PhotoHunt: Go!

This is how Tabby goes:  in her stroller!

 

Sometimes she likes to look where she's going.

 

Other times she likes to use her own four paws to go, but always on harness & leash.

Are you a photohunter?

Monday Mysteries: the Garage!

 Heimdall:  See this basket?  It's the laundry basket, but it lives someplace called "the Garage".  It's not in the house!  It comes in the house sometimes, like when this picture was taken, and it brings the smelly clothes and towels out to the garage.  I like balancing on the basket, Auntie Tabby likes eating it, and Freya likes scratching on it.

Freya:  Sometimes my brother likes climbing inside it, too, and going for rides in it while Mommy or Daddy is bringing it in.  We aren't supposed to follow it into the garage, though.

Heimdall:  A few weeks ago, Erin suggested that we start going out to the garage on our harnesses.  I always want out there whenever our purrents go out there, so I was very excited about the idea of actually exploring!  My sister wasn't, so she practiced more with her harness on inside, playing with the string-leash.

Guess what?  There's something called a cement floor out there that's cold to your paws!  The laundry goes into a white box called the washer, and there's a noisy grey box called the furnace that Mommy says heats up air for the house.  I found Daddy's work boots, the laundry, Mommy's bike, and lots of other things!  So many different smells, too!

This is where Daddy chops up the wood for our fireplace!  He has a HUGE pile of it in the garage, then he brings it in using a big box.  I got to climb all over the wood pile!

Today, after I was done helping Mommy do laundry, a very funny thing happened!  When I was going inside the doorway, Starla nosed her way past me and went out into the garage, too!  She wasn't on harness, so Mommy let me go inside by myself and spent about 7 minutes walking around the garage with Starla, letting her explore a little and then guiding her back toward the door.

Starla:  I had FUN!  The garage isn't what I expected at all!  The only garage I've known was at the other place, where I slept underground on the dryer.  My washer and dryer are out in this new garage, and many other things I recognized, such as the gardening tools, but it all was confusing.  So many new smells, plus the wood out there when it should be in the yard or growing as a tree.  Then there's this thing called the garage door, which smells like it has a road on the other side of it.  Mommy finally said we had to go back inside, and I thought she was mad at me for escaping out there.  She said she wasn't mad at me, but that I had to be on harness next time.  I don't like the harness, but I might let her put it on me if it means going out there again!

Freya:  After I saw Starla come back in and she told me her adventures, I kept thinking about that other room.  I thought while playing spring, while eating, while taking a short nap, and then I decided:  I wanted to go out MYSELF!  I really did!  Now, how to tell Mommy?  I sat by the door and squeaked, then cried louder.  She came to see what I wanted, and I just looked at her and sat up very, very straight.  She asked if I wanted to go out to the garage, and I squeaked again! Yes, yes, yes!  I got harnessed and leashed, and so did my brother, then Mommy picked me up and put me on a white metal box.  Mommy picked my brother up and put him on the box too, but he jumped down into that laundry hamper to play in it.  I lay down on the box, which I was told is called a washer, and looked around excitedly.  So THIS is what the garage is!  Wow!!!  Mommy started the dryer, and it made a loud sound, but we weren't scared (at least not too much).  I got up the courage to investigate it, thinking there must be some giant mousie inside it to make that much noise.  Whatever's in there doesn't come out, though, just makes noise in the box.  Clothes come out of it, all warm and snuggly!  The box moves like it's purring, and is very nice to lay on.

Heimdall wanted to go back inside, so Mommy let him back in, but I got to stay out with her and explore some more!  I investigated all the things that my brother and Starla have just talked about, but my favorite was the woodpile.  The wood moves when you walk on it, and it's good for chewing!  I stayed out for about a half hour, and then Mommy said we'd better get back inside the house.  Now, I'm wanting to go right back out, but Mommy says we have to wait a while until another day.  But I WANT to go out there!

No, Daddy! No, Mommy!

Starla writes:

I've recovered now, but for a second I thought Mommy and Daddy were going to get rid of me! They put this thing called a harness on me, then attached a long string to it. I didn't like it, so I slunk around on the couch. Then Daddy picked me up and opened the door! He carried me outside!

Now, it's been since April since I've been allowed outside. I meowed and meowed, wanting down to explore, but he handed me to Mommy and she carried me out to........a TRUCK? You're going to put me in a MOVING VEHICLE? You want to get rid of me, no, no, no, no, no!!!!!!

I squirmed and jumped down, but that leash thing was still attached to me! It kind of hurt pulling against that harness, but I made it to the ground. I was sooooo scared! I tried running under the truck, but I didn't get very far. Darn leash string!

Daddy scooped me up and petted me. I didn't WANT petting! I wanted to be SAFE! This is how you behave? Just like my former home, you keep me for a while then you take me somewhere else? NONONONONONONONO!!!!!!!!

We got back into the house and they unclipped my leash. Tabby and Carbon came out from the bedroom and we sat at three points of a triangle on the floor, commiserating.

I have now forgiven Mommy and Daddy, because they explained that they love me. They snuggled with me, petted me lots, and made sure I was ok. They told me that they wanted to see how I would do riding in the car, because they want to take me with them when they go places. Skylar gets to go to the beach with them this weekend, and they would've taken me if I had not been so scared of the truck.

At least I know they still love me and they still want me as their kitty! *purrrrrrrrrrrrrrs*

PhotoHunt: Walking

Even though this is from YouTube, it's our own video.
Tabby loves to walk on her harness and leash!

PhotoHunt

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day from the PDX pride!

Tabby says:

I went on a special Valentine's Day stroll today. Mommy and I left the house and said hi to SpongeBob, who was on the front porch. He sniffed me in the stroller and then rolled over for tummy rubs on the sidewalk. Mommy took me on the bus to Petco and had my picture taken. After about 10 different tries, most of which I was trying to get the cameraman to pet me instead of taking my picture, we finally got one that worked.


Then, I walked around the whole store, spending most of my time in the dog food aisle. A lady kept following us, asking all kinds of questions about me and my leash-walking and training. She also pet me quite a bit, and then her daughter pet me also. She joked around with Mommy that I must be some kind of a new breed of animal, a "cat-dog" or "dog-cat"! Here's a video of me walking around the store.



When it was time to go, I growled at Mommy because I wanted to stay. I love being out so much that I never want to leave when it's time! She said we had to go, and put me back in the carrier. We went to the store where we get my outfits, and they had the St. Patrick's clothes already, so we got a dress for me. Mommy's going to go back later today to bring them one of my Valentine's cards; she forgot to bring it with us.

We took the bus back home. Here's a picture of the bus at the mall.


When we got back to the house, our neighbors were just leaving, so I hopped out of the stroller to say hi to them. Then they started their truck and drove away. I got really scared and jumped and tried to run, but Mommy had my leash so I didn't get far. I crouched down and looked at the truck going away, swishing my tail. Then I walked up to the house and patiently waited for Mommy to open the door, and in I went.