Junie Pets

Boss Wishes You A Happy New Years

2012-01-01T14:38:00.002-05:00

Boss loves a good bottle of champagne. Not to drink of course, but to play with the wire cork hood from the bottle. We call the thing a 'kiwi' (I have no idea why). He has several stashed around the house, but he got a new one last night as we rang in the new year. I woke him up with the camera, he was sleeping with it between his paws. Awwww.

Is This Normal Cat Behavior?

2011-11-15T08:09:00.000-05:00

Peter remarked the other night that he's never known a cat that spent so much time sleeping on his back. In this picture Boss is not stretching, he is completely asleep. Granted he gives himself a little cover being under the coffee table, but still, I don't know if this is normal!

Veteran's Day Walk

2011-11-12T08:03:00.001-05:00

Olive and I celebrated Veteran's Day by taking a walk by the water at Whitehall State Park. Looking out across the water at the fall colors and feeling the cool breeze makes me truly appreciate the gifts of freedom and beauty that we have been given by all those who have served our country.

References:
Whitehall State Park

Olive Obeys Traffic Signs

2011-11-09T11:37:00.000-05:00

An October Nor'Easter only added to the fun of the weekend neighborhood walk.

Dock Dog

2011-11-05T14:41:00.001-04:00

Olive hangs out on a dock on Kayuta Lake in New York. She loves running up and down docks and wadding at the edge of the water, but has no interest in jumping off the dock or swimming.

Call Me Scrambler

2011-10-20T09:41:00.000-04:00

Olive loves scrambling on the rocks in the woods. Here we are on the way to Lookout Rock that is part of the Blackstone River Valley Parks.

References:
Blackstone Valley Map

Cat and Mouse

2011-10-19T07:57:00.003-04:00

Around 4 a.m. I was awoken by a loud noise. I got up and found Boss intent on stalking something in the back recesses of the closet. About two hours later he brought his prey upstairs for me, giving that unique growl and looking for praise. Boss believes in the 'play with it til it stops moving' method of hunting, so I had to endeavor to get the mouse away from him. Several attempts and grey hairs later I managed to get the thing into a shoebox and took it out to a new home far into the woods and far from our house. Boss was a bit confused as to where it went and I'm sure he is pissed at me. He's now sleeping soundly after his eventful night, I only wish I had the same luxury.

Turtle Time

2011-10-18T13:16:00.000-04:00

Olive got a new turtle friend from The Big Bad Woof in Tacoma Park, MD. It's super soft for nibbling on and using as a chin pillow, and has a big low squeaker in its body and tiny squeakers in its paws.

References:
The Big Bad Woof - Essentials for the Socially Conscious Pet

I See You Chippy, Shaking That Tail

2011-10-15T12:40:00.000-04:00

Boss loves watching the chipmunks run across the roof. If you click on the picture to see it full size, you'll be able to see the crazy look in his eye.

Expressive Ears

2011-09-20T11:33:00.000-04:00

Why do people crop dog ears? For fighting dogs of old it was done so they wouldn't get torn off in a fight (an awful thought) and to prevent ear infections. For modern show dogs they still continue the tradition, largely I believe because it can hide an ear fault (like a dog that has one half-prick ear and one rose ear). I wish they would discontinue the tradition because it seems so unnecessary, especially when they have such expressive ears! This is Olive's half-alert, "you think you're going somewhere, cat?" look.

Share and Share Alike

2011-09-18T11:27:00.001-04:00

When you've got a cat whose companion is a dog, they want a piece of everything the dog gets. Here Boss takes on a large dog biscuit. Even with his tiny cat teeth he was able to bite it in half and eat it.

How to Ruin a Nature Photo

2011-09-15T08:56:00.000-04:00

I was trying to get a shot of this pretty little grassy flower for my 'Nature By Junie' blog when Olive wandered into the frame. Kinda changes the tone of the whole thing, and not for the good!

References:

Nature By Junie

The Cat is in the Bag

2011-09-13T07:16:00.000-04:00

Boss loves bags. Paper bags, handbags, but mostly plastic bags. He and Peter have regular playtime with them and he purrs like a maniac whenever I come in with the groceries.

I've known lots of cats who loved bags and I always thought that the expression, "the cat is out of the bag" was talking about this strange fascination they have with bags. But I did a little research on the ole interweb and found that the roots of the expression are in the cat o' nine tails coming out for punishment. Not nearly as fun.

References:
Cat o' nine tails - Wikipedia entry

The Coolest Cat In The World

2011-09-11T21:37:00.001-04:00

"I don't drink milk every day, but when I do, I drink half and half."

Zoomies at River Bend Farm

2011-09-11T07:08:00.001-04:00

It rained for days last week and Olive was cooped up in the house. Not many people realize that rain is pit bull kryptonite. Seriously, you've never seen such a pathetic thing as that dog having to do her business in the rain, sometimes she's held it for a full day just to save herself the indignity.

Friday the skies started to clear and we took a morning jaunt down to the River Bend Farm. The Blackstone Canal had overflown its banks, one of the highest I've ever seen there. But Olive was just happy to be out and about. She made a run down to the dock and looked out over the water. I almost got the shot of her standing there, but instead I got the beginning of a crazy zoomie moment! Note the silly tongue sticking out.

References:
Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Park
Videos of Zoomies (Really Funny)

Cats Dream Of Flying

2011-09-06T03:00:00.000-04:00

Boss cat naps on the sewing room floor and dreams of flying. Or perhaps he's a daring young cat on a flying trapeze, judging by the position of his tail.

Putting My Dog on A Pedestal

2011-09-04T12:54:00.000-04:00

Some people might say that I put my dog on a pedestal, but really it's just a tree stump. We lost a tree in Hurricane Irene. Fortunately it missed the house, though it did take out my car, but that's another story.

Our neighbors and Dave helped triage the situation, and then Skyhook Tree came and finished off the job of cutting it down. Olive was pleased with the results and after posing on the stump proceeded to roll in the wood chips. She also managed to roll in some chainsaw oil. Dogs will be dogs. And dogs that roll in oil will get their head scrubbed with dish soap.

References:
Skyhook Tree

The Magpie

2011-08-27T20:19:00.001-04:00

Today I looked under the living room couch. Surprise, surprise there were about six cat toys, a few dog toys, a missing spool of red thread, the bathroom doorstopper, and various bits of cardboard and paper. I assume Boss put them there, but he was so happy to get them back.

Blending In

2011-08-27T10:46:00.000-04:00

Olive shows off her camouflage coat down by the creek. See her?

Cat Torture ala The Continental

2011-08-20T12:57:00.002-04:00

The Cat is in the Bag

2011-08-19T06:33:00.004-04:00

If I put down my handbag on the kitchen chair, Boss is immediately digging in it. I've come out to find various items strewn about the house. One day I came home to find he'd pulled the tablecloth off. He'd bunched it up under the table and made a nest for himself feathered with tissues, nail files, and other stolen items.

I decided the little magpie needed his own bag to play with so I took one of mine and filled it with various junk mail, hair ties, ribbons, cat toys, and some treats and catnip to seal the deal. It was only a moment or two before he was delightedly digging.

Paper or Plastic?

2011-08-06T08:17:00.003-04:00

This past Wednesday marked Boss B's first adoption anniversary. He celebrated by catching a mouse at two in the morning. It's hard to believe he's been with us a year - cheers to a good kitty!

Lazy Sunday

2011-07-17T11:43:00.001-04:00

After doing too many loads of laundry yesterday, my back went out this morning. Olive is happy to hang out on the bed with me.

Olive Nibbles on Boss

2011-07-16T14:51:00.002-04:00

Halloweenie

2008-11-08T11:49:00.004-05:00