Comfort zone

This month's JAC blog carnival is about comfort zones and Mom practically forced me to participate. She said that I have been lazy much too long and that I should take a moment to contemplate life and think about myself, my family, my pals. She can be so annoying.
What is a comfort zone?
According to Wikipedia "The comfort zone is a psychological state in which a person feels familiar, at ease, in control, and experiences low anxiety. A person in this state uses a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk."

Do I have a comfort zone? I mean, do I perform? Do I need to perform? I'm a cat, so are Esme and Greebo. We don't perform, we are. Yes, of course we feel stress. Greebo is severely stressed out by the vacuum cleaner. Esme hates pill time and drools like a champion. I have stress when Mom once again doesn't do what I want her to.
What is our comfort zome then? I guess it would be different if we were outside cats. We would be facing new challenges each day, cars, other animals, humans who don't like us or even worse who do like us and try to cuddle us. Maybe we would get to know the panic and the learning zone as well, we would learn to avoid the garden where the guy turned the hose on us or check out the house where the lady puts out snacks for us, we would learn to run fast from a car or maybe not.

My head is hurting now, enough of this.
If you want to know what the JAC members have to say about this, check it out here.

Jewelry Art by Dawn
Echoes of Ela
Cat's Wire

If you want to see some real comfort zones instead, however, here you go!

The cardboard beds. They are just the best, and even better with a sun ray.

The cat bed on the hallway cabinet.

Any place where my little sister can rest her cute little chin.

Halloween

"Hey Ponder, do you want to write something for Halloween?"
"Why should I?"
"For the JAC blog carnival."
"Oh, that still exists?"
"Of course it does, we only took a little break. You can write about Samhain, Halloween or Dia de los Muertos."
"I don't even know how to pronounce Samhain. Halloween. Hm. Let me think about it."

This was a talk between Mom and me a few days ago.
Halloween ... what does it mean to me? Even if I wasn't an inside cat, Mom wouldn't let me go out on Halloween. Or Esme, for that matter. While the day is associated with witches and black cats, black cats are not safe out there at that time. There are too many crazy people out there.
Sometimes Mom asks me if I would sit on her shoulder and stay there if she dressed up as a witch. Yeah, right. I don't even want to think about her nagging if I have to hold on to her with my claws out. Just today she shooed Esme off her lap yelling that her knees were pierced now.

What else is there on Halloween? Treats. What are we supposed to do with chocolate we can't eat or candy apples we don't want? We are not even allowed to scare anyone!
Nevertheless I have to admit I do get Halloween feelings. Maybe it's in my blood. So let me share my favorite Halloween video with you.



Also check out the JAC members' posts!

Jewelry Art by Dawn
The Crafty Chimp
Cat's Wire

How I develop my designs

"Ponder, wake up. Do you want to blog today? It's time for the Jewelry Artisans Community blog carnival again."
"What's the topic?"
"How to develop your own designs."
"What designs of mine were you thinking of? My way of arranging your blankets or designing with kibble bags? How about the litterbox?"
"Your litterbox arrangements are the best. I like how you take the litter from the edges and turn it into a mountain in the middle."
"I do like that movie about the Englishman who went up a hill and came down from a mountain, you know. Pretty much the same thing, isn't it? Unfortunately my artwork is for the moment, thanks to you."
"Yes, I guess that's in the nature of litterboxes."
"You won't take a picture of it, will you?"
"No worries. So, anything else you got to offer?"
"I could throw up for you."
"Don't you dare!"
"I could make a completely new design for your carpet."
"Ponder!"
"I'm just kidding. What could I throw up? I'm starving again."
"Is that a subtle way of telling me you are hungry?"
"What a smart human you are."

Nice. First a snack and then another nap.

If you want to see what the JAC members have to say about the topic of the month, you can find them here. I doubt it will be as interesting as my litterbox art would have been, but do give them a chance.

Jewelry Art by Dawn
The Crafty Chimp
Bead Sophisticate 
Cat's Wire

Love

You may remember that I always try to join in the blog carnival of Mom's forum, the Jewelry Artisans Community.
This month's theme is love. What comes to mind first of course is my love to Meffi, my Queen. I still haven't given up hope. Since she's on meds and feeling better again, she is much more patient with me, too. Who knows, maybe one day ...
I decided to dedicate this post to someone else, though. They were the true lovebirds in this house and although it stings a bit, I'll show you a picture of them, Meffi and Merlin who will never be forgotten.

Wanna see what humans have to say about love? Check it out here!

Bead Sophisticate
Jewelry Art by Dawn
Cat's Wire

Shop improvement

You know that I always participate in the monthly blog carnival of the Jewelry Artisans Community. I feel that as a master thief of valuables of all kinds I am more than predestined to do so.
Shop improvement is not really my subject, though. I'm not a shopkeeper. Come on, I'm a cat! I have people who do that for me, and those people (aka Mom) also should improve the shops that I own to make huge loads of money for me and my pals ... better cat food, better cat TV, better cat everything!
Excuse me while I try to calm down a little.

So instead of boring you with cat-unrelated stuff, I'll show you a totally random picture of a worn out Esme. Enjoy!

P.S. Oh, I forgot. Should you be interested in shops, have a look at these blogs. Fair warning ... no cats!

Jewelry Art by Dawn 
Bead Sophisticate 
Cat's Wire

P.P.S. Mom said I'm not taking this seriously. Do you think she is being serious?

Orange.

Gee, it has been a month since I last posted. Sorry. We have been pretty lazy around here the last weeks ...
Well, this month's topic at JAC is "Orange". Make something with the color orange. Well, I don't "make". So I thought I'd show you a picture of Buster eating an orange carrot instead.
Much more interesting anyway ...

If you want to read some serious posts about orange, you can find them here:
N Valentine Studio
Jewelry Art by Dawn
Cat's Wire

Mother's Day

Mother's Day? That's this month's topic for the JAC forum blog carnival?
Could you make it any more difficult for me? I don't know where Esme's and my Mom is. Human Mom doesn't even know who she is or was. She does have an image in her head, yes, but I can't tell her if it's true. It's a bit of a sore subject between us, but it's no my fault the lady can't speak cat very well.
She did meet Meffi's and Greebo's mother at the farm. Seriously though, who cares? We are all stuck with her now. Do I sound a bit miffed? That's because I am. She trimmed my claws this morning while all I wanted to do was snuggle with her. I can't help the skin on her knee being so thin obviously. The food she served today was a cruel joke, we didn't touch it (Mom: "It wasn't junk food, but that doesn't make it a cruel joke!! You ate it just fine off Meffi's plate yesterday, you hypocrite!"). Yesterday she kept telling me I was too heavy to lie on her arm while she was typing. Oh, now I'm fat, too? Huh? Is that what you are trying to tell me?

I'm not sure if things will look up until Mother's Day. She might get a gift after all. I'm just not sure yet if it will be love and hugs or an agreement not to provoke Meffi that day or if it will be something on the carpet that makes her eyes roll.

For some human Mother's Day please have a look at these posts. I'll add more links as I receive them.

Cat's Wire
Bead Sophisticate
Jewelry Art by Dawn
Jeanne's Jems and Jewels 

Plans for the new year

Wow, it has been a long time, but seriously, guys, I had a LOT on my plate. You wouldn't believe the things that are going on here.

We are very slowly trying to find back to a normal life now. Buster has his freedom back and is doing his best to adjust to the new, slippery floor. Esme is feeling better and still fighting Mom every other day about taking her medication. Greebo has been all the way up on the stairs today and had the same confused look on his face as I did the first time. Unfortunately the picture got all blurry. Meffi is sleeping in her basket on the fridge right now, and I'm just about to settle on the table in a few minutes if the vacuum is already reserved (it's not packed away because there's a big session has been going on over the last few days).

You remember the Jewelry Artisans Community? They are trying to get back into the groove and had another blog ring with the topic "Plans for the new year".
To be honest, I feel the year is pretty used already. It has one or the other scratch. Just like Mom, hehe. Can you believe that earlier this evening she started trimming my claws? We have had a seriously heated discussion about that.

And that brings me to my main plan.
Mom needs to learn respect again. She needs to see that we are the bosses around here, and that I'm Mr Ponder Stibbons, the male in the house. The numero uno honcho. Mr Wonderful. The Chief of Chief and the King of Kings. The Ruler. The Only One. PONDER. In big and bold letters.
I have spoken.

Wanna know what plans the others have got? Check it out!
Cat's Wire (I am missing plans to spoil the felines in this one)
Bead Sophisticate
N Valentine Studio
Jewelry Art by Dawn

Rainy days

Hey hey, long time no see. What's new with you?
Nothing much new around here, the place is still a mess. Next week Buster will have to move temporarily and - don't tell him yet - he will have to be locked up. That's going to be a hard one because he's not used to that anymore. His room will be re-done and we can't have him run around between paint cans and ladders, can we? Even more so because he's the "Bunny of No Fear" and has to stick his nose into everything.
By the way, I didn't share this picture here on the blog yet, did I? My pal and I, we make a great couple.

The gerbils already moved to a new home, and although we were not much interested in them in the old place, it's much more fun watching them now. There hasn't changed much, and still they seem to be more active. I only wonder why Mom keeps telling me "Animal lovers don't knock on the glass". Huh? She must have seen my look because she explained that's what it says in the aquarium of the Stuttgart zoo. Now the gerbils seem to care even a bit which is almost annoying. Shouldn't they run in fear instead of staring us in the eye?

Now let's get to the rainy days, though. It's this month's JAC blog ring theme, and I'm sorry to say that Mom totally forgot it. She isn't good with dates these days, must be the age.
We don't really mind rainy days here, after all we are inside cats (sometimes I think so is Mom on the weekend, she practically has to be pushed out of that door). Then again we all don't really mind water at all. Esme has been known to drink bath water before (with natural oil in it), I have known to jump in the bath tub before, Meffi likes to sleep next to the kitchen sink, and Greebo is probably just too lazy to even care.

Sometimes Mom leaves the window open if the rain comes from the right side and can't get through the window, then we sit on the sill and watch it.
Fall is over, however. We are heading into winter big time, and now we watch snowflakes ... and listen to Mom ranting about snow. Funny, she likes rain, but she hates snow with a vengeance.
Humans, huh?

Want to know what the other JAC people think about rain? Check it out!
N Valentine Studio
Cat's Wire

And if you were good and read all of this, here's a little treat, Esme and I on our rag rugs. Doesn't that look like a perfect solution for a rainy day? ;-)

Bless their little black hearts ...

This is a quote from one of Mom's favorite Hallowee'en stories. She wrote about it in this month's Jewelry Artisans Community blog ring.
Don't expect Hallowe'en items from me. Esme and I ARE Hallowe'en symbols. Can you imagine that day without black cats? Of course you can't.

For years Mom has told me she'd love to dress up as a witch and "wear" me on her shoulder. Right ... she knows she'd stand no chance telling Esme that. My little sister is not a shoulder cat. And I'm not one that would sit there without digging my claws in. I doubt Mom would be very happy about that.

I'm glad she doesn't have any illusions about dressing us up. That would be funny and very ridiculous. Pretty painful for her, too.
Take a look however at what I found on her computer ...

She is so in trouble. She wants demons eyes? That she can have ... the next time she wakes up in the middle of the night and finds me sitting on her chest glaring at her!!

What do the other JAC members have to say about Hallowe'en? Take a look!

Islandgirl's Insights
N Valentine Studio
And of course Mom ... Cat's Wire

And now I want to ask all cat owners, especially those who have black cats at home, something for Hallowe'en. Please don't let your cats roam around outside that night. It's better for them and for your peace of mind as well.

Summer? Fall?

Mom had a crazy idea. Every month her jewelry forum, the Jewelry Artisans Community, has a blog carnival which means a bunch of people are writing about one subject.
This month the subject is the transition from summer to fall and she asked me for my opinion about that.

We are all inside cats which means we mostly experience seasons through the open windows, the scent in the air, the clothes Mom is wearing and we shed our hair on, the fact if the heater is turned on or off.

What's most important however is that Mom likes to put a blanket over her legs when sitting at the computer, but not in summer. I lovingly call that my hammock. I don't like it on her lap without the blanket, she's all bumpy and uncomfortable to lie on, at least when she's working at the computer. The hammock is perfect and I love that it's back now!

I would ask what the other three think about it, but they are all fast asleep - preparing for hibernation already maybe?

Do you want to know what the others have to say about fall?
Cat's Wire (that's Mom, I'll put her first to suck up on her a bit more)
N Valentine Studio
Jewelry Art by Dawn
Violetmoon's Corner