Never try to read the paper with a Cat

As a cat owner, I know that there some things you cannot do in the house.  Things that attract the cat, like running the can opener, opening the refrigerator and don't even think about moving the cat treat box because even if the cat is on the third floor they will hear it.  Moments ago I saw Tipper, my cat, leap over the sleeping dog in a single bound when he saw me reach up to the top of the fridge (that's where the cat treats are).

After dinner I decided to read the newspaper on the front porch.  Can you believe this weather? I am off tomorrow so I have been using this three day weekend to do gardening and houseclean the kitchen.  So I decided to relax and enjoy the weather for a little bit.  As I started to read the newspaper, Oakley, the neighbor's cat came over to my porch.  Oakley has my mom trained to feed him dry food and cat treats.  I endeavored to ignore Oakley.  As I was reading the Comics a paw came over the top of the paper pushing it down.  I said no, no treats Oakley, I am reading the paper. 

Next Oakley jumped up on the arm of the chair, pretending to rub his head on the chair, he then decides to wash my arm with his sand paper tongue.  I still tried to read the paper, and then it happened Oakley sat on top of the paper and I had no choice but to pet him and scratch his ears, when he got off my lap I went in and got him some treats, this is when Tipper leaped over the dog. 

After treats I went back to reading the paper, however whenever I picked up the paper and tried to read it this somehow signaled Oakley to again jump up on my lap.  After several tries I gave up, it was now getting dark and Oakley had finally left and was back over on his porch. 

I will now try to read the paper on the sofa, but I know, as soon as I do, Tipper will come over and sit on top of the paper.  Some things are inevitable in life, and cats not letting you read the newspaper is one of those things.

Enjoy the weather and that's another day in Catasauqua.

The Mystery of the Missing Mouse

This morning, at about 4:00 AM I was awaken by a sound, it was familiar but I couldn't place it at the time.  A series of squeaks or tweets - I reasoned it to be a bird, perhaps on my windowsill.  But later I woke again and this time to the rattling on my bedroom door.  Tipper, my cat, was trying to get in.  Oh no, I thought, that was the sound of a mouse, a dying mouse.   My thoughts raced, did Tipper catch the mouse, was it still around?  Tipper has a way of not killing them and playing with them for a long time.  Not like a cat I had along time ago when I lived in Whitehall. 

Jelly Bean was a mouser, a cat with knack of catching and killing mice, and lining them up to show me how proud she was.  We lived next to neighbors who never cut their grass which was like a "field of dreams" for a cat.   One night she came home and "knocked" at the door, I think she would rub up on the screen door which causes a knocking noise.  When I looked she was sitting there, just sitting with a stupid grin on her face.  I was like "what the heck JB what are you doing?"  Well, she showed me, she came and opened her mouth and out popped a live mouse, which she proceeded to chase all over the house.  My greatest fear was that while I slept she was going to kill and bring it into the bedroom and put it on the bed and I would wake up with a mouse head on the bed (shades of the Godfather but in a tiny way).  Well, she had it in the living room under the coffee table, that wasn't too bad. 

But  this mornings challenge was - is there a dead mouse somewhere.  Tipper and the attic Cat, better known as Cat, were both hyper this morning.  So I don't think it was either one who got the mouse.  But I believe it was perhaps outside of my bedroom window.  The neighbors Cat, Oakley and three other cats visit my front porch since my mom moved in and  feeds the cats.  But with that, last Saturday I saw a rather large mouse also partaking of the cat food, which scampered into my ivy upon me seeing him.  I said to Parke, that it was funny that it was out there with all the cats about.  My thought is that it is no longer a resident of Catasauqua. 

Well that's my morning here in rainy Catasauqua, hey at least it is not snow.  We are really having a mild winter.  I like it, and with that.....it's another day in Catasauqua.