Kitty Hit List

Taylor:  What is that?

Rusty:  That is a view through Jan's reading glasses, the ones she uses around the house.

Cyndi:  I never realized her head is so lopsided.

Micah:  I don't believe it is.

Percy:  So why are her glasses lopsided?

Rusty:  Because one of us kitties - and I won't incriminate myself, just in case it was me - knocked a bunch of stuff off of the computer desk. Again.

Micah:  What does that have to do with her glasses?

Rusty:  Well, the one of us who slept on the desk Tuesday night also knocked Jan's reading glasses onto the back of the typing chair seat and -

Cyndi:  Oh, yes, I knew Jan sat on something Wednesday but I didn't know what it was.

Taylor:  Can she still see to read with them?

Rusty:  I'm not sure if she has to tilt her head or just close one eye at a time but I think she can still read with them.

Percy:  She can probably see better with them than the time a month or two ago she thought she was going blind in one eye because she couldn't read as well with her left eye.

Micah:  Right.  After a couple days, she held the glasses at arm's length and discovered the left lens was missing.  She found it under the desk when she cleaned. 

Taylor:  I rarely go into the living room, but I did hear her telling someone on the phone she now buys two pairs of reading glasses at a time from the dollar store. 

Percy:  She only uses her prescription glasses when she is away from the house because glasses are on the kitty hit list around here.

Taylor:  Hit list?

Cyndi:  Yes, it's something like a demolition list.  I don't know why she blames us, though.  We only push them off the desk.  She's the one who sits or steps on them. 

Rusty:  To be fair, since one of us is distantly responsible for the condition of her glasses, perhaps we should do something to help her glasses fit better.

Percy:  Okay, but won't plastic glasses break if you try to bend them back into shape?

Micah:  You're right.  We'll have to bend Jan's head to fit the frames.  Any suggestions?

Luke Sends Ice Cubes

Marcus:  Hey, is that all for me?

Buddy:  No, it's for me and Merci too.

Marcus:  Did Jan order these on Amazon?

Buddy:  No, they came from our old friend Luke.  He was renamed Benny, but you know how forgetful Jan is, so to us he's Luke/Benny.  He lives in the Northeast and has a furry sister Rosie. 

Merci:  Why did he send us a gift box?

Buddy:  Because he and his family wanted to do something nice for us canines.  So they sent us some treats from where Luke/Benny's mom works.  It's a holistic pet store and Luke/Benny gets to go to work with her.  He picked these out himself.

Marcus:  I remember meeting him before he went into rescue and was sent to the NE where his new family adopted him.  Did Teresa get a box too?

Merci:  I don't know.  Teresa rescued him from his mean family when we couldn't help him any more because you were here, Marcus, and Teresa couldn't take in another dog either.  Teresa and Jan are just so happy he has a good home, lives indoors, has a playmate sibling and gets a lot of love.  Now he has a family and a job.

Marcus:  Well, I am sure thankful they thought of us.  Hurry up and open the treat. 

Marcus:  Oh, that looks good.  It's a what, Jan?  A 100% natural Himalayan Dog Chew made with yak and cow milk?  Sounds yummy.

Merci:  Thank you Luke/Benny, Rosie, Elise and Matt.  We will enjoy everything, if Marcus doesn't hog the entire box.

Buddy:  I was just thinking about the video we have watched several times of Luke helping himself from the refrigerator ice machine.  He sure is a smart guy.

Marcus:  That's right.  He does filch ice.  Do you suppose he included some ice in the package?

Buddy:  *winks at Merci*  Of course he did.  Who in their right mind would ship a package of dog treats without including crushed ice?

Marcus:  Thanks, Buddy.  I'll just run in and make sure Jan put the ice in the freezer before it melted.


Join Pepi Smart Dog and friends for the Thankful Thursday blog hop. 

What Is It?

Marcus:  What are you staring at, Percy? 

Percy:  It's a bird on the pole outside.

Marcus:  I don't recognize it. Does anyone know what it is?

Percy:  Yes, it's gone.

Best Behavior

Buddy:  How can any dog so guilty look so innocent?

Marcus:  You mean me?  But I am innocent.

Percy:  No, you aren't.  Jan is very upset with you.

Marcus:  Now what does she think I did?

Buddy:  You ruined her video!

Marcus:  I did not!

Percy:  Whenever you so much as suspect you might be going for a walk, you act like a crazy dog.  You run around yelling at all of us that you are going to take Jan for a walk.

Buddy:  You grab the leashes, push Merci and me out of the way, and try to make Jan leash you first.

Marcus:  What's wrong with that?

Buddy:  I'm not done.  When you are leashed, you run around with them (two) in your mouth screaming, I'm ready, let's go!

Percy:  And then you race through the door.  Buddy tries to hide behind the storm door.  Merci hangs back afraid to go outside because you tug on her leash and scream in her ear.

Marcus:  I -

Buddy:  I'm still not done!  You leap around screeching at the top of your -

Marcus:  I don't screech, I bark.

Percy:  You screech.  We all hear you.  It's high-pitched, annoying and hurts our ears.

Buddy:  You act like a total jerk.  All the neighbors can testify that you screech.

Percy:  You photobomb most of our pictures because you are such a ham.  Yet, when Jan finally remembered to take out the camera to video your excessively excited antics, you sat down and quietly stared at her.

Buddy:  She put the camera away and opened the door.  You went bananas.  She took the camera back out and all she got were short videos of Merci staring back at her.  You weren't even in the videos.  Poor Merci looked like she was waiting for the porch roof to fall on her, so Jan deleted them.


Buddy:   I don't understand.  If you could behave while the camera was on, why can't you behave the rest of the time?

Marcus:  I had to be on my best behavior while the video was recording.

Percy:  Why?

Marcus:  Because I have to live up to my reputation of a well-behaved gentleman.  

Percy:  Come to think of it, this sounds familiar.  Buddy, you used to do the same thing.  You would go crazy with excitement but as soon as the camera was turned on, you were the model of obedience.

Buddy:  Oh, yes, I forgot how much fun I had when I was young.  *pats Marcus on head*  Good job, Marcus.  Keep up the good work.

Pirate of Dry Seas

Micah:  I know you have read of my food forays before.  Despite what any furry might think, I am not a thief!  I am a pirate of the dry seas.

Cyndi:  Our readers can decide for themselves.  This is what happened on the Funny Farm Saturday.

Taylor:  Jan popped the top on the trash can and turned to grab the coffee grounds to throw away.  Micah took a big leap, grabbed a chicken leg bone from the trash and raced for the bedroom.

Cyndi:  A chicken leg has a long, thin, sharp bone. Jan was terrified he'd swallow that and she'd lose him to a perforated internal something or other.  She raced (boy, is that an exaggeration!) after him.

Marcus:  I heard the commotion and came running through the other bedroom door.  Micah sprinted past me.

Percy:  I was right behind Marcus.

Rusty:  I wanted to know what was going on, too.  Percy and I turned and ran after Marcus.

Taylor:  Marcus can be a bit aggressive at times with food so Jan switched from chasing Micah to running Marcus out the back door before he took the bone from Micah.

Marcus:  She lied!  "Come on, Marcus, let's go outside," she teased, and then she closed the door behind me.

Cyndi:  Jan reached the kitchen door just as Micah's head bobbed into the trash can for seconds.  That meant he had lost the leg bone, so who had it now?  She slammed the trash lid closed and took a quick look around the bedroom.  No bone.

Percy:  She entered the living room and it was quiet.  The only one of us in sight was Merci who was about to lie down on her bed.

Rusty:  Jan was walking by when she realized Merci's stance was a bit odd.  She was standing nose to her bed.

Taylor:  Why was Merci standing nose to bed?  Jan stopped.  Merci raised her head and - 

Merci:  I was napping on my bed when Micah and his entourage sped by.  A chicken leg flew over and hit me on the head.  Just as I was about to take a bite of my good fortune, Jan swooped it up and left me empty-pawed.

Buddy:  I was good.  I watched the circus from the comfort of Jan's bed. 

Marcus:  Did I hear someone say Jan has a chicken bone for me?

Hold That Door

Rusty:  Hey, hold that door!  I'm coming in.

Never mind, I think I'll stay out for a while longer.

Jan, stop!  Don't you dare close the door!  I'm not done making up my mind.

Why did you close the door?  You know I want to come inside.

Just because you opened the door again, do I really want to come inside with someone who closed me outside?  You can just stand there and wait until I make up my mind.

Hey, come back here!  I'm not done thinking.

What do you mean I can text you when I'm ready?  I don't have a phone!


We are joining the Pet Parade blog hop with hosts Rascal and Rocco,  Bionic Basil, Barking From the Bayou and Owned by a Husky. 

Keeping Buddy Company

Merci:  Oh, here you are.  I thought you were going to help me teach Taylor how to knot Jan's shoelaces?

Percy:  Shhhh.  Buddy is tired.

Merci:  So come help me and let him sleep in peace.

Percy:  Not right now.  Buddy needs me.

Merci:  But you're not doing anything.

Percy:  Yes, I am.  I'm keeping Buddy company while he sleeps.

Merci:  But he doesn't know you're there.

Percy:  That's okay.  I said I would.  I think I'll stay. 


Join Pepi Smart Dog and friends for the Thankful Thursday blog hop.

Forget the Goat, Marcus

Cyndi:  Here I am reporting from inside my space ship.

Percy:  You are not.  You're sitting in a basket inside a plastic storage bin.

Cyndi:  You didn't need to tell everybody.  I was trying to add a little spice to our post.

Percy:  You've been reading too many of Marcus's posts, only he calls it "fairy dust".

Marcus:  Hey, aren't you guys going to tell everyone what a good job I did snoopervising Jan cutting that new grass by hand again?

Percy:  There's nothing to brag about.  You watched her work.

Cyndi:  She wasn't going to let it get over knee high again, so she went out Monday and cut a strip down the inside of the sidewalk with those grass shears.  Then she went back to the property line and started cutting the rest with the grass whip.

Marcus:  It was hard work.  She was huffing and puffing and-

Percy:  She thought she was going to have to quit because she could barely breathe and had a lot of pain.

Marcus:  And a knight rode up on a big white horse wearing a suit of armor.

Cyndi:  Are you on something, Marcus?  A guy rolled up in a white truck, jumped out, and came around the back of it waving his arms and saying, "Stop.  You can stop now.  I'll come back in the morning and finish this."

Marcus:  Jan fainted. 

Percy:  She did not.  She stared at him.  Then she took a second look at the truck.  Yep, there was the city logo on the side.  The city doesn't mow private property, not even a strip.  They do, however, send a county jail crew around occasionally to cut the curb side of the sidewalk, which they own. 

Cyndi:  The guy said, "Here, I'll give you a card with my cell number.  You call me tomorrow to remind me and I'll have this taken care of.   They (meaning the contract company installing the new water lines) used too much fertilizer."

Marcus:  Early Tuesday morning there was a man on a riding mower that cut the curb side of this block and then went across the street.  Jan was so relieved she wouldn't have to cut it all by hand she called the cell number to say thank you and said she'd finish our side.

Percy:  "No, no, I'll give the guy (on the riding mower) a call and he'll take care of it."  And he did.  "Someone will be along to blow it off the sidewalk,"  the mower guy said.  And after a while, here came the work crew down both sides of the street.

Cyndi:  She learned after the first grass cutting adventure that she is very allergic so she is grateful for being rescued again.

Marcus:  And thanks to a very sweet blogger who wanted to help Jan purchase a weed eater so she wouldn't have to cut that fast growing grass by hand again, but after this second "adventure", Jan realized she couldn't handle one with a cord.  (And she remembered the fiasco when she borrowed a power tool and accidentally cut the cord.)

Percy:  The only electric one someone recommended was too expensive and Jan isn't sure her shoulder could handle a cordless.

Cyndi: So she'll continue to entertain us.  And probably the neighbors.  She  liked the idea made in several comments earlier this month, but she doesn't think the city would be too happy to see a goat grazing in the yard.

Marcus:  I think that would be such fun.  I could chase it and we could play fetch and soccer.  I could have him for lunch and - 

Percy:  Forget about lunch, Marcus.  We're not getting a goat.

Wild Calling Buffalo

Marcus:  Hey, Jan, this is for us dogs, isn't it?  We don't have to share it with the cats, do we?

Jan:  No, you don't have to share this food with the cats. 

Marcus:  Okay, then I'll keep my eye on it so the cats don't steal it.  That sure looks and smells good!

Buddy:  Aren't you going to tell anyone what it is?

Marcus:  Oh, sure.  This is Wild Calling Grasslands and it's 96% buffalo.  Click the link to check out all the different flavors, including - believe it or not - alligator.

Merci:  The label says it's grain free.  It also says "rotational diet" on the label.  I guess that means Jan should order a case of each flavor so we can enjoy variety.  What, Buddy?  I can dream, can't I?

Marcus:  It's also free of gluten and artificial flavors, colors and preservatives.  That should make Jan happy to feed it to us.
 

Buddy:  Marcus, you are such a photo hog!  Jan was trying to take a picture of the food on the back steps, not you.

Marcus:  Well, I think I'm more photogenic.

Merci:  The house would sure be a lot more photogenic if you didn't keep kicking mud over everything.

Marcus:  Mud adds character!

Merci:  Okay, Marcus, you're being served first in your private dining car.  As soon as Jan tells you it's okay to eat, you can tell us how the food tastes.

Marcus:  Mmmmmfth, mphlant - 

The ingredient list from Chewy.com: Buffalo, water (sufficient for processing), liver, guar gum, calcium sulfate, vitamins {vitamin E supplement, niacin supplement, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), calcium pantothenate, vitamin A supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin B2), folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, biotin, vitamin D2 supplement}, minerals {zinc sulfate, ferric sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, selenium yeast, potassium iodide}.

Buddy:  Never mind, we're checking it out for ourselves.  What do you think, Merci?

Merci:  I think this is our shot and Marcus is photobombing us again.  Can't Jan move his private dining car out of the way?  But the buffalo is good. 

Marcus:  My bowl is empty.  Where did the food go?

Buddy:  Should I really answer that?

Marcus:  I hope Jan doesn't miss this can I swiped while she was trying to take a picture of the buffalo Wild Calling.  I sure could use some help opening it, though.  I wonder if Chewy.com would open any future cans before shipping them? 

Chewy provided the dog food for this review.  We were not paid and Chewy is not responsible for the content. 

This post and Four Paws and Three Claws are part of the monthly Chewy blog hop hosted by Golden Woofs and Oz the Terrier.  

A Gushing Stream

Cyndi:  Marcus, stop yelling and banging your food dish on the bars!

Marcus:  Guard, let me out of here!  This is supposed to be my private dining car.  That means you're supposed to serve me food.  What part of dining don't you understand?

Buddy:  It's going to be a while before you're sprung, Marcus.  Jan isn't here.

Marcus:  She isn't here?  Does anyone know where she keeps the key?

Cyndi:  Yes, she ate it.

Buddy:  She what?

Cyndi:  *whispers*  She didn't really, Buddy.  You know there isn't a key to Marcus's PDC.  In fact, it shouldn't be that hard to open the door from outside the crate.  We could probably spring him if we want to.

Buddy:  You didn't say that.  I didn't hear it.  And don't you ever dare think of it again!  The the only peace we ever get around here is when he's temporarily confined to his crate, or his PDC as he calls it.

Marcus:  What are you two whispering about?  Do you have a plan to spring me?

Buddy:  Sorry.  We were just saying how sad we feel to see you confined to your private dining car instead of running around the house terrorizing ... I mean, snoopervising all of us.

Cyndi:  I know what will take your mind off your circumstances.  Tell me what happened on your walk Saturday afternoon.

Marcus:  Nothing happened.  Oh, wait!  There was a raging stream running down the street.  We had to swim uphill through deep water to finish our walk.

Buddy:  We did not!  We weren't even on that side of the road.

Marcus:  Well, I'm bored, so if I want to remember it as a raging stream, it was a raging stream and we nearly drowned getting past it.

Buddy:  It was a gushing stream.  We could hear it and water was pouring in waves from under a big metal plate the contract company had used to cover a hole we'd watched them dig Friday.

Cyndi:  Oh, that's what Jan meant when she said she'd just seen our flood up the street.

Buddy:  Yes, she meant the flood through our back yard/dog pen when the new coupling blew on our water line.  (In Your Dreams)  She never wanted to see anything like it again.

Marcus:  She ignored us and talked to herself all the way home.

Buddy:  That was so she wouldn't forget to call it in when she got home to drop off Merci and me before your second walk.

Cyndi:  She left a message on the cell phone of the contract company's project coordinator and emailed the mayor so the city could follow up on it.

Gushing water and waves. Click to enlarge. :)

Marcus:  They made good time, arriving back up the hill before we did.  We watched them set up a hose to a generator and start pumping water out of the hole that was filling as fast as it was emptying.

Buddy:  Too bad it was fixed when we walked by there today.  I kind of enjoyed the excitement of watching the flood.

Marcus:  I didn't.  We could have drowned!

Cyndi:  Marcus, don't be melodramatic.  You didn't even get your toenail damp.

Marcus:  I like my version better.  As Merci said, some things are better with A Little Fairy Dust sprinkled on them.

Missing Windup Keys

Rusty:  Hey, look at Merci go.  She could really flip that toy around and Jan had better watch out!

Merci:  Yes, those were the days.  I was young,  lovely and bursting with energy.  Yesterday Buddy and I didn't even want to go for a walk when Jan took down the leashes, so we stayed home.

Buddy:  Getting old isn't much fun, is it?  I hate to miss a walk but nowadays when the rain threatens, so do my aches and pains.

Merci:  I can't believe that picture was taken in 2003.

Rusty:  None of us were born yet.

Merci:  That's it.  Make me feel really old!

Rusty:  What I meant was I enjoy seeing these old photos of you.

Merci:  Just because I'm older than you doesn't mean I'm OLD!

Buddy:  Way to go, Rusty.  Tick her off and see that little Merci spirit explode.

Merci:  Little?  Did you just call me little?

Rusty:  Looks like I have company in the doghouse, Buddy. 

Buddy:  I didn't mean little little.  I just meant smaller than we male dogs.

Rusty:  What Buddy meant is that you are a smaller keg of dynamite than we guys.

Buddy:  Yes, you're still full of spirit. It just takes longer to wind it up.

Merci:  You're right.  I think I'll go grab a nap.  Maybe then I can remember where I left my windup key.

Buddy:  Mine is missing too.  I guess when we reach a certain age, we have to expect to start losing things.  The first to go must be the windup key.

Rusty:  No, the first to go is the memory.

Merci:  Oh, yes.  I forgot.

Cover picture used with permission

Percy:   We posted our first Mousebreath interview in quite a while today.  It's with Jaimi Ilama from Open Door Publishing (a nonprofit) who wrote "The Upstairs Cat".

Cyndi: We hope you will go by Mousebreath to read Jaimi Ilama and The Upstairs Cat.

We are joining the Pet Parade blog hop with hosts Rascal and Rocco,  Bionic Basil, Barking From the Bayou and Owned by a Husky. 

The Chief of Pee

Cyndi:  Has anyone seen Micah since this morning?

Marcus:  Yes, he was talking to Jan while she wasn't here.

Cyndi:  No, that was yesterday when she went out to lunch.  I haven't seen him since Jan yelled at him earlier.

Micah:  Pssst, I'm over here.  Under the bed.  Is Jan still upset with me or is it safe to come out?

Marcus:  I don't know.  I'll go ask her.

Micah:  No!  I'm waiting for her to forget why she's upset with me.

Cyndi:  I must have missed something.  What did you do to upset her?

Micah:  I don't know.  We were talking while I was practicing breathing exercises.  It was part of training my brain to do more than one thing at a time.  Buddy and I discussed that yesterday.   (Micah Trains His Brain)

Marcus:  Oh, so that's what that strange conversation was between you two when she came home.

Micah:  I thought that went okay.  But this morning she suddenly turned on me yelling, "Don't you ever disrespect an officer like that again!"    When did Buddy become an officer?

Cyndi:  I didn't know he is.  Let me think.  Jan was chattering on about a chief of police in another county and -

Marcus:  And then Micah said, "He's not anything special.  Most males pee with one leg raised."
 
Micah:  Chief of police?  I thought she said the "chief of pee".  I assumed she was talking about Buddy.

Marcus:   I can't wait to see Jan's face when you try to explain this.

Cyndi:  I can't wait to see Buddy's when he hears he's been publicly called the chief of pee.

Marcus:  What I'm thankful for this Thursday is that, for once, I'm not the one in trouble.


NOTE:  We recently read - or dreamed - somewhere that the nofollow search engine rule also applies to blog hops.  We lost the link.  If anyone has it, could they email it to us, please?

Join Pepi Smart Dog and friends for the Thankful Thursday blog hop.

And Ruckus the Eskie for Thoughtless Thursday with co-hosts Love is being owned by a husky and Barking from the Bayou.   

Micah Trains His Brain

Micah:  No, Jan!  She said WHAT?

Buddy:  Huh?  Jan didn't say anything.  She isn't even in the room.

Micah:  I don't believe it!

Buddy:  It's true.  She's not even in the house. Jan is off somewhere to lunch.

Micah:  Well, I declare!  I didn't know that.

Buddy:  That's not true.  She told all of us she was going to the church soup kitchen to have lunch with a friend.  She even put Marcus in his crate so he can't get into any trouble while she is gone.

Micah:  No!  I've never heard of such a thing.  Tell me more.

Buddy:  I just told you all I know.

Micah:  You mean there's more?

Buddy:  No, I mean there isn't any more!  Micah, are you hallucinating?

Micah:  Oh, hi, Buddy. How long have you been standing there?  I didn't realize you were here.

Buddy:  But you were just talking to me.

Micah:  Talking to you?  No, I was practicing for when Jan returns home.

Buddy:  But ... how do you know what she's going to say?

Micah:  I don't, but I've been reading a book that says we should train our brains to handle more than one task at a time.  I figured if I practice a conversation with Jan now, I can concentrate on doing something else when she comes home and starts telling us about her day.

Buddy:  I don't want to miss that conversation.   I never know what Jan's rattling on about anyway, but now you two won't even be on the same subject.

Four Paws and Three Claws

Micah:  Oh, look, a box for us kitties.  I wonder what it could be?

Rusty:  You know very well it's a box of cat food for us to taste test.

Micah:  I know, but it doesn't hurt to have a little mystery in a post.

Taylor:  Hurry up and open it, Jan, so we can see what you chose for us this month.

Micah:  Oh, look, packets.

Percy:  They are 3 oz. packets of  Wellness Healthy Indulgence Morsels with chicken and turkey in savory sauce. I never heard of it.  I wonder how it tastes.

Cyndi:  I'm guessing it's pretty good if it's in it's own sauce.  What are the ingredients?

Percy:  Chicken broth, chicken, turkey, potato starch, eggs, carrots, chicken liver, natural flavor ... and even some cranberries and blueberries.  The full list of ingredients with the vitamins and minerals can be found by clicking on the link above.

Rusty:  It also includes white sweet potatoes.  The dogs sometimes get some orange sweet potatoes but I didn't know they come in white too.

Cyndi:  We've learned something new.  I hope Marcus isn't eavesdropping or he'll want to try the white sweet potatoes in our food.

Marcus:  Did I hear my name mentioned in connection with food?

Micah:  Yes, but it was not an invitation to share our breakfast.  You dogs get your own. 

Taylor:  This is what a packet looks like when opened.  Jan feeds us in stainless steel dishes and they don't photograph well, but she doesn't want us eating out of plastic and she tends to drop anything breakable  Or so I've heard.

Percy:  Chunks of slow-cooked chicken and turkey in sauce.  I seem to be the only one who ate all of the first meal, then decided to just lick the sauce and leave the chunks.  If Jan squishes them for me, I will eat most of them.

Rusty:  There are no grains, wheat, corn, soy, artificial preservatives, colors or flavors.

Cyndi:  So I guess that means we give Wellness Healthy Indulgence Morsels with chicken and turkey in savory sauce four paws and ...  I don't quite know how to count Percy's mashed morsels style of eating this. 

Micah:  How about four paws and three claws?

Rusty:  Yes, that works.


We were provided a box of packets for this review by Chewy.com.  We received no other compensation and we are solely responsible for the content.  

Flashback Fun

CYNDI:  Do you remember this picture?  It was posted a year ago. 

MARCUS:  I know you are all thinking that I look guilty and I caused this accident, but if you remember (Revenge of the Furniture) I was totally and completely exonerated!  Jan did it.

CYNDI:  Of course she did.

MARCUS:  No, Jan really did do it.

CYNDI:  I know.  I said, of course she did.  Are you deaf?

MARCUS:  No, but I thought you were being facetious.

CYNDI:  You should get a poster made of this to hang on the wall.  This is probably the only time in your life you were caught next to a disaster that you didn't create.

RUSTY:  He's just a photo bomber.  Always has to be in the picture.  It's a good thing Jan isn't a  photographer for the coroner's office.  She would have hundreds of pictures of Marcus posing with a dead body.

BUDDY:  I think you guys have forgotten the planned theme of our post today.  It's about flashback fun.  We also want to flashback to a cat named (Angel) Alex from the blog Feeling Beachie.  

RUSTY:  Lucy is the resident kitty now and back in 2012 her hu-mom, Hilary Grossman, published a book titled "Dangled Carat".  Jan has wanted to read it ever since she first heard of it.

MARCUS:  And then one day a couple of months ago, Hilary was giving away free copies of her book.   Hey, that was right in our price range!  So Jan "bought" it.

BUDDY:  It was a fun read, so we thought we would share a little about the book with our readers since so many pet bloggers know Hilary.

CYNDI:  You know how you read a whudunit and every time the detective thinks he has found the killer, there's a plot twist and you're left still wondering whudunit?

BUDDY:  Well, this book is a "whendunit".  You hope you know the couple will become engaged and marry but every time you think the question is about to be popped, it doesn't happen.

RUSTY:  We guys applauded Marc's ability to stand strong and not commit, but the gals here were rooting for Hilary to capture that dangled carat.

BUDDY:  Does she?  We aren't giving away the ending.

CYNDI:   Jan said she now knows how to tell true love - when a guy allows his gal to move her 500 pair of jeans and her shoe collection into his closet.

MARCUS:  Fifty, Cyndi.  Fifty pairs of jeans. 

CYNDI:  Okay, so I exaggerated a bit, but 500 sounded more romantic.

MARCUS:  Not more romantic!  More crowded.

RUSTY:  Think about it, Cyndi.  Forget the shoe collection, 500 pair of jeans wouldn't fit in this house!  How would they fit in a closet?

CYNDI:  Full of wrinkles?

Did I Just Say That?

TAYLOR:  You look a bit upset, Merci.  Is everything okay?

MERCI:  Okay?  No, it's not okay.  That big, snoring tub of lard pushed me out of bed yesterday.

TAYLOR:  But I thought you two finally resolved your differences.

MERCI:  He snored like a steam engine with a cold but he did finally quiet down and I fell asleep.  I was dreaming about my younger days when I chased balls and had fun.  Next thing I knew his butt shoved me over the side of the bed onto the carpet.

MARCUS:  What?  I was dreaming you and I were walking Jan and a coyote jumped out from behind a bush.  I shoved you away with my butt to save you. 

MERCI:  A likely story.  If a coyote jumped out from behind a bush, you'd run for your life.  You shoved me out of bed on purpose so you could stretch out and have the bed to yourself.

MARCUS:  I saved your life and this is how you repay me?  I was a hero!

MERCI:  You were a bed hog!

MARCUS:  Will you forgive me if I let you have Sam's bed all to yourself today?

MERCI:  I'll forgive you when you tell the truth.  Maybe!

MARCUS:  Okay.  I didn't butt you out of bed to save you in my dream.  We both turned to run and I tripped over Jan's foot and knocked you into the coyote.

TAYLOR:  You ran away and left Merci to be killed?

MARCUS:  No, no.  You know how Jan carries that big water pistol to chase off territorial dogs since I kept getting attacked?  She squirted the coyote in the eye and it ran away.

MERCI:  So Jan saved me?  And you tried to take the credit?

MARCUS:  Well, I certainly don't want to admit I butted you out of bed on purpose!  Uh ... did I just say that?

MERCI:  Yes, you did.  I've heard enough!

MARCUS:  Wait, don't leave the room.  You said you'd forgive me when I told the truth. Can I take your silence for a yes?


We are joining the Pet Parade blog hop with hosts Rascal and Rocco,  Bionic Basil, Barking From the Bayou and Owned by a Husky. 

Steam Engine with a Cold

MICAH:  Shhh, don't make any noise.  You'll wake the dogs. 

PERCY:  We kid around a lot in our post.  We hope we haven't given you the idea we don't like each other. 

MICAH:  Yes, we have our moments.

PERCY:  And here is one of them.  Marcus and Merci sleeping butt to butt in Sam's bed. 

MICAH:  Oops, Jan disturbed Merci when she got the camera, but they were both fast asleep before that.

MARCUS:   Zzzzz, snort, snick.

MERCI:  What?  Who snorts and snicks in their sleep?

PERCY:  Obviously Marcus does.

MERCI:  I was here first.  He should go snort and snick somewhere else.

MICAH:  He's sound asleep.  I don't think you're going to wake him easily.  Perhaps you could move?

MERCI:  No way!  I was here first and I'm very comfortable.  I'm not leaving.

MARCUS:  Zzzzz, snick, sneep. 

MERCI:  MARRRRRCUSSSSSS!

MARCUS:  Huh, wah, is there a fire?

PERCY:  Merci was just trying to wake you so she can get some rest without you making so much noise in your sleep.

MARCUS:  Noise, what noise?  I don't make any noise in my sleep.

MERCI:  You sound like a steam engine with a cold.

MARCUS:   I do no such thing.  On the other paw, you squirm and sniff in your sleep.

MICAH:  Guys, hey, guys, we're trying to tell everyone how well we get along.  Can you cool it?

MARCUS:  Yes.  I'll cool it right here.  Merci, you can cool it somewhere else.

MERCI:  If you're not moving, neither am I. 

PERCY:  We do, we really do get along some of the time. 

MICAH:  I guess we should be thankful for that this week.  Getting along some of the time beats none of the time. 

PERCY:  Do you mind moving over, Micah?  You're in my space. 

MICAH:  It's not your space.  I was here first.  


Join Pepi Smart Dog and friends for the Thankful Thursday blog hop.

And Ruckus the Eskie for Thoughtless Thursday with co-hosts Love is being owned by a husky and Barking from the Bayou.   

Taylor No Sleeves

BUDDY:  Hey, I hear you put one over on Jan recently, Taylor.  What happened?

TAYLOR:  Nothing special.  I ran after her first thing the other morning and surprised her when I jumped in her lap and gave her purrs, head bonks and lots of attention.  She ate it up.

BUDDY:  That's it?

TAYLOR:  No, she suddenly put me down and said, "I bet you're just making a fuss because your food dish is empty."

BUDDY:  Was it?

TAYLOR:  Not even a crumb.  I did the same thing the next morning and she did a repeat - put me down and said the dish must be empty.

BUDDY:  So she filled it again?

TAYLOR:  No, the food dish was full and Percy was snacking before breakfast.

BUDDY:  Way to go, kid. Never let the human know what you have up your sleeve.

TAYLOR:  But I don't wear sleeves.

BUDDY:  It's a figure of speech, kid. 

TAYLOR:  I've been watching you guys and trying to learn to imitate you.  I have to admit it is fun to confuse Jan.

BUDDY:  *pats Taylor's head with a paw*  Congratulations, kid, you have learned that lesson well.   

Off Center Mowhawk

MERCI:  Okay, we can't not do this post.  The irony is too much.

TAYLOR:  If you remember, Jan worked herself half to death last week cutting some grass with shears and after the rest was mowed, hauling wet grass to the dog pen for mulch.

RUSTY:  Monday she went out to pick up poop in the dog pen, heard doors slamming, turned and -  Yep, you guessed it.  It was the jail work crew.

MERCI:  They zipped along with their mower and weed eaters, leveling everything on the curb side of the sidewalk.

TAYLOR:  The guys stared and weren't sure what to do when they reached the neighbor with the now hip-high-to-Jan grass. 

RUSTY:  This is what it looked like when they finished.  They cut the grass on both sides of the sidewalk, but they don't cut grass on private property, so the neighbor's lawn now has an off center mowhawk cut.

MERCI:  Just as Jan snapped the picture, a car with a choking exhaust problem passed.  (See the cloud on the left?)

TAYLOR:  She tried again after the "toxic cloud" evaporated.

MERCI:  We took her for a walk later and when she saw all that beautiful, healthy mulch-to-be, she wanted so badly to go get a container and steal ... I mean clean up the loose grass to add to our dog pen.

RUSTY:  She wants that mulch!  It's just going to waste.  She restrained herself.  Fortunately, last week's mulching pain is too fresh in her short memory.

MERCI:  We know we tease her a lot but today we comment her for showing restraint.

RUSTY:  After all, if she gets laid up again, who is going to feed us?

TAYLOR:  There's a church across the highway with a community soup kitchen.  Do you suppose they would deliver to starving furries?

New Grass or Old Mud

PERCY:  Jan said she hopes the saga of the grass is over for a while because she cut and hauled so much of it in two days that she should have lost 47.3 pounds.

CYNDI:  If you remember, it looked like this in Knee High To Jan.  She cut less than half with grass shears.

MARCUS:  And in Pop The Top, a very kind man we met a while back on our walks brought a real lawn mower over.  When he left, the thick, tall grass looked like this.

PERCY:  It rained before Jan could start on the grass, so she spent the afternoon raking all that heavy wet grass, filling container after container, and hauling it to spread in the dog pen.

CYNDI:  She had trouble breathing and her legs kept trying to go out from under her, but she continued working until she finished.

MARCUS:  I asked her why the rush and she said there was no way in ... uh, you know where that she was going to mulch that healthy, fertilized grass so it could grow even faster!  Besides we had a barren dog pen and more rain coming.

CYNDI:  Jan planted new grass seed two or three weeks ago in hopes it will grow this year.  She wants the dog pen to look something like this but with real grass, not grass mulch.

MARCUS:  I don't know what the big deal is about grass.  I thought the mud pen was perfect! 

PERCY:  We were fortunate to get fed Friday.  Jan was so weak she could barely stand up and she listed left when walking into things.  It's been a boring weekend and she is still recovering.

MARCUS:  She opened the door Saturday morning and this is what greeted us.  Uh, Jan, I really don't have to pee now.  Maybe when the water recedes.

CYNDI:  Buddy took one look outside, u-turned and went back to bed.  If you notice, Marcus wouldn't go outside, but as soon as the camera appeared, his head popped out the door so he could be in the picture.  What a ham!

PERCY:  We didn't think the rain was going to stop.  It did finally.  At times such as this we cats are glad to have indoor litter pans and the dogs envy us.

MARCUS:  I guess we should know sooner or later whether we'll be celebrating new grass or old mud for this summer.  I'm rooting for old mud.

CYNDI:  Oops.  This was supposed to auto post almost 12 hours ago.  We're just getting online at noon and ... no post.

MARCUS:  You mean no one has seen what a great job I did helping Jan mulch the pen?

PERCY:  And just how did your snoring through the whole procedure help?