Mancat Monday

Real mancats know how to spend their weekends - enjoying some R&R on what was hopefully one of the last cold weekends of the late winter -yes, we went from 75 degrees on Friday to cold rain and wind on Saturday to 42 degrees on Sunday! We hope all of you have a wonderful week, and that it goes by quickly so that the weekend, and having our beans home from day hunting and with us kitties, comes around again very soon!

Happy Friday

It's Friday and we are thrilled!! This morning, as Mommy was enjoying her coffee, we saw that is was snowing in the northern US. We looked outside our window and wondered if it was snowing here. Here's what we saw in our yard in Georgia this morning.

Yeah, this kinda looks like snow but its not. This is the underside of our Japanese cherry tree in our front yard.This is our very favorite tree at our house and it is in full bloom right now. As you can see, its even taller than our house (sorry the pic is dark, it was taken at sunrise).

Daddy took this close up picture of the cherry blossoms. Mommy thinks its very artistic!

This is what the flowers look like. The whole tree is covered in these blooms. When they begin to drop off of the tree, it will look like its snowing. And oh, the blooms smell so very good and sweet.

Here are some flowers that are growing in one of our front flower beds. When the flowers in this bed start coming up, Mommy says she knows warm weather and spring is right around the corner.

Georgia, and the rest of the American South, is well known for the azaleas and ours are just starting to bloom. Daddy hates azaleas but Mommy loves them so he is not allowed to get rid of them, ever!

Aren't they so pretty? Ah, it's spring and it's going to be about 75 degrees today. We wonder if the Beautiful Pearl and the Magnificient Lady Boo would like to come over and spend the day with us? Happy Friday everyone. We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday Thirteen

As you know, Mommy and Daddy are really debating bringing LK home to live with us. Because of this, today we are going to list 13 things we have heard said about LK this week.

1. Mommy said to Daddy: "Captain Jack is my kitty and Dante is your kitty - if we got LK, who would he belong to?"

2.Daddy said: "He is still so little that I cannot make a decision yet..."

3. Aunt Susan said: "If you are worried about Jack and Dante hurting him, don't be. Chances are they will think something more along the lines of 'what the heck is that thing?!' than they will think of hurting him."

4. Mommy said: "He is an orphan, we could name him Oliver."

5. Daddy said: "What about Dodger as in The Artful Dodger?"

6. Aunt Susan said: "I think you should name him Merlyn cause he has eyes like a little owl."

7. Mommy said: "Where would we isolate him at? Dante likes the guest bathroom so much and he feels that it is his room, so we cannot take that room from him."

8. Nana said: "If you guys bring him home, make sure to do it when you can take some time to be home with him so he can get to know you and the boys and the house."

9. Uncle Mark said: "I think you have just the right amount of animals and getting one more may be pushing it."

10. Aunt Susan said: "I have had one inquiry about him, so do not feel like you have to take him. I can find a home for him, no problem. If you do take him and it just doesn't work out, we can still find him a good home then too."

11. Mommy said: "It was easy enough when Dante came home. They only had about two hours of hissing and growling before it was over and Susan says a kitten would be easier than to introduce than Dante was..."

12. Samwise said: "Oh you should have seen him! He is so little and he was whapping and batting my nose and he smelled like a baby - just like Jack did when he first came home!"

13. Captain Jack and Dante say: "We are not sure about this either. We could use a cabin boy but what if he gets more attention than us? We like our hosue now. Do we really need to add another? What if we do not like him? What if he does not like us? Samwise says he bites too!!"

Thinking Back on Wednesday

A while ago, Daddy found this picture and sent it to Mommy. It was taken years ago by Mommy of Midnight (the black kitty) and Merlyn (the grey kitty). Midnight has since gone to the Bridge and Merlyn has gotten much older (he lives with our Nana and Grandpa). Wasn't Midnight handsome with his laser eye beams? And Merlyn looks mighty adorable too. Mommy has been thinking a lot about all of her kitties, including the ones who came before, since she has been debating bringing LK home. We thought that you would like to see them too.

Tabby, Tummy, Toes and Tail Tuesday

I know that the Captain usually blogs solo on Tuesday for Tuxie Tuesday, but I have decided to highjack the blog today. Yesterday, Mommy was going to have a photosession for Jack for Tuxie Tuesday, but then Daddy and I came into the room and we some great Tabby, Tummy, Toes and Tail pictures. Just look!

M'ARGH!!! Daddy has flavor as the LOL cats say!! Yes, I was putting the bitey on Daddy's hand cause I am one vicious orange pirate cat. You can also see Jack's tail making a cameo appearance in this picture. He was trying to hog the camera and distract Mommy into only taking pics of him, but I was being much more photo worthy than he was!

And here is my orange tabby tummy and toes (Jack says I am a wide load - what do you think? I think he is just jealous of my mancatness!). I was just about to bunny kick too! I love to play with Daddy. We do this every morning and Mommy always says that Daddy gets me wound up and then walks away so I have only her to attack and pounce....yeah, she may be right, but it is so much fun!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!! Mommy wants to say thank you for all of the well wishes for her paw to heal quickly. She does look funny hobbling around but we do hope that she feels better soon!

Mini Mancat Monday

First off, we want to wish everyone a belated Happy Spring and Happy Easter. We were not able to post at the end of last week because first Mommy's allergies attacked her and then the doctor said she had achilles tendonitis and is spending lots of time saying that her foot hurts. Poor Mommy. Anyway, to make our lack of posting up to you, we have a special surprise for Mancat Monday and here it is:

Yep, new LK pictures!! Mommy and Daddy went to Uncle Dave and Aunt Susan's yesterday for Easter dinner and got to spend the day with LK. He's gotten really big now and he's about 4.5 weeks old! Mommy and Daddy took Samwise with them so they could see how he reacted around such a little kitten and here is what happened!

First, they sniffed each other - that's Mommy holding LK safe so that he did not get hurt (not that Sam would have hurt him - he loves kitties).

Then, (Sammy Meezer you will be so proud) LK began to whap Samwise on the nose! We are not sure if you can tell very well in this picture, but LK has his right paw ready for whapping and even had his little kitten claws out so he could whap Samwise good!

Even more whapping! Look at his right foot again, its completely in whapping mode. Mommy said he whapped Samwise with both feet - whap whap - over and over again!! Sam did really good and never bit or anything, just took the whapping like a good dog! LK is so brave. Look at what happened next and you can see how good he whapped!

Samwise retreated across the room and laid on his gator (his special sleeping spot at Aunt Susan and Uncle Dave's) until LK was put back into his room.
Yep, we think LK is one wonderful, amazing, whapping mini-mancat!!! Now if only Mommy and Daddy would decide whether they are adopting him. Aunt Susan says he will be ready to go to his forever home in 2 or 3 weeks and we think they are going to take that long to decide!

Wordy Wednesday

Those lovely kitties at PB&J, which includes Dante's Beautiful Pearl, have tagged all of us for the nickname meme. Since they tagged us all, this is going to be a very Wordy Wednesday!

Here are the rules:
1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name or your mother's maiden name).
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person (or blogger of another species) for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged.)

We will go in age order so Samwise will start us off. His middle name is Gamgee!
G- Gardner - because I love love love to dig in the dirt!!
A- Arf Arf! - what my bark sounds like. I do not BARK! like most dogs but do this weird, soft ARF! that makes beans laugh. Aunt Susan says it sounds like I was "de-barked," whatever that means.
M- Mommy's favorite - I know I am her favorite because I am the only one allowed to follow her around 24/7. I know this because I will chase off the other kitties and woofies who try to get too close to her.
G- Garbage dog - Mommy and Daddy call me this because I used to love to tip over the garbage can in the kitchen and spread it out all over the floor so I could see what was in it (they have since brought a so-far Samproof garbage can)
E- Eager - I love to go for car rides and all it takes it Mommy picking up my leash to get me really excited.
E- Extraordinary - Cause I am. Aunt Susan actually called me "the perfect dog" once. I think that makes me very extraordinary!

Next up is Captain Jack. His middle name is Jack!
J- Jumper - Mommy and Daddy are always surprised how high I can jump with no effort. It is not unusual for me to jump to the top of a chest of drawers without blinking or even trying hard.
A- Awesome - cause I am one awesome pirate cat!
C- Captain - Yeah. I am the Captain!
K- King Sized Kitty - I am a rather big cat. I am lithe and slender and still weigh 15 pounds. I am often called Moose Kitty because I am so big!

Third, we have Beaux. He is often called Bozo so Daddy says his middle name should be Zeaux!
Z- Zabernist - which means "bully". Yeah, I bully the kitties from time to time, I admit it!
E- Exuberant - You should see how I jump and dance around when its dinner time!
A - Appreciative - Mommy and Daddy adopted me from the pound and I have always been very appreciative of them choosing me!
U- Uncommonly sweet - Mommy says I am all heart...and no brain!
X- Xtremely talented because I can catch my treats in the air and I can sit and even stay on command.

Finally, we have Dante. He has two middle names, Barbossa and Alighieri. We will use Barbossa for this!
B- Begger - I will beg for treats by loudly mewoing until they hand over the goodies!
A- Awesome - Cause like Jack, I am one awesome pirate cat!
R- Red head - Aunt Susan insists that I am not orange, that I am actually redheaded, just like my Mommy. Yeah, I prefer the term ginger I think.
B- Batter - I am very good at batting things. Anything that is left on a counter or table will soon find its way to the floor!
O- Orange cause I am one gorgeous ginger!!
S- Scarred - I have a huge scar on my back from where a car's fanbelt bit me when I was homeless.
S- Sedate - I am actually a pretty calm kitty. Mommy has often called me "laid back" which she says means I am lazy and like to lie around and relax, and I say it means that I am sedate.
A- Attacker - I definately attack Beaux by whapping chasing him through the house.

Wow! That was lots of hard work! We hope you enjoy reading about us. We would like to tag Chance and his brother Shadow, Derby, and all of the Furry Kids!!

Tuxie Tuesday

I hope everyone had a good time on my birthday cruise yesterday! I was surprised at how many of you came and so excited to see all of your on my pirate ship! WOW! Thank you all for your good wishes and for hanging out with me all day. It really was lots of fun. Maybe we'll do it again for Sir Dante's birthday in June!!

First off, my Trivia Treasure Hunt!! For those of you who didn't go and see the Trivia Treasure Hunt, here are the questions (and the anwers!)

1. Mommy and Daddy love Cruzan Rum, in fact they like it so much that when Aunt Susan and Uncle Dave went diving this summer, they brought back some Cruzan rum from the Cruzan rum factory as a present for Mommy and Daddy. Where did Aunt Susan and Uncle Dave travel to in order to get Cruzan Rum from the factory? St Croix, US Virgin Islands

2. Sometimes ships sink due to bad weather before we kitties can pirate them. On July 22, 1985 an American treasure hunter discovered just such a sunken ship off the coast of Key West, FL. What was the name of the sunken ship? Senora de Atocha (Our Lady of Atocha)

3. Did you kitties know that most pirates were male? However, there are two very well known female pirates that became best friends when they dressed as male pirates and sailed under the flag of Captain Jack Rackham, who was also known as Calico Jack. Who were these two female pirates? Mary Reed and Anne Bonnie

4. Did you kitties know that in the 17th century, Britain actually licensed pirates to attack Spanish, and later French, ships? Henry Morgan was made famous by becoming the leader of this band of British employees. However, the term “pirate” was not applied to this group – they were called something else to set them apart from good, honest and law-breaking pirates like us kitties on the Black Furball. What was the British government employees who performed acts of piracy but were not actual pirates called? Privateers or Buccaneers

5. Why is the rum always gone? We can tell you why – because our Mommy and Daddy drank it all on a trip they took this past fall! They had yummy drinks called Hurricanes which are rum drunks that were invented by an infamous American bar during World War II. Can you name the city and the bar where Mommy and Daddy drank all of the rum? (PS- Mommy says you get extra points if you bring her one!) Pat O'Briens in New Orleans (Spirit and Ezra actually new the historic name for the bar, when it was just a speak easy - Mr. O'Brien's Club Tipperary - Mommy was way impressed).

6. Contrary to what Mommy would like, not all hurricanes are yummy rum filled drinks. Some hurricanes are very serious and have been the death of many a pirate caught in their gales. In the Western Hemisphere, a special scale is used to warn pirate kitties of the intensity of approaching hurricanes. What is the special scale called? Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

7. Did you know that the oldest city in America has a rich pirate history too? This city was settled by the Spanish in March 1513 by Don Juan Ponce de Leon. In 1586, the English corsair Sir Francis Drake attacked and burned the town. Then in 1668, the pirate Captain John Davis plundered the town, killing sixty inhabitants. Spain authorized the building of a stone fort to protect the city and its inhabitants. The Castillo de San Marcos took twenty-three years to build but, once in place, stood as the town's stalwart defender. To this day, the fort has never fallen to enemy attack. What is the name of this city? St. Augustine, FL

8. Who is the most fearsome pirate cat Captain to ever live? Even though Dante may disagree, it is me - Captain Jack Kitten!

Almost everyone who participated got all of the answers correctly and for the kitty who missed only one, she was so close! We knew it would be hard to choose but this morning we let the other birthday boy Tybalt randomly choose a winner out of all the kitties that answered correctly and well, we promise it was random (Tybalt back us up here) but the Lady Boo is our winner!! Congratualtions my lovely lady! For everyone else who participated, Mommy is working on a special surprise for you guys only and we hope to have it ready soon!!

Kitties, I have to show you this because I cannot believe how wonderful it is. It's my birthday present from that amazing pub mistress herself, Miss Diamond Emerald Eyes!

Isn't it wonderful! Mommy likes it because she says it has two of her most favorite men in it - me and Johnny Depp (Mommy! Stop drooling!) Anyway, I wanted to say thanks again to Diamond. I just love this!!

Thanks again for coming to my Birthday Cruise. It was the best 4th birthday, or any birthday for that matter, ever!!

Welcome to Captain's Jack 4th Birthday Cruise!

Welcome to the Black Furrball and to Captain Jack's 4th Birthday Pirate Cat Cruise! We are so pleased that you could join us today. Please watch your step as you disembark from the boarding ships and step onto the decks of the Black Furrball!

As you can see, through years of pillaging, we have been able to decorate the decks of the Black Furrball with your comfort in mind for the birthday cruise. We have comfy chairs and hammocks, and of course there is plenty of sunshine to lie in as well. For those of you who would like, we have plenty of fishing rods and nets, and its a great day to fish. We caught these this morning when we were making sure the fish were biting. Please, help yourself to our catch or catch your own if you would like!
What is the fun in being on a pirate ship without being able to wear a fun costume? Although we see that some of you brought your own costumes (and you look mighty piratety we must say), we do have costumes for anyone who wants to wear them. Please ask our second mate for them. He's right over there, in the eye patch!

Of course, being out in the sun and surf could make a kitty quite thirsty. Please feel free to go to the above decks bar for a cool and refreshing beverage!
If the sun is getting to be a bit too warm, we invite you to retire below decks. We hope that you will like our below deck saloon which was also decorated with our pirate swag.
Which of course the salooon comes complete with its own bar. Please try the pirate niptinis, as they are our own delicious recipe. We have nippagne too and our bartender will make you anything you desire! And do not worry, the rum is not gone. We have plenty!!
Below decks we also have our seafood fest. Please help yourself, there's plenty for everyone!!
And of course, what would a birthday party be without a cake. We choose this for the Captain this year, and it will also be served below decks! We would also like to share this cake with Tybalt, his birthday is also being celebrated today!! Happy Birthday Tybalt!!

Please relax, enjoy the party, and have a great time. If you would like, we do have a contest to celebrate the Captain's bithday. Please follow the link to Captain Jack's 4th Birthday Trivia Treasure Hunt! Follow the directions, and if you win, you will recieve a treasure chest of goodies!! Enjoy yourself everyone and thanks for coming!!!

Scary Saturday

Hey everykitty! As some of you know, we live in the nothern suburbs of Atlanta and our Mommy actually works in downtown Atlanta. What some of you may not know is that last night, around 9:45pm, a tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta, not far from where Mommy works.

We wanted to let everyone know that we are okay! Thankfully Mommy had left work only a couple of hours before the storms hit. We got some very scary and loud thunderboomers, and the storm that caused the tornado just barely skimmed us and went south of us into the city. We are okay and since Tybalt and his Mommy live north of us, we are sure they are fine too!

So far they are only reporting minor injuries due to the tornado and we think it is a miracle that no one was badly hurt or killed. The storm hit the largest tourist area of the city and there were two basketball games going on at the Georgia Dome and at Phillips Arena, as well as a few conventions at the hotels that were severly damaged. However, even more storms are forecasting for the Atlanta area this afternoon, so we are purring and purring that they are not as bad as we got last night - especially since Daddy just discovered that we have a leaky roof here at home!

Thursday Thirteen

We are getting so excited about Captain Jack's 4th Birthday Cruise coming up on Monday! We are putting the finishing touches on our trivia treasure hunt and we cannot wait to see which kitty takes home the treasure! For this Thursday 13, we want to tell you all about the fun things there are for kitties to do aboard the Black Furrball!

1. Climbing the rigging! It's a tall ship after all and there is plenty of ropes and things to climb!
2. The Black Furrball provides the best fresh-caught fish that any kitty could ask for.
3. Hammocks are available in large supply for those afternoon naps.
4. We have eye patches just like Dante's for any kitty who wants to look fearsome!
5. It's fun to scream "Me-ARGH!!!" to show how scary and fierce you are.
6. Tuna boats and Temptations boats go by - need we say any more?
7. There is nothing quite as lovely as the sun over the Carribean and we have tons of decks for sunbathing!
8. Seagulls follow the boats as they come in and leave port! YUMMY!
9. Real live undead shrimp that quickly become real live dead shrimps in the kitty belly!
10. The beans must do as we say or we can make them walk the plank!
11. We can smuggle in the best nip you've ever had!
12. Kitties look really cool in pirate costumes!
13. We're pirates, we can do whatever we want and if a bean says no, we can shanghai them!!

Wordy Wednesay Annoucement

A lot of you guessed it and guessed right. We are having a special Birthday Cruise for the Captain's 4th Birthday!

When: March 17th - all day
Where: We are going to be taking all of you kitties (and buns and woofies) to the Carribean aboard our pirate ship. Do not worry if there are other parties for Saint Patrick's Day that day, the Black Furrball comes equiped with special teleyporting rooms so it will be easy to party hop!
Special Prizes: Mommy and Daddy are helping us work on a game - a treasure hunt where X marks the spot where the special pirate's booty is buried! If you find it, you win the treasure chest of kitty delights! More details later!

We are so excited and we just can not wait!! We hope all of you kitties (and buns and woofies) will be there. We may even ask Aunt Susan if LK can come too. Its never too early to earn your sea legs, right?!

Tuxie Tuesday Annoucement

Hey everyone! We have a big announcement to make!! We've got some clues for you. Can you guess what we have planned??

A Map of the Carribean.....

A Pirate Kitty Flag......A Birthday Party Hat....

A Picture of The Black Furrball.....

A Picture of Captain Jack...

And a Saint Patrick's Day Greeting....

Any guesses? The big annoucement will be tommorow but we are wondering if any of our friends will guess what we have planned before then. All of the hints are there - what do you think?

PS: Tybalt, you and the girls cannot guess since you already know!!

Mancat Monday

Every good Mancat knows what to do when they spend the weekend not feeling well with a cold: hide in a laundry basket...

and sleep all weekend in the bedroom with Mommy who has the cold too!

Yep, I spent the weekend sneezing and snuffling with a cold. I started feeling bad Thursday and when Aunt Susan called Friday night to talk to Mommy I heard horrible words come out of Mommy's mouth: "Since I have you on the phone, Dante seems to have a cold. Is there anything I can give him?" I knew I was in trouble when Mommy flew out the door at 9pm and came back soon with a bag from the local drug store saying "Come here Dante. Aunt Susan says this will make you feel better!" That was followed by Daddy grabbing me and Mommy shoving half a tablet down my throat. They did this every 12 hours for the whole weekend! But I got my revenge. Mommy woke up with my cold on Saturday so she had to take the same medicine she gave me! Hahahahahaha! Yep, all good Mancats know how to get revenge too!!

Friends on Friday

Happy Friday everyone! This week, we have a very special Friends On Friday because it features brand new pictures of everyone's favorite little fighter, LK!!

This is his really cute picture. Mommy said it was really hard to get good pictures this time because he was so incredibly active!

Here is LK eating his stinky goodness! When Aunt Susan brought him out to visit with Mommy and Daddy, she put down this bowl of food for him. Mommy said he would stand in it to eat (and even make biscuits in it) and then would run off to play only to run back and eat some more before running off to play again!

Here is LK trying to drink some water out of the dog's bowl. Don't worry, Mommy kept a good eye on him so that he did not drown. He is such a curious little kitten. He did not want water but maybe he wanted to swim??

This is LK perched on our Daddy's arm. Mommy said even when you tried to hold him, he would squirm and squirm and squirm and want to get down to run and play!

Daddy titled this picture "Kitten's First Me'ARGH!" He may be a pirate kitten after all!

LK is finally looking and acting like a real kitten! He loves to run around at full speed and wants to explore everything. Aunt Susan just went back on a five day shift at the V-E-T ER, but Mommy thinks that next time Aunt Susan is off, they may take video of LK to post on our bloggie (if they can figure out how to do so). Aunt Susan is very pleased with his progress and Mommy says that yes, they are almost completely sure he is going to make it!! He will live with Aunt Susan and Uncle Dave for a few more weeks before he is ready to go to a forever home. Mommy and Daddy are still unsure if we will be adopting the little guy because he is so small and we are so big (Captain Jack alone weighs 15 pds) and have the woofies, but she says they have not ruled it out.

We think we can now officially add LK to this list of "Kitties the Cat Blogosphere Has Saved!" LK and all of us are thankful to all of you for your purrs and purrayers and good wishes. Aunt Susan was totally overwhelmed by all of the attention LK got. As an ER V-E-T she sees some pretty awful things, but we think this may have made her smile lots. Thanks again everyone! We've said it before, and we will say it again, Cat (and Buns and Woofies and Human) Bloggers are the Best!!!

Wonderful Wednesday

Hey kitties, Dante here! Today we are going to do Wonderful Wednesday because of something that arrived at our house the other day....
What do you guys think Captain Jack is looking at? Whatever it is, its gotta be good because he is really looking in that box!

Oh WOW! Look at all of those treats! There are two bags of Temptations and Whisker Lickins and Greenies and LOOK! The Captain is still digging in the box! Could there be more???

Look at that!! Treats and toys - feather butt mousies and balls and everything! And look at the box, you can see who sent this bounty to us - Spirit and Ezra!! This must be our prize package for winning their contest that they had the other week (yay for Mommy knowing her movies!).

Oh which should I play with first? The Captain already took off with a mousie so I can have my pick of what's left. Oh they all look so good! Maybe we can play with all of them at once!

Yes, this is what we looked like about an hour after we opened our mail. Eating treats and playing with feather butt mousies sure is exhausting but oh so worth it! Thank you so much Spirit and Ezra! We loved our prizes! Mommy said to say that she let us each have one toy and then put the rest in the box only to discover the Cpatain raiding the box a few minutes later. He managed to sneak out about 4 more toys before she caught him. Sorry Mommy, but we's pirate kitties - what do you expect?!