Were Cats and Dogs on the Mayflower?

It is no surprise to most of you that we are fond of our kitties. Their cuteness and interaction with us brings some comfort and joy to our family. They are very snuggly warm on the lap or on our feet on a chilly evening. If you have favorite family pets, your kids might enjoy reading this article at Pet Place dot com.

- Tigger -

Just because. He is a delight to the family.

Resting and Recital

We had our first piano recital today, so Androcles and the lion got a good night's rest!



Today's recital was very sweet indeed. All the kids did such a good job! It gave our son the motivation to invite a friend next time. He really enjoys his piano lessons.


Javamom

Just passin' time

Our adorable cat is amazing. He is watching video that Androcles made of him. Yes, these are the things that we do in our spare time.

Catnapping

Cats are so funny, and Tigger Amadeus is no exception.

Honestly, though, we are all taking advantage of the fact that it is Thanksgiving week, and we are resting like we haven't in a long while!



Enjoy your days off and your time with family and friends.

Javamom

Cat treats!

Tigger (photo-scroll down on the right) loves to snack on foods with grains in them. This recipe came into my inbox just today from Petplace.com. There is a recipe for doggie treats, too...but I don't have a dog. Go to the link to try the doggie treats!

TASTY CAT CLAWS
Makes 18 treats

1/4 cup warm water
5 tablespoons parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons soft margarine
1 tablespoon cod liver oil
1 cup white flour
1/4 cup soy flour

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine water, cheese, margarine and oil.

Add flour and form a dough.

Roll to 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutter.

Bake at 300 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden.

Our baby

Tigger is simply adorable. He turned around out of his nap for this shot!

Javamom, who is busy recuperating and preparing Spanish lessons

Deep cleaning, anyone?

I once heard deep cleaning, laundry, and scrubbing referred to as being in the land of "Mount Never-rest." I like the term and the humor.

Whilst Hubster and Ansel Adams (oldest son) are off, the rest of us are de-junking and organizing our spaces. It has been years since I've really been able to focus like this on the recesses and corners of home, as life with teens is so very busy. The clean spaces are looking great, and the rooms are coming along slowly, but surely. There are plenty more spaces to attack. Ask me how I'm doing in about five days. Maybe I'll post some more pictures of our progress.

I did extensive research then shopped at my favorite resale shop and IKEA. I found a metal locking cabinet for my tools and bookbinding supplies, sewing frame and presses at the thrift shop for one third of the normal price. What a blessing! My main motivation has been, now that summer school is over, to get to the nine bookbinding/restoration jobs that I have lined up, now. These will keep me busy till just before school starts again.

Next, I added cubbies and baskets not only to the tool cabinet, but all over the house in nearly every shelf. They are wonderful things. Audubon put together the above storage cubbies yesterday and the cats found it a delightful spot for napping and leisure.

Mittens in a bowl

Cats sleep in the strangest places, all tucked in and snuggly-like in boxes or baskets with firm boundaries. It must help them feel secure. This bowl can be found holding miscellaneous craft leftovers (during projects). Kids toss keys in there, wallets, and from time to time even gloves, since it is right by the door of our family room/library. It sits atop my bookbinding sewing frame that Hubster made for me, which looks pretty cute with a bowl-full of mittens on it!

Javamom

Weed eater

With the onset of Spring in full swing, the yard needs mowing and weed eating for the second time already. We have a little extra help!

Ah, the fresh air...

and sunshine on these first days of spring!

Yeah, we got it made and we know it. Javamom is trying to catch and save an injured neighborhood cat, who just happens to look a whole lot like me (Tigger) and bring him back to health. Darn cat keeps limping away before she can catch him. She's gone and left food out for him and everything!

posted by the protesting Javacats

Switching Gears

Time to lighten up with some of our favorite things:

~ Hanging out in hammocks
~ our kitties
~ good books and good art

11.5 yos called me from his room to point out Tigger hamming it up in the hammock for relaxation. Here is mittens on H.E. Marshall's _English Literature for Boys and Girls_. She had been admiring Monet's "The Corn Poppies" that you see behind her. I catch her napping behind that easel fairly often.


Mittens is more literate than Tigger. She has always preferred being near the books, on the books, and even looks on while the kids read their books! You think I jest?



:-D Javamom

The last Sunflowers

The arctic blast is arriving in TX! I cut a bunch of the last crop of small sunflowers that have continued to thrive in our warm TX autumn almost to December! I snipped them by the roadside tonight, while on the way back from dropping off my three teens and their little brother at youth group. I wanted to bring some sunshine into the house, since the temps dropped 30 degrees (from 78-48 just in the 30 minutes that I was out)! Tigga-ma-jig is checking them out. These are my favorite yellow wildflowers.

Off to sip some warm coffee after eating nachos.

Javamom

androcles & the lion

Too sweet for words!

...and it's a good thing, too...because this sweet child is the reason I got this:



In my 18 years of being a Mom, I must say that this is the worst one of these I've ever sustained. That is saying a lot, with three boys (four kids) in the house. Can you venture a guess as to the cause of this injury?? Virtual Toblerone (with hazelnuts!) to the first person who gets it right. Maria, will it be you??

How do they do it?

How do cats sleep like this? Tigger should be suffering serious back pain. This is his newest common napping place. Maybe the window sill is too sunny at this time of day.

Tigger likes Americana

Tigger likes the Americana section

While dusting and arranging more books today, my kitty decided to explore a new space for nap-taking!

~*Illuminated Cat*~

Illuminated Cat ~ From The Book of Kells

Can you see him? From what I understand, the Irish love cats, and Irish monks included cats and mice in their illuminated manuscripts.

Scholar and Cat

~ Tigger ~
The print on display is a but a small section of Botticelli's painting "Birth of Venus" that dd and I picked up for 2 euro in Florence. The real painting is the size of a wall in a standard room in an average home.

We love our kitties, who bring laughter and sweet moments to our days. This poem seemed rather fitting...dh is a scholar and English Teacher, and he doesn't engage with our pets so much.

The Scholar and The Cat
by an Irish Monk, 8th or 9th Century

I and white Felix,
each of us two (keeps) at his specialty:
his mind is set on hunting,
my mind on my special subject.

I love (it is better than all fame)
to be quiet beside my book, with persistent inquiry.
Not envious of me White Felix;
he loves his childish art.

When we two are (tale without boredom)
alone in our house,
we have something to which we may apply our skill,
an endless sport.

It is customary at times for a mouse to stick in his net,
as a result of warlike struggles (feats of valor).
For my part, into my net falls
some difficult crux of hard meaning.

He directs his bright perfect eye
against an enclosing wall.
Though my (once) clear eye is very weak
I direct it against acuteness of knowledge

He is joyful with swift movement
when a mouse sticks in his sharp claw.
I too am joyful
when I understand a dearly loved difficult question.

Though we are always like this,
neither of us bothers the other:
each of us likes his craft,
rejoicing alone each in his.

He it is who is master for himself
of the work which he does every day.
I can perform my own task,
directed toward understanding clearly that which is difficult.

T-I-Double "Ga" "er"

This is me holding our big baby Tigger. He is a teddy bear, and a source of warmth for our feet :-)

One of life's simple pleasures...kitties

Mittens in the garden pot