Who There?

March 8, 2010 - Chicky has calmed down - a bit. Is that a dog in sight?

Angry and Upset

March 7, 2010 - Visiting Inge in Friesland. There are dogs there, and Chucky objects to dogs. They are smelly, creepy, and they can bite. He does not want to share space with them. Shortly after this picture was taken, he flees. Up the kitchen cupboards.

Snug and Covered

Chucky loves to lie in the bed - everything covered, except for his head.

Dumb dead mouse

January 12, 2010 - To Chick's delight another mouse walked in today, and a fairly big one, at that. Chucky is left out of the fun: he can look, but that's it. Real mice are for the Chick.

Happy 1st Birthday

December 12, 2009 - Almost their birthday - Sunday December 13th is Chick & Chucky's first birthday. To celebrate this fact, breeder Marlies Koorenneef of cattery Nimble Nymph asked the owners of the litter to send her a picture of her site, so we can see what became of the kitties, one year down the road.
I should have taken these pictures tomorrow, really. But today the sun was shining, and the light really nice, so Best of Brannoc (Chucky) and Booming Briony (Chick) got the shooting today. Happy birthday, children!

Perfect Pets

November 12, 2009 -- Cats are for playing and carrying around. Chick & Chucky are resigned. They turn out to be very child-friendly. They don't scratch or bite. At least not on purpose - if Niece does get scratched it's not a bad one, and accidental. If they get tired, they climb up the climbing pole. And then Niece seduces them into coming down with a piece of rope. And they play. And then she carries them around.
These cats are perfect.

Company

November 11, 2009 -- After the pancakes and marshmallows she settles on the couch with the remote control to watch the skating championships. The cats are behaving impeccably, and so does Niece. She is sleeping over at my place for the first time.

Lion

November 3, 2009 - Sometimes he's a pet, or an adolescent, or a baby, or a hunter, or a pest, or a sweetie.
Sometimes it's like having a lion in bed. With razor-sharp nails and teeth and an exuberant fur. The Chuck Mini Lion.

Milestone

September 29, 2009 -- Back in Amsterdam after a business trip, picking up the kitties from their temporary address. We're home two minutes, and Chick enters the room, growling, a string hanging from her jaws: a tail. She just caught her first mouse!
Her idea is to chase it when it moves, and slobber on it till the mouse is soaked. But this mouse I took outside and let it go. What it's relatives will do (a mouse never lives alone...) I don't know. I hope they will emigrate.

Balcony

August 18, 2009 -- The balcony needed some new green - nearly all of my balcony plants have been effectively killed by Chick and Chucky. First they flattened the violets, and after they'd finished them off, they used the planters as toilets.

No matter how clean their own litter box, they seem to prefer black earth. No matter the stench rising from the planters, they kept peeing and pooping in the miniature wastelands they had created themselves.

So went to the garden center and returned with 7 sizable pots. To prefer my new plants from being mugged, I cut out pieces chicken wire to protect the earth with.

Of course C&C loved the job, and used the time they had to sit in the planters, check the quality of the new earth and to supervise progress in general, preferably standing on my back. They did a good job, because the balcony looks very good right now.

The First Six Months

C&C - de eerste vier maanden. Muziek: Kay Starr "Side by Side"

Waste-Paper Basket Diving

June 29, 2009 -- Chicks favorite game is called Get that paper wad!. I crumble a piece of paper and throw it away, she brings it back to me (like this). I throw it away again, she retrieves it again, etc.
Now Chick likes Get that paper wad so much, that she is retrieving paper wads from the waste-paper basket, thus creating a new ritual; when I get home, I have to put my three paper baskets upright, en pick up all debris on the floor and put it in the trash can.
And this is Chicky's latest favorite game: Waste-paper basket diving. Chucky has decided it's not for him. He is too big, for one, and he prefers gnawing cardboard boxes anyway.

Ne Me Quitte Pas

June 20, 2009 - Is that cat still alive? Someone who saw this picture asked me. Yes she is! Chick is just totally relaxed on nephew Roel's left shoulder. You can't see it, but she is licking her own front paw, and Roel's neck with a loving rasp.

Princess on the Pea

June 20, 2009 -- Yes, she went through surgery this week. And yes, she has to wear a romper suit. She is to be pitied. But to use two folded blankets on your wheelchair - what a drama queen.

My Man

June 18, 2009 - Chick removed the plaster last night. When she started gnawing the stitches as if they were Chucky's whiskers, it clearly was time to Act.

Both Chick and Chucky were in total denial that neutering had just happened. They ran through the house, jumped on each other from ambushes and rolled frolicking on the floor, belly to belly, outrageously kicking each other with their hind legs. Not at all good for a fresh wound in the belly.

I consulted the vet - she suggested a small romper suit, and today I picked it up. It's XXS (eXtra, eXtra Small), red with a black trimming. 'Do you have them in turquoise?' I inquired, but they hadn't. I put Chick in her romper suit. She was appalled.

I went shopping, and when I returned home an hour later, they were lying on the couch. Like this. Such a sweet couple.

Jee, What Happened Down There?

June 17, 2009 -- The best flirty thing I could have said to the very charming vet - 'well, doctor, I'll put my pussy in your expert hands' - fortunately did not occur to me until after I had left the veterinary practice. Anyway, the vet has done a great job and Chick and Chucky are home now. Incapable of creating offspring, ever.
The removal of Chuck's balls was a piece of cake, and he wasn't bothered by it - as soon as he got home, Chuck jumped on the window sill and consumed a big fat black fly.
Chicky had a harder time. For a few hours she groggily rested on my lap. But an hour ago she started to inspect her belly (iodine, plaster). Fifteen minutes later she purred for a while. Five minutes later she climbed the climbing pole - bad idea, I think, with a fresh would in your belly.

Attempted Formal Portrait

June 13, 2009 -- Today Chick and Chucky together are one year old. They were born on the 13th of December, and on the occasion of their first half-birthday, the breeder asked for a portrait of the members of their litter (Chick and Chucky have four brothers and sisters in other parts of the country), so she can see how they are doing.
I probably did not discipline Chick and Chucky enough, because they didn't like the idea of a formal portrait. On the contrary, they kept monkeying about. All I could do was waiting for a photo opportunity of some sort.

Sharing

May 31, 2009 -- Chucky loves Britta and does not object to drinking from the same tankard. As he doesn't object to sharing the water in his glass next to my bed with me.
Britta is less enthusiastic. The outcome of a shared bowl is usually that Britta steps aside and the cats take over completely.

Ironing

May 26, 2009 - Party time! The iron moves to and fro, the electric cord dangles and if you pull the hanging down sleeves, you can bring down the whole shirt. Ironing is fun. And the ironing board offers a refreshing new view on the room. Ironing, in short, is fun! The Chief should do it more often.

Unilateral Love at Second Sight

It wasn't love at first sight, on the contrary. The first tim Chucky met Britta, he was shocked.
But this week Chucky decided he loves Britta. If Britta walks to the kitchen Chucky throws himself on his back in front of her, purring. Britta is almost blind, so she'll run right into him - to the dogs annoyance. When Britta sleeps on the bed, Chucky snuggles next to him, until Britta finds it too much and will move a feet or so away. It doesn't discourage Chucky. He simply promotes Britta to his pillow.

Relaxation

TGIF - The perfect ending to a perfect week.

Full Couch

16 May - Chick and Chucky are 5 months old and suddenly they have Grown. Enormously. Two weeks ago they were little. Since then and now, they have transformed into two couch-filling fourleggers, leaving hardly any room for the Chief.