Friday Foto ~ “I’m not Fat….I’m Fluffy”

 

 

 

 

 

(This is Jax's cat, Hopi. She is 3 yrs old)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Hello Up There!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Fotos ~ Felines

 

Since I talked about our dogs on one of the recent Sunday Still’s Challenges, and I talked about our flock of chickens just last week, and Apache usually gets in the spotlight on a regular basis, I figured it was time to give our cats a chance to shine, too.

I’ve been playing with a new photo editing program called PhotoScape for the past week and really like it. Last year I would primarily use Picnic if I wanted to do any serious editing, or just use a basic Windows Photo editing program for minor contrast tweaks and to add a signature. But Picnic is an online program that only gives you a few editing options unless you pay for a subscription, while PhotoScape not only gives you lots of creative options, it is a downloadable program, so you can edit photos and play around even when you don’t want to be online….plus it’s free!

Anyway, all of the photos below, I have edited using PhotoScape. Let me know what you think and if you have any favorites. 

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We have 3 spayed female indoor cats that are named Javalina, Hopi, and Sage.

Javalina is my daughter, Jen’s cat and we adopted her when she was just a tiny kitten, in Benson, Arizona, 5 years ago when we were pet-sitting for friends.

Javalina is a very special Manx cat that is completely devoted to Jen. She rarely ever let’s my daughter out of her sight and will even sit beside the bathtub while Jen is taking a bath.

Javalina is very gentle, loving, and tolerant and sleeps and cuddles with Jen every night. She enjoys being carried around like a baby and will do just about anything for attention.

Hopi is a pretty Maine Coon mix cat who belongs to my twinling son Jax. Hopi was adopted from our local Animal Shelter 2 years ago as a kitten. She is a little more independant and likes her space, but Hopi is very loving and devoted to Jax and spends every night cuddling with him in his bed and tolerates all of his rough handling and playing.

(Sometimes Hopi will come into my bedroom and take a nap on my entertainment center shelves)

Sage is a beautiful Tabby cat who loves everyone. She was adopted as a kitten from our local Animal Shelter just a year ago and is primarily my twinling son Jem’s cat.

(Jem adores his cat and the feeling is mutual)

She spends every night cuddling and purring beside Jem, but seems to enjoy coming to my room every day to just hang out and be petted. She’d probably sleep with me, too. But my Dobbie Girl won’t allow it…..

Both Hopi and Sage will tolerate Dobbie sniffing around and playing with them, but Javalina always runs away, which gets Dobbie excited and in chase-mode.

(I used an antique filter for this photo of Sage peeking out at me from one of the shelves on my entertainment center)

All three of our cats are affectionate, gentle and treasured members of our family.

(There are quite a few antique filters to choose from, so decided to try out another one. Which is your favorite?)

 

Belated Birthday

 

Over the weekend, we finally were able to celebrate Jen’s 8th birthday, just a week late. We would have had her family party earlier in the week, but Jax came down with the same creeping crud that Jen and I were attacked by, and then Ranchman John was stricken by it, too. Jem finally got the nasty 24 hour virus yesterday and he’s feeling it’s affects right now. Poor guy.

But at least we were all feeling pretty good over the weekend. Feeling well enough to have a party!

There were presents.

 

 Thank you, Nana and Papaw for the Sponge Bob stuff. 

And her big brothers helped get everything assembled and ready to play with.

Jax was a little overwhelmed by all the feminine touches to the toys.

I don’t what’s stranger. The fact that my 14 year old son chooses to wear a nubby little elf hat every day. Or the fact that we don’t even notice it anymore. (except in photos. Why is that?)

But Jax was a pretty good sport and had some fun taking Polly Pocket down the zip line and setting her up by the campfire.

Jem worked hard inflating Jen’s new exercise ball, and measuring it’s circumference to just the right diameter.

 

And then it was time for ice cream cake…..looks like a finger or two may have already taste-tested it prior. ahem.

Gene Simmons…..Smurf Style.

And Miss Sage Kitty insisted on trying some of that electric blue frosting, too.

I think she was disappointed it wasn’t fish flavored.

Thanks to everyone for the sweet birthday wishes for Jen when she was sick. She still enjoyed a fun birthday even if the creeping crud tried to ruin it for her. Kids are pretty resilient that way.

Because You Asked

 

Yesterday I was quite bemused at all the questions and surprise garnered by my post: Friday Foto ~ Lofty Views , even more so because the location that Hopi was perched on is a place that all 3 of our kitties visit every day throughout the day, with no trouble at all. Someone even asked if I put Hopi up on that ledge. haha! I couldn’t if I tried. I can barely lift her and especially not up high above my head. She is heavier than my Dobbie Girl. Most cats seem to hide their lean, lithe bodies under layers of fluff, but not our Hopi. She is quite rotund under all that long fur. In fact, the kidlets tend to call her “squishy”, and “chunky monkey” when they are loving on her. Thankfully she is a very sweet, patient, and tolerant kitty.

Anyway, since so many of you were curious, I decided to take some photos of that window ledge and how easy it is for, not only our three kitties, but also our three kidlets to access that area anytime they like.

Jen has been known to carry a blanket and pillow, some toys or a book and just hang out up there. Often times her beloved Manx cat, Javelina will join her, and sometimes Sage, my twinling Jem’s cat, will jump up, too.

The perch is really just a plant ledge, at the landing between two flights of stairs on the way upstairs to our loft, offices and a couple bedrooms

There are no lovely plants gracing the ledge, though, because I tend to have a brown thumb. For some reason, Plants don’t seem to do well when you forget to give them water. Go figure.  Only one plant has managed to survive and thrive in my care and that is our ‘Jolly Green Giant’. A spindly banana leaf tree, it’s one of the reasons we chose this house with it’s two story high living room with lots of light, and room for JGG to grow. JGG has been with our family for over 16 years, after rescuing the 12” tall stubby scrub from K-Mart’s garden center toss-pile. JGG has moved with us 5 different times and traveled across country, from NM to SC and back again.

Anyway, it’s probably just as well we don’t keep plants on the ledge, because if we did, our cats would consider it their special vegetarian buffet.

The kitties do seem to like it up there and I imagine their instincts must kick in and they morph into mountain lions, leopards or jaguars, observing the world and their potential prey, ready to pounce!

So there ya go. I sure hope that helped solve The Mystery of The Lofty Views.          

Friday Foto ~ Lofty Views

 

My twinling, Jax’s sweet kitty, Hopi, enjoying the views from a living room window.

 

Be Careful What You Wish For!

 

I know I’ve been whining about the warm and snowless winter we’ve been having in New Mexico so far. I’ve been worrying about whether we’d have a White Christmas, or not. It seems that for us, a White Christmas has arrived a week early!

(This was taken around noon on Thursday, right after the snow started falling. Apache, the three goats and the two llamas are all in the barn)

(Note: We live in the Sandia and Manzano Mountains at 7,000 ft elevation.)

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**A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow is in effect until 11am MST Friday**

* Snow accumulations:

*10 to 18 inches with 2 feet or more across the Sangre de Cristo Mountains as well as the Sandia and Manzano Mountains above 6,500 feet.

*6 to 12 inches and higher amounts are likely along the I-25 corridor from the Colorado border Southward to Pecos and along the I-40 corridor from Moriarty Eastward through Clines Corners.

* Timing... snow will continue through Friday morning before
diminishing. Snow will be heavy at times... especially across
the higher terrain and adjacent Highlands.

* Local impacts... visibilities will drop below one quarter mile. Roads will become snow packed and icy... including Interstate 40 and Interstate 25. Precautionary/preparedness actions...

**A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow means severe winter weather conditions are occurring. Significant amounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only travel in an emergency**

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(Hopi, my son Jax’s cat, mesmerized by the falling snow)

I had a feeling it was going to be a doozy of a storm when Ranchman John blew off my gut feeling by saying that, on Wednesday, the weatherman was reporting just some minor snow showers for Thursday and Friday. I told him I had a bad feeling about this impending storm and he said it would blow over quickly and the snow would just be a dusting.

Hah! Famous last words!

He wasn’t so confident tonight when he backed his truck out of the garage and promptly got stuck because the 4-wheel drive went out. We spent an hour trying to get the truck unstuck, but the snow fell faster than we could shovel it out!

(This photo was taken only about 20 minutes after we gave up and went inside. The snow had already filled in all the footprints and shoveled areas)

Ranchman John had to call in to work and stay home instead. (Secretly I’m glad and very relieved) The road crews can’t even keep up with clearing the roads because the snow is falling faster than 2” an hour.

Earlier today I was suspicious of this storm when I went out and checked on the chickens, and they refused to come out, even after I shoveled an area for them to come out of their house. And just 30 minutes later, the entire area I had shoveled clean, all the way down to dirt, already had 2” of snow cover.

(Photo taken around noon Thursday)

I closed the chickens inside their cozy house with the heater bulb, warm water, and plenty of food to keep them busy. They seemed happy to be inside and said thank you by giving me three fresh eggs.

Apache was very happy to see me as I walked up to the barn.

(Photo taken about 3pm on Thursday)

It took us a while to walk carefully up the hill, while snapping a few photos. Dobbie says, “Hurry up. My belly’s getting cold!”

Apache mare was impatient, pacing, pawing and nickering.

 

“Hurry up and put that camera away. I’m hungry and bored up here”

The Llamas were so excited to see me they were both humming and pacing as I trudged up the hill.

I gave everyone cookies and carrots, fed them their hay, refilled water buckets, and tucked them in for the night. It was only 3:30pm, but it felt much later and was getting dark already.

Jen held my trekking poles while I took some photos.

I learned my lesson to use them last year, after slipping and falling on the snow and ice walking back down the hill from the barn.

Dobbie had fun in the snow for about 20 minutes and then she was more than ready to head back inside.

It’s tough having such short legs.

I wonder what we’ll be waking up to in the morning?

I took these two photos at 11:00pm Thursday night, on my bedroom balcony, and the snow is still falling hard and fast.