Gratuitious Cat Photos

Rufus was a happy cat, kneading away at the double thickness blanket that stops his sharp edges from making his cat-slave shriek.

Then his cat-slave said "Bedtime" and had the cheek to push him off her! This was a shame and a disgrace.

Luckily he has a short memory and by the next day all was forgiven. Or was that dead bird he brought in a subtle way of getting his revenge?

Slightly Stunned

Rufus has just got back from the vet after having the wire removed which was keeping his broken jaw in place. He had it removed under anaesthetic, so he's still a bit woozy.

For the last six weeks he's been unable to go outside. For five of those weeks he's been almost unbearable. He should be able to go out again on Wednesday, so fingers crossed.

Cats

Here is Rufus auditioning unsuccessfully for the role of Ceiling Cat.

(This is Ceiling Cat.)

Here is Rufus playing Hide and Seek.

It's quite a shock when you're on your own in the kitchen making yourself a quiet cup of tea and there is suddenly a noise above your head and there's a cat staring down at you. But cats sleep wherever they want to.

This is Bonnie. At least she is civilised.

Houdini Cat

Last night I left Rufus safely asleep on his cat tree in the kitchen. The door to the conservatory was locked and the door to the rest of the house was closed. The only way out was through a cat flap into the locked garage, where the cat flap that leads to the outside world was firmly shut. There was no way out.

This morning, when I opened the kitchen door Rufus had gone. There was no cat yelling accusingly, telling me that he hadn't been fed for hours and that the service in this place is terrible you just can't get the staff these days. He didn't even come when I offered food. He'd vanished.

I checked the cat flap: still firmly shut. I checked on top of cupboards, inside the cupboards, all the (very many) cat hiding places in the junk in the garage. Still no Rufus. Panicking now, I woke my daughter-in-law to see if she had let the cat out overnight. No, she hadn't. I had visions of Ru lying injured in some inaccessible place after trying one spectacular leap too many off a cupboard.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an orange shape moving past the kitchen window catflapwards. Rufus had been out for a stroll and was now gracing us with his presence.

Rufus back from his travels

I still have no explanation for how he could escape from a locked room.

Rufus displaying his usual skill at opening the cat flap when it's NOT locked: 42 attempts before he can get it open

Do you think we should put him on the stage and charge admission?

Caption competition

Halloween came and went then I got a tummy bug, so last week was a write-off. Inspiration has fled; I'm trying to get out invitations to my birthday party, buy Xmas presents, get ready for my winter skiing holiday, get my new glasses sorted so that I can see through them, and edit 50k words for Nanowrimo.

None out of five isn't bad. Is it?

As I'm feeling uninspired, I thought I'd turn to you folks for inspiration. How about a caption for today's photo?

King Rufus

We found the dog bed in a charity shop and it looked the right size for our cats so we brought it home. I rather liked the gold edging; I thought it gave the bed that throne ambiance that every cat should have.

Both cats sniffed at it then left it alone.

I wasn't going to be defeated so I had a cunning plan. I put the bed on the settee and sat on it like a cushion. Then after a while I went and cooked dinner. When I came back, Rufus had as usual taken my seat and was ensconced in the bed. I picked it up by the edges and put it on the floor and hey presto! Suddenly he can't be separated from it.

Just sometimes I think I'm cleverer than that cat.

Pictures I Found On My Phone

I was going to call this post something posh like "2012 Retrospective" but then I decided to go with honesty: these are the pictures I found on my phone. They remind me of some of the good times I had last year.

Probaby Denbies Vineyard, probably summer 2012

Bonnie enjoying the summer sun

Walking near the New Inn at Send

Rufus in his hammock

Where I work, sans children (because of issues with photographing other people's children and putting their pictures online)

Geek get-together during NaNoWriMo (note the amazing camera work and I wasn't even drunk)

Christmas Reindeer at Covent Garden

Skating at Somerset House

Flooding upriver of Hampton Court Palace

After-Christmas Cats with their new cat tree

Somewhere I also have pictures of the family over Christmas and New Year but you've been spared those. The photos of Box Hill today are still on my phone. Be grateful for small mercies!

Next week it's back to work but until then I'm enjoying the holidays. I hope you are too.

New Year Family Fun

Here is Bonnie winning herself some gems in the Hobbit game; sadly the whole party of dwarves got eaten but she had the most gems, so she was the richest, dead dwarf of us all.

Cats at Christmas

Rufus caught a bird yesterday and we found it rather messily dead on the kitchen floor. But to make up for it, I got a lovely card from the cats today.

The envelope said: TO OUR SERVANT NO 1

In case you can't read the dialogue:

Rufus: What's all this Christmas fuss about?
Bonnie: It's a time of goodwill to all cats and their servants. (Not mice.)
Bonnie: All I see is an empty dish.

Bonnie: Didn't we get the servants a present?
Rufus: Er Yea. I left it somewhere. I know, on the floor in the kitchen.

Mouse: I don't think I like Christmas very much.

I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas time. (If you're not, then you might like to go here: http://exmoorjane.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/if-christmas-suddenly-blindsides-you.html )

Best wishes to one and all!

Too cute for words!

It's the run-up to Nanowrimo and I've discovered Written? Kitten!

Previously I'd seen Write or Die but Written? Kitten! is a far better incentive. For every 100 words you type you get a new picture of a cute kitten.

I think it could make me positively verbose! Who can resist the lure of a kitten?

Mighty Hunters

 

Score for the last four weeks

 

Rufus:

• one dead mouse
• one live and apparently uninjured mouse
• one nearly dead mouse
• one dead mouse that he proceeded to eat in front of us

Bonnie:

• one dead and mangled frog, left in the middle of the otherwise spotless hall to welcome us on our return from holiday
• one dead water rat

If we had a mouse problem these cats would solve it. As it is, I live in dread of what they'll bring home next.

But they look so cute!

LOLcat

Parachute Fail

I'm sure you can think of a better caption. The comments section awaits and ReCaptcha is turned off!

I'm a doormat

Well, Rufus thinks I am anyway. This is the third time he's gone out, got wet, and come in and wiped himself dry on me.

Remind me someone, why do we have cats?

A Cat Story

I'm still writing a story a day and today was a cat story, about a cat not unlike Rufus. He's called Hubert and I may use him again!

All these short stories feel like small ideas that I could work on later, maybe when a competition comes up. I only seem to write when there's some outside stimulus so I need to find a way to motivate myself that doesn't involve other people.

Or maybe not. For me writing is a hobby; if I only enjoy it in company then it doesn't really matter.

Rufus and the snow

Where is Rufus?

Here he is!

Can you blame him?

The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then?
Poor thing.

He'll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing,
Poor thing.

At least the humans made it as far as the pub!

How much is yours worth?

They aren't for sale. Rufus is needed to keep the local rodent population down; he was found eating a mouse on the doorstep the other day. Bonnie is needed for her decorative function and as a doorstop.

How much is your cat worth? Go to WeBuyAnyCat.com and see! (Their terms and conditions are hilarious!)

The best bit of Christmas

The best bit of Christmas is the wrapping paper. Ask Rufus.

He did also get a toy hamster that makes the paper in the box rustle enticingly when it's turned on.

Bonnie scratched her face over her eye and gave herself an eye infection. She's had the Cone of Shame on all Christmas, poor little thing.

I hope you all had a Happy Christmas!

Appearances are deceptive

Rufus being loveable 

I came downstairs this morning to find a dead mouse on the doormat. The inside doormat. That's inside a house where the cats are shut in at night so all doors, windows and catflaps are closed.

I can only think that little darling Rufus brought it in yesterday and hid it somewhere. Possibly still alive. *shudders*

Cats. Don't you just love them?

Such a sweetie

Just for me!

The very talented jjdebenedictis has drawn a picture all for me! It's got a cat and a robot in it and it's really cute. You'll have to pop over there to see it; it's at the end of this post.

Thank you, jj! You're the best!

Do you know how hard it is...

...to take a decent photo of the cat that's lying on your arm?

He makes typing a bit tricky too.