furry paws

What to do when it's cold.

2012-01-29T22:32:00.000-05:00

It's been cold lately. It is winter, I suppose. What do the cats do when it's cold?

Lots and lots of cuddling to keep warm. Snugglefest.

Where I'm Hiding

2012-01-27T02:17:00.002-05:00

I was looking all over for Yaffa the other day, and she was nowhere to be found. I looked in the bedroom and found her here enjoying the sun rays.

Mirrored Image

2012-01-18T15:45:00.003-05:00

Wherever Sebastian kitty is, momma Yaffa kitty is usually nearby. I said to the cats, "cheese" and they both looked at me at the same time. Almost like a mirrored image of each other. Too cute.

Need a Cat Carrier Recommendation

2012-01-06T02:29:00.002-05:00

My friend Ruth needs your advice. Her cat Suki is really, really afraid of cat carriers. She hates going in them and next month, she needs to take Suki to the Vet and so she needs to get a good pet carrier immediately. If you know of a good pet carrier, can you recommend one in the comments section below? Which are better, are soft carriers or hard case carriers better for cats who are afraid of them?

Suki thanks you in advance!

Christmas Gifts

2012-01-04T13:00:00.003-05:00

My mom gave the cats some new cat toys for Christmas. Dante loved them the most! Dante likes any furry or feathery toy on a string.

The toys were Christmas themed. Colors were red and green. Here he is attacking the mouse.

And attacking the Christmas tree on a string.

He is so good at attacking. hehehe I'm sure all these toys will be destroyed soon.

The Heat is On!

2011-12-25T04:21:00.002-05:00

Sebastian is one smart kitty. Whenever he hears the heat turn on, he runs to one of the many heating vents on the floor. He likes to sit next to it to warm up. A very smart kitty indeed! Merry Christmas everyone. Stay warm!

I Hear the Bell

2011-09-20T01:49:00.002-04:00

I bought Dante a new collar. It's very blingy with rhinestones and a shiny bell on it. I think it looks pretty darn cute, but Dante hates collars, so here he is giving me the cold shoulder. He wouldn't even look at the camera.

Look how mad he looks. I like that there is a bell on his collar so I can hear when he's coming and going. He is so not amused.

A Mad Bunny

2011-08-23T21:52:00.000-04:00

I visited my friend Ruth last week and she has the sweetest cat name Suki. Suki is a Manx, and has no tail. Her tail looks like a bunny tail, and therefore sometimes we call her Bunny as a nickname. We were eating watermelon as a dessert and Suki was eyeing it. But we said, no Suki, don't eat the melon.

Suki gave us this mad face when we said, "No Suki, no melon for you." Hahaha, she looks like quite the mad bunny. I love this face!! Priceless!

And the Winner of the Innova Pet Food is...

2011-08-10T16:48:00.000-04:00

Thank you all for those who entered the Innova Natural Pet Food contest. We received a good number of entrants. Two winners out of 28 entrants were chosen at Random using the Random.org generator. And the winners of a bag of Innova Natural Pet Food are #1 who is the Japanese Redneck and #20 Grrrreta. We didn't count Jan's Funny Farm as part of the entrants because she also did the same giveaway. So we skipped over her comment in counting the numbers who entered. Congratulations to the winners. I'll contact you for your address! Enjoy.

Enter for a Chance to Win a Bag of Innova Natural Pet Food

2011-08-02T01:18:00.001-04:00

Back in May, I received an email from Innova Natural Pet Food company. They were interested in sending me a kit that included samples of their cat and dog food to try out. What's so cool about the Innova dog and cat food is that it is made with all natural ingredients such as real fruits and vegetables including whole carrots and apples, and it also contains protein and whole grains! The Innova pet food contains no artificial colors or preservatives, meat by-products, fillers, wheat, corn or soy and high-quality protein is always the #1 ingredient. I love the fact that the ingredients are all natural, the product sounds pretty healthy and I was eager to have our cats try some.

When I opened the package, it contained cat treats. Sebastian was interested in the treats right away. Here he is anxiously awaiting for me to open the cat treat bag.

He gobbled up the Innova cat treats right out of my hand. He really liked the taste of the all natural ingredients.

The Innova pet food line also has wet food in addition to the dry food. Our cats love to eat wet food, so I'll have to buy some for them to try.

For more information about how these products are made, check out this video!

Want to try out a free bag of Innova pet food for your dog or cat? Innova generously gave me 2 coupons for a complimentary bag of Innova pet food to give out, one coupon each for 2 lucky readers. To enter for a chance to win, Leave a comment below and tell us why you would like to try Innova pet food for your pet. Comments / Entries must be received by 11:59pm PST on Monday, August 8th. Good luck!

Couch Potatoes

2011-06-25T16:37:00.000-04:00

These are my couch potatoes. They can literally lay in this same position all day without moving!

Doesn't Sebastian look so comfortable? No wonder he doesn't want to move!

New Garden Kitty

2011-06-20T20:46:00.000-04:00

We have a new visitor to our yard and garden. I spied her sniffing some of the flowers. You see her?

She looks so much like our Yaffa. Except instead of a grey tuxedo, she has a black one.

I watched her for a few minutes, I saw her investigate the plants, the bbq grill, and grass. I wanted to go outside to greet her, but I've seen this cat around the neighborhood and she is very skittish. I hope she has a home and that she isn't a stray. I hope.

It's My Bag Now!

2011-06-16T17:59:00.002-04:00

This weekend, I bought a new hand bag from the Magnes Sisters. I got this bag, and I am so in love with it. Apparently, I'm not the only one who loves the bag...

Sebastian has also claimed it as his own. For the last 3 days, he's been sleeping or sitting on my bag.

The leather must be really soft. He just loves to use it as a pillow to nap on.

He's lucky he is cute and can get away with this! He is the smartest kitty in the world!

Heat Spell

2011-06-13T16:57:00.000-04:00

Last week we had unseasonably warm temperatures. It soared to 101F. Too hot too fast is what I say. You know who's the smartest kitty in the world? Whenever we have the A/C on, Sebastian finds a spot right in front. Hahaha. Talk about keeping cool!

Someone Needs to Go on a Diet

2011-06-03T00:07:00.001-04:00

We've been using the "diet" word around our house. I think one of the cats... uh-hum, this one needs diet food.

Here he is from another angle. We think he's getting rather large. I don't like to say the "d" word out loud in front of him, because he hates that word. But I worry about how large he's getting, he's quite the bruiser now. Does anyone know of any good tasty diet cat food I should try on Sebastian? He's very picky with his food, he doesn't like wet foot, only the dry stuff. Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated!

Synchronized Sleeping

2011-05-17T14:44:00.000-04:00

Sebastian and Yaffa are so close. They can be found napping and cuddling every day. They are such peas in a pod that they also do synchronized sleeping. Hahahaha

Garden Kitty is Back

2011-05-14T13:27:00.001-04:00

All of last year, when we were out in the garden, we had a little visitor come visit us practically every other day. We called him Garden Kitty, because he loved to go into the vegetable garden with us and roll around in the beds. I didn't really want him to be in there, so I would pick him up and scoot him out of the veggie garden and let him play in the yard instead. He was a good kitty though, he didn't eat any of the veggies or pull them out of the ground. I was hoping that Garden Kitty is someone's outdoor pet, but he's outside ALL the time, so I fear he's a stray, or someone used to have him as a pet and abandoned him. He's really friendly and let's you pick him up and pet him. Look at this face! I was so happy to see that he survived our harsh winter. And the first time I saw him this spring, he greeted us with meows and purrs. When I see him, I give him food and water and he scarfs it up. He's a hungry little stray.

On this day, he decided to take a nap on our patio. I noticed that he has a new scar on his forehead. Poor kitty, he must have gotten into a fight with another animal.

Here he is napping. I need to give him a new name. Calling him "garden kitty" is not a good name at all. What do you think we should name him?

After I was done with my garden chores, I went inside. Moments later, I noticed he was outside waiting for me by the back door. This totally breaks my heart. If I didn't already have 3 cats, I would definitely take this fellow in. However, he's an outdoor cat, and all of my cats are indoor cats. I couldn't have one cat be outdoors and the others indoors, for fear that he could bring illnesses and fleas to the others. We'll do our best to make Garden Kitty's life comfortable by feeding him and giving him an outdoor shelter. Maybe he'll just be our outdoor only cat, if he doesn't already have an owner in the neighborhood. There is still a possibility that this is someone's cat, because of how friendly he is. I hope so!

Friendly Suki

2011-05-05T13:18:00.003-04:00

I went to visit my friend Ruth last week, and she has the most adorable cat named Suki. I've written about Suki before, here. She is so lovable, she sat right next to me on the couch and wanted a backrub.

She was loving it, rolling back and forth and purring a lot. See how fast she is moving? How cute!

My Co-Workers

2011-04-21T12:02:00.000-04:00

I was working in the office on the computer and my co-workers wanted to have a meeting. Here's Yaffa consulting with me on the design issues.

And Sebastian, he likes to direct the projects. He is very vocal about what he likes and doesn't like.

Don't Touch That!

2011-04-13T02:44:00.001-04:00

I had my seed box out, to organize which seeds to plant next. When I wasn't looking, Sebastian Kitty was "investigating" the box. I blurted out, "Don't Touch That!" And he gave me this look. If I didn't stop him, there would have been seeds all over the floor. :)

You Coming With Us?

2011-04-04T15:51:00.000-04:00

Last week, we went on vacation, we went to Utah and Las Vegas. You can read about it here and here. When Sebastian saw the suitcases come out, he sat next to them for a long time. I think he wanted to come with us. Can you hide a cat on a carry-on? LOL.

I want this tea pot

2011-03-22T23:40:00.000-04:00

In between client meetings, I have this problem. I like to waltz into stores near the offices to window shop. LOL. It's a sickness! I saw this tea pot today, and I totally wanted it. It's so freaking cute! Look at that spout! Hahaha

Peek a Boo! I See You!

2011-03-20T00:34:00.000-04:00

Plants as Pets?

2011-03-07T13:10:00.001-05:00

I walked passed a veterinary office the other day, and they had the cutest window display. Now that is what I call plants as pets. Too cute!

I want one of these!

Blogger is taunting me

2011-02-28T19:19:00.001-05:00

You know how my last post talked about how we have a mouse in the house. We'll check out what I got as a word verification when I was posting a comment today. Sheesh, now I have mice in my blogs!

I'm horrified!

2011-02-25T02:48:00.000-05:00

I saw Sebastian hanging out by the kitchen cabinets all day, and had no idea what he was doing. Until I went to cook lunch, and pulled out some cookware out of the cabinet. That's when I noticed it. There were mice poop in my cookware! Ahhhhhhh! I have a mouse in the house! Sebastian must have smelt the little rodent because he would not move from the cabinet area. Everytime I walked into the kitchen, I kept saying to him, "Did you catch the little mousie yet Sebastian?" Oh man, I hope he catches it. I hate hate hate mice! They scare me.

A Gift from the Farmer

2011-02-20T01:41:00.001-05:00

My husband's dad, the Farmer, sent us a package in the mail earlier this week. I squealed when I saw it! I've been totally drooling over seedling heating mats, but have not wanted to actually buy one since they can be a bit pricey. This one can fit 4 large flats on it. It also works great, within a few days, I noticed the celery started to germinate. Woot Woot!

The first day that we plugged it in, the following morning I found this little guy hanging out on top of the heat mat. Smart kitty! I bet his belly is nice and toasty.

All Boxed Up

2011-02-10T02:05:00.000-05:00

Little Dante that rascal, loves to jump in boxes. Okay, he's ready to be shipped out. Who wants him? :)

Don't ya just wanna scratch that belly?

2011-02-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

Look at Sebastian's belly. How can you not want to rub that belly? I love the way he sleeps. He's so comfortable with himself. Speaking of bellies, cousin Minna the farm cat has been licking her belly so much that her fur is falling off and now her belly is all bare with no fur. Does anyone know what might be the cause of this? Or does anyone know if there are any pet / cat ointments out there that can prevent her from wanting to lick her belly? It must be irritating her because she won't stop licking the same area. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!

Keeping Warm

2011-01-27T16:05:00.002-05:00

It seems that Sebastian has found another heating vent. He sat here nicely as I took the photo. Usually when he sees the camera, he likes to run the other way. I guess he was nice and warm and did not want to move.

A Warm Gift

2011-01-25T02:12:00.000-05:00

My father-in-law gave the hubs and I, a funny thoughtful gift. His and hers Snuggies. You see, when he was here helping us with rebuilding our garage, he said our house was a bit chilly. Gulp. We're terrible, we're frugal with our heat, we keep the thermostat at 63F. The hubs and I figure we can put on layers of clothing to keep warm instead of pumping the heat. It's expensive to heat our old 1901 house since it's so poorly insulated. Since there's only 2 of us that live here, we are fine with having the thermostat at a lower temperature. Evenmore so now that we have our very own Snuggie! Hopefully this will keep us warm.

Yaffa really likes the Snuggie too. She's been sleeping on it everyday.

Cute as a Button

2011-01-23T23:39:00.000-05:00

Sebastian has a lot of cute sleeping positions. I have to try hard not to pick him up and give him a big kiss. Look at that face! Here he is sleeping on the hubs.

Smartest Kitty Ever

2011-01-23T00:45:00.000-05:00

It has been so cold lately. We've been getting below freezing temperatures with not an end in sight! Look how smart this kitty is. He found the warmest seat in the house!

Cousin Minna

2011-01-22T13:22:00.000-05:00

When we were up visiting the family farm this winter, we saw cousin Minna. Minna is such a great cat, she has lots of personality. She especially loves to play on the clothes hanger rack. She loves to even sleep up there, how she balances herself on the little bars, I don't know. I think she loves the new fresh laundry.

Cozy Blankie

2011-01-19T01:03:00.000-05:00

This is our cousin Rocky. He is a Russell Terrier. He is such a sweet dog and has a funny habit. He has to sleep with a blanket over him. Can he be any cuter?

So Relaxed!

2011-01-10T23:53:00.000-05:00

Doesn't Sebastian look so relaxed? Mommy Yaffa behind him is grooming him. Sebastian is 5 years old, but I guess you are still a baby that needs a bath in his mommy's eyes. They are always grooming each other. It's way too cute.

Dante is in BIG trouble!

2011-01-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I heard a big bang coming from our bedroom. When I went upstairs, I saw that my tall dresser drawers had fallen over. Apparently, one of the cats...ahem...Dante decided it would be fun to run at full speed and jump on top of the drawers, which gave it enough momentum to fall over. Unfortunately, my spare glasses were on top of the dresser. I was so worried about the little bugger, luckily the drawers did not fall on him, but he was awfully scared. He's still in big trouble though!

Synchronized Biscuit Making

2011-01-04T22:21:00.000-05:00

I caught Yaffa and Sebastian making biscuits at the same time. This is the first time that I've ever seen them do this. So cute!

I'm Not Afraid of You

2011-01-04T02:12:00.000-05:00

I was vacuuming in the living room the other day and the cats did not even flinch. They slept right through it. There was a time when the cats were really afraid of the vacuum. But not anymore!

Oh My Kindle

2010-12-31T02:58:00.001-05:00

Last week, the hubs and I went to his work holiday party. It was a lot of fun, good food, open bar and best of all, good company. Every year, they have the party at a fancy catering hall and we have to buy tickets to attend. It's pricey at $60 a ticket, but it's the holidays so it's okay to splurge once in a while. There is always a raffle that everyone looks forward to. They sell raffle tickets and raffle off prizes. Some of the prizes are gag gifts, it's like that game show, "let's make a deal." If your ticket is chosen, you can pick a box or an envelope. Sometimes the box is something great, but sometimes it's a goofy prize. The hubs bought 20 tickets, and during the raffle, his ticket was called. He chose the box rather than the envelope and won this! A new Amazon 3G Wireless Kindle! The hubs was so excited since he's wanted one of these.

He was really, really lucky! Because the envelope that he could have chosen had a $20 giftcard to Dunkin Donuts. He got the better deal if you ask me. He's been really enjoying his new gadget. He's downloaded some great books and short stories. This past week, you'll find him in his lazy-boy reading his Kindle with Sebastian Kitty on his lap. At first, I was pretty skeptical about an "electronic" book. But I am pleasantly surprised with the screen resolution, it's pretty easy to read. It also has a really long battery life! I'll have to look for some gardening books that we can download!

Recuperating from the holidays

2010-12-30T01:27:00.000-05:00

The cats and I spent the day recuperating from all the holiday fun. Hosting my family for 4 days was fantastic but made me completely exhausted. It's nice to sit on the couch and cuddle with my furries. We all took a long nap, it felt good to re-charge. Hope you all had a good holiday!

A Striped Christmas Present

2010-12-25T11:43:00.000-05:00

There's a cat in this photo. Do you see him?

No? How about now?

Still no? Okay, here's a photo closer. See him now?

Really, no again? Okay, here he is!

How about from another angle? Little Sebastian Kitty is the funniest cat ever. He spends hours hanging out under the tree. Even behind all these presents. He loves it. The only reason I know he's behind there because sometimes I hear him rustling. Funny kitty!
MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone!

Someone really loves the Christmas Tree

2010-12-24T20:57:00.002-05:00

Little Sebastian Kitty just can't get enough of the Christmas tree. He sits there for hours, takes naps under there, he just loves it! I find it amazing that he doesn't claw at the tree, or try to knock down the ornaments. What a good kitty!

I'm going to be so sad when Christmas is over and we have to remove the tree. Sebastian is going to be so mad when the tree is gone. Shhhh, don't tell him.

Enjoying Some Winter Sunbeams

2010-12-21T13:58:00.000-05:00

On this cold winter day, a kitty has got to get warmth wherever he can. A warm sunbeam is very welcomed.

An "Elf" Helping Me Write Christmas Cards

2010-12-15T19:18:00.001-05:00

This year, I've been so busy that I am way behind with writing Christmas cards. I usually like to tackle this task during Thanksgiving weekend, but this year, I never had time for that. So today, I finally took the time to write out cards. Look who helped me. Yup, it's Sebastian. He was my "helper", which meant he swatted at cards, stickers and my pen.

Here he is intrigued with the smiley face stickers.

At one point, I went into the kitchen to get myself a cold drink. When I came back, Sebastian was gone, but I found his pink ball inside one of the card boxes. Hehehehe, that kitty makes me smile.

Sebastian Likes the New Tree

2010-12-12T11:20:00.000-05:00

The tree has been kitty approved. Sebastian has been investigating it ever since we got the tree yesterday. He's always loved Christmas trees, looking back in the blog archive, here he is loving the tree in 2007, and again in 2007. Things never change.

You will succumb...

2010-12-01T02:48:00.002-05:00

to the laser eyes! Resistance is futile.

Watching TV with the Dad

2010-11-28T01:00:00.000-05:00

Last night, the hubs and I were pretty exhausted with all the Thanksgiving activities so we spent the evening on the couch watching TV. Sebastian thought that was a great idea. He cuddled right up on the hub's lap and relished in belly rubs.

He was engrossed with what we were watching. "Great Migrations" on National Geographic.

This photo makes me laugh

2010-11-24T00:26:00.001-05:00

My husband was taking a nap on the couch, and Yaffa likes to take a nap between his legs. LOL. This photo cracks me up.

Eco-friendly and loving it!

2010-11-23T00:10:00.001-05:00

Back in September, on the blog Wearer of Many Hats, she was hosting a giveaway of a wonderful custom crafted lunch bag from Glue and Glitter. I love anything eco-friendly so I submitted my name and to my surprise, I won my very own custom created lunch bag! Thanks Wearer of Many Hats for hosting such a great giveaway. Becky, the talent behind Glue and Glitter contacted me and asked me what colors I liked, what patterns I liked, and what I wanted on the bag. How cool that I could get the bag made to reflect me, so I asked her for a cat design, for my 3 cats, and florals because I love to garden. I also said I loved brown and turquoise blue. Here are the photos of the finished product!

Inside the lunch bag came cloth napkins, chopsticks, and a plastic food container. Everything you need for a perfect lunch that is friendly on the Earth.

Here is the lining inside the bag, Becky let me pick out the fabric. Since I love gardening this fabric was perfect for me. Isn't it just gorgeous? These would make great holiday gifts, you can order a bag from Becky, she will make it custom to your order. Check out Becky's Glue and Glitter website!

A Kitty in the Jungle

2010-11-20T00:19:00.001-05:00

I was watering the plants on the front enclosed porch, "the greenhouse" as Wendy called it, and Dante kitty followed me in there. He was so mesmerized by all the plants that I moved indoors. I bet he thought he was outside. LOL.

A Food Buffet?

2010-11-16T01:05:00.000-05:00

I was going through my photos and forgot to post this one. We filled the auto-feeder when we went away, and Sebastian thought he hit the jackpot. LOL.

Dante is a cuddler

2010-11-10T22:59:00.001-05:00

My niece came over on Halloween and she adores Dante. I didn't realize she took pictures with him until I saw these on my computer. She took these with the Photo Booth application on the Mac. Isn't it just adorable? I think he loves her just as much as she loves him.

It's cold!

2010-11-05T23:32:00.000-04:00

When it gets cold out, we like to do more of this.

A Nice Pose!

2010-10-27T23:43:00.000-04:00

I love it when Yaffa or any of the cats sit like this. It's so cute!! I'm not sure why she was sitting like this. She wasn't even grooming herself like she usually does when she sits like this. Adorable.

Guard Your Grill

2010-10-26T11:21:00.000-04:00

This is an everyday occurrence at our house!

This is Yaffa and Sebastian play fighting yesterday. They love doing this, they can do this for hours!

Clingy kitty

2010-10-21T20:23:00.000-04:00

Sometimes Yaffa can be a little clingy. Here she is stuck to me like glue. She's adorable.

Hey! Are you allowed on that?

2010-10-16T15:38:00.000-04:00

Without fail, everytime we get new furniture, the cats claim it. This time I was a little angry though, because these are new cedar Adirondack chairs, and I already see scratch marks on them! Kitties, this is not a large scratch post! Argh! They are lucky they are cute!

Meet Allie!

2010-10-08T13:08:00.001-04:00

This is Allie, she is a guard dog at the family farm. She is a Great Pyrenees, and they have a history of being breed by shepherds to help on farms to guard livestock, especially sheep. That background makes Allie a great guard dog, its in her blood. When she sees trouble, like a fox, a hawk or wild dogs, she barks and barks to try to scare them off. She does have a menacing bark, however she is as friendly as they come. I call her a big poofball. She has a thick fluffy coat, that protects her from the cold winters in the North Country. She especially loves it when it snows, she rolls around in it and is the happiest when there are mounds of snow on the ground. Reminds me of a dog I know... Khyra!

Yaffa Snoozing

2010-10-06T02:19:00.000-04:00

Yaffa loves to take naps on the couch. This time I found her straddling the arm rest. Is that even comfortable? LOL. I'd be worried that I roll off!

Stalker!

2010-10-03T11:56:00.000-04:00

The hubs and I were eating dinner the other day and we had a "stalker".

I'm in Love

2010-10-01T11:01:00.000-04:00

When we were up at the family farm, they had to make a delivery of produce to one of their client's. I tagged along because they told me that there was a good farmer's market along the way. Upstate New York is renowned for many things, among them is Maple Syrup. I had to get my hands on some good New York Maple Syrup to bring home. At the farmer's market, there were two vendors that were selling syrup. Note to self, scan the tables before buying because I ended up buying syrup that was more expensive at one vendor than the other one was selling. Oh well.

The other thing that I was looking to buy was some local honey. Luckily, there was a vendor also selling honey, so I picked up a big jar of amber colored honey. Oooh, I can't wait to try it in my mint tea.

When you are in NY State, you can't be in a farmer's market without at least one vendor selling NY Apples! I didn't buy any because we recently had gone apple picking.

At the farmer's market, there was a vendor selling garden markers. Aren't these cool? I'm so ~~cheap~~ frugal, so I couldn't justify spending $3-$6 on one marker. I would have needed a whole bunch of these for the garden, so the cost would totally add up. Maybe I can make my own?

My mother-in-law saw another farmer vendor there she knew and we went up to her booth to talk to her. She is a cattle farmer, and was selling cuts of packaged beef. She had with her these two Labrador Retrievers and I instantly FELL IN LOVE. They were so adorable! Look at that paw!

Completely sweet and soft. She said they were for sale for $50 each. Do you think my husband would find out if I tried to sneak her home? Awwww.

Here Chick, Chick, Chick

2010-09-29T02:57:00.001-04:00

On the farm, they raise a lot of chickens. They stay in a coop inside the barn at night, but in the day, they are free-range. They are free to travel anywhere on the farm, which they love to do. They love to forage for food and find grubs and other treats.

The farm also just got in 35 new chicks. My father-in-law told me that with their first group of chickens, they taught them to come in to eat when they said "Here Chick, Chick, Chick". The chickens associated that call with food. So cool! Hopefully these baby chicks will learn that too. It gets cold on the farm, so they have this heat lamp to keep the chicks warm.

Aren't these baby brown chicks just adorable. I just want to pick one up and hug it! I can't remember what breed they are, but they are prolific egg layers when they are full-grown.

These white chickens are being raised as "meat chickens", but "shhhhh!" don't tell them that. Gulp!

Grace and Jill, Went Up the Hill

2010-09-28T10:01:00.003-04:00

This past week we went up to the family farm, and the first thing we did was greet the family then immediately say "Hi" to Grace, the Belgian Horse, and Jill, the Percheron. We miss the horses so much! I was so excited that I got to feed the horses some hay. They were so into the hay that I couldn't get a good photo, they were moving around so much.

I turned off the flash, here is a better photo of them munching on some hay.

Here is a close-up of Gracie. Look at that face! Awwww!

Mantis, Meet Mantis

2010-09-22T01:36:00.000-04:00

(I posted this on my other blog, so if you follow both, this will be a repeat.)

This year we bought a kiwi green Honda Element. It was time, our old car broke down on Route 80 once, and it was the scariest experience ever! We crawled home at 40 mph on a highway that has a 65 mph speed limit. Grammie named our car "Mantis" because it's so bright green in color! Little did she know that this was an appropriate name for the car. Continue reading below!

This weekend, we went to out to get pizza at Goodfellas. The best brick oven pizza! We order the chicken parmesan pizza. Delcious!

I was so amazed how big the piece of basil was on the pizza. Get a load of this! It was almost as large as a slice of pizza! Whoa!

After the pizza, we decided to get a beer at the Killmeyer's bier garden. I love a good German Weisse!

As we were sipping on our beer, this little kitty came through a hole in the fence and hung around enjoying the atmosphere and the live band. A very chill kitty.

When we left, we got in the car and noticed a huge mantis on the windshield of our car! This is the first praying mantis I've ever seen in Staten Island. I told my husband that she must have been attracted to our green car "Mantis". Our car was like the mother ship calling her in. She probably thought our green car was a giant plant!

We had a paper bag in the car, so we scooped her into the bag and transported our little mantis friend to our garden. We figure it would make a better home here than in the parking lot of some bar!

It's a Pillow, It's a Pet, It's a Pillow Pet!

2010-09-21T14:02:00.000-04:00

Sebastian is known for his strange tastes in pillows. Check out what I found him using as pillow the other day. If you are wondering what that yellow thing is, it's a measuring tape! Is that even comfortable?

Cute Chickens at the Zoo

2010-09-18T14:21:00.001-04:00

More from the Staten Island Zoo! One of the coolest thing about the zoo was that they had a lot of farm animals on the premises, that were part of the "petting zoo" area. They had information about how to raise and care for them. This is not something I often see at the zoo and I was so impressed that the Staten Island Zoo had these animals here so that us "city folk" and their kids could see horses, pigs, chickens, goats, and sheep. These animals maybe common place if you live near farms or on a farm but here, most farms I know are a good 1-2 hours drive away. I know people who grew up in the city and have never seen these animals in person! Even myself, I grew up in surburban New Jersey, and the first time I "pet" a pig, goat, horse, chicken, was on my husband's family farm, 3 years ago. LOL, boy have I live a sheltered life! This is one of the bantam chickens that was living at the Staten Island zoo. Isn't she beautiful? I love her "hair". My husband's family has a few bantams and they are so small and cute. They also lay the cutest little eggs. I think if we do decide to raise chickens, I would like to try bantams. They seem very manageable.

I also pulled some photos from the vault (circa 2007) so you could see my first visit to the family farm. I thought this was appropriate because next week we are going there for "vacation". I normally don't like posting pictures of myself, but I thought these photos were pretty funny and decided to share them and share a laugh. Here I am feeding the pigs for the very first time, but the chickens gathered around me because they love pig feed too. LOL.

In this photo, I am feeding Grace, the Belgian Horse. She was a youngster in this photo, just about a year old if I remember correctly. She used to be my height, but not anymore! Now she towers over me. She is so beautiful.

I thought all you cats and dogs out there would love this photo. Baby ducks and chicks. So cute! This sounds so silly, but I had no idea that ducklings were yellow! I mean, I've only ever seen yellow ducks as toys as a kid or in books. These are white ducks when they are full grown but the babies are bright yellow.

And this is what I mean about sharing a laugh. This is me holding one of the baby pigs. My father-in-law asked me if I wanted to hold one and I was so excited because they were so cute! He said pigs "squeal" when they are held, it's not because they are hurt, but that they are scared. Okay, I wasn't prepared for this even though he warned me about the squealing. This little piggy SQUEALED!! My face says it all!

Big Lizards

2010-09-15T16:38:00.003-04:00

For those of you who guessed Emu in the last post, you were right! Emus are like ostriches but they are smaller and they have 3 toes, whereas ostrich has 2 toes.

Here is another cool animal we saw at the Staten Island zoo. I can't for the life of me remember the name of this big fella.

We were lucky because the staff was doing a presentation with some of the animals and we were able to pet this guy. His skin was super cool. I was surprised how docile this lizard was, it had claws, but he did not scratch at anyone. He also has a forked tongue, just like snakes. Neat!

Talk about Big Birds

2010-09-13T02:00:00.001-04:00

More from the Staten Island zoo, we saw this large bird. Do you know what kind of bird this is? It's as tall as I was, at least 5 foot in height. If any of our cats saw this fella, they would RUN in the other direction!

A Peacock!

2010-09-09T15:50:00.005-04:00

For those of you who guessed a bird, you were right! All over the Staten Island zoo there were peacocks roaming freely. It was so cool! They are such gorgeous animals. I really loved the fact that these animals were not in cages and could walk where they pleased. We even saw one hanging inside the kangaroo pen!

These birds are also quite large!! I kept thinking, I wonder if Dante would be afraid of this bird?

The coloring on these birds are amazing. I was hoping that this fella would open up his feathers so we could see him in all his glory. But he didn't.

Staten Island Zoo: Guess What Kind of Animal?

2010-09-07T22:23:00.003-04:00

We visited the Staten Island Zoo on Saturday and it was our first visit since moving here. What a great educational place! They also had "farm" animals and a petting zoo. We saw this cool animal walking around freely throughout the zoo. Here is a closeup of the animal. Do you know what it is?

Some alone time

2010-08-31T13:44:00.003-04:00

Sometimes a cat needs some alone time. Here is Sebastian trying his best to hide under the red locker we have in the kitchen. However, it's a tall narrow unit, he's a little big to be hiding under it, that's why his legs are sticking out. Hee hee. But don't ever tell Sebastian he's "fat". He gets a little mad.

A Little Helper

2010-08-23T23:29:00.002-04:00

I was working on a sewing project last week, and I had a little helper. However, he didn't really want to "help". Unless it was helping himself to the spool of thread. He was waiting for me to get distracted, then.... P O U N C E!

Weekend Activities

2010-08-22T20:27:00.001-04:00

This is pretty much how Yaffa and Sebastian spent all weekend. LOL. Snugglefest!! Both of them love the Laz-y Boy Chair. A perfect name for this chair don't you think?

Rub my belly

2010-08-15T23:32:00.002-04:00

I took this photo yesterday! I couldn't stop laughing, Sebastian really wanted his belly rubbed! See how his leg is up in the air. LOL.

My Toy

2010-08-14T01:50:00.002-04:00

Yaffa loves catnip toys. We got new ones from Auntie. Here she is investigating her toy.
She licks the toy to get at the catnip.

She is not letting go of this toy!

Here is Sebastian waiting for her to drop the toy, so he can go after it. He got his own toy, but found hers more interesting.

I love this photo! She's done playing with the catnip toy. Look how content she is! LOL. All nipped up.

Finding Whiskers

2010-08-13T02:12:00.001-04:00

This is the 3rd stray whisker that I have found in the house this week. Does anyone know, do cats shed whiskers like they do their fur?

Little Garden Birdie

2010-08-10T12:57:00.001-04:00

I posted this on our garden blog, but I thought I'd share it on here too!

Last month, we had this family of birds living in our gutter. We would see the mama bird flying into the garden looking for worms and insects to feed her hungry chicks. Here she is with a mouthful of goodies to feed her young ones. (bigify photo to view larger)
Then one day when I was watering the garden, the momma bird was squawking at me. I looked down at the flower bed and saw a teeny tiny bird. I guess she was trying to scare me away from her baby. Poor little birdie fell from the gutter. This is a bad photo unfortunately. The little guy was under all this brush and I couldn't really get close enough for a good photo. He didn't even have his eyes opened yet. My husband found his siblings on our driveway, but they didn't make it. I told the hubs that I was glad I didn't see that, I'm a wimp when it comes to stuff like that. I would probably just start crying. Luckily this little fella fell on the soft flower bed. It broke his fall. I didn't see the bird for a long time I hope he survived the elements! Its funny, these are probably the same kinds of birds I curse at when I always see them in our garden eating our newly planted seedlings or sowed seeds. However when I see them as mommies and babies, I can't help but feel like I want them to make it! They are really really cute!

Spoiled!

2010-08-07T20:20:00.002-04:00

Yaffa is so spoiled! She loves wet cat food. The sound of the can opening and she runs to the kitchen and starts meowing like crazy. Here's the thing. She only wants to lick the gravy. She eats like 1 or 2 bites, and licks all the gravy and then walks away not eating the rest. She is so spoiled! She what she left in the bowl!

Word verification

2010-08-06T00:42:00.003-04:00

From time to time I like to post the funny words I get from the Blogger word verification. This one made me think, "Are you talking to me?" Argh! LOL.

Hitching a Ride

2010-08-03T22:33:00.003-04:00

The other day, I had to go into Manhattan for a client meeting. On my way back, I hopped on the ferry. It was such a nice day, I sat in the back of the Ferry so I could get the breeze and sun. I then noticed something hopping around the back loading deck. Can you see the hitch hiker??
Here's a closeup! This pigeon got on with us in Manhattan and rode the ferry all the way to Staten Island! Hahahahahahahhahaa! I guess he didn't want to fly to the island. Smart lazy city bird.

Sebastian's TV

2010-08-01T22:59:00.003-04:00

It was a beautiful 82 degrees yesterday! Finally! The weather has been so hot and humid that it's nice to have a relief in the temperature. It's the first time that I had the windows opened rather than the a/c running. As soon as I opened the window in the dining room, Sebastian started meowing. I guess he heard some of the birds and crickets outside. I pushed the chair next to the window and that's where he sat for about an hour!

Leave us alone!

2010-07-31T13:57:00.001-04:00

Leave us alone mommy! Can't you see daddy and I are trying to take a nap. Put that flashy thing away. Hrmpf!

Isn't it hot for sunrays?

2010-07-29T22:05:00.002-04:00

This week has been in the 90s again. So hot! It's like an oven outside. Yet, I found Sebastian under the table enjoying the sunrays. I couldn't help but think, isn't it too hot to have the sun beating down on your furs? I guess not, when the air conditioning is blaring!

Biggest bird I've ever seen in my backyard...Ever!

2010-07-26T16:39:00.000-04:00

The other day, my husband was outside in the yard, doing some weedwacking. My cellphone rings, and he's on the line. "Honey, look at the driveway, but don't make any noise." Okay, I said, a bit worried. I peer out the window, and I see this gigantic bird. "Whoa, what is that?" I said? Okay, I know I live on an island, but I live on Staten Island, not some tropical paradise, so to see a bird like this, it's totally rare. My husband said it looks like a heron. I've only seen herons in Florida. When he came back into the house, he did a Google search, and we saw pictures of blue herons. This bird looks like a baby blue heron! On further research, apparently there is a Blue Heron Park right in Staten Island about 5 miles from our house. It's a wildlife sanctuary with lots of ponds, and home to some blue herons. How cool is that? http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/blueheronpark

Sebastian loves cold air.

2010-07-25T15:12:00.004-04:00

Yesterday it was a blistering 99F! NYC is getting one of it's worst heat waves in quite some time. Everyday hovers in the 90s, hot, heat and humidity. I was working on the computer on the couch and looked over to see Sebastian on the dining room table. If you read my blog often, you'll know that I don't like the cats being on the table because this is where we eat, and they shed like crazy. So I watched him for a few minutes.

Then he got up and stood right next to the air condition unit. hahaha, I forgot that Sebastian loves the cool air that comes out of the a/c. When he was younger, we used to have an a/c near our bed, and he would sit on the pillow and plant his face right in front of the cold air vent. haha, I see things have not changed! Since it was so hot out yesterday, I let him stay on the table. But this better not be a new habit!

Cats use chairs too!

2010-07-24T00:01:00.000-04:00

The other day I couldn't find the cats. Where are they. Oh, under the table! Um, kitties, chairs are for us beans! So much for eating lunch at the table!
As soon as Yaffa saw me taking photos, she covered her face. Go away mom!

Sebastian was actually snoring on his chair. LOL.

Yaffa and Sebastian are peas in a pod. Where one is, the other has to be.

Christmas in July Photos!

2010-07-22T22:43:00.004-04:00

We received our Christmas in July package a couple of days ago, but I've been too busy to post them. Finally, the cats made me do it. Thank you to AttieCattie and Baby Audrey for such lovely catnip toys for our kitties! The toys came in this really pretty packaging.

How cute is this? Fortune cookie catnip toys, and each cookie had a fortune on it!

Dante is not a big catnip fan, but he definitely investigated this one.

Sebastian and Yaffa LOVE LOVE LOVE catnip toys, and boy did they love these. Did I say Love? Really Love.

Sebastian couldn't stop licking the toy. Nom, nom.

Yaffa couldn't get enough either!

Here is Sebastian passed out from the nip attack. And his toy tucked under his paw. So cute!

Thank you for the awesome gift, Attie Cattie and Baby Audrey. Your package is in the mail, hope you get it really soon!

Going green is saving green!

2010-07-21T23:38:00.004-04:00

When we received our first water / sewer bill from the city, we were shocked to find out that for 6 months we were paying over $600! So expensive! We were shocked to see that we were using over 300 gallons of water a day? Could this be right? How could this be? We factored in that a lot of it must be the fact that we were watering the garden with the hose. Wow, waste of water! So we thought of ways we could conserve water and save money and help the planet while we are at it. First we bought 2 rain barrels to collect rain run off from the gutters. Then we invested in a new shower head. This is a eco-friendly shower head that has a slower trickle of water. The water comes out at a lower pressure. It took a while to get used to but it helped to know that this was going to conserve water and save us money.We got our water bill in the mail today, and we are happy to report that with the rain barrels and the new shower head, we managed to cut our water consumption in half! We now use only 165 gallons of water a day. Woo hoo! Conserving rocks! And even better, our water bill was cut in half! Going green is saving green!

Keeping Cool, Sebastian's Way

2010-07-20T23:43:00.003-04:00

The heat has been so oppressive this week. We are looking at another 5 days of temperatures in the 90s. Heat wave, please go away.

This is how Sebastian likes to keep cool. He hides under the stool and sits on the cold hardwood floor. Smart kitty.

Angry Sebastian?

2010-07-16T17:03:00.002-04:00

Why is Sebastian angry you ask? Well it has to do with this black bucket to the right. I just mopped the floor and it was completely wet, and he was mad that he couldn't jump down from the stool he's sitting on. He didn't want to get his paws wet. Oh, boy was he mad! He gave me the stink eye. Hahahahahaha

Scritches

2010-07-15T14:32:00.001-04:00

Dante loves scritches under his chin. It's his favorite thing, next to belly rubs! Here he is standing in front of my computer not letting me do work, because he wants his chin scratched. Smart kitty.

Photos from Travis July 4th Parade

2010-07-11T16:46:00.005-04:00

Our part of town in Staten Island holds an annual 4th of July parade. This year was it's 100th year of the parade. What's so neat is that we don't have to go anywhere to see the parade! It goes by our front yard. Here we are getting ready for the parade. It was a blistering 102 degrees out so beach umbrellas were in full force!
The start of the parade began with these beautiful police horses. Here is my nephew watching them in fascination.

NYPD marching in the parade! They were in full uniform in this heat. Poor guys!

Then came a float with the Grand Marshal. I'm not sure who that was.

Here comes the bag pipers. This was so cool!

Staten Island's Fire Department with their big engines. In our area we have 2 fire houses!

Even politicians were showing their support. Here is Andrew Cuomo, he's our state Attorney General and he's running for Governor. You might know his dad, he was the NY Governor in the 80s and 90s. I like Cuomo, but what's with taking a cellphone call in the middle of the parade?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was also walking in the parade, but we missed a photo of him because he was surrounded by so many bodyguards and handlers that we couldn't even see him in the sea of people.

In this heat wave, someone was keeping cool! Our cousin Nikki, the golden retriever, she kicked out all of us out of the kiddie pool. Haha!

Cooling Off!

2010-06-30T21:32:00.003-04:00

It's been blazing hot lately, in the 90s all of last week. This is how Yaffa likes to cool off, she only sits like this when it's hot, hot, hot! I forgot to mention in my last post that it was my 600th post! So exciting!

Bad Word!!

2010-06-28T23:44:00.003-04:00

We were writing a comment on someone's blog the other day, and this is the captcha that showed up. Gulp!

A Cute Visitor

2010-06-27T20:10:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday, we had a visit from our cousin, Chenzy the chihuahua. He is such a cutie. All the cats were afraid of her. They all hid! Isn't she so cute in the car? She sits in the front seat and secured with a seat belt! Absolutely adorable.

Watching, waiting

2010-06-25T13:53:00.002-04:00

This is Sebastian watching me break up the cardboard so we can either put it out into recycling or dispose some of it into the compost. Sebastian likes to watch me carefully, and when I'm not paying attention, he likes to claim one of the cardboard pieces for himself.

Coolest Slippers Ever!

2010-06-23T20:22:00.005-04:00

I got these cool slippers as a birthday present from my brother and his wife. I thought it was hysterical, when you wear them around the house it picks up dirt and dust. Since I have hardwood floors through-out, it's perfect. Now here is the big question... do they make miniature feline versions that I can put on all 3 cats, then my house would be spotless!!

Guess what we found today in the backyard?

2010-06-23T00:14:00.005-04:00

Nope, it's not a mousie! But it's just as small! Today, dad bean was working out in the backyard and he saw something black running back and forth near the fence. He went over to investigate, it was a mole!!

Moles like to dig holes, so dad bean grabbed a bucket and scooped it up and carried it over to the woods behind our property and released the little guy. Dad bean said, "we don't want this little bugger digging up holes all over the property." Dante kitty was watching us from the window. He was giving dad bean this face, "can I have it please, daddy?" No Dante, he's going back to the woods. Awww, shucks!

Cardboard for Compost

2010-06-21T12:23:00.001-04:00

I was cutting up cardboard to put in the compost this weekend, but Sebastian had other ideas for the cardboard. Haha