The Great Canteloupe Debate.

"Oh, mama, I just LOVE canteloupe!"

"Yes, I know you do, Duncan, but its FOOD, not a TOY!"

Mama, you've got to BE the BAG!

Whenever I hear strange noises, I know Duncan's up to something so when I heard a rustling sound in the hallway, I grabbed the camera and went to see what he was up to now!  I had picked up some wine the other day and gave him the bag to play with in the kitchen.  Its now residing in the living room!  I'm sure it'll travel a bit further before he finally tears it up and it winds up in the trash!

The good, the bad and the cuddly!

Well, let's start with the bad!  Its been a day here at Casa Kelly!  It started around 8:00 am with Duncan tear-assing around the bedroom and knocking the vcr off the tv -- neither one is plugged in because I'm not one of those people who can fall asleep with the tv on and I don't even have cable in the bedroom but I just can't bring myself to throw away a good tv and vcr! -- along with all the pictures that were on the vcr.  I've never been a morning person and being awakened by things crashing to the floor is NOT my idea of a good morning!  Needless to say, it was REAL quiet around here after I got done screaming!  At least Duncan had the good sense to stay out of my way for the better part of the day!  Fortunately for both of us I had my allergy shots this morning and then my mani/pedi so I've had plenty of time to cool off!  Besides, who could stay angry with this sweet little guy?

And now for the good!  Here's Duncan watching 2 of his favorite shows -- My Cat From Hell (LOVE YA JACKSON!) and Bad Dog -- and hanging out on the top of his cat tree just surveying his kingdom!

I don't often get angry with Duncan because most of the time he's a joy to be around and snuggling with him is one of my absolute favorite things in the entire world so here's some shots of him cuddling with his mama!  He just climbs up on top of me and does "cute" better than any other kitty!  Can you tell we both really do love each other?!

 
And then there's Duncan just being adorable hanging out in his kitty bed with his catnip blanket!

Well, that's it for now!  Time to go snuggle with my little boy!

PROGRESS!!!!!!

Things are starting to look up with Duncan!  When he first came home with me, he was a holy terror when it came time to clip his claws -- to the point where I'd have the vet do them since he was there just about every week anyway with his ear infection.  But his ears have cleared up and I just can't see spending the money to have the vet clip his claws.  Retirement does have its (VERY MINOR!) drawbacks and extra (as in unnecessary!) expenses are one of them!  So I set about getting him used to letting me clip them.  Well, today was the best yet!  He came and curled up on my lap for a little snooze and I grabbed the nail clippers and in a matter of seconds he was all done without a single struggle!  Such a good little boy! 

Now if I can only get him used to being brushed!  Somewhere along the line he must have developed a hatred for brushes but I'm hoping that, with time and patience, I can get him to enjoy the process.  He sheds like a crazy thing which baffles me since he's not a really long haired cat and I know he'd feel SO much better in the heat and humidity of a Jersey summer if he'd let me get rid of that extra fur!  In the meantime, I get in a brush here and there when I can and the rest of the time I'm the one getting used to walking around covered in cat fur!  Who knows -- maybe I'll start a new trend!

YUCK!

Poor little Duncan is all confused!  We've had a problem with ants invading his food area so he's had to eat on the counter, which isn't anything new, he usually jumps up and starts eating as I'm dishing his food out anyway!  But normally I move his dish to his spot and he just sort of looks at me like he can't understand why I'm not doing that!  Anyway, we've pretty much got the ants under control thanks to glass cleaner with ammonia -- man, does that stuff ever kill them instantly!  Better than Raid! -- and super maximum strength Raid bait traps but we'll see how it goes tonight when I put his food out.  I did learn that bay leaves DON'T work to keep ants away, tho!  The good news is that they pretty much stayed in his food area and never bothered to move to the cabinets or even the counters but I've got a bait trap there too just in case!  Always thankful for the little things, ya know!  Now if it'll just stop raining so much maybe we'll have seen that last of those ants!  Just can't stand bugs! 

Life really is good!

Have been busy lately setting up a new Facebook page for my family to share memories of our grandmother and grandfather(s) and I'm absolutely thrilled with the response we've gotten!  But there's still time for Duncan!

With the Olympics on NBC, my usual schedule is all messed up. Generally, its The Big Bang Theory at 11:00 pm, then Leno and then off to bed.  So, late last night we watched a half hour of America's Funniest Videos and it was a full half hour of animal nonsense and Duncan was having a blast watching them!

Today was another busy day -- lots of running around to do and then back to the family page to see what was going on and add more memories -- but at one point Duncan decided he'd been neglected long enough and curled up on my lap for a little nap time!  Do you have any idea how difficult it is to take pictures of a cat napping on top of you AND left handed?!  And he REALLY needs those claws clipped soon!



And then, of course, he had to play with the strap on my camera!  Lord, this cat makes me laugh!  What did I ever do before he chose to come live with me?  Esa was a sweet little thing but he didn't have Duncan's knack for the ridiculous!

Well, that's it for today!  Looking forward to a busy but quiet weekend with lots of cuddle time with Duncan!

Handbag search? Really?

Ok, we're all getting used to having our bags searched at airports and such but at HOME?!  Evidently Duncan works for the TSA and feels compelled to search mama's bag before she goes to church!  He loves any and all kinds of bags and purses are not immune to his investigations -- anyone who has come over to visit can attest to this.  I guess he figures we're all hiding something in our handbags that he really needs to get at!

Watching Jackson Galaxy.

There's a marathon of My Cat From Hell today and Duncan and I have been watching all of it!  I'm not sure if Duncan actually loves Jackson or is just in awe of the bad behaviour of the kitties he's seeing!

Now if Jackson could just tell me how I could brush Duncan without a battle!  I get the feeling he was a handful at the shelter and grooming wasn't fun for him but we're working on it.

Poor little Doodlebug!

I'm blaming the Weather Channel!  If they'd have gotten the forecast right, I would have known that I could have gone out earlier BEFORE the thunderstorms started!  But with only a 40% chance of rain predicted, I thought it would be best to stick to my usual Wednesday routine.

We have street cleaning today so that's when I do my grocery shopping but its gloomy and pouring buckets so there was no need to move the car but I had filled a prescription -- yup, I use my supermarket pharmacy, it saves me a trip and they're really wonderful! -- so I had to go anyway but really didn't want to bother so between not wanting to be there in the first place and then getting Dumb & Dumber at the checkout, I came home wet, tired and cranky.  Left half the stuff in the trunk of the car and only brought what had to go in the fridge/freezer in but, still, by the time I got everything put away, all I wanted to do was come in here, fall down on the couch and be left alone.  Well, Duncan had other plans!  After about the fifth time he jumped up on me, I yelled at him to get off and leave me alone!  Yeah, a real Greta Garbo!  So now he's parked on the top of the couch napping and I'm sitting here feeling guilty!  Damned Weather Channel!