Pumpkin Treats in the Oven

We received a Christmas card from our vet today with a yummy sounding treat recipe on the back. We just happen to have all the ingredients. So, the treats are in the oven right now! I'll be sure and let you guys know how the doggies and kitties like them. They are made from pumpkin, vanilla, oats and apple sauce. Sounds yummy to me! Mmmm! I might even give one a try. ;)

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I was stuffed!!

Our first Blog award! Yeah!!

Gosh, we received this award a while back and got so busy we forgot. Ooops! Sorry Karen! :\

I received this award from a real sweetheart who loves cats just as much as me! :) Her blog is about her dad and all the cats he loved. Thanks Karen at My Funny Dad, Harry.

Here are the blogs I am nominating:

1. The Cat / Dog Log
2. Nytro Girl
3. Feathers, Fins and Fur
4. Chihuatude
5. Paws 'n' Claws
6. Why Everyone Should Train Dogs
7. K9 Chronicles
8. Casto Creations
9. Stylin Pup Pillows
10. Tatum Tot Spice

Decisions Decisions

I had planned on posting about our favorite dog grooming products today. (check back for those in a couple of days) But I saw this and just had to let everyone know. This is a great cause and fun too!

I'm adding these links to my sidebar so we can all play daily trivia and feed the hungry dogs and cats. They will even send you a daily email. Isn't that fun!?!

So, I'm encouraging, or maybe even challenging, you to add these to your pet blog as well. I know we all love animals. So lets support their effort! Thanks! :)

If you add one or even both of the links somewhere on your site, leave me a comment and let me know. It would surely bring a smile to my face. And I Love to Smile! :D

Cats can get into some of the most embarrassing places

Although I don't like to admit it... my cats like to get on top of the stove. I'm sure everyone who has a cat has seen it do this before. Our newest kitty has just discovered that he can jump and has been on everything lately. Also, the light under our microwave tends to make the stove top nice and toasty. So, today we put some chicken in the oven to bake slowly for a while and then we went into the next room to sit and chat. Later when my husband went to see how our chicken was coming along I heard him clicking a picture with his IPhone. I was curious, so I went to see what was so interesting.




We couldn't help but laugh. He was sleeping so soundly that he didn't even know we were in the room. The oven had obviously made the stove top very warm. And as you can probably guess, this is Fonzi our newest kitty.

So, we removed him from the stove and went back to finish our chat. Later when we went to get the chicken from the oven...






I promise, he was still breathing. lol!

I have filled another spray bottle to keep in the kitchen now. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Life in the Country, with other people's horses (and cows)

After last weekends events, I started to think about what I had imagined this place would be, our cozy little farm house.

I never imagined that we would have vicious wild animals that would be a danger to our pets. In fact, one of the reasons we moved here from the suburbs was for our dogs to have more room to run and play. That was actually the main reason. :) I guess I'm just naive, having grown up in the suburbs myself. I'm not afraid to admit that I was very sheltered as a child.

But growing up in our house was tough. So, I've always considered myself a strong person. My mother never liked for us to cry. It was a sign of weakness. But, along with other recent happenings and the incident with Bobbi, things seem so scary to me now. I cried a lot after Bobbi died. Now I am very skittish whenever our dogs are outside without our constant supervision. I'm always running to the windows if I hear any kind of ruckus at all. To top things off, our neighbors have a Pit Bull puppy. Don't get me wrong, I love Pits. We almost adopted a very loving 6 month old girl. (She loved everyone one of us, except the Jack Russel! That was scary!) But I can see that these people don't care for their animals. Which will most surely lead to a bad outcome with that breed. Pit breeds can be the most loving dogs in the world, if properly raised and cared for. They need a human's love and attention. I can feel that the dog will be trouble and it scares me.

The people who live near us have been here for 20+ years and, well, they fit in. I never thought I would feel like an outsider here. This was going to be our lovely country home. Where we could look out our front door and see horses in the pasture (the neighbors horses, of course). I imagined the neighbors would be friendly country folk and always wave and want to chat. But they are not. They never wave or say hello and will rarely speak at all if we see them out by the fence. My vision of a cozy friendly country home has been shattered. So, what now?

An update on the Pack

Since I had been away for a while, I wanted to give you an update on our pack. As anyone who has followed this blog before knows, we have a few pets. Heehee! Actually, we practically have a petting zoo. Nothing unusual though. Just your basic dogs, cats and fish.

We now have five dogs and 3 cats. In a recent post I talked about cat #4, Bobbi, whom we recently lost to a vicious attack by a wild animal somewhere near our farm house. She was the only outside cat I have ever had or ever will have. We have decided that we just need some good mouse traps for the barn. But we didn't have any luck with that in the beginning. And although Bobbi was a great mouser and loved being outside, I would never do that to another small domesticated animal. Now I even worry about our dogs when they go outside very early in the morning and it's sometimes still dark, since the days are getting shorter.

So, here is the update I promised you. I'm posting pictures of everyone, so you can see for yourself. :) They are all just super pets!!

This is actually a before picture of Rocky. From the day he found us in October of 2007.

Here is the handsome Rocky now! We call him "The Rock Star".

Rocky says "Hi!"

Here is our oldest kitty, Lucky.
He is a big boy, with a little bit of an attitude. :)

Next, is the before photo of Jackie. This was a few days after we adopted her. She had been cleaned up here. You can read about her injuries and her story in these earlier posts.

Here are a couple of pictures of her now. She hates the flash on the camera and it is so hard to get her still enough to take a photo. I usually don't try.

She is in wonderful health now. She still has the lameness on her right side. But most of the time, you wouldn't know it! She also has some arthritis from the injuries.

Now here is a great picture!
This is our kitty Fonzi play biting Jackie. About 6 months ago, Jackie would have really bit him back! They are buddies now. I think we may have actually learned some things from all of the dog training classes! :)

Here is The Fonzi as a tiny little baby!

This pretty lady is Molly, an American Fox Hound. She is Rocky's play pal. She is wearing the underground fence collar.

She LOVES LOVES LOVES to play!!!

Oh, my handsome baby. This is Mommy's baby boy, Quincy.
He was my first puppy and will always be my favorite!
Isn't he handsome?

Quincy turned 7 this year.

Now we are to another sweet kitty. This is Lizzy.
She was rescued by the local firemen from a burning house. I just can't imagine how frightened she must have been.
She is very sweet and loving. But it did take months for her to adjust.

Now, meet The Boss.
Or at least he thinks so! LOL! This is Spike. Spike was my husband's doggy when we got married. He is the only one of our pack that wasn't a rescue or stray. And I just can't imagine life without him. He is quite a character!

Lizzy & Spike hangin' out.

Spike and Rocky playin' in the yard.
Looking at that big yellow snake.
(The garden hose:)

Well, I think I covered everyone. Lizzy, Molly, Jackie, Spike, Fonzi, Quincy, Rocky & Lucky. Yep, that is it! Wooh! So now, any questions? LOL!

Oh, I almost forgot. We have fish too! :D I will have that for another day.