Furlion Loki in the Jungle Safari

Who needs toys when you  have streamers, both toddlers and cats agree that streamers are much more fun that toys and even cupcakes....  Thank you Loki for providing me with Cat replacement therapy as I am missing my Molly and Zoe greatly.

Molly can sleep anywhere

The last few weeks Molly can be found lying atop seemingly uncomfortable piles of stuff - like having her head half in the Christmas card box.  She's such a card, our little Molly-cat.

Zoe's Mittens

Usually Zoe tucks in all of her limbs and tails and even nose when she is snoozing, but this time she left her mittened front paws out for show.  I'm missing my wee kitties while away, but its nice to see family and I know they are getting well taken care of.

I hope she is keeping her mittens out of Molly's food and that Molly is keeping her mittens out of people's drinking water.

Happy Holidays!!!

Cat and "Wireless" Mouse

We found some 25 springs for Molly hiding under the stove.  Molly has been chasing them like crazy until she needed a nap break.  Shortly after this picture was taken she went to wash her feet and then came and left wet kitty paw prints all over my lap top... Sigh.  Its a good things she is extra cute.

Now she is off to play with spring again :D

Appreciating Having the Use of 2 Feet

I'm feeling reflective and thankful and oddly profuse in my use of words.  I sometimes wonder what all the English teachers who had to force me kicking and screaming to write a journal would think of my blogging.  Not that I've been the blogger of the week for the last few years - but still more journaling than I've ever done in my life in spite of the fact that I limit what I can say to the bland and mundane and pretty pictures and cats.  Molly is sprawled out on the kitchen table, which is used more often as a desk space than a table.

I've got some music on and was doing a bit of "dancing".  I wouldn't exactly call it dancing - but it struck me with great gratitude that its the first time in months that I can move easily on both feet.  I love being bare-foot - so even having to wear shoes was a drag at home.  Breaking my foot, as random and relatively minor a set-back as it was, as greatly increased my gratitude for my feet.  I love walking, running, climbing and even sorta dancing.  I missed hiking and biking greatly this summer in Canmore - even walking around time I frequently had to sit because the underused muscles in my calf would cramp up or my foot would feel sore and now its currently too cold for a lot of walking about and furthermore my current insulated rubber boots are a size too big and I can't walk long distances in them because they make my toes on my healing foot cramp up.  I'm already looking forward to this summer when I'll be able to walk along the Bow River and hike up to Grassi Lakes and maybe even make it back up to Healy Pass this summer.  There is a deep streak of mountain girl in my soul and my feet long to carry me  Lake O'hara and through fields of alpine meadow flowers and see the spring orchids burst into life.  My eyes long to watch the sun set behind the mountains and watch the mountains disappear in heavy summer rains.  I love Baker Lake - but with the winter weather set in - I probably won't get farther than the Sewage Lagoon or Dump before we are back in the mountains.

Some Kitties Just Love their Toys

Zoe spent 20 minutes lovingly grooming this feather toy (which sits much stiller than Molly).  She has now retired to her make-shift kitty bed on the end of the couch.  S. says I can get the kitties beds when we go back south.  Molly is happily chasing a spring.  I think she has chased and lost at least 7 this morning.  I see I'm going to have to stock up on more at Christmas.

We've found a wonderful pair of cat sitters of the Christmas break who are going to spoil our kitties rotten with attention and playtime.  They said they didn't need money to babysit them, but I figure we may need to pay ransom to get them back - afterall they are two of the coolest kitties out there as long as you don't mind getting woken up at 6:30 to make sure they get fed by 7 am.  They are very strict about that.  Its definitely a relief to know that they will get lots of love over Christmas as our cats are very people oriented and I don't think they'd forgive us for leaving them alone with food for 2 weeks.  On the other hand, I'm a little worried they won't want us back after 2 weeks of spoiling.

Zoe seems to have settled at a healthy weight and Molly is starting to fill out and lose the kitten skinniness, although, she is still littler than Zoe.  If she doesn't grow any more, I think they'll end up about the same size.  We still aren't sure, based on her tail length and paw size that she is quite finished growing.  Molly has developed a complex vocabulary of meows, mrrs and squeaks, and a few whines and cries which she uses to tell us important things like "feed me", "pet me", "find me a spring", "why aren't you out of bed yet", and "Meanie!  I want to play on the counter".  I think Zoe is still in charge.  Every once and a while, I'll catch her kicking Molly off a prefered perching space - usually my feet.  Zoe definitely has favourite places.  She likes to sit on the back of the arm chair in regal cat pose, but usually sleeps curled up, tail over nose. If I think she looks really cold, I'll usually tuck a blanket around her, which she doesn't mind.  I'm such a sap some days.  Molly on the other hand tends to prefer to sleep sprawled out - sometimes even just lying on the wood floor rather than some cosy cushioned space.  Both seem to like my fleece blankets - but then again, who doesn't love fleece blankets.

Its been the first quiet weekend in a while and I've enjoyed being able to relax and get an extra bit of sleep.  While I can't believe that its 9 days into December already, I'm ready for a bit of break in the grind.  I'm sure there were a tonne of things I should have gotten done, but somehow, sleeping was what I probably needed to do to kick this silly, sneezy cold.

Molly has just lost her spring and has come chirping and rubbing my leg... which continued to a bit of whining since I decided to type first and find her spring second.    Oh, Molly and her springs :D.

I hope you've all enjoyed my rambling treatise on my cats.  They are definitely awesome.  If you happen to live in Calgary, I highly recommend adopting from AARCS as they do a really good job socializing animals and they have some 56 odd kitties looking for homes right now and more kittens to be put up on the board and more requests coming in all the time for them to rescue others if they have any foster space.  Otherwise, if you live elsewhere, there are lots of great rescue organizations out there and no shortage of cats and kittens and dogs for that matter looking for a good home.

Double Decker Cat Perch

We brought out the rocking chair (briefly) for a small gathering and the cats are thrilled (they are also the reason that we've stowed it away in the office.)  I'm pretty sure they spent the whole night sleeping here - which meant my feet were cold but I was able to toss and turn as much as I liked without injuring a kitten.  The cats were very good for our guests - although a bit too helpful during clean up and food prep phases - earning Molly a brief stay in the bedroom so we could get done.

Its wonderfully peaceful here this morning and the reorganizing S. did yesterday makes our main area look much bigger.  The cat's approve of most of it, but they regret that there is no longer an easy way to get up to the top of the barge order boxes in the hall.  Zoe looked miffed when her attempt to jump the distance didn't work out.  I think they'll forgive us as long as we leave the rocker out, but it probably isn't a great idea since they like to launch off of it.

Molly pulls the "super-cute" look

Our cats are always adorable, but Molly has a knack for just coming up with the best cute poses.  I wish this was a little more in focus.  She has been my constant companion all day today - where-ever I go, she has curled up nearby - unless she was climbing all over me.  Here, she has just woken up from a long nap and so you have add imaginary sound effects of just-woke-up kitten meows.

Summer pictures to face the chill

Winter has set in in Baker Lake - with chilly temperatures, blowing snow and parkas.  I thought it was time to pull out a nice summer mountain picture to remember what green really looks like. (This is the view from the Mount Engadine Lodge in Kananaskis).  Sadly, owing to my disfunctional foot, my selection of mountain pictures this year is a bit thin.  Next summer though, I have some serious hiking in mind and hopefully a bit of car camping.

In the meantime - I also wanted to give a shout out to the folks in Estonia.  I don't think I know anyone in Estonia, but its cool that you are following my blog - hopefully I'll keep getting some nice shots to make it interesting for you.

Snuggles and Yawns

I think our cats really like watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer too.  Whenever we put an episode on they come and curl up on the couch.  Molly had be chilling up top with her legs all flopped out, but she came done to give Zoe some grooming and then snuggled right up.  They looked really cute and peaceful until I got up with the camera.  Then Molly gave me a look and Zoe woke up with a GIANT yawn.

On top of Bohnanza and Parmasan Cheese....

On top of Bohnanza and Parmasan Cheese
Perches our Zoe with queenly ease
She's gaurding the beef broth and Wedding Soup
Watching for invaders or to maybe just snoop

Molly being the comic seems to get photographed more often - but I thought this was a really nice one of Zoe capturing her bright green eyes and dignified personality.

Zoe Snuggles In

Zoe likes being warm and doesn't mind being wrapped up in blankets.  For the record, she actually did this herself by walking through a blanket I'd draped over the coffee table to make a "kitten cave".  Zoe is the calmer cat and is slowly turning into more and more of a lap cat.  When we first got her, Zoe would tolerate being picked up for about 30 seconds, if and only if, you were walking around with her.  Now, depending on her mood, she'll let you hold her for a few minutes, especially if you take her over to the window to look out.  Molly prefers to curl up beside you or drape herself off the back of the couch which Zoe will eiether disdain your company for the chair on the other side of the room, or curl up right on top of you - depending on the current heat situation.  (We live in a building where we don't totally have control over the heat.  If it is warm outside it tends to be sweltering (25 C +) inside as the heat in the crawlspace - which does the important job of keeping the water and sewage flowing even during a blizzard - over heats the place, even with our heat off.  If the wind is blowing from the South though or the tempeature drops, it can dip below 20 C here.

Molly is now meowing and fighting invisible enemies... silly critter :D

Showing Off her Stripes

I was thinking yesterday that I haven't posted any good cat pictures lately and having now recharged my camera that actually takes good pet pictures... I took some new ones.

Here Molly(cule) is showing off her pretty coat with all of its nice stripes.  She may look like a sweet little lady, but now that the camera is put away she is participating in WWF wresting with Zoe.  Zoe is still mostly winning their wrestling matches.  Molly will likely still fill out a bit and we think she still has a way to grow into her paws and tail.  Zoe has about 2 lbs on her for now.

Molly has gotten very good at telling us what she wants.  Usually access to her food, which we have to keep in the cupboard because otherwise a certain other cat would make it disappear - not that Molly is entirely innocent - she was caught in an attempted treat snatching this morning.  I tried to explain to her she could have treats too - if only she's let me trim back the daggers on all 4 of her feet.  My hands look as though I've been measuring the DBH of white spruce trees again.  (For the record, white spruce is a vicious tree if there ever was one - I have scars to prove it).  Though, she is not above meowing and then going over to her favourite toy - saying "I want to play now" in no uncertain terms.  

Points Beyond

My kitten is literally sleeping on my mouse cord which is making using my computer difficult.  I wish I had a camera handy to capture this irristiable cuteness, but I know if I go get it, she'll just follow me and stop being so cute.  She's been pure cuddlebug today - our Molly has.

Its a usual Saturday and I have so much I aught to be doing that I'm feeling guilty taking a minute to blog, but I can't actually close my computer without waking the kitten.  So a quick hello to the cold (soon to be much colder) and snowy north and I should probably get dressed, do errands, bake, do more stuff, clean and organize and a few other things.  Especially now that my typing has annoyed the kitten and she has gone somewhere quieter to nap. (I did get around to plugging in my camera to charge so I can keep it close at hand for future kitten cuteness.

Zoe being more philosophical about Saturday is curled up blissfully on the couch enjoying the quiet.  She's really settled in to the point that we are sure that at some point she was someone's well loved and played with pet.  She is very good at playing with cat toys, often exhibiting more ability and enthusiasm than the kitten.  She also knows that counters are not places for kittens and what the word down means... if only she could explain that to Molly.

On that note, I've finished the last bit of coffee in my mug and no longer have Molly as an excuse, so I should get off this idiot machine and go do those useful things.

Autumn Skies

I stumbled across this picture when I downloaded the blizzard pictures.  I took it a few weeks ago - early to mid-october.

The View From Baker Lake

One of the most exciting things about our new appartment is that we have a view of the lake.  Last year we mostly had a view of nothing as we faced into a hill and then the backs of a few houses.  Of course, on days like today it doesn't matter where you face - all you are going to see is blowing snow.

According to the current weather report, the visibility is 0 m - which is, of course, a bit of an exageration.  I can still make out the Old Coop/New KSO - but certainly, its not more than 100 m.  The winds are 61 km/h gusting to 87 - which is strong even for here - not crazy strong, but definitely blizzard inducing.

Molly is curled up behind my laptop and Zoe atop her favourite chair.  Earlier they were both looking out the window, but they moved while I went to get my camera.  They looked perplexed.  Zoe knocked the bedside phone behind the bedside table, which meant that I had to sprint for the nearest easy to find phone in the living room this morning.  Having cats definitely makes life interesting.  They seem to be adjusting to daylight savings time (from a feeding standpoint).  Molly has discovered her voice and like any teenager is giving her "parents" lots of lip.  She'll meow demandingly and then bound over to her favourite toy or to the bathroom where her leftover food is kept (Molly is a grazer and Zoe is a gobbler which continues to make feeding a bit of an entertaining prospect).  Zoe on the other hand only meows if she feels like I've overslept and failed to feed her.  If that doesn't work she'll try kisses and pestering, but once she has been fed she is an angel.  Molly doesn't pester us in the morning usually, but we are still working on keeping her off the counters.

And that is my news from the north.... watch for post blizzard pictures this weekend perhaps.

Molly - Queen of the Barge Order Boxes

Our kitten has the knack for being ridiculously adorable which has gotten her forgiven frequently for misdemeanours ranging from foot attacks to counter invading.  She is still smaller than Zoe, but we aren't sure she has grown into her tail or legs yet.  She should be about 6 months old now.  Zoe has gotten better about waking us up early in the morning - she figures now that we only need to be harassed for about 15 minutes before 7 am.

I've been remiss about writing - which is normal for this time of the year - especially since I haven't downloaded the pictures off my camera in a while or even recharged my little one.  I guess we have a lot on the go.  I've found my own blog reading has really gone down.  I think I can proudly say that I've reduced my online time a lot this year, still I'm sure I could use my time better.

I can't believe that its nearly Halloween already.  This year has gone super fast so far.  I'll have to get some snowy Baker pictures to share soon.  The lake froze (we think permanently) on Oct. 25th, 2012 and the normals are well below 0 C.  Today is our first day of really cold, really windy weather.  The visibility is okay because we don't have that much snow, but its cold and windy for sure.

People are wishing for more snow so that they can use their skidoos (or machines in local vernacular).  I like snow too, although I'm unlikely to go skidooing this year.

On that note.. I have some cupcakes that need to be iced for a fundraiser and some cookies that need to be baked.. so ta for now and hopefully I'll find a few more odd moments and photos to share with you more often.

Molly sleeping on her back

Here is our growing kitten - who tends to buck the cat sleeping trend of curling up (Zoe is a good curling up type of cat).  She normally sleeps on her side with her legs and front paws all stretched out, but this time she fell asleep in a pile of blankets on her back.  Silly kitty, eh?

Sunset Finale

As the sun slipped behind Blueberry Hill, the vibrant oranges faded to warm golds and peaches and greys and purples.  The land largely painted in redish browns and yellow browns has great texture to set of the vibrant sky.

Sunset Seranade

This was the early view of the sunset whil the sun was just above the horizen.