Thursday in the Garden with Simba

Did you check your calendars? Yes, it IS March 24th! Spring began a few days ago, according to the calendar, but not according to Mother Nature. We have had snow the past two days, so this is what MY garden looks like!

Looking down from our front door:

Our Kwanzaan Cherry Tree, which is supposed to be full of blooms in a couple of weeks' time:Can you see the bird feeder to the left, covered in snow? dad will have to go and brush it off for the birdies.This is part of the maple tree right off our deck, the one the Hawk sat in. If you look carefully you can see the reddish leaf buds under the snow. Boy, I bet THEY were surprised!

Wordless Wednesday

From Long Ago - Found in a Drawer

I bet even MY (cat) Mom wasn't alive when this photo was taken in 1993. Mom laughed at the idea of Belle being bigger than Rusty (who totally dominated her when he got bigger). When I came to live here Belle had already gone to the Rainbow Bridge and it was just Rusty.

Repurrt

The visitors seemed quite nice when they arrived last night about 8:15 pm. Though nobody actually approached me to pet me or anything, I didn't even race to the basement to hide, and when everybody was having dinner, I even wandered calmly into the dining room. I slept with my parents like normal last night, but then I discovered they had STAYED for the night!!!!! Mom had warned them to keep their doors closed so I would not go into their bedrooms, and so I forgot they were here! I got quite freaked out and hid in the basement until after they had finally left about 10:15 am. They had a long drive back to Canada today, so could not stay longer. I was finally able to relax enough to use my litter box and to find my spot on the end of the sofa and relax for a nap. Mom has promised me a second litter box for the basement for the next time they have overnight guests.

Photo Hunt - License Plate

When my humans went to Alaska in 2009, they spent a couple of days in Haines, a fairly small town not visited by everybody. They went there from Juneau on a small 6 seater plane. One of the main reasons they went there was to be able to see bald eagles. On one of the afternoons they took a walk around town and went to the parade grounds of Fort Seward which was surrounded by old military officers' houses. Next to one of the houses was this old car. Isn't that a neato license plate number?Here is some interesting information about Fort Seward copied from this website of the National Parks Service:

Established by Executive Order on December 31, 1898, and first known as Haines Mission, Fort Seward was the last of 11 military posts established in Alaska during the territory's gold rushes between 1897 and 1904. Founded for the purpose of preserving law and order among the gold seekers, the fort also provided a U.S. military presence in Alaska during boundary disputes with Canada. The only active military post in Alaska between 1925 and 1940, the fort was closed at the end of World War II.

Finally Friday

It has seemed like a long week, hasn't it? We are hopeful that things will stabilize in Japan and that the worrying news will decline. Mom is a bit mad the way the news media drum up the fears in people about things like radiation and "nucular" things. However we know that doesn't change the reality for so many in Japan, who have a very long road ahead. We hope they can get supplies and electricity to everybody as soon as possible and that there are no further major earthquakes there.

My Dad has been helping out the Mom with some Spring Cleaning and doing windows and storm doors. This photo is from earlier, during the winter, but today I will be watching him again through it. We are expecting company overnight tomorrow, always a good motivator for a good cleaning around here! Outsiders who I don't know yet tend to make me nervous, but I understand they are cat people, so hopefully we will become friends quickly. I will report back after they leave and let you know.

Japan's Animals

Along with other bloggers, today Mom and I are joining with Blog Paws be the Change for Pets to support raising funds and also awareness of the plight of animals in Japan. If you go to the Blog Paws for Change website you can learn more about World Vets and their efforts in Japan and other countries. If you wish to make a donation use the Chip in on the Blog Paws for Change website or you can go to:

http://worldvets.org

Wordy Wednesday Challenge 2011

Thank you Sam and Andy's Mom, Judi, for my Wordy Picture. I love the way she combined the Scrabble letters with my photo. And great thanks to Ann of Zoolatry and to Judi for organizing this Challenge and for all their work.

The word I chose to describe myself is Floofalicious. I do not remember which cat or human it was who first used that word to describe me in a comment, but I am definitely a very floofy ginger housecat! Mom says there are many other words that can apply to me, such as sweet, calm, patient, and also a little bit norty, but Floofalicous seems to be the best. When I lie sleeping, when I am walking, when the breeze blows through my fur on the deck, that orange floof is front and center.

Have a wonderful Wordy Wednesday, everycat. I look forward to visiting your blogs to see your chosen Word that describes you for the Word Challenge.

Dreamy

We have continued to feel down about the tsunami in Japan and not inspired to write a post.

But tomorrow is Wordy Wednesday, so I thought I should post something in between. I do have my Word and picture for tomorrow already!

No, this picture is not from now. It is from last summer, but I am already dreaming about warmer weather and lying on my towel on the deck. When I can do that, I feel life is very very good. C'mon warm weather! Do you think I look dreamy in this photo (in more ways than one, Mom says)?