A meme: Seven things about me

Hi everycat!

My good friend Phoebe (co-chairfeline of the Pablo Fan Club) has tagged me for a meme. So here it is: seven things about me.

1. Ok. Let's get a few awkward ones out of the way first. Fact Number One: I have two litter trays. See?
(Don't worry- they're clean!) There's an explanation here. Whe Kate first got me, I wasn't totally down with the whole toilet training thing, even though I was two years old. Kate noticed that I didn't like to use the tray when I'd already... um... been in it. So she gave me two, so I'd always have a clean one! I don't mind so much these days; in fact, I mostly go outside these days. The trays are just for nighttime and rainy days. P.S. Kate's thinking of trying me on the crystal stuff... do any of you use it? What's it like?


2. We all like to rub our scent on things, right? I know I do:

Well... I'm pretty greasy. Nick and Kate regularly have to clean the grease from my favourite rubbing spots in the kitchen (and on the legs of the ironing board).
See the greasy black mark? Even I admit that it's gross. But a mancat needs to mark his territory!


3. I don't do laps (sitting, sleeping in people's laps). Ever. Fact Number Four kind of explains why.


4. By my rough calculations, I've lived with 15 people over my seven years in the world. (For the first 2 years of my life, I was a sharehouse cat. Since then, I've lived exclusively with Nick and Kate.) I had to deal with too too many people when I was a youngcat... I think this is why I don't like people so much. Even now.


5. But recently, I've decided to let Uncle Simon pick me up without going nuts at him! Here's Uncle Simon. He's Nick's big brother:

Letting Uncle Simon pick me up is a Big Deal. It's his reward for feeding me when Nick and Kate go away. He understands my needs.


6. I have a post-food 'soul cry'. After I've eaten, I do a couple of really long, deep, mournful meows. There's two main reasons for this: 1- it's an existential cry. Kind of like, 'I eat, therefore I am a cat'. 2- I'm mourning the fact that I've just eaten, and the point just after eating marks the longest point before I eat again.

7. This is a big confession... I have a 'brother'. His name is Ben. That's not the confession part. This is the confession part:
Yep, he's a dog. He's Kate's dog. He lives with her parents, 300kms from here. Frankly, that's not far away enough. I've never met him; I've only smelt him on Kate's stuff after she's been to visit him. Let's hope it stays that way!

So there you go. Seven very candid facts about me. Now I have to tag other cats to do the meme. I tag Beto, Axel, Jack and Persephone and... any othercat who hasn't been tagged!

Cheers,
--Pabs

While the Kate's away...

I am not allowed on the table.

It's one of the Cardinal Rules.

But when Kate flies off to Melbourne for a week, such rules go out the window. Tables are great. I love being up on higher levels. You get a different perspective on life. Speaking of different perspectives (how's that for a segue?), Kate sent me back this picture she took in Chinatown in the Melbourne CBD:

They're Chinese lucky cats, said to bring prosperity to businesses who display them in their window. I'll have to ask my Chinese friend Shelley what the characters say.

Anyway, Kate's back home now, having attended her 'important conference', seen her football team get thrashed (that's what we call it when one team beats another by a big margin) by Nick's football team and dressed up as Madonna at Aunty Tracey's karaoke birthday party. She didn't get to go and see Axel though, which sucks.

So I'll be back on the blogosphere as normal now. But I don't think I'll try my luck on the table anymore. I might get squirted with the water spray!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Benvenuto, Axel!

This is Axel. He's a rescue cat. He lives with Kate and Nick's friend Manny. I've never met Axel, but Nick used to live with him before he and Kate were married, and Kate was actually with Manny when he adopted Axel from the RSPCA as a tiny kitten. Well, Axel sure landed on his paws there, cause he now lives on an awesome farm outside of Melbourne, where he has acres of land to explore... and he is very spoiled by his Nonno, Manny's dad.

Anyway, Axel now has his own blog, where we can keep up with his adventures on the farm. I'm also hoping that he'll tell us about his adventures in Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne, when he busted out of his kitty carrier after flying from Hobart to Melbourne to go and live on the farm. That story has become legendary among the cats of Hobart.

Benvenuto, Axel!
Cheers,
--Pabs

P.S. Just wanted everycat to know that I do intend to update my blog links to include as many of you as I can. I need Kate's help with that, and she's 'busy' at the moment. Whatever. Maybe I'll just get her to do a few at a time. So don't be offended if you're a Pablog regular and you're not there... you will get there, I promise!

On balance

Man, I've sat on this meme for a coupla weeks now. Sorry, everycat! Anyway, it came from Faz and it's about achieving balance in one's life. Hope you enjoy my thoughts... with pink text in honour of Lilly Lu, who's been pretty sick lately.

How do you achieve balance in your life?
We cats have an innate sense of balance (like on fences and walls and things), and I reckon we're pretty good at inner balance, too. We don't have to work particularly hard to achieve it, it just happens...

What is your biggest challenge in balancing your life?
Having to depend on Nick and Kate for food and outdoor privileges cramps my style a bit sometimes. But I've been living with them for almost 5 years now, they're learning to see things my way more and more.

What are your priorities?
All my priorities revolve around the most important thing in my life: me! My comfort, my standing in the West Hobart feline commuity, my health. As such, my priorities are threefold:


Work: This is me on partol for the West Hobart Tigers. As captain/coach, it's vital that I lead by example. This takes up a fair bit of my waking time.


Rest: Here's me doing what I do best, relaxing on my sheepskin rug in my basket. If you're a regular visitor to this blog, you'll know that the sheepskin is but one of my many sleeping places. I like to rotate them from time to time; right now, I'm going through a basket phase.


Play: Aah, the old stringplay. Keeps me fit and young, as well as helping me develop skills and drills to share with the Tigers.

How have your priorities changed over time and why?
Well, they've always revolved around my comfort and my public profile. I'd like to think that I've become a bit more outward-looking since I've been with the Tigers. But not too much!

What advice can you share to help all of us balance our own lives?
To appropriate a well-worn phrase from the world of chocolate advertising, 'A chicken a day helps you work, rest and play!'

Cheers,
--Pabs

... and hooray for Monica!

After much deliberation, Monica has joined her sister Phoebe in venturing Outside! I know that Monica thought long and hard about whether or not to do this, so I understand what a big deal it is. Doesn't she look great out there?
Check out Phoebe and Monica's blog for more great pictures of both ladies going Outside. Congratulations, Monica!

Cheers,
--Pabs

My cousin Gypsy

Here are some pictures of my cousin Gypsy. She's not my real cousin, but our human mums are cousins... in a roundabout sort of way. Check out her very unusual (but pretty) markings (that's all natural, no dye jobs or photoshopping involved. I promise):
As you can see, Gypsy is a sink-o-phile. I told her mum that she should send her picture into Cats in Sinks. Like you, Daisy, she also likes to drink out of the tap (that's what you Americats call a faucet). It looks pretty tricky:
Think I'll stick to bathdrinking.

Cheers,
--Pabs

Hooray for Phoebe!!

This is my friend Phoebe. She's co-chairfeline (with her sister Monica) of the US chapter of the Pablo Fan Club. And she's outside! Her mum Tracey bought her a harness so she could go exploring... and she's out there! Look how cool she looks!

Can all you outsidecats remember how scary it was going outside for the first time as a kitten? Well, imagine having to do it as a grownupcat, when you're all set in your ways and stuff? I really dunno if I could do it. You can see more pics of Phoebe's expeditions on Phoebe and Monica's blog, but I just had to offer my congratulations here, too.

Three cheers for Phoebe!
Cheers,
--Pabs

Skinny Ginger (West Hobart Tigers player profile #2)

Player name: Skinny Ginger
Rookie year: 2002
Skills: Alertness, great social skills (especially good at liaising with people), extremely car-savvy, awesome sense of smell, fearless roof climber/walker
Favourite pasttime: Car maintenance

Skinny Ginger is one of the West Hobart Tigers veterans. He even pre-dates me! Now I've spoken about SG on this blog before... and some very smartcat asked me if the fact that there was a Skinny Ginger implied that there was also a Fat Ginger. Well, it's true. Fat Ginger, Skinny Ginger and Blackie were the original West Hobart Tigers, forming back in 2002. But we haven't seen poor Fat Ginger for a few years... don't know if he's gone to the bridge or if he's moved elsewhere or if he's just keeping a low profile. Anyway, Skinny Ginger is a great player, especially with the ruckwork (that's jumping up and tapping the ball to other players) and the contested marks (that's jumping up and catching the ball).


Off the field, we've noticed that SG has a real penchant for cars. If I ever need to find him for a team meeting or a training session, I just look under the nearest car. He's actually gained quite a bit of automotive knowledge over the years. We're planning on making him our team mechanic (if we ever get a team bus, that is). You can tell that he's an automotive expert. Look at how expert he looks:
SG is the Tiger who's most at ease around people (he's been known to wander into neighbours' homes and curl up on their beds!). This makes him the natural choice for the Tigers' Human Relations Officer, a job he carries out with distinction. SG is also lucky enough to have the most extensive outside privileges of any of us. So he takes the lion's share of the outdoor patrols. Thanks, SG!

So that's Skinny Ginger, another champion player with the West Hobart Tigers. Next month, look out for West Hobart Tigers player profile #3: Graham White.

Happy Easter to everycat, too!
Cheers,
--Pabs

Five reasons why I blog...

Here I am outside on the patio, pondering my answers to this meme. I take these things seriously!

(With thanks to my good friend Phoebe, who tagged me for this meme.)

1. Shameless self-promotion, and promotion of Pablo Enterprises and the West Hobart Tigers.
2. Being able to meet and make friends with awesome cats from all around the world.
3. Being able to report on important cat news from Australia on The Cat Blogosphere.
4. To do my bit to help cats dominate cyberspace.
5. Helping me with my blog gives Kate something to do, so she doesn't hassle me for pats and cuddles so much.

OK. I now tag Faz, Beto, Jack, Icon Baxter Bentley and Merlin!

Happy Caturday!
Cheers,
-- Pabs

Bathdrinking...

Hello. My name is Pablo, and I'm a bathdrinker.

What? Haven't you ever seen anycat bathdrinking before?

People might think it's gross, but I know that cats will understand. Dogs too.

Lately, Kate's been giving me the drys (a.k.a. dry cat food) for breakfast every other day. She says that it's good for my teeth to be doing some crunching. And she's a 'responsible pet owner', she makes sure that I have plenty of fresh water available whenever I want... but it's not the same as bathdrinking water (which isn't bathwater, because my people don't have baths. They have showers, so technically, it's showerwater and I should be calling this showerdrinking. But bathdrinking sounds way better).

So after they've finished doing their morning things in the bathroom, in I hop for a bit of bathdrinking goodness.

This photo is a bit odd... kinda looks like I'm floating in the middle of nothing... and like I've only got two legs. Oh well. I never said that bathdrinking was pretty. But it sure is good.

Bathdrinking. Try it sometime!

Cheers,
--Pabs

A Pablo Enterprises community service announcement...

Has this ever happened to you?

Most well-trained cat people know that tails are not for pulling, but I'm guessing that everycat's had at least one experience with a wiseguy prankster, an 'innocent' toddler or a should-know-better child who has pushed the boundaries of feline interaction just that little bit too far. I should know, I've been there.

More than that, I live with a married twentysomething couple who are bound to have kids in the next few years. I'm a toughcat; I can take on anycat that comes my way. But frankly, cats of the world, when it comes to human kids, I fear for my safety.

But never fear, everycat! Some amazingly wonderful and understanding people have written a how-to manual for people to read to their children to teach them about the right ways to handle cats (and dogs and other animals, for that matter). It's called Tails are not for pulling, and was written by Elizabeth Verdick and illustrated by Marieka Heinlen. You can find out more about it, check out some of the illustrations and read an excerpt of the book on the publisher's website. Now, I've not been paid any money, in-kind cat food or any other goods or services to let you all know about this... I'm just letting you know about it for the good of us all.

May your tails be un-pulled, your furs un-patted the wrong way and your whiskers un-trimmed!
Cheers,
--Pabs
PS: no tails were pulled in the making of this announcement.

Monday moochin'...

Now that autumn has arrived, and thus chillier weather in the mornings, I've taken to hopping in bed with Nick and Kate after I have my breakfast. I snuggle up with Kate (I'm nocat's fool, Nick would just kick me out) until she has to get up, then I get the whole warm bed to myself... for the rest of the day, if I want!

Kate took this picture of me before she went to work this morning, and I was in pretty much the same position when she came home a bit before 6pm tonight. Given the fact that I got into bed at about 7am this morning, that's 11 big hours of Monday mooching!

Now that's a way to spend a Monday...
Cheers,
--Pabs

P.S. My virtual squillion finally arrived! Thanks, Sanjee! His name is Justin Timberlake. That's him down there to the right. He's bringing sexy back... yeah! (If you don't know anything about squillions, and want to change that, click here.)

Top o'St Patty's Day to you!

I've been very busy today.
I wanted Kate to take a really stylish St Patrick's Day portrait of me playing in the patch of clover outside so I could post it for everyone to see. But when the time came to take the shot, I just couldn't stand still. This was the best one that we got...
Lots of Tasmanians are of Irish descent, including Kate. The Irish immigrants of the past probably brought their cats with them, so there's a good chance that I've got some Irishcat in me too. So, I thought I owed it to my ancestors to try another project...





St Patrick was a pretty important guy; he invented Ireland in 1371. He also invented Guinness and potatoes a few years after that. The other important thing that he did was to kick all the snakes out of Ireland, so Irish cats would never have to worry about them. That's why everyone celebrates on March 17. Even the cat on Kate's cat-a-day calendar was decked out for the occasion, although he doesn't look very happy about it:
(By the way, notice how the cat-a-day calendar cheats on weekends? I bet the cat didn't even get paid extra for having to cover two days...)

Anyway, Happy St Patrick's Day!
Cheers,
--Pabby O'Riley (Pabs)

Africats!!

Check this out: A family of real, live Africats! This picture came to me via Anne, one of Kate's work colleagues. Anne is originally from South Africa; her brother and his wife still live there... and these are their cats! On the far right, we have Mimi, next to her is Tom. Behind Tom, to the left, is Zaza, with her brother Bubbles in front. Bubbles and Zaza are Mimi and Tom's kids! And I think that Bubbles looks a bit like my good friend Monica... what do you think, Monica? They live in a suburb called Albermarle, south-east of Johannesburg. I know that's a big city, but I bet that they know some bigcats. You can see it in their eyes. I know that deep down we're all Africats, but it would really be something to be an Africat in Africa.

It would really make you feel tough.
Cheers,
--Pabs

Thursday tagging...

Hi everyone, sorry I've been absent on the blogosphere for a while. Kate went away again and Nick REFUSES to help me with my posts (grrrr!). Anyway, a few dudes (Merlin, Kimo and Sabi and Faz, to be precise) have all 'tagged' me since I've been away, and have probably been chewing their tails off in anticipation of my responses. So, here goes... it's an epic!


A. Four places I have lived...
1. Liverpool Street, West Hobart (in a share house with my first mums, Heidi and Nikki, and about a million other housemates).
2. Lynton Avenue, Dynnyrne (where I moved with Nikki when she got married).
3. Queen Street, Sandy Bay (where I first lived with Kate. This was also a share house, inhabited by Uncle Des, Rachel, Gibbo and Oliver... Oliver was a baby bean in Rachel's tummy, though).
4. Bathurst Street, West Hobart (the first place that Nick and Kate lived in after they got married. Huge garden, all mine. Awesome).

Pablo's pontifications: It's ok if you have to live in a share house, but if you can, TRY TO AVOID THEM. A million people live in them and they all might not understand how cats work. They might be loud and thumpy and move real fast so you get all skitty cause you don't know what they'll do next. Too many strangers come to share houses. It's better to live with just one or two people who understand you really well. Having said that, there is more chance of accidentally getting fed multiple dinners in a share house, if you play your cards right.

B. Four things I love to watch...
1. The kitchen. It's where all the food-related stuff happens.
2. My jungle from my observation deck in Nick and Kate's bedroom. I spend a whole lotta time here surveying my outdoor kingdom from the comfort of inside. I'll take some photos of it one day.
3. My shoelaces (when Nick and Kate wiggle them). I know, I know... I don't wear shoes, but my shoelaces are my favourite stringplay equipment. Try them.
4. Australian Idol. Especially the year that Shannon Noll came second. He's my favourite singer. For some reason, Nick and Kate think that's funny...

C. Four places I have been outside my home...
1. The v-e-t. Haven't had to go for a while, thank God!
2. The c-a-r. Just as scary as the v-e-t, I reckon. It's so loud and movey! And I have to go in that lame plastic carrier thing. It doesn't magically transform into a kitty palace just because you put a blanky in it!!
3. My jungle. The neighbours like to think that it's their big overgrown backyard, but it's actually my jungle, and the home ground of the West Hobart Tigers. A great place to rumble with my buddies!
4. Over the street. I don't go very often, but I do dash across the street in the evenings sometimes, just when I feel like pushing myself out of my comfort zone a bit. There's some good smells over there, and it's where my Tigers team mate Graham White lives. P.S. Don't tell Kate that I go over there, she doesn't know!

Pablo's proviso: I'm an outside cat. So it's not really that big a deal for me to go outside my home, at least within a certain geographical radius. And I'm not a social guy, so it's a VERY big deal for me to go to places other than my home, like the c-a-r and the v-e-t. So unless I really have to, I stick fairly close to home. When Nick and Kate go away, people come to my place to look after me. And that's the way I like it.


D. Four websites (or blogs) I visit daily...
1. The Cat Blogosphere. It's how I keep in touch with the news from all my kitty pals around the world. I'm also their 'Offishul Australian Corryspondent'.
2. The Pablo Fan Club blog. Maintained by my lovely lady friends Phoebe and Monica in Oregon, USA. Drop over and say hi!
3. Merlin and Dobby's blog. I started visiting this blog before Dobby came on the scene, mainly because I was amazed at how much Merlin looked like me. It's been great to see how Dobby the kitten has settled in to life with Merlin, and how much he is growing to look like me, too!
4. Faz's blog. Faz (Fazakerly) is a Britcat with an Australian mum. She lives in Wimbledon, England. But not really near the tennis place. That's on the other side of Wimbledon Common, where the Wombles live (I wonder what wombles taste like?).


E. Four of my favourite foods...
1. Raw chicken. Sometimes, when Nick and Kate bring some home from the supermarket, they cut bits off for me and leave them in my bowl. Nocat had better come near me when I'm eating chicken!
2. Cooked chicken. Sometimes they give me some of this too, but without all the sauce and stuff they put on it. As if it's needed to give the chicken flavour. Nocat had better come near me when I'm eating chicken!
3. Canned cat food (chicken flavour). Almost as good as 1. and 2. Especially at room temperature. Nocat had better come near me when I'm eating chicken!
4. Dry cat food (chicken flavour). The worst of the best, but still contains that chickeny goodness. Nocat had better come near me when I'm eating chicken!

Pablo's poultry penchant:Look, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't like meat other than chicken. But something happens to me when that chickeny smell hits my Jacobson's organ. Nick and Kate call it the Chicken Madness. I call it heaven...



F. Four places I would rather be right now...
1. At my food bowl. Eating chicken (of course).
2. My basket. Complete with sheepskin rug (of course).
3. My chair. Upholstered in green velvet (of course).
4. Nick and Kate's bed. Without them (of course).

G. Four toys I have owned and played with...
1. Bungee mouse. A fake mouse (covered in rabbit fur!) with a rattle inside, attached to a plastic bungee cord. Oh, I did some of my best jumps trying to catch him! I loved him so much, I licked his fur off. (He was a gift. Kate would never buy me something with rabbit or other real animal fur!)
2. Mr Sparkle. Just some bit of blue sparkly plastic fringe on a stick. He drove me crazy, though!
3. My red mouse. A Christmas present from my friend Liji Beau. The reddest mouse ever. I like to swing him by the tail.
4. My stringplay shoelaces. A staple in my toy collection.

H. Four nicknames people call me...
1. Pabs. This is pronounced 'pubs', not 'pAbs', where the 'a' is like the 'a' in 'apple'. Same with my full name. There are lots of variations on this, like Pabby, Stinky Pabs, Dirty Pabs, Pabio and Pablometer.
2. Mablo. Kate favours this one. In her more lyrical moments, it is extended to Guantanamablo.
3. Sweet Pea. Don't laugh! Another Kate-bestowed name. It's my mushiest name.
4. My sweet baby tiger/tiger boy/tiger baby bunny boy. I bet you never knew that cats blushed...
Pablo's pseudonyms: There are plenty more, I can tell you! Nick and Kate like to make up songs about me (usually re-workings of existing songs to make them about me). They are usually less than complimentary, but they're about me, so I don't care. They also make up one-off or temporary nicknames based on topical events. For example, during the World Cup (soccer) last year, my nickname was 'Puss Hiddink', a nod to the Australian coach Guus Hiddink.

I. Regarding catnip...
1. Love it
2. It's nice
3. Could take it or leave it
4. Don't like it or can't have it
Answer: I haven't tried it. I'm STILL WAITING FOR KATE TO GIVE ME MY AMERICAN SHRIMPY NIPPY GOODNESS.

J. Regarding cat grass...
1. Love it
2. It's nice
3. Could take it or leave it
4. Don't like it or can't have it
Answer: Sounds like something that Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper would have smoked.

K. First things I would by after winning the lottery...
1. The patent for chicken (currently held by the estate of the late Colonel Harland David Sanders, who invented chicken in the early 20th century.
2. A big new headquarters for Pablo Enterprises, with my own private study/bedroom and a rambling garden.
3. The Richmond Tigers. An Australian Football League team, based in suburban Melbourne. I'd appoint myself as their president and relocate them to West Hobart.
4. A teleporting machine, so I can visit all my kitty blogging friends without having to set paw on an aeroplane.

L. Four things I do besides eat, sleep and litter box...
1. Captain/coach the West Hobart Tigers in the Southern Feline Football League.
2. Maintain my blog. I love being part of the cat blogosphere!!
3. Stringplay.
4. Give Nick and Kate as many withering, disdainful looks as time permits.

M. Four things I want to do this summer...
** This question was obviously written by somecat in the Northern Hemisphere, cause we've just finished our summer. I've taken the liberty to change the question to suit my own seasonal orientation, i.e. four things I want to do this winter**
1. Eat more chicken.
2. Find more sunbeams to sleep in.
3. Outsource my outdoor responsibilities (rumblin', surveying my territory and the like) to somecat I can trust (Frankie, maybe?) so I don't have to go outside until spring.
4. Write my memoirs.

N. My four most prized possessions that have limited value to anyone else...
1. My stringplay shoelaces. It took ages to chew them up just right.
2. My sheepskin. It took ages to shed the right amount of fur onto it (stop vacuuming it, Kate!).
3. The old, old matress under Nick and Kate's bed. A mancat needs a hideout!
4. The grass growing in the terracotta pot on our patio. A mancat needs his greens!

O. What I am going to do before tomorrow...
1. Finish these questions! There's still more to go!
2. Eat my dinners tonight! Can't wait...
3. Better do an outside patrol later this evening.
4. Might get Kate to do a bit of stringplay with me.

P.Which of the following is your favorite place to hide and play...
1. Paper bags
2. Plastic bags
3. Boxes
4. Other (explain)
Answer: Boxes, boxes, boxes. They are so interesting! Who knows what might be in them? And they're great to chew. Unfortunately, my place is too small for me to have a permanent playbox, but I love it when Nick and Kate bring a box home for some reason. And thay are so great to chew....

Q. Four other pets that Mommy has had with me...
Does Nick count? (Only joking, Nick, old buddy!). No, none. Kate knows my rules.
Pablo's pet policy: I am very much a solo pet. I don't share. I don't like sharing my house with people (apart from when they feed me and let me sleep on their bed), and I most certainly would not share my home with another animal, even if it was a cat. I am cat enough for any household!



R. Four furiends I tag to respond:
I've taken so long to do this that it's so last week by now. Beto's been conspicuously absent from the blogosphere for a while. Something's going on there... so Beto, if you're out there, I tag you! And anycat who hasn't done it yet who still wants to.

Finished! Yippee! Hope you've enjoyed learning more about me. I know I have.
Cheers,
--Pabs

Infamy (or: in-for-me)

My friends Nick and Bron posted this photo on their blog, which was taken outside their new apartment building in Glebe, Sydney (sorry I can't biggify it, it was taken using Nick's phone):

They have thus lifted the lid on my hitherto undisclosed past life in the Sydney underworld. Why am I banned from Sydney? Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies... well, not many lies. Not big ones, anyway.

Cheers,
--Pabs

Too hot for cats...

Don't worry, I'm not dead! It's just that we've had some full-on THFC weather this weekend. The kind we only get a few days per year down here in Tasmania. Our apartment is on the first floor, and has north and west facing windows (you northern hemisphere cats will have to reverse those directions to understand what I'm getting at: lots of midday and afternoon sun!), so when it's hot, I really flake.

Using my superfeline powers, I find The Coolest Spot in the House and park myself there. I stay as low to the ground as I can possibly go, and stretch out as long and flat as I can make myself.
I don't really sleep, I just lay there and wait until it passes.

It was so hot today that Kate even joined me on the floor at The Coolest Spot. I don't have any photos of that, because Kate wouldn't take any. I don't blame her, she's not half as photogenic as I am... would have made a nice mother/son pic, though.

Today, it reached 35C (around 95F). Even now, at nearly 11pm, it's still 21c (69F). But the best thing just happened. It just started pouring. I don't normally like rain, but I'm inside and I can feel the rain cooling things down. And the rain means there will be lots of interesting smells outside in the morning, when it will hopefully be much cooler!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Frootbat Friday: Frankie (West Hobart Tigers player profile #1)

Player name: Frankie
Rookie year: 2006
Skills: Stealth, curiousity, super frootbat hearing, Hepburn-like looks (Audrey, that is), extreme balancing and poise, patience
Favourite pasttime: Fencewalking

This is Frankie. She's the newest player in the West Hobart Tigers' squad (apart from Possum, whose transfer is still being processed by the SFFL... they're really dragging their paws!). 2006 was Frankie's first season with us and she did an awesome job. She came to us with an injury, and was even walking around with one of those plastic 'Elizabethan' collars around her neck, to stop her from scratching her face. A coupla the Tigers made fun of her, but I thought she showed some real guts by wearing it out in public and not even caring.

Frankie's been a real asset to the Tigers. She's small and delicate, which means that she can move quickly and silently. She's also very inquisitive and keeps an eye on our turf at all times, while still managing to maintain her characteristic grace and style.

Frankie loves fencewalking. Not just the one pictured above (the front fence of my apartment complex), but any fence. Her most favourite fence to walk on is my side fence, a wooden pailing fence which is covered by a gnarly old climbing plant. It's way hard to walk on- I've tried. But little Frankie takes her time, plotting her moves with extreme patience and executing them with extreme balance and style.

So here's to Frankie, the first West Hobart Tiger to feature in my series of player profiles. (Keep an eye out next month for West Hobart Tigers player profile #2: Skinny Ginger.)

Happy Friday, catbloggers!
Cheers,
--Pabs

A valentine for my ladies...

These beautiful cats are Phoebe and Monica. They are the co-chairfelines of the US chapter of the Pablo Fan Club. They're not really my girlfriends, but they're girlcats and they're my friends (and they're very pretty too...), so I'd like to send a shout out to them on Valentine's Day. And thanks to the Katnippia crew for a rockin' party today! Love those niptinis!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Evidence...

Kate found these feathers outside on the lawn yesterday. Under her clothesline. She wants to know what I know about them. I'm not saying anything about it, on the grounds that I might incriminate myself. But there's at least 4 other cats who frequent our yard space (all West Hobart Tigers: Skinny Ginger, Blackie, Graham White and Frankie) and it could've been any of those guys. But I'm there the most, so it's kinda fair to suspect me the most. BUT THAT DOESN"T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT IT WAS ME. And I'm not telling... What happens under the clothesline stays under the clothesline, right?

Cheers,
--Pabs