Chris

TUESDAY NEWS DAY WITH NIPHEADS

Recommendation for The Cat on My Head

Best for the Kids I was delightfully surprised when I was contacted by the Best for The Kids web-site representative and asked if they could include our blog on their list of the 16 best cat blogs for kids. The Kitties Blue and I have always considered The Cat on My Head a family-friendly blog, with the occasional PG rating when Mauricio talks about being bitten on his bum. Regardless we are honored to be selected for this list.

This is from the Best for the Kids site:

An overwhelming majority of kids absolutely ADORE pets. A large portion of those kids love nothing more than a cute, fluffy cat. Here at BestForTheKids, we cover the importance of pets in the life of kids and how pets help kids become compassionate human beings.

It took us more than 3 weeks to come up with this list of carefully vetted cat blogs that had to go through several filters before being considered useful for parents who’d like to know about cats mainly because their kids love them.

The Best for the Kids mission really appeals to me, and Kitties Blue and I thank them for thinking our blog worthy of their list. You’ll find several other blogs, with which you are familiar, on their list as well. Click on the link above to find the complete list.

Now for the Nipheads

Kitties Blue favorite person was here yesterday—Chris. She’ll be here in just a couple of days to care for them while Dad Tom and I are at the BlogPaws Conference. She was here yesterday to clean. And she never comes empty handed. Chris always brings treats or catnip. The minute the gang realizes she’s here, they begin circling like starving sharks. Yesterday the offering was nip. Chris covers the foyer rug, and the gang goes crazy…rolling, sniffing and nomming nip! They always have a few hours to get their fill before Chris vacuums it up.

 

 
When nip is involved, Astrid and Lisbeth actually get along. At one point they were even touching.

If you think this looks like the gang is being spoiled, it is just a prelude to what they can expect while Dad Tom and I are away. They’ll even get their catio time, but no outside for Lily Olivia, Misty May or Mauricio. Of course, Mau is already on house arrest. He’s not happy about it and continues to complain, but he’s healing. That is what’s important.

Wishing you all a day filled with nip dreams. Hope to see you right back here tomorrow.

 

NAUGHTY OR NICE?

naughty or nice

 

So what’s the verdict? Do you think the kitty who perpetrated this act of nip liberation was being naughty or nice? We suspect the votes are going to come down evenly with humans on the naughty side and kitties on the nice.

We bet you are wondering if the humans know which one of us was responsible for the release of all this nippy goodness. If you follow us, you know we don’t rat on our housemates, but in this case the culprit was caught red green-pawed.

Mom was only surprised as this particular kitty has not been naughty in a very long time. Can you guess who made this mess?

Here she is now. (Mom apologizes for the blurry quality of the photos. She took them with her phone while Lisbeth was dancing around her prize.)

 

naughty or nice

 naughty or nice

 

She wasn’t feeling the least bit ashamed or guilty. She was standing on her back legs almost shouting, “Look what I did!”

We bet you are wondering where Lisbeth got her paws on so much nip. Well, that was thanks to our dedicated nip & treat pusher/kitty caretaker/housekeeper, Chris. She always brings catnip and/or treats when she comes to clean. She doles them out liberally before she starts work. Before she leaves she always vacuums up what we have left on the rug and the house is nee again clean and tidy. She did just that yesterday.

That explained how the nip got into our house, but how did Lisbeth actually get it. Well, Mom forgot to put the bag away when Chris left, and Lisbeth found it on the foyer table. So, as far as we are concerned, Lisbeth is totally innocent. She was only taking advantage of our mom’s spectacular failure to pick up and store that bag of nip. Every person with the smallest pea-sized brain knows we cats are opportunists.

Now that the rug is covered in nip, Mom says she’s going to let us binge overnight and tomorrow before she vacuums. Yippee Nippee Do!

Purrs and paw-pats from the drunken crew of Kitties Blue

 

screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-11-50-11-pm

NIPHEADS ANONYMOUS

We are nipheads, and we can’t deny it.

Don’t criticize us if you’ve never tried it.

It’s good to roll in and sweet to eat.

Nip is by far our favorite treat.

If we are being completely honest,

Maybe we should join Nipheads Anonymous.

No, on second thought, definitely not.

Give us nip and make it a lot.

We are nipheads and darn proud of it!

 

 nipheads

 

Whenever Chris comes to the house, whether to clean or look after us when the humans go away, she brings us goodies. It may be treats, catnip, bonito flakes or any combination of the three. Today we got fresh and ground nip and treats. Jackpot!

This is what we did in the morning. Astrid demonstrates what we did during the afternoon. Mom says she was really out of it. She was sleeping on a big pile of toys and let Chris vacuum and clean all around her. She didn’t even blink. Astrid only changed positions after Mom started taking photos. But she never woke up. Good nip!

 

nipheads

 

We love nip, and we love Chris. We wish she would come everyday.

Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

KITTIES BLUE ARE BACK!

Okay…so Kitties Blue really weren’t away but Humans Blue were. That’s right, those pesky humans, who think they can do whatever they want whenever they want, abandoned us for 15 days—an entire one-half of the month. We bet you are wondering what could take them away from our sweet and adorable selves. Well here it is:

 

tortola

 

TortolaMom calls this place paradise*. We don’t see it. Looks like one big litter box to us. Sitting around all day in a litter box is not our idea of fun.

Besides sitting around in the sand, we heard the humans, formerly known as Mom and Dad, were eating gourmet food and imbibing in rum-based, secret concoctions. Worst of all…wait for it…they were fraternizing with a whole slew of other critters. And some of those critters were C-A-T-S!

Word around the house is that a total of 1,398 photos exist attesting to this beyond-belief betrayal. Absolutely no way they are going to wiggle their way out of this purrfectly pawful perfidy.

With all those photos, we guarantee you will see more evidence of how little they care about our well-being. We know for a fact that the male human has already posted a tall tale about their abduction as well as oodles of photos on FaceBook. The female is planning a slideshow next week on our blog.

Don’t get us wrong. We were not neglected or mistreated during their absence. Kitty care-giver and housekeeper extraorinaire, Chris, came twice each day to feed and look after us. As usual, treats and catnip were in plentiful supply, and we even got to go out on the catio on nice days. That doesn’t mean we have not petitioned the commonwealth to cite them for cat abandonment. We’ll keep you posted on how that works out.

And finally, one last photo to torture tease tantalize you.

 

Tortola

 

Purrs and paw-pats (with hisses for our humans), Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

*Tortola, British Virgin islands

 

THANKFUL THURSDAY: THE RETURN & NIP

We are so thankful to have the humans back after their four-day jaunt to Colonial Williamsburg. The weather has turned furry cold again with the temps below freezing two nights in a row. The first night they were not here to snuggle us. We didn’t like that. But last night, six of us piled on the bed with them.

Mauricio and Giulietta feign disinterest.

Giulietta nomming.

Giulietta nomming.

Mauricio gives the new nip his pawstamp of approval.

Mauricio gives the new nip his pawstamp of approval.

 

We are particularly thankful for the live catnip plant they brought home for us. The killer cold weather this past winter deaded all our potted plants but one little sprig of parsley. Do you think our nip’s ancestors were plants from colonial times? Do you think that would make it more potent? We sure hope so ’cause last year we had two live plants!

Mom decided to plant our nip in the over-sized teacup planter that she painted a couple of years ago. She’s just hoping that Lisbeth does not try to dig it up as she did with the flowers planted there last summer. Here’s a photo of her caught in the act.

Lisbeth inspects her handiwork.

Lisbeth inspects her handiwork.

p.s. Mommy found remnants of nip on the kitchen counter and treats on top of our dry food when she got home. Now she knows that Chris was indulging us. But she is okay with that. So today, we also are thankful that Chris was our caregiver while the human’s were away.

Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

 

 

THANKFUL THURSDAY ON FRIDAY

So Mom wanted us to post this yesterday…on Thursday. That does make sense, but we were mad at her and so didn’t.

The grudge we’re holding began on Wednesday after we got a package in the mail. It was from OuiOui, Mica Minnie Moo, Carl and Julie from Twinkletoe TAils, one of our super fav blogs.

Our Goodies!

Our Goodies!

Mom won some calming collars in a drawing at Twinkletoe TAils. She was probably more excited about this than anything we’ve won in the past. She wants to put them on Mauricio and Fiona. She hopes that the collar will help Mauricio stop spraying and meowing incessantly and that Fiona will stop terrorizing Astrid. The package says it could take from two weeks to one month before we might see a noticeable effect, so you will need to wait for a report as to their usefulness. Mom says that if they work, she’ll be buying them by the case.

Our kitty friends added some goodies to the package: two toys with feathers and a pack of treats. However, we only got to see these things. Our mean, old mom wouldn’t let us play with the toys or nibble any treats. She put everything away in a kitchen drawer.

The scene of the crime after being cleaned. Didn't the culprit pick a great place?

The scene of the crime after being cleaned. Didn’t the culprit pick a great place?

We think her reason for depriving us is totally bogus. She says it’s ’cause one of us left a huge projectile hurl for her to clean up. Whoever it was, and we’ll never tell, managed to hit one of the carved oak columns between the dining room and foyer and lots of hardwood floor.

Since Chris had been here to clean on Wednesday, Mom was all wound up. When she had to use about half a roll of paper towels to mop up and then a ton of Seventh Generation™ Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner and a toothpick to loosen and dig the vomit out of the nooks and crannies of the columns, we knew those toys weren’t going to be distributed anytime soon.

So, we are really thankful to our friends for sending us such great goodies, but we’ll be even more thankful when Mom forgives us and we can have them.

Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

ANOTHER WORDY WEDNESDAY

Overlooking Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, CA.

Overlooking Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, CA.

All parents wish for their children to be popular and have lots of friends. Sometimes, however, those same parents regret having hoped for this. That was the case Tuesday, when we finally arrived home from our trip to Reno. Because when the kits invited you all to pawty, it’s obvious you took it to heart and showed up in full trashing mode.

I think I’ve discovered and cleaned up all the hacked up fur balls and other piles of throw-up. I’ve picked up all the stuffed animal mascots from the hall floor and replaced the quilts pulled to the bedroom floor for nesting and napping. The rest I am leaving for Chris, who will be here today. She always accuses me of cleaning prior to her arrival. Trust me, I do not! And I don’t think I’ll hear that accusation today. If we still have rugs on the floor, I can’t find them through all the fur.

While I was on puke patrol, Tom immediately headed for the bird feeders, filling them to capacity, so bird and squirrel TV could recommence.

Mauricio: "What do you mean, they're not coming home tonight. You promised."

Mauricio: “What do you mean, they’re not coming home tonight. You promised.”

So Spitty, rather than complaining about not getting the invitation to trash until it was time to clean up…you should have come on over. We arrived home 15 1/2 hours after our scheduled time. Our flight from Charlotte Monday night was cancelled due to a mechanical problem and US Airways put us up for the night. We were pleased for once not to be booked on the first flight out in the morning so we could actually get some sleep. Again, one should be careful with those wishes.

Anticipating trouble prior to leaving Reno, I had packed extra underwear in my carryon. And while at the Reno airport, Tom had purchased me a jacket and dress, so I had clean clothes to wear home. Some would say that I had jinxed our arriving home as scheduled, but I think I’ll blame the airline and the weather!

We arrived at the airport Tuesday morning and found that the early flight had taken off and arrived in Roanoke as scheduled giving us hope for our flight. We boarded and flew to Roanoke only to be put in a holding pattern due to bad weather. After circling for about half an hour, we were flown back to Charlotte.

Being experienced flyers, Tom was on the phone the minute the wheels hit the tarmac and snagged the last two seats (in the last row…ugh!) on the next flight out with hopes the weather would clear. The second time was the charm. When we got to Roanoke, the arrivals board showed the flight following ours was already delayed by two hours. Dodged a bullet by grabbing those two seats. By the time that next flight did arrive it was four hours late.

The sharks kitties (except Fiona and Giulietta) were swarming in the foyer when we opened the front door. Maggie reported that they were all less than pleased when she arrived Tuesday morning after promising on Monday that we’d be home that night. So it was obvious they were anxious to see if it was actually us returning or yet another Maggie visit.

Mauricio makes air biscuits and begs for our attention.

Mauricio makes air biscuits and begs for our attention.

Misty May and Lily Olivia didn’t even stop for a quick inspection of us or the luggage before sprinting outside. I nearly had to tackle Mauricio, however, to keep him inside when I noticed he was naked. He headed for the catio but without his collar and its attached electronic disc, he couldn’t get out the cat door either. So we had to listen to him bellyache until I found his collar beneath the dining room table. We suspect it was removed by Calista during a rasslin’ match.

It started raining again quite hard so efurrybuddy was back inside the house after just a couple of hours. Lily Olivia would not stop caterwauling and begging to return outside even though the rain was torrential. She was not granted her request. She settled for a while, but by bedtime she was cranked back up to full-throated meyowling.

The remainder were bursting with pent-up energy causing us to think they napped and let all their friends do the trashing. That wouldn’t surprise us as these bums sweet, adorable kitties, who we missed every moment we were away, can be very lazy. Any of you who want to tattle on them are more than welcome to do so.

I’m quite sure we’ll be paying for our transgressions for many days to come. Some things, though, have already returned to normal. When I entered the bathroom this evening, I was followed by five cats.

 

 

 

 

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED…

try, try again! We believe we have found our new motto. Actually, it’s our first motto. We didn’t even know what a motto was before today. But this fits our current and future plans purrfectly.

We weren’t very successful with our purrfectly planned payback session thanks to Chris cleaning up after us. But she did miss the fact that Lily Olivia managed to get herself into the living room* and knock over several gifts Dad received when he was traveling. None were damaged, but Maggie ratted out Lily anyway. And one of us had gotten into the transom above the backdoor, which Mom left open so we could get some whiffies, and pulled out most of the weather stripping in an effort to escape. But those were mere triffles.

So we have been super busy ever since then getting back at the humans. One of us did leave that nice gooey vomit right next to bed so that Mom stepped in it when she got up to use the facilities a couple nights ago. And the fur balls have been flying. The humans can barely turn around without finding a hacked up present. We don’t know if they have found the one Austin (CATachresis) hid ’cause he didn’t even tell us where he put it.

An exhausted Fiona opens her eyes when Dad snaps her photo.

An exhausted Fiona opens her eyes when Dad snaps her photo.

But Astrid, with a little help from Fiona, has been the linchpin in our plan. She’s now done the Houdini routine three times. The first we already told you about in “Payback Foiled.”

Her second disappearing act occurred two days ago when Mom was letting one of the big kids in the front door. Astrid bolted out through the three-inch opening. She gave Mom a two-hour run-around in the yard. She finally decided she was hungry (kitty dinner time had come and gone) and so returned, but not until Mom was panting and super frustrated. We were all laughing our furs off.

Then it was Fiona’s turn. She refused to come in off the catio at bedtime two nights ago. She had both Mom and Dad chasing her up and down the stairs, both inside and out, from one level to the next.

The photo of Lisbeth Dad was taking before Astrid escaped out the window.

The photo of Lisbeth Dad was taking before Astrid escaped out the window.

But yesterday was the best…Dad left the screen up on the kitchen window in order to take a photo of Lisbeth on the catio. Astrid was out the window and gone before either of the humans could scream, “NO!” She didn’t even stop for a nano-second on the deck before she jumped to the yard. Mom knew she wasn’t going to be easy to get in so decided to finish her breakfast.

When she went out Astrid was nonchalantly exploring the yard and totally ignoring Mom’s pleas and promise of treats. (She’d just eaten breakfast and had no interest in treats.) So Mom decided to work in the garden until Astrid got tired or hungry. After two hours of cleaning flowerbeds, trimming trees and dragging branches to the curb, Mom was dirty and sweaty and decided to come in the house. She wanted to save some energy for biking later in the day.

She assumed (very, very misguided human) that Astrid was ready to return to the house as she had come looking for her. Of course, Astrid had no intention whatsoever of doing this.

As it was Wordless Wednesday, Mom decided to take the computer to the catio and do some hopping and commenting. That way she could check on Astrid frequently. She also took our treat jar, but only after dispensing some noms to those of us hanging around the kitchen. We had been forced to stay in the house so the outer catio door could be propped open.

The human’s frequent jiggling of the jar lid and trips through the yard shaking the treat pouch did nothing to convince Astrid that she should return to the house or catio. After circling the house a couple of times while using the special kitty call the humans have for us, either with no sighting of Astrid or Astrid running from her, Mom would return to the computer.

Astrid in her favorite napping spot shortly after coming back in the house.

Astrid in her favorite napping spot shortly after coming back in the house.

After two hours of alternating typing and house circling, Mom decided it was lunch time. As she was getting ready to pick up the treats and computer she looked down to see the darling, sweet, lovable, stinker Astrid sitting next to her.

As soon as Mom opened the backdoor, Astrid was off like a shot for either food, water, the litter box or a nap. We don’t know which, but as you can see, she was found napping a short time later. Finally, the remainder of us got to have our catio time.

Astrid figures that as long as our humans keep making mistakes when it comes to managing the doors and windows, she can keep this up until the cows come home; though, none of us knows exactly what this means. We didn’t have any cows to start with; though, there is a pony buried in the backyard. But that’s a story for another day.

* As the living room is generally a cat-free zone, it does not need cleaning each time Chris visits.

Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Misty May, Mauricio, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette

 

PAYBACK FOILED

We cannot believe it…the humans came home to a clean house.

After all our work and that of our friends from the following blogs, Twinkletoe TAils, onespoiledcat, Katnip Lounge, Animal Shelter Volunteer Life, (CAT)achresis, McGuffy’s Reader, The Island Cats, The Musings of a Crazy Cat Lady, The Critters in the Cottage, moggiepurrs, The Furries of Whisppy and Rumblebum, the housekeeper, Chris, showed up and cleaned up the whole house. We would have gotten to work again when she left but she dosed us with treats and catnip. After all our creative trashing and the noms, every one of us was in a stupor. All we could do was nap for the remainder of the day.

Some non-bloggy friends offered their help as well. And some really naughty kitties suggested some particularly heinous deeds that we decided to forego. We don’t want to be sent to Kitty Work Camp the next time the humans go away. And mark our words, “We know they will.”

Mom called in the late afternoon on Wednesday to talk to Chris, and Lily Olivia eavesdropped on the conversation. She heard Chris tell Mom that we did not keep the house as neat as she does. Duh! Even on a regular basis we are not known for our tidiness. We have this fur that falls and sticks everywhere and litter boxes to use and our dishes are on the floor. We’re pretty disappointed that Chris did not go into specifics with reference to our creativity. She probably thought she was doing us a favor by not divulging our shenanigans. We know she reads this, so: “Chris, feel free to rat us out the next time, or better yet, DON’T CLEAN UP AFTER US!

Mauricio: "What are you waiting for? Purrlease open this door."

Mauricio: “What are you waiting for? Purrlease open this door.”

Lily also heard Mom tell Chris that she could let us out on the catio if she wanted. That’s when Chris said we were all crashed, and she thought it would be better just to let us be. When the humans finally showed up, we were waiting in the foyer and then sprinted to the backdoor to commence bellyaching until we were set free. Mom tried to lie down on the floor and play with us, but we all gave her a wide berth. We couldn’t wait to get some good whiffs and look for the birdies and squirties. Of course, they had emptied all the feeders while we were under house arrest so we had to wait for Dad to fill them before we saw any action.

We think Maggie should have told us that Chris was coming to clean. We did not plan on her having to clean up after us. Guess Mom isn’t as senile as we thought. She probably figured out that we’d try to get back at Dad and her for abandoning us.

Lily Olivia: "Free at last, free at last. Thank COD, I'm free at last."

Lily Olivia: “Free at last, free at last. Thank COD, I’m free at last.”

We’ll have to figure out a plan for the next few days to keep those two sneaky humans on their toes. A little throw up in the middle of the night next to the bed is always a good trick. And we can set Lisbeth into digging the dirt out of the pots on the upper deck. And we definitely don’t mind breaking things even if the humans are home.

But we may not have to do any of those. Last night Dad decided to leave the windows open in the kitchen to get some cool, fresh air before today’s heatwave. He had the blinds up as well. Mom suggested he put those down with just the slats open. She rightly suspected we might claw the screens and try to get out.

Giulietta: "Let me out on the catio NOW."

Giulietta: “I have been stuck in the house for eight days. Let me out on the catio NOW.”

And get out we did; though, we left the screens intact. The escapees were the three youngsters, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo. With a little team work they managed to pop the latches on either side of the screen so that it sprung up and out of the way. Then an easy tightrope walk across the window ledge and deck railing and they deposited themselves on the UNSCREENED area of the deck where dad has the grill. Though Lisbeth and C.J. stayed put on the deck tasting the flowers and rosemary plants, Astrid did her usual leap to the ground below. She will not come when Dad calls her, but when he announced breakfast, she immediately returned to the catio.

Guess the humans better come up with a better plan to get some fresh air. MOL!

Have a pawsome weekend efurrybuddy.

Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette