Sunday 29 November 2015

The Single Flexed Claw Selfie!



When young Austin flexes his claw,
He has to scrunch up his paw!
The effort's immense,
His look is intense
And he ends up punching his jaw!

We are joining our friends Kitties Blue who host the Sunday Selfie Blog Hop.
Click on the badge below to join in.


Please forgive us for not visiting and commenting on blogs very much lately. We will be up and about and annoying everyone again very soon xxx


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Sunday 22 November 2015

This is the ......

....I'm-really-really-looking-forward-to-Christmas Selfie
with decorous paw and tail dangle..

...and matching hat/frame combo!

This is a blog hop hosted by our friends the Kitties Blue.
Click on the badge below to view other hoppers!


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decorous - usually sung after di-verse

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Saturday 21 November 2015

Caturday Artification!


The Staff used the appropriately named "Photo Editor" on iPad. I am thinking of consulting NUCAT about the blatant ridiculing of felines by those who have opposable thumbs and a bit of a malicious streak! There should be some redress, don't you think?

PeeEss, The Staff has been lax in helping me visit blogs the last few days. I hope you will forgive her, but she came down with a bad case of galloping inertia! 


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redress - to dress again
address - to increase one's wardrobe
dressage - the age when jeans are no longer appropriate

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Wednesday 18 November 2015

www.napping.co.uk

Wet.Wordless.Wednesday


Anyone care to join me?

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feligarchy - a political system of rule by cats
(request for entry into the OED pending)

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Sunday 15 November 2015

I've been framed!



Yuk!! Staff aka TAT what do you think you are playing at putting me in a big fat frame in those awful garish colours? They do nothing to enhance my natural good looks at all!

Well, to be brutal, Austin, the photographic quality of your back-of-the-head-and-two-paw selfie is very poor and does nothing to "enhance your natural good looks"! I thought I would try and distract people!

Fair enough! 

We are joining our friends Kitties Blue in their Sunday Selfie blog hop. Click on the badge below to join in :-)


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Saturday 14 November 2015

Caturday Art: What a to-do!

Note: We weren't going to do a fun post today after the horrible and shocking events in Paris last night.  But we will carry on, as we don't want those evil people to stop the way we live our normal lives. We do send our deepest condolences and our thoughts and prayers to all those who have been caught up in the terror.



What a to do!
And that's a fact.
No one knows
Where my eye is at!

The right eye's there,
My tongue is too.
Whiskers are bristling
Eyebrows' askew?

The tips of my ears,
Have been cut off!
Please be kind,
And do not scoff!

It's not my fault
The pho-tog-grapher
Has no skills
And is unpopular!

But I'll persevere
I will prevail
It's not an option
The cat will fail!

So here I am,
The one-eyed mog!
Who now looks a bit
Like an old sea dog!

Arrrrggggghhhhh!
We are joining the Caturday Art blog hop with Athena and Marie

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Gotcha Week Reflections (5) - The Austin Imperative!

This is the last of our week's reflections from the early years of Austin's residence here. Thank you very much for joining us. We've had a lot of fun :) 

The post is called "The Austin Imperative" and was first published 9th January 2011. By this time we were starting to get noticed by the wider cat blogging community - of which I had no knowledge until the wonderful Caren Gittelman from Cat Chat with Caren and Cody pointed it out to me! As a result, Austin started to get some very grandiose ideas!

Perfecting "The Chicken Stare!"
Austin's third anniversary has come and gone.  I don't actually think he even noticed.  His age must be somewhere between 3½ and 4 now.  To say he's settled and feels at home is a bit of an understatement.  He totally rules the roost, except in one area - bedtime sleeping arrangements. The negotiations are still ongoing as to where he lays his not-so-weary head.  Trouble is, as with most cats his awake times are very early morning and very late at night.  This is when, of course, we are well and truly ready for ZZZZ and are shouting for him to "Austin, come, now" at the top of our voices and peering myopically out into the North Wales night, which is "starless and bible black" as all stereotypical Welsh nights are!    
If he's not out pillaging the countryside then he's stuck like velcro to my lap and I have to heave myself to my feet and shuffle along with Austin clinging on like a koala on a eucalyptus tree.  Totally bizarre scene!  Whatever way it's done, getting him to bed is a painful experience. 
It has been interesting to see, how, over these three years, Austin has learnt to "work the system" so that he achieves the maximum amount of comfort for the minimum amount of effort - I'm sure there is a universal law about it? Oh I know! I think it's "the law of perPETual transmutation of energy".  This is the law that says all pets have the power within them to change the conditions in their lives by harnessing the principle of energy sapping!!  Cats are the masters of this and in addition Austin has been spending a lot of time lately studying "CATegorical Imperative" the seminal work of that famous German ailurophile Immanuel KAnT. 
Here are just some of the many imperatives he's adopted - you will see how he employs the law of "diametric contradiction" in many cases:  
  • Every exit door has to be checked with human panting along behind when it's raining.  
  • No internal door must be closed to a cat or severe trauma to the carpet will ensue.   
  • A cat should not go up the stairs unaccompanied at any time and the accompanying human must be raced up the stairs and thwacked on shoulder through the bannisters.  
  • All food must be picked at disdainfully when human is watching.  
  • A cat must never let on that he knows how to use a cat flap, as it could mean that all the time saved by not running from door to window to window to door would weigh heavy on the human's hands and she could become bored and grumpy. 
  • The cat must always jump onto lap of human to have a long nap at the very moment she decides to get in the car and go shopping.  
  • And finally ......  when the human decides to sit down and write interesting blog post, cat must jump up onto keyboardd aanndf kfkbjdhfihfgoh ujrkjld khf kfgj;phpuoteio.

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maximum (Brit. Informal) - large mother

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Monday 9 November 2015

Gotcha Week Reflections (4) Applied Mathematics!


We are having a lot of fun (well I am:-) going back over the early days of Austin's takeover of presence in this house. Today's is a bit wordy, but most of the earlier blog posts were! It is from 20th February 2010 and is called Applied Mathematics. I believed that I had discovered the formula for successful cat pill administration! What do you think....?

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Now I realise I'm a bit OCD about giving Austin his flea gunk and worm pill, but one needs to prepare for this kind of confrontation.  I've gone on about the process at great length before, so won't go down that route again - well not too far!  However, the planets were once again in alignment and I had to do both at the same time(ish).  I've not had too much problem with the pill bit before, funnily enough; it's always been the flea potion that's caused such pain and discomfort (mostly mine)!  So this time we thought we'd do the pill first to ease us in gently.  Big mistake!   
This time it took several pairs of plastic gloves, one bottle of TCP, several plasters and twenty-four hours before the offending tablet was finally despatched down the correct orifice.  By then it had been pre-sucked, acquiring a thick coating of cat saliva plus black fur and beige shag pile.  I suppose it's all my fault as I'd lent him a book all about a cat, called Lucky, who belonged to a hypothetical physisist called Schrödinger.  Austin obviously now believes I wish him ill and has started a course in quantum mechanics and a torture diary. Talk about overreacting!.   
No amount of me calling "here kitty kitty," in a soft seductive voice will bring him out from behind the large-chair-in-the-corner-by-the-radiator.  Normally he'd be winding himself around my legs tripping me up and impeding my progress to the fridge, cupboard, sink or wherever - see Reflection post (3)!  And he growls!!! Oh yes he does; from the safety of his hidey-hole he becomes the King of the Jungle.  It's quite a terrifying sound coming from such a small creature.  So while he's morphing into Mufasa, all I can do is weakly squeak the refrain from Hakuna Matata and wait patiently until starvation, bladder urgency or a "wave function collapse" draws him out.    
While I'm waiting, I whip out my compass, protractor and slide rule to determine the correct angle for administering the pill.  I've realised, after all the failed attempts it is vital that the angle of trajectory is correct, so the point of firing and the point of swallowing have to be plotted to within 0.001/100th of a degree.  I consult my copy of Euclid's Elements (courtesy of Ruislip Library, date due for return Dec 1975) to obtain the most exact measurements possible.  
I believe I am now prepared, so I leave the vicinity of the cat.  Austin eventually emerges. I stop breathing.  He becomes "low-slung" and skulks round the side of the room. He sticks his head out the door.  Ha! Got him! Executing a perfect a pincer movement, I pounce from behind, while elderly mother smiles at him menacingly as she bears down from the front. Working as one, we scoop him up, wrench open his jaw, angle the pill (47.1768 °) and "fire".  The optimal circumference of the gape also has to be gauged and is crucial to a successful outcome.  Being the altruistic and thoughtful person I am I've calculated the following equation for those who would like replicate my thesis and apply in their own situation.     
(∑pf) + (φps) x 47.1768 ÷ ∃!v + ∫at x πr²
So now you know!  When it came to the formula for flea gunk application to the back of the neck, the equation was much more simple.  
 Broken ampule + parted fur = job done 
Schrödinger could have made it a lot easier on himself, hypothetically!

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hypothetical - supposed but not necessarily real or true e.g. Austin supposes that when I put on full body armour and up my life insurance monthly premium that he's going to get it in the neck..... Oh wait ........ !

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Sunday 8 November 2015

Sunday Selfie (In) Trepidation!

We interrupt our Gotcha week reflections once again to bring you my Sunday Selfie submission to the Kitties Blue blog hop!!  We will continue the rehash tomorrow and there will be one, possibly two more retro posts from way back when! So be warned! ;)


Here I am taking my selfie while I am in a state of some angst, agitation and stress due to the fireworks which have been going on all week and also now the really really bad weather, which means I can't go outside and do my usual thorough patrolling of my territory. Goodness knows who or what is running rampant out there, but it sounds very dangerous and threatening!! Excuse me while I go and rip the carpet!

To join in the Sunday Selfie fun click on the badge below to see other submissions.


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rampant - a small insect used as a sloping surface to join two different levels
(best I could do being , ya know, under stress and all)

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Saturday 7 November 2015

Caturday Art diversion!

We are taking a moment out from our week of retrospection to join in the Caturday art blog hop hosted by Athena and Marie.

The Staff was playing around with Ribbet and she went a bit crazy!! What do you think?



What has she done to me?? A bit spooky!! MOL

Here is the original!


Which do you prefer? 

I think I quite like the new me! 
At least the humans won't trip over me so much in the dark!

Friday 6 November 2015

Gotcha Week Reflections (3) Walking to Heel!

Thank you once again for joining Austin and me as we reflect on some of our earlier experiences in getting to know each other. This next post is from 23rd August 2009 and is entitled "Walking to Heel"



By nature cats are not followers. Even when they are following, they tend to do it from the front!  Am I the only one to have noticed this? Many's the time I've indicated to Austin that he should "come with me please" (for instance, to the kitchen) to find that he's taken his natural position right in front of my feet so that when I take a step forward I have to decide in a jiff whether to tread on him or swerve sharply to the side, thus causing myself an injury.  
Being an animal lover, of course, I would much rather do myself serious damage than harm a hair of his little feline personality. So we proceed on our journey, all the while his ears are like antennas checking constantly for any change in movement or direction. And I shuffle along behind in a kind of one-legged hop as I try to predict which way he's going to veer. I stop to regain balance; he stops as he's "following" me. I place my left leg to his left and right leg to his right. So now I'm straddling him! He looks at me: 
"Make up your mind!" 
I hop over him and gain the advantage of being at the front. He nips round the side of me and stands on my left foot. We reach an impasse. Confusion reigns. We pause to consider our positions and then the whole thing starts over again; but by this time I have forgotten what it was I was supposed to be doing anyway, so I swivel round on my one free foot and hobble back to base camp in the living room for a regroup and a bit of a think. Austin goes back to rolling on his catnip stash behind the piano.
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impasse - when it is not possible for 'im to pass

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Thursday 5 November 2015

Gotcha Week - Reflections (2)

In our week of celebrations and reflections from the time Austin first came to reside at Chez Towers, our next repost is from 20th April 2008 and is entitled "It's Not Cricket".  I think it is safe to say that we were still in the "getting to know you" bit of our relationship! Things do improve .... eventually!


I have taken to wearing thick denim jeans and shin guards of late! He, who must be appeased, has devised a new game. It's called "screeching like a banshee and hurling fur, tooth and claw, onto the leg of innocent passing human, who's just minding her own business".  
I don’t know why he does it? It's not nice. It's not cricket. It hurts. I end up looking a bit like Quasimodo dragging his hunch back and misshapen leg around the Notre Dame! He thinks it's great fun and tries again from another angle - just to even out the damage I suppose. I put it down to too much protein in his diet, or possibly it's his TV viewing habits. He's gone off Fiona Bruce (BBC news reader). He's discovered Extreme Furballing on Sky Sports. So I have had to restrict his channel hopping activities to CBBC and CeeBees (or whatever it's called) by utilising the parental control facility. It will only last as long as it takes for him to work out that the pin number (that's personal identification number number, so why do we say it? It's tautological) is three digits from my mobile number plus one other taken at random from the telephone directory (have to be careful you know!). 
Austin is most likely to indulge in this antisocial behaviour when he's come in from his nightly rampage around the neighbourhood. So I have taken precautions when opening the door. Armed with a tea towel in one hand and brandishing a plastic water bottle in the other I approach with trepidation but proclaiming loudly that if one iota of my life blood is shed during this encounter then it's back to the car engine from whence he came:- 
Open door, he shoots in, I scream, he screams, I step back, he advances, I retreat into corner holding tea towel like some neophyte matador first time in the ring. He edges round me, I start whimperingHe loses interest, sticks his leg in the air and starts cleaning his fundament with contrived indifference. I'm a gibbering wreck! He's king of the castle. We move on ...... ..
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tautology - the study of stretching.

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Wednesday 4 November 2015

Gotcha Week - Reflections (1)

First of all we want to say thank you so much for all the lovely Gotcha day comments yesterday AND we also got this super card from sweet Nellie Bellie!

Awww! Thank you Nellie ❤️

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This week, in order to try and make up for forgetting Austin's 8th Gotcha day (Nov 1st) I shall be reposting a few of the earliest blog posts I wrote.  

The best place to start, so they say, is at the beginning! So here is my very first blog post from 23rd March 2008. You will notice that I had the audacity to actually write it in my own voice! This was way before I realised that cats did blogging and actually had quite a lot to say!


Austin - aged 7 mths (approx)
Well what can I say? It was a damp, dark late October day in 2007 that I accidentally picked up this young fellow from the RSPCA rescue centre in Colwyn. I say “accidentally” because I went there to get a dog! However, all they had there at the time were 7 dalmatians and a suspect pit bull terrier cross. Crossed with what? I have no idea - and that is a cul de sac I will not venture down.

On the way out I popped into the cat section and that was my first mistake. One couldn’t fail to notice this little tuxie. He was making a big fuss trying to climb up the glass cage thingy that was his jail. “Ahhhhh he senses my feline empathy” I thought and that was my second mistake! All he wanted, it transpired, was to head straight out the door and up the A55 to Rhyl, Chester and all points east!
It seems that Austin was a stray found a few weeks before, injured and keeping warm inside a car engine - hence the name! Yep, he’s named after a car, not the place in Texas.

We don't know what traumas he suffered, except that one of his back legs was badly broken. Whether someone tried to start the car I don't know! Good news is he’s mended very well, except for a "bumpy" hip. We were told he would make a good indoor cat because he would probably be lacking in the necessary agility needed to make it in the big outdoors. Yeah right!

It took a few days to close the deal, but soon I was able to bring him home and that was how it all began.....
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audacity, audaciousness - bare-faced cheek i.e. beardless

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Tuesday 3 November 2015

She forgot my Gotcha Day!!

Yes she did! Sunday was my 8th Gotcha day and we would have forgotten it completely if sweet Dezi hadn't sent a card in Cat Scouts!!


Isn't it clever! Thank you Dezi xxxx

I have looked back over the years to see what else has been said about my coming to live at Chez Towers and I find to my horror that my gotcha anniversary has only been mentioned twice in all that time! Once, a year after I came, and then again last year!! Such disrespect!!

Anyway, a gotcha day can be a time for reflection and reassessment! And why not?  Since I picked out the gullible kind person wandering through the cages at the RSPCA in Colwyn Bay and decided she looked a bit soft in the head lonely and in need of a furry companion, we have been inseparable ever since. 

It is true that The Staff has needed a great deal of training and discipline over the years and I think she will always be a work in progress. There have been some memorable moments though and as so few people read my blog back in the day, we thought we might regurgitate repost some of the earlier entries over the next few days so you can see how things were! Be warned! Things were rather different back then, as you will see!

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catoptric - reflection. A cat's favourite pastime

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Sunday 1 November 2015

This is the ......

..... wedged-behind-the-chair-trying-to-get-some-privacy-so-I-can-arrange-my-tuxie-furs-with-my-little-pink-tongue, selfie!


There is no peace for The Tux
Who's furs were far from deluxe!
He worked his pink tongue
'Cos the furs were far flung 
Until he had perfect flux!

We are joining in the Sunday Selfie Blog Hop once again hosted by our friends over at  The Cat on my Head. Click on the badge below to join in :)



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A week or two ago we were very excited to discover we were the international winners of the giveaway held by Ann of Pawsitively Pets to celebrate their third blogoversary! We received a Amazon gift voucher for £25, which we thought was very generous.

The Staff and I are still in negotiations, with the help of NUCAT of course, as to how it should be spent! Thank you to Ann and the crew xx


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Please note we are a bit behind with all kinds of blog stuff, but please be patient if we are not visiting and commenting as much as usual. The next issue of The Towers Times is scheduled to go to the printers as soon as the Union and Management conclude their latest round of pay negotiations!!


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