Maggie Magee

Lizzie here! The Mistress brought furry chaos to the office the other day. She came home from a trip with a tiny grey ball of fuzz. At first we thought she'd brought home a rat or a possum. She confused us by taking it in the house to show the Grandparents, though. She wouldn't do that with a rat or possum. Grandmother would've had a fit! So obviously it couldn't be either of those. After further thought, the possibility of it being a new toy for us cats was brought up. That was an exciting proposition. Then the Mistress brought it to us, adding to the hype. It was NOT a toy. It was a kitten. A small female kitten. Maggie Magee. Very tiny and quite vocal. Molly hates her. Huey ignores her. Tipsy is cautiously optimistic and wary. And me....well, I'm not sure how I feel about her just yet. I already accepted Moses being here and now there's another newbie...she is kinda cute, though. Not beautiful like me, but still. The Mistress has been keeping her in the house since she's so itty bitty, a fact that makes me kind of jealous, but I can't really be mad. A kitten her size shouldn't be roaming around willy nilly here. Too many cars, for one. Neighborhood dogs sometimes get out, too. Then there's the fact that kittens just don't respect individual territories and us older cats have our set spaces. Molly would cuff her for sure if she got into one of his places. So it's best she stay in until she can follow the rules and take care of herself. However, if she gets to stay in the house infinitely, I'm going to be furious. That wouldn't be fair to the rest of us! I'll be keeping a close eye on her for sure. I need to go check in on Maggie now, actually. It's been a few hours. Later!

Lazy Days

Lizzie here! Nothing really interesting has happened this week. It's been a week of nothing but laziness. It's kinda weird- usually something noteworthy happens, but not this week. As the weather gets nicer, the Grandparents have been spending more and more time outside. Usually on the front porch in the comfy chairs. Those chairs are the prime spot for cat naps in the afternoon, so it's been disrupting the peace a bit as all us cats fight for good spots on the porch. It's more difficult than it sounds, I assure you. If you find a good spot with lots of sunlight, chances are you'll end up getting a paw or tail rocked over by the chair. If you find a spot where you won't get rocked over, it doesn't have enough sunlight. Add in the fact that five cats are trying to find good spots on a 6' by 6' porch with two rocking chairs, and it becomes a battle royale. I don't really know why the Grandparents choose that porch to sit, since the only view is cars going by, but it's the perfect opportunity to suck up to them and gain possible entry into the house. An opportunity I cannot refuse. Besides the furry fury to find a proper sunspot, the most exciting thing that's happened recently has been the giant butterfly that's been hanging about. I heard the Mistress say it's a "Monarch". It looks like a zebra and Tipsy has become obsessed with it. She tried to get it the other day when it landed on one of the Grandmother's flowers, but it flew away so fast that Tipsy only managed to squash the flower. Grandmother was NOT happy about that and she gave Tipsy an ear-full for sure. This week has been so lazy that none of us cats have even bothered with the squirrels running about. They're all over the place, gathering nuts and hiding them and whatnot, but none of us have the energy to get up and chase them. Laziness is infectious and hard to get rid of....I'm hoping for some excitement or cooler weather to help shake it off. I think I'm going to go back to the porch and enjoy the last of the afternoon sun with the Grandparents, so later! Lizzie out!

Molly's Strange Device

Tipsy Reporting In! There's been a strange development here that has me worried, especially since we have a new member to our group. Moses is already wary and I'm afraid anything too out of the ordinary may convince him to move on - something I strongly oppose as he is a great asset to our security. The Mistress recently gave us all collars (apparently without them we could possibly be snatched up and taken away - I have yet to figure out how these collars repel such threats, however), but this week she upgraded Molly's. His collar now sports some strange mechanical device. At first I thought it might be additional protection since he has the tendency to just disappear. Perhaps a weapon of some sort. Upon further investigation, I found it to be a tracker device. I confronted the Mistress about this and she said that Molly has been disappearing for longer lengths of time now and coming back thin so she's been getting worried about where he's been going. This way she'll be able to find him and make sure he's okay. That's pretty cool, but I don't know that I would like one of my own. I'm not sure if I should inform Moses of the device's purpose - he may not like it and leave. He didn't keep his own collar on very long, despite being told that it would keep him from being taken away. I will have to try harder to convince him to stay no matter what. It's time for a border patrol, so I will end my report here. Tipsy, Over and Out!

Ribbons and Moses

Lizzie here! The newbie is now officially part of our group- he has been named by the Mistress. He is called Moses. I'm still not happy about his being here, but I guess I should get used to it. Just because he's one of us now doesn't mean he'll be blogging, though. Or getting computer time. He seems to prefer staying outside under the tree with all the shiny glass baubles anyway. All of us love that spot- it's very pretty. And cool. It's a huge area covered in shade and the glass baubles shine different colors on the ground. I wish the Mistress would hang some ribbon in the tree for us to play with. It'd be nice to play in the shade with springy, crunchy ribbons....she won't do it, though. I think she's afraid we'll break all that glass. I wouldn't. I have great aim. I'd get those ribbons without even a hair touching any of the glass stuff. Maybe if I show her how awesome I'd be at not breaking anything she'd allow ribbon in the tree. I wonder if Tipsy has any ribbon...she collects stuff....no, no I'm not going to ask her. Moses is probably with her and I don't know if he's a tattle-tail. I won't risk it. I'll just sneak into the big house- I'm really good at that. Surely there's some ribbon in there. Speaking of the big house, I hear the Grandparents outside, which means one of the doors is going to be opening soon. It's my chance- wish me luck! Lizzie out!

I Want a Tree Stump

Lizzie here! Remember that huge tree that fell in our yard during the thunderstorm? The Mistress hired some other humans to remove it, and they've been working on cutting it up into smaller pieces and taking them away. But sometimes they leave some of the cut pieces. And that, my friends, is the fun part. I'm talking Hide-and-Seek, Ruler of the Stump (I always win at this), sunbathing, claw sharpening...all sorts of great things. Stumps are fantastic. They smell wonderful, too. I've been trying to convince the Mistress to let us keep some in the backyard (less car noises back there), but she keeps asking me how I plan to move the heavy things back there. I thought her humans could do it. She said it was unnecessary trouble for them since we cats have three cat towers and multiple scratching posts, including her bottle tree, and that we don't need any more. I tried to argue that we don't have any STUMPS, but it didn't work. The workers seem to be almost done, too. That means the stumps won't be here much longer. Maybe if I get the other cats to help, we could push some of them into the backyard. Then it will be unnecessary trouble to remove them! Those stumps are pretty heavy, though....maybe I should get Tipsy and Molly to round up some of their friends from the nearby neighborhood....and I should probably do it today, since the workers will probably be back tomorrow. Hmm....yes, today would be good. I'm off to gather cats and save me a tree stump! Til next time!

Sparklers and Steak Fries

Lizzie here! It’s the FOURTH OF JULY! That means the Mistress and the Grandparents are grilling all sorts of delicious things. I hope they plan to share because I can smell the steaks and burgers all the way in here! There are already booms and screaming whistles going on, though it’s not even completely dark yet. The Mistress promised us cats that they wouldn't do any of the big fireworks, just sparklers, so we wouldn't get all frazzled and upset. I’m not too fond of the noisy fireworks. Huey doesn't care, but Molly and Tipsy go crazy, running around everywhere trying to find good hiding spots. I just hunker down in the office and play Angry Birds. Oh, I smell steak fries. They just put steak fries on the grill. Delicious steak fries of yumminess. Perhaps I will brave the outdoors long enough to snag me a few tasty tidbits….I’ll have to eat them by the carport, though, or the other cats will want me to share. I don’t want to share. They can be brave and get their own. There aren't too many fireworks going right now….maybe I can wait under the truck for the food to be done and be the first in line! It’s a solid plan. I like it. I will do it. Hope you guys have a wonderful Fourth, filled with many burgers, steak fries, and the lot! And use more sparklers, less big fireworks- kitties everywhere will thank you. Here I come, steak fries! Lizzie out!

Reluctant Surrender

Lizzie here! These past two weeks have been horrible. The Mistress is not only feeding the new cat, she's actually trying to catch it now. Looks like it's going to become a part of our group with or without my approval...it comes inside the office when no one is here, so Tipsy thinks she should be staying in here with us at night. She's even tried to herd it in here, pushing at it with her head and everything. I did all I could, I went above and beyond, so while it is very reluctant....I surrender. I surrender with dignity and grace. Somewhat. I still throw nasty looks at it when I see it, just to remind the ginger that I don't much care for it's presence. The Mistress hasn't been able to pet it, but she can get pretty close now. It's only a matter of time before it joins us. Or leaves. I'd prefer leaves. On a separate note, one of the recent thunderstorms gave us all a huge scare. The biggest tree in the front yard got struck by lightening- it sounded like a massive explosion! Tipsy "hit the deck" running and hid. I was in the bookshelf and smacked my head pretty hard on the shelf above me while Molly spun out on the floor trying to run. I think Huey was the only calm one- she just jumped a bit and looked out the window. I don't know how the Mistress or the Grandparents reacted, but when we looked, the tree was split. Half of it was in the road, blocking traffic! No people or cats were hurt thankfully, and much to my disappointment, there was no increase in birds or squirrels running about for me to chase. You'd think half their home falling over would mean they'd be out and about. Nope. I went outside fully expecting a grand chase and I got nothing. They finished cleaning up the tree today I think. At least I assume that's what the humans did- we've been in the office all day because of the rain. With the exception of the newbie, who I have not seen today. Not that I'm looking for it or anything. Anyway. The rain just cleared up, so maybe the Mistress will let us outside. Lizzie out!