Gotcha!

One of the earliest pictures we have of me, not long after I came to live with Kate back in '02.

Today is my seventh gotchaversary!

Seven years ago, Kate came and picked me up from the place where I used to live and took me to live with her. That was even before she and Nick got married.

It's also the day that we celebrate my birthday, even though it's not exactly the day that I was born. Today, I'm officially nine years old!

Finally, on this very special day, I'd like to send special purrs across the universe to my birthday buddy, the late George Harrison. Thanks for your musics, Georgie Boy.

Cheers,
--Pabs

Faux feral Friday

I'm not feral, or formerly feral, but we're all a little wild at heart, aren't we? To all you FFs out there, did I get the look of fear right?

Cheers,
--Pabs

A Pablog exclusive: Axel's narrow escape, part 2

Axel and Manny enjoying a snuggle when they were reunited after the fires.

As promised, part 2 of my Pablog exclusive: Axel's narrow escape (check out yesterday's post if you missed part 1):

Nonno quickly got us out of there, but there was no other free road, so we had to go back home. We didn’t have much time, so it was back to the dam next to the vineyard where we held our last stand. We were all ready with blankets to jump into the dam if need be. With pumps and hoses going, we were not only able to save ourselves, but also the vineyard, sheds, equipment and house too!! The paddocks and fences and all that was in them are gone though.

Daddy tried to get up to us, but was blocked at every road in by the police. He knows the area well, and found a forestry road in, but was stopped only a few km’s away by burning trees on the road!! He had to go back home, not knowing what happened to us. It was all ok for us though, he came the next morning with Aunty Gianna, and helped out with the initial cleanup. The goats survived too. We lost a lot, but nothing compared to so many in our area and the rest of fire zone. The danger hadn’t passed though, it was days until all the spot fires were out, and the threat of another big fire was real. So the fire fighters charged though the properties putting in fire breaks with bulldozers and were backburning.

I hope that the pictures tell a better story then I have. As they say, a picture tells a thousand words.

As heartbreaking as it was for all this to happen, and what is still happening, it’s also heartwarming too!! Within hours, the reports of property loss and the death toll was being fed to us. But also as fast was news about the support and relief efforts! Every imaginable thing has been thought of and supplied to everyone affected by the fires. Even cat food!! You see, even though our property and house may not have been burnt down, there are still a lot of other long-term problems to be fixed. Ash and silt are everywhere!! All food and water is contaminated, the house needs to be washed down, inside and out. The animals now have to be hand fed, as there is literally no grass left. And the cleanup effort will take months to finish. I normally like a nice dead animal to play with. But there are so many around – wombats, kangaroo’s, possums, rabbits, deer, as well as livestock– that the stench is unbearable in this heat.

But the main thing is we’re all ok. A lot of the neighbours were not so lucky, losing a lot or everything. And it has brought the community, and Australia, together!! I am so proud to be an Australian!! Even though there are a few sick people taking advantage of the generosity, we are, as a whole, the lucky country. And Daddy says from now on he will chew the head off any hippy who whinges about the nation!!

With love and purrs, Axel. Full-time Farm Supervisor and part-time Tiger.

A goat in one of the fields that was saved from the fire... you can see how dry the countryside was before the fires!

A goose in the area where Manny's parents stopped the fire. Hooray!

Manny and Butch posing in front of the damaged farmland. Even in times of crisis, Manny is a poser (!)

What an amazing story! Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Axel and Manny. By the way, if you want to give financial support to those who need help after these awful fires, you can go to the links I posted in my post last Tuesday.

Cheers,
--Pabs

P.S. Kate's a little bit worried about what will happen next time she sees Manny, as she may well be one of the 'hippies who whinge about the nation' that he was talking about!!

A Pablog exclusive: Axel's narrow escape, Part 1

Axel on farm patrol. Looks like fun!

Axel and his daddy, Manny. They're old friends of ours.

Most of you heard about the terrible bushfires that happened in country Victoria (in southeast Australia) in early February. While many people and creatures lost their lives and their homes in these fires, we can be thankful that no blogging kitties or their families were hurt in this disaster. But my mate and sometime blogger Axel had a very close call, and he's written a report on his experiences that I'm honoured to publish here on Pablog.

First, some context. Axel was born in Tasmania and adopted by his daddy, Manny, who is a friend of Kate and Nick's (Kate even went to the adoption centre with Manny when he adopted Axel!). A few years ago, Axel and Manny moved from Tasmania to Victoria. Axel now lives with his nonno and nonna on a farm around an hour's drive north of Melbourne, just north of a town called Wandong, while his daddy lives in the city.

Here is part 1 of Axel's narrow escape, along with a few pictures taken by Manny in the days after the fires:

Hello Everycat, Axel here.

The first thing I want to say is, I am not a bushfire victim, I am a bushfire survivor. Pablo has asked me to give a meow-by-meow account of what happened on Saturday the 7th of February. I am very honoured to have been asked to do this. So here goes...

We woke up to another bad day of heat and wind. In fact, the worst that Victoria has ever seen on record. The gauges at the farm read 49 degrees (120F) by midday! Then my nonna and nonno saw smoke directly west of them, over on the other side of the Hume Highway, the main route from Melbourne to Sydney. The wind was blowing south towards Melbourne, so we were ok. It very quickly spread to the Hume, then jumped over the other side, but we were still ok. We lost power and phones, but the mobiles were still ok. So nonna was calling daddy every hour or so for updates from the emergency websites.

They activated their fire plans when they realised this fire was out of control – a few fires were now burning, a cool change was predicted, but they still put me, my farmhand Jerry, and Butch the sleepy dog into the cellar out of the smoke and danger. The cool change came, but it didn’t help at all. All it did was turn the wind straight back at us. It wasn’t long before the fire was raging straight up at us!! So we abandoned everything, all got into nonno’s ute (like a pickup truck) and tried to get to a safe area. Only a couple of km’s down the road the fire had caught us, and big trees were falling everywhere. It was very dark now too. Even though it was only 6pm, the thick smoke was blocking out the sunlight. All of a sudden – SMASH!! We drove into a fallen tree!!

The family ute, which was hit by a tree.

Butch the dog inspecting a fire-damaged paddock on the farm.

A nearby home, destroyed by the flames.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part 2 of Axel's narrow escape...

Cheers,
--Pabs

I'm not the world's most passionate mancat...

...but I know that today is a day for friends and, ahem, lovers *blush* to think about how much they mean to each other.

I hear that flowers help with this sort of thing, so here's a picture of some sunflowers that Kate and I grew this summer:
Happy Valentine's Day, everycat! May all your wildest dreams come true, especially if they involve chicken.

Cheers,
--Pabs

Too many sad things

There are just too many sad things going on at the moment.

I think most people in the world would know that there have been some terrible, terrible bushfires in Australia over the past weekend. They've mostly affected the state of Victoria, which is where my friends Huffle Mawson and Gypsy and Tasha live (but they're in the city, so they're ok). So far, these fires have claimed at least 173 human lives, and no doubt the lives of countless pets, feral animals and native animals. At least 750 homes have been destroyed, and thousands of people (and probably lots of animals too) are homeless.

At the same time, there have been big floods up in northeast Australia, where the Forever Foster cats live (but they're ok too). Many beans and animals have been affected.

Australia can be a very extreme place to live sometimes.

Meanwhile, My friend Momo's SS lost her dear aunt yesterday afternoon. And last week, the blogosphere lost some dear friends, including Jake, Huffle's brother Salvador, and Bear. It's all too sad.

So today, I'm sending purrs to people and creatures everywhere who are injured, hurting, or missing someone they love. Please join me.

*** If your beans are able to help those who have suffered in the Victorian bushfires, they can make donations to the Australian Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal or to the RSPCA in Victoria (I'm not sure if these online donation facilities will work overseas. It's worth a shot!)***

Cheers,
--Pabs

Investigationing

With props to Aussie comedian Ryan Shelton for the title of today's blog post.

Cheers,
--Pabs

Newsflash: Aussie cat to play in Super Bowl XLIII

... unfortunately, it's not me.

But former Geelong Cats captain (from the Australian Football League) Ben Graham, who punts for the Arizona Cardinals, will tomorrow (Australian time) become the first Australian to play in a Super Bowl when his team goes up against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's overcome a niggling groin injury, and looks set to make history for Australia.

As you can see from the photo above, I'm usually a Vikings man, but I'll be supporting the Cardinals in the big game, for Ben Graham's sake. Go Cardinals!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, everycat!

Cheers,
--Pabs

P.S. I'm honoured to be featured in Zoolatry's High Five Sunday today. Go and check me out, I look great, thanks to some Zoolatry magic.

Chillaxin on a Friday arvo...

Hi everycat,

Ahh, it's Friday arvo (that's Aussie for 'afternoon'... we Aussies love shortening words and putting 'o' on the end). It's been a warm week in Hobart, not the sweltering conditions that my mates in Melbourne and Adelaide have endured (with daily maximums in the mid-40s), but some lovely warm weather in the high 20s/low 30s (Celsius). I've been spending most of my days out here on the patio, roasting my furs on the warm concrete and having some lovely grit-baths.

As my mate Jeter Harris would say, 'life iz grate'.

Happy weekend, everycat!

Cheers,
--Pabs

A very special day

January 26 is a special day in Australia. It's a public holiday for Australia Day, marking the day in 1788 when the First Fleet of British settlers landed in Australia (in Sydney, to be precise). It's a day to celebrate everything that's good about being Australian and living in Australia. But it's a sad day for the traditional owners of this land, who see 26 January 1788 as a day of invasion. Somebeans think we should pick a new date for our national holiday. They might be right. But, like last year, there is a whole NOTHER reason why we can celebrate on 26 January: It's my friend Lucy's TWENTY-FIRST birthday!!!!

Lucy has taught me many things, but the main thing she's taught me is that a cat is never to old to enjoy the magic herb (cat thyme, that is). Here she is cosying up to her favourite cat thyme plant on her deck. Lucy is still in great shape and has a wonderful life with her bean, Sue. Sue comes and feeds me sometimes when Nick and Kate are away. She rocks.

Happy birthday, Lucy! May you live to be a million and twenty-one!

Cheers,
--Pabs

I know nothing...

I'm totally pleading the fifth... do we have that in Australia?

Cheers,
--Pabs

Yes. We. Did!

...watch Barack Obama's inauguration, even though it took place at 3.30am, Tasmanian time. This is what I look like when I get woken up in the middle of the night. I must say though, I looked a lot better than Kate did!
Once I woke up a bit and realised what was going on, I made my way to a comfy spot in front of the TV:Kate dragged my underbed mattress into the living room especially for this historic occasion.
Our friend Fiona (who hung out with me when Nick and Kate were away a few weeks ago) came around and watched the inauguration with us. It was great to witness this important moment, even though it meant waking up in the middle of the night. We wish you all the best, President Obama!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Mancat Monday: Extreme grooming

A mancat's grooming is never done (especially in summer when all our furs are shedding). May as well make it an extreme sport. It's the mancatly thing to do.

Cheers,
--Pabs

It's unani... unanima... um... we all agree!

... that Daisy has the BEST pet blog EVER!

So there!!

Cheers,
--Pabs

What I did last week...

Last week, Nick and Kate went on a little holiday. That's why I haven't been blogging so much lately. Their friend Fiona came to stay with me, and helped me write this post. Sorry that it's late...

My beans have been ‘on the mainland’ for the last few days (that’s what us Tassiecats call the rest of Australia). They recruited their friend Fiona to be protectorchef while they’re away. I can’t believe they still don’t realise that I am mancat enough to feed and defend myself.

Things got off to a bad start with Fiona. She came around with a big and littlebean and the littlebean said rude things about me. (“He sounds like a baby.” I did not sound like a baby - I was merely informing Fiona of my heartfelt desire to go outside.) They looked at a wad of paper Kate had left then went WITHOUT LETTING ME OUTSIDE. How am I supposed to maintain my mancat status if I’m denied the opportunity to battle the othercats?! Then the next evening she returned AND STILL REFUSED TO LET ME OUTSIDE.

Thank goodness there’s been lots of food and water and Nick and Kate’s underbed. That’s all I can say.

Cheers,
--Pabs

NB Things picked up with Fiona. The next morning Fiona relented and let me outside, so I had some goodtimes lying in the sun and keeping an eye on things.

The poop cushion

Can you see the poop on the cat cushion? It's on the right-hand side of the cat's face, just below his ear. Here's a close-up:

That's what I'm talking about! And Daisy, it did smell good. Really birdy.

Cheers,
--Pabs

There was a bird! Inside! My house!

It was up there! Inside the chimney! I think it was a late Christmas present from Santa! But they took it away, and they didn't even get any good photos of it, and only this laser-eyed one of me! But I could smell that it had been there! In my living room! And it pooped on a cushion! Wow!

Cheers,
--Pabs

New Year's Eve... bring it on!

It may still be daylight, but it's New Year's Eve and you know what that means? Flashy, noisy, bang-y things in the sky tonight! So I've got my hiding spot under Nick and Kate's bed all picked out.

By the way, me hiding here during the day has got NOTHING to do with the fact that Nick is mowing the lawns right now.

Nothing.

Happy New Year, everycat! See y'all in 2009!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Hey! I'm up here!

Can you see me? I'm not in jail, I'm just up on the patio, chilling out. Our garden is terraced so there's lots of great vertical space... and lots of jumping and climbing to be done. Keeps me young.But for now, I've got some chilling to do...

Cheers,
--Pabs
P.S. I'm a little slow with the news, but Jeter Harris is home! Woo hoo!!!

Here comes Momo!

Every year, on Boxing Day, the famous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race begins, attracting entrants from all over Australia and the world. It's an amazing sight to see all the yachts leaving Sydney Harbour in full sail, and when the 'yachties' finally arrive in Hobart (most take three or so days to get here), it's one big party! Many stay for our New Year's celebrations on the famous Hobart waterfront.

Can you see who's at the helm (?) of this yacht? My Sydney mate Momo is coming down to see me! Woo hoo! She's much braver than me. I hate even thinking about getting my paws wet.

Cheers,

--Pabs