Kitsy

November 23, 2013

Caturday: go figure…

Note from Rudha-an: Lastech wrote most of this post. I wrote the bit about Titanescu. It was a joint effort, but he did most of the work. 🙂

Miss Jenny has been picking up an annoying habit lately. Some time at night, she’ll pick up one of her balls with her front paws then toss it or just drop it. The sound of her hard plastic toy with the pieces of tin inside hitting the floor wakes me instantly.

I now hide the toy in question every evening. But that got me thinking about all the odd stuff the pointy eared ones do. Once in a while I’ll find a present on the bed near my pillow. Nothing gross, just odd… Jenny leaves me the occasional wine cork or curiouser yet, the odd potato.

Miss Jenny: Dreaming of taters, birdies and mayhem

Why? What goes on behind those blue peepers? The Boober had his own eccentricities. Like loving my singing Corsican songs to him. From across the room he’d look up wide eyed then amble over to sit on my chest purring. I couldn’t begin to tell you how we started this routine, he and I, let alone why he only reacted to this particular type of song.

Kitsy the Space Oddity rabbit kicked me the first time I blew raspberries on his gut, but he grew to enjoy the attention. With him, it wasn’t just one odd thing. The way he did everything was strange and entertaining.

Tito likes to spoon water off the fountain with his paw to drink it. And when he begs for food it’s usually for another cat. Go figure…

Rudha-an: Titanescu is still showing us who he really is. His real oddities will shine through at some point.

Titanescu having a nap with dad. This is very dangerous. If Lastech wishes to move, he must do so VERY slowly or risk multiple lightning fast paw strikes. Titanescu does NOT like to be disturbed

Why are the pointy eared people so weird at times? The video says it all. 🙂

March 2, 2013March 2, 2013

Caturday: what you want and what you get

Waiting for the Pointy Eared people to work out their treaties and other political deadlocks, I look through older photos and forward to the tribe coming together.
So today is part retrospective, part look back to the future…

This is what I want:

Caturday Tito Kitsy Jenny — L to R: Maz, Jenny and yes, Tito

Tito does the camouflage very well on this dark shiny blanket, but I think Titan will blend in even better…

… This is what I get:

Jenny going monkey crazy on cat tower — “La Voltigeuse” on a cat tower that’s seen better days

And a really good thing it is that we “moored” the tower to the bookcase, or it would have been toppled countless times…

This is what I want:

Little Tito and Boober — I wuvs you Bubby…

The Boober did have the patience of a saint…

This is what I got:

The cat tower has seen better days — Young Tito pole dancing

Meanwhile, next door:

Titan in new surroundings — Titan a.k.a. Captain Stubby

Just under Titan’s stubby tail is a teddy bear. It’s not what it looks like: these are the bears’ eyes and nose.
Maybe in the future we’ll have a cat named Jupiter or Jove, and Titan will moon him, rather easy with that nub of his…

Dedicated to our spectacular dramatis personae Maz Whang and Boober…

Kitsy sunning in the kitchen — Dramatic Kitsy being… Dramatic

Boober and his toys — The ultimate charmer

Finally, I now realize I blamed the cats unfairly when I couldn’t find my socks… I had no idea!

January 1, 2013October 28, 2013

2012: JBoD’s year in review

Happy New Year!

Now is the time to take a minute and look back on this past year, and the ways it affected the JBoD microcosm.

We spent much of 2012 watching sunsets and wildlife (fins!) from local beaches, but in April, we chose to visit the neighboring hill known as Bernalwood where stunning California poppies in full bloom awaited. On another more recent trip, amazing clouds treated us to an ‘air show’…

In May, we finally managed a trip to see the California Academy of Sciences. The albino alligator named Claude is a real beauty.

I took a lot of photos, so it’s in four parts. One, two, three and four.

In May, our glorious Golden Gate Bridge turned 75 years old. I’ve lived here for ten years and I never get tired of seeing her.

In June, a contractor working a few doors down from our home base cut into a gas line, resulting in a gas explosion and fire. Purely by chance, prevailing winds minimized the spread of the damage, a very good thing considering how long it took to shut off the gas. The kind of scene best left in movies, not real life. The Pointy Eared people weren’t amused…

Gas fire and explosion on San Bruno Ave — Firefighters in action. The tan and brown building on the far left is where the construction was. The dentist office was in the white building.

Then in July, we lost our sweet, comical tyrannical food thief Kitsy to FIP. It was sudden and awful and I still haven’t been able to write a proper post for him. As for Lastech, he is still coming to terms with the possibility that the virus which took him might have been introduced by Miss Jenny. So little is known about FIP and no test being available, it remains a painful mystery.

Kitsy narrating LOL woman in black — “… Don’t go chasing shadows, Gigadoon…”

In August, we went to the park on a foggy morning and came across some wildlife with a pissy attitude.

In September, Miss Nightshade Jenny brought me a most bizarre gift.

Later in September, we got to see the Space Shuttle Endeavor fly over the Golden Gate Bridge. Incredible!

In November, we went to the Japanese Tea Garden and Arboretum for a bit of zen. We wound up having a wonderful surprising encounter with a hawk.

The hawk was sitting in the tree just above eye level and only ten feet from the path.

A week or so later, we went exploring the Coastal Trail near the Golden Gate Bridge. We encountered another hawk, a couple of hummingbirds, a slug and a wonderful sunset.

Anna's hummingbird — Did I mention that hummingbirds like the pretty purple flowers?

We finished off the year by exploring the cliffs around Battery Mendell, a coastal battery that was built before WWI.

That was our 2012 for the most part. Some was good and some was bad. Hopefully, 2013 will be an even better year.

Happy New Year from JBoD

Rudha-an, Lastech, Tito, and Miss Nightshade Jenny

September 1, 2012September 1, 2012

Caturday: shelf monsters and pack rats

As anyone who lives with cats knows, they are mischievous, wicked, naughty, thieving little critters. Some, will steal your food like Kitsy used to do. His preference was bacon, but he would settle for pizza. Some are paper shredders. The Boober’s favorite was the paper towel roll. We used to have to hide the rolls in the cupboard.

Tito is the shelf monster. If it’s on the shelf, it won’t be for long. He’s an expert of knocking items off one at a time. This is quite disturbing at 3am. We learned the hard way that breakable items have to be stored away.

This is what Tito is like in action. His nickname should really be Ruprecht. The important part begins at 3:55 minutes in.

Some, like Miss Jenny, love to steal various items from around the house and hide them in bed. She’s a regular pack rat. Trust me, you don’t go to bed in this apartment without going through the bedding looking for all the stray items. A ballpoint pen in the posterior is not my idea of fun.

This is just a small sample of the items found in our bed.

toys in bed — Found in bed: One sock, two corks, one mechanical pencil, one screwdriver, one broken clothes hanger, one bottle cap and one black plastic doohumflicky

July 28, 2012

Caturday: Catso Fascista 2009-2012

They say that when you’re young, you know what you hate and that as you get older, you know what you love and shift your focus.
I think that’s true but I hate disease more and more, disease of any variety, which diminishes those you love until it kills them. I can’t get used to it, and I’m not certain Kitsy’s passing has sunk in even now.
Maybe it’s because he was so much larger than life, that I have trouble thinking of him as truly gone.
Everything about Kitsy was superlative and he was a hell of a model, even though he never managed to hold a pose quite long enough. One thing he liked was getting petted roughly before I blew raspberries on his gut. He’d get up, fold his big flappers of ears back and leap off.
What we had for the past couple months or so was a wasted version of him.
Lately, he had appeared to make some improvement. The weight, however was located in his gut and his spine and ribs continued to show. His muscle mass continued to diminish and he had more trouble jumping in the last few days.
What confirmed what we were afraid to know and discuss, was what the other cats did. They nestled with Kitsy to keep him warm at night, Jenny checked on him constantly, and Tito would lure me to the bathroom were I’d sit on the edge of the tub and pet him on my lap.
New behavior which I took as offers of comfort from the big cat.
As to Jenny, she accompanied Kitsy wherever he went, literally shadowing him. By then she also looked much bigger than he.
So we had him for two years, and that seems like a very short time…
The vet told us that the disease affected mostly young cats, and what a rotten thing that is.
I will miss his excesses and countless transgressions. I used to joke he was like a shark, an eating machine constantly looking for food to steal, and last night it struck me to see bacon strips on a plate in the kitchen left unmolested. Yet I can’t help thinking that even though he’s clearly not here he is not in fact gone.
I will miss our arguments, me calling him names and him probably demanding noms. He was a great outlet for my frustrations the fearless little bastard who never had a bad mood and would make Tito and I exchange disbelieving looks.
I can’t wait to dream about him.

“Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed.“

Led Zeppelin “Kashmir”

July 14, 2012

Caturday: glam edition!

Time for Mazuzu and Jenny to share the limelight, since Tito isn’t so much into posing. Maz continues to improve, even though it will take time to recover the weight he lost, and Jenny helps him along.

Kitsy Rolling Stones cover — Yep, still magic and demonic at once

When he sleeps under covers, she likes to dart in and out to check on him, farting as she goes. We call that “trailing mines”… But she’s oh-so cute.

As for Tito, his influence runs deep…

Tito in the pool — That’s a tall drink of water all right…

June 16, 2012October 30, 2013

Caturday: The Calm After the Mayhem

On Wednesday, I posted about the awful gas line explosion and fire that happened a few doors down from us on our block. I may have thought it was bad, but our pointy eared people thought it was a lot worse. When the gas ignited, there was a “whomp” that we could feel underfoot. The kitties immediately scattered, diving under furniture and hiding in closets. My fast pace to get outside and see if we needed to evacuate didn’t help any. After that, it was a cacophony of sirens, air horns and people yelling. They were scared, and I don’t blame them.

The poor kitties have been jumpy ever since. Today, they are finally relaxing. While they still startle a bit easier than they did, they are happy to relax and spend time with us again.

Miss Jenny has discovered the joys of sleeping under a blanket

Tito has decided that he prefers to drink water by ladling it with his paw

Kitsy and Miss Jenny napping. Poor Kitsy is still too skinny. He's fine now, but it's taking forever to fatten him up again — Kitsy and Miss Jenny napping. Poor Kitsy is still too skinny. He’s fine now, but it’s taking forever to fatten him up again

We have always appreciated our firefighters. This week showed just how much we rely on them.

We leave you with another photo of our firefighters in action. This was a grass fire that occurred on June 5, 2012.

June 9, 2012

Caturday: King of the Mountain Edition

This could also be called the “what the heck?” edition. As you all know, Caturday is for the pointy eared people. We mention them at other times, but Caturday is their day. Tito isn’t really a lap kitty.
He’s extremely affectionate, he just doesn’t jump into laps unless you’re sitting on the kitchen floor, but that’s another post altogether. Lastech was attempting to make his way from the kitchen to the front room.
Tito was doing the famous cat dance and weaving in and out in front of him. He decided to pick up Tito and have a short snuggle. Tito loved it. Then he proceded to climb up and over Lastech, who had to bend over to accommodate him. Tito has all of his claws, so it was necessary as a falling cat can do a lot of damage. I managed to grab the camera.

Tito playing "King of the Mountain" and Lastech being the mountain

Kitsy has always been cold. He loves to sleep wrapped in a blanket. Now that he’s too skinny, he’s even colder. Miss Nightshade Jenny has been transformed into Miss Nightingale Jenny.

Miss Jenny and Kitsy — Miss Nightingale Jenny keeping Kitsy nice and warm

This next video, about best friends, has been approved by the pointy eared people. It’s sweet as vanilla beans. It is came to us via littlepigfarmuk at YouTube. Go give them a visit.

June 2, 2012October 30, 2013

Caturday: Scrambled Brains Edition

No, it’s not the zombie apocalypse. It’s just life dropping bombs on us and getting in the way. We suddenly found out we needed four new tires for the car. OW! Anyhow, the car is at the shop.

Enough of that. It’s Caturday and time for our pointy eared people to have the spotlight.

This is an older photo of Kitsy. He was sick and while he’s doing much better, he still looks far too skinny. He’s eating and eating, so I think it won’t take too long to get him back to normal.

I'm practicing my dainty look — I’m practicing my dainty look

May 12, 2012October 30, 2013

Caturday and Mother’s Day Wishes

It’s another Caturday and time for the pointy eared people to have the spotlight. I also want to wish my mom and all the other moms a Happy Mother’s Day! In addition, we want to extend an extra happy Mother’s Day wish to our friend Flumptytail. She is the best cat mum ever. Last year, we wrote about her in Tito and Kitsune Reflect on Mother’s Day.

Here is a small excerpt in Flumpty’s words:

I keep a big cage in the dining room for when I have to keep a cat in it overnight if they’re getting neutered or spayed or their teeth cleaned, etc. in the morning. I leave the door open other times and the cats like to sleep in it. Here is a picture of a pile of kittehs.

flumptytails cats — Lots of kitties. Photo by flumptytail

I’m sorry we haven’t posted much lately. Lastech went through a schedule change. The schedule means I’ve wandered around for a week not knowing what day it was. I confuse easily, what can I say. At least I remembered that it was Caturday. Here are our pointy eared people.

Tito is yelling at me for interrupting his nomming session

Kitsy aka Maz Whang watching the neighborhood. He's still too thin, but we're working on that. — Kitsy aka Maz Whang watching the neighborhood. He’s still too thin, but we’re working on that.

Here is the lovely Miss Jenny perfecting her cute look. She has the other two wrapped around her little claw.