Thank you!


It was so very nice to receive this blogging award from the lovely Nerissa the cat at “Nerissa’s Life“.
As part of the award, I’m supposed to tell you 10 things about this blog.

1. It all started because of our cat Gracie.
2. More than 10 years ago, I began volunteering at PAWS.
3. After three years of cleaning cages and litter boxes, petting, playing and brushing the cats, I fell in love.
4. We adopted a tiny tabby and white kitten and named her Ms. Grace Lillian.
5. I took lots of photographs of her in her new home, and brought them to the shelter so that the staff and other volunteers could see how she was doing.

Here’s baby Gracie.

6. One day the shelter director asked me to help photograph the shelter cats.
7. Having just gotten my first digital camera, I added photography to my list of volunteer duties.
8. Every week I’d send my pictures off to PAWS and also email them to friends, family, and other cat lovers.
9. My email list got huge! And then I heard about this thing called a blog…
10. My first post was in March 2009 and this is post #367.

It’s so much fun visiting other cat bloggers. The perfect place to find them is at the Catblogosphere.
There are also some really good bloggers who are kind enough to leave comments. You can click on their names and visit them too.

Christmas in March

The nice people at Mr. Chewy offered us a $50 gift certificate to their site.
They have a huge selection of cat and dog food. There’s also free shipping if you spend over $49.
I ordered treats for the cats at PAWS and the box arrived the very next day!

My cats were so excited!

Then I told them that they could only keep the box…*

*Only kidding. I paid for an extra bag of treats for my cats at home.

If you shop at Mr. Chewy, use the code SWAN3421 on your first order and get 10% off. They’ll also donate $10 to an animal shelter.

Games for Cats


Here’s Mickey checking out the ipad app, “Game for Cats“. It has three levels of play which include a mouse, a butterfly, and a dot of light similar to a laser toy.

Gracie was briefly amused, but when the mouse went off screen she tried to get under the ipad to see where it had gone. Cats are hunters and my cats weren’t interested for long- once they found out they weren’t going to actually catch anything.
Still, it’s a free app and if you have an ipad, Mickey and Gracie suggest you check it out. Tommie opted to take a nap.

If you like people games for mobile devices, my daughter has a review site – Best Game Apps.

Nap Club


You’ve probably been wondering how our own furry family has been doing.

Tommie, Ms. Grace Lillian, and Mickey Mouser have formed a club which meets frequently during the day at various locations around the house.

Last Fall I wrote several times about the bumpy road we were traveling trying to ease baby Mickey into the family. Time and patience took care of most of the problems.
If you’re in that situation with your own cats, hang in there!

Countdown to Bark in the Park


If you live in the area, please join us at Cranbury Park, Norwalk, CT next Saturday, September 17th from 11am to 3pm. This is the fourth annual fundraising dog festival for PAWS. Even though the event is mostly about the dogs, it’s still a lot of fun!

This year the cats will have their own booth with pins and toys and paraphernalia for sale. They won’t be attending though. The cats will be back at the shelter waiting for us to bring home the kibble.

If you can’t join us and want to help support PAWS please CLICK HERE. Thank you!

Gracie (top photograph) is keeping an eye on the merchandise. Mickey took one for the team and is reluctantly helping out.

Time Share

It’s been a while since my own cats have made an appearance here.

At Christmas, friends gave me a basket filled with gourmet treats.
I unpacked it on my kitchen island, and before I could decide where to put it, the cats staked a claim.
Morning Shift: Baby Mickey has a rainbow on his face from a crystal in the window.

Any Time Food Is Prepared Shift: Tommie loves to keep us company.

Night Shift: Here’s Gracie!

They love this basket. My question is, why do they avoid the lovely new cat bed I purchased for them?