Wednesday, August 31, 2016

This blog is going to the dogs, Day 31

Cauliflower had already been named by the whitewater raft guides when my daughter rescued her and her tumble of newborn kittens (which were all later adopted, thank you) from the wilds of the NC mountains. Due to unforeseen allergies, she now belongs to me and has become better known as The White Ninja, given that she will race up the back stairs and then, scant moments later, calmly emerge from inside one of the kitchen cabinets.

Here she is trying to perfect her teleportation skills on a poor unsuspecting squirrel:



Cauliflower



( Since when you said "one" picture, I know you meant one of each family pet . . .)

This is my daughter's dog, Jenny, named after Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park, WY. Like all black lab puppies, she is just one happy thought away from achieving levitation:
 



Jenny


 And this is my son's golden retriever puppy, Sawyer, who is seen here in a rare still moment, practicing her formidable invisibility skills:

 
 I just realized, in addition to their common trait of possessing super-powers, we seem to have a theme going on here of monochrome family pets. Hmmm.

48 comments:

Lisa Bodenheim said...

Awwwww.... puppies and a ninja cat. What is there to not like about these critters. Love their superpowers!

It's been a great month to see everyone's pets and hear their stories. I've really enjoyed it.

But I'm also glad that the Shark will be back with her bites of wisdom tomorrow. You are coming back, right? You miss us wee woodland critters too, right?

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

The White Ninja was fantastic on her own, but those puppies just killed me. I need to go back to bed.

Monochrome means it's easier to match collars and other accessories ^^ For example, I think Elka looks good in red.

MA Hudson said...

What an awesome finale - coolio kitty and adorable puppies!!! Love it.

JulieWeathers said...

What a great way to wrap up the month. Puppies!

I love the ninja cat. It's been so much fun getting to know everyone's pets. I think I've missed a few. I need to cycle back through and check.

Thanks to Janet for giving us this opportunity.

E.M. Goldsmith said...

Puppies! And what a cool picture of the kitty- love the reflection in the glass. What a great trio!

I really have loved seeing all the Reef critters, but I am excited for the return of our mighty queen.

Lennon Faris said...

The monochrome theme could help with controlling visible hair in the house. Keep Ninja on white tile (kitchen?), Jenny on a black rug (I'm sure she'd stay), and Sawyer right where he is.

Steve Forti said...

Squirrels are devious critters. Careful there, kitty. (A squirrel actually tried to repeatedly attack me earlier this year. Apparently, it was a mother who lost its baby and thought I took it. Was funny at first, but shocking at how unafraid it was of me, and how aggressive it got. Plus the creepy stares through the door.)

Anyway, where do I file formal complaints for lack of bird pictures? Squaaaaawk!

I can't believe tomorrow is September. Summer's over. Boo. But does that mean the shark is back?

Donnaeve said...

This was the perfect ending to the Pet Month, and I love the comments included with each one!

Cauliflower is a great name for a white cat! More original than Cottonball, or just Cotton. And what a capture with her on one side of the window and the squirrel on the other - who's likely petrified. And adorable Jenny - who couldn't love her??? And then, look at little Sawyer boy. He's lying there resting, sure, but looks like he's juuuuust about to jump up.

I thought the Shark might extend her break through Labor Day because coming back to work (not that we're work - no way) when everyone else is bailing out for a nice long weekend isn't any fun!

S.P. Bowers said...

My cats are not talented in the ninja ways. I'm very jealous now and am considering ninja school for them.

E.M. Goldsmith said...

I am expecting our sharkly eminence to resume next Tuesday as well- due to Holiday weekend which for me is write my way into oblivion time. Drat day job in the way of everything -well, except eating, paying bills and having shelter stuff

Susan said...

Oh. My. God.

I was cracking up at The White Ninja (who is a beautiful cat, BTW), but then I scrolled down and gasped at that beautiful, inquisitive puppy face! Jenny is beyond precious!

And then there was more! Sawyer! Which is a name I've never heard for a dog but now I'm in love with. Nothing brightens my day like puppy pictures. Nothing.

Thanks for opening up your blog home and sharing these furry friends, Janet. It's nice to know we have so many kind hearts in the reef.

Colin Smith said...

Oh, what a beautiful white cat! Awwww!!! Cauliflower--great name! :) You know, I can't remember the last time I saw a white cat, at least not one totally white, with no other markings.

Sam, the Un-Ninja Cat (seriously, he doesn't do stealth), has discovered frogs. This time of year, small frogs will climb on the outside of the windows and Sam likes to watch them from the inside, I'm sure he's dreaming about being able to jump up and snatch them. This is his private feline fantasy, of course. We all know that if he actually tried to do this, he would scramble up to the window ledge, throw himself in a vaguely upward direction, miss the frog completely, and, because cat instincts will eventually kick in, land with a thud on his feet. The frog, of course, would have long since hopped away. :)

Colin Smith said...

My prediction for Janet's return? A Labor Day Writing Contest. What better way for our dear QOTKU to enjoy the long weekend than to read our flash fiction? Well, okay, there are a few books out there she would probably enjoy. And she might like hanging out with friends (Reacher and Daniels, for two). So, there might be some better ways. But it would be fun for her, I'm sure! :)

E.M. Goldsmith said...

Colin, you sure must love spending time on Carkoon. The ninja cat will be happy to teleport you at your earliest convenience.

I wonder if this means Cauliflower will join kale and Lima beans as major staples in Carkoon?

Jen said...

I loved seeing these pics. I let out an audible "Awww" when I saw Jenny. What a cutie! :-)

Joseph S. said...

All great pets. It must be fun living in that home.

Can’t decide which I like best: Cauliflower ears, Jenny tail, or Sawyer snout.

It’s a shock coming to grips with the dog (and cat and horse) days of summer coming to a close.

Janet Reid said...

Tomorrow.
Not Tuesday.
I miss you too much to dawdle about any further.

Unknown said...

Cauliflower (aka the white ninja), Jenny and Sawyer are all adorable. We, too, ascribe super-powers to some of our pets -- and I can't help envisioning your three with little red capes trailing down their backs.

Barbara Etlin said...

All three are cuties! If I had a cat, I'd want a ninja like Cauliflower. Lucky you to have monochrome puppies. Makes it easier to sort pet hair for making wool yarn. (I actually know someone who does that.)

My pet didn't make it into the roundup. Why does August have only 31 days? If anyone is curious, I did a blog post about Echo, my almost 15-year-old Sheltie, who died in February.

http://owlsquill.blogspot.ca/2016/02/remembering-echo.html

Becky Mushko said...

"Cauliflower" has to be the greatest white cat name I've heard in a while. Loved seeing all the pets this month!

Colin Smith said...

Here's Barbara's post about Echo:

http://owlsquill.blogspot.ca/2016/02/remembering-echo.html

Janet: So the Writing Contest will be tomorrow? ;)

Claire Bobrow said...

I love the puppies, but Cauliflower and the squirrel are epic. Great comments from the poster, too - they really made me laugh. It's hard to beat ninjas and teleportation.

The Month of Pets has been fabulous!

Craig F said...

I love stories of things wandering out of the woods and into someone's life. May it is because I have a couple of those too.

Sporting dog puppies. I have a particular fondness to sporting dogs. I am enamored with them as puppies and adults.

There is something particularly endearing about them as teenagers though. Right when they get tall enough for their 20 pound tails to sweep everything off of a coffee table without missing a beat.

Be sure to have a case of gigantic chew toys available at that time. With two in the house they might leave you homeless when they teeth is you aren't prepared.

Beautiful animals by the way.

Off topic(kind of): Yes a flash fiction contest would be nice about now. Rain awakened me and it hasn't even slowed much since. It doesn't look like it will until Friday afternoon unless TD9 gets a move on.

Lucie Witt said...

I've been lurking most this month but have just loved seeing all your babies. Today is no exception.

I am pretty excited for tomorrow, though.

Steve Forti said...

@Colin: Really pushing for that return ticket, eh? (Although I'm rooting for it, too!)

Anyone else having a hard time today with their oldest kid going off to their first day of kindergarten?

Lucie Witt said...

Steve,
Not quite like starting kindergarten, but I shed some tears last week when our baby started first grade and our oldest started senior year. Hang in there!

Ly Kesse said...

Puppies and kittens. How cool!

Dena Pawling said...


Steve - my youngest starts her senior year of high school next week. Yes I'm having a hard time of it.

If there is a flash contest this weekend, I'll have to pass. I'll be off the grid for the weekend. Darn.

When I was young, we had a white cat named Muffin. She was rather large, and she liked stalking birds. She would hide her face behind a leaf, and think that because she couldn't see the bird, the bird obviously couldn't see her large white body and twitching tail. LOL. I wonder what she thought about the fact that she could never catch anything??!

Janet I hope you enjoyed your month off. I lurked most of this month, enjoying the pics. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year tho. Being from SoCal "where the fires and the antelope play", my favorite time of year is November thru March.



Claire Bobrow said...

Dena: our youngest started his senior year last week. Hard to wrap my head around that. And being from NorCal, I'm in total agreement with your favorite time of year. Mine, too.

Steve: best wishes to you and your kindergartner. It's a sweet time.

Lennon Faris said...

Woo-hoo! Can't wait till tomorrow. I had hoped but didn't want to assume.

Steve - no kindergarten yet, but mine are mad they can't ALL three fit on my lap anymore. Kids these days. Always growing up!

Steve Forti said...

Thanks for the comments everyone. Mostly it's making me feel old that she's grown up so much. But my wife is a wreck. Give it a few days, the youngest will be off to preschool, and my wife will realize that's a few hours of nap time or kids-free errand running and celebrate.

@Lennon - yeah, my two fight if they can't both get comfortable on my lap. I can't imagine three. Oy.

Catherine Vignolini said...

A grand finale!
Two puppies, a cat and a bonus squirrel.
I'm in cute overload...

Joseph S. said...

This seems the last day I can ask this question, so here goes.

How do people with cats travel? I can leave Brigada (and before her Poinciana) alone in the house for a week or less. A friend too good to be true in the past has stopped by to feed her every other day (Now that she’s taken early retirement it would be out of her way, but I hope she continues being the Good Samaritan).

But what about longer trips? - A three or four week research trip or vacation to a foreign country, or a month long grand tour of the U.S., for example, or a book tour (to tie it in to this blog).

For some reason, leaving Brigada in a kennel doesn’t fit well with me. I’d feel uncomfortable asking friends to keep her for a month (and most of them have dogs anyway)

Any suggestions?

BJ Muntain said...

Janet: Awww. We obviously miss you, too. But having a pet month was a genius idea! Looking forward to 'seeing' you tomorrow. :)

But Cauliflower! Jenny! And Sawyer! Such sweet little ones!

You've gotta watch them squirrels. My (then 13-year-old) niece used to think they were cute, until I took her to spend a few days camping. The squirrels at the lake were tame as anything, and came right up to her for nuts and sunflower seeds. She was thrilled! Then she stopped feeding them, and they kept coming. One jumped right up beside her on the picnic table. It freaked her out. She now says they're evil.

Joseph: There are some pretty cushy cat kennels out there, if you look (some are called 'cat hotels'). Some allow the cats to mingle. Some give the cats extra loving through the day. Some give the cats windows to watch interesting things and sleep in sunbeams. You might find one that will work for you and your Brigada. Beyond that, friends and relatives may be your only choice.

BJ Muntain said...

Joseph: (continued) Or a cat sitter. If you're going away for a month and might like someone to stay in your place while you're gone, a house-and-cat-sitter might work. Look around, talk to cat-owning friends, get references. You can usually find some of these in the local newspaper ads and ad-sites - or, as I said, from cat-owning friends. Even dog-owning friends, as pet-sitters will often pet-sit both dogs and cats.

Anonymous said...

Wow, it's surprisingly surreal to open up Janet's blog and see my words and pics in the actual post. More so even than seeing my words in an occasional subhead. Thanks for the kind comments, everyone.

All three of these critters do not live with me, just Cauliflower. Although Cauliflower and Jenny did live together for a few years, in New Orleans, and were best friends. But the allergies got so bad that when my daughter and her husband moved to Boston, The White Ninja came to live with me. Jenny is now four and a half years old and is the sweetest, most well-behaved dog ever. Loves to swim in Jamaica Pond and go for long walks, and even longer hikes in the White Mountains, and loves the snow.

Sawyer is now about eight months old and also loves to swim. She lives with my son and his wife here in town, and is decidedly not one of Cauliflower's BFFs. They met for the first time earlier this summer -- my son wanted to wait until the dog was bigger than the cat -- and it did not go well. It was the only time any of us had seen the usually mellow White Ninja with all her hair standing straight up, back arched high, walking sideways like a cartoon cat. We'll try again once Sawyer is prepared to be a bit more, ahem, dignified.

Thanks for hosting my family's pets, Janet! This month has been great fun, but I'm looking forward to your return as well. Hope you're feeling rested and refreshed and ready to chomp away.


Dena Pawling said...


Joseph - my neighbor takes his family camping for weeks at a time, and I go over once per day and feed his cat and clean its litter box. Do you have neighborly neighbors? Or local pet sitters, to come in daily or even overnight? If you live near NYC maybe Janet would like another loaner cat =)

BJ Muntain said...

KD: Your critters are wonderful. Whenever you see them next, give them all hugs from me. :)

angie Brooksby-Arcangioli said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Megan V said...

Puppies! YEY!

Thanks for sharing al three of these critters KD.


Joseph I can nly chime in and say what others have said. Don't be afraid to hire someone if you can and if you get good references. There are people out there who do it for a living (there are also particularly hungry college students/grad students who do this sort of thing all the time. I myself am a former nanny/house sitter/pet sitter)

Anonymous said...

BJ, The White Ninja is currently sitting on my lap, so a hug from you was easily accomplished. :)

Joseph, our dogs had always been fine with the vet, but the cats . . . not so much. Over the years, we've relied on various teenaged kids from the neighbourhood to come in daily to feed them. It's best to let the parents know about the arrangement ahead of time, too. On a couple occasions, we left both a dog and cat at home and had an adult pet/house sitter come stay the entire time we were gone. This was a bit more expensive, but well worth the peace of mind and lack of cat-trauma. Check with your vet or even local pet store for references.

Donnaeve said...

Boy, Joe Snoe, that would be a real dilemma for me - and not for the length of time you're talking about either - I'm talking more than a day. Little Dog has become...what's the word. One owner dog for one thing. He "tolerates" Blaine - which I hate b/c Blaine is a HUGE dog lover with infinite patience. LD snapped at him in the past.

He's also a finicky eater, and by that, I mean he won't eat if I don't "suggest" he might be hungry? Are you hungry? And even then, it's hit or miss. I have struggled with this food thing for years. I've read everything about getting dogs to eat. Ha. He won't eat out of a bowl. He won't eat more than one piece of food at a time (acts puzzled and backs away). I could go on and on. And yes, I've left food, (i.e. the concept, he'll eat it if he gets hungry enough) and what happened? Food sat there all day - and he got sick.

So. That ought to make you feel GREAT, Joe! Your problem's easier to solve! (IMO) :)

AJ Blythe said...

What a wonderful way to end pet month - a triple treat! It's been fun seeing/reading about everyone's pets.

It's already the first day of September here, which for us is the first day of spring! I'm *so* very happy winter is over, although I'm sure we'll still feel it for a while longer. But the cherry trees are blooming and my apple and plum trees are just starting to blossom. The birds are collecting twigs and (as Sam has already said) the magpies are dive bombing.

french sojourn said...


Colin; thanks for linking Barbara's blog. Worth a visit.

Joseph Snoe: I watch a friends two cats each time he travels to England...three weeks this trip. Do you have family in the area? Otherwise best friend are the way to go. Kennels are definitely not the way to go, as your heart will confirm. Wish I lived close by as the little ones really need a daily visit for food and water. Can you post at the local veterinarians office, they may offer a solution. Best of luck with the little dears.

Cheers Hank

CynthiaMc said...

Cute!

AJ Blythe said...

Joe, in Australia we have pet sitters (like Pet Home Stay) who will either a) stay in your house, b) stop in daily or c) take your pet into their house. Are any of these an option (do you have these in the US)?

When our cat, Ducati, was in her older years and couldn't travel, we spoke with our local vets and organised for a vet nurse to pop in daily to our house.

What about finding a teenaged babysitter (via word of mouth recommendation)? If someone trusts them with their kids then you should be able to trust them with your pet. And I'm sure if they are willing to babysit then they would be happy to stop in and care for your fur-child.

Good luck finding a solution.

Her Grace, Heidi, the Duchess of Kneale said...

You know, its already tomorrow in Australia.

french sojourn said...


A.J. Blythe:
I wonder if you cat, "Ducati" (love the name..wonder if they cost more for vet visit's?) would have liked my cat "Norton".