Adventures in the Night

Last night while watching a show in bed, we heard the front porch door slam. After convincing Beau Bear that it was just the wind, we directed our attention back to the movie and though nothing of it.

We should have known better.

Our front door doesn't always latch when you pull it closed, so if you don't pull hard, it can be opened again without turning the handle. The cats are clever creatures, and always find a way to do exactly what I don't want them to...so despite the fact that I checked the door and locked it before I went to bed last night, they knew I didn't check very closely and managed to pull the door open as soon as we were settled in bed....

And then they ventured out into the snow...

We usually keep our house pretty cold to save on heating costs and just put a space heater in our bedroom, so of course we didn't notice it being any colder during the night. We could have brought the temperature up to about 85 for a week for the amount it probably cost to heat the outdoors for one night! So much for trying to keep the energy bill down...

This isn't the first time it's happened, either. They escaped one or two times during the summer, but gave themselves away before we even noticed the open door...they were absolutely filthy!

Amazingly enough, they are always back by morning, as if they really think they are sly enough to keep it a secret. If they would just close the door behind them, I would likely never notice and never care (as long as they came back in one piece!)

At least in the summer time, the only problem is a pretty serious lack of security. But in middle of winter, not only could any stranger walk in off the street in the dead of night while we are fast asleep, but it is also below freezing and snowing outside!

Why must they torture me so?

Cat vs. Internet

My husband just sent me this extremely funny comic from "The Oatmeal"
This is exactly what every one of my cats do when we are on the computer!
Check it out here :)

Aaaaand, we're back...

Oh! How time flies...It has been almost a month since my last post! I just can't seem to find the time for blogging, lately, but the Crispies are urging me to continue. So here is a quick look at some things you may have missed over the last couple of weeks........

The Crispies got a new catnip pillow, which they promptly tore to pieces. I stuffed it all back in and re-enforced the stitching :)

Numbers' 2 and 3 have still been cuddling...it is so strange to see them together that I ALWAYS take a picture!

My darling pets were without me a lot last week...I am sure they were devastated.

We put plastic on some windows to help insulate. It was shredded within the first hour.

Bella had and "accident" in a waste basket. I thought she was cute curling up in it at first (hence the picture)..but she is habitually naughty.

The cats double as fashionable outer-wear in the winter. Here, we see my handsome husband modeling the new line of fur scarves. They are all the rage this season.

I pulled this out of Brisa's forehead. Yes, it is an entire claw.

It belonged to Number 2...he didn't even try to hide the evidence of a fight. The large scratch on his nose gave him away immediately.

I tried throwing away an old nasty toy of Beau Bear's. He never, EVER used to touch it..but he still dug it out of the trash, and now constantly tries to convince me that he loves it. 

And, of course, not a week passes when the demon cats don't break something.  This week, Bella beheaded Saint Joseph. Truly evil.

Do cats really get STUCK in trees?

Cat trapped for days pulled from tree; feline celebrates rescue by bolting up another tree

Published: Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 3:10 PM     Updated: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 6:41 AM

Katie Rausch | Jackson Citizen Patriot

Katie Rausch | Jackson Citizen Patriot

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17 Comments 

 

"An orange tabby stuck in a tree for five days was rescued Wednesday at Loomis Park in Jackson — and celebrated its rescue by bolting up another tree.
Adam Brooker, a maintenance worker at Loomis Park, noticed the cat climb a 60-foot-tall tree at the park Friday. It had been hiding near a trash container behind the Charles A. Boos Recreation Center.

The cat was startled by the trash being emptied Friday.
“It hit off (the Dumpster) and went right up the tree,” Brooker said.
Figuring the tabby would find its own way down the tree, Brooker let it be. He noticed the cat in the same tree Tuesday and reported it to Tom Steiger, the superintendent of Cemetery and Forestry for Jackson.

Steiger called Cameron Smith, president of Johnny’s Tree Service, and Smith volunteered his time and the use of his company’s bucket truck to help retrieve the frightened cat.
It took about an hour for Smith to coax the cat toward the bucket with food before Smith was able to nab the feline about 11 a.m. The cat struggled and attempted to flee the bucket as Smith headed for the ground. He held the cat in the bucket most of the way before it managed to escape and head for the nearest tree.
The orange tabby wasted no time in scurrying up a short distance. Steiger said later Wednesday afternoon the cat remained in the second tree."


Crispies would LOVE to climb trees....but I doubt they would actually get stuck. I've never actually seen a cat get stuck...they just climb down! 

How To Wrap A Cat For Christmas

A must see...

Today, I think I will just send you over to my husband's blog...he recently did a great post about my darling cats, and it definitely deserves to be featured on "A Tale of Two Crispies" :)
Just click here to see his blog!

And here is a perfectly Crisp picture for your amusement....

Movie night

Last night, we watched (well, fast forwarded through...) what I believe to have been the most boring movie ever made:

"Visually Spectacular!"  Ha! Really... it was about these two guys who went on hiking trail (through the desert, apparently) and attempted a shortcut. Believe it or not...they got lost! Imagine that...
So the whole movie was just dozens of long scenes of these two guys walking...no music, no talking...just walking. We kept thinking it would get better...but I'm pretty sure it got worse...and it was two hours long! It was written and directed by the two (only) guys that acted in the movie (along with some other real director). So basically, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck were the writers, directors, and only actors in the whole movie. Lame..

Anyway...you are probably wondering what this has to do with the Crispies. Well, as it turns out, cats love boring movies! Brisa was glued to the screen for the first hour of the show....

And yes, her eyes were wide open....I checked.
Perhaps she liked all those long shots of desert scenery with no sound but crackly footsteps.

About halfway through, we started fast forwarding. Even in FF, the movie was still outrageously long and boring.
I guess Brisa didn't find the movie as intriguing in FF, because shortly after it began moving faster, she fell asleep....

She didn't miss much...it ended in the same way it began: long and terrible. It didn't even make much sense (but I won't tell you what happens, just in case you ever feel in the mood for a REALLY boring movie).

It's Crispy, see...

 It's been very cold here, lately. I usually have very little motivation to do anything but bundle up in bed...but on the bright side, these cold days are the best times for cuddling! Here is just one more reason why I LOVE the Crispies....

They love to cuddle!

Precious darlings :)

You can hardly tell where one cat ends, and the other begins!

Love this!

  

Silly Slumbers

Wow! I haven't blogged in a few weeks! The Crispies have been busy giving me lots of material lately, so I think they are trying to tell me to get on with it...

I will start with this:

 

The last couple of nights, I have been looking at sleeping arrangements of all my furry friends. This is where Beau Bear would sleep if he were allowed to choose...unfortunately, we don't have room in our bed to sleep comfortably with a squirmy 100 pound dog. We usually let him join us for a movie before bedtime, and sometimes in the mornings before we get up. He is really great at cuddling! 

When he is not on our bed, he sleeps next to it. He has his own dog bed, but....

 

Bella really likes it.... 

So Beau has to sleep on the floor. He doesn't seem to mind. 

Such a gentleman! 

As for Brisa....I found her sleeping UNDER the bed. 

She never ceases to surprise me with her weirdness.

I don't know why she likes it under there...maybe she actually likes her own smell (and boy, does she stink) ....because the bed skirt encloses her in it. Eww. Again...weird.

I don't know where Number 2 has been sleeping...sometimes he sleeps on me, until Number 3 comes along and bullies everyone else off the bed.. She always sleeps right next to me (and takes up more space than you could imagine!) The two of them aren't really into companionship with other animals...

Lately, Numbers 2 and 3 have been huddling together, which I assume must be because of the cold since this is definitely NOT normal behavior for them....

 

It's really cute though!! 

Why do I bother?

Today, I am not on speaking terms with the Crispies....I almost regret not leaving them outside last night when they escaped!

Yesterday, Kyle brought me these flowers (isn't he wonderful?!) .....

I had intended to move them to the kitchen counter for the night, knowing they might not be safe, but forgot before we went to bed. So when I wake up this morning, the demon cats (most likely just Bella) had my beautiful flowers spread throughout the room! The vase was tipped over, not spilling any water, thanks to the bowl, and the roses were broken off the stems.I ended up taping the roses back to their stems...I just couldn't bear to throw them away when he just got them for me last night! They are missing a few petals, and the ones remaining are all chewed up, but they still look pretty good...

Not only did she destroy these flowers, but she also got to my wedding bouquet! (I know that one was Bella because she is the only one that can get to the top of the china cabinet...) It has been sitting up there for over a year now, so the flowers are very dry and crumble easily. That must have made it more enjoyable to tear apart:

There isn't much left of it now...
Perhaps it was unreasonable of me to think that it would be safe on top of a six foot china cabinet.

Apparently I still have not accepted the fact that I just cannot put anything nice where the Crispies can reach it (which is just about everywhere). Amazing that it still upsets me so much!

Bratty cats.

Furry Friendships

Now here is something I just MUST share...it's too darn cute not to!
My dad and stepmom got a new kitten a couple weeks ago (whom I have yet to meet).

This is him:

Cute, right?

They also have a lovely black lab named shadow. She is about 5 years old, pretty overweight, and just like another one of their children! She is really a great dog, but we wondered how she would like having a new "little brother." (Especially since my dad spent years teaching her to "get the kitty!")

Turns out, they get along just fine.....

Isn't that just adorable?!?! I love it :)
Little Harley even gets to go camping with them on the weekends! How many cats get to do such exciting things?!
And now Shadow has someone to keep her company while she lounges around in the camper all day!

Things like this always make my day :)

I wonder what it would take to get a Crispy to curl up next to Beau Bear.....

Results (#2)

I was a little disappointed with the results of this weeks poll....the Crispies did nor fare as well as I had hoped!

The favorite furballs are as follows:

• 4 votes for Beau Bear
• 3 votes for Bella
• 1 vote for #2 
• 1 vote for #3
• 0 votes for Brisa

My poor Brisa! Not a single vote. Even #3 got 1 vote..and she is the most ornery cat I know!
Beau Bear did very well in this poll, and seems to be the crowd favorite (even though this blog IS about Crispies!)

At any rate...I am glad that the new dog has received high approval ratings.

Crispies love Clowns

Last month, Bella found this little clown doll in a box in the spare bedroom...she carried it around with her for days! I spent a lot of time redressing the thing, since she had pieces of it spread throughout the house...it lost its hat and pants a lot. I've never seen a cat become so attached to silly things like that. She is picky about it, too...she wont play with just anything. She dug to the bottom of a large box to find this silly old doll and refused to share it with anyone.She kept it near her at all times...

Bella went through this stage where she only slept on the floor between the bathtub and the toilet. She was there every time I walked in, no matter what time of night. So imagine the surprise I got when I walked in expecting to see a sleepy eyed Bella staring up at me, and instead, there was only this:

Call me crazy...but it was a little creepy.

As for Bella...she came back in, eventually....then it looked like this:

 

Silly Pep...

I eventually got sick of seeing the thing all over the house, so I took it...

I'm sure she will find something new to annoy me with soon, anyway.

The results are in!

Here are the results of last weeks poll:

9 people voted, there were 14 votes all together (since you could choose more than one)

What is the best way to deal with poorly behaved cats?

-6 people said "Trade them in for a dog"
-3 people said "Lock them outside"
-2 people said "Sell them"
-2 people said "Shower them with Affection"
-1 person said "Beat them"

So the most popular action would be to trade them in...well, I didn't trade them but I did add a dog! It seems to be going well so far....
Those of you that voted "Lock them out" have got it right... I locked Bella out on the front porch in the cold a couple times when I got sick of her peeing on my things. Apparently the porch was enough...she stopped.
Surprisingly, showering them with affection (my personal favorite technique) did not come in last place, as I expected! Most people seem to think it doesn't work...curious. Apparently it is slightly better to hug them than to beat them. Does that rule go for children, as well?

Adventures with Beau

Here are some pictures from this past weekend...it was Halloween at the campground, and Beau Bear had a great time!

Here he is in his costume...He even rolled in the dirt and picked up that "5 o'clock shadow" look!

My Dad always does a pretty elaborate set-up for Halloween...it involves a lot of blood, mostly. Once again, he took first place in the campsite decorating contest this weekend.
If we are lucky, we might even be able to book him for Halloween...we could be the coolest house on the block :D (Plus, we could stay home with the Crispies!)