This sucker was up for a fight! Between its battle dance and climbing all over the place, it sure made for some fun times (and Missy was pretty entertained too).
cat attacks praying mantis from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
praying mantis dance from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
praying mantis on arm from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
praying mantis rock climb from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Panda has this habit of people-watching (actually more like people-staring) whenever we’re out and about. This is especially evident at restaurants, when he’s looking just about anywhere but at me. Whether it’s a cute kid gurgling on mom’s lap, a rowdy bunch having a blast, or just a couple sitting quietly, Panda will observe every little thing – staring and sometimes even gawking. It’s painfully obvious to me and I wonder if others notice it too.
Since this seems to be so distracting for him, I’ve taken to making sure that he sits on the side facing the wall, or the least interesting part of the restaurant. This seems to have helped a bit but I still find myself competing for attention over meals. I guess that should encourage us to eat in more often, eh?
Hehe, Missy sleeps in such funny positions throughout the day. Sometimes it’s downright baffling that she finds it comfortable like that.
Molly refuses to drink out of a normal bowl, so we have to fill up the sink for her a few times a day and let her play around like this:
molly playing in sink from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Molly in one of her calmer moods.
I think about 10 days in is when Molly started to move around. She explored the house and I even caught her drinking from the toilet (aha! so she wasn’t dying of thirst). Soon enough, she was as spry as any cat and even went around the house acting like she built it, owned it, and ran it. While I was happy that she was totally fine and actually quite active, I discovered that she actually doesn’t like being held. So much for my lap cat idea. Sometimes she gets into these terrible moods, where she’ll growl at you for no reason. She’ll get mad because you walked by, because she walked by you, because you did this or didn’t do that, etc. I didn’t want to encourage this behavior, so whenever she got grumpy, I’d keep pushing. If she didn’t want me touching her I’d hug her. Sometimes I’d growl with her, or give her a stern finger. Unfortunately, this hasn’t worked and I think I’ve figured it out – we’re both super stubborn.
The more you push, the more I push back (and the more you push back). So, our little battles escalate until Molly gets so upset that she attacks or runs away. I can’t help it though; nothing irritates me more than backing down when she’s the one initiating the negativity. I was hoping to train her to see that when she got mad, I didn’t leave her alone, so trying to scare me wouldn’t work. But it seems that all she sees is that she’s not happy and I’m annoying. It’s a pity! I’ve never tried to start a fight with her, but that seems to be how it all ends up. And that’s what stubbornness can get you.
I had some bread for the fish and when some chunks were just too hard to break down I gave up and threw them in whole. The fish kept nudging this one and nibbling bit by bit as it softened. Looked like a game of ball! Fish-ball!
fishball (the sport) from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
One day, not long after Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy brought two windy, rainy days to our area, I was out walking and came across no less than 8 squirrels when normally I would have seen one or two. They must have been hungry after the storm, because they were ALL eating (or scavenging for food). Here are just a few I managed to capture on film (or so to speak)…
Yes, that little glob is a squirrel all the way up there!
Here’s a zoomed in shot of that squirrel, nibbling on a snack as the branch swayed in the wind.
This squirrel was doing some serious damage and really got into it.
I even put together a collage of some of the squirrels I came across.
Case in point: pacing stork! Must have been frustrated too since it would occasionally peck the water forcefully.
pacing stork from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Missy loves to massage me, the pillow, or Rupert right before she settles down for a nap. It’s become a ritual for us, kind of like when a dog spins in circles to get into position for rest. She always purrs gently, kneads at something cushy, and sticks her nose into whatever she’s massaging, hehe. She’ll massage anything that’s soft and squishy!
cat arm massage from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
cat massaging teddy bear from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Remember that squirrel that randomly climbed all around my house? Well, here’s some video of it in action, first just trying to get away, then being too scared to move because my cat had spotted it (but quickly lost interest), then hanging on to the chimney despite the windy conditions that day.
squirrel climbing by roof from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
squirrel hiding from cat from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
squirrel on chimney from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
