Latest Photo Shoot!

I took these shots of Oliver and Poppy today. I dabbled with them a little in Photoshop. I think they turned out well Must definitely invest in a decent camera at some stage though. I’ve always had an interest in photography, and I’m enjoying it more and more. The little Kodak digital camera I have does fine, but I’d love something that would give me more scope to play around. Something like this would be nice! Maybe if I start hinting now, I might get one for Christmas from The Hubby :D!!

What’s in a name?

I just did a quiz called ‘What Does Your Pet’s Name Say About YOU?!

According to my result it means I am Nurturing I like that, nurturing! Not only that but it went on to explain…

“you feel that your pet is a member of your family that you’d do anything for”. No wonder research shows that people who give their pets human names have the closest relationships with their pets and spend the most time with them!

See, all that’s true and it’s because I am a nurturing person. Not because I prefer my cats to most people and because I have slight anti-social tendencies!

I decided to look up the meaning of the names too.

 Oliver…..

Information about this name:
Related Name:Ollie, Olly
Meaning: Symbol of peace. The olive branch
Famous Usage: Musical and film “Oliver!” (196 based on the novel by Charles Dickens.
Screen Details: Movie and Stage Musical -’Oliver Twist’ Oliver Stone the film director of such films as Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July.

Poor old Oliver, his name fits him down to the ground. He’s a pure saint! As peaceful as they come

  Poppy…..
Information about this name:
Meaning: Flower with four crumpled petals in red, orange or white colours
Famous Usage: Poppy Lipsticks by Poppy King.
Screen Details: Poppy Montgomery - Australian actress star of Without a Trace.
Personality Plus: The poppy is a wayside flower and this is a pretty name for a wandering female pet

Wayside? Now if it was wayward that would make sense! If Oliver is a saint, well then she’s a pure little devil!

Chalk and cheese they’re like, but I couldn’t imagine one without the other now. The Dynamic Duo

Awwwwwww!

I love this site, it has the funniest pics!

8 out of 10 cats…….

Why are cats such fussy eaters? My two are Gravy freaks! Their two favourite brands are Purina’s Gourmet Fillets in Gravy and Whiskas (anything but beef) in Gravy! They are a little snobby and actually prefer Purina but I find the Purina a little on the pricey side, so it’s mostly Whiskas they are fed.

Today I sent The Hubby off to pick up their food and there was of course a disaster, not unusual when men are allowed shop on their own! He came back with Whiskas in JELLY! I said

‘Why did you get the one with the jelly?!’

He said

”That’s all they had.’

I replied

‘You know they only like the one with the gravy!’

He replied

‘They’ll eat it if they’re hungry!’

Now that in fact is not true, they will not eat it, even if they are starving. Which would never happen anyway as I’m much too soft a touch to let them go hungry. One sorrowful ‘Meow’ from Poppy and a pleading look from Oliver and I’m cracking open the tuna, that was meant for our pasta dinner!

And the remaining 5 cans of Whiskas in Jelly? Another donation to Animal Welfare I think!

The Glorious Tabby

Even before I was a cat lover, I admired Tabby cats. To me, they were a Classic Cat! The sort of cats always in movies and cartoons. Some might say ‘common’ but I definitely think of them as classy kitties :). Funnily enough it was by complete coincidence that myself and The Hubby ended up sharing our lives with two glorious Tabbies! The interesting thing is Tabby refers to a pattern and not to a breed of cat.

Despite the huge amount of variation that seems to occur in tabby colouring and patterns, there are apparently four basic classes. Here are some pics of each.

Classic

 

Mackerel

 

Spotted

 

Ticked

 

One thing all tabbies have is the the ‘M’ marking on their foreheads. There are a couple of nice little stories out there about the ‘M’ and how the tabby got it. You can read more about them here.

Oh, Oliver and Poppy want to show off their patterns too…..

                               

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Site Under Construction!

I’m currently working on transferring stuff over from Blogger to this site, so bear with me if things are a bit weird for a while! Advice welcome

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all you pet parents out there! I found this very cute image at a site called  www.actioncat.com . It’s a lovely site with some really nice little images to suit all occasions.

However this idyllic image above is not how I was woken up this morning! No. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post I have the flu. This morning as I woke up I had difficulty breathing. Different thoughts flashed through my mind, had I developed a bad chest infection, did I now have pneumonia? Actually it was simpler than that, Poppy was asleep on my chest! It’s amazing how much weight there is in her little body! So no flowers, no breakfast in bed, just near suffocation is all I get for Mother’s Day hehehe

I must say though as well as having very nice e-card type thingy’s, the actioncat site also had a lovely little piece about Mother’s Day, if you are an animal lover I recommend you checking it out here :

http://www.actioncat.com/mothersday.html

That Darn Cat!!

Poppy seems to be going through some sort of destructive phase! (I pause as I type to try and stop her knocking over a lamp!)

Her war on inanimate household objects has a high casualty list, so far we’ve lost:

1 Bottle of Olive Oil - tipped off kitchen work top

2 Wine glasses - 1 knocked from kitchen shelf, 1 from wine cabinet

1 Ornament - Arm can be glued back on

1 Tall Tumbler Glass - Kitchen counter (again)!

The glass in our favourite picture frame - pushed off the top of the telly.

The cordless phone  met a watery death too when it was tipped by the Popster into the toilet!

Now, I’ve look this up on the Internet. Apparently it is not unusual cat behaviour, which is comforting.  I’m glad to know I’m not the only half crazed cat lover out there frantically gluing bits of things back together!

I’ve read it’s the cats way of acting out their natural instinct to hunt. I’ve also read some cats do it because they enjoy the entertainment value it gives them, ie seeing me scramble to catch something before it hits the floor or the wonderful crashing noise glass makes when it hits a tiles!! Either way it can be a sign of boredom, this coupled with the fact that I worry she will hurt herself or Oliver is worrying.

I’m trying some new tactics at the moment. First of all I’ve removed most of the tempting breakable from shelf edges, TV tops, window sills etc. I’m also really trying to make extra playtime with her to try and tire her out and keep her active. If anyone out there has any helpful suggestions or advice, please share it!

If all else fails I could just glue everything down!

Oh and I’ve got the flu

Two Wise Heads….!

"When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
        The reason I tell you is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
        Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name…"

From Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot

Cutesy Cat Pics

 

Anyone the knows cats. knows they love to sleep! not only that but they often seem to find the most unusual spots and positions to sleep in

Poppy takes great pleasure in sleeping on top of the clothes horse, Oliver, likes to sleep on the draining board when the dishwasher is on because of the heat

A friend sent me an email with these pics today of some other cute kitties catnapping