Kitty in the Kitchen: Meet the Buddies

These are my precious pets...

Pepper.

James found this darling pup two summers ago, in an orchard with another chihuahua mix dog. They were so hot and I welcomed them to our small house with water and shade. Pepper was cute and I thought I would have no trouble finding him a loving home, but we thought we would be stuck with this Taco Bell dog with huge ears. Wrong. Thanks to Cragislist I was able to find a chihuahua loving lady from a town nearby who loved this dog and took her home! She sent me updates and pictures of her wearing a pink collar and sleeping in her bed. Awesome. Now what about this other pup? Pepper wiggled his way into our hearts and we caved into keeping him. He is thee most wonderful dog we've ever had. I can hardly stand to remember the times I would be walking him, when he was still temporary, passing someone who commented about how cute he was and responding, "Do you want him?" AHHH! How could I have been so blind? I love him so much and I hope we have him to enjoy for years to come.

first day, tired and hot :(

how did I not hear this happening while in the shower...?

2 years later, where he belongs!

this pup is loved

Misto. The Queenie.

I guess I should've introduced her first, she was here first and all future pets must past the test of accepting her before they can stay. Misto (which is a coffee drink at Starbucks that is 1/2 coffee and 1/2 milk-she looks like it's been spilled on her back) showed up in our yard one day at our old rental, having wandered over from a neighbor's house. James held her until I got home so I could see her and I thought she was just precious. He put her back in the yard she came from and we saw her a few more times after that. One day at church I was talking to her owners and they were complaining about how needy she was and they felt bad for not having enough time for her. I told them how cute I thought she was and they asked me if I wanted her. Indeed I did! A few hours later they showed up at my door step and handed her over. Since then she has made us swoon and laugh countless times and I can't believe her previous owners didn't want her. After she does something exceptionally sweet or funny, I'll comment to James about how they missed out on this darling baby girl. She is very vocal, and will 'talk back' when corrected, loves to be carried on our shoulders and begs for food worse than a dog.

new babe

climbing the ginkos at our new house

ha!

The outside buddies:

Yes, we transferred our alley cats to a new neighborhood when we moved into our first house. We couldn't leave them! We had more, but chose to take the ones we felt were most dependent on us, 3 in all.

Mingus

Mingus is from a litter of kittens that were at James' house before we were married. He is the oldest of the 3 and is so loving!

so sweet!

all grown up @ the new house

Homer

Homer got his name from always being at home. He arrived at our old house one spring with 2 other little ones. We get all of our cats (and any others near by that we can catch) neutered/spayed, when he was just a tiny guy, he broke out of a metal cat trap after we brought him home. Sometimes I think I can still see the bump it left on his little nose. We almost gave up on trying to catch him to bring him here because he would not come near any kind of cage we were trying to coax him into. James eventually got a labrador sized crate and basically scooped him into it. (That's a good story I just cut way short.) We call him a polar bear in the winter because of how furry he gets and even in a new home he can ususally be found lounging around the front porch when everyone else is off exploring.

little guy...

big guy :)

Tony

Ah Tony, I saw him sprinting from our porch after coming home from my birthday dinner in 2009. Teeny little thing, I was obsessed with his whereabouts from then on out. Homer was the one to help welcome him into the gang and he has grown up to be the sweetest cat. Often following us around the yard or across the street to find Misto, hes fun to have around.

so tiny!

i LOVE this picture-ah ha!

Sunny

Last and least. This nerotic cat came with the house. We actually saw her one day when we were looking at the house for the first time. She eventually made her way onto the porch to eat with our other cats, would scratch and bite at them and us. Seriously? Then litterally over night she became so loving. Rubbing up against our legs, leaping up to be pet, purring really loud...? Wierd. James has actually been able to pick her up a few times. She's nuts.