Content

Norma enjoys a sunbath nap as much as anyone.
 

Get Back

Alias photobombed another Kenta irresistible blog picture. Maybe Alias’ way to get back for all the nightly fetch complications. I’ll report back.
 

Big Talker

Alias is our talker. He always comes upstairs after dinner and howls at me. I respond back and his talk grows quieter. We do this exchange several times. I enjoy our ‘conversations.’
 

Getting It Out of Her System

Every day, Norma has an energy attack where she’ll attack a rug and roll herself up in it. Sometimes she’ll find a toy she can stab with a claw and throw it around. We always know when this is going to happen because Norma announces it with her high pitch squeal. Norma being Norma.
 

Beautiful View

Kenta has the entire world in front of him.
 

Finicky

Norma is the first cat I’ve known who leaves food in her dish every meal. And she sometimes skips meals altogether. She’s not food obsessed like her brothers or those that preceded her in our house. 
 

Coordinated

 

Synchronized snoozing.

Paralyzed

Kenta is afraid to move because there is a big snake on him.
 

Mousie

I feel bad for Alias. He loves to play fetch with his toy mouse. He loves to play so much often my arm tires out from throwing the mouse before Alias tires out. 

Unfortnately, recently we’ve had to cut the activity short as Kenta grabs the mouse before Alias can retrieve it or Kenta will grab the mouse right out of Alias’ mouth. 

I praise Alias when we play fetch (“good boy!” what a great mouse fetcher!”), I think either Kenta gets jealous of his brother getting the highest praise or he’s just looking for a way to join in all the fun.

Trying to Be Hidden

Norma seems surprised I was able to find her in there.
 

Extreme Close Up

Well, hello there Kenta…
 

Private Meeting

A house meeting was called. I wasn’t invited. 
 

Together Through Life

Another weekend of excessive heat. It was a good weekend to take things easy. And we all did.
 

People Watching

Kenta loves to sit in the living room picture window and watch people and their dogs walk the boulevard sidewalk in front of our house. Sometimes people stop and admire him too.
 

Not Willing to Share

It rained really hard yesterday. I told Norma and Alias that it was raining cats and dogs. They were OK with that as long as the extra cats didn’t impact the amount of food they get fed every day.
 

Investigators

They somehow knew there was a box of cat food inside the bigger box.
 

The Bird

I think Kenta is trying to give me the middle finger.
 

Finch

For the past year I’ve been using the app Finch, a self care app where I help a bird learn about life and she in return helps me practice mindfulness. One of the daily goals is to ‘do one thing you enjoy.’ That’s easy to cross off the list. Every morning after the alarm goes off, Alias hops up onto my bed to snuggle next to me and get a belly rub. I think maybe he checks the same thing off his list.
 

Concerned

Kenta had me worried the past couple of days. Tuesday evening he skipped a meal. This was a first for one who spends his entire day food obsessed. Instead of eating he rolled on his back as I rubbed his tummy as he purred away. But he had no interest in eating. He did eat later in the evening but I had to coerce him into doing so. And I fed him some treats afterward but he didn’t eat them.

Wednesday he dawdled at all his meals. And instead of relaxing in his usual spots, he lay on the kitchen floor just about all evening something he’s never done. He seemed to be moving gingerly up and down the stairs (where usually he tears down them at lightning speed). He was also being a lot more vocal than normal.

Given my financial situation I couldn’t comfortably bring him to the vet to have him looked at let alone having some major procedure need to be done to deal with whatever was ailing him. Yesterday he clearly was feeling better. He ate his food closer to his usual woofing it down like there are no more meals coming. And he joined me in the living room before I was leaving for work which has become our norm. When I got home I saw him sitting in his favorite window. 

He ran down the stairs with his normal forceful speed and he woofed down his meals. Afterward he chased Norma up and down stairs. I hope whatever it was has gone away for good.

Our Model

We have a celebrity among us. Kenta is Mr. April.
 

Smart Gal

I keep telling Norma how smart she is. She knows that when I get up from my desk and it’s time for a meal, she better hop up somewhere high to avoid getting run over by her linebacker barreling brothers racing down the stairs. 
 

Warmth

It’s hot outside. And I spend most of my time upstairs where it is a little warm. Kenta loves to sit in the sunshine nonetheless. Even with his impressive fur coat.
 

Edgy

Norma likes to live life on the edge. She’s daringly doing so with three legs.
 

Comfy Box

Kenta saw Alias sitting in this box so he had to try it out too. He has learned lots from his brother.
 

Fun With AI

I'm not a big fan of AI. We don't need more tools to make it difficult to discern what is real and what is not. But I was playing around with it yesterday and created these pix. Not as good as the real thing but I got a kick out of the AI created images. I did learn one thing though... I also created AI images of Diego-san and Theo but AI couldn't figure out how to create an image of Thompson. It didn't know how to make a three legged cat no matter what instructions I gave it. Proves Thompson was too special for something without a heart to understand.

The Box that Isn’t Whole

Alias wants me to know that his box has a hole in it.
 

Memories

I’ve been blogging about my housemates since 2006. The blog began after the music store newsletter columnist job I had for 14 years came to an end. That gig kept me writing every week so I started the blog to force myself to continue to write. It also was a way to retain some of the better pictures I had of my housemates. I didn’t even know other cats blogs existed and I certainly didn’t expect anyone to find mine let alone read it. But out of nowhere a woman, Shelley, who had an orange tabby, Kellie, started leaving comments on this blog. She had just started a blog about Kellie and that’s how I learned about the wacky world of cat blogs. I’ve seen many cats and their humans come and go over the past 19 years and am grateful to those who have left a comment or two on our blog. Sadly Shelley passed away a few years ago reuniting with Kellie who passed away a few years before that.

 

Our blog began the year after Theo joined Thompson, Diego-san and me to complete our home. Over the weekend I re-read the July 4 posts from over the years. I rarely go back and  read past posts. Randomly, Theo was featured in many 4th of July posts including this one, that made me laugh. Theo being Theo. It was nice seeing a healthy Thompson (he lost so much weight during his final years) and an energetic Diego-san who really slowed down in his final years. I’m glad I was able to capture one of their famous race down the stairs to get fed breakfast. That was a daily event for so many years.

Chin Kisses

Norma loves to rub her nose against my chin. This is what she looks like coming in for the landing.
 

4th of July

Kenta is hoping for a fireworks free Independence Day. I’m not sure he’s gonna get his wish.
 

Fetch

Alias is an amazingly talented fetcher. He had a favorite toy mouse that we played fetch with many nights the last few years. I always put it away after we were done so we wouldn’t lose it. Then because I rarely accessed where I put the toy mouse, we stopped playing (plus Norma and Kenta started to get in Alias’ way to fetch the thrown mouse). 

Alias found this red mouse in the toy box that is the same size as his other favorite mouse. He brought over to me last night and we played fetch for 10 minutes and fetch later again in the evening, and fetch later again right before bedtime. I woke up early in the morning to the sight of Alias with his toy mouse in mouth as he dropped it by my pillow. I was too tired to play so I put it underneath my pillow.

The next day I asked Alias where his toy mouse was forgetting where I put it. I told him I hoped he hadn’t lost it. And then yesterday I found the toy mouse under my pillow. My bad. I shouldn’t have blamed Alias. And we had another fun evening/night playing fetch.
 

Quality Time

Last night, like many nights, I had a hard time sleeping. I woke up after midnight and Norma heard me stirring around so she hopped up on my bed and rubbed her face against mine and quickly hopped back off the bed. An hour or so later Alias hopped up and we snuggled for a while. A little while later Kenta hopped up (I don’t think he’s ever done that at night) and I plopped him on his stomach and stroked his fur as he purred away. 

In the morning, I paid the price for not sleeping as I was extremely tired but I’m glad last night was a unique night for me and my housemates. I like how each has let me know their preferred method of bonding.
 

PURRRRRRRRRRR

Kenta’s got the loudest purr this house has had since my original housemate, Mr. Max (who drooled when he purred). And he purrs often.
 

Scary Moment

Norma scared herself (and me) yesterday. She choked on a morsel of dry food. It took her more than a few seconds to spit up the food. She skipped the rest of her meal and acted as timid as I’ve ever seen her act for the next hour. Later, I fed her some wet food and she snarfed it right down.
 

Dream

I had a dream about Theo last night. I still am grieving and missing him, surprisingly more than any of my other late cats. He had such a unique, steadfast, quirky, and idiosyncratic personality. He was the last steady part of my life pre-pandemic. Theo had such a sweet soul.

 

Tempting Me

It was hard to go to work yesterday morning. Just as I was about to leave, Kenta plopped himself next to me on the couch and lay on his back exposing his belly. I rubbed it and he deeply purred. I don’t think he likes my new work routine.
 

The Best Bro

If Alias was a mean brother, he’d pounce on Norma’s exposed belly. But he’s a mellow brother and calmly enjoyed his sister’s every day quirkiness. 
 

Obeyer

We had an excessive heat warning over the weekend. We were advised to stay indoors. Norma obeyed and was glad she did. I, on the other hand, went to a Twins baseball game. It was as advertised, hot and humid and kinda unbearable. 
 

Their Brother

Either Alias has a serious hygiene problem that my limited nose can’t detect OR both of his siblings love taking care of him. He definitely is a lovable fellow.

Attention Here Please

Alias decided not to let me work on my iPad. He was quite adamant about it. 
 

The Birds

 A couple of months ago we had three large crows in the backyard that absolutely drove Norma crazy. She squeaked a little peep every five seconds. Yesterday we had five very large crows in the backyard. Norma was still concerned about the invasion but she was a little more calm. Alias was curious about the crows but not as agitated as his sister. Kenta really couldn’t have cared less…

When Your Little Brother Outgrows You

Kenta loves to smother Alias with love. I think the key word might be ‘smother.’
 

Gilbert

 I met Rep. Hortman serving on a board together. She was a tremendous leader, humble and dedicated to making our state better. And her love for Gilbert shines through in these pictures. This has been a horrible few days.

Daredevil

Kenta enjoys a life on the edge.
 

Daredevil

 

Norma’s life is a high wire act that all of us appreciate.