Kizzie Cat

It's The Thought That Counts

2016-07-02T10:14:00.001-07:00

Ooh! a present for me

A Simon's Cat toy

Well thanks but ...

... perhaps not today

P.S. If you'd like to see some traditional English community art (well dressings) hop on over to mum's art blog.

Finally, we hope all our USA readers have an enjoyable 4th July.

Who's Top Cat Now?

2016-05-29T00:29:00.002-07:00

Mr Clever Clogs on MY wall
you can just see me on the left - relegated to the ledge below

There’s a new cat on the block. He was a kitten when he arrived last year, but now he’s grown bigger than me. That doesn’t stop me chasing him off my garden. Here’s the little upstart, pretending to be top cat on the wall. I’m looking up at him wondering what to do.

But his high and mighty ways got the better of him a few days later. He got stuck in a tree. He was there for the best part of half an hour, before gingerly making his way down. Mum videoed him. Not quite the mountain goat eh? You can't see him come down completely - the bottom of the tree is behind our hedge - he did that a few minutes later.

Flower Power

2016-04-20T06:39:00.002-07:00

Who me?

"Oh Kizz!".

"Right, what have I done now then?"

"I've just spent nearly ALL DAY cleaning the conservatory and it still smells of cat".

"But it's a lovely smell, mum, all cats smell of it".

"I'm saying nothing"

Later on, mum was to find that the culprit was not me but an unusual plant that dad had been growing in there.

A quick internet search showed that the sarracenia plant, grown to catch stray insects, has a flower with a powerful smell.

It's all gone now, but not before it had spread throughout our entire home.

It may also be commonly known as the Pitcher Plant

At least mum found out what it was. I was worried she might have put me under the power shower. And all thanks to flower power. Phew!

More again soon.

Kizz

April Fool

2016-04-01T05:41:00.002-07:00

Yay! April Fool, mum

Kizzie: Tradition has it that April fool pranks must take place before 12 noon. I was well ahead of that deadline this year because mine was in the middle of the night. And the best pranks need a little bit of planning. I'll let mum take over the story.

Mum: I thought Kizzie was going to be out overnight, I couldn't get her to come in, it was a moonlit night and she might have been catching a mouse, so I locked the house up and went to bed. So, what happened, dad?

I'll sit here and think about jumping on you

Dad: I was fast asleep in the middle of the night and suddenly I was awoken by a large object landing on my feet. It was too small to be a cat burglar, and then I realised who it was .....

Kizzie: Yup, it was me - don't know about the "large", dad. I was upstairs all along, hiding under mum and dad's bed, waiting for everyone to go to sleep, then I jumped onto the chest of drawers and down onto the bed. Beautiful timing. Didn't I do well with my first ever April fool joke?

Mum: Er yeah, Kizz but thanks to you we're all tired today. I'll get my own back next time.

High Rise Litter Tray

2016-03-02T05:45:00.001-08:00

It's been colder here in England in March than over the winter. We even had a bit of sleet today.

But I've been warm and cosy in my conservatory with my heated bed and the dad has thoughtfully provided an indoor high rise litter tray. Haven't tried it out yet but the litter looks a bit damp anyway. And what are those green things sticking up?

Dad: Hey Kizzie, they're my seedling trays, I was hoping you'd stay off them.

Kizzie: Humph! I'll just give you my best dirty look instead then and perhaps you'll go away.

I Believe I Can Fly

2016-01-27T05:42:00.001-08:00

Giving mum my best dirty look from the spare room bed

Lately the wind and rain have kept me indoors - snug as a bug in a rug. Or at least most of the time.

Because when the dad and the little bean get out of bed, they leave the duvet as it is, and then I can make a cosy nest - as long as mum isn't there, eh, mum?

Mum: I said I was sorry.

Remember that old song about the daring young man on the flying trapeze. Well, when it comes to cats, flying and ease don't quite go together do they? At least not the other day.

Mum: All I tried to do was make tidy the duvet up a bit, I didn't know you were there.

Kizzie: So I unwittingly did my tribute to the 1935 film "The Man on the Flying Trapeeze" (starring W. C. Fields, no less).

Mum: I thought you were doing "I believe I can fly" by R Kelly. And you landed on your feet, so no harm done.

Kizzie: Mum, do us a favour and check I'm not there before you "make the bed"

Mum: Alright babes. We're having fish later if you want a bit.

Kizzie: That'll do nicely.

"Missing Piece" A One Act Cat Tale

2015-04-21T01:58:00.001-07:00

"Missing Piece" - A One Act Cat Tale

Kizzie: Muuuum, where's the dining room table gone?

Mum: It's under this 1000 piece jigsaw I've been doing.

Kizzie: Oh! Can I sit on it?

Mum: Sorry. No cats on the table even with a jigsaw.

Kizzie: Hmm. How about some telly time with me on your knee?

Mum: Telly's off at the moment - run up to the election [points to cartoon in Private Eye magazine].

Cartoon consists of a man sitting in front of the TV with the words "ELECTION CAMPAIGN BEGINS", with the words "and they're off" underneath and turning it off with the remote control.

Mum: That about sums it up for me, Kiz.

Kizzie: Ah well, I'll sit on your magazine instead.

Easter Holiday Grump

2015-04-09T02:53:00.000-07:00

Look what they've done to my patio! Chalk everywhere.

It has been the Easter holidays in the UK, and I've had to suffer kids at home, as well as all mum's artwork taking up space while she was getting ready for an exhibition, taking up space on the spare room bed! If you want to read more, hop on over to her art blog "Jewel's Arty Blog" - linked from the side bar on the right.

Unfamiliar shoes ... a sure sign the little bean has got a friend around for a play date

Never mind, it'll soon be over and I'll get rid of 'em all again.

Don't mind me, I'll just hide out here until all the fuss dies down

A good sniff at those unfamiliar shoes

Caught out!

2015-03-13T10:06:00.004-07:00

Yes, I am sorry mum, you look nothing like this character ...

Ever been caught out? Ever read "Bridget Jones Diary" where Bridget goes to a party she has been told is a "tarts and vicars" fancy dress one, only to find that the fancy dress part of it has been scrapped and she is the only one in fancy dress - as a bunny girl! Well, mum had something like that recently, but not quite so extreme.

This month, mum was helping at a World Book Day at the school the little bean used to go to. They had previously celebrated this event when the little bean had been there, and he dressed up as Robin Hood that time. Anyway, mum wanted to look like "Bicarbonatofsoda" from the Asterix series of childrens' books that she used to read a few years back. No matter that Bicarbonatofsoda looks more like a Disney Princess, mum was determined to have a stab at looking like her. This meant putting together an outfit in pale pink, and tying her hair back in the nearest she could get to that particular style - a long plait.

Unfortunately, mum arrived at the event to find that the school had decided it was not to be in fancy dress after all. As she says, it is a good thing she was wearing normal-looking clothes and not (say) a "Gruffalo" outfit. It was quite an enjoyable morning - while mum helped serve refreshments to the parents, the kids and some of the staff recited humorous poetry - all quite entertaining and indeed successful too, with tea, cakes and raffle raising money for the school.

Spring has sprung! The grass is riz - sending the hoomans into a frenzy of DIY at home and lots of mess and noise for me. Thankfully, things have settled down again now. Phew! It has been tiring to watch, so time for me to have a good rest now. Back again next month.

DIY! Tires me out just looking at it

An Update - January 2015

2015-02-02T12:32:00.004-08:00

Here I am at Christmas - that yellow thing to the left of me is a new toy for me.
I didn't like it - I preferred my tin of tuna instead.

In the middle of last year, mum decided to take a break from blogging for a few months. Since then she's been kept busy, first decorating at home and then visiting a close family member who has been ill. Although still busy, mum thought it would be good to update my blog from time to time, as it was so popular around the world.

So, to bring you up to speed:

This little house sits in a quiet part of the garden. It's not for me, but for a creature known as a "hedgehog", a small spiny animal that is becoming endangered in the UK because it lives in hedgerows and there are less of these as modern farms mean bigger fields. Mum takes an interest in the local wildlife although she is happy for me to pick off any mice.

We've had a fair bit of snow, both on Boxing Day and the end of January. Behind my head you can see a sledge, which is sometimes used by the Little Bean and sometimes for shopping in the snow. Mum made a snow cat in the garden and it is still there, although is gradually getting smaller as it thaws during the day. It's still freezing at night but my heated bed in the conservatory keeps me warm and snug. I like to play and explore in the snow, but soon come back in again before I turn into a snow cat myself. Brrrrr!

One of the more unusual things Little Bean spent some of his Christmas money on was a "Wubble", a huge, very bouncy ball, that looks like a bubble. Here the Little Bean and the Dad are playing with it. It lasted less than 24 hours, before going "pop" like a balloon on the holly bush, although it survived Little Bean sitting on it, and then floating on the pond the day before. Mum thinks a large beachball might be a slightly more lasting present for the Little Bean - at least it could be mended, and should survive close encounters of the holly bush kind(!)

Mum painted a picture of her brother's cat, Dilly, recently, for his birthday. Hope he likes it. It took about 8 hours altogether.

I have put on a bit of weight but it helps to keep me warm when I go outside. I'm sure it'll fall off in the spring, though.

Thanks to those of you who have given my page on Face Book a "like" recently, and hope you have enjoyed reading this. Also thanks in anticipation to the Cat Blogosphere, mum is hoping to link this update from there, and probably catching up with other cat blogs too.

Black Cat In The Waterfall?

2014-08-27T02:05:00.000-07:00

Can you see it yet? It's in the middle of the photo towards the top

The office window upstairs looks out over the back garden, and mum saw what she thought was a black cat on one of the ledges of the waterfall that runs into the pond. If it was a black cat, it seemed a funny place for it to be, as it’s a bit wet in there especially when the waterfall is turned on in summer. She took this photo with the zoom lens to try and get a better view.

Here's a red circle around it, in case you can't see it. Click to enlarge.

In fact it just turned out to be a black shape, from where some weeds had been pulled out.

Finally, this is to let you know that this will be my final post, as mum is giving up blogging, at least for a few months, and probably longer, for reasons she has explained more fully on her art blog, but basically that she was not earning enough to justify all the work she'd had to put in. She had never got anywhere near receiving a payment for the advertising. She has left the blogs on the web, but will no longer be adding to them, and they have been removed from Amazon Kindle subscription. The rest of this year looks to be a busy one with home decorating at the top of the to do list.

It just remains for me to thank all readers old and new and anyone who has left a comment. Also thanks to the Cat Blogosphere and Tabby Cat Club for arranging and publicising the many events I've taken part in.

And perhaps one day we will meet again.

Den Day

2014-08-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

It’s Saturday morning and the little bean is up early, bringing the half-awake mum down with him.

Oh no, I see he has made me another den. And – wait for it, I have to be put inside.

Well, I’m not having any of that, thank you very much.

Can you tidy dad’s slippers up, I nearly fell over them then.

And I’d quite like to go outside now when you two have finished.

Feeling Fruity

2014-08-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here I am showing off this year’s fruit and veg production. It has been a good year for the strawberries, with the sunny weather and extra plants courtesy of dad, making for a good harvest and plenty of nice desserts for them thar hoomans. This year, there have been some new additions of blueberry, blackcurrant and raspberry bushes, in place of most of the usual vegetables.

Now, unfortunately, we’ve had a bit of a bird or mouse problem this time around. Dad’s mum has told us to cover them up with netting, and likewise the blackcurrants, which have suffered a similar fate. They are being eaten before they are even ripe. At least I’ve done my bit to keep those pesky rodents down as far as I can. Here I am getting some practice in.

Slimed

2014-08-06T02:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's a bit blurry/reflection-y (and yes, it was laundry day)
but you can see the streak on the window

What on earth’s that? Mum had just got up and was feeding me and had saw a blob of clear jelly with black streaks in it by my feeding bowl. Her eyes followed the trail from where it came, a long streaky mark all the way down the French window, between the living room and conservatory. Ugh! She quickly cleaned the window and got rid of the mess into the bin, but dad hadn’t got up yet, so she couldn’t mention it to him. By the time he did, she’d forgotten – until a couple of days later.

The humans wash my feeding bowl out in the sink every day, and dad had picked it up but quickly dropped it again when he saw a large brown slug inside feeding (it has been a warm, wet spring and summer, ideal weather for them). He hastily disposed of it, but realised that it had got itself there when my bowl had been outside, and that incident sadly put an end to my al fresco dining. Mum thought the mess on the window had been caused by the slug, and her disgust plumbed new depths when she spotted a gooey mess along the top of the window track. But she realised her mistake when the gel on the window reappeared a week or two later, with no sign of any slugs. Dad explained that he had used a lubricant product on the tracks to keep the windows running smoothly and the excess had melted in the heat and dribbled down, causing the mess.

So, it looks as if I’ve been saved from a life of slime (stifle that groan).

Hot, hot, hot!

2014-07-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Zonked out

The weather has been rather hot and sunny lately in England. And I have not been seen much in these parts except for at meal times. I spend all night mousing (and most mornings there’s a mouse for the humans), and all day in a cool spot sheltering from the sun, before crashing out on the bed for a couple of hours in the evening (above).

Dragonflies!

2014-07-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Down in the pond, there have been some recent developments. Dragonflies have been emerging! At the front of the photo you can see one ready to fly, and the one behind it (circled in red) is about to emerge from its skin. These beautiful insects spend most of their lives under water as carnivorous “nymphs” which are odd looking things that eat tadpoles, and, when they are ready, climbing up the plants in the pond and shedding their skin. After a few hours, they take to the air and off they go. I have been known to knock a low flying one down, though. Here’s a link to some information about them http://www.dragonfly-site.com/dragonfly-life-cycle.html

Sunny Windowsill

2014-07-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here I am on my favourite sunny windowsill. It overlooks the back garden and is the perfect spot to check the humans are keeping the gardening up to date and whether there has been anything happening in the fish pond. That triangle-shaped wooden frame you can see to the left of me is the top of the neighbours’ kids’ climbing frame. It’s a sort of “roof”, and if I am feeling energetic, I sometimes climb up on top.

Oui Oui's Gotcha Day Post-A-Thon

2014-07-11T06:03:00.003-07:00

Just a quick plug for an event I’m taking part in this Sunday (13^th July) on the Tabby Cat Club Blog http://tabbycatclub.blogspot.co.uk/. It’s a charity event, hosted by Oui Oui, a tabby cat, of Twinkletoe Tails blog. Oui Oui’s human is very kindly sponsoring this event, in honour of Oui Oui's gotcha day, and Oui Oui herself takes up the story:

PAWS, which all of us know is a wonderful rescue, would like to jump start a Catification Project, officially known as "Habitat for Cats". They want to improve the life of the PAWS kitties by creating an attractive and stimulating free roaming environment. It sounds like a lot of fun to me, and I am all for fun! That is how I got my name - cause I always say "yes" to playtime. I think it is the purrfect way to celebrate my Gotcha Day!

You may post about anything, but I encourage posts about fun, play or favorite things, just ‘cause that is what I like. For each post, I will donate $1 to PAWS, up to $100. The post must be at the Tabby Cat Club and posted on Sunday, with 1 post per blog.

Sunday is not the only Gotcha Day at our house. It's Mica Minnie Moo's big day too! So, stop by http://twinkletoetails.blogspot.co.uk/ and leave a comment, we will donate an additional $0.25 for each comment to PAWS, just to help us meet that $100. (One comment per blog).

Only TCC member Tabby cats can contribute a post for this event, but hopefully many more will comment so as to help raise those vital funds for the project.

Tribute to Tigger

2014-07-09T03:18:00.000-07:00

This week, I wanted to tell you about the first cat mum had, when she was about 9 or 10 years old. There are very few photos of Tigger still in existence, but recently mum visited her parents and borrowed this one. It was taken in the 1980s, in the living room with Tigger sitting on a table at the window at the front of the house. Here we also have a bit of social history, because hehind her you can see a “radio cassette” or “ghetto blaster”, which were common in the 1980s and used to record and listen to music on, long before MP3 players or anything of that kind.

Tigger was the daughter of “Sally”, a tortoishell cat who was about 6 months old when she turned up at some allotments and piggeries about half a mile away, and one of the men decided to let her stay. Within a couple of months, she had three kittens, which mum and her brother named: a ginger male (Ginger), tabby female (Itsy) and ginger female (Tigger). From early on, they could see that Tigger was the cleverest and friendliest of the three, as well as having the unusual combination of being ginger and female. After several weeks of pestering, and discussion, mum’s parents eventually agreed to adopt Tigger . The family had never owned a cat before and had to buy some tinned food (pouches hadn’t been invented) and a feeding bowl. Tigger’s first bed was a cardboard box on its side, with a cushion in the base, and an old swiss roll baking tin with some sand in it was her litter tray, to begin with. Her “bedroom” was the conservatory. They got her at five weeks old, which seems quite young, but they were worried she would have become feral if they’d waited much longer. Mum remembers bringing her home in the car, and having to hold onto her quite securely as they didn’t even have a pet carrier to bring her home in, although it was only a five minute drive.

Tigger had a lovely temperament and didn’t mind being taken to bed as a sort of furry hot water bottle. She was occasionally wrapped up in a shawl and carried around like a baby, as well as being taught to jump over small gymkhana jumps that mum had for her toy horse. Mum and her younger brother also taught her to open doors by jumping up at the handle and holding onto it until the door opened. This was useful for Tigger, but not entirely for the humans, who didn’t appreciate icy blasts when Tigger let herself in in winter. Mum and her brother even invented a sort of language for her and pretended to put words in her mouth. She was the ideal family cat - friendly, playful and happy to sit on knees, and not at all nervous. She was very patient with kids and allowed strangers to make a fuss of her, never scratching or biting. One or two people, after meeting her, decided to get themselves a cat, although they hadn’t considered owning one before.

Mum lived in a quiet cul-de-sac on the edge of town, where mum’s parents still live, so Tigger was able to roam freely over neighbouring farm land and bring back all manner of birds, mice, rats, voles and even a mole once. The biggest thing she ever brought back was a baby rabbit. Whenever the family went away on holiday, mum’s granny would stay to look after the house and Tigger, usually feeding her on demand so the family came back to rather a plump Tigger, who would also reward granny with some choice rodent catches.

What became of the rest of Tigger’s family? Unfortunately, the man who’d let Sally live on his allotment hadn’t realised what prolific breeders cats can be. Tigger’s sister, Itsy soon had kittens of her own, Sally had more and soon there were masses of cats and kittens living in that area. Sadly, a man was called in to humanely put them all to sleep. BUT one of them escaped, a ginger cat. Mum and her brother nicknamed him “Anything Cat”, as nobody knew whether he was a girl or boy (he was probably a boy as he never had any kittens). Anything Cat lived on in that same area for many years. He was easy to spot as he was ginger like Tigger and stood out against plants and trees.

Tigger herself lived to be 14 years old. Mum thinks she might have lived longer if she had ever stayed in catteries, as I have, as she would have had yearly vaccinations and a health check. At any rate, Tigger died peacefully and is buried under what was her favourite sitting spot in the back garden, a leafy shaded area behind the pond. Some years after she died, mum’s brother got himself a very similar looking cat, Holly, although not as friendly and cuddly as Tigger, she was also quite a character.

Homework

2014-07-02T02:30:00.002-07:00

What a lovely day for the little bean to do his homework indoors. And what a lovely day for rolling around in a silly manner as if to say, “I’m a cat and don’t get homework, ha ha ha”.

And too bad that he can’t spend all his time playing in the garden with me instead of studying, and then say the dog ate his homework, as I am a cat and there’s no dog here. Tee hee!

Not Going Up There, Dad

2014-06-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

When dad sees me looking playful in the garden, and there’s a piece of string handy, he just can’t resist. Round and round we go, and up to the climbing frame but then wait. No.

I’m not going up there, dad you must be joking.

You're pulling my leg, aren't you? If you want me up there, you'll have to go yourself first.

And did he? Did he heck as like.

No Mountaineer, Me

2014-06-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Mum brought home a copy of the “Metro” recently (a free newspaper you can pick up on buses in this area). From this, she found out about Millie the mountaineering cat - you can read more on the Metro website here: http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/21/purrtigo-im-feline-fine-fearless-cat-climbs-mountains-and-treks-through-deserts-4735992/

Millie
(photo from Metro website: Caters)

Mum, dad and little bean (plus his friend) recently went on an afternoon trip to the Peak District, and dad tried climbing up a smaller but rather vertical rocky outcrop. All I can say is: (a) don’t try this at home kids (or adults, even) and (b) you’ll never get me up there in a million years.

A beautiful, if vertigo-inducing view, taken from the ground beside the small rock dad climbed

Sepia Saturday - or Sunday

2014-06-15T01:28:00.001-07:00

Here I am in Sepia, all ready for Sepia Saturday, hosted by Ruckus the Eskie http://www.ruckustheeskie.com/2014/06/sepia-saturday-25-bokeh-sepia-on.html. If you have your own blog and are interested in taking part, you can upload a sepia photo onto it, and give a link back to Ruckus. It doesn’t have to be an animal photo either. Mum “sepiaised” this photo of me using Irfan View, which she already had installed on the desktop, but there are free photo editing websites around the web too that will enable you to do this.

The only slight drawback was that things were a bit busy this weekend so mum couldn't get on the computer until Sunday. Hope nobody minds!

The Mysterious Mr Ted

2014-06-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

Me having a good sniffing "sesh"
Click to biggify

The little bean brought the school teddy home with him recently. I greeted him with some trepidation – and lots of sniffing. You could tell he’d travelled far and wide from the many different smells I could detect. There were more adventures to be had, as we both hid from the kids’ water play at the weekend, and narrowly avoided being trampled on as they played on the X-box. Just as long as ”Mr Ted” stays out of my food bowl, I think we’re going to get on just fine.

By the way, in case you are wondering, the purple and white plastic tube is a musical pipe thing that the kids swing around to make a noise.

Caturday Art Blog Hop With Athena Cat Goddess

2014-06-07T11:15:00.002-07:00

This weekend, I am taking part in Athena's Caturday Art Blog Hop. http://www.athenacatgoddess.com/ Above is my arty portrait, edited on Pic Monkey. The special effects give a slight texture to the photo of me meeting the Little Bean's school teddy bear.