A Scaredy Halloween and Flying Fur

Hey, Micah here with today's post.  Before I forget, Happy Halloween from all of us.  The Funny Farmers don't have any costumes this year.- again.  Jan claims her fingers are frozen.  Buddy wants to know how this relates to her brain . We all think if she exercised her brain making us photoshopped costumes, her fingers would thaw out.  Guess we'll just have to learn how to take our own photos.

But since she's not cooperating, I'll just have to post this photo I came across of last year's entry in Hansel's contest - Jan the bag lady.  Maybe she'll be sufficiently embarrassed to help us next year.

This is my award for entering the Tabby Cat Club's What are you Ascared of recently.

Last night as Jan was trying to fall asleep, I head-butted her, licked her hands, and rubbed my cold, wet nose on her arm.  She was pleasantly surprised I was being so affectionate.  And then she was even more surprised a short while later when the cat fight broke out. Yep, that wasn't me being friendly.  Percy managed to get himself closed in the bedroom and there was fur flying again. 

The fights are getting shorter.  I'm not that undernourished, skinny guy that arrived here over a month ago. Percy and I are closer to the same weight now, so it's a more evenly matched boxing round.  I'd still rather live alone in the bedroom, though.  If Percy wants to beat me up,the others probably do too.

You're all invited to the Halloween party at the Tabby Cat Club, so be sure to drop by.

And Cousin Charlotte is hosting her first Halloween party at Angel Momo's blog.

Giveaway, Halloween and Suka

It's been a while since we've had a giveaway but we have one for our readers now. The book Paws to Reflect by Devon O'Day.  It contains 365 spiritual devotions for animal lovers.

Over the years, Jan has often said that God has used us or TWCB (Those Who Came Before) to teach and encourage her.  She used to write her own spiritual-related stories and we were often embarrassed by Miss Tattle Tail ... er Tale.  So Jan was pleased to receive a copy of this book a few weeks ago and we are thrilled to have an opportunity to give another copy away.  If you love animals and enjoy a daily devotional, you will enjoy this book.  If it doesn't interest you, perhaps you know someone it would.  And it would make a great Christmas or other occasion gift.

You can get a look into the book and read some sample devotions on Amacon com.   At Amazon, above the book on the left, click on "Click to Look Inside."

We HATE those "giveaways" where the blogger makes readers jump through hoops to enter, using raptocopter or whatever it is, so you have to leave a comment, like their facebook page, follow them on twitter and tweet about them, do a blog post, bake a souffle, buy a horse trailer, subscribe to their blog posts,  visit the shop and write an essay on which product you like best - you get the idea.  We don't have that kind of time.  Occasionally we might leave a comment, but that's it.

We think a giveaway should be just that, a giveaway.  So we are going to do one.  Of course, if you'd like to subscribe to our blog posts, follow us on twitter, do a blog post telling everyone how wonderful but humble we are, and bake us a tuna souffle or a salmon nip cake with real whipped cream icing, we will kiss your paws with joy.  But those are not requirements. 

If you would like to participate. just leave us a comment saying you'd like to win the book.  Be sure to leave some way we can contact you, such as a link to your own web blog or an email address, should you win.  Because of postal rates, since we will be mailing the book to the winner, we will need to restrict entries to the US only. 

You do not need to be a pet blogger to enter. This is open to anyone who would like a copy of Paws to Reflect devotions. 

Entries will be accepted through Saturday, November 3 at 11:59 PM EST.  The winner will be announced on Monday, November 5.


Don't forget to vote for your favorite Halloween Real and Photoshopped contest entry (one vote for each).  Voting ends at midnight tonight.  So go by the Tabby Cat Club and cast your vote. (A reminder, if you voted Friday, please go back and re-vote.  The polls went berserk and kept dropping the votes, so voting had to be changed to comments and was extended this extra day.

Just yesterday, Suka's post was on his failing heart and already today he is gone.  Purrs and pawhugs to his grieving family, including his friend / sibling Porgy the parrot.  K will do a post tonight or tomorrow.  They are not in the storm's path but Khyra mentioned on Facebook K lost power right after letting her know about Suka.  You can leave a comment on Suka's Just Sayin' blog.

We think we covered everything.  Jan is exasperated.  She cut tree limbs over the weekend and we had winds last night that blew them every which way.  She had to fetch and carry, then beat them down with a rake to make them behave.  A while ago she found them all over the place again.  Some even blew across the yard and into our pen.  

So if you'll excuse us, Jan needs to get cracking on hanging a blanket over the window with the ac unit before those branches blow inside.  Okay, the leaks aren't quite that big but the wind blowing in is sure cold. And you know how klutzy she is, so we're going to have to go snoopervise.

The cold and wind are an annoyance to us, but we are concerned and praying for those northeast of us who are / will be getting hard hit by Hurricane Sandy.  Be safe!

CEO Clooney & Sec Neytiri Chat

We Funny Farmer Felines are pleased to have Clooney and Neytiri of Clonney's Num-Num Fund as our guests today for our Mousebreath interview.  If you want to know what secrets they divulged, go by and read their interview CEO Clooney, Secretary Neytiri & Assistant Duckie.  And then stop by their blog to say hello.

Oh, and we don't want to forget to remind you all that voting for the Tabby Cat Club Halloween contest will be available until midnight Sunday.  There are 2 categories - Real and Photoshopped.  One vote per category.  You had to be a TCC member to participate, but you don't have to be a TCC member to vote.  Voting polls are in the upper right sidebar.

Our Percy, Rusty & Micah weren't given computer time to participate so we were all thinking of doing our own Halloween post.  Last year we made Jan a bag lady.  This year we are thinking about making her a witch since she's not good about sharing the computer time.  But then she's the only one who around here that can pop the tops on the food cans, so we'll have to do some more thinking on that.

All of us Funny Farmers have a question.  Many of you are involved with either a no kill shelter or some form of rescue, so even though you don't live in the state of Georgia, you might know someone who does live here and is familiar with the specifics of rescue laws in the state of Georgia.  (An attorney familiar with this subject would be nice to ask but we don't know one and we have some questions.)

We don't mean just someone familiar with the laws on the Dept of Ag site.  Those laws are for all shelters in the state, but local shelters can add to them. We are interested in the specifics of legally pulling animals from any Georgia shelter.. We're not going to explain, but we hope if you can think of anyone, you'll let us know. There's a mailbox in the sidebar with our email address.

Have a good weekend!

Micah Updatre and Sweet Award

Hey, Micah here, remember me?  This was me in the PTU after Jan took me to the vet 3 weeks ago.  I posted this pic on the Tabby Cat Club when they asked what scares us. Percy looks all innocent here but don't let him fool you.  We've each lost a bit of fur since. 

See, Percy is Mr. Muscles.  He must work out secretly cause he kept opening the bedroom door to the kitchen even after Jan blocked it with one 10 lb weight and then 2 - 10 lb weights.  The past couple weeks this is what the bedroom side of that door looks like.

Yep, TWO 10 lb weights plus 3 storage containers. 

And Jan didn't like me being closed in a room away from everything, so this is what the door from the living room to the bedroom looks like.

No, you aren't seeing things.  That's a very large window screen, a gate, a trash can and a small tool box.  The tool box and gate aren't necessary now, but I'm still not comfortable when the door is open and Percy can see me.

Jan says if me and Percy don't stop fighting soon so she can integrate me into the household before it gets any colder (there's no heat in the bedroom so she wants the doors open!), she's going to have a breakdown  (I thought that only happened to cars?) cause she feels like she's living in a cell.  Excuse me, what does she think I feel like?

Jan tells me how handsome I am and how soft my fur has become.  I've been eating - a little at a time but fairly frequently - and although I'm still thin, I've put on a little weight. 

That's my update.  What's your news?

We were very surprised to receive the Super Sweet Blogging Award from Coccolino of My Mini Pet Pig blog.  If you haven't met him yet, please go by and say hello. 

Evidently we're supposed to answer some questions. These are hard ones since we're not allowed to have any sweets.

1. Cookies or cake?  We'd take both but Jan's already eaten them all.  She doesn't share with us.

2. Chocolate or vanilla?  We aren't allowed to have chocolate, but we haven't seen any vanilla either.

3. Favorite sweet treat?  Good question.  Those cupcakes look pretty good.

4. When do you crave sweet things the most?  When Jan is eating some.

5. If you had a sweet nickname, what would it be?Hmmmm, guess we'd be the Funny Farmer Honeys. 

Thank you, Coccolino, for sharing this with us.

Oh, guess we're supposed to pass this on.  We'll have to get back to you on that.  Jan is kicking us off the computer again. 

Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeee!

Rusty Snoopervises and 3 to the Bridge

Hey, Rusty here.  I'm investigating the contents of a box that arrived recently.  Percy and Sam are always first to volunteer for snoopervising duty on new packages, but this time I beat them to it.

We won a recent Guess the Cats and Win contest over at Skeezix's blog and the prize arrived recently - a neat bag of goodies.  Skeezix even threw in a little something for the woofies to chew, but we suspect his Food Lady may be responsible for that..

Yes, a very nice bag of goodies, Skeez.  Thanks.

Jan:  ** Yes, Rusty, I'm done with the photos.  You may have the toy now.**


Sadly, the blogosphere lost another 3 kitties recently - two yesterday.  We didn't know Hakuna, but we've known Brandi and Possum for a long while and they will be greatly missed.  Their moms are now without a furry companion and this is hard for both of them.  We send lots of purrs and pawhugs!

Brandi of Catitude    

Possum of Purr-sonally Speaking went to join his sisfur Pixie.

Hakuna of Lost in the Cheese Aisle blog died October 14.

Deer Crossings, AFS&S and Gracie

Okay, this has been a very hard week and we really needed a laugh.  Fortunately, our friend Evelyn sent us a link  to a hilarious video and we're going to share it with our readers.

Donna called talk radio in North Dakota to complain about deer being directed to cross high traffic areas, such as a freeway, and asking why the government couldn't move the deer crossing signs to direct the deer to cross in low traffic areas   You have to hear this to believe it.  And it is a real call.


If the video doesn't play, click here.

This week we interviewed the gang over at Alasandra, the Cats & a Dog blog.  Arty is still missing but we included her because she is still part of the family, as is Fenris, even though he is a dog. 

You can read their story on Mousebreath, The AFS&S Gang - Arty, Fenris, Scylla & Socks.

And now we're all on our way to join Gracie, her niece Ollie, and whichever furries show up for a trip to Australia. We hope we can find Gracie there.  She didn't say where she will be.  Perhaps we'll see you on Gracie's Blogosphere Trip of 2012?

Hamdsome Warrior Sibling

Hi, it's Micah, the new Funny Farmer, again.  Even though my arch enemy Percy is a member, I've joined the Tabby Cat Club,  Rusty is too but we haven't actually met yet so I don't know whether he's friend or foe.  But if I'm going to live here, I want to do something besides hide under bedroom furniture.


Be sure to stop by Gracie's blog and read the latest installment on the Blogosphere Trip of 2012.

Thanks for coming by.  Hope you'll all be my friends.

Oh, would anyone like a handsome warrior sibling?  If so, I'll be glad to ship Percy to you. 

Who Set the Dogs Adrift?

Hey, Merci here with a couple of what-in-the-world? stories for you.  The first I just know had to be human error!  No dogs in their right mind would set off downriver in a canoe without a paddle. (Actually, I think they guys heard on the video put the dogs there so the third dog could play the hero.) And the second is a computer with dementia.  Or perhaps it was working on a nest egg for retirement.

We all enjoyed watching this video of one dog rescuing two other dogs stuck in a canoe.  You can see for yourself how intelligent we dogs are  


If the video doesn't play, click here.

UPDATE:  As Suka mentioned, the owner has added a comment on the YouTube video site saying these dogs are trained. 

As to the demented computer -

Jan says we need to watch our pennies, but we've found penny-watching boring. They don't do anything, just lie there. She writes down prices when she shops and has a good idea of what the total will be before taxes are added so she won't have more purchases than money.  However, Friday taxes went w-a-a-a-y over the top.  Now Jan says she'll need to carry a calculator but she can only read a large print / large button one that won't fit in her purse.

She was checking out at a self-service aisle at Wal-mart with a single discounted food purchase.  (Our tax is 7% but 3% on food.)  The $1.73 item rang up correctly, but the total was $2.83.  She pointed to the total and asked the cashier standing nearby, "What's that?"  He glanced at it and said, "That's the tax."  She looked at the total and looked back at him and said with a touch of sarcasm, "I don't think so!" 

$1.10 tax on a less than $2 item? It wouldn't have been as noticeable had she been buying a number of items.  So we wonder how often does this happen and customers pay the excessive tax unawares?

She contacted Walmart through their website and the local assistant manager telephoned Saturday.  The manager was as at sea over the incident as Jan and the cashier had been.   She said she had never seen or heard of that happening before and she would send the issue to field support to see if they can figure it out.

The cashier hadn't mentioned it to anyone or turned in the printout he made when he canceled the transaction.  Jan was so rattled she left without her receipt - or her change - but she could give the approximate time, ID the cashier, and remember what item she bought so they can find the tax error in their records.

We aren't accusing Wal-mart of doing that deliberately.  But if want your human to be able to continue bringing home extra treats for you, remind them to be alert because even though computers are great, strange things can - and do - happen!

Have a good week.

Derby and Ducky Speak

This week the handsome Derby and Ducky are our guests. Many of you have known Derby for years and Ducky for a couple, but how much of their story do you remember?  You can meet them, learn more about them, or even be reminded of things you've forgotten about them.  So go read about Ginger Boys Sassy Derby and Cute Ducky on Mousebreath and then pop over to tell the guys what a great job they did.

We shed some tears for Squashies' mom, as she faces a tough decision for her girlcat who has a rare blood type and is facing more blood transfusions.  We are behind her, whatever she decides.  Squashie's update is at TK & Squashies blog. 

Woofy Wears Granny Panties

Hey, remember us - Merci, Sam & Buddy?  The kitties have been hogging all the posts for a while now and we want a turn too.  So we're here to remind you what charming, loving, entertaining companions we woofies are. 

This cutie is from Dog-shaming.

Have a tail-waggin day!

New Shoe for Jan

Hey, we got the strangest package recently.  This is what was in it.  No, not Percy, the strange white box he's standing in.

We tried some guesses ....

Rusty got bored and gave up.

But Percy persevered.

We're still not sure.

Finally, even Percy gives up.

Ah, a light dawns. 

Percy suddenly remembers Jan recently did the weird winner dance because we won Brian's NVR Miss Litterbox Giveaway.  She was happy because some cat - and she dared to claim it was me! - kept peeing over one of the boxes we had (not pictured), even though we are using higher than normal boxes. But this box is supposed to be made so the cat has to turn sideways from the opening.

Shortly before Micah moved in a couple weeks ago Jan added the new box to the "keep the dogs out of the litterbox buffet" hideaway and waited to see what would happen.  And she's been pleased with the results.  So far, no over the top accidents.

I, however, am not a bit pleased with it.  I want my favorite one back.  You know, the lower one I could ...uh, perhaps I should stop talking now.

Thanks for spoiling my aim, Brian.  Um, I mean, thanks for having the giveaway so we could win this special new litter box that makes Jan happy..

Momma Grace, Audace and Ruse Interview

The lovely Momma Grace and her two boys, Audace & Ruse are our special interview guests today on Mousebreath.  She is very sweet.  Her boys are ... well, boys - a bit fidgety and energetic but well-behaved.  (Momma would probably have cuffed them if they weren't.). We enjoyed spending time together and getting to know them a little better.

We hope you will stop by Mousebreath and read Grace, Audace & Ruse Chew the Fat .... Um, Kibble.

As you can see, we need a new FFF badge but we hate to remove Cotton.  She is still very much one of us.  But we will be adding Micah ... eventually.  He's still in hiding and Percy is still intimidating him just by being in the room or banging on the door.  Percy opened the door against the weights again today.  This time the gate was up so we know he didn't have any help from the woofies.  Maybe his nickname should be Mr. Muscles?

We hope you all have a great weekend!

Percy Eyes Micah

Hey, Micah here again.  I'm the one in the PTU trying to look nonchalant.

Jan stuffed me in a prison transport unit yesterday and took me to the vet.  I was afraid she was going to leave me there but she didn't.  The vet said I'm long, lanky and handsome.  Yep, that's me, the 8 pound growling curiosity of the Funny Farm. 

The vet looked in my mouth and said I'm still young, probably about 2 years old.  That answered Jan's question as to whether I'm too young to have developed yet or already .... you know, missing some parts. (And she wondered why I didn't want to go to the vet's.)  I won't have to go back unless the owie on my foot doesn't heal. 

 

When we got back to my room, I stayed in the ptu. Percy kept a close eye on me and even slept on my ptu for a while. He makes me nervous so I'm still hiding a lot. We had a knock-down rolling on the floor cat fight Monday night with lots of screamed threats and bunny kicking, and another this morning. 

The Tabby Cat Club celebrated Tocktober today.  Be sure to go by and check out the tocks.

And Carmine of Fur Everywhere,one of the TCC members, was having oral surgery today.  There's no update yet as we post this, but hopefully there will be good news soon.

Livestrong 2012

Livestrong Day 2012

Sam and Percy ...

... have been our past Livestrong poster boys and they both volunteered again this year.  We don't have a fancy post.  We just want to acknowledge all those who are presently battling cancer and remember all those family members and human or furry friends who have fought their battle and gone on to rest..

Poppy Vic, beloved husband of the Zoolatry human Ann, left such a short time ago, on September 18.

Auntie El of Friends Forever is still fighting.

We won't even attempt to list the furries.  There are too many. 

But we do want to mention Dr. Tweety, one of our old friends that no longer blogs. His mom lost the incentive to update when Dr. T was diagnosed.  We think of him often.