Fervor Unsaturated

Usually when we have been outside with an umbrella and bring it in to dry, we will find Fervor in his little cave.

In The Thick of It

Peggy is struggling over a complex quilt with many, many fabric pieces. Arnold wants to help.

Jungle Cat

Fervor gets in touch with his roots posing as a fierce jungle cat in Peggy's fern brought inside due to a frost advisory.

Breakfast Cat

We call Cleo our Breakfast Cat because she likes to be up close and personal when we eat breakfast. We draw the line at other times.

Sorry Cleo, You Have to Stay Home

We are on the road again (currently in Georgia). Cleo always seems to want to go along.

Sorry Fervor,...

...you can't come out now because Cleo is out.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Fervor, a male cat about the same age as Arnold, used to regularly jump up on top of the curio cabinet. He has not done this for some time now. Tonight, for whatever reason, he jumped on top of the curio cabinet. Within minutes, Arnold was ready to repeat Fervor's feat. First he got on the back of Peggy's chair, bobbed and weaved to ascertain the possibilities, then he went to the top of the crow's nest structure near the window, then to the chair and finally back to the crow's nest. He checked the direction of the wind, adjusted his azimuth and elevation, bobbed and weaved judging his abilities and made a successful jump. The photo shows him reveling in his glory.

Arnold Bags a Bag

Simple cat toys are best. Notice Cleo zooming by in the upper right corner sparking Peggy's laugh.

Cowboy Cat

Just for grins I tied a bandana around Arnolds neck today. He made no move to remove it nor did he indicate in any way he was dissatisfied with it. Perhaps we can dress him up for Holloween.

The Privileged Class

I guess these cats know who these easy chairs are for, eh?

Reluctant Warriors

I took the following video last October but just now got it edited. I had to reduce 50 minutes to the 5 minutes shown here. I added a little sound effects but not much as I did not want to mask the sounds the animals were making. Arnold huffed and puffed and the mouse squeeks can be clearly heard. It looks like Cleo would like a pet and Arnold is a little unsure about how to attack the problem.

Off to Baltimore

Cleo wanted to join us as we prepared to visit A in Baltimore. Then we went on to stand among the millions for President Obama's inauguration.

They were glad to see us when we returned. ZZZzz.

Watching TV

Years ago we installed a cat door in our bedroom door to allow the cats some mobility while preserving a bit of privacy for us. We found that not all cats are smart enough to learn how to use it. More on that later.

When we brought Arnold and Cleo into our home we found, to our dismay, that Fervor would viciously attack Cleo. A solution that has worked reasonably well is to keep Cleo closed in our bedroom when Fervor is out. Then we separate Fervor for a time to let Cleo have the run of the house. Getting this method to work when we have visitors is quite a challenge.

Arnold quickly learned how to use the cat door but Cleo does not use it. For a while Fervor did not use it but one day he went through it and tangled with Cleo in our bedroom. Then I glued little wooden blocks on the inside of the cat door frame to allow only exits from the bedroom and thereby refuse entry to Fervor. When Fervor has the run of the house, many times he sits outside the bedroom door staring at the cat door as in the photo, above. We call it "watching TV" as he can see shadows through it. He is waiting for Cleo to come out (she never does) so he could pounce on her.

The one-way cat door allows Arnold to leave the room when he wants. Arnold is apparently a very smart cat. He can open the one-way door from the outside, pulling it toward himself, and enter the bedroom. This is great but if Fervor every learns to do that (doubtful) we will have to lock the cat door closed for all.

One last thing. The broom standing next to the door is intended to be used to separate Fervor from Cleo if they should ever engage. We have several such "cat brooms" placed around the house as defensive measures.

Arnold the Adventurous and Cleo the Cute

Some recent photos:

Well, I got up here... now what?


If I take a flying leap...


... I will get where I want to be.

Ah, I found a sunny spot.

Am I cute or what?

I'm glad you agree.

.