1.  Cold.

2.  Snow.

So, here at Casa Furry Bambino, that means two other things.

a)  I, Panda Bear, try to get outside to frolic in the snow.

b)  Mom and Dad try to keep me from getting outside and frolicking in the snow.

In order to get outside to frolic in the snow, I attempt to seize every opportunity I can.  This involves pretending to be all “Hi Welcome Home from Wherever You People Go Now Outta My Way I Want Out The Front Door”.  This method results in success only rarely.  Mom and Dad are on to me.  They do this elaborate dance when they come in the front door that should qualify them to be on the next iteration of River Dance.

The other opportunity is once daily when Mom or Dad opens the back door to feed the squirrels and birdies.

By the way, we haven’t seen chipmunks in awhile.  Does anyone know, do chipmunks hibernate?  Do they have time shares in Florida?  Be right back.

OK, I asked my good friend Google who is a real know it all.  Chipmunks DO hibernate! But I digress.

As I was saying, so I get this great opportunity to make my move when Mom or Dad has the back door open to toss peanuts and seed to the outdoor critters.  Cookie thought about it today, too.

So tdoay, after several minutes of plotting, I made my move.

Woo-hoo!!!  Outside!  I’m Outside!!!

Yeah, so OK, the snow is cold on my feet.  But I’m Outside!!!

I had a great time digging in the snow!

I enjoyed the sights, smells, and textures while exploring this morning.  Check out these wicked cool icicles hanging from the roof and power lines.

But for some reason, Mom grabbed me and hauled me back inside when I walked past the door on my way to the back yard.

Oh, well, there’s always tomorrow!

So, let’s start getting caught up, kitties!

Now that Kilroy and the Love Beasties have received their super-duper prize package, I can write about my shopping trip!

In honor of our Gotchaversary, we held a big prize drawing.  One of the prizes was a big load of goodies from my favorite shopping place, Coventry Cats.

So, Mommy picked me up and off we went!  Daddy went along too to document the whole adventure!  Here we are leaving the house.  I’m such a good kitty, I don’t need a traveling box PTU!  I like Mommy’s shoulder!

I’ve got the whole back seat to myself and I’m all excited to go!  Vamos Amigos!

Daddy felt I should have a better view, so I tried sitting in his lap for a short while.  I need my own steering wheel!

Ooh!  Oooh!  I saw a squirrel!  Let me out!  Let me out!

Hey, the view is better from the back seat!  I saw two vishus deer!  Mommy stopped and let the vishus deer cross the road before we started moving again.

I like the back ledge.  I can see in all directions from here.  “Hey, Mom, stop making so many stops!  You keep rocking me off the ledge.”

Yay!  Our final destination.  Mommy parked up high.  Now we gets to cross the street!

All ready to go inside!  I can’t wait to go shopping for my friends!

I like the nice owner lady.  She gave me good scritches and pointed me in the direction of the fun toys!

Before doing any official shopping, I made sure to indulge myself in a little exploring.  I am a good hider, but Mommy and Daddy still found me!  That dang blue leash gave me away.

Okay, time to get shopping.  There’s so much to pick from!  Oooh, this mousie is good.  I think I’ll get this for Kilroy and the crew.  Maybe they’ll throw it around into their food dish or something.

I have no idea who these ladees are, but they affectionated me and called me “gorgeous”.  I gave them my best flirty eye, and they went wild.  I love my public.

I needed to do some further investigation.  There’s great things to sniff!  The whole store smells like catnip.

This guy works with the owner lady.  He caught me sniffing behind the counter and investigating the ‘behind-the-scenes’ operations when I took a break from shopping.

These are some of the wonderful prizes I choosified for Kilroy and crew.  I gots chew toys for Leah and Sadie and stuff for Kilroy and Macy including a bag of catnip, and a catnip bananer.

Oops, Mom.  They don’t accept my “Mastercat” card.  Would you pay for me?  Please, pretty please?

That was a fun adventure at Coventry Cats!  But we still had to buy a few more things!  Mommy and I posed on the street.  Aren’t I cute?

Daddy had been taking my pictures the whole time, so I asked Mommy to take my picture with him to prove that he was there too!  Dis was taken in the room that moves.

Soon we was back on the road.  I told Mommy to take us to the place we was adopted from because they has the bestest selection of Temptatshuns!  Here I am on my perch watching the scenery go by!

After a while, I was getting a little dizzy, so I decided to lay low in the bottomest portion of the room that moves.  Mommy says hoomans puts their footies here.

Mommy was driving too slow for my liking so I yelled at her to drive faster!

Finally!  We arrived at my second shopping place.  This one is Petsmart, and itz the place Mommy and Daddy adopted us from through PAWS. Oooh, looky at all the perchy places they have.  Mommy let me climb all around!  Can we gets one of these, Mommy, please???

I liked this one the bestest of them all.  Nice and high!  Right at Mommy’s face level!  I could see me, and Meerkat and Padre really enjoying this one!

Here are some fellow kitties.  These is young ones.  I hope they find a forever home soon just like we did!

Look at all the wonderful treats!

Ah-ha!  Finally the Temptashuns!  Mommy let me sniff around for the bestest ones to buy for Kilroy and the crew!

Daddy said the freshest ones were in the back, so that’s where I went looking.  I investigated the expire dates on all the packages and found the freshest ones for  my friends!

Mommy thought I was spending waaaayyy too much time back there, so she decided to spoil my fun and catch me.  I wuz starting to get tired anyways.

This was a long shopping trip!  I was really starting to feel tired after all this excitement, so I asked Mommy and Daddy to take me home.

Finally, we arrived home.  I wuz so tired, Mommy had to carry me in.

And that was my big shopping trip!  It was a tiring day, but I kept my promise to do my shopping trip to celebrate our Gotchaversary.  I really like all the good things Kilroy wrote about our prize package.  It looks like they all had fun and I am happy they liked everything!
 

At last, I was going on a Big Adventure!

Well, Daddy and Mommy came along too. They sat up front. I sat in the back where I could explore.

We traveled for a very long time. I looked out the back windows of the room that moves.

Sometimes I sat on Daddy’s lap, but I liked to sit in the back window the best.

We finally got to our destination:

We were going to a party! Good thing I was dressed in my tuxedo and nail caps for the occasion! “Coventry Cats” was celebratifying their 20 year birthday! Wow, that’s a lot older than me. Meerkat and I aren’t even 1 year old yet!

There was cake…

… and food …

… and a wall of toys!

There were even woofies in the store! What were they doing in a place called Coventry Cats? I thought that the woofies were a bit rude. I had to hiss at one to tell him to stay out of my personal space!

Naturally, everyone I met thought I was the best looking cat they had ever met! I got lots of scritches and pats on the head. The owner lady of the store was very nice to me. Daddy wasn’t sure if I was going to be allowed in the store. Well, duh! It’s a store specifically for cats!

I sniffed the whole place over from head to tail. There were lots of interesting places to explore.

After the party, we got back into the Grey Room That Moves and headed back home.

This time, it was raining, so I sang in the rain!

I really liked to sit in the back window.

When we got back home, I ran into the kitchen to get a bite to eat! Adventures sure can make a cat hungry!

See, here is some evidence. The yellow flowers are crocuses, and the green thing may be a hyacinth (it’s hard to tell now):

This weekend, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it felt warm for the first time in a really long time! Daddy and Mommy opened the windows for us to get a good sniff.

Luckily, there is one window pane for each of us.

On Saturday and Sunday, Mommy took us outside into the back yard. We are not allowed to go outside unless we are on our harnesses and leashes, and Mommy or Daddy has to be with us at all times. I enjoyed sitting on the back porch, taking in the sights, sounds, and aromas.

Our harnesses feel kinda funny, so when we got outside, we just kinda sat still and sniffed.

We did get to listen to the birdies and see them flying around, so we had a great time!

Except for Meerkat, who seemed to be a little bit anxious the whole time. The look on her face and the position of her ears says it all… “Let me back inside!”

I climbed on the snow, and sniffed the bushes in the front yard.

I ran behind the rho-do-hee-dron bush, then back onto the front porch. Then I went back inside. What an adventure!

Later, I went out the back door. I sniffed around on the back porch, and looked inside the big tall window. If you look closely, you can see my harness in this picture. The harness is black, so it blends in with my furs.

Another thrilling adventure!

of course, us furry bambinos like to help mommy or daddy when they throw the food outside. we snoopervise and we perform qa checks of the peanuts and sunflower seeds.

we also like to sniff the outside air. it smells different than the inside air. in the winter time, the outside air is very cold. for some reason, mommy and daddy always put this gate thingy in front of the door when they feed the birdies.

but the outside air smells exciting!

one of these days, i’m gonna explore out there. for some reason, mommy and daddy always grab me and haul me back inside, just when i’m on the verge of escape!

but i think i’ll wait until it gets warmer.

have a happy easter efurryone!

… Somewhere My Love …

… There are birds that sing …

… But there is no sign of spring here in Northeast Ohio!

OK. The picture of the kitty on the wall with all the little blocks says that today is March 1st. We still have lots and lots of snow here! Mommy says that the snow the other day reminded her of some guy named Dr. Zhivago. I don’t get humans sometimes. Why would snow make her think of a V-E-T?

A few days ago, Mommy opened the back door to throw peace offerings to the big fat beaver squirrels, and to the tiny little snowbirds, and to the bluejays. Mmmmm, blue jays, now I’m getting hungry just telling you this story. Anyway, I got to sniff and eat and play in the snow a little bit. Then Mommy picked me up by the scruff of my neck and hauled me back inside.

Next, Meerkat got to sniff and eat and play in the snow for a little while, and then Mommy grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and hauled her back inside too.

We had a great time! Mommy said that the snow was too cold and too deep for us to play in, but it sure was fun while it lasted!!

the humans in our new living place are nice.  i don’t want them to touch me unless i say it’s okay, so i run from them whenever they come near.  when mister human gets drowsy, i like to climb up with him and sleep next to him.  he treats me real nice and i let him rub my belly. 

the big grey cat and i have an understanding.  you don’t come near me, and i won’t come near you.  he’s nice enough really, but we’re just staying out of each other’s way right now.  i found he doesn’t like sneak attacks like my brother does.

i have explored this big playpen and found lots of places to sneak attack from.  the funnest places are under the big chairs and the footstool that has wheels.  i wait for my brother to walk by and then i ambush him!  the big grey cat doesn’t like my ambushes. 

my brother and i like to play thundering herd of elephants up and down the stairs and around all the rooms of this living place.  there’s lots of room and i like it better than our little dorm rooms at the boarding school.