Totally Snowed In

Yes, we are indeed, totally snowed in this morning. Storm Emma is throwing the worst it has against us today. 

Our water pipes froze 2 days ago. By the way it looks outside, there is no hope!!

Even the cat doesn't like it much outside

Let me IN!!!

My daughter was saying today that so far she thought having no internet or phone was the worst thing ever but actualy now she agrees that having NO water is deffinitely worst than that.   

Somehow, it doesn't look like there will be any changes soon. The weather hasn't changed a bit since last night. It's not that it is outrageously bad, but I want my pipes to defrost, so we can see if there is much damage and get the water flowing!!

I think, I am going to grab the camera and venture out for a few shots ;-) what else is there to do?

The Cat That Just Moved In

Well, what do you know. It seems cats just walk in, move in, and that is that. 

If they choose you, they choose you forever and you become their new family. 

This is what happened to us, last August this ragged, starved, dirty, scared little thing just appeared in the garden and moved iton the green house eventually.
For 2 months he didn't let anyone come near him even a couple of meters away. But believe me, he ate the food I left for him in the garden. He has a crippled front paw but even so he is amazingly fast when he feels he needs to disappear. With the speed of light. 

Anyway, over the last few months he is looking better, being well fed, my daughter manages to comb him regularly and all his fluff is looking a bit more organised and lovelier. Believe me, I have never seen such a fur ball in my life!! So much fluff in one place!! Reminds me of feathers, light and airy and his colour is so wonderfully orange. He is the prettiest kitty I have ever seen.

HERE you can find more photos from our favourite fur ball ;-)

The Good Life of Some Cats

Before we know it, the summer is gone. No trace of it left anywhere except maybe if you look hard you can still see some green in the pasture fields but it is quite faint and won't be there for long..

Hurricane Ophelia came and went. Storm Brian passed by as well. We got lucky here in Galway and the area, at least where I live nothing dramatic happened, even though we got ready - I gathered all the geraniums and lined them up along the wall, all pots and garden decorations went down on the ground...

The fact that the cats were relaxed and were out most of the those nights, that is how I knew it wasn't going to be that bad over here.

Because you see, our Mr Kitty he has a barometer inside him, he can can feel when the weather is going bad, then he barricades himself in our bedroom and you can not dislodge him from the bed with any instrument, shouting or complaints...He is there until the weather gets better and that's that.

It is good to be our cat, that is for sure!! Food any time he wants, comfy bed anywhere he desires,   hugs and cuddles any time at all really...whats not to like?!

Two months ago Mr Kitty brought himself a friend. We think this is what happened or The little guy just came here and found us on his own. 

Believe me, he is real cutie with a fluffy orange and white coat, but at that time he was completely out of his mind from neglect, starvation and total fear from everyone and everything. 

I took him a month just to let any one of us get near him. We only left a bowl of food out, he ate only if we went back inside and he camped in the green house. 

After a few weeks of regular meals and time to clean himself he turned into a completely different creature. It is so sad to know that he was left alone, to fend for himself simply because he is crippled with his front right paw. It looks like it was broken a long time ago and now it's healed the wrong way. He was also very terrified of humans and their appendages like legs and hands in particular and still is quite jumpy but not as much.  

Under my persistent loving care he surrendered completely. You should see the cuddles he gets and how he is loving it!! Sometimes I think he even asks for it himself!! But when I think about it he has a couple of years of cuddles and love to catch up on before he even starts his new life.

The Good Life of Some Cats, because it does not happen to everyone...

Mr Kitty and The Old Boys

Recently someone inquired how is our Mr Kitty doing so I felt I have to oblige the audience with a few words and photos of our latest acquisition. Latest because he is the last to join the two boxer dogs team we had already.  

He is just over a year now. We brought him in after my daughter's persistent mental warfare for months (which apparently worked we are really dog people here, or that's what we kept saying to ourselves?!) It was for her birthday and he was so tiny, just 4 weeks old and didn't know a thing (genie mac, he was so cute). 

I have to admit that he brought absolute havoc in the house. 

• He climbed and jumped everywhere (that was a shock compared to The Old Boy who was a lively puppy but never did anything so outrageous except once when he was really young and untrained and he reached on top of the stove and pushed a pot of soup on the floor. We found him hiding in the opposite side of the room behind the potted palm. he never did anything like that ever again ) 
• He had a lot to say and all the time, apparently this type of cats are called vocal. From all the cats in the world we managed to pick the most vocal kitten ever (compared to the Old Boys who never ever bark or utter a sound, except when playing, because we thought them not to do it. Fat chance trying to teach a cat not to meow)  
• Last Christmas, he totally wrecked our Christmas tree because he was constantly climbing on it and hiding among the branches. At the end it just broke in two (at least it was after Christmas) The Old Boy never did that, except on his very first Christmas when he gently pushed the tree over to get to all the chocolate decorations, which he unwrapped and ate happily during the night. Well, we never bought any more eatable decorations since then. 
• every time I was washing the dishes Mr. Kitty would climb on my shoulders, digging his lovely
  
  sharp claws from my ankles to my neck and then would watch fascinated until I finish (I can not describe all the scars we got from those so tiny but so piercing and sharp little tools of death)
• he loved to sit on top of the table while we eat and watch with the occasional "meow" (at least the Old Boys sit under the table while we eat, ha-ha) now that he is older he knows he is not allowed on the table and he only sits on the chairs and looks from there. Imagine a pair of piercing eyes staring at you over the edge with a bunch of twitching whiskers  
• by the way, we though Mr Kitty was a girl at first, until about 6 months later when we discovered that certain male attributes are growing, so from Kitty turned into Mr Kitty 
• The Old Boy kept following him everywhere like a shadow. It took him months to find out what the hell was that... 
  

Hanging around with our well trained and behaved dogs was definitely positive influence to Mr. Kitty

• he learned his name and when I call him he responds with a meow and comes, even if not right away. Sometimes he is too far, or too busy I presume, if he is out in the neighborhood, but as long as he can hear me he is home in the next 5-10 minutes.   
• he loves a good treat as much as anyone and at home we have our routines and the tree of them line up together, they all sit like good boys, we wouldn't have it any other way. So cute, two huge boxers and a tiny cat on the side 
• he also likes his walks and quite often he comes with me and the Old Boys for a short walk to the Waterfall. Imagine the look on peoples' faces when they meet us in the neighborhood ;) We are already known to everyone in the village because rain or shine we walk our dogs every single day. Now people say stuff like "You walk your cat too?!????!!!!??!!!"

So more or less this is what I can think of our Mr Kitty right now. This very moment he is rolled up in a ball in the middle of the sofa and he is not going anywhere - there is a wicked storm outside so he is taking it easy today until it is over. If push comes to shove he will share the sofa with me and the Old Boys while we watch some TV. 

Imagine that, a perfect evening....

Mr Kitty having fun

 

My daughter just said a few days ago, that if she knew having a cat is so much fun she would have asked for one a long time ago.

I tend to agree..even though I always considered myself strictly a dog person.... 

The very helpful kitty

Recently to complete the company of the two boxer dogs we acquired a tiny baby kitten just 4 months old. 

You would say that probably that was the most insane thing to do. But, she adjusted fast and furious into the household. Now she has the two old brutes wrapped around her tiny claw and she runs the whole parade. I bow to her.

She makes everyone get up and open the door for her (including the dogs) when she feels like she has to go for a snack or to visit the loo. And she really likes to snack often!! 

She likes to sleep on peoples knees and you better keep them straight, do not move because she doesn't like to be disturbed when napping. 

She likes to play with the dogs and attacks them from behind a door or a random wall and this is such an amazing site: imagine a tiny kitten suddenly flying with her paws spread wide and lounging herself at a dog 20 times bigger than her.

She loves to jump on my back with her claws first while I am washing the dishes and then just sits there on my shoulder looking at what I am doing. 

She also loves to help me when I work on the computer she loves to sit between the keyboard and the screen and to look at the images or the moving mouse, oh, and step on the keyboard and activate random actions.  Lovely. It is a very helpful kitty. 

That is why we love her very much, including the dogs, you should see how they snuggle together on the sofa or in front of the fire. It is the perfect addition to the madness that is our family. 

The very helpful kitty.  

  

She is really attracted to my plants and her mission is destroy and annihilate!!

He just looks at her all the time and wonders, what the hell is she up to now?!

After lots of playing it is time for a snooze

The gang is on the move, the leader is ahead 

She can be a real angel

And a few seconds later a real monster

The older boxer is tottally in love with her and follows her everywhere

She is so fast, she is just a blur most of the time, no camera can catch her!!  

thanks for being here with me