Breakthrough for Ziggy on Saturday

That's Ziggy on the bed all cuddled up in Will's pajamas! This is the first time we've seen him on the bed. Yes, that is Mowry in the foreground...

They weren't quite as close as this looks, but they were both on the bed.Ziggy was busy Friday night. He got this cabinet opened. It's a good thing he isn't interested in what is inside of the cabinets because that would be a lot of little jars to pick up from my jar collection.

Last night we watched "The Bee Movie". I was quite comfortable on my side of the loveseat recliner, wearing the first socks I ever knitted. We both enjoyed the movie.

Sunday morning it was foggy, but it's cleared up and we now have blue skies and 66 degrees. I can feel the autumn chill in the air and it's wonderful!
We went to the Farmers' Market and saw Ken and Diann, and Lorne and Darlene there. Then we went to Mervyn's. They had a huge selloff of merchandise 5 months ago, and then they moved into a brand new store. Now Mervyn's is going out of business. This couldn't all be from a slowing economy. Don't business make some room for that, or do they think things will always go up? Bad management? We didn't find anything we had to have at Mervyn's today.

Then we went to Big Lots. We always manage to find things we need there.

Back at home, Mowry was actually sleeping when I snapped this picture.

Saturday - Mostly Cat Business

What's wrong with this picture?

Could it be Kandyman on the roof of Peety? Will reminds me that this is yet another reason why we park both cars in the garage.

He saw me coming with the camera, so he was outta there.

He went directly to his owner's van to hang out.

Wow - that Ziggy guy came with cool toys. Hey, some of these are mine. I guess my humans co-mingled the toys.

And speaking of Ziggy, he came out into the sunroom today, but I didn't have my camera handy, so no pictures.

The obligatory shot of Mowry, or as cousin Barbara calls him, "OC" for .... wait for it ... Orange Cat!
The naked ladies bulb I planted is growing, as is the purple alyssum. This is under the crepe myrtle tree out front, and it is losing its leaves for winter.
This is the view a block away. Mission Peak and Quarry Lakes. This is where we were feeding the strays. I hope they all got adopted wherever that lady next to here took them. She swears the shelter has a no-kill policy, but either she was lying, or someone lied to her.

Cat Business

This morning I walked into the living room and Ziggy was on the blue recliner, and Mowry was on the back of the very same blue recliner. No picture - I had to have had the camera in my hand for that one.

The sun shines right in this room in the morning, so the lighting isn't great, but Mowry was scratching his crow's nest .... while Ziggy was sitting in the same room pondering his new home. Maybe he likes my knitting needles?

Then Mowry came down off his perch to check out the new cat. No growling or hissing yet. Those are my knitting projects on the little table that should never get into a picture, but if I crop it, the cats get cropped out!

Alex was eating while all this was going on. He came closer when he was done.

Where did Ziggy go?
He wasn't under the bed.

Look again - he was farther back by the knitting needles, even with Mowry hovering. Note that when I want Mowry in the picture, it can be hard to capture him, but when I don't want him in it, there he is!Closer ....
Here is the picture again .... Mowry on the 2nd tier of the crow's nest, Alex to the right of the loveseat, and Ziggy under the table on the left by my knitting projects. ALMOST all 3 in ONE picture!And yes, there was some growling form the scaredy cat, Ziggy, but this is all good. Everyone tells me to give it some time...maybe they will be friends????? And maybe Ziggy won't be afraid of me?

Pictures on Thursday

I tried on the wine Trekking XXL sock and it fits! It looks funny with the needles still in it, but I didn't want to finish it and then find out I needed to do something to it. I happened to be wearing the blue and gray sock that I made when I took the picture.

Alex is in one of his favorite spots - right next to Will on the loveseat recliner. Note that I sit on the other side. He is as far away from me as he could get and still be on the recliner.
Is it Alex or Ziggy? Hint - if he's not under the bed, it's likely Alex. This is Alex.
And this is Ziggy. He came out from under the bed and sat on the denim couch. I went up to him and petted him, and he did some whiney growling. Then he went to eat, and he's back under the bed. He obviously feels safe there. I'm wondering if I should take his pad out from under the bed so he'll feel safe on the pad somewhere other than under the bed.I'm sleeping here. There she goes again with that flash!
I'm trying to stretch. You missed a cool picture of me yawning!

Day 3 of 3 cats.....and other things

Last night Will was practicing with his musician friends and I only had cat company when I sought them out. Yes, another picture of Alex and Mowry on the bed. They didn't hang out with me! Look at how they've "matured" since the picture to the right?Who's this I see? I took this from the TV room with the flash, so it came out VERY weird.
It's ZIGGY!!!! Yes, he was on the couch in the living room. As you can see, HIS right (our left) front paw doesn't have white on top, so it's one way we can quickly tell if it's Ziggy or Alex. His legs are also a little shorter. But they look VERY similar! You aren't seeing double.Ziggy was very busy in the middle of the night. Along with his favorite cabinet, he managed to open this drawer. Sometimes I find it hard to open because there are no knobs, but he doesn't have any problem. Maybe because he isn't carrying something when he does it? But he doesn't have opposible thumbs, and I do.Alex and Mowry love the toys and basket that Ziggy came with. What a great idea! We thought our cats had a lot of toys! Ziggy has the cool toys! This morning Ziggy was in the living room. When I put out my hand, he came up to me and let me pet him .... UNTIL ... he spotted Alex and started growling, and then spotted Mowry and added some hissing. He's still afraid of them, even though they aren't chasing or attacking him. I have hope.



DID I MENTION that the knitted black sock has been FOUND? If I did, I just need to mention it again. If I didn't, THE LOST KNITTED BLACK SOCK has been FOUND! Will found it under the reclining love seat where I do most of my knitting. How embarrassing - it never went to the Essanay Cafe, and I had them looking for it!


And last, but never least - how am I supposed to work with Mowry on my desk?

Cats, Knitting, Autumn and more (pictures)

It's another beautiful day. It's 60 degrees at 5 pm, and cooler than it's been the last few days, but still a nice day. I got done early at my client, so I walked around Palo Alto to wait for the Dumbarton Express bus home.



Ziggy has been hiding - first under the Crow's Nest:

And then under the bed. He hisses and growls at me, and really hisses and growls if he encounters another cat, but today he was in the hallway, and Will put out his finger, and Ziggy came up to sniff and let Will scratch him. I think he's coming around and will be okay. It's just sad to see him so frightened. The other cats are curious, but no cat fights or struggles unless he happens to encounter one and then he hisses and growls at them. It's not just me! I saw Mowry hissing at him - hissing is so creepy and funny at the same time.

Ziggy likes to open cabinets. His former owners told me he used to do that in their prior house, but wasn't doing it at the last one. We found two kitchen cabinets, one kitchen drawer and a bathroom cabinet open this morning! He also hides in the kitchen cabinet, but I didn't get a picture.

On another topic ... things around Niles.

The new firestation is coming along! I like to take progress pictures because I can.

The changing leaves on Second Street are beautiful.

What great colors! And the white picket fence just adds to it.
And since Mowry gets special requests for his picture....here is he sitting on the window sill in the office. He loves when the window is open and he can watch birds and things. He looked away because he knows about the camera!
And then finally he walked away. I was surprised at how good this came out. When I try to take pictures of flowers close up, the camera automatically focuses on the farther object, making what I am trying to photograph blurry, instead of the other way around.

Cats from A to Z

If you missed yesterday's post, you have to look at the picture of Alex and Ziggy both hiding (from each other?) under the bed. No, you're not seeing double.

Last night Ziggy hid under the bed most of the night. I felt so bad for him that I put some food and water under there before I went to sleep, and I heard crunching shortly after I left it. Poor guy was hungry.

This morning a lower kitchen cabinet was open, and some things from the counter were knocked off. That sounds more like Mowry, but frankly, this was new and that points to one cat - Ziggy.

Ziggy was under the bed this morning, but then I looked before I left and he was gone. We looked EVERYWHERE. I finally decided to look in the aforementioned kitchen cabinet and there he was. What a smart boy! He got the cabinet door open and got in! I put out my finger and he came up and sniffed and let me give him a pet before he retreated back under the bed. Last night he had growled and hissed at me, but after Cinders, that didn't scare me! This morning Mowry was pawing at the door to the kitchen pantry. Maybe he is also smart and was trying to tell Will that Ziggy was in the cabinet, except it wasn't the cabinet he was pawing!

I didn't hear any cat fights. Mostly there was just some growling and/or hissing if a cat or human got too close. I think with some time this will work out. My biggest fear was that they'd be chasing each other growling, hissing and fighting, but so far, none of that.

I'm still hoping to see some semblance of a kitten pile.