Sunday, November 29, 2009

Mom's a slacker!

Hi Everyone. 9 here. Mom has been seriously slacking in the blogging department. She is constantly muttering something about needing more time and why did she procrastinate. Then, she heads out to the patio where Chani and I are forbidden from entering and stays out there for an unseemly amount of time. When she comes back inside, she's got clay all over her pants and shirt. The dust she trails in makes me sneeze!

Eggcups made for a friend. Behind are all the bowls she's been making... Mom's not too happy with the shape of the eggcups, but our friend is happy with them, so Mom is happy.


Well, at least she sat down in Grandpa's chair this afternoon on a break so I could snuggle with her. Chani got to snuggle with her later in the evening.

Honestly, I don't know what has gotten into Mom...
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Hi all, Marlene here. Well, I have a pottery sale coming up on December 12 and 13th. Of course, I waited til the last minute in getting everything made. I'm just barely going to make the last glaze firing before the sale (if I'm lucky enough! Darn the cold weather making everything take forever to dry!).

Some of you may remember my CafePress site (which I haven't updated with new designs in a while. Another bad me moment hehe). At any rate, I decided to have the Cat design and the Angel design made into clay stamps so I could make some clay pendants with them... or use them as decorative accents for some bowls. In the next few days, I'll be making some pendants out of Precious Metal Clay and I'll show you what those look like after I fire them.

The stamps

And if you want, you can check out my clay blog, Spinning the Clay Fantastic. I'll be showing some of I've been making for my sale there.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone in the cat blog world who visit and read about 9 and Chani's (and sometimes my) adventures. I'm so grateful for all the wonderful comments and stories. I remember when I was merely lurking, reading The Poupounette and Cat with a Garden. Or just looking at the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee and sighing over kittens with Lisa. I remember when I first adopted 9 and Chani and started blogging about them(Thank you for encouraging me, Cori!). I wasn't sure who would read, I just wanted to be a part of the Cat Blogging world (being Lol'd by Wendy was definitely a high point!) and not merely lurk! So, thank you all for welcoming me and my beloved pair. Thank you for your words of sympathy and encouragement and just enjoying the life of being owned by a cat or two or 9... (Please don't be offended if I didn't link to your blog in this gushing of gratitude paragraph! I am grateful to you as well!)

You are all truly wonderful people.

And of course, lest I forget, all the kitties and woofies are supremely special. Where would any of us be without these beloved creatures?

Blessings on you all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Now, where's that turkey?

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Chani at play

Here's Chani at play. Isn't my girl getting big??? Give the video a few seconds for the colors to work right



Yes, that is my mom's voice in the back asking if we can go look at cameras for my dad's Christmas present. And yes, that "Umm... hang on" is my high pitched voice... Although I tend to talk at a lower register, I do have a soprano natural voice. Sigh...

And yes, we were watching football. I haven't been a regular watcher of NFL football in a long time, but it's kind of good to get back to it.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Cleaning Chani on a Sunday

If my brain hadn't already sploded from the cuteness before, well, it would have gone splodey when I saw this. Took a few pictures and of course, missed the shots where both kitties were looking at me. Still, with this kind of composition in front of me, I think I can forgive myself.

Checked out another condo today with my realtor (it's been about 4 and a half months since I made my offer on my first condo, and because it's a short sale, it's taking fooooorrrreeeevvver. Average short sale takes 4 - 6 months to complete). At any rate, this new condo was more impressive than the listing made it seem, but not enough for me to make an offer (really, if I'm going to buy a place, I must have my own laundry in my own place! Not to mention heaters that are not on the wall baseboards. Yes, I'm picky and spoiled by modern conveniences)... Will keep you all informed on how it all goes.

As I was told by Siena and Chilli's mom, Chani and 9 seem to be enjoying their grandparents' attention. Yes, they do and are getting very spoiled, but in a good way. And with moments like the above, how could anyone resist spoiling them?

Friday, November 20, 2009

Happy First Birthday Chani and a Belated One to 9

Today is the day that I have decided is Chani's birthday. When I adopted her, she was about 4 months old, doing some calclulations, I figured that she was born in November. I decided to give her this day because it is the same as a good friend of mine. I later found out that this day was my grandfather's birthday too. So, I have a good memory trick to now remember my friend's birthday as I could never forget Chani's birthday.

9 had his birthday on October 25th when I was in LA. I decided not to mention it to him so he wouldn't feel left out. 9 was about 5 months old when I adopted him and Chani, so I figured he was a Scorpio and I gave him another friend's birthday which is also my uncle's birthday and Q's birthday. I gave Q this day because I couldn't forget my friend's and uncle's birthday and so I would remember his birthday. Funny how things change. Now I give my cats certain birthdays to remember friends' birthdays.

And can I write "birthday" any more in a paragraph or two? Geez, I really need to get a thesaurus...

Anyhow, Happy First Birthday Chani! and Happy Belated First Birthday 9! I love you two!

Happy weekend all :D

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Monday, November 16, 2009

9 cleaning Chani

Here is the video of 9 cleaning Chani. I love her little yawn in the middle of it all! The lighting wasn't that great at the time that I shot the footage, so I imported the video into AfterEffects and added a few filters. I also shrunk the video down. This is what I went to art school for!



Oh, and it helps if you look at all the pieces that come in the box of your new smart phone (Smart phone, maybe not so smart consumer/user hehe). Found the USB cable for my Droid, so I just cable loaded the video to my computer. Thus, I'm even happier with my new gadgety phone now! By the way, thank goodness for internet resources because this phone did not come with a manual at all. Just a pamplet. Hmmm... maybe not so smart company? Though, they did provide a link for videos on Youtube to show you how to use your phone. Hmmm... how very cunning of Motorola?
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And I wanted to thank everyone for their comments on the picture of Siena. I am an artist by trade and training, so I am very particular when it comes to presenting my artwork. If it doesn't look like it would when you see it in person, I consider it a "bad" photo. Of course, nothing really replaces actually seeing an image or action in person, but you can get pretty close. Honestly, I wasn't being that hard on myself... just being me :P

Sunday, November 15, 2009

More 9 and Chani on the twin bed

As it's Snuggle Sunday, I thought I'd post a few more pics from the other night. See where they are sleeping? Absolutely no room for me on that pillow at all.

This just gave me warm fuzzies.

Last night, I moved Chani from her spot by the pillow and put her right next to 9. He started to clean her up and I got video on my new phone (I got a Droid by Motorola!!! I'm such a geek :P) I'm still figuring out how to offload stuff from my phone onto my computer. Once I do, I'll post that video. More warm fuzzies shall abound!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Siena

Here's a rather poor photo of the sketch of Siena done up in marker.

I had to sort of play with the colors to get it to look less yellow. And I think I need to darken up Siena's M at her forehead... Eventually, I'll post better versions of this sketch and the one I did of Tama-chan.

Bring on the critique, everyone!

Spreading the word

Hie on over to Brian's Blog if you can. There are a couple of kitties who could use some help.

Oh, and it seems like enough money was raised for Princess's Operation! Hooray!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

9 and Chani on the twin bed

Last night, I took a shower. I had left 9 and Chani dozing on our bed, but Chani was by the pillow and 9 was in the middle. I came back to the above.
Both immediately woke up and I went for my camera. It's not too often that they snuggle like this, so I had to make sure to take photos.
9 decided it was time to clean Chani. As you can see by her reaction, she had no problem with this at all.
She was purring up a storm as he cleaned her.
Chani started to bite back halfheartedly, so 9 decided it was time to clean himself. This was an action shot of him midway between cleaning himself and pulling back to get another go. Chani just slept through it all.

My only question is: if they're up by my pillow being all adorable, where do I sleep?

I photo messaged a pic of the pair to a friend asking the above. She told me: The floor! Duh!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

What 9 may look like in a few years

This past weekend, I was asked to take care of a friend's 3 cats, Sharmi, Killi and Kaze. I didn't get any pictures of Sharmi and Killi, but Kaze was more than happy to pose for me. Isn't the heart on his side adorable?

He came out to meet me and let me pet him, cuddle with him and of course, take pictures of him. His coat was a lot lighter when he was younger and he's gotten darker and darker as he's grown up. I think 9 might look a lot like him when 9 grows up.

Kaze is short for Kamikaze because he was quite the little acrobat and zoomie kitty when he was a kitten. He does tend to annoy his older sisters, but those beautiful blue eyes just need to flash at you, and you melt. Kaze is such a sweetie!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Handsome 9 on a Sunday

9 just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Sunday! And he's probably thinking: give me treats!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Naughty but cute

9 and Chani like to climb up on to places where they are not supposed to be. Guess which one is being 'naughty' here.

9 loves to play in my bag when I pull it out. He's not too happy when I fill it up and go traveling, but he does play well in it. I love how he goes so well with this bag hehe.

Now, is that a face of a naughty boy who got kicked out of his Mom's room at 5:40 this morning? Yes, indeed it is. I love him, he's adorably cute, but at 5:40 a.m. he's going out of the room to play and I don't care how much he scratches on my door! Well, I do care, but really, I need my beauty sleep...

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Chani on her pink blanket

Chani here. The other day, I decided to keep Grandma company while she worked on the computer in Mom's room. Mom keeps the PBoD (Pink Blanket of Doom) on the bed and well, it was very comfortable. Mom walked in and saw me. Originally, I was on my back but I rolled to my side as she started to take photos.

After a bit, I decided to roll over onto my back and be all adorable. Mom can't resist taking a billion shots of kitties on their backs being adorable. Grandma told her, "Enough already!" Mom stopped after a few more shots and gave me loooooove.

hehe Snorgles to you all :D

Monday, November 2, 2009

Siena Sketch


This is the sketch of Siena that I've been working on. I wonder if I got a good enough likeness... The image shall be inked and colored soon enough!