Honorary Cat

Taylor:  I found these old pictures of Angel Cameron.  He must have been sleeping.  His eyes are closed.

Merci:  There are so few pictures of Cameron with his beautiful, expressive eyes open.  Whenever Jan got out the camera, Cameron closed his eyes and refused to open them.

Taylor:  So Cameron didn't like to have his picture taken?

Percy:  No, he hated the camera! But we sure were thankful to have him as part of our fur family.

Merci:  That's a Gizzy Quilt beneath him.

Taylor:  What's a Gizzy Quilt?

Percy:  A lot of the old timers will remember when Darling Millie's Mom Lynn was making them for other bloggers.  They were named after Millie's brother Angel Gizzy.

Taylor:  Oh, Jan made us kitties dishpan beds with them last winter. 

Merci:  Yes, and they're a nice size for me too.

Percy:  No, they're not.  You're too big for a dishpan.

Merci:  I meant the quilts are a nice size for me too.

Percy:  That's because Jan claims you're the perfect size dog - too big to want to be carried and too small to drag her down the road.

Merci:  Don't forget you promised to make me an honorary cat.

Percy:  We'll have the ceremony just as soon as you master the purr.


 We're joining Pepi Smart Dog for today's Thankful Thursday blog hop.

Buddy's Chair

We kitties want you to see where our beautiful Orange Crush Gizzy quilt is. Our kitty Gizzy! Jan really is letting Buddy use it on his chair. Does he look like a kitty to you?

See how comfy it is. Buddy is deep in sleep. Percy was jumping back and forth to get Jan's attention as she took these photos and had to whack Jan's arm to get her to notice him.

Percy: Helloooo, Jan, the one on the right (that's me, Percy) is what a kitty looks like. Not like the brown blob on the left, the one sleeping on our Gizzy.

Buddy, can you hear me or is that ear just for decoration? That's our Gizzy quilt!

Buddy is deaf, dumb and snoring.

He looks a little sheepish, doesn't he? Just before Jan clicked the pic, Buddy's head was under the sheet and resting on top of the couch arm. (Jan claims she has to keep the couch and her chair covered because we shed. What's she talking about?)

Oh, did we wake you, Buddy? Too bad.

Poor Rusty. While Buddy luxuriates on our Gizzy, Rusty is reduced to sleeping on a hard wood stand.

(Pssst, wake up, Rusty! You look too comfortable there. You're not helping our Gizzy-back-rebellion here.)

Buddy: Can you keep it down, guys! I need to finish the nap Jan interrupted. And stop whining about this Gizzy. You have 3 others to sleep on. And you can use this one when I'm not in my chair.

Percy: Well, it's our chair too. If we hadn't used it for a scratching post, you wouldn't have a chair.

Buddy: Go ahead and bring that up with Jan. I dare you to remind her of why she almost threw it out. It's just my size. And it's my chair. Any arguments? I didn't think so. Wake me when it's dinner time.

Note:
Zeus reminded us that some of you are new and don't know what a Gizzy quilt is. A couple of years ago, Darling Millie's mom Lynne made a few quilts to pay for Gizzy cat's vet bills. (That's why it's called a Gizzy.) He passed away in 2007. You can see a picture of Gizzy in the upper right sidebar of Bizzy for Gizzy Quilts blog, where many of the kitties have posted pictures of themselves with their Gizzies for mom Lynne.

Since then mom Lynne has made nearly 200 quilts, mostly kitty, but some human size quilts, some woofie size. The one made with the most love and tears was the one mom Lynne made for her goddaughter Violette's casket. It was made with blocks of material with bloggers' names hand written on the fabric and little Violette, affectionately called Sprout, was laid to rest wrapped in it. The quilt mom Lynne made earlier for Sprout covered the casket during the funeral service.

Many of you remember Monty Q's baby bean Sprout and that sad time. And speaking of Sprout, yesterday would have been her first birthday. Drop by Monty's and leave a note, if you haven't already.

A Gizzy from Parker

This lovely Gizzy quilt arrived November 24, 2008. At that time our computer was down, so we're a bit late (what an understatement!) making this post.

But first and foremost, we want to tell you what a wonderful surprise it was to receive this -- last year. Millie's mom Lynne made this Orange Crush Gizzy to help raise medical funds for Moki. Perfectly Parker won it, but asked Millie's mom to send it to us. Wasn't that sweet? We were thrilled. It was cold in November, December, January, February, and much of March. We could have used another Gizzy. But Jan said, noooooo, not yet, we need to keep it clean and in the original package so you don't forget to post the photos.

We were going to show you how beautifully it was folded and wrapped in lace ribbon, but Jan suddenly decided it was time to start catching up and .... Well, she cut the ribbon and laid out the Gizzy so she could take photos to add to the ones she took when it arrived.

Only, she couldn't find the original photos. Anywhere. Not on the computer. Not on a CD. But...but...but... Her brother painstakenly rescued all her lost photos. Where did they go now?

Nowhere. After a frantic search, she then read her note on the package: Photograph & post to JFF & Lynne's Gizzy blog. Oh, yeah, that's why Jan saved it with the ribbon intact and wouldn't let us use the Gizzy. For 6 months! And it was cold most of those months.! But back then there wasn't any use to take pictures, since we didn't have a computer . Jan says she's sorry, but we're wondering if we can vote her off the computer. (That's a pretty big blooper, Jan!)

Samaritan admires the back of the Gizzy. A pretty orange.

Rusty is the first to quality test it.

Yep, comfortable to sit on and look to left or right.

No, Sam, I'm not moving so you can climb up here and sit on it. You'd collapse the stand, anyway.

Percy: Yes, Sam, I know you like your comforts, but it's my turn to test this Gizzy.

Yep, soft enough to flop onto my side from a standing position.

I vote we give it a 10 for looks and comfort.

Thanks, Parker! Now that Jan has finally stuck her pinky in the catch-up pile, we can use our "new" Gizzy.

Hey, waaaaaaaaaaaaait! Jan, that's a kitty Gizzy. Why are you putting it on Buddy's chair?

Mr. Milky Raffle Prize

We are so far behind we have threatened to post photos of our behinds to prove it, but we'd rather do a regular post instead.

Today we would like to post photos of the Artsy Casty raffle prize we won last month. We would like to thank Vampy Victor who first won the raffle but asked that it be re-raffled. Then Gypsy and Tasha won but asked that the prize be given to us. A special thank you from all of us to Gypsy & Tasha, Moki (who mailed the raffle prize) and ML (she knows what she did) -- and of course to Mr. Milky of Artsy Catsy.

The items are highlighted by 2 of our Gizzy Quilts from Millie's mom. (These didn't come with the raffle prize. We already had them.) She is making more Gizzies, so if you don't have one, be sure to check out her sidebar for information on how to order one.

As soon as the box is opened, Crystal climbs in to check out the contents.


He's thinking. (And keeping any other kitty out of the box.)


Crystal: My name is Crystal and I approve this raffle prize.


Today we pressure Jan to finally take photographs. Percy is the first to pose with the prize items. The big white cat is a birdhouse. (You can click on each photo to enlarge it.) Buddy offered to pierce Cotton's or Cyndi's ears - or one ear of each cat - but they both declined and so by unanimous decision, since Jan already has holes in her head -- uh, we mean in her ears, she gets the dangling cat earrings.


Percy: Wait, I see a four leaf clover. Is this for me?


Percy: Oh, what a cute kitty. And just the right size to play with. (This photo was taken just a moment before Percy grabbed the charm and took off with it.)


Now, Cameron checks out everything while Samaritan watches.

Cameron: Is one of these mine? Can I have the birdhouse? With a bird in it?

Samaritan: I don't smell any woofy biscuits, Percy. Do you?


Cameron: Hmmmm. No, Sam, there aren't any woofy biscuits, but this charm does smell interesting. Moki mailed the box, so he must have played with it.

Samaritan: Jan, these are all cat related. Where are the woofy items for Buddy, Merci and me? What do you mean, it was a cat raffle? Where's the cat?


Percy pounces and leaves a mess. The photo session is over.



We just couldn't resist this photo from I Has A Hotdog!

Doggie Gizzies

Oh, dear, with everything going on around here the last two weeks, we never did remember to post the photos we wanted to share with you. If you remember, Millie and her mom sent us two Gizzy quilts from Poppy and her mom in New Zealand.

Jan made six kitty beds for us cats. (You can see the kitty beds here.) 3 of them are Gizzy beds. But before Jan earmarked the Gizzies for winter beds, the dogs borrowed them to pose for a picture.

This is a picture of Cyndi and Buddy "sharing" a Gizzy quilt. Cyndi is daring Buddy to kick her off her Gizzy and Buddy is growly because it's temporarily his.

And here are Buddy and Samaritan hanging over the 3 Gizzies in a row. They're big dogs and they don't fit on them like we cats do.

All in all, we get along well. But those Gizzies sure are popular around here. We're real happy to have them.

(s) Percy, Secretary to the Funny Farm Writing Club

Musical Beds

It is that time of year when Jan makes up kitty beds and puts them throughout the house so we can play musical warm beds. She makes them out of plastic dishpans or baskets, lines them with towels, pieces of blankets, or whatever she can find that will be warm. These beds are just our size. Well, they aren’t Rusty’s size. He has to have a big rectangular clothes basket, which we like to loll about in during the day because it is deep and roomy.

Since the package arrived and we now have 3 lovely Gizzy Quilts, Jan decided to make 3 Gizzy beds and 3 not-a-Gizzy-beds.


This is Cotton posing in a Gizzy bed.





And here is Crystal.






And Cyndi.






And Cameron.



And Percy wondering how he ended up in one of the not-a-Gizzy-beds


We’re sure going to enjoy our Gizzy beds this year. Thanks to Poppy Q and her mom and Millie and her mom, we have some luxurious accommodations for the winter months.

The dogs are jealous but they have some pictures they want to share in another journal entry.

(s) The Funny Farm Felines

The Package Contains

We apologize for this story dragging into 3 parts and taking so long to post. We intended to post the photos of the package contents Monday or Tuesday but the camera Jan has been using started having seizures or something serious again, only this time it went into a coma and couldn’t be revived. Fortunately, our photos were rescued off the old card inserted into a new camera. (We want to thank Bill and the local Humane Society for help in getting these pictures posted today.)

So, now we have a question for you. What is better than a Gizzy Quilt?

Answer:The Crew guessed a Gizzy Quilt. They were sooooo close. Who could have imagined there would be two?

See how well the two new ones match the one we already had? Well, it's hard to see that with cats in the way, but they do match. Miss Lynne put a different backing on each quilt.

Here is Cyndi expressing what we feel about these wonderful gifts. Whoopee!!!!

Buddy got all excited. He thought the two were just the right size for his personal bed. He would have room to stretch.


Percy looks at Crystal and asks, "Want to trade?" "No, I'm partial to this one," Crystal answers.

Percy is peeved. "Hey, Samaritan, you get off my Gizzy Quilt! This is for cats only!"

Why did Buddy's sensitive hound nose detect the scent of cat when he sniffed the package for a bomb? Because Millie did the quality testing. We gave you a hint when we put this link to Poppy Q in yesterday's post. These beautiful Gizzy Quilts were a gift from Poppy Q and her mom. Thank you for such a lovely surprise!

And you too, Miss Lynne from Darling Millie, for picking out the colors and matching them to our first quilt. The attention to detail makes them extra special. You do beautiful work. Photos of her quilts and their happy owners are posted on Bizzy for Gizzy Quilts.

The last few days we have been wracking our brains trying to figure out why Poppy would do such a nice thing for a bunch of new friends who live halfway around the world. (Poppy lives in New Zealand, remember.)

And we think we figured out the reason. It's because of our journal entry after Hurricane Katrina, "Cameron Collects Club Dues," isn't it, Poppy? We weren't expecting a reward, but thank you anyway. (In case you accidentally sent them to the wrong address, we're not returning the quilts. We love them!)

Funny Farm Felines and Friends

Our Gizzy Quilt

Whoopie, our Gizzy quilt has arrived! Isn't this gorgeous? It's in the Funny Farm's favorite colors, too.

Ah, I (Crystal) can smell Jasmine's scent. Or is that Millie's? I don't know which one did the quality assurance test on our quilt, but I love that sushi scent. And Jan threw on a little catnip. This is most comfortable when wadded up. And it's mine, all mine.

No, it's mine! Crystal is the oldest, so he had first turn. It's my (Cameron) turn now. A good wad and roll and - ah, cat heaven!

Hey, wait. Where did the traffic jam come from? There's supposed to be room for all of us. Some of you need to lose a little weight! (Crystal, Percy, Rusty, Cotton)

What do you mean, this is strictly for the cats? See, we (Merci and Samaritan) fit on it. It should be our quilt. Buddy snores. He should have his own.

Hey, I thought you guys said it smells like catnip. It smells more like a pack of dirty quilt soilers slept here. Oh, I should have guessed. Cameron wiped the floor with it, wadded it up and stomped it. Just checking, he claims, in case Miss Lynne dropped any loose change inside for the Funny Farm empty dues fund. Yeah, right.

We took a vote and the decision is unanimous. (Dog votes don't count. This is a kitty quilt.) We love our Bizzy for Gizzy quilt!

You can read about the Gizzy quilts on Darling Millie's website.