyed being under the table, soaking up the heat. 9 was just happy sitting on my lap and letting me drape the blanket around him.

And yes, the kitties will have their Tocktober photos, one day. Hopefully, this month!

Impossible!

Mom missed Tocktober!!! We shall be sure to fur up her freshly laundered clothing and all sorts of other disciplines to make sure she never forgets again!

And even worse, she has no pictures to post today. Bad Mom!

Chani loves when the bed is made

Chani loves it when I change the sheets.

And she looks quite adorable when she's under the sheets too.

Tuesday tidings

 Mom is loving the camera phone still. 9 was polite enough and still enough for a lovely photo.

As for me, Mom loves how she captured my ear tips in this photo.

Resting and relaxing

Mom is so happy to have a phone that takes photos again. She has completely foregone using the big black camera and is just taking photos of us using her phone. (She bought an iPhone 4s, if anyone is interested... We think the phone is doing weird things to Mom, she gets all giggly when holding the phone... do you think that it's emitting some sort of weird energy aura to make our Mom silly?)

At any rate, we had a nice snuggle sleeping on her last night while she was relaxing on the couch. 9 decided to clean my ears. He can be nice to me, I suppose.
 

I think he wanted to get closer to Mom... he likes sleeping on her chest, but I was in the way tee hee...

I love sleeping on Mom. So comfy.

And, at the end, I got all adorable and covered my eyes from the overhead light. Do I know how to work the cute or what?