Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Time out for health tune-up

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Mom hasn't been posting for me because
I've been a little under the weather. I don't
want to go in to too many details, but mom
has been busy researching and getting
information for my condition. It seems that
my problem is genetic. There have been
a few other related felines that have had
this issue.

I'm doing better now and as soon as I am
a little more up for chatting, I will write the
news and catch up with you all on my summer
activities.

I hope that you all have been enjoying your
summer!

cheers from,
Dakota, Pixie-Bob

Monday, July 17, 2006

Cool! (or not)

The weather here has been hot, hot, hot!
104 + temps! Since we do not have air
conditioning, the inside temperature has
been around 96+ during the day. Yikes!
Phoebe is going in to the groomer for a
hair cut. She's upstairs where it is hottest.
She needs relief.

On the side of cool is mom's new computer.
She's been promising to keep my diary up,
but it's been hard when her Mac OS 9 crapped
out on blogspot. Mozilla Firefox no longer
deals with helping old Mac guys. So it felt
like a frustrating situation.

Today dad surprised mom with an early
wedding anniversary present. He gave her
a new computer! A MacBook! Wow, mom
almost cried she was so happy! I'm happy
because mom can help me with my diary.

I think that mom now has the technology!

Talk to you soon :-)
Dakota, Pixie-Bob

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Long Time No Blog

Well, mom’s done it again. She’s skipped
months without updating my diary. Bad mom!
Actually, she’s had to wait until she can get a
hookup from home. Work has been too busy
for her to be tending to my diary. She’s still
working out the bugs. Technology becomes
so obsolete so quickly! Right now she has
OS 9 on her Mac and this is not friendly to
the blogger site! There will definitely be
things to be worked on before this becomes
a smooth process.

We’re all trying to stay cool at the homestead.
It is another hot, hot, hot summer. Mom and
dad have had people in to try and mitigate the
heat. They found out that getting central air
in their old home would be too expensive
and that nobody was willing to come out
until the autumn.

They have been working on alternatives for
beating the heat. It has proven to be
expensive as well. Doing anything for an
older home is proving to be expensive. Just
getting new screen doors is a major
undertaking. Sheesh! Everything is not
square. Especially for an old house built on a
hill!

Now I get to complain about strangers! As
my friends might know, I do not like anyone
to come and visit that does not live with me
in the home. Since mom and dad are trying
to get things fixed up and better for us all,
I have had to endure many strangers in my
space. Even getting the internet hookup at
home meant strangers. This is very annoying
to me and does not make me happy at all.
I do think that the new screen doors are
super awesome, though! We get to look
outside!

So besides the heat, intrusions, and all that
goes with it, what have we been up to? I’d say
more of the usual! We’ve all been in for health
exams, dental work, and shots. I got
something called a microchip. “Everyone has
them”, mom said. Mom and dad found out
that Velvet and I do not weigh as much as
they thought. They were calling us the “9
pounders” and this was incorrect. I weigh
7 pounds and something and Velvet weighs
a bit over 8 pounds. The only reason that
Velvet weighs more than I do is because she
has a tail!

Nimbus has been dramatizing Lightning. He
has a new form of domination, the screen! He
stalks Lightening through the screen door
when mom is around. Lightning likes to hang
out by mom when she is by the door. Nimbus
stalks him.

Nimbus will stalk him, then pop up and give
him the “evil eye”! Lightning play-bows and
barks! Velvet and I like to watch this very
entertaining spectacle.

If you think that humans are the only creatures
on the face of the planet that have “drama”,
think again. Relationships are complex and
communication is not always smooth. Think
of even all the complexities of a “boy/girl”
relationship”. Add diversity to the equation.

Nimbus still likes to face off with Lightning
in the living room. Canine and feline playing
styles can be very different! Guiseppe is super
reliable. He comes and escorts Lightning out
of his dilemma. One of the funny parts of this
situation is that Nimbus always gives Lightning
the “soft paw”. No claws extended! Nimbus
wants to play.

Lightning wants to play when he gives the
play-bow and barks. This goes back and forth
and back and forth again! Both communication
styles can annoy the playmate. This leads to
“drama”.

With this bit of philosophy I have to close.
I’ll be easy on mom and let her go off to her
other duties.

To all, be cool this summer,
Dakota, Pixie-Bob

Friday, April 21, 2006

Happy springy catnip time!

Hi Everyone,

I haven't been on for awhile 'cause dad
hasn't been feeling too well. Good thing
is he's been home more, bad thing is that
he isn't feeling too good and we can't romp
on the bed like we like.

Mom feels bad for dad and has to work
harder to take care of him and do chores
and his job at work and stuff. They were
supposed to go visit their friends next week
but can't go now. Good for us because they
will be home and we won't have the oldest
cub invading our territory to take care of us!

Easter came and we got some Easter eggs!
We got some ice cream with whipped cream!
We had yams and chicken! Yum! Yum! The
grandcubs couldn't come over.....Yayyyyyy!!!
I hide from them. The cubs came by but didn't
stay long.....Yayyyyy!!! The oldest cub brought
cooked turkey and ham. This was good. We
already had the yams.

The weather is looking spiffy outside and
Velvet was naughty and slipped out the back
door! Mom and dad didn't even see her get
out. Dad heard her scratching at the back
door and let her back in. Good thing she is
spoiled and sleeps by mom's feet or by her
head or the rolling chair next to mom's side
of the bed. Good thing she knows to come
back inside!!!! I like to play with her and
wouldn't want anything to happen that was
bad.

Guess what else? We love catnip, except
Phoebe who runs from it. I get really silly
when I have some. Spring brings the catnip
out of the ground. I eat it then roll and roll
and roll, then savage the bed blankets.
Nimbus and Velvet love it, too. Good thing
mom picks us plenty! Once I bit mom's hand
after she picked some. I thought there was
still some catnip on it. I give the catnip leaves
the killing bite then I did in. Oh boy!!!!

My other neat trick is that I wait for mom to
get up and go to another room. I run ahead
then flop down on the floor right in front of
her and show her my belly. She always stops
to pet me :-)

Happy spring time to you with flowers and
catnip!

hugs from,
Dakota, Pixie-bob

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Kiva the Diva shares about toys

Hi Dakota,

I love toys too, I have my own that Mom plays with me.
I am a bit of a brat and must admit I love Mom's toys
too. Mom's toys consist of various paper things, I
just finished up ripping up all her stuff she left
out. A calender she just put up - I tore it up too.
Mostly because I was mad that she went away and left
us with that dang pet sitter. I always chew new things
that come into this house. Or else if I don't like it
I pee on it.

Kiva

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Toys

Our family loves toys. Mom even has toys
of her own. Dad’s toys are in the form of
gadgets, computer stuff, and music gear.
Mom’s grown up cubs like toys and, I’m sure
you wouldn’t be surprised to hear, the grand
cubs like toys, too. Nimbus, Velvet and I have
a super favorite toy. It is a bird on a string,
tied to a stick. Nimbus has done flips in the
air for this fine toy. All of us give the “bird” the
killing bite when we capture it. Sometimes we
are known to fight amongst ourselves for this
toy. This is why it gets put away after playtime.
We destroyed one, so dad bought us two.
Mom gets the giggles when he has one in
each hand and we are practically colliding
in the air trying to get at the flying birds.

Velvet can get quite vicious over toys. Don’t
get in her way and you won’t get hurt! She’s
also super fast. She’ll climb anything in pursuit
of her prey. She even looks scary when she’s
“hunting”. She’ll kick any cat or dog’s behind
that gets between her and what she’s after.

Nimbus is scared of some of the toys, or at
least cautious. He hangs back and observes
that is until you get the bird toy out. Then
everyone better watch out. Once he captures
it he gives it the killing bite and tries to take it to
his lair. He growls at anyone who gets close.
I haven’t been able to figure out how he can
actually hiss with his mouth full. But hiss and
growl like a demented thing he does.

Phoebe likes the feather boa on a stick. She
also plays a game called “evil envelope”. Don’t
get your hand too close to her claws when you’re
playing this game. It involves a person holding an
envelope and saying, “poo poo kitty kitty” while
wiggling it. She loves to shred the envelope.
She’s shredded mom a few times, too, with her
fishhooks of doom. Once she shredded mom’s
face accidentally when she fell off of mom’s head
when mom was asleep. The tear went all the way
through mom’s lip. This meant lots of cuss words
and a trip to the emergency room for stitches.

Mom has enough toy stuffed animals to fill a king
sized bed and then some. This is a problem because
she gave the bed to her oldest cub when he got
married. Mom and dad sleep on a full sized futon.
No room for all of us let alone these stuffed toys.
Sheesh, now they are piled all over the house.
Mom has other stupid toys, too. Her cubs
encourage her by buying her more. The last
thing was the Gary the Snail matchbox car and
Felix the Cat fan club button the oldest cub bought
mom. She takes some of her toys to work, but not
enough in my opinion. Even though mom has
made special spaces for us, I feel that we need
more space not more toys!

Like I’ve already mentioned dad’s toys are gadgets,
computer stuff and music gear. Don’t tell him but I
was the one who played with his guitar cable and
chewed it up. Well, maybe Phoebe chewed it a little.
I like to play with the computer, too. Dad’s toys are
actually cool. I figured out how to turn on the
computer and make the CD burner noisy. Dad did
something so that I couldn’t keep doing this all night
long. I still try, sometimes, though. I’m thinking that
it is only a matter of time before he forgets to do
what he does.

Some other time I’ll tell you all about the canine toys.
They like to play, too, and have their different games
and toys that they like to play with. Actually one of
Nimbus’s games is to trap Lightening and loom.
Lightening is afraid of Nimbus and actually needs
Guiseppe to escort him past this nemesis when
Nimbus has him trapped. Nimbus also bothers
Lightning by pawing him as Lightning walks by,
or looming over him when the poor dog is sleeping
in the chair. That naughty Nimbus, what a character!

Hugs from,
Dakota, Pixie-Bob

My bio for some publications that share my diary entries

My name is Dakota and I am a Pixie-Bob.
I was born on April 27th, 2004. This makes
me a Taurus. I’m a boy. My first mom was
Lee Jordan. She breeds and shows Pixie-Bobs.
I was born in the great Pacific Northwest State
of Washington. Carol Brewer founded the
Pixie-Bob breed in Washington.

My grandfather is a Legend Cat. Legend Cats
are a suspected breeding of a bobcat with a barn
cat. If this is true, I am 1/8 bobcat. This makes
me an F3 or 03 by TICA standards. My first mom,
Lee, likes to show. I used to be a show cat. Lee
heard that my current mom was looking for a
Pixie-Bob and thought that I would be perfect for
her. Mom agreed, and after a long hot summer
when I couldn’t be flown, I came to live with her
and dad. Lee kept showing me while I was
waiting to go to mom and I became a Grand
Champion. I was shown in the alter class.

Shortly after coming to my new home there
was a cat show. Mom had never been to a
cat show and Lee encouraged her to show
me. I got 10 finals and became a Quadruple
Grand Champion. I’m not trying to brag here,
just stating the facts. I really don’t like to show,
but because Lee loves it so much I tried to be a
good sport. To be honest I really don’t care for
strangers too much. When strangers or
non-residents come to visit I run and hide.
I even hide from mom’s grown cubs and young
grand cubs. I’m hopeful that mom will let me retire
as a show cat.

I have a good life where I get my favorite foods, raw
rabbit and cooked yams. I like to eat other things, too.
My dry food is called Evolve. I have toys and friends.
I even get to have my very own diary and have made
friends in other places. I like to play all the time. I like
to sleep on mom and dad’s bed. I like it best when I
get it to myself. Sometimes the Noses, these are two
annoying Italian Greyhounds, get there first and hide
under the covers. Sometimes my friend Nimbus jumps
on me while I’m trying to take a nap on the bed. Many
nights I sleep right at mom’s feet.

All of the companions, including me, have nicknames.
We also have a special song that mom sings for each of
us. Some of my nicknames are as follows:

The Barnacle, Barnacle Bob, Dakota-Bob, Me Barn,
The Naughty Barn, The Naughtical, Meearggins, The
Yam Man, Yammy, Yammers, and The Rabbit Rocket.

Pretty silly, don’t you think? All in all, I’m a fun guy who
loves to play. I hope that you will enjoy my diary.

Friday, March 17, 2006

You've got SNAIL!

A while before mom and dad went
on their infamous trip, mom looked
in skit'o'vision and found out, surprise,
you've got snail! Yep, 2 little snails
magically appeared in skit'o'vision.
Where did they come from? They
were not purchased. Mom figures
that they must have hitchhiked in with
some live plants. They must have
been really, really tiny then they
started to grow!

Mom's named them Gary and
Larry after Gary the Snail, the pet
snail of Spongebob, who meows.
Larry was a cranky growly snail that
came to live with Spongebob on one
of the episodes.

The last time mom went to the fish
store she talked to the fish expert lady
and asked about the snails. The lady
recommended that she get a special
fish to take care of future overpopulation
problems. Mom didn't want the snails
hurt. The lady said that they should be
okay, but if we weren't proactive the
snails could take over.

So now, we have a new kid on the
skit'o'vision block. His name is Mr.
Ed and he is something called a horse
faced loach. Mom's been researching
his breed on the internet. His face
really does look kind of horsey. He's
a shy fellow, though. Now mom is
planning a bigger skit'o'vision. Phoebe
should be please (she's the one who
watches the most skit'o'vision).

hugs from,
Dakota, Pixie-Bob