It's Back to School Time

By request, I was asked to send along this update from our cousin in the north, up Pennsylvania way.

The summer fun is over, the weather is (finally) cooler, and everyone is paw deep in their school studies.

Back in my day, writing term papers meant slogging to the library, pouring over periodicals, and writing notes on index cards. These kitties today just log on to wikipedia.

Keep your whiskers to the grindstone.

Kittyday

Today is not a good day. I want pictures of kitties.

Classic Senior High School Portrait pose

Really need that afternoon rest

Sisters that get along with each other, most of the time


 












And the man of the house, who is very slowly coming around

And we can't forget our cousin to the north

Well, I do feel a little better. Hope you do, too

Black & Hot Please.

Paris? non. Royaume magique? oui!

We were interested in visiting Paris, France this fall. However, that was going to be expensive. So we decided on an alternate destination of Orlandeaux.

Orlando, I should say. The one in Florida. We will be amusing ourselves in  Walt Disney World this October. And staying at the Port Orleans Resort French Quarter. So we still get that French experience, but with a Creole twist. And sanitized to remove that stale-alcohol-and-pinesol smell.

http://www.portorleans.org/

We will have passes that let us visit all four of the theme parks
- Magic Kingdom
- Epcot Center
- Disney's Hollywood Studios
- Disney's Animal Kingdom

It's going to be fun, we are looking forward to it.

Haboob 2

Nother major storm tonight. Bigger than that last one. Our power is out. I am posting via iphone.

Much more rain. And the wind knocked over our ocotillo, which gives me the sads. But we can replant it tomorrow.

Who knew we bought a house in haboob corridor.

UPDATE: about an hour later, power is back on. Rain is stopped. What a pleasant evening. Aside from the ocotillo (and two umbrellas floating in the pool) everything is generally still intact.

Dust storm

I hadn't realized this storm last Wednesday made such a national impression until I saw it mentioned on other blogs and people were asking about it.

We happened to be in the pool at about 6:30pm when I noticed (what I thought were) clouds developing in the south. That's when I decided it was time to get out.

It was extremely fast moving and when I saw that the "clouds" reached all the way down to the ground, I knew this was going to be a doozy. So I grabbed the camera and started filming.

Ed told me to come inside, so I did about 2 minutes in. But I decided to go back out to capture more of the impact. You'll see how fast it comes in, and it gets so dark the street lights come on.




Oh, it lasted much longer than this seven minute video. And after the dust came the rain!

But amazingly, we did not lose any trees, or umbrellas.

So, this is what July in Phoenix is like.

I'm marginally famous

I stumbled across a website that lets you pretend like you are an Oscar Wilde or a Will Rogers.

So I tossed in a couple of bon mots and lo and behold, people seem to like them a little.

Ruminations.com

See kids, never let people tell you that your sarcasm isn't appropriate.

Just got back from a visit to the ABCs in the southeast: Atlanta, Birmingham, Columbus. We took a short tour through the Pratt City area of Bham to see the tornado damage. Pictures and aerial footage don't show the magnitude like an on the ground view can.

Here's a brief look

Yes, that's a mattress in the tree.

Birthday treats

It is always nice to get flowers for your birthday

And it is always nice to get cheesecake piled high with brownies, too

None for kitties.

Thankie thankies

A toast, to the USA

Unfortunalely, due to the unexpected news, we didn't have champaign on hand. So late harvest reisling will have to do.

Bin laden is dead. May he suffer in hell.

It's our turn to celebrate in the streets. Many thanks to the American heroes that made this day finally happen.

Kate & Wills - The Royal Wedding (We'll get back to Cats soon)

Was great fun, and seemed to go off without a hitch.
Congrats Brits!

1)  No, I did not get up at 5 am to watch it.  I DVR'd it, and then watched it the next morning over a few cups of Java.
2)  Did you LOVE all those crazy hats?
3)  I do not get the "White Gloves" protocol.  When do you wear them,... and when do you not?
4)  I thought the Wedding Dress was great,... but I didn't understand all the Coo'ing over it from the Paparazzi and Vera Wang.
5)  Lastly,... "Yes Prince Harry, we all saw it."

Hoppy Easter

Hey everyone, happy Easter from your cartoon pals at the C&C compound. We are doing very well. It's a bright and sunny Easter day, perfect for hiding eggs and finding them except we're inside.

We are trying something new today. I am dictating this using Dragon speech recognition software, and actually it works. I am even doing this on my iPad so this might inspire more postings because usually I'm too lazy to write anything. We'll have to see how that goes.

Anyway, hope you're enjoying the kitty pictures, will be sure to post a lot more of them. That's all for now.

Sunday Catinee

Well, it's been about 3 weeks now. Things are calmer than at the beginning. The wee ones can stay out overnight now. Although they still stay in their secure area during work days.

So far, only 1 vase and 1 wineglass are listed as casualties.

Thought it would be fun to share some movies of our first day together.






And what does Rocky think of all this?


Well, he's getting a little better with time.

Thelma & Louise

I warned him on a previous post that this day would come....








The "only" child now has to share his kingdom with two more.









Actually their names aren't really Thelma & Louise.  I only call them that because the two of them seem to be constantly careening towards disaster. 





Shiraz (grey) & Sequel (Black).

I hope the house and furniture survive!
Pray for us.

Coming soon - Kitty Kapers

The Plan- Epilogue

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say
it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say
it's all right




                










Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes













Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling,  it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say
it's all right
It's all right

The Plan II- Complete!

It is Done...

Next.... - Phase III

Stay tuned

-e

THE BBC -- STRIKE PENDING

BBC NEWS - Muslim suicide bombers in Britain are set to begin a three-day strike on Monday in a dispute over the number of virgins they are entitled to in the afterlife. Emergency talks with Al Qaeda have so far failed to produce an agreement.

The unrest began last Tuesday when Al Qaeda announced that the number of virgins a suicide bomber would receive after his death would be cut by 25% this February from 72 to 60. A company spokesman said increases in recent years in the number of suicide bombings have resulted in a shortage of virgins in the afterlife.

The suicide bombers' union, the British Organization of Occupational Martyrs ( or B.O.O.M. ) responded with a statement saying the move was unacceptable to its members and called for strike vote. General Secretary Abdullah Amir told the press, "Our members are literally working themselves to death in the cause of Jihad. We don't ask for much in return, but to be treated like this is like a kick in the teeth".

Speaking from his shed in Tipton in the West Midlands, Al Qaeda chief executive Osama bin Laden explained, "I sympathize with our workers' concerns, but Al Qaeda is simply not in a position to meet their demands. They are simply not accepting the realities of modern-day Jihad in a competitive marketplace. Thanks to Western depravity, there is now a chronic shortage of virgins in the afterlife. It's a straight choice between reducing expenditures or laying people off. I don't like cutting benefits, but I'd hate to have to tell 3,000 of my staff that they won't be able to blow themselves up."

Spokespersons for the union in the North East of England, Ireland, Wales , and the entire Australian continent stated that the change would not hurt their membership as there are few virgins in their areas anyway.

According to some industry sources, the recent drop in the number of suicide bombings has been attributed to the emergence of Scottish singing star, Susan Boyle. Many Muslim jihadists now know what a virgin looks like and have reconsidered their benefit packages.

By Special Reporter- Grayhorses, Gold Canyon, AZ

The Plan II- Beginning to take shape(s)?

Our Landscaping Company... (so far, so good).


We'll need some... river-rocks

and some top soil....

First we'll need to cover those bodies,....
... I mean, create some "contours".








Now let's get the granite slabs into place for the walk way.

Sure glad I don't have to move them.

What do you guys think so far?
C'mon,... participate!

More tomorrow. Same Bat time, same Bat-Channel.
-e

The Plan II- Revenge of the Landscape

With Phase 1 "Ye Ole Cemente Ponde"complete,... we return to our intrepid homeowners for their next Catastophe... I mean Caper.

BEHOLD!!
This weed-ridden dust-bowl of a backyard will soon be transformed into a pristine Desert Oasis.

BTW, stay calm... those aren't body outlines on the ground.

Let's hope this stage goes a little more smooth than Phase 1.

Stay Tuned for more

-e

Snowflakes- by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Out of the bosom of the Air.
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent and soft and slow
Descends the snow.

Even as our cloudy fancies take
Suddenly shape in some divine expression,
Even as the troubled heart doth make
In the white countenance confession,
The troubled sky reveals
The grief it feels

This is the poem of the air,
Slowly in silent syllables recorded;
This is the secret of despair,
Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,
Now whispered and revealed
To wood and field.

Photographer- Ed Flynn Sr.

Mountain Lakes NJ / 2011

The Random Rocky Picture of the Day *

And now,... a message from our star:

"We are pleased that my minions have provided a tribute to my magnificence.
We thank them for their thoughtfulness." -Rocky


Ummm, hey sport .... it ain't for you.
Furthermore,... your big butt can hardly fit in the cabin.

(Shhhh - He doesn't realize that he is soon to be one of three.)

Me thinks this may not end well.
Standby for more Capers.
-e

*Not a Daily Feature