Cole

Sorry, but I've been a little distracted the past few days. But now I'm back and it's time to tell you about another of my fellow felines here at our house.

As I mentioned some time ago, Cole has been living here a little longer than me, arriving here from the same Humane Society shelter where Ma an' Pa found me, only a few months earlier. As Pa told me, “We didn't chose him. He chose us!”

He's funny and caring (or as Ma puts it, he's nurturing), making sure we're all taken care of. He even helps us clean our selves, grooming us when we're a little too tuckered out. He even does that to Ma an' Pa sometimes!

He's also too mischievous, getting into situations he shouldn't...but not too often.

One thing that's funny about him is that he's just got to know what's going on. He's constantly hopping up onto Ma or Pa's shoulders while they're doing something in the kitchen, peering over them trying to see what they're doing. It's always “What's that? Is it good? Will I like it? Can I try some? Let me see!!” from him. He's just plain silly.

But I like him anyways.

Henry Goes AWOL

Originally I was going to tell you all about Cole. But something happened that scared Ma an' Pa and had me worried, too.

You see, a couple of days ago Henry disappeared.

Tuesday morning he was with the rest of us in the kitchen, eating our morning morsels. Wednesday evening Pa realized he hadn't seen Henry for almost two days. He looked all over the house, under beds, inside closets, in the basement, everywhere, and he couldn't find Henry. Then he went outside and looked, calling his name over and over again. I could see Pa was getting worried.

You have to understand that Henry isn't supposed to be outside. It's too dangerous. As Ma an' Pa keep telling us, there are other animals outside that could hurt or even kill us! Only Bagheera goes outside and even then, only for a little while.

Finally, late Wednesday night, Pa heard Henry meowing. (Henry almost never meows. Even when he does, it sounds more like a little kitten's meow rather than a full grown kitty's meow.) Henry was outside! And he looked scared.

Pa opened the back door and Henry came running in and jumped right up into Pa's arms, meowing the whole time! Since then he's been a bit clingy to Ma an' Pa, but mostly Pa. That's just not like Henry. He's usually a little standoffish, allowing Ma or Pa to pet him every now and then, but that's it. Now he'll crawl up next to them when they're sitting down, butting his head up against them, and meowing the whole time. Something outside must have really scared him. If that's so, I don't think I want to go out there at all.

Besides, my fur could get all mussed out there and we can't have that! I have enough trouble keeping my fur fluffy as it is.

Oh, I almost forgot. This is what Henry looks like:



Henry's one of a pair of litter mates. His sister Pip also resides with us.

I'll write something about her later, I promise.

The Frustration

I don't know what to do. With all the humidity we've had here lately it's impossible for me to keep my fur fluffy. It just hangs limp and no matter how much Ma brushes me it won't fluff up.

Whatever will I do? I have standards, you know!

Maybe I'll have to convince Pa it's time to put the air conditioners into the windows. Then I won't have to suffer the shame of limp, listless fur!

Cast Of Characters - Bagheera

As I wrote before, Bagheera's the old guy in the bunch. I mean he's got to be at least 11 years old!

But even being ancient doesn't mean he's not an OK cat to be around. I mean, he does grumble a lot about the rest of us, in most having something to do with a “supper dish” and “interlopers” and the like. But for the most part he's all right. At times he even gives us advice, usually about handling the household staff. (Does he mean Ma an' Pa? Somehow I don't think they're 'household staff'.)

Anyways, here's a picture of Bagheera.



See what I mean. He's OLD!

Cast Of Characters

I know.

It's been a long time.

I've been busy.

But after talking it over with Ma and Pa, I decided it's time to start letting you in on the goings on around here. There have been a number of changes since the last time I wrote anything.

The biggest change is that we now have two more cats living here. I'll get to that in a minute. One thing I have to do first is introduce the other cats living here with me an' Ma an' Pa. So here goes.

First, there's Bagheera (also known as Bagheera The Magnificent on another blog). He's the old guy among us, constantly grumbling about the rest of us “young whippersnappers showing no respect to their elder.” I think he just enjoys complaining about us.

Next, there's Cole. He got here before me, but I don't hold that against him. As Ma says, he's the nurturer, making sure we're all clean.

Then there's Minnie. She's nice! She's also a bit wee, meaning she's kinda small. She also doesn't have much fur, at least not like me or the rest of us.

Minnie is followed by the twins, Henry and Pip. Henry's something of a bruiser, big an' strong, sorta. Pip is also a bit small like Minnie. She has spots, an' thumbs, and a short tail. She's also kinda roundy-round (But we don't talk about that!)

Now we're down the last two, Charlotte and Mylie.

Charlotte is a Maine Coon Cat just like me (but she's not as pretty or as fluffy). She joined us last year after a friend of Ma and Pa's found her all alone in a house where the family had moved away. She was all by herself and had been alone for over a month before she was rescued. She's kinda old like Bagheera and grumbles just like he does. Ma calls her “The Queen Of The Kitchen” because that's where she spends all of her time. She even sleeps there!

Mylie joined us just a little over a month ago. She looks a little funny because she only has three legs! (I try not to stare, but it's not easy.) Charlotte keeps telling me that she must have had it bitten off because she lived in a house with dogs! And not one dog, but three dogs! How horrible!

I promise to have pictures of them all the next time or two.

Bye for now!

It's Been A While...

Obviously Hilda's blog hasn't been active in almost a year. She's been busy with a whole host of things, including welcoming two new feline residents to her domicile.

After one of her nightly brushings she wondered (as only she can) whether it was time to end the drought and start posting tidbits about her life here in small-town New Hampshire. (I get the impression she was actually directing me to do so, something she's very good at doing.)

So after talking it over with the rest of the household staff, it was decided she was right.

I have a feeling the first post following this will introduce you to all the feline members of the household, with pictures included.

Please stay tuned...