Snoozing before the New Year

The boys snooze together

9 looks adorable as always, contemplating the Universe and what 2013 might bring. More tuna? More freeze dried chicken treats? Hmmmm....

Chani snoozes under the kotatsu. She's happy in the warmth there.

Finally, the boys drift off to sleep, curled up and safe, knowing how much I love all three of them.

Happy New Year, everyone! See you in January :D

Play time with 9

Since Mom was home with us, she played with me a lot! Yes, I still have 'mad' jumping skills

Belly!

I can totally stand on my back legs for a long long time :D

Sheamus tried to get involved, but I did not let him. It was MY time to play!

More belly!

Standing

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays furiends! Well, we have had a wonderful break. Mom stayed home and just lay around for us to be with. It seems she caught some sort of stomach bug and just couldn't get out of bed. Of course we took very good care of her, snuggling up next to her and keeping her warm.

Since she was ill, Mom didn't go out and get us presents. However, Grandpa and Grandma gave us some cat nip sticks. As you can see, we all quite enjoyed them.

9 received the blue one.

Chani got the yellow one

And Sheamus Popoki got the green one.

We all looooved the sticks hehe.

We hope you had a lovely Christmas and will have a happy happy New Year!

Oh, and Mom is feeling much better now purrrrrr

Halloween Dress Revisited and New Friends!

I was going through the photos on my camera and came across these of Chani. Not to brag or anything, but she is really a pretty girl.

 I usually consider 9 my soulful cat, but my Chan-Chan girl really has something soulful in her expression in these photos. Something winsome too. Sigh...

I've been busy again (yes, big surprise). But, I did take some time to go the wood kiln a few weeks back. One of the friends there has a rescue dog named Wiley. He's pretty darn adorable. Spunky. Usually one ear is flopped over, but when he's alert, they both perk up.

 Such a sweetie!

And there is a new 'baby'. Meet Becky, a great Pyranees.

 Here she is at about 9 weeks.

 What a doll! And my what huge paws!

 Standing next to her mentor, Buddy.

And here she is about 3 weeks later. She certainly has grown a lot.

When Becky is full grown, she will join her 'brother', David, and protect the goat herd. But for right now, she's just enjoying being a puppy.

Happy Gotcha Day, Sheamus Popoki

Can you believe that Sheamus Popoki has been with us for a whole year?

From this rather medium sized kitten to a big fluffy boy, Sheamus Popoki sure has grown.

Granted, he still runs and hides whenever anyone except his foster mom comes over. But with our little family of 9, Chani and myself, Sheamus Popoki Aloysius Mango is sweet and loving and just plain adorable.

He roughhouses and chills out with 9. (They groom each other.) He puts up with Chani's mercurial moods (she whaps him upside the head whenever she feels like it no matter if he has done anything to her or not). And he endures huggle time with me.

So very happy you joined our family, Spammy!

Happy Birthday, Chan-Chan girl!

Yes, my dear friends, it is Chani's 4th birthday today.  My darling girl is a wee bit sassy, a wee bit cunning and quite the Diva Princess kitty of this household.

How I love her coat of orange, black and white. And her little pink nose!

I also love how she manages to take over the warm spot I have vacated once I get up in the morning. She's a smart girl.

Tonight, we shall celebrate with treats and some gourmet food before I head off to LA for Thanksgiving.

Happy Birthday, Princess Pretty-pants! We love you!

Purple Meditating Kitty

After over a month of putting painting off because of other commitments, Mom was finally able finish her Purple Meditating Kitty. She says that it was not very easy to paint an all black cat and still have the details show up well. But, she is happy with the result and cannot wait to get started on the versions that star the three of us.

9 will have an aqua background. Chani will have a burnt orange background and Sheamus Popoki will have a lovely green background. She's already started painting the eyes on Chani's and Sheamus'.




After that, she has one more sketched out that is based on Meow Meow of Kittitas.








Mom just needs some free time to paint them all.

Oh and if you're interested. She is having cards printed out of the Purple Meditating Kitty and has a few leftover of the Blue and Pink Om Kitties.

Both of these as well as the Purple kitty are painted on boards with acrylic paint. Then, they were scanned and formatted onto a notecard with the symbol for Om underneath them.

And finally, Mom has a bunch of postcards printed up of the above image. This was the first time Mom tried to illustrate one of us all on the computer. Well, the initial sketch was on paper, but then the color and outlining and such were all done in Flash. Then, she put all the parts in Photoshop to make the final image.

Drop us an email and marlene_hirose at yahoo dot com, if you would like any of these either to purchase or just for Mom to send you a note using them.

News from 9

Greetings furiends!

I am so sorry for such a long silence. Mom has been crazy busy and just now had a few moments to rest and to blog about us.

There's a lot going on this week and she's scheduled a few posts ahead of time. Apparently, she's leaving us to go visit family in LA. I wish she wouldn't. I mean, can't they just have turkey here?

Well, I guess not.

As it is a time of thanksgiving, I would just like to say "Thank you" to all of our lovely readers. Mom really enjoys reading your comments and sharing them with us. We are also thankful that Mom has some time off and can do what she likes to do (spend time with us, of course! oh, and paint.)

Oh yes, and she still hasn't finished those snake costumes for us boys. Sheamus Popoki and I are especially thankful for that. Chani isn't, however.

At any rate, we hope you have a wonderful week. For our American friends, we hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

purrs,
9

Chani dresses up and more

 Hello furiends,

Last year, Mom bought us costumes. I got a witch's hat and 9 got a funky orange and black collar. Mom also bought this dress that she decided was simply adorable. When it came time to take photos of us in our outfits, Mom could not find the dress at all. Now, I'm not saying who hid the dress, but it was out of sight til long after Halloween.

Flash forward to last night. The San Francisco Giants won the World Series. Yay! So, Mom decided to see if she could find a Giants' tshirt that she bought years ago for Q who came before. As she was looking for the tshirt, she found my dress. Yes, she made me wear it.

Sigh... I sulked for a little bit, but then started acting normally again. Mom says that she worries about me being cold (yes, here in California, she worries about me being cold...), so it's a good thing that I'm so good at being dressed up. The thing is, that logic sort of fails since the only part of me that seems really cold are my ears and this dress is a sun dress! Silly, that is what Mom is.

Oh, and she never found the Giants tshirt. She thinks she might have given it away shortly after we moved to our condo. Too many memories of Q who came before and she wanted to try to let go of a small part of that grief.

AND as for the boys, Mom is definitely up to sewing their costumes. Hehe... Soon they shall feel my pain! Muwahahaha!

Can you guess which boy gets which color?

Maniacally purringingly yours,
Chani

Happy 4th Birthday, 9!

Yes, dear friends, it is my darling 9's  4th birthday today. Actually, I'm not sure when exactly he was born, but I know it was some time in October. And since October 25th is my uncle's birthday, my good friend's birthday and the birthday I gave Q who came before, this is a good day for 9's birthday as well.

Tonight, we shall be celebrating with some fresh new treats and maybe some expensive canned food. Anything goes for my sweet, lovely, soulful boy!

Oh the horrors!!!

Dear fureiends, Chani here. Mom finished my snake costume... It's pink and glittery... but oh my goodness...  Can you see how Sheamus Popoki is looking at me as if I've grown a second head? This is somewhat distressing.

Sigh, what is a girl-cat to do? And the boys don't have their costumes yet and Mom's not sure she has time to make them before Halloween. Very depressing to be the only one in costume.

Oh, Mom says that she must work on the head part as it doesn't quite look right. She does have some idea of how to fix it though.

She says she'll try to make the adjustments on the boys' costumes. It's a learning process.

As for me, I shall suffer in silence. As long as I get my cuddle time with her, I'm all right. Still, I can't wait to see the boys in THEIR costumes...

Snoozing on a Saturday

It's been a long week. Time to just rest up and sleep. Snoozing on a Saturday is the best, isn't it? 

Mom apologizes for not taking as many photos of Sheamus Popoki this week. He has not been the most cooperative of kitty models, she says. Sheamus Popoki begs to disagree, of course. Mom just hasn't been home enough to take photos of him.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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.

Tummies on a Thursday

Chani tummy.

9 tummy.

Sheamus tummy.

Yes, they are all lovely to pet. Sheamus' is the softest.  Chani's is soft with an underlying solidity. 9 has the coarsest fur, but his belly is just as wonderful to pet as the other two.