Introductions!

In going back over my blog today in an attempt to do some "housekeeping", like tags and such (I'm so BAD at remembering tags) I stumbled across some of my introductory posts back when I first started up here. It wasn't that long ago - but it was long enough for me to sleep since then - so I had totally forgotten that I promised more introductions to the family! Specifically, the four-legged children of our home. ;) Thanks to Mindee over at Our Front Door - I found my old intro posts, an the unfulfilled promise!
So - until I run out of pets, I'll be sharing one of my beloved babies with you. 
Also, if you haven't met the munchings - please take a look, here! We are a large family, full of love, excitement, and frustration... lots of frustration on some days.
But - again, digressing! Without further ado - I shall introduce you to the Matriarch's of the Family - Magi the Cat, and Gracie the Dog

Magi the Cat

Magi is my sweet, loving, thirteen year old cat. I have had her since I broke up with The Guy and moved to North Carolina 13 years ago. She's opinionated, cranky, and very set in her ways. But I love her dearly, she's a sweet baby - and has been my companion through some very trying and dark times of healing and restoration in myself. She was a touchstone when I needed one, and I will miss her so very much when she is gone. 

Magi and Shakespeare, enjoying a nap

She has made friends with my sons cat Shakespeare, and they truly do enjoy their naps in my bed most afternoons. She is a comfortable reminder of how far I've come in my life. 

Gracie the Dog

Gracie, or Miss Grace, Graciegirl, or Piggy as we are wont to call her at times, is the indisputable alpha dog of the house. She bosses everyone around and brooks NO dispute. She is tough and strong and mighty and fierce. Also... she weighs 8 lbs soaking wet and can put a 90-lb. boxer/lab mix on his haunches in 2.2 seconds - no kidding. She is the "mama" of the pack I would say. When inside all dogs bow to Grace. She also runs the children, giving them away when they're doing stuff they're not supposed to. If one of them hits the other - she barks, loudly to tell on the aggressor. She never lies, either! 

She's about 10 years old, and is starting now to show her age - she moves slower these days, and isn't as able to get up on the chair or couch as in days gone by. We love her, however, we know that the life expectancy of small dogs is not as long as cats or big dogs. So our time with her is growing shorter - she may live to as old as 17, but age is not her friend. 

She's a feisty one though, and the first to bark warning when something moves... anything - a leaf, a tree, a dog, a person... her yip seems to say "It's a Thing, It's a Thing, It's a Thing!!! OMG ITS A THING!!

Funny, and annoying, but she keeps us entertained. 

So there you have it - top cat, and top dog! Welcome to our little world, hope you can visit often!

An Epic Battle...

Tucker... I talked about him just a little here, mostly just to state that up to that point, in the three years we've owned him, he'd never had his picture taken. 
The other night I was working on a new chicken recipe, and photographing as I went and Tucker slipped into the kitchen. Immediately the chicken packaging in the trash can attracted his attention - and he went for it... what ensued went something like this: 

NO! Give that back -- it is mine... all mine!

I mean it... seriously, I'm not kidding... it's MINE!

It is MINE I'm telling you -- I found it, fair and square!

Notice, that in the above photo, Tucker has only one small piece of this massive chicken package in his mouth... My daughter is attempting to assist in taking it away from him... he's not having it. There was much growling...

You people kill me... I will be back!

I've noticed something about this cat. He is elusive until there is food involved. Not cat food, by any means, because that's always available... but people food -- cakes, meats, frozen goods, bread... it's all fair game. Another reason why I need to reclaim my kitchen to a more functional and efficient space... and to cut down on catastrophes...

I have a cat...

who stinks... nothing in this world can take the funk out of this cat... 
She's beautiful...

she is also old... 11 years old... and might I mention, that she stinks...


Now this cat is truly amazing... at the ripe old age of 10 she taught herself how to use the toilet... mostly because the other cats use the litter box and she's too good for the other cats... and partly because at her age, going to the bathroom can sometimes take a while, and after all, the humans do it -- 'anyone got a good book about dog torture'? 


But, I cannot imagine for the life of me how my beautiful old angel got to smelling so bad... maybe it's her obsession with the woods behind our barn... maybe it's the fact that she has no bottom teeth anymore and so she drools incessantly... maybe the fact that she has no teeth prevents her from cleaning herself appropriately anymore... 


That's all beside the point.... 
the point is... I. love. this. cat. seriously!

so for now I will be content in the knowledge that at 11 she's still pretty, still sweet, still marching to the tune of a different drum... and I can put up with the odor to get some of that sweet old lady love... Dear magi -- I'm buying you some wet naps for your birthday!