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Thursday, July 31, 2014

This week's 'kitty in a window'

"I'll wait for you by the light in the window"
 is what I read on this little ginger face staring out at me as I walked by yesterday.
This little fellow lives in our town and I have enjoyed seeing him many times as I walk our dog, Kane.

Do cats wait for us to return home to them at the end of our day?
Take a look at these photos that I found. They surely say they do. There are some magnificent captures here. My favorite being Igor Periera (white cat)
Enjoy.
 http://www.boredpanda.com/cat-waiting-window/

Aren't they amazing?

Have a wonderful long weekend, everyone. I have lots of kitties to care for and will be showing them off next week.
hugs, Deb

What made you smile today?

For me, it was my kitty-client, Sparky.
He is appropriately named because one minute he is like this and in a spark he is gone.
He is a wee bit of a nipper but I finally have him figured out. *ouch*
Sometimes I'm a slow learner. :-b

And look at all these smiles.

That's my son, John, with his 4 year old's soccer team, The Green Growlers.
He loves coaching them as they are not only cute but so darn fun to watch.
It doesn't seem that long ago that he started playing soccer at the age of 6 and now he's a coach.
*sigh*
There's Riley in the front row second to the left.  
She's a darn good player already just like her dad.

Taking time out for a good cup of tea and a fresh muffin.
Not just any muffin, though.
A raspberry, blueberry, blackberry muffin.

I made a batch of two dozen.
Where they all went...I have no idea.

And..
my sister is home from her surgery and all went well.

Enjoy your day.
hugs, Deb

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Black Beauty & Glorious food

I had a date with a black beauty and spent most of it brushing his sleek, luscious coat.

I'm a bit of a push-over, you know.

                                                              Oh, he knows.

He also managed to have a ball tossed to him ...let's see...thirty, no, forty-some times and we did get some cuddles in, too. When he wasn't looking I hid a few treats around just to entertain him later.

And do you know what the best part of it was?  I get to do it all over again tomorrow.

Treated ourselves to a great lunch in Almonte at Palm's Coffee House.
Roasted veggies with goat cheese and pesto on a home-made panini bun.
The retired-guy had ham, provolone cheese with  peppers, onion and roasted tomato pesto on a savory scone.
All home-made including the iced-tea. I went for a hot cup of English Breakfast tea. So, so good.
So roomy, so comfy and so delish.
We'll be back.
http://www.palmsonline.ca/1pwp/


hugs, Deb


Mystery flower

Kitty in front of a window.

Photo taken in our town.

It's so nice this time of year just to step outside our door and have fresh flowers to pick.

This little pottery vase was a thrift find for $1.00
I put this in my daughter's room just because.

Apparently, this flower is called a Ground Cherry and the fruit is edible.

(off the web)
I have some reading to do on these. That is after I care for all the kitties, vacuum this house & pull a few weeds.

hugs, Deb

Monday, July 28, 2014

Not quite a kitty in a window & more treasures.

How about a kitty in front of a window today?

This might be a new challenge for me.

Anyone know what this flower is called? It popped up in my daughter's garden.


I had another busy day cat-sitting. I am caring for a few kitties in the country and a beautiful black fella here in town.
I also made time to browse the shelves at a thrift shop in the city (Ottawa) and came home with a few treasures.

This covered pottery dish I found will be great for serving a side-dish.

and the cream and sugar bowl fits in nicely.
and I love this little orphan of a bowl that came home with me and can hold fresh market tomatoes.
All these treasures are little pieces of art and signed by each potter.
I spent all of $12.00

Good thing I have a bag only the hulk could carry that is heading to our local thrift store tomorrow.

Remember the motto...
'Surround yourself with things you  LOVE'

"I love you, Sierra, and I'm happy you're home." 

"Love you, too, you little maniac."
These two (Audrey & Sierra) have become such good friends.
Audrey's perseverance paid off.

hugs, Deb

Saturday, July 26, 2014

A little excitement and some favorite blogs

Oh, if only my grandittle, Bradley could have been here today. He would have loved all the excitement with the fire-trucks arriving to check out a near-by house.

All was fine in the end. Just a false alarm but I was very impressed at the little bit of time it took for these guys to arrive on the scene. Maybe three minutes.

Apparently, a smoke-detector was wailing away in an empty house where new owners are renovating but luckily there was no fire.

A certain somebody was not impressed with the loud noise coming through our open windows.
"What in blazes (pardon the pun) is that noise?"

And she went straight for her hidey-hole
for the rest of the day.

I know these photos won't surprise anyone.

Yes, Kane had ice-cream and a bit of cake on his 14th birthday.
I calculated on a chart that gives you the dog breed (Shetland Sheepdog) and his years converted to human years. So, Kane is now 72.
Dang, he deserves cake.

The challenge was to keep his big snoot out of the cake, while the candles were lit (I'm holding his head), long enough to get a photo that wasn't too blurry. Your seeing the best of our efforts.
Tomorrow it's back to healthy eating. :-))

I'll leave you with a few of my favorite blogs. As you must know, if you drop by here once in awhile, I could not imagine life without cats and I also love beautiful homes and stuffed-to-the-brim china cabinets. I'm a collector of blue and white china and of recent, pretty pottery pieces. So, I follow many blogs for different reasons. Here are just three that I would love you all to visit.
Just in case you missed it on a previous post, I'll send you over again to meet Mary at
Then, off to East Africa to meet Jo. Wait 'til you see the critters she photographs. Amazing! And she has gorgeous cats, too.
and if you still have some tea in your cup, head on over to meet John from Going Gently in Wales. He is a nurse who also runs a hobby farm and would wrestle you to the ground for a good scone. I guarantee he will make you split a gut with his expressions.

Have fun.
hugs, Deb



"Happy Birthday"

to my favorite dog in the whole-wide world.

Kane turns 14 today.

A walk on a trail and Scoops vanilla ice cream is in order.
Maybe 100 hugs, too.

hugs, Deb 

Friday, July 25, 2014

Just skip the bread

Even though it was a busy day, I squeezed in some time for baking a few loaf cakes and muffins today. With all the berries in season,  it was only right that I make blueberry/raspberry/blackberry loaf-cake. My true-blue kitchen companion was once again close by to be sure that everything was going as scheduled. She takes this job very seriously, as you can see.

While all was baking, she pointed out that the bananas were just about ready for banana bread.
Her idea of eating banana bread is....no bread....just butter, please.
Can you imagine that?
 hugs, Deb

Ending the day with a smile.

Two little cuties for you today while out walking Kane.

I see cats everywhere in this town.

and then a face that brings a smile...

This wise
senior
fella

Is he not adorable? He is Cortez, my kitty-client.
He lives in the country and enjoys a little time with me on his deck in the afternoon.

It was a gorgeous day. Not too hot and lots of sun. I was really busy cat-sitting and then finished up with dinner at the pub with family. Here are two of my favorite dinner buddies.

Two smiles for Nana...

                                      Bradley and Riley
Fabulous faces, all around.

Well, if that isn't just what I needed. :-)))

hugs, Deb

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Otis and a treat for you.

Believe it or not...

Kitty-client, Otis
Otis is happy to see me and gets very excited when I visit him. He follows me around to be sure that all duties are done to his satisfaction and he is the first one (of three cats) to stick his head in the cat bag. Often, I have to help him get it out.
If I was to go on his facial expressions...well, I'd surely misunderstand the charm of this adorable cat. I'd at least think I bored him to tears.

It was wonderful seeing you again, Otis.

I am heading out the door in my new runners. Walking has always calmed me, and after the last few days I need to step up my walking regime.  I am not myself; I'm nervous, tired and fidgety but I know it will pass with time. I have to know where Sierra is every minute of the day which will have to change before it drives me and my family nuts. She is not asking to go out on the porch; only once and I sat with her. She is still grooming too much but I know that will stop soon.  She is eating fine which makes me happy. I've hugged her a million times.

Now, here is a little treat for you all. I'm sending you over to a beautiful blog that I find interesting and inspiring. Mary takes fabulous photographs of places and things and her home is absolutely lovely. No cat hair, can you just imagine. :-b I know I never will. haha!  She has such unique style. Recently, she posted about her love for blackberry galette.  And as you have guessed, Mary does not live with a feline at the moment but has photographed many on her worldly travels and we cat-lovers can enjoy that. So, give yourself a treat and go over for a visit.http://abreathoffreshair-mary.blogspot.ca/. She'll take you on some amazing vacations.

Enjoy your day, everyone.

hugs, Deb

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

My heart over-flows.

Our Lily & Sierra
Our Audrey & Annie

How I wish I could have you all for tea and a huge slice of cake. We are so thankful for all your support and concern over the theft of our cat, Sierra.
So many of you commented that you did not believe this woman's story about losing her cat 4 months ago and taking our Sierra off our property because she looked like her lost cat. I am still unsure of her story, but I do know that if she had not seen the poster that had gone viral stating that the police were looking for her car, we would not have Sierra today. We most likely would never have seen her again.   She had our cat for 25 hours and most likely knew within minutes of grabbing her from our porch that she was not her cat. She still kept her though. Then she saw the plea on line that included details of her car and it scared her enough that she called us. That's what we think really happened but cannot prove it. She just kept saying, "I'm sorry, I really thought she was my cat."

I need to put this behind us now and get on with things but we have learned a lot from this nightmare. It is a shame that we cannot allow a cat, that we trusted for ten years, to have her time on her favorite bench on our porch but that is the cost of this terrible experience. We were lucky but it has changed everything. Our postman says he will miss her.

I do  know for sure that prayers are answered.

hugs, Deb

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

A nightmare but she's now home

We now know what nightmares are made of.
Early Sunday evening, around 7:30, our Sierra was taken from our front porch.
For ten years, she has sat out there, after dinner, on the warm nights enjoying her time on her red bench.
I was out and the retired guy was home. 
I returned at 7:45 and she was not on the porch.
Our nightmare began.
Our neighbour told us that she saw a white car stop in front of our home, a woman got out and picked up Sierra. She spoke to a younger woman in the car and then handed the cat to her. They then quickly drove off.
Our neighbour tried to memorize the licence plate and got all of it but one letter.
We notified the police and with their wonderful assistance we began the heart-wrenching search.
As you can well imagine, I was hysterical.
Who were they and where was my Sierra?
I can't even describe what was going through my mind.

We were told by locals of a mother/daughter team that were known in the past for trapping and selling cats. The police were very much aware of them and put most of their time and energy on the area where these people lived.

With the help of so many people, our plea went viral and was on every search site. 
My daughter-in-law posted it on a site that drew in thousands.
Last night, as we walked around trying to think of what to do next, our cell-phone rang.

"I have your cat, the woman said."
Gary asked her a few questions and she said she was on a site on her computer and saw the posting where the police were looking for her car.
She said, "I do have your cat but I think this was just a mistake on my part. I drove by your house and saw your cat and thought it was one that I had lost 4 months ago. It looked identical. So, I picked the cat up and my daughter and I took it home.
So, now that I know it's not my cat I will return it.
I will be there in a few minutes."
We did not phone the police because we did not want a cop car sitting near our home when she arrived for fear she would just keep driving.
She arrived, stepped out of the car and I grabbed Sierra from her arms.
I wanted to slug her.
She had pictures of her lost cat and apologized for the mistake.
I put Sierra in the house and then returned to tell her what I thought of her.
She seemed oblivious to the nightmare she had caused.
She kept saying "It was just a stupid mistake on my part."

We got all the information on her we could and then notified the police.
The police feel it was a mistake of identity and that she handled it very badly.
They know her now and she will not ever set foot on our property again.

It was a coincidence that she drove a white car and was with her daughter when she stole our cat. Her car was new where the team of cat-nappers car is older.
She also lives in a different part of our town.
But, saying all that, I don't trust her.
Changes will have to be made now for Sierra.
She will never be allowed on our porch alone again.


When I brought her in she was confused, growling and grooming excessively.
It took time to calm her down.
Some food and being with the retired-guy again has settled her down and she is now back to herself.  


I took this photo last night around midnight.
I am so thankful for all our family, friends and their friends who shared our plea for the safe return of our cat, Sierra. She is our family and we have loved her for 10 years. I am still so angry from this 25 hour, horrid experience but so very happy to have her home with us again.

We have changes to make and I am asking anyone reading this to please supervise your cats and dogs when outside your home, even in your own front yard. They are a target for thoughtless, stupid people and we need to protect them.

hugs, Deb

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Ten favorite kitty photos

I added this little bit of beauty to my kitchen cupboard today. A single little pottery mug but oh, so gorgeous. It also feels wonderful in your hand.
Ceramic Artist - Ileana Teirney
I love the work of this potter who lives in the Ottawa area and will keep my eyes open for more of her pieces.

Here are ten of my favorite kitty-client photos that I have taken and want to share today. You may have seen them before but for my new followers (thank-you, by the way and welcome) I thought I would post them once more.

                                     Flash

Quincy

Otis

Tigger

Caesar

Lola

Max

Buddy

Optimus
and the elusive 
Olivia

All are cats I presently care for or have cared for in the past.
Sadly, Buddy and Max passed away recently and, having cared for them for many years, I think of them often and miss them terribly.
They both had much love in their life and were very happy cats.

There's lots more where these came from so I'll show you ten more next time.
 =^..^=

hugs, Deb