My Inner Anglophile Rejoices

I've told you before that I'm a hopeless anglophile. My condition is helped some (fed some?) by the fact that I have relatives in the UK. I've always loved accents and it makes me happy to listen to British voices...saying anything...I have the  BBC World News channel programmed as a favorite on my car's XM. It's not unusual for me to switch over to it just to hear the announcers even though I'm not really interested in the news. You also need to know that my brother worked for a period of time at a university in Manchester and would tell me about the "Man U" vs. "Man City" rivalry. Imagine my delight when ESPN (my current favorite TV channel) aired a commercial about the rivalry. I considered it a challenge to listen enough times without the translation to get most of the words down...but the translation was useful for the slang :D Enjoy!

First, without the translation (don't worry--at the end it tells you to click for translation but then goes away too fast, I have it as a separate video):

And now, the "huh?":

The Art of Sleeping

Some of you poor souls may not realize that there's an art to sleeping. You can learn much from cats and hounds. Xander has his own unique style of preparing to take a nap..

You see, he's a leaner-cat. It makes sense when you realize that his greyhound mommy is a leaner-dog. Greys in general are leaner-dogs. They like to come up to you and just lean against you...the better for you to rub their ears, my dear! Xander puts a new twist on the leaning idea. Often (most of the time) when he's getting ready to lie down for a nap he starts by leaning up against the sofa back, armrest, wall, etc. like so:

Then, the slide-down begins...

The roll-over...

...and at some point, the end result is usually something like this:

Meanwhile, look over at the tree:

Okay, now take a closer look in the corner:

Someone has to stay awake to keep an eye on things...preferably from higher ground:

Upside Down Love

Good morning. Thought this morning I would share one of the typical interactions between mommydoggy (Gwyn) and her kitteh (Xander). Have I mentioned that Xander *loves* to dangle upside down and let the blood rush to his head? (I refer you back to the post "Long Drink of Water" from November 9th.) He loves to let LoML hold him upside down over Gwyn so that he can latch onto her head. She doesn't seem to mind too much....she schnuzzles his belly. They're a funny couple of critters!

Christmas kitteh

Sweet little Christmas kitteh:

Don't I look sweet & innocent?

I am sweet & innocent!

Ha Ha! They don't know I wuz just hangin from the ribbons tryin to pull the whole works down!

Ah, my work here is done...for now...

Back From Hiatus?

It's been a difficult time around here...somewhat of a forced hiatus...and posting is likely to remain sporadic for a bit yet, but I'm here this morning, and that's all I can do.

Besides all the "normal" madness, I've been dealing with the death of an elderly relative whose financial affairs, etc. I handled; another bout of bronchitis (gone now thankfully); and a sick horse. (Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?)

More on Solana later...for now I'll just say that we're dealing with laminitis...a very serious disease that involves inflammation of the connective tissue inside the hooves. To say that there is conflicting information about it would be a gross understatement. I initially didn't want to even post about it...it's a lot to deal with and I've been overwhelmed with information and opinions. But it's part of what's going on and if I'm gonna' continue this blog at all then I had to fill you in at least a little! Anyway, for today, she's doing well...it's a long road and we've been having lots of ups and downs.

 

 

One of the latest things we've done (we being myself and my wonderful veterinarians!) is to get her into these boots on her front feet.

More on them later...they're *wonderful*! And don't you love her "bobby socks"?! She's almost ready for the sock hop :D

Morning fog at the bridge on the way to the barn.

Xander continues to fare pretty good in this household!!!

More soon (?)...I hope...

Long Drink of Water

Not really, it's an expression.

Okay, again, I need some feedback here. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all little boy-kitties like to hang their heads down & let the blood rush to their heads. I know Xander does. A lot! He also trusts us to not let him fall. Take this pose for example:

This started out with him in LoML's lap. He gradually oozed over & down until this was accomplished. His front paws were about an inch off the floor. And he stayed like this long enough for me to go in the next room & get the camera (which, again, should be around my neck at all times when I'm in the house!). Incidentally, after I snapped a couple of pix, I cupped his little head in my hand and held him up that way for a bit and he just purred. Funny boy!

Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.
--John Barrymore

FFoC

Okay, I realize this is a delicate subject to be discussing here...and I may very well lose some of you forever with this post...but it's a topic that must be tackled. It must be talked about openly. We must bring about public awareness. I'm talking about FFoC - Feline Flatulence on Command.

It's a survival tactic to rival that of the octopus' ink. At the ripe old age of 4+ months, Xander has mastered it. It's deployed something like this:  You're a busy tiger-kitten (at least in your mind) with lots of tiger-y (Tigg-ery?) things to do. One of your staff abruptly picks you up and starts smooching on you and making silly baby sounds. You don't want to bite the hand that feeds you at that particular point in time (tho' that's a valid option many other times) so you deploy a silent but effective weapon designed to make your opponent let you go. That's right, feline flatulence. On command.

People, we need to be aware of this. It's a very real phenomenon. At least in our household. I need to know how pervasive this is. Feel free to comment and share your experiences.

And for those who stuck with me to the end of this post, thank you. Here's a cute picture to try to make up for the content of this post.

The culprit...back when he was still little...Is this a yawn, or a laugh???

Yet More Sleeping Poses

So, so busy with wackiness! :::sigh:::

Here's a few more sleeping shots from a couple of weeks ago:

A rare occasion where himself didn't run her off the table, but fell asleep instead!

Okay, not a sleeping shot...Xander chewing on my camera strap while I'm shooting pix! Note Gwyn's tongue out!!!

Exhausted & sleeping with favorite toy--a ball of paper :D

Cute Con 5 Part II--The Movie

Okay, so I didn't get this posted yesterday, but here's the video...if you haven't read Thursday's post, read it before you view the video!

CUTE CON 5...and beyond

Here's a direct quote from an email my SIL sent me (hope she doesn't mind me doing this!) after my last post:

 The level of cuteness on your blog has reached CUTE CON 5. (like Def Con, but cuter)  CUTE CON 5 is the highest level of cuteness that can be withstood by a human being.  After that, body parts start bursting into flames.  And you know, about the time I hit the second or third picture of a sleeping ginger kitty with his paw resting on a voluptuous white divalicious girl kitty, I thought I smelled smoke!

I asked her last night what comes after CUTE CON 5 and she replied "Armageddon." Well, get ready...

Initially Xander was sleeping stretched out in his cube...

..later he moved onto the bed where Wil' was already asleep...

..after rolling over, he started licking her! First, the bottom of her back foot (her head is upside down with her nose tucked into her front paw)..

..now he's licking her ear I think....she was not amused to be awakened like this! Tomorrow there will be video evidence of what transpired next...to be continued..