an open cupboard

Sheba’s quite the climber. She enjoys a good romp around the yard, and a leap up onto the fence in the corner where she has a good view of all the goings on. She also likes to run around the roof and walk along the boughs of trees. Here she is up among the leaves of the lemon tree:

So close, I can smell it…

Maybe if I scrunch myself up a bit and hide….

Excuse me? Can I help you? I’m trying to hunt a lemon, if you don’t mind!

Do check out the other beautiful felines at What Did You Eat.

Tags: WCB84, weekend cat blogging

This is Jenny:

She’s half Boxer, half ???. Speculations as to the breed of her father range from German Shepherd, to Pit Bull, to Canaanite. Her face is somewhat German Shepherd-like, yet her coloring is in the typical Canaanite range. She’s still quite the Boxer, though: loyal, territorial, a fierce protector of her pack, and playful as a pup. At seven years old, Jenny enjoys running laps on the lawn and inviting nearly any dog she meets to play.

Here she is sitting on a bench with A, her fearless Alpha male pack leader:

And here are Jenny and A walking off into the sunset at Vista Point:

N.B. Sadly, Jenny’s tail was clipped in her youth, and not by us. Her tail is more of a pom-pom that dances contentedly whenever Jenny’s happy.

Check out the round-up of weekend dog blogging at Sweetnicks!

You’ve met Sheba before, most notoriously as Sheba the Shack, Jabba the Hut’s third cousin twice removed.

Sheba is quite a character. When she’s not meowing at the neighbors or wriggling out of some wily human’s grasp, she likes to run around outdoors.

This morning was beautifully crisp and bright, with a cool smell of winter in the air, so we took the dog out to run around the yard. Naturally, Sheba followed along. Don’t get her wrong, she goes outside or inside whenever she feels like it, and not because the human can openers are around. But it was sunny out, so out Sheba went…

Sheba loves to play.

And hide among the shrubbery near the neighbors’ basement window.

She ponders the great questions of the universe…

… until she gets bored.

Then off to another hiding place, this one with better camouflage.

She crouches in the bushes, panther-like, awaiting her prey. What will she catch? A pillbug? A spider? Perhaps a small bird? Sheba is clearly the queen of this back yard.

Just to make up for last week’s post about Sheba, here’s a much cuter photo of her sleeping. Note the white spot on her belly, and the daintily folded front paws.

I rather like this photo as it captures Sheba’s personality. She has a wide-eyed, expressive face that vacillates between wonder and insatiable curiosity. Sometimes she seems almost inquisitive, the way she looks at you when she meows. Naturally, the photo is blurred as a result of Sheba’s constant movement. She is always jumping about, particularly when a camera is present (”What is that thing my non-furry mother is sticking in my face? Why is it blinking?”).

I’m somewhat giddy with lightheaded delirium today, a result of the change-of-season cold that I caught. Rather than attempt to write a moderately coherent post, I’m putting up some random photos taken in the back yard with my little beast of a camera. Enjoy!

P.S. These are thumbnails. Click to view the full-size photo.

Meet Jabba the Hut’s little known third cousin, Sheba the Shack. This is quite possibly the worst photo of our otherwise beautiful cat. It was taken at a rather undignified moment, when A spontaneously scooped her up in his arms and held her like a baby. She hates that. I don’t think she likes the camera, either. Hence, this is one displeased little Sheba, making faces and looking scary. I think she’d make a good mafiosa if she had a few thugs at her disposal.

This is Keiko, a Japanese fortune cat or maneki neko. Keiko lives on top of my computer monitor. She’s always pleased, as you can tell from the happy expression on her little cat face, and she’s always politely beckoning or waving, depending on how you look at it. Keiko does not shake off her cute little red collar, and doesn’t mind wearing a bell. In short, she’s the perfect cat.

This is Sheba—my living breathing cat—completely occupied by her favorite activity: eating. The photo is blurry because Sheba tends to move her head around so as to strategically position her mouth directly above the tastiest morsel of cat food. While noisily scarfing down her food, Sheba purrs loudly and talks (”mer!”). Being a cat, Sheba has no lips, but I swear I hear lip-smacking when she eats. After five to ten minutes of “purr-chomp-chomp-lip-smack-purr,” Sheba says “mrew?” and hastily dashes out the cat door. She comes back for dinner, announcing her presence with several dramatic, open-mouthed cries of “Mraaaaaaaw!” while she runs as fast as she can toward the food dish. The loud yet plaintive “Mraaaaaaaaaaw” also serves to remind her humans to fill replenish the bowl with fresh kibble, in case they’ve forgotten.

After dinner, if it’s cold outside, Sheba will stick around and allow her humans to pet her, but not to pick her up. When she’s had enough petting, Sheba grabs the petter’s hand with her teeth. This is her way of saying “you’re messing up my gorgeous, velvety fur, which I’ve just preened, by the way! I feel like hunting now and your hand reminds me of a mouse.” Any human who continues petting her does so at his own peril.

If it’s warm outside, Sheba will promptly leave the house in search of amusing outdoor activities such as claiming random yards as her territory, batting bugs with her paw, and possibly directing a pitiful “Mraaaaaaaaaw” at unsuspecting neighbors in search of handouts.

When she’s tired, Sheba comes back home for bedtime. She’ll curl up under the covers and pet her humans with her paw. She’ll snooze and purr for a few hours. Then she’ll make sure I’m asleep, and use my favorite upholstered chair as a scratching post. By the time we wake up, Sheba is gone. At least until breakfast.