Nighttime Adventure!

Hola, amigos! I know, I'm back so soon after my last diary entry, but I just had the most exciting news to share. Last night, I escaped. Here's how it went down. Mama and Dad left the house. Hannah was in her crate whimpering. I went in the kitchen and sat there looking at her. How sad that she has to be in a crate when Mama and Dad go out. Being free is the best thing about being a kitty, as I soon found out.

A little while later, these people that have been here before, Mama called them "Meg and Carey, our neighbors," came over. I guess they were going to let Hannah out to "go to the bathroom," as Mama and Dad always say. Well, somebody left the back door open for just a moment too long, and I SAW MY OPPORTUNITY. I was out that door in a blur of orange fur before anyone could do anything! I was FREE! There was a commotion behind me of shouting "Darwin! Darwin!" but I didn't look back, I just ran for my favorite Secret Hidey Hole underneath the neighbor's back porch. That's where I like to hang out when I manage to escape. Meg and Carey wandered around for a long time calling my name. They even put out a bit of tuna. I could smell it, and boy, did it smell good, but there was no WAY I was going to emerge from my hiding place and risk getting caught! So I laid low and waited. Eventually Meg and Carey left. Then I came out to explore.

It had been so long since I was free. I went wandering all over the place. I went so far away I never heard Mama or Dad calling for me when they got home. Where was I? I'll never tell. But, oh, it was so much fun. After a long, long time, I realized that I was pretty cold and hungry. But where was home? I put my kitty homing powers to work and found my way back. I knew I was getting close when I heard Dad calling my name. I started running! But by the time I arrived at home, he was gone. His truck was gone and Hannah was gone, too. He must have gone to work. That means Mama was still upstairs sleeping! I wanted to get in! Now the night wasn't as fun anymore. I was really cold and a little dirty from squeezing under the porch. Suddenly, I heard footsteps. I looked in through the door and saw Mama coming! How did she know I was here? She opened the door and I rushed into the house past Mama, who exclaimed, "Darwin! Darwin!" She picked me up and held me tight and said, "We were so worried about you! Where have you been?!" She put her nose in my fur and squeezed me even tighter. I was so glad to be home, I started purring. Then I realized I was hungry so I started squirming to get down because I wanted to get something to eat. Mama put me down and I went to my food dish. After I ate I took a long nap on the kitty condo. After a while I heard Mama stirring upstairs so I went up to say "Good Morning!" Mama gave me LOTS of rubs and scratches. I think she was happy that I was back. I was too, but boy, my little adventure was the best. I'm going to try EXTRA hard to escape from now on!

[From Darwin's Mama: Darwin escaped around 8:30 pm Wednesday night. At 4:30 am I woke up and decided to see if he was back. When I opened the door he was standing right there on the back step all puffed up and looking very startled. He burst into the house with a "brrrrrk?" I was very relieved. He was very cold and smelled like Outside. Who knows what he was up to for those eight hours? :#) ]

Holy moley!

Hola, amigos. Wow. What the heck is going on around here? There's a new addition to the family and boy, is it ever noisy! And smells weird, too! I think Mama and Dad have gone *crazy*. Why would they do this to me and poor Bouhaki?! He's freaking OUT. I'm acting cool since I, well, am. I couldn't help it, I had to check out this little dog. We went nose to nose and sniffed. She smells...funny. Not like kitty smell That must be puppy smell. Mama and Dad call her "Hannah." They keep saying it over and over and OVER. I'm thinking, "Sheesh...if she hasn't learned her name by now, well, then I KNOW cats are superior!"

Boy, can she ever make a racket. Barking and whining and crying and howling and good GRIEF, make it stop, give me some peace! She's quiet right now. I think she's sleeping in the crate in the kitchen. I was in there earlier checking things out.

I should have known something was up when Mama brought home this AWESOME new kitty condo on Friday. It has four! FOUR! levels including one that's way up high in the air. I can look out of the top part of the front window! I love being up high. That's why I'm the King of the Room. But...such a big, fancy condo...I shoulda known Mama was trying to butter me up! Little did I know for what I was in store!

I'm doing better than Bouhaki, however. He's very tense. Mama keeps giving him lots and lots of love. He needs it. He's more sensitive than me. I'll be fine. I just have to teach Hannah a thing or two about how kitties play. I'm not a puppy! I don't like having my tail nibbled and ears pawed at. Mama trimmed my nails down really short a couple of days ago so I can't even use them to let Hannah know she's bothering me. Well, that's what the new kitty condo is for, I guess. To get away if she gets too rough. Boy, Mama and Dad think of everything to make me comfortable. They really do love me!

Return of the Flame

Hola, amigos. Well, life is pretty cushy at my place. Almost every night Daddy builds a big fire in the fireplace and I spend all evening roasting myself on the hearth rug.

It was a long summer without any fires, but I was too warm to enjoy them anyway. Summertime plus fur equals one hot kitty. However, back in early October, it must have gotten cold enough, because I heard the familiar sounds of Daddy breaking up kindling in the basement. I dared not get my hopes up, though. It was only when Daddy came in with an armload of wood and opened the fireplace doors that I let myself get excited! The fire was back! Pretty soon there was a nice cheery fire going and I parked myself in my spot next to the hearth and slowly rotated myself for several hours to warm all sides of me. It felt so good. Now I expect there to be a fire every day and when there isn't one I get upset.

Mama and Daddy call me "rotisserie cat" because of the way I roll over to roast myself. They also give me lots of tummy scratches when I'm next to the fire. Warm fire plus lots of scratches equals one very happy kitty. Aaaaaah.

VET...arrrgh!

Hola, amigos. Well, yesterday...oh, that Mama is so sneaky...me and Bouhaki were chillin' on the bed like we do all day, and Mama came home from work. She sat with us for a while and gave us lots of pets and scratches. Then she left the room, but she closed the door...well, immediately I knew something was UP. All was quiet. Then I heard Mama come back up the stairs. She came in the room and took Bouhaki. Then she came back...but no Bouhaki. Uh oh. I was starting to figure out what was going on. Mama picked me up...and we went into the bathroom...and before I knew it, Mama had pushed me into the CAT CARRIER, and that meant only one thing...THE VET'S OFFICE.

ARRGH! I protested, "No, Mama, no, no, no, not the VET..." but she told me to hush. Mama put us in the back of the car and we took the short trip to the vet's office. When we got into the exam room, after we were weighed, I took some time to explore while Bouhaki just sat on Mama's lap and shoved his head under her arm. Come ON, Boo. Don't be such a wimp. I got up on the sink counter to survey the land, and, finding nothing of interest, I returned to the floor under the sink.

Pretty soon that guy I remember from last time (the one who took the blood sample...oh, that was NASTY) came in. I stayed under the cupboards while Bouhaki was poked and inspected. Then Mama put him back in his carrier. Oh no, she was coming for me...I shrank back as far as I could against the wall, but Mama reached in and dragged me out by my neck fur. Oh NOOOOO...I was up on the table! The vet looked at my teeth and said they were FABULOUS. Well, that's good, I guess. Mama was standing right there and I just lost it, I tried to stand up to nestle into her shoulder...I couldn't help it...I was so afraid! I'm supposed to be the brave one! I heard Mama say to the vet, "He's the curious one, the brave one...look at him now!" Oh, don't make fun of me, Mama. Just hold me. Then there was a dab of something cold on my neck, and then....OWWWW! Hurt! OW! I cringed and jumped. Then Mama was holding me and I went back into the safe space of my carrier. Sigh. It was over. I knew we were going home. I still had something to say about it, however. "How could you, Mama!"

When we got home, Bouhaki took off running and disappeared into the upstairs. I just collapsed on the kitchen floor. Daddy was there and he gave me lots of love. I hammed it up a little, I confess. Oh, poor sad me, look at me all flopped over and stretched out on the floor. Rub my tummy! I have been traumatized! Yeah, Mama and Daddy are suckers for my furry tummy. I got a lot of pets last night.

Ah, the warm breezes...

Hola, amigos. It's been a long time since I rapped at ya...so what's new around my pad? Well, the long winter finally broke and on the first nice day of spring a couple weeks ago Mama opened all the windows and set my window seat up so I can lounge in the fresh air. And she also fastened me into my harness and let me go outside! I promptly went to the old catnip patch by the fence to see if it was growing...and yes, it was! I was so happy. I rolled on top of the catnip and then laid on the mulch for a while. I can't do Lion in the Jungle yet because the flowers and other plants haven't grown very tall. Soon, soon...then I shall be the feared king of the jungle! And shall lie in wait for all unsuspecting creatures! No, I'm just kidding...I'm a terrible hunter.

I was outside for a long time in the sun and when Mama brought me back in I was very thirsty, so I drank about half a bowl of water and then I retired to the top of the kitty condo for a long nap. Lounging in the sun is hard work!

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

There's something new and interesting at my house! About two weeks ago, Mama and Daddy shut me and Bouhaki up in their room. There was all kinds of crashing and pounding and hammering and strange voices and marching feet in and out. After a few hours, Mama let me out. I immediately rushed downstairs to investigate. The living room rug was rolled up and all the furniture was pushed back. There was a strange smell of old smoke and dirt and it seemed to be coming from the dark hole in the wall. Then Daddy came home from work and he and Mama started doing some very weird things with that hole in the wall. First Daddy took off the gold box that was attached to the hole. Suddenly I could see in the hole! When Daddy wasn't looking, me and Bouhaki went inside to investigate. It smelled funny and we got stuff on our paws and then Daddy came back and saw us in there and boy, did he ever yell! We jumped right out.

After a little while longer and lots of swearing and crashing by Daddy and Mama, the hole in the wall looked a lot different. There was a new door covering the hole. There was a black bucket off to the side. There was a new little green rug in front of the hole. There was something new inside the hole. Then Daddy brought in some sticks and put them in the hole. He did something and suddenly the hole got very bright! I went to investigate. It was very warm! There was a funny crackling noise! What in the world was going on?!

Mama and Daddy rearranged all the furniture and unrolled the rug and sat on the couch staring at the hole. I heard Daddy say something about the crackling fire. Fire? Is that what it was? Mama said,"I'm so glad our fireplace is working!" So the hole in the wall is a fireplace, and the bright, warm stuff inside it is the fire. Well, you learn something new every day.

Since then, almost every night Mama and Daddy build a fire. And boy oh boy, I figured out pretty quick that if I want to feel all warm and toasty, I just have to lie on the rug in front of the fireplace! That's the best feeling ever! I can spend hours laying on the rug just luxuriating in the heat. Mama and Daddy sometimes come over and give me scratches and pets and make comments about how warm my fur is and how I'm their "cat dog," whatever that means.

A couple days ago was the best fire so far. Daddy built one while the sun was still up and six hours later it was still going! I parked myself on the rug almost immediately and barely moved for the rest of the evening. I was so warm! It was great! I love the fire.

A Romp in the Snow

Last week it snowed at my house. First snow of the season! And even better, Mama let me and Bouhaki go outside in the snow, and I didn't even have to wear my harness! Just my collar! I was SO excited. Bouhaki and I went all around our yard and the next-door neighbor's,'cause we share a driveway with them and there's no fence. I could see Mama checking on us through the window sometimes. I think she was keeping track of where we were by our footprints in the snow. We were outside for a long time, but then Boo got cold and wanted to go inside. I stayed out by myself and had a grand old time. Then some people showed up, and when I went to say Hi, one of them picked me up and took me inside! I was upset and squirmed, but all Mama said was "Thanks, it was about time he came inside." Oh phooey. Well, maybe the next time we get a big snowfall, I can go outside again.

They're Big and Smelly but Sort of OK

Dogs. We had dogs in the house over the weekend. I've never experienced dogs before. Well, it wasn't all that bad after they calmed down. When they first got here I was unprepared and they were just too excited to see a kitty as cool as me. All my fur got puffed up and I growled and hissed and went up on the kitchen table, and Mama grabbed me and tried to take me out of the room, but I was very angry and upset and I started thrashing around, and I guess I thrashed too much. I kicked with my back feet and put about 8 big bloody scratches on Mama's arm...I couldn't help it! I'm sorry, Mama! She screamed and dropped me back on the table, which made the dogs get even more rowdy. I was ready to brawl, but Mama got a hold of my neck fur and put me in some kind of headlock and then she rushed upstairs with me and stuck me in the bedroom. I noticed that her arm was oozing blood everywhere. I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to! I huffed around the room for a while but when no one came to let me out and no dogs burst into the room I took a nap.

The next day the dogs were shut up in crates in the music room and they couldn't get out. So I sat in the doorway and observed them. They smelled weird and breathed heavily and when they saw me they whined and the bigger one barked. After a while I lost interest...they're obviously not as smart as cats if they can't be trusted to be free in the house while the people are away. Bouhaki was pouting behind the shades upstairs so I went up and made him come out and take a nap with me. Poor Bouhaki. He's so scared of everything.

At one point I was hanging out in the window, which was open since it was warm, and the big light-colored dog came over to investigate. I gave her a warning growl, just a little hum in the back of my throat, and she just stood there and wagged her tail. Daddy was right beside me and I felt safer but I still wanted the dog to know I wasn't to be messed with. Who do they think they are, anyway, invading my house? They even used my water dish and laid in MY spot on the rug! I couldn't wait for them to leave!

They finally did leave, and Bouhaki emerged from behind the shade and I did a house patrol to make sure the coast was clear. They were gone! That night I sat on Daddy and Bouhaki sat on Mama. All was right in the world.

My people LEFT me!

Oh man...it was a hard weekend. Friday there was all kinds of activity around the house. Mama didn't go to work, and then she spent all morning going up and down the stairs and then the Duffel Bag and the Suitcase came out of the closet. When the Duffel Bag comes out usually I like to play inside it but this time Mama filled it with clothes and zipped it up. Then Daddy came home from work and Mama told him to "take a shower, we're all packed and ready to go." Then they got in the car and left! Me and Bouhaki sat by the door for a long time but they didn't come back! We were so upset, because we like it when they're home on the weekend because we get lots of pets and kitty love. But not this time. We were all alone.

Mama arranged for the neighbors to come over and check on us and I gave Katie some serious kitty love because I was lonely. Katie really likes me. Bouhaki hid. He's such a fraidy-cat!

I was sad all weekend so I shredded some Kleenex in the living room. I don't know what it is about the Kleenex that I like so much.

Then yesterday afternoon I heard the car coming up the driveway! By the time Mama and Daddy had come inside I was up from my nap (on Mama's clean sweater that she had put out to dry...clean clothes are the best!) and downstairs and waiting! They made a big fuss over me and Boo and gave us LOTS of kitty love. Later Mama and Daddy were watching TV and I sat on Daddy's lap. All is right with the world.

Lap Time

Greetings, subjects!

Last night Daddy kindly sat down in my favorite chair with my favorite blanket to watch some TV. I was up on his lap in about two seconds. I love that blanket and I sure love Daddy, too! I love to stretch out on Daddy's legs. They keep me nice and warm. Mama and Daddy give me lots of pets and call me "leg warmer" and "jungle cat." I guess that has something to do with my leg hanging off the side, like the leopard in the tree...

Last night was some good lap time! Daddy didn't move for over an hour and I snoozed the whole time. Mama had my friend Bouhaki with her, but I like Daddy more.