It's my purrrthday!

Happy purrthday to me...

So far I am having fun on my fourteenth purrthday. Mom and I had a long snuggle in bed this morning, and then I had a dish of chicken pot pie for breakfast. Yummm.

I am having a birthday tea this afternoon. Auntie Nina and Simba have been invited. I wonder what Mom is going to make. One year we had salmon sandwiches and they were so good. You can leave the bread off mine, please.

Hugs and purrs,
Amber

da' Bomb!

Mom taught Auntie Nina how to make catnip bombs. These are my favorite toys of all time. Simba and I took careful notes on how to do this, but I am having a bit of trouble making sense of my notes tonight. I think I had too much catnip. Let's see--and maybe Mom will correct me. And I don't mean by telling me to get my butt off the computer.

1. Gather your supplies:

Lots of catnip
Scraps of poplin or chintz fabric. Please wash it first because the raw fabric tastes icky.
Lots of catnip
String
A pack needle
Did I say LOTS OF CATNIP?

2. Cut 6 inch squares of fabric and place them face down on the table.
3. Put 2 generous tablespoons of catnip in the middle of each square.

4. Let cat into the middle of the square to schnuffle up the catnip.

(NO, Amber, that's not how it goes.)

Oh, alright.

4. Gather up the fabric so that the catnip is in a lump, and wrap the string three times around to secure the lump.
5. Thread the end of the string into the pack needle and sew back and forth so that the string will stay on.

6. Your catnip bombs is belong to us.
7. Roll around with wild abandon on the carpet.
8. Repeat from...zzzzzzzzz....

Well, that's what my notes say.

Why are these called catnip bombs? I say because they are da' bomb. Mom says its because when I really chew them up, they 'go off' all over the carpet.

Hugs and purrs,
Amber

To busy to meow

I am so sorry to have been quiet for a long time. I have been very busy keeping Mom from being too sad. You see, Grannie had a lot of trips in and out of the hospital and she used up all of her nine lives back in April. So, Mom has been sad and I have been very busy purring for her and trying to make her smile by being a silly cat.

Lately, things have been better. Mom has finally met some of her neighbors and is very chummy with one who is mom to a very interesting Bengal fellow. He and I take turns visiting each other, and the moms sketch us or work on other creative projects. Simba is a bit pushy, and I have had to hiss at him a few times, but he is rather sweet. His apartment has a terrace, and mine has a dining room with lots of windows, so we have a pleasant change of scenery.

Mom still goes out to dinner with G. whenever she can, but I think they go to vegetarian restaurants, because there are never any interesting bits brought home to me. She said that he will be my guardian if she runs out of lives before I do. What about you cats? Will there be someone to take care of you if anything happens to your families and have you met your prospective guardians? G. is very nice. He brushed my fur and said kind things to me. I'd rather keep Mom around forever, but I think we all got worried about the future when Grannie crossed over.

I think I'm going to go play with the orange mousie that Simba's mom gave me. It makes Mom laugh when I pretend it is a real mouse.

Hugs and purrs,
Amber

More english lessons

I really think I'm starting to get this human language thing, and then comes something that confuses me completely . Honest to Bast, I heard a song with the words "Rock the catbox, rock the catbox." What's that all about?

The soul of a tiger

Mom has some wacky ideas, but I like this one. She was reading about amber, the resinous material that makes such lovely jewelry or sweet incense. I'm Amber, too. In China some believe that amber is the crystalized souls of tigers.

Rrrrrr
Rrrrooo
Rrr

Nope. I can't quite roar like a big cat. But I don't purr as smoothly as most housecats, so maybe I'm just a little bit of a tiger inside.

That will be our secret.

Hugs and purrs
Amber

(note from Mom: http://www.alchemy-works.com/incense_amber.html is where I read this.)

Amber On-Line

Dear Mom,

Let's see if I can explain to you my great fascination for your laptop computer.

It's warm.
You stare at it a lot, so it must be interesting.
If I sit on the keyboard, you will have to stare at me.
It's warm.
It makes funny noises.
It's warm.
It has your scent.
When I sit on it you stop working and pay attention to me.
And most important of all,
IT'S WARM.

Hugs and purrs,
Amber

Scatter, rug!

I'm trying really hard to learn English, but it's such a confusing language, and Mom tells me that I get it wrong in some really funny ways.

I thought I finally understood the imperative, but I may be wrong. When Mom says "Scatter rug" she's NOT telling me to go and scatter the rug, and she's NOT telling the rug to scatter itself. It's a silly adjective that has no fun in it at all, and the rug is to stay where it is.

And Grannie really confused me when she said that she used to work at eating paper. I get yelled at when I eat paper. It seems that there was a company called Eaton Paper and that's where Grannie used to work. That's no fun, either.

Like I said, English is hard, or maybe it's just too serious for a cat like me.

Hugs and purrs,
Amber

Grannie-on-wheels!

My Grannie came home to see me yesterday, and we had fun. I do like her wheelchair because she makes a lap all the time and I can jump up and sit. She also gave me a taste of her pudding. Mom doesn't know this, but when she is at work, Grannie feeds me ice cream from a spoon. Just a little bit, of course.

Then we had ritual for Mabon, but there wasn't much of a part in it for me, so I mostly napped under the altar, and sneezed a few times when the incense got too strong. I don't like sage; it smells like burning leaves to me.

I was sad when Grannie had to go back to the hospital where she is learning to walk. I want her to come home to stay, and share more ice cream with me.

Hugs and purrs,

Amber

PS. When Grannie calls, I purr into the phone.

Luv my Grannie

Mom surprised me two nights ago. I was sitting quietly under the altar, contemplating the secret things that cats do contemplate. My tail wasn't sticking out, so she must have searched hard to find me. In a flash, she buckled my harness on and put me in the red carrier which means a trip in the Infernal Machine.

And so we went for a drive, with me doing my vocal exercises the whole way there. I must have at least a hundred different ways to nuance my disgust. I sang all the choruses of 'ruuuu' and 'rowwwwww' and even a few verses of 'errr' and 'owwww.' My 'rowwwwww' was masterful, so I sang an encore.

And then we arrived. And Grannie was there. She hugged and kissed me, and even brushed me. She showed me her broken paw, and gave me a ride in her wheelchair, which is nothing like the Infernal Machine. I am a bit in awe of her wheelchair, because it is very quiet. But it could sneak up on me and run over my tail. I don't quite trust it and I hope it doesn't sneak up on Grannie.

Ooh, I'm a VIP today!

That's Very Important Purry, and I feel like one because my diary was a Pick of the Day today. Thanks so much. I'm all purry with excitement.