2/1/2016: Clinch's magic carpet ride

One of my first posts in this blog was about Clinchfield's fascination with messing up the bathmats.  If you missed that or need a recap, you can catch up here.

A few nights ago Steve and I were getting ready to go to bed, and I noticed that Clinch had messed up the mats again, but this time instead of pushing them both against the wall, one of them was sticking out in the hall.  That was new, and while we pondered it, Clinch walked up and plopped down:

He didn't budge as I walked around him, taking pictures.  He didn't even twitch when I turned on the light to get this slightly blurry picture:

Steve decided to see what would happen if he straightened the mat out with Clinch on it.  Would he jump off, or would he enjoy the ride?  Let's take a look:  (The video was done with my phone, so if you want to hear the few things said, you'll have to turn your speakers up a lot.  Sorry about that.)

It was nice of him to point out that the other mat was disheveled, too, wasn't it?

"Thanks for straightening things out, Papa!"

Since then, I've had to fix the mats no less than four times.  He sure likes to keep us busy!

1/16/2016: The Half-On Cat

Pixel likes to sit on our laps - Steve's while he's on the couch and mine when I'm at my desk.  If we're lying in bed chatting before going to sleep, Pixel likes to lie on our chests and walk all over us.  When I sleep, he drapes himself over my legs.  I flop around a lot, so that doesn't work very well.  We end up twisted around each other like malformed pretzels stuck together during the baking process.  I'll give you a second to process that image...  All done?  As I'm sure you can imagine, it's not very comfortable, and I'm glad he doesn't do that every night.

Fe loves Steve's lap, too, and sometimes she gets jealous of Pixel.  She doesn't sit on my lap, but she will sit on the back of the couch I sit on, and sometimes she sits behind me on my office chair.  It's kind of uncomfortable for me because I'm perched on half the chair, and sometimes it's cold, because she paws at my sweater wanting a "tent", so (like I did the other day) I have to take my sweater off and drape it over her.  The things we do for our kitties!

Clinchfield, though, is a "half-on" cat, most of the time.  His front half goes on the raised part of the bathroom counter with his back half on the lower part.  His front half is on my nightstand with his back half on the steps.  Stuff like that.  Recently, he's started being half on us.

Last night we went out to dinner with my mother and stepfather, John, for his birthday.  We ate a lot, and when we got home we just collapsed on the bed and watched a stand-up special by Demetri Martin from Netflix.  Clinch joined us, and I took well over 40 pictures of his half-on-ness over the course of about 50 minutes.  No, I won't show you all of them.  Just the highlights:

Just getting settled

Steve had wiggled his toes

Blowing Mama a kiss (or grooming, whichever is more plausible)

"What's going on up there?"

Doing his Linda Blair impression

Falling asleep sitting up

Oh, no!  He fell over!

Steve tickled Clinch's paw

Immodest kitteh investigates the intrusion

Oops.  Sorry!

Then he fell back asleep, but only for 20 seconds or so.

Steve's leg was starting to get numb, so after Clinch woke up, he pulled the kitten all the way up on  him.

Steve helped Clinch hide his under bits.

Clinch did not approve of forced modesty, so he moved.

Shortly after this, Clinch left for all of 10 minutes.

"Let's try the other side of this leg!"

Clinch watched the rest of special with us.

He seemed riveted by Demetri Martin's last bit.  It must have been the guitar and the harmonica.  Clinch has never heard a harmonica before.

I like that he's starting to cuddle, even if it's only half of him doing it.  I have hopes that soon he'll be a "full-on" cat, like he was for ten minutes a few days ago:

Sorry for the crappy picture - I had to use my webcam.

12/28/2015: "No! You stay where it's warm!"

Today we've gotten the second snowfall of the season.  This one is nasty - snow mixed with icy rain.  The house was pelted all day long.  It has finally calmed down, so around 8:30 this evening Steve started changing clothes to clear the driveway and our very long sidewalk.  Here is what I dared to capture, stepping outside extremely briefly in my bare feet:

Yes, Mom, I know I shouldn't go outside without shoes in the middle of winter.  I was out there less than 30 seconds.

Any cat lover knows that cats are drawn to change.  Clear off a bookcase's shelf, and the cat will jump on the empty shelf.  Move the bookcase, and the cat will sit in the empty spot.  Put a closed box or bin in the middle of the floor, and the cat will jump on it.  An open box or bin is even better - the cat will jump in it.  Put a sweater on a bed, and that's the only place the cat wants to sleep.  If you've cleared off your desk but have just one pile of papers left, that's where the cat lies down.

Clinchfield is no exception.  Steve put on his long underwear and flung his jeans out to put on, and Clinch instantly noticed the change and took action:

"Don't go outside!  It's cold and yucky out there!"

"Mama, keep Papa inside!"

Clinch wouldn't budge, so Steve had to pull the jeans off of the floor so he could get dressed.

Now poor Steve is outside shoveling.  He tried using the snowblower, but it didn't sound like it was going too well.  There must be too much ice.  I hope it doesn't start snowing again!

12/27/2015: Sweet Clinchfield with Papa (and Pixel, too)

Shortly after I got up from my nap this afternoon, Steve sat on the bed to pet Pixel, who had been lying on my legs while I slept, impeding my movements.  Clinchfield came up to investigate, Pixel left, Steve pulled the kitten on his lap for some petting, and the rarest thing happened:  Clinch stayed.

We've been trying to get him to cuddle and be a lap cat, but he's still so much of a kitten that moments like this are few and far between.  Yeah, he'll come up between our pillows after I've been up in the middle of the night, and I can hold him for a while, but it's always almost at arm's length.

While I was watching them, Steve said, "I really should get up and do something."  I replied, "This is the most important thing you can do right now."

I grabbed my phone and took a bunch of pictures to commemorate the occasion.  I was expecting Clinch to dash off when I stepped fully into the room, but he didn't.

He likes a lot of petting behind the ears

(but stomach scratching invites nipping)

Say cheese!

Constant petting is required to keep a lap kitten happy

Within a few minutes, Pixel came back and was jealous:

"Hey!  What's going on up there?"

Pixel claims the bedpost as his (for the 100th time)

while Steve strains his bad shoulder to pet him.

I apologize for the state of the covers.  Like I said, I had just gotten up from a nap.  If I had known there would be a photo shoot, I would have straightened up a bit.

Here's my favorite picture of the whole affair:

My three boys!

Shortly after this, Clinchfield got all bitey and scratchy and ran off.  It was very nice while it lasted, and I hope it won't be too long before it happens again!