Painting Partner

 Painting at the table always starts with a Tanji inspection...

 ...which includes patting the water in the clean bowl.

Then Tanji settles into his basket,

which is far enough away he won't chase the brushes...

 ...and close enough that he can watch the paint swirl in the water.

 I can spend hours playing with my paints...

...and Tanji stays nearby the entire time.

Good Boys

We figured out how Vladi was getting into our neighbor's yard (both over and under the fence) and Mark made a few fence modifications.  Yesterday it was just me and the boys, and I was hoping everybody would stick together since I needed to keep a close eye on Vladi.  Well, they must have known because they were especially good...

All three boys started the walk together, instead of

scattering in opposite directions.

This is just not "normal" cat walking behavior.

After about a half hour of this togetherness, Tanji headed out...

...and Uschi started sauntering away too.

Separate, but all still headed in the same basic direction.

For over an hour, the boys stayed in view together most of the time.

Vladi "did his business" on our side of the fence (instead of next door),

and when we returned from his victory lap up and down the trails,

both Tanji and Uschi were waiting back by the house.

Good boys!

Where's the Cat Food?

The boys may have plenty of dry food, but when this happens...

...down to one can of Fancy Feast, well this is serious.

T and V only want one thing when they wake up in the morning,

all three boys only want one thing when they come in from a walk,

and its not dry food.

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

Tanji and Vladi search the boxes for cans.

Where's the Food?

Don't worry boys, we're fully stocked back up.

Uschi's Settee

Uschi has been wanting to sleep on the bed for some time,

but the bed belongs to Tanji.  So I set up some chairs that

Uschi could take his naps on next to the bed, his "settee."

Decorated with his favorite mangled carrot toy.

U is looking aloof here, but as the room got darker...

Uschi was having a ball with his new lounge area.

However, within 24 hours...

Tanji has claimed the "bed annex" as an extension of his territory.

Vladi's Skirts

Inside of this pretty package is one of Vladi's favorite things:

a JaneElizabeths skirt from etsy.  I like them because they are

beautifully made, colorful, comfortable, and inexpensive...

Vladi seems to like the way they feel under his feet...

...and they must feel good under his belly too.

As soon as I get home from work, I change into one of these skirts

and this is my reward: a lapful of Vladi.

Tanjiro is our Hero

Tanjiro is getting extra smoochies because he rescued his little brother.

Here's the story...

 The boys and I had been slowly making our way to the SW corner.

Tanji and Uschi were interacting with each other...

 ...but nobody was playing with Vladi who had a lot of energy to burn. 

So Vladi took off sprinting, jumped onto the SW fencepost, plopped over the fence, and started running around like crazy.  The neighbors' fields are acres in an L-shape around our field and Vladi was at the corner of the "L," but a few hundred feet away on one side is access to a road (the other way's access is blocked by blackberry bushes).  I ran down our south trail and squirmed over the fence by the road to make sure I beat Vladi.  Walking back on the neighbor's side of the fence, I couldn't find Vladi anywhere.  

Tanji appeared on our side of the fence crying.  I thought he was just yelling at me for being out of the yard, but once he had my attention, T quickly snaked through the bushes and about 40 feet away he started giving alarm yelps through the fence.  I went and looked and there was Vladi under a tree, digging in the neighbor's bark after "doing his business" as far away from our house as possible.  V was too wild to let me get close, so I got back over the fence and grabbed a chair and put it right over the fence on Vladi's side, Tanji was yelping loudly and standing on his hind legs poking at the chair through the fence.  Vladi jumped on the chair to bat back at him and I grabbed V and threw him onto our side. 

Vladi was super-hyper and Tanji chased with him, leading him all the way back to the house.  It really was like T knew V was in trouble and he needed to herd him home.  I locked them both up and jogged back to find Uschi, who had already walked most of the way home by himself.

Tanji is getting lots of mushies for being there when I needed him.

Vladi knows something bad has happened and is getting mushies too.

But I know he will likely try it again.

 So we are all staying in for a few days and the next time we head out

I will have the squirt bottle and something to cap that fencepost.

At least I know where our little escape artist is headed.

Back in the Kitchen

Staring at all of the luscious photos of Christmas foods

can get the appetite really revved up.

 My favorite food photos?  Anything by Taste of Home.

They have me back in the kitchen cooking up a storm.

Of course Tanji has to give his sniff-approval...

Veggie Curry Rice and Tofu?  Nope, T curled his lips.

Warm Macaroni Salad?  Now that a T-approved hit!

Sticker Art

To practice painting, I'm using a sticker book for inspiration.

There are pages of holiday icons to work with.

First I pick one or two and stick them in my journal...

 Then I sketch in pen the ideas that pop in my mind.

 Finally a bit of watercolor for fun.

The only downside is that we don't have any cupcakes to eat...

But we do have donuts!

Where's Vladi?

This time of the year all of the grasses are turning gold, and it gets more difficult to see Vladi.  I can walk right past him calling his name, and sometimes he just hunkers down in the tall grass, out of sight.  Other times, he meows back softly and jumps out to join me.  Yesterday I looked, and looked, and looked, but couldn't find him on the trails.  See if you can spot Vladi in the photo below:

Yep, he's curled up on the chair, facing the bird feeder.

I must have walked past him half a dozen times.

I think he fell asleep waiting to go back inside for dinner.

T Gets His Way

It was super windy outside, I was tired, and all three boys were soundly sleeping, so hmmmm, maybe its a good day to stay inside.  I cooked up some food and curled up on the couch to catch up on TV.  This time of year we head out at about 5:30 p.m., and I was finally going to have dinner instead!

However, this is what really happened...

5:29 p.m.: Tanji appears on the ottoman.

 5:30 p.m.: He's waiting "patiently."

 5:31 p.m.: Ears are moving back, and the smile is disappearing.

 5:32 p.m.: T is trying to make eye contact.

 5:33 p.m.: The whining begins.

 5:34 p.m.: Mushy eyes and sad kitten meows.

5:35 p.m.: Defeated look.

So yes, we all headed outside at 5:35 p.m.