My friend Rens

It’s been cold outside, really cold. I haven’t seen much sign of animal life outside. In fact, I’ve  been having staring contests across the road with Jet and Neo. They’re lucky that they get the afternoon sun on their lounging spot on the window ledge behind their couch. And because they live in a newer house they don’t have to deal with drafty walls.

Let me tell you about Rens. We like to cuddle in front of the fireplace, especially when the fire is hot and the embers are glowing. Our fire is gas fueled so I don’t have to worry about being stepped on with someone having to stoke the fire. This is probably good because Mom told me that Dad used to be quite the firef*cker.

Sometimes I massage Rens’ back. Every now and then I give Rens a good scratch. You know when you have an itch and you need to find a corner to get it? Not a problem for Rens. I also lick Rens’ belly once in a while too. Sometimes it’s just because we’re cuddling together and my tongue keeps licking and licking. Then I open my eyes and realize I’m not cleaning myself anymore.

Mom sometimes brushes Rens and then shows me how soft Rens has become. I don’t get jealous when Rens get brushed because I don’t really want to be brushed now anyways. I need all the fur I can get when it’s this cold outside.

So meet my friend Rens:

Me and Rens snuggling in front of the fire.

My winter wonderland

I must say that I’ve enjoyed having my Mom around more. She’s still trying to establish a new routine, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to influence that. You know … 8:30: play with stick, 9:00 nap, 9:30: play with stick, 10:00: nap, etc.

One of the tasks she accomplished while it was still cold outside was to stomp down the snow into paths all over our back yard. This meant by the time it warmed up on the weekend, I had lots of places I could go without encountering any of that salt they throw on the sidewalk. Every time she goes out she either widens the trail or sets new track. Dad even got in on the action by extending the path from the deck around the side of the house to the front. Unfortunately it’s a dead end, although it does end at the lovely Christmas tree.

This morning was the mildest morning yet, even though it was cloudy. Mom didn’t go for a walk when Dad left for work so I waited with anticipation to hear those magic words: “Wellington! Go outside? Go for a walk?”

But before that could happen, all the neighbourhood cats were running through my trails. I really should charge a fee. What if they needed to be rescued? Would we be responsible? I watched Neo, the orange cat from across the street, meander across the yard. I had followed him from window to window as he strutted up our driveway. He had the audacity to turn around and stare at me, like he was saying, “Ha ha! I’m outside and you’re not!”

So instead of going upstairs for a nap, I bothered Mom until she took me outside. But by then Neo had moved on down the kitty highway. Mom warned me not to eat any yellow snow. She said Neo may have left some winter graffiti.

Mom and I spent about an hour outside this morning. The birds all swooped down onto the lilac bushes and ash tree. I tried to stay quiet when one settled into the cedar hedge, but Mom startled it as she crunched the snow beneath her feet.

My influence on Mom’s new weekday routine is to get her to take out the fishing rod stick after lunch. Before lunch she seems to be quiet busy and sometimes locks me out of the computer room while she practices the piano. She’s getting pretty good for an old fart.

Today she locked me out because she was busy putting together a movie for you to enjoy my romping around outside. It took her forever ….

 

Happy New Year

I know, I know, it’s been ages since I posted. But I’ve been busy growing up. But like my Mom and Dad, I don’t plan to ever stop being playful. Well, at least as long as my body will allow.

I can tell that this year is going to be a good year. For my birthday I got to go away to the Pussycat Hotel. Although I don’t really like going in the car for long drives, it was a bit better this last time. Mom kept my bum in the pet carrier, but let me stick my head out. That way I got lots of pets from her and got to see where we going.

When I stayed there last winter, there wasn’t a lot of snow outside and I could still see the grass in the fields. The cows next door would mosey over and chomp on it, staring at me. I think I won the stare-down, but their eyes seem so empty it’s hard to know what they’re looking at.

This time, my window faced west and I got the afternoon sun. Sometimes I would see big loud machines go racing by on top of the snow. They would spin around and make circles in the snow too.

The hotel was a lot fuller too. Almost every room had a cat in it. This made it a challenge for me to call myself the top cat. But after a week, everybody knew the pecking order, and I was on top.

On the first day, I stayed in my room and observed my surroundings. When the owners came by I told them I wanted out and hissed, but they wouldn’t let me. Sometimes I climbed the screen door just to get a better view.

But once I was out in the main common area, I had a blast. Ian had built new condos for us to play in. And they had tunnels, just like the one at home. But the best part was when Ian brought out the stick. I didn’t know they had a stick there!

I jockeyed to get the best pouncing position, and most times I got the feather first. We were a group of five bumping into each other as we fixated on the stick, string and feathers at the end.

Although I had a great time on vacation, I was really happy when my parents came to pick me up. All the way home in the car, my Mom petted and cuddled me. And she told me after three days I would see a big change.

I waited three days and didn’t notice anything. But after Dad had gone to work four days, I did notice something …. Mom hasn’t gone back to work yet.

Dad says it’s because she’s re-tired. But she doesn’t have any wheels, she’s got feet. So I’m not sure what this means. Mom says she’s going to be spending more time with me. In fact, she stomped down paths in the snow in the backyard so I can run around when it warms up. If it warms up.

So, with Mom’s help, I hope to be able to stick to my new year’s resolution: one post per week!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for my blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,200 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.