What Marlene has been doing...

Hi Everyone!

We are still here, but August has been quite the month for Mom. The last few months and weeks, Mom has been burned out at work and just plain tired. She's been drawing a lot, but somehow, she just wasn't as energetic as usual. So, last week, she went on vacation. First, she went to the Mojave Desert to view the Perseid meteor shower at the Integratron.

 She didn't get any pictures of the meteors themselves, but she did get some lovely shots of the Milky Way.

Next, she went to Scottsdale to stay at the W hotel.

Where she took photos of the pool. She said that the temperature was very hot, so it was nice to put her feet in the water.

On the way home, she went to Red Rock State Park near Sedona, AZ. She loves Sedona for its natural surroundings and the art scene there. She went to a few galleries and became very inspired and reinvigorated. So, when she came home, she finished another IBKC sketch (of the Lady Winifred)

AND she finished Chani's Om kitty painting... Well, Chani's paws are in prayer position, so we're not sure Om Kitty is quite the right title for this...

As you can see, Chani is unimpressed by her painting.

Finally, Mom hung up all 3 of our Om kitty portrait paintings. She is quite pleased with herself.

So, here's a summary of last week. Mom was gone for about 4 days. Her vacation was a road trip and to get back to us on the last day, she was on the road from 9 am on Tuesday morning and got back to us at 4:00 am Wednesday morning. (She and Fizgig's mom left Scottsdale, went to Red Rock State Park and Sedona, got gas in Flagstaff and then drove all the way back to Santa Cruz where Fizgig lives. Then, from there, Mom drove to us... she says she should have planned the return trip better). And so, on Wednesday, Mom slept for a few hours, got up and ran some errands. And then spent that night and the next day and half watching TV with us. She felt a little guilty about not producing any art during that time, but we made sure that she rested a lot. We think that is what she needed the most. Friday was her birthday, so she had to go out for dinner with some family friends and our grandparents. Saturday was an errand day and Sunday was an art day.

All we can say is that we are glad she is back AND we are glad that she is inspired by what she saw on her trip and re-energized.

Oh, she did take a number of photos of us during her 3 day rest and relaxation period.

She's home! And the suitcase is put away!!!

Mom is home! Hooray! And it looks like she is going to stay put for quite a while. We are very very happy and made sure to greet her at the door. Chani is cuddled up next to Mom and 9 is keeping a watchful eye on Mom from the pillow under the headboard lights. We're not sure where Sheamus Popoki is, but he got lots of cuddles from Mom earlier and he purred up a storm for her.

Mom did not get us any presents. She said that she didn't find anything in Las Vegas for us. Sigh... she really should look harder.

She did buy these lunch bags though:

The blue one is hers while the pink one on the right with the pyramid and fake Eiffel tower will go to a friend. Right now, she's not sure what she will do with the other pink bag.

These bags are insulated lunch bags with zippers. Hopefully, this will help her keep her lunch from spilling in her backpack!

Oh, and speaking of food, Mom was very very bad in Las Vegas. She said she at far too much and gained 5 lbs. Now, that may not be a lot for a human, but for Mom, it's showing her how hard it is to control what she eats when she is on vacation and away from her kitchen (and us!). So, hopefully, this means, she won't be leaving us any time soon. Paws crossed!

Smack-a-thon

9 and Sheamus decided to have a Smack-a-thon.

It didn't last long.

9 thinks he won.

Chani decided to stay out of it and look cute.

The suitcase is still out because Mom is heading to Vegas with Grandpa and Grandma. It's only from Friday to Sunday, but goodness, how can she leave us again??? At least Sheamus' foster mom will be coming to visit us again... sniff sniff...

She's Home!

Mom returned after a really long drive back from Los Angeles. There were two accidents on the way back and one caused her to change routes which added 50 miles to the return trip! AND the other accident added about 45 - 60 minutes to the drive because traffic came to a stop (it was a car fire that lead to a grass fire).

But, she is home. She has hugged us all. She has played fetch with 9 and she gave us treats.

We've decided to forgive her for not uploading any photos. She has some new friend photos to show off. And she wants to take more photos of us (as is only proper). Until then, we shall just snuggle up to her and soak up the love...

Wait... why is the suitcase still out?

9 in a box

Hi Everyone! I have a little story to tell you. There I was just sitting pretty in a box. Mom came up to take my photo and that Orange Interloper photo bombed me!

He even had the audacity to sniff the camera before walking by, not pausing long enough for a good focused photo...

I continued to sit in my box, slightly disgruntled.

And now, we are all slightly disgruntled as Mom pulled out her suitcase. No warning whatsoever!

She says she'll only be gone for a few days for Aunty B's 50th Birthday party and that Sheamus Popoki's foster mom will take care of us. But still!

She better give us a good amount of treats before she leaves AND when she returns!

Last bit of Maui

Some last few photos of Maui. Above you see Iao Needle in Iao Valley.

Another view from Iao Valley. If you hike over this mountain, you can get to Lahaina. I think I'd rather go around via car than foot. And there have been some hikers who have gotten lost there. Still, it is pretty gorgeous.

Now, Sam Sato's is a restaurant that I've been going to since I was a little girl AND my father used to go when he was young too. It's good old local style plantation food. I love it. It's my favorite place to go and I would highly recommend it to anyone. It does get crowded and it's only opened for breakfast and lunch. They're famous for the dry saimin (ramen type noodles) but I always get their won ton mein or their chow fun. Tasty. And the fries which come with this Best Foods Mayo and French's mustard dip are really really good.

Now, for dessert, we go to Tasaka Guri Guri in the Maui Mall. This is another one of my childhood favorites. "Guri-guri" is a sort of Japanization of the words "goody goody". It's an ice cream/sherbert/sorbet type of mixture that only comes in strawberry and pineapple. I usually get 5 scoops mixed, but that seems to be a lot for some people. My parents usually go for the 3 scoop. When I was a kid, I preferred the strawberry, now I prefer the pineapple. Guri-guri does melt quickly, so it should be consumed right away. Love love love this.


Remember Mika from last year? Well, she still wasn't too happy that I was taking photos of her. I did attempt to snuggle with her later in the evening. She let me, but she wasn't pleased at all.

And then there is Patches. Sweet woofie who really enjoyed hanging around while we were eating dinner.

Finally, a rainbow seen from the entry of our hotel, the Sheraton Maui at Lahaina.

I am very happy to be home with my kitties, but a part of me is still in Maui.

Thankful Thursday

Mom had a good time in Southern California. She got to see old fur friends and celebrate Christmas with her family.

After Christmas, though, she decided to go on an adventure to Death Valley. She had never been there and thought, why not? So off she went where there was intermittent internet and no cell phone signal.
The first morning, she woke up at 4:20 and drove out to Dante's View to see the sun rise.

Boy, did she freeze her fingers off. But, she got some lovely photos.

Badwater Salt lake.

And now, us. Grandma got us a lovely heated cat bed. It's big enough for two, but Chani decided to claim it.
Later in the evening, 9 joined Chani.

We are very thankful that Mom had a wonderful trip and got back safely to us. We are so happy to be home again and to have our lovely new cat bed!

More revisiting...

Here's a picture of Tiger and Oreo snoozing together.

And a picture of the drink Mom had for Cori of Albert and Elvis fame.

And now some photos of my beautiful jelly bean toes in my pink blankie of Doom.

I guess I'll let 9 sleep on my pink blankie too.

Wait... What???

Today, Mom dressed Chani and me up in hats that she bought last year in Hawaii. As you can see, I'm not the best model. And Mom had help to pose me.

Even Chani wasn't that good a model this time.

But, the worse was yet to come! She loaded us into our carriers and took us to the Kitty Hotel! What's going on??? We had no notice at all.

What do you mean she's heading off to Hawaii for the next 10 days? WAAAAAAH!

Oh well, I guess we shall have to have a good time with Tammy who owns the Kitty Hotel. I plan to give her a lot of head butts so I can make Mom jealous.

See you when Mom gets back!

purrs,
9

Chani sends her purrs to you as well... but not to Mom!

Ireland - Day 5

Ahh, the Irish weather. Of course, now that I'm inside, posting the photos of this morning and early afternoon... all taken in cloudy grey weather conditions, the sun is finally coming out. Blue skies abound! Grrrr...

Ah well, what can you do. We're in Dublin now. Along some of the brick buildings (formerly tenements) built by one of the Guiness family, lamp posts like the above line the streets. The thing about these tenements, they had indoor plumbing! Apparently, that was a big thing back in 1759.

The main altar of St. Patrick's Cathedral. This is actually an Anglican church, not a Catholic one. It's quite beautiful inside. There's some concert going on, so this is as close to the altar as we could get.

One of the stained glass windows in the Cathedral.

Another set of stained glass windows.

After the tour of St. Patrick's Cathedral (oh, the geek side of me has to say, I saw where Sir Richard Boyle... Boyle's law! for those science geeks out there hehe).

Anyhow, at Phoenix Park, we saw a this man with a hurling bat, hitting balls for his woofie. This dog was really active and just couldn't wait to chase and retrieve the ball being hit. He looked so excited and happy.

The Great Canal near by the hotel. I have to say, I'm not really fond of the Burlington hotel here in Dublin. The shower water temperature went from lukewarm to scalding a few times, and it flooded the bathroom. The beds are comfortable enough, but not quite... they're very light. I bumped into one and it moved... quite easily. And my view is very boring :( I guess that I just prefer the Killarney hotel. Ah well, what can you do but enjoy as bets you can.

Oh, one thing that Dublin is known for is the Georgian architecture. The doorways have these fanned arches and multi-color doors. This pink pair tickled my fancy. Apparently, the doors were all originally one color, black. But, when men would come home, they often went into the wrong door and into the wrong bed. The women of the town came up with the plan of varying the colors of the door and design of the arches. The men's excuse was then, "We're color blind." when they still ended up in the wrong house. Excuses. Excuses.

Ok, so tonight is my last night in Ireland. We head out early tomorrow. So, I won't be posting in the next few days. BUT, I will be getting my 9 and Chani back soon. Hooray!

Ireland - Day 4

Meet Colleen of Molanna View Farm near Killarney. She's and 18 year old retired shepherding dog who greets you as you visit the Farm. Molanna View Farm is a working dairy farm run by Patrick. The tourist part is run by his parents, Paddy and Margaret Fenton. I highly recommend visiting this farm if you ever visit Ireland. Margaret offers some of the best homemade scones and this Guinness cake that is simply amazing. Her tea is good too. One day, when I get back, I'll post those recipes which were kindly provided for us. Yum!

Here are a couple of calves who were resting outside the family home. Apparently, if cows are sitting in the field, it's going to rain. It may be an urban legend, but considering the grey skies, it might just be true. These guys were adorable! They looked so clean and their pink noses reminded me of 9 and Chani's.

Here's a little brook that runs right down the wall of the Molanna View Farm.

Next, we visited the Rock of Cashel. In view is a ruined Cistercian Abbey.

Some sheep running around outside the Rock.

The Rock itself.

Another view from the Rock. The graveyard here holds the remains of local families, but as one might guess, the space is limited. In the early 20th Century, the town wanted to stop burying people here, but the relatives of the buried wanted to be buried with their families. And so, they compromised. Two more generations can be buried here. The succeeding generations will be buried elsewhere.

Strangely, I haven't seen any pet cats about to take photos of. Makes me kind of sad :( This painting at the Rock House (down the road from the Rock of Cashel) had to do. Yes, I'm really starting to miss 9 and Chani. But, I'm still enjoying myself here!

Ireland - Day 3

Today was spent driving around the Ring of Kerry. Beautiful location unfortunately marred by overcast weather. Colors weren't as sharp in this round of photos. However, they were saved by some really cute lambs :)

The Lakes of Killarney

Lots of gorse in bloom.

Lobster holding a glass of Guiness... how very Irish.

Cute lamb#1

Cute lambs #2 and #3

Being a big Doctor Who fan from the Tom Baker Era, this store name just made me giggle...

Tulips in the Killarney Park

Walkway in the Killarney Park.
St. Mary's Cathedral, Killarney

Jaunting horses - apparently, riding in one of these is THE thing to do in Killarney. I didn't. I decided to walk around instead of taking the ride.