Salamander
Fire Walking

Went to the Younger Sister's last night (by invitation). Elder Sister was there too ... and she's started smoking again. That's a big disappointment, but it's ultimately up to her to quit. She went outside to smoke, which I appreciated. Between the maple trees opening this weekend, the last of the bronchitis, and my asthma which has been persistently bad all winter, I was glad not to have to take in the second-hand smoke as well. We may live only ten minutes apart from each other, but this was the first I'd seen of the Sisters since Christmas. In fact, they had Christmas presents for the Warrior Princess, Clueless Wonder and ACfH. It was a good evening, as far as these evening tend to go. We discussed getting a marker for Mom's grave, the vacation that we're all supposed to be taking together (which won't happen this year either) and stuff. Elder sister did not get drunk and younger sister only got pouty once, so I consider the evening a success.

Clueless Wonder is now officially off his diet. I have him part of a can of moist cat food in celebration, and he was absolutely beside himself. So was the Warrior Princess, who adores food-from-a-can more than anything else in this Cativerse.

Clueless Wonder digging into his dinner last night.

Warrior Princess came from the far side of the apartment to check things out. Usually she leaves CW alone at dinner time if I'm around, but this smell was too much to ignore.

"Yes, We're definitely not interested." (For some reason, I always imagine WP thinking of herself in terms of the Royal We.) "We're definitely not interested. We're going to stroll right by into the kitchen to prove we're not interested."

"Then again ... it couldn't hurt to take a peek."

"Hmmmm ... exactly how close ...

...can we manage to sneak in here ...

... before we're noticed?"

"OK, about that close." (After being sprintzed with the water bottle for the THIRD time.)

Clueless and WP could have cared less about their new toys. ACfH, however, was enthralled. She even selected the toy that was specifically given to her for preferential affections.

Somehow, she got the springy-tail of the new toy wrapped around the bench leg. This made it even more fun that it had been before.

Of course, when I arose this morning, evidence proved that she had returned affections to the tried and true furry mice. The other stuff in the water is a little catnip, which I had given Clueless last night as dessert. Let's face it, coming off an almost twenty-month diet is cause for celebration.

Finally, a quick quiz. How many cat toys can you find in this picture? (To answer this correctly, you must think like a cat. Bonus points given for creativity. Answers to be provided at a later date.