chochiyo_sama

It’s been a while since people have seen my kitties, since I have been having trouble uploading images to punk-ass live journal. However, I think I have found a way to slide through the evil thing’s keyhole and post pictures of my babies.

Here is my little darling Stewart who is always my lover boy.

Stewey is very fascinated by the camera….especially its wrist band thingy. I finally had to remove it from the camera and give it to him, as he was pawing through my bedside end table, hooking it into one of his little talons, and dragging it off, my brand new camera dragging behind him….sigh.

ßMy little girls, Tiggy who is monstrously huge, and little Peaches who is a tiny little mite also love to snuggle. Peaches must be the runt of the litter. She was the scared one who would practically claw my hands off (to the shoulder) when I would attempt to hold her when she was little. Now she obnoxiously mauls me (in a very loving way), purring her head off, at every opportunity.

 

 

 

Tiggy is a bit of a sprawler when she naps, but Peaches curls herself into the sweetest little furball, buries her face in her snuggle partner, and tucks her tail neatly around herself.  She is my little beauty. 

 When Stewey wants my attention, but I happen to be on the computer, he will plant his fuzzy arse onto the keyboard. Or he will get into my lap and just start stretching in such a way that the computer is pushed far far away from my fingers. If he were not so adorable, he could become irritating. I love the little white patch on his nose. 

The girls looked so cute at the end of the bed. It was a warmish day, so they didn’t want to smushy snuggle, but they did want to touch each other, so they got into the closed quotation position and interlinked their front paws. In my next life, I am soooo coming back as a cat. They are the most wonderful creatures to draw breath!

 

 

Stewey didn’t really want to be touched. This was his sprawl. Every once in a while, he would reach out his front paw to me, curl is claaround my finger and just gentle flex them. It was the feline version of giving someone’s hand a squeeze.

I find I am missing my Komet quite a bit lately. She was such a good girl. So well behaved in comparison to these little barbarians…but I do not regret getting them. I have smiled and laughed a lot more since they came into my life.

Jim and DeAnn kindly came over and carried them down the stairs and out to the car for me.  Then I went to Owatonna and picked up Kim and Lucas and got kentucky Fried Chicken to bring home with us for supper.   By the time we got to mom's it was nearly 9 pm, and Jack and Kari and the kids had already gone home.  We didn't do anything about the mess that night.  We all ate and then talked a while, then went to bed.

The next morning, Kim and Lucas carried a lot of boxes of books and video tapes upstairs and a lot of crap out to the curb for the garbage man.  I packed boxes with books and movies as i am just not physically able to carry stuff up the stairs with my knees in as bad a shape as they are.  We ended up being there until about 5 pm on Saturday.  Then i took Kim and Lucas home and went on home to West Concord myself.

I did take a few pictures of the disaster...but first...i documented one of the most succulent items man (or woman) could ever hope to eat.  The incredible....Tomato....Sandwich.



One must start with some nice thickly sliced tomatoes.



Then onemust toast and butter a couple of slices of bread.



The butter must be followed by a lightly spread bit of Miracle Whip.  I prefer Miracle whip Light, but my mom has Miracle Whip Heavy, so that's what I used.  Then one gently lays the slices of tomato onto the toasted bread awaiting it and devours the delicious concoction.  (I am drooling now as I type this.)

And now for the disaster pictures.



this area was the most affected by the water.  all the carpetting had to be pulled up in the entire basement.  the linoleum in the kitchenette had to be pulled up too.



This is where the linoleum met the carpet.  You can see how nasty and yellow it looks.



This is the southwest corner of the basement where mom's table and chairs sat. 



And here is dear brave Bev filling up one of many big black trash bags with ruined momentoes of our childhood.



Here are mom and Kim deciding which method of attack would be the most effective.  notice the gloves on my sister's hands to protect her from spiders and other beasties in  the closet under the stairs.



Here's Lucas taking a breather after working like a mad dog all day.



This is the closet under the stairs where the water came into the house to begin with.  You can see the dehumidifier in the foreground and the damp, dirty floor of the closet in the background.  In the box atop the dehumidifier--a treasure!  My sister Joni's childhood christmas stocking.



A closer look at the dark dank hole under the stairs, and coincidentally a closer shot of the treasured family heirloom.



When i got home and went to put away my clean clothes, three kittens immediately jumped into my suitcase to nap--just to annoy me.



Peaches totally at ease, nestling amid my tops and wash clothes.

Tyggy checking things out to be sure no contraband was sneaked into the house.

After that, they all rushed upstairs to lie on my bed so I couldn't make it.  Just to be annoying, I am sure.



ah, the inexplicible joy of preventing mama from making the bed!  There are no words grand enough to describe it.

And the third feline overlord joins the crew to stop any attempts to put sheets on the bed.




The rallied occasionally to stretch and bat at each other, but soon drifted off to peaceful slumber once again.



Stewie twists himself into some of the most bizarre contortions--and he always looks so happy despite looking like his spine has been broken in seven or eight places....



Peaches and Tyggy are snuggledup nose to nose, and Peaches is using Stewie's belly as a pillow.





Another picture of the snuggle fest.




It's the Kitty Triangle of Love.



Even when they are driving me crazy, they are my precious babies.  



Look at those smug little kitty faces.  "we are preventing Mommy from doing her worrrrrk!  Nana-nana boo-boo."




I love how they always wrap their arms or tails around each other.  They love each other so much.



it's kitty devotion.



Nothing makes a better pillow than a sibling's butt.



The snuggle fest goes on and on....i finally gave up and slept on the bare mattress.

Sigh.

 

This is already my fifth week back at school.  It's midquarter already next week.  And I am horrifically behind on posting in my livejournal.  Sigh.

I took several pictures of my kitties before school started up again.  I wrote a nice long entry which was somehow devoured by the great abyss of the internet.  I'm going to try again--though I should be smart and do it on a word document, then copy and paste.  Alas, haven't got that level of smart in me today.



Stewart--picture taken in mid August.  My sweet baby.


 

Stewie and Tyggy snuggling in my fuzzy blue blankie.




Behold the face of terminal cuteness.

Look at that nose.  Is there ANYTHING in the world more adorable than it?

I don't think so.



Stewie and Peaches sitting on my lapdesk. 



Tyggy in a state of decadent blissfulness.

Yes, that little belly is as soft as it looks.

I was attempting to document the full extension of her sprawl, but I couldn't get her all in the frame.  She has such an interesting pattern of coloring.



She enjoys having her belly rubbed nearly as much as I enjoy rubbing it.



I could not resist a close up of her little paws.  I love every little wisp of fur on her body.  Look how one paw is gray and the other is a pale orange.

She is my little punkin pie.



My pretty little Peach.

This is where I am stopping and posting so that I don't go further and somehow accidentally delete the whole thing.  :(


 

I've been either too busy or too tired to write much in my livejournal lately.

Also, I've been feeling a deep sadness brought on by the deaths of my two students and also my dear friend Dave.  I have not sunk in to the morass of depression, but I feel sadness and a deep sense of loss and also I feel like these deaths were such a waste.  Dave had so much talent and wisdom.  Jarah was a peach.  Heidi was a punkin.  They were all snatched from us way too soon.

Sigh.

A week ago, my little son, Stewart, went to the vet for his "surgery."  He is no longer a virile young male.  He is a sterile eunich kitty boy.

It doesn't seem to have altered his personality much.  He's still a lover boy and a wild man.



My darling Stewie.



I just snuggled him as he slept for about six hours the day after I brought him home.  Isn't he the most charming little fellow?

My tomato plants are still alive.  One is thriving nicely and the other is just beginning to look like it is going to make it.



I took this picture about two weeks ago--you can see the little green tomatoes in there if you look carefully.  This is the thriving plant. 



Another view of my developing tomatoes.  You can see that there are quite a few blossoms as well.



Nice shot of the blossoms.



Here you can see how BIG he is getting!

My house is coming along nicely as well and is cause for great rejoicing.  My sister-in-law Kari, my mom, my sister Tammy, and even my brother Jack have been to my house helping me get things in order.  Mom brought her snazzy vacuum cleaner with all sorts of attachments.  Kari hauled stuff around for me.  She is strong. 

She repaired my linen cupboard that has been sitting in the porch for years needing repair.  Then she somehow managed to carry it up the stairs!  That thing is awkward  and large.  Being made of maple, it isn't terribly heavy, but I could not carry it up the stairs even when I was in my prime. 

I went through everything in my porch, including the barbie stuff and the Christmas and other holiday stuff and all the books.  The Ellendale Lions were having a "white elephant" sale during their Ellendale Days, and I donated two pick-up loads and at least 2-3 carloads of stuff to that.  I gave Kari and Jack my antique bed frame for Cora's room, and Kari also took the little coffee table I bought for 50 cents at Hazel Holmes's auction, the small chest of drawers I bought from Pat and Pat Russell's garage sale, and the little book shelf I bought at an auctioin in Geneva for $5.  I gave Jim and DeAnn the old chair (which looks like Mission--but whether it is or not, I do not know).  I loved that old chair.  I got it for $4 at an auction.  I didn't bid on it.  They just pointed at me and hollered, "SOLD."  So, I looked at what I had "bought" and decided to keep it.  The old man whose auction it was told me it was a piece of his "honeymoon furniture" that he and his wife had when they were newlyweds.  He was in his 90s, and that was several years ago, so the piece is OLD. 

One of the things I donated to the Lions were those two antique school desks.  I paid $80 for them a long time ago, when I first bought my house.  They were really cool, but I don't really have much desire for antiquity any more.  I wish I knew if they sold and how much they sold for.  I still loved them too, but I wasn't using them, and probably never would. 

Cora wanted the little wooden sleigh which I purchased many years ago from the Freeborn FFA boys.  It was a fund raiser thing.  I think I paid $25.  Cora is really into sled dogs right now, so it was a great treasure for her.  I have wanted to get rid of it for years.  I like it.  Originally, I had wanted to paint it and set my Cabbage Patch dolls in it at Christmas time.
 
It's better off with Cora and her multitude of stuffed dogs.  LOL.

Grandma Neitzell's old recliner and the arm chair and ottoman that Tammy gave me (she found it for $10 at a garage sale) are now in the porch.  I enjoy sitting out there in the recliner when it isn't too hot.

The cats love that old chair and are often sleeping in it when I come home from one of my many errands.

The porch was wall to wall, floor to ceiling STUFF.  It looks so much better now.

Here is the east side of the porch.  The boxes that are on the right are all of my VCR tapes.  I need to go through them.  I will probably be donating them to the public library if they are still good.  They've been in storage for years, and have sat out in the porch during the freezing winter and broiling summer for at least five years.  If you look on top of that gray plastic storage thing, you will see Peaches.  The next picture is better. 



She looks like a wild creature, doesn't she?  The glowing eyes are kind of freaky. 

I haven't taken a picture of the west side of the porch yet.  Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

On Friday, I was snuggling wih my kitties and playing the Facebook "Farm" game, which is quite addictive.  I could hear the occasional rumble of thunder, but didn't think much of it.  Pretty soon, my electricity flickered off for a few minutes.  Then there was this pelting noise.  The kitties all leaped up and started staring all around trying to figure out what it was.  I went into the bathroom to see what was going on, and as soon as I was in there, it sounded like a thousand house-elves were on my roof, beating it with hammers.   When I looked out the window, I saw hail pummeling the trees.

I was still in my jammies, so I quickly got dressed and went downstairs.  By the time I was dressed and down there, the hailing had pretty much stopped.  But there was hail everywhere.  By the time I located my camera and went out to take pictures, it had melted down quite a bit, but I still have a couple of good pictures to show.

This is the hail on and near the sidewalk, about ten minutes after it stopped hailing.  Most of the hail was between pea and marble size, but there was some that was a lot bigger.



Here's the hail in the pots of my tomato plants.  The hail stripped the trees of a lot of leaves, but my tomato plants didn't seem to suffer any lasting damage.



Hail in the grass.



Here is one of the larger hailstones.  This picture is a little fuzzy but you can still see how big that little sucker is.



Here's a clearer picture.  The dirt is from the tomato plant's pot.

(Yes, that IS my pudgy little paw.)

That stuff came down HARD and FAST.  It would have hurt like hell to be out there getting pelted with that stuff.

There are some little dents on the hood of my car from that darned hail too.



This is the sky that produced the massive hail storm and the deluge that followed it.   Pretty scary sky!



This is also an unfortunately fuzzy picture, but you can see how big my little tomatoes are  getting!  Every time I look at them, I think how good they are going to taste sliced thick on a piece of lightly buttered toast.  YUM.



Here are my three youngsters waiting for me to give them their morning treats.  They are obsessive about their treats!

Stewie is on the left, Tyger Lilly in the middle, and Peaches is in the rear to the right.

They are getting so big!  Not little babies any more.



I was trying to get a nice face shot of all three, but Peaches is sort of shy and retiring.  She will approach her mommy (me) mewing and head butting now, however, when she feels the need for some love and affection.



Here's my Stewart, looking so grown up.  He is such a long and lanky cat.  When he fills out he is going to be HUGE.  His tail is nearly 18 inches long!

He's a big, loveable lug.



This is how he lies next to me every chance he gets, head on the pillow, smiling and purring, and his paw resting on my neck or my boob.  (little perve.)



Another shot of lover boy.



Mama's sweet little Peach Blossom.  (and mom's feet as well).  Peaches especially enjoys hiding behind the bed skirt then leaping out to attack my feet as I try to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. 



It's hard to get a good picture of Tyggy because she has to investigate the camera.  She has such pretty eyes and such cute coloring patterns.



Stewie Monster gobbling up his treats.



I took this one just a few minutes ago--he was snuggled up so tight to me. 

And here is one of his favorite napping positions.  He often lies in my arms like this for hours.  He is definitely a cuddle slut.



Another failed attempted to get a nice face shot of Tyggy.



This one isn't too bad.  LOL.  My little punkin girl.  I love her orange nose and her white muzzle.  Note her whiskers--they are black next to her muzzle, but white after about an inch.  I've never seen whiskers like that before.