Saturday, April 26, 2008

Slumber Party At Sassy's

Momo has been spending the last several days at our place while her SS has been working on her thesis and too busy to blog. We have all had a wonderful time together visiting in Italy. You can imagine to our horror when we found out that our mom is dumping us because she has to be away on business all next week.


Photo by Karl & Sassy

Our sweet Sassy heard about this problem and has invited Momo, Karl, Ruis, Roscoe, and myself to spend the weekend with her and we would have a slumber party. She also said if we wanted to stay through the week we could!

Think we will take her up on her offer. Be sure to check things out over at Sassy's place to find out wheat we are up to.

Friday, April 25, 2008

All Roads Lead to Rome

Written by Opus

It was another fun day with Momo. After our usual breakfast, we piled into the van and headed for the Eternal City. It wasn't long before our flying van touched down in one of the most historic cities in all the world, Rome.




There was so much that I wanted Momo to see, but we didn't have a lot time to spend sight seeing. So, we decided the quickest way to see all of the best sights in Rome was to jump on board the "Hop On, Hop Off" sightseeing bus. Of course Roscoe and Momo wanted to sit on the second level of the double-decker bus. They also insisted on sitting OUT side so that they could play "Catch the Bugs With Your Teeth". The bus took us to see the Colosseum, the Roman forum, Saint Peters Basilica, the Pantheon, AND the Spanish Steps before it dropped us off in front of the Trevi Fountain.


It had gotten hot sitting under the sun without a speak of shade and so Momo suggested that we sit near the fountain to cool off. Of course Rosocoe misunderstood and jumped INto the fountain to cool off. It didn't take the Italian police long to come and chase him out. Before running off we all threw a coin into the fountain to guarantee our return to Rome.


There was so much to see in Rome that we could have stayed all week, but time was not on our side. With Momo having been dumped by her human (because of work) and our human about to dump us (for five days because of work), Sassy was kind enough to invite us to her house for a weekend slumber party.


We piled into the van and headed off for a place very familiar to us farm boys, Indiana.

The sun was just starting to set as we flew high above the golden corn fields of Indiana. It felt so good to be back in the heartland of America.


As we approached Sassy's house, we spotted her waiting for us down by the pond. Back home again in Indiana with our friends Sassy and Momo. What more could we have asked for?


To be continued at Sassy's blog.....

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Under the Tuscan Sun

Written By Roscoe
This morning we awoke bright and early at 11am. After our usual bowl of cafe latte, we decided to head out for another adventure. This time we let Opus pick the spot and he chose Florence. He went on and on about Florence being the birth of the Renaissance, art treasures, blah blah blah.....

So we jumped into the magic van and flew off for another day filled with fun and laughter. On the way, Momo suggested that we stop in Pisa since it is so close to Florence. We were all nervous about returning to the "scene of the crime", but we also love the Field of Miracles and thought that a sunbath on its lush, green grass was a must.

Upon our arrival we notice right away that the Tower (which had been mysteriously broken during Saint Patrick's Day) had been repaired and was reopened to the public. Just as Opus went in for a landing, we spotted a sign that hadn't been there on our previous trip. It read "NO PETS ALLOWED". Since it was forbidding house pets AND since it had been written in English, we could only assume that the local police had some information about the scoundrels who had broken the Tower. Needless to say we high tailed it out of Pisa in a hurry.

(photo by Karl and edited by us)

It was just about lunch time when we arrived in Florence. The city was alive with tourists and locals all rushing about their business. Opus sat the van down just outside of the historical center and we can began our tour of the city on foot, er paw.


Opus made a beeline to the museum (boring), but we went because he said it was important to learn about art. The first museum we went was the Uffizi and what a HUGE museum THAT was! We were in there for HOURS before we finally made it to the exit door. As we left the Uffizi, we ran into street vendors who were selling all kinds of things. A huge bunch of colorful balloons caught Momo's eye and so we bought a bunch just for her!

Next on Opus's culture list was the Academia where he said we were going to visit the David. I didn't know who David was, but I figure he was just an old friend of Opus's. Boy was I wrong! Right there in the middle of the museum was this huge, marble statue of a naked dude!

(photo by Sassy)

Momo and Opus said that it was a true form of art, but seeing a naked human just made me giggle. Opus gave me the evil eye, which only made me giggle more. If that Michelangelo guy was so good at carving, why didn't he make a pair of shorts for poor, cold David?

After all of our adventures in art, we thought it was time to settle in at an outdoor cafe.


There we spent the rest of the afternoon lapping up warm milk and watching the tourists in the square.


As the sun began to set across the land of Tuscany, we piled back into the magic van, balloons and all, and headed for home.



Tomorrow is another day......

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Adventures with Momo: Venice

Written by Opus
We had a nice day with our friend and guest Momo. We slept in this morning as we were very tired after our late night "drive". Once we arrived in Italy we all crashed out, waking just in time for a bowl of cafe latte before settling down for our afternoon nap.

Once we were caught up on our sleep, we decided it was time to head off in search of fun; it isn't every day that your friend from Australia comes for a visit! We asked Momo where she would like go and there was only one place that she had mind, the most romantic, beautiful city in all of the world. VENICE!

We piled into the flying van and in no time we were arriving in La Serenissima. Since we had just been in Venice during carnival, we decide to skip the tourist sites and instead hang out in San Marco's Square while sipping warm milk and watching the crowds. It was a beautiful, warm day and we enjoyed the sounds of the orchestra as the Italian sun slowly sank into the rose colored waters of the lagoon.

As many of you know, San Marco's Square has a bit of pigeon problem which is made worse by the tourists who insist on feeding the obnoxious birds. The flocks of pigeons turned out to be too much for Roscoe and Momo to resist. They spent a little time chasing the birds around the square until they came to realize that they were outnumbered by stubborn birds that had no plans on leaving.


With twilight approaching, we decided it was time to be heading back home, but Momo had a little surprise for us.

(photo by Sassy)

She took us on a gondola ride through the dark waters of Venice's canal. It wasn't long before the moon was smiling down upon us from a velvet canvas, sprinkled with twinkling diamonds.

(photo by Sassy)

When our ride was complete, we headed back home in the magic, flying van....

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Momo is Here for a Visit!

When we heard the sad news that SS would be too busy working to care properly for our dear Momo, we quickly invited her to come spend the week with us. She graciously accepted our offer, packed her bags and waited for our arrival (photo by Momo).


Late last night, under the cover of darkness, we sneaked into Austrailia and "kitty napped" sweet Momo.

Be sure to check back as we are sure to be up to some fun things while Momo is here. Of course, the three of us are looking for a new (temporary home) come Sunday. That is when OUR human is going to dump us for a five day business trip. Anyone ready up for some company?

How to be a Greener Pet

Today is Earth Day! We thought it would be a great opportunity to share some way that we pets can help Mother Earth by choosing to live a grenner lifestyle. We present :

Opus and Roscoe's Tips
on how to be a Greener Pet


Tip One: Save Water
Cats are naturally earth friendly creatures as we don't like to waste water by taking baths. We suggest to our doggy friends that they try giving themselves a bath by simply licking the dirt off of their own fur, rather than have the humans wash them in the tub. This way you can save on water and soap.




Tip Two:
Cut Back on Litter Waste
The most obvious way to help out the environment is to eliminate all that kitty litter that ends up on the dumpster. There are several ways you can cut back on litter waste. For starters, you could just use the neighbors flower garden as your personal bathroom. We are sure that your neighbor won't mind as we all know that poo poo makes for great fertilizer. Just think how much your neighbor will thank you when her beautiful flowers grow big and strong.

Another way to eliminate the kitty litter waste is by placing your "left overs" in a paper bag, place it on your neighbors front porch, light it on fire, ring the doorbell and run like crazy! This seems to be a joke that the humans like to use (we saw it in a movie). Just think how hard your neighbor will laugh when stomping out the flaming, bag of poo!

Another option is to use the humans litter box. This might be difficult for any cats who are afraid of water as the humans use water rather than sand in their box.

Our last option is to simply use an earth friendly cat liter in your kitty box.

Tip Number Three:
Use earth friendly toys

There are plenty of options for finding earth friendly cat toys. Our favorite toys are the organic ones like house flies, moths, small birds, and spiders. There are also more elaborate organic toys like scorpions and lizards, but those might be harder to come by.

If you are not interested in earth friendly toys of the living kind, there are plenty of places where you can buy earth-friendly-man-made toys.


Tip Four:
Conserve Energy

We all know that it is good for the planet if we can conserve as much energy as possible. Being earth friendly kitties, we try to do this as often as possible. Whenever you can try to find a warm, soft place to curl up and save energy. Not only is to good for the planet, but it is good for you as well.

We think we have done a good job of coming up with ways to be an earth friendly pet. However, if you have any other tips please leave them in our comment section.

Having Earth Day is a wonderful way to get people to stop and think about ways in which they can make our planet a better place. But even more importantly, we think you should make EVERY day earth day. If you haven't done so already, start looking into ways in which you can contribute. It can be something as simple as recycling in your own home.

Be sure to stop by the Earth Day website to see what is going on around the world today.

Please feel free to use this poster;
add it to your blog and pass it out to your friends.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

The Day After

The party was a smash! We had so much fun dancing, singing, playing our instruments, eating our hearts out and just acting goofy with our friends!

photo by Sassy

photo by Sassy




photo by Momo

The next day we woke up on Karl's lawn chair. As you can see, it was a great night but a rough morning! Too many lizards and way too much cat nip!

photo by Sassy

We thought it would be nice to help Karl clean up before heading home, so the CCSI crew turned into the clean up crew! We gave Karl and Ruis the day off since they had worked so hard to put the party together. Mrs. Oz and Emil were kind enough to offer to help. It wasn't long before Roscoe and Mrs. Oz ended up in the pool, while Sassy and Emil were far too sleepy to help. We tried to wake them up, but it was useless. So it was up to me and Momo to get the job done. That Momo sure is a trooper! She helped me scrub and clean even though she was feeling a bit woozy herself.

We have to admit though, it was fun scooping up the "trash"!
Thanks Karl for the wonderful party!

**We didn't post all of the photos of the party.
If you haven't done so already, be sure to stop by
The Cat Realm for all of the party details!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Happy Blogoverary Cat Realm!

Today is a very special day for us. Our dear friend, Karl, is celebrating the first anniversary of the start of his blog. We knew from the moment we met Karl that he was our kind of guy. Who wouldn't want to be friends with a good looking cat in a wig and cool sunglasses? We have enjoyed getting to know him, Mrs. Oz, Emil, the butler, the maid and his wonderful fiance, Ruis. We feel so lucky to have him, not just as a colleague at CCSI, but also as one of our dearest friends!

photo by Karl

There is a lizard BBQ/ mariachi festival in full swing over at The Cat Realm. Be sure to stop in for some fantastic drinks, tasty food, fun entertainment, and wonderful friends!


Happy Blogoversary Cat Realm!
Wishing you many more years of cat blogging!

Here is the guest list, please go and check out their blogs - they might have additional pictures!
Kattenpraat, Sassy, Momo, Opus and Roscoe, Socks, Scylla and Charybdis, Charlie, Asta, Momo and Pinot, Charlotte, Riley, Jan's Funny Farm.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Road Trip: Karl's House

What an exciting day! We left Italy early this morning in our flying van. Our destination? The Cat Realm! Our friend, Karl, and his family are having a huge party tomorrow in celebration of their first Blogaversary! The party is a mariachi festival; we shall be performing with the world's #1 (and possibly only) all-cat mariachi band, Los Gatos!

Roscoe and I left Italy this morning with our sombreros in paw. We took off in our magic flying van with plans to pick our friends up along the way.


Our first stop was in Australia where the beautiful Momo was waiting for us near the bay.


It was a long flight across the Atlantic. Momo and Roscoe played "Catch the flies with your teeth" while I concentrated on driving. I'm not sure who won, but they both needed a good teeth brushing when the game was over.


After we crossed The Pond, we made a stop in New York City to pick up darling Asta. Then it was off to find Sassy in the heartland of America. Along the way, Asta taught Momo and Roscoe how to stick their faces out of the window and put their noses into the wind. As cats, we had never tried this before. But Roscoe and Momo assured me that it was a ton of fun. I will have to give it a try when I am not behind the wheel.

It took a while to find Sassy. We searched every map, looking for the heartland of America. At last we stopped at a gas station where we asked directions. Yes, boys DO sometimes ask for directions. The man at the gas station laughed when we told him we couldn't find the Heartland of America. Why didn't someone just tell us INDIANA in the first place??? Just as our van few over a field of golden colored corn, we spotted Sassy waiting for us next to the candy apple red barn. She even baked a cake for Karl and the crew. Of course there was no room inside of the van as our sombreros were taking up too much space, so we tied the cake the roof of the van and headed off for Arizona!

We are on our way Karl!
See you all tomorrow at The The Cat Realm party!


Sunday, April 13, 2008

Carissima Miral

"As long we can love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on-in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here".

-Morris S. Schwartz: Tuesdays With Morrie


You have touched our lives and we will remember you always. You will live on forever within our hearts and in our memories.

Buon riposo Carissima Miral. Ci vediamo ancora.....
(Rest well dearest Miral. We will see you again...)


Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Welcome Home Asta!

Ben Tornata, Cara Asta!

(photo by Sassy)

The party is in full swing! Asta is going to be so surprised when she returns home to find all of her friends waiting to greet her. We have to send a big thanks out to her doggy friends who organised the surprise party and who were kind enough to let us kitties crash the party.

After a night of partying (photo by Koobuss)

Be sure to stop by Asta's to welcome her home.
In the meantime, come on in and join the party!

Waiting for Asta
(photo by Koobuss and Sassy)

(photo by Sassy)

Asta is going to be really surprised to see us because we were just with her Rome! That is the wonderful thing about owning a magic, flying van, you can get around a lot faster than most! We think we might have even passed Asta's plane on the way over the Atlantic. Don't worry kids, she is gonna be home soon!

Welcome home Asta and her parents!!!!

PS. We promise to write about our visit with Asta in Italy and we will have some photos up soon!

Monday, April 7, 2008

Homecoming Party For Asta


Photo by Sassy

Heading on over to New York City for the homecoming party at Asta's hosted by Scruffy, Lacie & Baby Stan.


Photo by Karl

We are all set to party see you there. Be sure stop on over for some party fun.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Great News!

We have had a string of wonderful things happen in our lives this past week. Our dear friend Momo is recovering from her illness. We were so worried about her and are thrilled that she is feeling much better. It seems that she might have eaten a bad batch of macaroni and cheese. We told her the next time she feels like pasta that she had better come to our house where the pasta is served chemical free!

In other news, our friend Ruis has had quiet a miracle in his house. His sweet sister, Miral, was terribly ill. Just when it seemed that there might not be any hope, she started to bounce back. She isn't out of the woods yet, but she has started eating again and that is a great sign. If you haven't done so already, be sure to stop by and wish her well. With all of our kitty kisses and puurayers, we should be able to heal her with love alone!

Last but not least, we have some FANCATSTIC news! The world-traveling Asta has found herself in our corner of the globe. You might all remember a few months ago when Asta teleported to Rome for an adventure with Roscoe. Well, she liked Italy so much that she decided to bring her parents here for a vacation! Now we all know that humans can't teleport, so Asta has traveled to Italy by plane! Our human will be meeting them tomorrow in Bologna before they travel together to Ravenna!

First Asta conquered Rome....

Next on the list, Bologna and Ravenna!

Our human can't wait to meet them all, but we think it stinks that we are suppose to stay home since we are indoor cats. But you know Roscoe and me, we won't let a little thing like house rules keep us from our beloved Asta!

Ci vediamo domanni, Asta!
(See you tomorrow, Asta)!

-Opus