Cuteness...

This is how we fold towels:

Meanwhile, Spike, aka "Spaghetti Boy" appears to have only cartilage, no bones in his spine...this is a daily pose for him...

And today's wild horse baby pix:

A Grand Day Out

Some friends are down visiting for the weekend and we took them out on the boat yesterday. We love sharing the beauty of this area with friends and one of our favorite things to do is to see the Shackleford Ponies. We really lucked out this time as we were able to get a good look at a very new baby.

 Cape Lookout National Seashore has some really good information on these wild horses here: Horses of Shackleford Banks Click on some of the links from that page if you want to learn more.

Baby was so incredibly adorable and even put on a show for us...excuse the jerkiness of the video...it's hard to keep it steady when using the zoom and no tripod.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sometimes the boys are so busy they don't take the time to be lap-kittehs. Sometimes, they prefer to be lap-kittehs with LoML. The other day...when I was home for another snow day...I ended up with this.

Randomness

So, like many other places, coastal NC has been experiencing wacky weather this winter.
It's been rather like a rollercoaster...35 degree changes in 24 hours have not been unheard of. Today's another snow day...even though my area is mostly getting ice once again. I did leave the house this morning before it got too bad to take Gwyn to visit our vet friend and took Spike along for the ride since this is the vet friend we adopted him from. They had a pretty good time but were exhausted by the time we got home:

Fortunately, LoML was willing to serve as a bed. Good thing he knows his proper role as assistant cat staff!

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And, again, what's the deal with naming snow systems now? Apparently this is the second year we've done it! Here are this year's names:

We're currently experiencing Pax. Really people?! Pax?!?! You do know that means "peace," right?!? 'Coz right now, with just ice and wind...it's not looking that peaceful! Maybe they meant it's peaceful if you stay in with blankets and kittehs and goggies...yeah, that must be it!
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Lest Polly stop following my blog, here's some peace for you:

Extreme Cuteness Once Again

You think I'm exaggerating when I claim that the cuteness makes it hard to leave the house? Well, see for yourself...it starts out with some general rolling around...maybe some biting...maybe some rabbit-kicks...

...going for the jugular...

...some shameless belly-showing (the curliness of which slays me!)...

...but invariably there's a lot of kissing/cleaning...

Mommy-doggy is generally nearby...

So. Still think I've been exaggerating???

Bow Hunter

One day soon I will edit and then share video of Xander doing his great bow-hunting routine....for now I'll just tease you with a preview...he likes to play fetch with bows. He's really stinkin' cute!

Shhhhhh....he's sleeping!

Seriously?!

How am I expected to leave the house to go to work when it requires leaving this?:

Note the little back feet partially crossed

And note the fang sticking out

Let the Nostalgia Begin!

Not entirely sure what got me going on this...probably partly that my sweet mare is coming up on her 9th birthday next month, partly that I've been spending so much time with her trying to bring her through her laminitis episode as best I can (will be sharing more on that in upcoming posts), and partly because once I came across some pix of her that I'd forgotten about I set out looking through lots of old pix of her :D

So allow me to set the stage a bit: I had been away from horses for a number of years when I heard about a breeding stable very near my home. After a first visit just to see the place, I ended up befriending the owners and ultimately spending loads of time there. I was actually in the enviable position of being able to go out there and ride at any time I wanted without any of the financial responsibilities! But that would change...I had never been around a newly-born foal...or really any foals...In March 2004 there were two mares due to foal at the barn. The Andalusian mare was actually due first...she was the one I'd been riding....but the Quarter Horse was also expecting an Azteca foal (dad was full-blooded Andalusian, mom full-blooded Quarter Horse, making baby an Azteca D--interesting registry 'rules' use letters to distinguish between horses with different percentages of the foundation breeds).

While I wasn't there to witness the birth, I was there within about 4 hours. Canola Solana, BTSF was born March 25, 2004 at about 2:00 a.m.  These pictures were taken later that day:

Xander

So...the grief process for Oz continues...some days are better than others. As all who have gone through this know, it takes time for the acute pain to recede...but life goes on.

Our friend, a vet, reached out to us about a very special little boy she'd saved who needs a very special forever home. He's only about 5 weeks old now. Three weeks ago someone brought him to her to be euthanized. Being the kind of person she is, she decided to give him a couple of days. Something had happened to wound him and he's lost the sight in his right eye. It's basically closing up on its own...he's too tiny for any sort of surgical procedure. His left eye still needs treatment, but he has sight in it and hopefully it will heal just fine. Other than that...and being tiny...he's fine!

As long as Gwyn and Willow accept him, he'll have his forever home here. I've been talking to them for several days about him...they just really had no idea what I meant! I'm hopeful that Willow's mothering instinct will kick in and she'll decide she likes having an itty bitty baby kitty all her own.

His name is Xander. For any who didn't realize, we had named Oz & Willow based on characters from the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (a fun little show we always enjoyed...really...it was better than the name suggests!). Anyway, with Oz gone, it only seemed right that Willow should have Xander...another character from the show.

 You'll hear much more of him in the coming days. For now, I have to go check on him! :D

Grumpy Old Man?...or not

Do you think Trouble is beginning to get used to his new sister? At least he's going to make sure she has clean ears :D
Thanks to Mom for the extra cute picture!

For Mom

Greatest kitten toy:useful for launching attacks on mice..
Water baby:

Warning: Extreme Cuteness Ahead

What can I even say here? This is the new Princess at my parents' house...snuggling up to her big brother, Trouble. This is cuteness in the extreme!I can hardly stand this it's so cute! :D

Trouble's troubles

Here's the newest addition to my parents' household:
These were taken approximately 20 minutes after her arrival at her new digs. She's making herself quite at home.
The trouble is that Trouble, their 8 year-old boy cat is not so sure that this is what he had in mind...
I think she's hard to resist!

Cubs at Play

Beware of the extreme cuteness!

Cuteness....Feline

This was not staged! This is exactly how I found Oz the other morning...snoozing away cuddled up with the Teddy Bear :D

Peanut & Walnut...or, a Dingo's Got a Baby!

This is Peanut. She belongs to friends of ours. She was adopted and we believe she's part Dingo. She's a really neat dog.This is Walnut....Wally for short. He's just recently been adopted by our friends.
Peanut's not quite sure what to do with him just yet. The introductions have been gradual. But Wally's still a typical wild kitten and attacks Peanut and people...and furniture indiscriminately. Note Peanut's averted head...the better to protect eyes.
Peanut has to remain on high alert while Wally's out and about. If you look in the lower left portion of the picture you'll realize that bit of gray is Wally ;D
"Mom, Dad, are you sure we need a kitten?"