Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Dog and Deer

We have a fun video for you today. Buddy, a Lab and a young deer named Theen playing together in a yard.   Theen was bottle fed and raised with Buddy and several cats.He now wanders freely with other deer and returns for cat food and to play with Buddy.



If the video doesn't play for you, you can watch it here.

We don't know what to do about this new template since it is causing a problem with IE browsers, not just for our readers but for all who have installed it. Jan is fed up with it but is afraid to try to put in one of the old blogger templates now, so we're kind of in limbo. 

Monday, March 29, 2010

Humane Watchdog

Hi, it's my turn to post today. I'm Percy, the typist, the accused treat thief, the ... Well, let's just say, I'm the feline version of Buddy -- he's the first dog to get the what-did-you-do-now look from Jan and all the siblings. But I'm innocent of all charges.  Except the ones I'm guilty of.


I want to tell you about a new blog we found interesting. All us Funny Farmers used to think the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was a group dedicated to helping make the world better for our pets. But eventually we came to consider otherwise, as we received their fundraising newsletters and read more about how their money is spent and their reportedly "hidden" agenda to legislate this country into a vegan nation.  Hey, I ask you, what cat or dog wants to be vegan? We're meat eaters!

While we all believe every animal, whether living as a pet, on a farm or as a feral deserves to be treated with kindness and without abuse, we do not agree with what we have come to believe to be some of the aims of the HSUS. That is our opinion and we know some of you will disagree. We're not trying to bad mouth them or turn you against them if your opinion differs from ours. The HSUS is a very popular organization, as evident by their donations.But if Jan gave us an allowance, we would donate some of it to a small rescue that does hands on rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing of the animals rather than to such a huge wealthy organization. 

What we would like to do, for those who are interested, is to tell you about HumaneWatch.org. It's just what it sounds like, a blog that has its eye on the HSUS. The post "Why Humane Watch?" explains the aim, every large group needs a watchdog, including the HSUS. It might not be your cup of catnip tea or beef broth but we might at least learn something from it now and then.

We were over at the Bumpass Hounds yesterday where we learned a beautiful Border Collie named Dagwood left for the bridge on his 14th birthday. We hadn't met Dagwood but we know the pain of losing a furry friend, so we stopped by to leave a note for his family. We hope you will too.

Well, it's colder and dreary today, so we're all going to go snuggle under the covers.  Have a purring and tail wagging day.  And whatever happens, I am not responsible! I am innocent!

(s) Percy

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Pit Prints

It's really sad that some humans take advantage of each other, always trying to "earn" money by cheating others. And one of the ways they do this is by taking advantage of the kindness and concern of animal lovers.  We have read of other rescue/animal in need scams in the past, but today we read of one closer to home.

This news story reminds us of the way at least one large and well-known animal rights group often raises money by posting a photo of a dog in need and collecting funds for its care. Only the animal is not in their care. Never was, never will be. This is fortunate, as if the animal was in their care, it would most likely be euthanized anyway, since they don't retain physical possession of animals they "rescue." When this is pointed out, the public plea for funds for this animal -- such as the Michael Vick dogs or another well-publicized dog with a sad story -- disappears. The group or human that has actually rescued the animal/animals and is paying all the bills never sees of penny of these funds donated to help.

But today's post is about a little one-woman rescue -- Pit Prints of Canton, Georgia, owned by Amanda Conrad -- that has allegedly been collecting funds and "necessities" for dogs she has never seen or had possession of or even shared the donations with.

You can watch the video and read the news story here.
According to "Good Dogs Gone Bad" by Sara Enos, these are some of the accusations against her -- by other rescue groups, no less:

* Taking donations for dogs to re-home them, then dropping them for euthanasia at the Cherokee County Animal Control facility
* Listing dogs on her web site and soliciting money for their care, (without them ever being in her care)
* Not spaying and neutering her own two Pit bulls who have had two litters “by accident” and selling the puppies
* Listing and selling donated items on Craig’s List that are typically in high demand with rescue groups (as well as various small animals)

Pit Prints' license has been suspended, pending the outcome of the investigation. It is possible fraud charges could be brought against her by some very upset donors and those who paid Conrad to find a home for a dog they entrusted to her care.

There are many legitimate rescue groups in Georgia and other areas. Those need to be supported. But our hope is that any rescue that uses animals to scam tender-hearted folks or neglects/abuses any animals in their care will be reported and shut down.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Buddy Bunny

 Hi, it's Buddy.  It's my turn to post today and I have some exciting news to share but first ....

Okay, we didn't get a couple of days off.  Yesterday we all started working on the blog list on JFF. Some blogs have moved, some have closed, some are too busy to blog -   We need to update it, our bookmarks and Google Reader subscriptions.  What a mess!

After 5 days of fighting with our blog template, Jan was "brain dead" and never wanted to look at Blogger again. But she decided to redo another blog she has. This one was cooperative and since she had worked the sizing so many times for JFF, that one was finished in about an hour or less.

She also figured out the problem with Blogger in Draft, which she needed to access Blogger's new templates, and now that JFF is set up, we hope our dashboard is back to normal and our auto posts will start auto posting again. Guess we'll find out one day soon. But for today, we're going to post this ourselves. :-)

Thank you for our new look, Jan. We would reward you for your hard work, but since you won't give us an allowance, all we can offer you is some dry kibble in a bowl. Help yourself.

Now, to get to the exciting news.  I entered the Easter contest hosted by Socks, Scylla, Artemesia & Fenris' mom.  And I encourage all of you who can to enter it also. You can read about it and post your entries at Contest Hosted by Alasandra.  This is my entry.

Buddy Bunny


This year I decided to celebrate Easter by serving my fellow furries. You guessed it, I volunteered to help the Easter Bunny deliver baskets to all those furries who want one. Or to all those we can reach before our hoppers wear out. (That means before our paws wear out, in case you are wondering.)


Yes, some of you already know me as Dr. Buddy, the renowned (at least around the Funny Farm and The Meezers') brain surgeon. But very soon I will be Dr. Buddy, Assistant Hound to the Easter Bunny. And the other Funny Farmers will be my assistants. As usual, I will be in charge, and they will most likely be their usual 4 left paws selves. But if they do a good job, they can wear bunny ears next year.


I haven't been given our top secret route yet, but perhaps I'll be assigned to deliver in your area. If so, remember this -- do not laugh at the hopping hound bunny! This will be grounds for immediate consumption of your intended Easter basket by said hopping hound bunny.


Happy Easter!

Buddy Bunny
& Assistants: Cotton, Merci, Cyndi, Percy, Cameron, Rusty & Sam

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Testing, Testing

We're taking a day or two off for Jan to rest. We have no idea what that has to do with us, but she says after 5 days of staring at the monitor and having a dozen tabs and programs open at a time from mid-morning to early morning ... well, never mind the rest. It was kind of incoherent.

The short version is we have to say good-night, see you soon while she looks for her memory. She is sure she left it somewhere safe but she has forgotten where. We would put Buddy on its trail but his nose is out of joint. Something about Jan taking Sam for a walk two days in a row before him.

So why is this post titled "Testing?" Because we're going to set this to auto post at 6 am tomorrow, Thursday. We're hoping the third time this new blogger in draft will actually work.

Update
:Well, we now know auto post in Blogger in Draft dashboard does NOT work! This did not auto post this am either. And the blog takes longer for us to load. Does it take longer for you also? After all this, we might end up with our original template back again.

We notice google is taking forever to transfer data with this new template and the new dashboard -- which we got from Blogger (owned by Gooogle). Whatever is going on, we don't like it. So don't be surprised if the new blog suddenly looks surprisingly like the old one.

Have a purring and tail wagging day.
(s) Cotton, Merci, Cyndi, Percy, Cameron, Buddy, Rusty & Sam

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Little Dogs Rule

Hi, In case you've forgotten, I'm Merci. Yes, I know Rusty tricked some of you yesterday into thinking he was Sam, but you can check my ID in the header. I'm actually Merci.

Special note to Khyra: Be alert, you might not be able to believe your eyes today. We may have switched names in the header.

It's been a really long time since I did a post on my own. I'm kind of rusty on typing but there isn't much to say. We haven't had much computer time again today, Tuesday - we write our blog entries the day before they post. Jan worked on our blog template again. If any of you stopped by and the page kept changing, you weren't hallucinating. Strange things were actually happening. But the sidebars seem to be wide enough now for most of the widgets. Just don't look at the bottom of the page. That still needs some work. Hey, I said, don't look!

No, that isn't me in the photo. I found it on I Has A Hotdog!

The picture is huge and it won't resize, so you can view it here.

The reason it caught my eye is that it reminds me of the photo we saw today on Nigel Buggers' blog.

Now note it only took one dog about my size to redecorate the kitchen but it took two large dogs to do the same at Nigel's.

Moral of this story is that little dogs rule!

Oh, week 1 of the auction for Hansel is over. Gracie, the Mad Catter, is inviting all to a special tea party to start week 2.
Stop by Friends of the CB Auctions.

UPDATE: This post was scheduled for 3/24/10 -- that's today -- at 6 AM -- that was five hours ago. No mistake. I'm looking right at the scheduled information but it took itself off the auto publish list. So all of you who have set a post to publish and it hasn't, we Funny Farmers want you to know, you haven't lost your minds, Blogger auto post has!

Have a purring and tail wagging day!
(s) Merci

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Soup of the Day

Well, hooray, it is finally my turn to post.  I am often forgotten around here because I'm so quiet.  Oh, who am I? Sorry,  I forget to introduce myself.  I'm Sam, the largest and floofiest of the Funny Farm cats.

Update: Sorry, guess I shouldn't have tried to fool you. Scylla, Socks, Atemesia & Fenris guessed correctly.  I'm not Sam. He's a dog.  I'm actually Rusty. But I wanted to show you why we've started doing some individual posts. You all know us as the (Furry) Funny Farmers instead of as individuals, so we're trying to introduce ourselves. We hope you'll get to know and recognize each one of us.  So, no, SSA&F, you aren't confused. You just know us a little better than we thought anyone might. You have a sharp eye.

As you can see, we didn't get to re-size the items in our sidebars yesterday, but we did get a new page created.    We're doing our best to get around to visit so don't give up hope on us just because we don't get to leave a comment. 


Our friend Katie of Katiez Furry Mews has opened The Purple Kattery at Bonanzle.  She would love to know you stopped by to visit her booth.

It's nearly 10 pm Monday and we haven't even had dinner yet, so I'm going to leave you with the this. I hope it puts a smile on your face. 

If restaurants functioned like Microsoft....

Patron: Waiter!

Waiter: Hi, my name is Bill, and I'll be your Support Waiter. What seems
to be the problem?

Patron: There's a fly in my soup!

Waiter: Try again, maybe the fly won't be there this time.

Patron: No, it's still there.

Waiter: Maybe it's the way you're using the soup; try eating it with a
fork instead.

Patron: Even when I use the fork, the fly is still there.

Waiter: Maybe the soup is incompatible with the bowl; what kind of bowl
are you using?

Patron: A SOUP bowl!

Waiter: Hmmm, that should work. Maybe it's a configuration problem; how
was the bowl set up?

Patron: You brought it to me on a saucer; what has that to do with the
fly in my soup?!

Waiter: Can you remember everything you did before you noticed the fly in
your soup?

Patron: I sat down and ordered the Soup of the Day!

Waiter: Have you considered upgrading to the latest Soup of the Day?

Patron: You have more than one Soup of the Day each day??

Waiter: Yes, the Soup of the Day is changed every hour.

Patron: Well, what is the Soup of the Day now?

Waiter: The current Soup of the Day is tomato.

Patron: Fine. Bring me the tomato soup, and the check. I'm running late
now.

Waiter leaves and returns with another bowl of soup and the check.

Waiter: Here you are, Sir. The soup and your check.

Patron: This is potato soup.

Waiter: Yes, the tomato soup wasn't ready yet.

Patron: Well, I'm so hungry now, I'll eat anything.

Waiter leaves.

Patron: Waiter! There's a gnat in my soup!

The check:

Soup of the Day ................................... $5.00
Upgrade to newer Soup of the Day .................. $2.50
Access to support ................................. $1.00


Author Unknown.



And don't forget, this week's CB  auction for Hansel's vet bills ends tonight, Tuesday, March 23 at midnight EDT. They have some nice items to bid on. Auctioneer Gracie has worked hard to put this together. Stop by by clicking here.


Have a purring and tail wagging day.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Cameron Goes 60s

Hi, This is Cameron. Today it's my turn to do a post.

Jan hogged our computer all weekend giving us a new template (she's not finished yet, so please ignore the pictures hanging over the lines or anything else that might look odd) and adding some new but similar designs to our Zazzle store. She finally figured out how to set up her shop by designs instead of zazzle dropping things every which way.

The CB is having a Cat Blogosphere Tee Shirt Contest. All you kitties need to do is to leave a comment. We think the t-shirt is neat.

Since we didn't have time to write anything, we thought we would post a different type of video. You might not like it as much as the squirrel and cat video but your humans might. It's called "Take me back to the Sixties." We're trying to figure out whether this means the 1860s or the 1960s. because we think Jan is old enough to have been through the 1860s.

Thank you for coming by, despite the remodeling mess. We hope you enjoyed the video and will come back again soon. Have a purring and tail wagging day!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Cat and Squirrel

Hi, I'm Sam. It's my turn to do a post. It will have to be a quick one, though.

Jan spent hours yesterday trying to change our blog template. So if you happened to drop by and didn't recognize the blog because it looked ... well, strange ...or it took a trip to the fridge and another to the litter box before it finished loading, please don't mention it. Jan is still mumbling about the experience. Perhaps tomorrow she'll think it was a nightmare.

I think you'll like this video. It reminded me of Crystal and how he used to love to sit at a window and tap firmly on it whenever he saw a nearby squirrel or chipmunk. I think he was inviting it to lunch but not a one ever accepted his invitation.



If the video doesn't play, click here.

Some of you got snow yesterday even though it was the first day of spring. Stay warm and safe. Hope you all have a great Sunday.

And remember, not a word to Jan about the blog yesterday. Shhhhhhh.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Friends Glow

Hi, Cyndi here. The guys told me I can do a post by myself today. We know it's easy to confuse us so we'll try to do some individual posts so you can learn to tell us apart. I'm the medium-hair calico.


Jan says she feels "brain dead" now -- can you tell by the title she suggested -- and can't think any more tonight so we're going to set this for auto post in the morning and curl up to watch our one network TV. We wish all of you a very happy and fun weekend. We're going to spend it watching Jan sweat at the computer. Not very exciting, but, hey, we need to keep an eye on her so she doesn't slack off.

She almost had 2 new designs for tonight but at the end she didn't like something and there weren't enough undo turns to restore something she took out, so she's going to have to start over again tomorrow. She's really tired of redoing this one car!

But she did finish Friends Glow - Buddy and Crystal napping together. We like the design because it reminds us how special friends are.



Zoey kindly put us on her Friday To-Do list yesterday.


Thanks Zoolatry for telling your friends about our Zazzle store*.

And while we're on the subject of Buddy Glow, Jan deleted all of the Buddy Glow products at zazzle and redid them all with a larger size and higher ppi. So, yep, we have Jan working hard on our behalf so we don't starve. It's nice to be loved, and we love Jan too even though we pick on her a lot. Thanks to all of you who have been encouraging us in one way or another.

We always enjoy hearing from Lulu and Lolly, the small Maltese dogs with a big sense of humor. We'd like to share a link to their post on National Humin Day Established by Enterprising Canines. We hope you will go by to read it.

Oh, great, for the second night in a row, we set an auto post for the next morning and it proceeded to post immediately. So if you're wondering what is going on with our posts appearing and disappearing, you know as much as we do about it.

Well, thanks for being good listeners. It's been fun doing my own post. I'm not a fast typist like Percy is, so this has been a workout for me. Time for my pre-bedtime nap. Night.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Cute Dog Countdown

Yesterday we posted a cute cat video so tonight we'll post a cute dog one. This is a very intelligent dog, doing tricks like Skid Boot used to do. However, we're not sure we can say the same about the intelligence of the humans who seemed fixated on the numbers six and eight. We're sure you'll enjoy this, though.



If the video doesn't play, click here.

Sam glued Jan to the computer chair today and Percy dangled a piece of ham in front of her nose so she would get some work done. But when she finished and Cotton said it was okay to let Jan have the ham, Buddy stood up, grabbed it, and swallowed it whole. He spent the afternoon weakly lying in a pool of his own drool by the computer chair, so we're thinking of forgiving him. But he could at least have shared with the rest of us.

But Jan did make some more products today from some of the designs she already has on our zazzle store. And she made two new ones. So she did earn some dinner, even if she did have to cook it herself.



This is Cyndi Glow.






And this if Hoods Up.


Thursday, March 18, 2010

Jan Needs A Trainer

This is Buddy. I want to tell you it was all her own fault. I told her not to leave the house without me this afternoon, but she wouldn't listen.

I was standing with my front paws on Jan's desk watching her through the window. And howling my head off telling her to get back in this house this second and stay home if she wasn't taking me with her! So I saw it all.

She started the engine. A minute or so later, she turned on the windshield wipers. I howled at her as loud as I could. And then it happened. See ...


Yep, the metal went right and the rubber went left. Serves her right! She should have listened to me.

So Jan was forced to obey me. Only she made a phone call and the next thing I knew she was gone anyway. How dare she get another ride without permission!

Merci, Sam and I have made a decision. We are going to find a trainer for Jan. She will just not listen to anything we tell her to do. And what good is a human if not trained to return immediately on command. I mean, what if she was about to get hit by a car and I tried to warn her?

Yes, she definitely needs a trainer. And she brought all this on herself!

Have you been by Oscar kitty's blog to meet him? He's from Australia and he turned 15 years old yesterday.

Be sure to stop over at auctioneer Gracie's fundraiser for Hansel's medical bills. KC has donated your choice of an item from our jansfunnyfarm at zazzle store. Thank you, KC.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Kitty Countdown of Cute

We thought a fun video would be perfect for today, so we searched for a kitty countdown of cute.

We hope you enjoy "10 Cutest Cat Moments."



If the video doesn't play for you, click here.

Have a fun day! We will be very busy. We dogs are working on Jan's toe therapy. This week we are walking her in shifts, one at a time to make certain she gets some exercise, whether we need any or not. Remember, we have the Romper Room where we can run now.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Pop Up Pop Unders

Okay, bloggers, we have an assignment for you today. We want you to be safe when you visit our blog and we know you want the same for your visitors. But we've been encountering blogs with a security problem the owners don't realize they have. So please read this and check your own blog before you forget.

The reason we are blogging about this today is because in recent weeks we have come across a few blogs with a pop under when we try to leave a comment. We always let the blogger know but we can't help them locate the source, other than tell them they have downloaded a widget with 3rd party code. We've blogged about that before. Before installing any widget, check the HTML. We're not experts, so the only thing we know to look for is a 2nd url inserted in the code. You know, it would start with http:// or www. You don't want any widget that is covertly giving a 3rd party permission to access your blog! And only get widgets from trusted sources. All fun widgets are not fun. They can bring along spyware or a virus.

And there's more. The recent pop unders we've been seeing are game related. They will display a game you have never heard of or downloaded, perhaps Gamevance. Now if you are a Facebook user, please pay attention! A pop under we've seen popping up quite a bit recently is FACEBOOK related. When you click to comment on a blog post, a Pet Society or Restaurant or ...... pop under will open wanting you to sign in to your Facebook account so they can have access to your FB information and friends list. We don't know whether they can access your username and password, but if you sign in using that page, you will have given them permission to post streams to your wall and contact your friends. Hopefully you won't fall for this, but .....

If you are already signed in to Facebook when you click to comment on an infected blog, they are in your Facebook account and set up as "your" application before you can blink. We saw this happen one day when we didn't realize Jan was signed in to her FB account when we stopped at a blog with this problem. But because we have been keeping an eye on our taskbar, we immediately saw the extra window opening and went right to FB and deleted the application!

As soon as we originally noticed the extra window opening in the task bar, we notified the blog owner and another blogger got right on it. But it took two or three very frustrating weeks to wade through all the code on the blog and finally locate the guilty widget. Since we're techno limited, our job was to check on it occasionally and just that momentary lapse of memory could have really cost us!

We strongly suggest if you are on FB that you go to your applications page and check to make certain that every single approved application listed there is one that you added. If you don't recognize it, delete it! You can always reinstall it if you find it was one you wanted. Because these pop unders are appearing on more blogs and many of you are unaware of them, you need to be alert and check your own blog and FB accounts periodically.

If you notice a pop up or pop under on anyone's blog, please let the blogger know in an email message. If you can't find an email address, leave a polite comment. But let them know! And if someone says they got one on your blog, check your sidebar widgets. These are security risks, not mere annoyances, so they need to be taken care of right away.

We're going to close with (we can hear the collective sigh of relief over this long post) one widget we are aware of that has been causing this problem. It's an international spinning globe counter widget.

We hope you won't be throwing rotten tomatoes or even snowballs at us, but since we found another blog with this problem today, we decided we need to speak out and warn new bloggers who aren't yet familiar with the potential problems with widgets and remind seasoned bloggers who might have momentarily forgotten this can happen to any of us.

Should you ever find anything strange on our blog, please let us know.

To check your own blog:

We don't know what browser you are using, but if you are using Firefox, go into Tools, Options, Privacy -- under Privacy click on "show cookies." Click on Remove All Cookies." That's right, clear them all out. (You'll have to sign in to your blog again after this, but trust us, this is important!)

Now open a new tab or window and GO TO YOUR OWN BLOG. Pick your last post or another one if you prefer. Click on "Post a Comment." Look down in your taskbar. Do you see an extra window opening -- one called a pop under because it opens behind your window so you don't generally notice it until you close or minimize your browser. And by then you won't have a clue where you picked it up.

If you are using IE, go to Tools, Internet Options, and under Browsing History, click Delete. This will clear your IE cache of everything including cookies. Then GO TO YOUR OWN BLOG and click on Post a Comment to check for any pop under.

Minimize your browser window and double check to be sure there's no pop under hiding back there.

Be safe! We love you.

PS -- We're sorry we're not getting to visit much lately. Jan is hogging the computer again and since it's to help us Funny Farmers, we have to support her efforts and not complain. We are doing our best to keep up even if we're not commenting.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Hooray for Our ModKat

Can you hear Jan yelling, Hooray? Well, she's had a frustrating few months because she just doesn't speak cat language properly. No,we take that back. It's probably more like she's so forgetful she doesn't remember how independent we cats are, preferring to make our own decisions of whether, when and where. The woofies might sit on command -- if they feel like it -- but we cats never do!

Do you remember these photos? They're from last November when our new ModKat litter box arrived. Percy and Cyndi checked it out. And Percy, our current lead curious cat, climbed in.


Cyndi: It doesn't look like cardboard. Wonder what it's for?


Percy: I don't know. It has a shovel. Maybe it's for gardening.

Well, we drove Jan crazy for several months, either ignoring it or a certain Funny Farmer peeing over the side of the liner. The same kitty (we are not tattling on Per -- uh, the guilty kitty!) pees over the top of the other litter pans but the Modkat is taller.

Our litter quarters are a very tight maize.. The designer suggested Jan take the liner out and the top off until we got accustomed to it. That worked. We could get in and out of it easier. And then Jan finally put the lid back on. And we still used it. We aren't using the liner since Per- uh, one of us sprays over it. But at least he's not spraying outside the ModKat.

Jan feels bad that she told the designer she would try to do a video for him, but her camera has no stamina and only records a very few seconds at a time and she doesn't have any money to buy software to put the clips together or work with a QuickTime MOV file, so she doesn't even try to take video any more. Plus she doesn't have time to hang around the litter box area to try to film us in the litter box. As if we're going to let her!

Jan says it is the easiest litter box to clean. So we want to thank Rich for making Jan's job a little easier. Even though Crystal is no longer with us, she still has a lot of scooping and cleaning up after us to do.

If you haven't heard of the ModKat litter box before, stop over at ModProducts where you can also view their innovative luxury hangers and MakerBot. We have no idea what a MakerBot makes but it's a neat short video.

(s) Cotton, Cyndi, Percy, Cameron & Rusty

Don't forget to vote for the race car memorial design for Trooper Jessica. Today is the last day. http://www.sponsafier.com/#/gallery/view/120029

The Bumpass Hounds are back online but we'll put in another plug for their favorite rescue group anyway. After you click to feed shelter and rescue animals at the Animal Rescue Site, if you don't have a favorite shelter to vote for, please vote for Almost Heaven Golden Retriever Rescue of Capon Bridge, West Virginia (WV). They have adopted several dogs from AHGRR, including Radar the blind pup, so they would appreciate your vote to help the rescue.

For those of you non-cat bloggers who don't frequent the Cat Blogosphere, the CB was featured on Pet Blogger Support yesterday. It's a site for pets, not just for cats.

Have a good day. We plan to nap through it.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Crystal and Cotton

We received a lovely gift from KC of the Cat Blogosphere today. It's a pendant. KC had one made for her mom when they lost Charlie Taylor, the older kitty she and Auntie Deb rescued.

This is the front of the pendant with our favorite photo of Crystal.


And this is the back of it. Makes you teary, doesn't it!


We can either put a chain on it for a necklace or put it on a key chain with a clip. But since none of us kitties or woofies wear that type of jewelry or carry keys, we are going to give it to Jan and let her decide.

This was made by a lady who sells "whimsical trinkets and keepsakes" at a shop on Etsy called Oliviamoon. Stop by and browse.

Thank you so much, KC! This is something we are sure Jan will treasure. Because as you know from personal experience, humans miss their furries when they pass away.

Update from the comments:
We is so happy you like it, it is furry beautiful.
Miss Susan of OlivaMoon makes beautiful fings, customized just fur you. Mommy ML loves her Charlie Taylor pendant. You can see hers here and on CT's Catster Page (scroll down).
And a chain is on its way to Momma Jan from Susan, so you will haf a way to wear it.
Love & Purrs,
KC


We fear Jan's brain has been affected by the recent mishaps with her toe, so we decided to see if we can jog her creative streak -- you know, the one she left on the school bus when she was a kid. The last two days we have hemmed her in so she can't leave her chair until she finishes her work. Yesterday she finished Buddy Glow. Today we have another new design for our Zazzle store. This one is called Cotton Mosaic. We think Cotton is cute in any design, including the original tortoiseshell she was born with.


The Bumpass Hounds will probably be back blogging today but just in case they aren't, we're going to ask again if you would take a couple of minutes to submit a couple of votes.

We hope you will go to the Toyota Racing site at http://www.sponsafier.com/#/gallery/view/120029 and vote for Trooper Jessica's memorial design.

And after you click to feed shelter and rescue animals at the Animal Rescue Site, as soon as you click the button to feed the shelter animals today --
Look toward the top of the page for the shelter challenge voting button. Click on it.
From the state drop down menu, choose "WV."
At the bottom of the box click "search."
The second shelter listed is AHGRR in Capon Bridge. Click "vote."
To validate your vote, type in whatever type of animal you see: elephant, cow, dog ......

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Buddy Glow

Have you visited the Cute Critters blog yet? There are some cute animal photos and graphics from around the web there. The blog belongs to our friends from Sammy and Andy's Meowsville


It's called Buddy Glow.The real Buddy is brown. And don't worry, the actual design doesn't have "sample" stamped across Buddy's head. :-)


The Bumpass Hounds are still offline, so we're going to post on their voting sites again. We hope you will go to the Toyota Racing site at http://www.sponsafier.com/#/gallery/view/120029 and vote for Trooper Jessica's memorial design.

And after you click to feed shelter and rescue animals at the Animal Rescue Site, as soon as you click the button to feed the shelter animals today --
Look toward the top of the page for the shelter challenge voting button. Click on it.

From the state drop down menu, choose "WV."
At the bottom of the box click "search."

The second shelter listed is AHGRR in Capon Bridge.
Click "vote."
To validate your vote, type in whatever type of animal you see: elephant, cow, dog ......


Friday, March 12, 2010

Humans are Strange

Do any of you furries understand your human? We find ours a bit strange.

For example, when we kitties see a bug, we go, Whoopee! When Jan sees a bug, she screams, Out of the way, and swats it. Where's the fun in that?

And just let one of us get really comfortable and fall asleep in her lap and she will suddenly jump up and take off for some silly reason. Come on, how many times does she think we're going to fall for, I smell something burning on the stove? Okay, granted she is forgetful and there often is something burning in the kitchen .... We're grateful she doesn't cook our food. But to dump any one or more of us when we're sleeping should at least get her cited and fined for kitty littering.

Oh, and ever since Jan hurt her toe and hasn't had to walk with us dogs first thing in the morning, she forgets to feed us. Sometimes we lie at death's door until one or two in the afternoon before she realizes the loud rumbles she is hearing are not an approaching thunderstorm but Buddy's tummy. How does one forget to feed three good-looking, well-behaved woofies?

We need to learn to be more assertive, more like Simon's Cat in "TV Dinner.". Do you think if we gang up on her, she'll notice us? Or should we turn a burner on in the kitchen instead?



If the video doesn't play for you, click here.

We hope you will go to the Toyota Racing site at http://www.sponsafier.com/#/gallery/view/120029 and vote for Trooper Jessica's memorial design.

And after you click to feed shelter and rescue animals
at the Animal Rescue Site, as soon as you click the button to feed the shelter animals today --
Look toward the top of the page for the shelter challenge voting button. Click on it.

From the state drop down menu, choose "WV."
At the bottom of the box click "search."

The second shelter listed is AHGRR in Capon Bridge.
Click "vote."
To validate your vote, type in whatever type of animal you see: elephant, cow, dog ......


Thursday, March 11, 2010

EOW and Rescue

Our WV friends are having a problem blogging right now because their satellite is down. We recently did a post on voting for their favorite rescue and we were about to do one on another voting request for them. This seems like a good time to help them out. And there is no sign-up, just straight click and vote.

The NASCAR vote is very important to the Bumpass Hounds. So we decided to post this in their own words -- with their permission, of course.

END OF WATCH - MEMORIAM
Hey Hounders,
Our sissy Sarah, and her Husband, Da Beel, are both polices. Sissy is a canine handler. You may have seen our posts of her bomb sniffing dog, Aldo, playing with our own blind guy, Radar. They is both Golden Retrievers but of the red variety. Well, sissy had a very close friend who was a Virginia State Trooper. Virginia State Trooper Jessica J Cheney was killed when hit by a car on Rte 1 in Stafford County, VA. Jessica was doing her job. Her "End Of Watch" (EOW) was 1/17/1998. So here's the deal, the Toyota Racing Group (please disregard any "recall" thoughts) that supports the National Association for Stock Car Automotive Racing (NASCAR) is having a contest where one of their cars will be painted in a special design scheme for a race. Well there is a design that is a memoriam for Trooper Jessica. We'd like y'all to go to the Toyota Racing site at http://www.sponsafier.com/#/gallery/view/120029 and vote for Trooper Jessica's memorial design. If you select the 3D view you'll be able to see Jessica's name and EOW date on the hood of the car. It doesn't cost anything and you can vote every day for the next 13 days; so please vote from as many different computers as you have access to. We would certainly appreciate it very, very much. Sissy misses Jessica, who was robbed of her life in the line of duty at such a young age.
- Jubal and The Bumpass Hounds and Kitties


As we write this on Wednesday evening, there are only 6 days left to vote, so please invest a few moments each day to go over and vote for the NASCAR design in Jessica's memory. She gave her life to protect and serve.

We posted about voting for their favorite rescue group at the end of February, so we're just going to reprint what we wrote -- yep, we wrote this part ourselves.

Our friends The Bumpass Hounds have been asking everyone who doesn't have a favorite shelter entered into the Shelter Challenge at the Animal Rescue Site to please vote for a rescue they are very involved with, the one that saved their newest member, a blind pup they named Radar -- Almost Heaven Golden Retriever Rescue & Sanctuary in Capon Bridge, WV.

It's very easy.You're already clicking at the Animal Rescue Site daily to help feed shelter animals, aren't you? Well, then, we hope you will begin as of today! Their link and the links to Feed Hungry Dogs & Feed Hungry Cats are in our sidebar. You can pick up a graphic for your blog at each site. Encourage your friends, relatives and even your enemies to visit each site daily.

At the Animal Rescue Site, as soon as you click the button to feed the shelter animals today --


Look toward the top of the page for the shelter challenge voting button. Click on it.

From the state drop down menu, choose "WV."
At the bottom of the box click "search."

The second shelter listed is AHGRR in Capon Bridge.
Click "vote."
To validate your vote, type in whatever type of animal you see: elephant, cow, dog ......
The Animal Rescue Site
Click on the graphic or click here to go to the Animal Rescue Site.

Now, if you aren't voting for any other shelter/rescue, please vote and help spread the word. The AHGRR can use your vote.

Thanks for helping them out with your votes. If you already have another car or rescue you are voting for, thank you for reading this. Hope you all have a furry happy day!


Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Score One and a Bonus

Why is it whenever Jan attempts to catch something that's falling off the table, she manages to knock something else off -- and then blames them both on us? It should be perfectly clear to her we're only responsible for the one we knocked over. The second one is a bonus.



We're sorry.


Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Sam and Dr Buddy's Cool

We haven't set up our 2010 calendar yet -- no snickering please -- and so we've been embarrassed yet again. We completely forgot today is Sam's 4th birthday. Yep, we just learned it the same way some of you did, on the Cat Blogosphere. Thank you, KC & ML. What would we do without you to remind us of important furry occasions.

Happy Birthday, Samaritan! We love you. Despite your size, you are sweet and you try hard to be gentle. You just don't know your own strength. We're glad you're our brother.

There are no furries appearing in today's video. Not a cat or dog, not even a gerbil. Well, there is a dog named Lou but we never even hear it bark. We think you'll enjoy it anyway.

This is about a young girl who stayed calmer in an emergency than some adults would. Talk show host Bonnie Hunt plays a 9-1-1 tape of five-year-old Savannah talking with a 9-1-1 operator when her father has chest pains and can't speak.



If the video doesn't play, click here.

As we listened, we thought of how different it would be if our 5-year-old Buddy had to take over for Jan in an emergency. He tends to bark quickly, howl often and becomes a bit discombobulated in a personal emergency.. His conversation would probably sound more like one long word, "This is Dr. Buddy. Send an ambulance immediately. Just send it north on Whatyacall it Road and look for the black tabby cat standing on a porch railing waving a white scarf. I've had a bad scare and I'm having trouble breathing and if you don't hurry, I'll go four paws up and then who will dial 9-1-1 for Jan. What? Of course I know this line is only for humans. What do you think Jan is? Oh, you want to know how she is? Uh, passed out on the floor. Is that important?

However, if you should need brain surgery, Dr. Buddy would be calm, cool and professional.

Have a good day.

Monday, March 08, 2010

We Need Opposable Thumbs

We can't draw. We don't have opposable thumbs. Jan has opposable thumbs but she can't draw either. But we found an interesting place for pet lovers to visit -- Schlueter Art Works. We don't know the lady and we're not trying to sell you anything. We just love her drawings.

Genevieve Schlueter hand sketches pet portraits in graphite pencil from photos her clients provide. Her sketches are highly detailed drawings of a pet. We really enjoyed clicking through the lovely horse, cat and dog sketches on her site.

Her drawings inspire us to want to sketch too. Buddy tried to hold a pencil between his two front paws but his scribbles only tore holes in the paper. Sam's paws are too big and a pencil just slips right between his toes. Cameron and Cotton tried working together on a sketch but they ended up in a pawfight because Cameron lost his grip and the pencil hit Cotton in the head. So we furries might not be cut out for a drawing career.

But Genevieve can wield a pencil. You can see her sketches at Schleuter Art Works.

She also has a Facebook Fan Page, which is where we found her.

Have a great day. We're going to spend it practicing with a pencil until we can figure out how to hold it.

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Wet Noodles

We found an interesting post on The Poodle and Dog Blog yesterday, so today we'd like to send you over there to read their solution to how to fund a registry of animal abuse offenders.

It's not that we don't like you, we do. And we hope you will be back to visit us tomorrow.

But for today, we hope you will take a couple of minutes to read Jan's (not our Jan) On-line registry for animal abusers: two plans that could work

We plan to stock up on wet noodles today so we can slap the judges' knuckles who let abusive animal killer humans off with a light slap on the knuckles.

See you tomorrow. Have a great day!

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Catster and Dogster


Okay, all you gents and lady cats and dogs. Do you see those happy, friendly faces above? Well, those are our faces and we're all on Catster or Dogster, ready to visit some friends. Well, all except Crystal. We wish he was here to join us but as you know he left us for the RB in January.

We asked Jan to help us fill in the information on the 8 pages but she just sits and stares, mumbling something about she just can't face typing 8 stories again. And she can't think where to look for bits and pieces already posted. Her mind is sooooo boggled at the mere thought! And we don't know where to begin to find old friends there, let alone new ones. You'd think we were orphans for the lack of bio info on all our pages. But you know we're all rescues and that none of us are purebred. But we're cute. And we have pearly white teeth when we smile. We haven't bitten any of our friends lately. Well, actually never. Why not come visit us and make friends or renew acquaintances?

You can click on any one of us in the sidebar Catster and Dogster widgets to find us. Or you can start here on our family page; http://www.dogster.com/family/965514

We're going to try to remember to check for Catster or Dogster widgets on blogs as we visit, but since we try to be honest, we have to admit we forget. We each inherited Jan's short memory when she adopted us. So we decided to do a post to let you know we are not moving away or retiring, just expanding our horizons. Little by little we hope to set up our pages.

On a different subject, Max the Quilt Cat posted an important feline (and canine) service announcement yesterday. His blog was hijacked by a 3rd party widget he added a while back through Blogger. If you haven't read it yet, stop by his blog and read his news. It might save your blog from being hijacked. Max the Quit Cat.

Friday, March 05, 2010

Wake Up

If this doesn't wake you up, nothing will.



If the video doesn't play, click here.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Crystal Came Home

Crystal has a Rainbow Bridge story now, thanks to our friend Bill whose dogs Tinker and Poo help keep us earth furries and humans up to date on the RB news. You might remember Bill's Tinker & Poo from their report on my brother's dog Fraggle last August.When Crystal passed away in late January, Bill was in the hospital or his computer was down, we forget which, so this story was delayed.





Rainbow Bridge, Crystal
Tink, Poo and Gang
tinkerpoo2000 @ yahoo.com (delete the spaces)

Well, we got the news while back about a kitty, and we for some reason went to sleep on the matter. Well, to tell the truth, we turned the problem over to our cat department. You know we have different departments. We got the fish, which has a few branches. We have the bird department, and brother that got branches We got the cats, that got a few branches.. Then we got the dog, now it gets stickier trying at times to keep up.

We in this case turned it over to Missy the head of the cat department. Now we gets the news, something went wrong. So Poo walked over to see what the problem is. Found Missy down there working up a storm on the books. Seems like we never get a days rest any more. We all got so many poor unwanted coming up the lane, we can claim snowed under.

Well, yes, Crystal of Jan's Funny Farm fame did make it. She - well, we was looking for a she - but it turns out we find Crystal is kind of like that guy Sue. A trick was pulled. You see, Crystal is a boy.

It took some real cat work to find Crystal, but we put the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on the case, and we found Crystal after a couple days of looking. Yep, he was down there watching that over-sized catfish.

Well anyways, we got all the news about that Jan's Funny Farm operation. What a deal. Lets see. We got a Rusty, a Cyndi, a Cameron, a Cotton, a Percy, a Merci, a Buddy, and Samaritan. What a mob. no wonder poor Jan has foot trouble, trying to keep up with that gang.

So earth gang, yes we found Crystal, he got his bed, blankets, and other needs all in good order. also a special Angel to look after his needs. What more could a good kitty ask for.

So the movie tonight, yepper -- "Crystal Came Home." We got treats all around for each and every one.

We know we are going to hear more stories about the Funny Farm in the days to come. Wonder if we can get on the mail list, bet we can. We got pull you know.


Thank you again, Bill. We alternated laughing and crying while reading this. Guess Crystal was rather like Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue."

For the record, Funny Farm Readers, Crystal is not defined as a girl's name. Crystal is a beautiful piece of glassware -- neither masculine nor feminine. As handsome as he was, Jan would name him that again if she had it to do over. He was a sweet kitty and he is greatly missed.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Rusty

We have had a lot of fun in the Cat-o-lympics. Each event was hosted by a different furry blogger and the different ways they were held and/or judged was interesting. All of our categories have now been closed and the awards ceremony held -- except for Cameron's Wake-up competition. We hope to hear something on that soon. Tuck's secretary must be sick or busy.

Yesterday, One Cats Nip handed out their awards for the Mile Long Kleen category. Our Rusty didn't win a medal but he did get a Participating Award. It even has his photo on it. And since Rusty is camera shy and his entry was of his back, we think it neat OCN went the extra blog post to find a photo of Rusty to use. Thank you, One Cats Nip. Stop by there to check out both participants and medal winners and send them congratulations on a job well done.




This was Rusty's entry. Now we know that other participants didn't post their original entry photos again but there are so many of us that we want to be sure you know which of us participated. And we want you to be able to tell us apart, so we need to keep posting our photos until you know which of us is which. And then you'll be one up on Jan because she often forgets or confuses our names. We really enjoy her bad memory when one of us is in trouble and her mind goes blank.

A very thorough Rusty finishes his bath.

Don't worry, Rusty, we know how much work it takes for you to groom your fur to look your best so you can close your eyes when Jan snaps your picture. We'd gladly give you a Rusty-Outwitted-Jan's-Camera again award!

Oh, and notice who is in the photo with Rusty. A certain JFF furry actually loves the camera and tries his best to get in every shot. However, he has eyes that are almost always red in photos and even Photoshop Elements throws up its hands when Jan clicks on "fix red eye." We're beginning to think Sam is a secret tippler and alcohol goes to his eyes instead of his nose.

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Missy You

No, the title is not a misprint. We really are posting about "Missy You." Angel, Missy You and Regular VSquillions are available for adoption at the VSquillions Shelter..Just follow the instructions to adopt one or more for your own blog sidebar. Gracie will gladly help with the adoption procedure.

We have a Regular VSquillion we named Viola, Angel Crystal our ValentineVS and now we have 3 Missy You VSs. One for Crystal, Jenny and Grayce because these are sibling we have lost and miss very much. They were all part of the Funny Farm.

If you too would like to add a VSquillion in memory of a beloved cat, stop by the Offishul CB VSquillions Shelter and speak to shelter keeper Gracie. She has adopted one for her sidebar in memory of her sister Sassy, the founder of CSI. And she has a large litter of Angel VSquillions and Missy You VSquillions needing loving homes available.

By the way, if you haven't met Gracie's new brother Steffano, he's a real Squillion. Before long he might be as famous as Jeter's Squillion laffin an laffin.

Monday, March 01, 2010

Percy & Tivi

Percy didn't place in Huffle Mawson's Competitive Napping category of the Cat-o-lympics, but we are still very proud of him for entering. He dared to sleep on Buddy's chair in order to do so and he did receive an I Competed badge.

Huffle posted the 6 winners in 2 categories here, and Paddy the Peoples Choice Award winner (napping in tree) is posted here.

This was Percy's entry.
Percy napping on Buddy's chair



We would like to introduce you to Tivi (Tivoli), a special dog in need of a forever home through a very uplifting TV video. Like so many other animals that have seen the worst of humans, he is a loving dog. He lives a happy life at a no-kill shelter but won't someone adopt this special boy so he can have a home of his own?



If the video doesn't play, click here.

We are constantly frustrated trying to leave a comment on a blog with comment moderation enabled so we apologize for the inconvenience but due to a rash of spam, we have been forced to turn ours on, at least for a time. We enjoy hearing from you so hope you will still leave us a comment.

We think many of you are unaware that Ariel has been posting again. Not every day but occasionally. We hope you will go by and check out her latest posts, perhaps subscribe to her blog feed. Her last post has a video that takes forevvvvvvvver to load but when it finally plays, it's funny. Now, when you watch it, if you don't know who that is in the photo, think! Whose blog are you on while watching it?