Chair Assembly

Its not an Olympic event yet, but timed assembly of furniture

should be considered for 2016.

How come there seems to be more parts?

Dusty Vladi

 Sorry Vladi, its no good pouting...

...dirt rolling is NOT an Olympic event.

Medal Ceremony

 If there were medals for gorgeousness, Uschi would be in gold.

 And he knows it.

 Tahhhh-Dahhhh!

 Uschi is taking a victory lap with his Dad.

Those are some big paws!

 Ohhh, that feels good..

 Uschi is a bit of a mess.

 Happy buds together.

Gold medals in gorgeousness and mushiness.  Check!

Time to focus on the next Olympic event.

Uschi Goes for the Gold

In the Olympic tree climbing event, Vladi our Bengal koala would probably be the winner, but he was already home carbo-loading with Fancy Feast, so the next competitor is...

 Uschi-swirl!!!

 He's charged up and ready to go.

One last stretch...

...and Uschi zips up the tree.

Good job, look at that form!

Time for the higher level, more than three feet off the ground...

Tah-Dah! Perfect 10s from the judges!

 Uschi is a little reluctant to get down from the tree.

 Hey, I can handle this!

 I could have made it to the top! (nope)

Suddenly Uschi settles down, he's ready

for his photo opportunity and medal ceremony.

We'll save that for primetime coverage tomorrow. 

The Olympics Begins

We are big Olympic fans, and both of us carried the flame

in the 2002 Salt Lake City torch relay.

Not only do we still have those relay outfits,

Mark has his own summer olympic shirt.

Suited up and ready for the Olympics to begin...

Here comes the first competitor representing Japan,

Tanjiro could be doing the 4m kitty-paddle,

but today's venue is the Olympic tree climb.

Are you ready Tanji?

The coach may be ready, but the athlete has not shown up today.

 

Tanji is already tired, too much warm-up.

Time for a little coaching assistance.

 C'mon T-grrrrr, you can do it!

.

 Once he sees the tree, Tanji can't resist...

This is more like "tree-hanging."

 

With a bit of kicking for finesse points.

 Is that good, Dad, I mean Coach?

 

 Time for the dismount and applause from the crowd.

Next up: Uschi-Swirl representing Germany...

Biscuit in a Basket

Tanji's nickname is Biscuits because he always kneaded

the bed like crazy when he was a kitten (still does).

 

 Tanji also still loves his cat cup basket that's just like the one

he grew up with at Cheetahsden.  Putting a clean blanket

in the basket is always a big deal.

A smile at having something thick and soft to knead.

That was hard work, time for a nap.

With occasional breaks to stare lovingly at his Meow.

Treat Box

That's a lot of cats in a small area...

Tanji and Uschi came running when their old treat box was moved,

Vladi knew something was up, and joined the party.  The amazing

thing is that we have not used that box for a LONG time.

 Some things are worth remembering.

Vladi's Pond Bath

Not only was yesterday's walk exciting because we saw a new snake,

Vladi also managed to fall into the goldfish pond by the house,

probably fishing for his favorite koi "Maui."

Some websites show Bengal cats happily playing in the water,

Vladi tends to fall in and "kitty-paddle" out in a big huffy hurry.

Wet from head to tail, this is going to take some serious licking.

Its amazing how a wet tongue can dry fur so quickly.

 Almost dry, time to go home for a sympathy snack.

Snake! I mean SNAKE!

Today on our walk, Tanji and I were circling the muddy perimeter of the West pond.  All of a sudden, I realized Tanji was walking within inches of a large, let's say "mud-colored" coiled snake.  He didn't see it and walked right past, heading off on another trail.  I ran back to the house to get a camera...

I am all happy with our max two foot long skinny garter snakes,

this guy is closer to a meter and thicker.  Hmmmm??!

Rubber Boa? but the head, red eyes, and tail don't look right,...?

To get used to garter snakes,
I used to sit next to them in the garden,

after a while they were less scary.
So I figured I'd try it with this snake...

 

Nope, that didn't work, sure he/she is a beauty, but

I spent the whole time wondering how fast it could get to me,

the snake slightly puffed and uncoiled, letting me know who was boss.

So I slowly retreated to get a camera with a zoom lens.

When I got back, the snake was gone from the pond,

probably hiding with me in the tall grass.

Every cat for himself!!!  Let's just leave that pond alone for a while.

Edited 7/31: The snake is a "racer" (Coluber contrictor mormonii)