Bella (Tabby Tuesday)

I have written a lot about the bonding that has occurred between Baci and Dolce. But there is one effect of this bonding that I have not written about; its effect on Bella.

Bella has always been a very independant cat. She would play with Smudge and even with Magoo sometimes, but she never seemed to need to play with either of them. When we brought Dolce home, Dolce wanted to play with Bella after all they were the two girls of the house. Bella really did not want any part of it. In fact, Dolce's exhuberance seemed to be causing Bella even more stress.

Now with Baci to keep her preoccupied, Dolce leaves Bella alone; and that suits Bella fine. She is reverting back to the thoughtful loving lady cat she was before Dolce. She will hop up onto the couch and make biscuits on whoever is laying there watching TV or reading a book. We have even caught her playing tub hockey with one of the catnip mouses. I think she is practising for this year's CatOlympics.

She comes for some chin scritches on a regular basis and even greets us in the morning with a tiny little chirp as we get out of the shower. She insists on helping my wife with her makeup every morning. I think Baci likes her too, but she will not play with him. At least, they aren't scrapping and hissing at each other.

I had almost forgot what a beautiful little soul there was behind those big yellow-green eyes.


Pee Ess: Who ever left the puddle in the bathroom for Dad to step in, is officially on the Naughty List for the rest of the year. Not even donating blood or a kidney will get you off it.

The Christmas Tree is up...for now...

Last weekend, my wife and I got our Christmas tree setup for the season. Of course it is minus any ornaments at this time. We do this every year in hopes that the cats will get bored of the brightly lit tree after a week and then we can start putting all of the ornaments and ribbon on it.

Last year, Dolce and Bella took turns going for rides in the tree. (My wife purchased a tree that rotates.) Dolce thought that this was the greatest thing ever. She sat on one of the branches and enjoyed the ride. Well, she has climbed the tree several times this week and has found a comfortable spot on one of the branches. I saw her looking out at me. She had this look that seemed to say... Turn on the Tree, Dad. Turn it on. Make it spin like last year. Turn on the tree, Dad.

We have been closely watching Baci to see what his level of fascination will be with the tree. Right now, he only seems interested in it when Bella or Dolce are in the tree or if Dolce is playing with one of her mouses underneath the treeskirt. Hopefully, he remains this oblivious once the ribbon and ornaments go on. Magoo might be fascinated by the ornaments and ribbon, but he is too old and too husky to do any real investigation or damage.

Baci, on the otherhand, is a little Furricane just waiting to make landfall. Once that happens, all of our stuff will end up strewn about the living room and the tree will be unceremoniously uprooted. I wonder if the Canadian Red Cross would cover the damage from Furricane Baci.

Bella, Queen of the Household

I have mentioned before that Bella is my Thinker. She is also Queen of the Household. She is also one of the hardest of my cats to write about. To say there is nothing special about her would be a lie, so there are things about her I could write. But she is so quiet and independent in her ways, they might seem to be no different than what you see your own beloved cats doing.

Bella shares a treat with Dolce.

Bella on yard patrol.

She does have a few bad traits such as hopping the fence to go and visit the nieghbors. This always earns her a little time under house arrest (no yard patrol).

But other than that she is a very quiet cat. She shows up every morning for a quick chin scritch or a snorgle. Bella sits on my wife's lap and helps her with her mascara before she heads off to work. Bella cries with the rest of the cats when Stinky Goodness is offered.

I often wonder what she is thinking. Does she wish for things unattainable or contemplate simple things like why her mouses are blue and green? Whatever it is, it does not stop her from making happy paws on my stomache while she sits and purs.

She is and always will be the Queen of our Household.

Hippo Birdday to Dad!

Today is Dad's Hippo Birdday as Victor Tabbycat likes to sing. He's almost ancient. Not as bad as Magoo who is all the way ancient. We had to sing the Hippo Birdday song to him over the phone because he working on project again.

I don't know who this Project person is but I do not like them taking our Dad away from us all the time. Maybe Dad can introduce Project to Baci. Then Project might take him away for a little bit. Boy would that be nice.

Mom sent Dad an e-card. It had kittens playing on a trampoline. It was furry furry funny.

Dolce

PS. Dad is thinking about taking Bella with him on Project since he has a nice apartment. He says he misses us lots when he is gone. Mom thinks it would be a good idea to give Bella some snuggle time with Dad all by herself. What do you think?

Mr. DeMille, Is It time For My Close Up?

You have seen the power of Zoom, now behold the splendor that is Macro.

Our Prime Minister has recently returned to me that portion of my Income Taxes that he was not entitled too. I decied that I needed one more lense to complete my new camera package; a 100mm F2.8 Macro lens. At 11 inches, it can reproduce life-size images or really neat stuff. I have taken some pictures of the flowers that my wife got after her surgery, some rocks outside, some stupid household items, and of course pictures of the cats.

In Monday's post, Beau Beau & Angie said... "Had to post again -- Baci looks so so stunning in that shot and has the look of an old soul. Do you think so?"

I don't think he has an old soul, but he does have a deep intelligense within his eyes that is far greater than his eight months of life. This lead me to look through some of the 1,000 pictures I have taken of the cats since I got the new camera. Did I ever tell you much I enjoy digital cameras?

The following two pictures are pretty close to life size. I can't be completely sure because neither Bella nor Dolce were very cooperative when I tried to hold their heads up next to the computer monitor.

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Bella's eyes don't so much imply an old soul, but a deeply caring and loving one. She has the biggest eyes of all of the cats. They make her seem like a kitten still.

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Dolce's eyes say Trouble, with a capital "T".

Everyone stated how terrifying Magoo looked as he patrolled his backyard. I wanted everyone to also see why we love him so much. When he is asleep. Magoo is a great big purring teddy bear.
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Note his tongue partially sticking out.


Pee Ess: I have no picture of Baci's eyes closeup because he always scrunches his face up when I get too close with the camera.

What's Up Wednesday

It has been a little hectic in the House the last two weeks. Work has me travelling and the wife was cleared for surgery so she has been running around the house getting everything cleaned and organized so that things don't pile up while she is recuperating. But that is enough about the underlings/ the paid help of the House.

Everycat in the House is doing well. Magoo is getting grumpier and grumpier about not being outside every moment of the day now that the snow is gone. A couple of neighborhood cats have been coming by and leaving their calling cards. This is really aggravating Magoo. We have caught him peeing where he shouldn't.

Bella is doing a lot better now that Dolce is distracted by her new brother Baci. Bella doesn't seem a stressed as she was before. She is back to sitting on my wife's lap and helping her with her makeup. She comes and says Good Morning and Good Night everyday. The number of mats in her fur have gone down drastically. I guess she does have to worry about being cannonballed by Dolce when she wasn't looking.

Dolce is being Dolce. Everything happens at 100 mph. She is has started to cuddle again and even fell asleep on my lap while the Wife and I watched movies on the weekend. She hasn't done that in months. I think it really ahs to do with having a willing and able playmate in Baci. Although Baci loves bedtime, his ears perk up when he hears Dolce calling to him. They are a very sweet twosome. I'm not calling them a couple, because I think Dolce still has a thing for Scout.

As for Baci...Well I could write a couple of pages of what a little Mancat he is becoming. His paws are huge. They are rapidly approaching Magoo's in size. In a word, he is "Snorglelicious". He loves to be picked up and cuddled. He follows you around and cries until you pet him or scoop him up from the floor. Then you get to hear his deep rumbling purr. He has tried to make friends with Magoo, but his older brother can't be bothered to train another sibling. Bella doesn't want much to do with him either, which is okay because Dolce loves him. Baci loves her right back.

In less than a week, Baci will be turning 8 months old. He is firmly caught between the goofy kitten months and the transition into a young adult cat. He is now of a size where he can reach things on tables without a lot of awkwardness or clumsiness. It is amazing to see what becomes a cat's first obsession when they suddenly realize that they can get things down that they want. For Bella and Smudge, it was Q-tips; for Dolce, it was fishing socks out of the hampers; for Magoo, well he didn't seem to care about any of that sort of thing; and for Baci, it is change that I have left on my nightstand. He gets this determined little scowl on his face and he reaches up and slowly pulls the coins off the table. He is happiest when they hit the floor and roll into the heat register. There is way more noise that way. Let me tell you, it scares the crap out of you when he does it at 3:00 AM.

It's a short spell until I am home again with my Wife and the Cats. As silly as it sounds, I am counting the sleeps.