Merry Christmas!

We wish you and your peeps the merriest of holidays! Stay safe, eat lots of treats, and if the turkey presents itself --- well, try not to get caught!!


Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Blazing a Trail for Pouncer

With over a foot of snow on the ground, the only way Pouncer can get anywhere is to follow in Charlie's footsteps.

Where Charlie goes...
...kitties follow.

OMG - Charlie's Up to His A(xle)s in Snow!

This morning we awoke to another 6 inches of snow, for a total of 12. It wouldn't be that unusual in Indiana, where Charlie & I are both from, but here... WOW! They're calling it a 50-yr snow in Portland, so we'll be out enjoying it -- probably won't see it again like this here!

Winter Snow

We had an amazing snow yesterday. Usually Portland gets a little bit in the winter, but there's 5 or 6 inches on the ground now. Apparently we got a little liquid precip last night, too, because this morning there's a thick icy crust on top -- almost thick and strong enough to hold Charlie up. Almost.


While he likes snow just fine, Charlie doesn't like breaking through that crust one bit, and for awhile pretty much refused to go back outside. Now I've got a path broken and, with a liberal sprinkling of treats, convinced him that it's kind of ok. But it may take an actual "walk" to get any business going today. We'll see.

Shaking Off the Winter Doldrums

A Pressie from Down Under

Recently Charlie received a very special package -- a stuffed 'roo from C$ and his family in Australia.

"Hmmm... smells good."
"Hmmm... tastes good."
"What's in there?"
"Here, I'll help."
"C'mere, you!"
"What are you? You don't look like a cat..."
Getting the cat "treatment", anyway.
Charlie and Roo.
This is Charlie's first stuffed toy in a long long long time. Not because he doesn't like them (he loved them) -- but because he eats them. As in "down the hatch", "chew, swallow, and repeat"... you get the picture. So I was curious to see his (supervised) reaction, now that he's a few years older.

At first, Charlie didn't seem to know what to do with the toy. He sniffed it cautiously and went to lie elsewhere. With some coaxing he gradually warmed up to it a little, even giving it the kitty 'sniff under the tail' routine. But he still wouldn't play with it.

I went in the bedroom to do some things, (accidently) leaving Charlie unsupervised in the living room with the toy. A few minutes later, I looked over and there it was - on the bed! As I watched, Charlie came back in the room, picked up the 'roo and proceeded to pace the house, carrying it in his mouth.

So now it's not "the toy" or "the 'roo", it's Roo. And Roo now plays a prominent role in "Chase Charlie", replacing the ball that Charlie likes to run with. Charlie still only gets supervised visits. But he often initiates them, going over to the mantel where Roo lives and staring longingly.

Thanks C$, Brooke, Greg, & Opie! For the toy and for helping Charlie show me how much he's grown up.