Sun! Sun! Sun!

In a rare occurrence, Mom opened up the slats in the office. Needless to say, Chani and I thoroughly enjoyed the massive sun puddle. It was amazing and I had a lovely snooze here.

9 and Chani get some love

Last night, 9 was being particularly adorable. I just had to give him some belly rubs and neck skritches...

He enjoyed them.

Not to be left out, Chani rolled over for some belly rubs which she enjoyed.

And then she got some chest skrtiches. Both 9 and Chani purred up a storm.

Now, where was Sheamus Popoki? Off sleeping on top of my stinky used yoga towel and clothes. I refrained from taking a photo of that... Nevertheless, he got some love too.

Happy Fourth Gotcha Day, 9 and Chani!

Yes, indeed. Four years ago today, I adopted darling 9 and dear Princess Chani. Right after Q crossed the Rainbow Bridge, the emptiness inside of me was overwhelming. I was going a little nuts and well, I just had to have a few kitties in my life. I saw 9 and Chani on an adoption fair notice on Craigslist. Actually, the photo they posted of 9 was not actually 9, but another kitten named Posey who looked very similar to 9.

Honestly, it didn't matter. Joker, as 9 was named by his foster mom, was the one for me. He chose me. I remember picking him up, holding him and he licked my arm. The deal was sealed right there. HIs foster mom said to him, "Oh stop kissing up. She's decided to take you already!" There were a few people who wanted to adopt 9, but they all fell by the way side and 9 was mine.

He is my dear, sweet, loving joker of a kitty. He's silly, he's sensitive and just what I needed after Q's passing.

I love my darling boy very very much.

Chani was in the same cage as 9 when I went to the adoption fair. A previous interested adopter had wanted to see if the two of them would get along. She was thinking of adopting 9 for her son and Chani for herself. She left to think about it. I arrived, was chosen by 9 and well, I couldn't leave Chani behind. I was thinking originally of adopting another boy kitty. However, my friend who came with me looked me dead in the eye and said, "You are adopting this one too, right?" as Ella, how Chani was named by her foster mom, cuddled in my friend's arms.

I am no longer in contact with that friend for a variety of reasons. However, she did help me bring this dear, diva, princess of a kitty into my life. I can't imagine life without Princess Chani-chan, my Chan-Chan girl. She is mercurial, cunning, particular, and fickle in how she gives her love to others. But to me, she is my bed time cuddle bug. She always lulls me to sleep with her loud purrs as she lies right next to me, often times curled in the space between my left shoulder and body. She rests her head on my chest and just keeps me warm and loved.

Talk to the back paw!

9 and Chani, I am so happy that you are traveling with me on my journey. Thank you to Q who came before. I know you had a hand or paw, rather, in guiding me to them.

A Becky update, a New Friend and Synchronized stretching

Becky is getting to be such a big girl! She is smart and sweet and well, just not a puppy any more. She's quite the teenager now.

 This is Tocho which means "tiger" (I can't remember which language). I helped rescue this kitty many years ago when she was about 2 months old. She was separated from her momma way too early and there was some evidence that she was abused (whiskers were burnt) by her original "owners" who were homeless people and from what I have heard more than a little cracked out. She was 'rescued' by another homeless person who was slightly less cracked out at the time and who gave her to a friend of mine. My friend could not keep another kitty so when I found out, I called another friend, Mr. J who had just lost his family cat. He accepted Tocho provisionally, saying that his wife had to approve of all this. However, as soon as I presented Tocho to him, he took her from me and I never got to hold her for the rest of the visit. Tocho was his. She sat on him and purred and basically claimed him.

Mr. J's wife, Ms. L, named the kitten, Tocho, in order to somewhat balance the horrible start in life that she had. You know, give the kitty a strong, fierce, powerful name and she will become strong and fierce and powerful. 

Well, it sort of worked. Tocho is usually pretty sweet to Mr. J, though she is scared when they have too many people visiting and will hide under the bed covers (where I took these photos). And, every now and then, she gets the crazy look in her eye and all hands and other exposed body parts have to be hidden from Tocho's teeth and claws. I hope Ms. L forgives me one day for this. I think she has as I do still get invited to parties and she talks to me hehe.

At any rate, Tocho loves her daddy and although she barely tolerates anyone else, she does tolerate me as I did get to pet her. I like to think she remembers me in a tiny part of her mind/heart.

Finally, a photo of 9 and Chani as they woke up from their nap upon Mr. Crab. It was almost dinner time and they needed to fully rest up before eating. Right?

Flashback Friday

I decided to look at some old photos of 9 and Chani. Do you remember when they were this small? I can hardly believe it.

Chani looked so paranoid when I first adopted her. She's calmed down so much. She's kind of prissy and quite sassy, but to me, she is my little princess who I just adore.

 
They were so tiny and their fur hadn't darkened yet. I remember how they used to snuggle together. Not too much of that happens these days. 9 tends to snuggle with Sheamus Popoki. I'm not sure if Chani is grumpy because of that or the fact she has to share me and our house with two others. She doesn't really want to play with either of the boys. In fact, she tends to hiss and growl at them when they (I mean 9. Sheamus tends to avoid Chani because she tends to whap him in the head for no reason but that he was sitting next to her or is within whappable distance) want to have a good round of THoE. However, I'm not sure how much of her hissing and growling is her being truly upset or her just putting on a show. She is cunning and quite capable of getting 9 into trouble on purpose. Once, 9 and Chani were walking by my parents. 9 just put a paw on her and Chani dramatically fell over. My parents started scolding 9, saying "Be nice to Chani, 9!" as Chani got up and walked away as happy as could be and totally not hurt.  I was shocked and then, just had to chuckle. Oh, and right after I adopted both of them, 9 got in trouble for pouncing on Chani. He got scolded while Chani watched. After the scolding, 9 walked by Chani who proceeded to whap 9. 9 chased her around and she ran off. Fortunately, I saw what she did and told her, "Hey, you started that one. It's all your fault and 9 is not going to get into trouble."

Yes, I talk to my cats as if they understand me completely.

9 always had that serious look. Despite his antics, 9 has always been my main comforter and just plain sweetie pie. He can read my emotions better than any other cat and always knows when I need a cuddle. Truly, it was a blessed day when 9 chose me to adopt him. I remember holding him for the first time and 9 licking my arm. He really knew that I needed him as much if not more than he needed me.

And of course, I have to put in a kitten picture of Sheamus Popoki. He had a bit of an eye infection in this photo, but it cleared up. I am very happy to this boy with me too. A sweetie, a bit dim, but cuddly in a way that neither 9 nor Chani are. For some reason, neither 9 nor Chani like it when I try to hug them while in bed. Both squirm and run away. Sheamus Popoki is more like Q who came before that way. He lets me hug him and pet him and snuggle. When I come home from work, 9 may be the first to greet me, but Sheamus Popoki always rolls on his side and back, presenting his tummy for rubs. It's adorable and reminds me of Q who came before who always rolled over on his back for a variety of reason.

And finally, a picture of Q who came before. I miss him still and it's been over 3 years.  Fortunately, 9, Chani and Sheamus Popoki do distinct things that all remind me of him. It took 3 cats to help fill the Q sized hole in my heart.

Thank you for indulging me this flashback moment! Much more wordy that I usually am.

Toesies and Nosies

 9 has such lovely black toesies. So striking against his pure white fur.

And Chani has delicious pink toes. Always makes me think of strawberry ice cream when I see them.

And they both have such lovely boopable nosies...

A little video fun

When Sheamus Popoki chases his tail, one can only giggle. 9 and Chani view this and I'm sure they are thinking: "What a doofus!"

Toesies Tuesday

(9's adorable black toesies x a hint on his one pink toe) + (Chani's pretty paws) = Adorable.

Settling in with 9, Chani and Sheamus Popoki

Sheamus Popoki looooves being with his older brofur. They're still trying to figure out who is the alpha kitty. For the most part, it is 9. 9 has returned to normal. He is greeting me at the door when I come home. AND he always gets his dinner first.

He's working on his sisfur. Chani accepts the Orange Interloper as long as he respects her authority which he does.

And I have to say, I had to reinstall the iPad app for cats. Of all 3 cats Sheamus is the only one who walks across the iPad screen and will engage with it.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Whiskers on a Wednesday

 9 whiskers

Chani whiskers... more like Chani nose

Photos taken with my iPhone. Goodness, I love this phone!

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!

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?

Happy Halloween

There was a time last year when Mom said she would not dress us up. What she failed to add to that statement was: She would not dress us up in Q who came before's costumes. Instead, she bought us some new costumes...

For me, she got a jester's collar because as she has stated before, I am a terrible model. I constantly try to get out of my clothes. After all, I have a beautiful white coat and lovely markings. Why would anyone want to hide that under silly costumes? Sigh...

Does this smell funny to you?

This is Mom's favorite picture of the series. Don't I look like I have vampire fangs??? heheh And she got a picture of my tongue.

As for Chani, who is so wonderful at modeling, she managed to hide her costume(I seriously doubt Chani hid her costume, I think Mom just forgot where she put it!), so Mom resorted to putting her in an old kerchief and this witch's hat.

Hi All, Chani here. I have to confess, I have no idea where my dress is. I was such a good girl wearing it too! Oh well. Silly Mom must have put it somewhere.

Don't I look dashing in this hat?

 Yes, indeed, I am adorable.

No, I am not to happy to wear the hat, but Mom is happy she got a few pictures.

Where are our treats???

As a side note, we got lots of treats. Twice after the photo session.

Happy October everyone!