Early Morning Walk With Mom

Happy Friday!  Well, I won’t have a picture to show you of what my blog is about today because my walk with Mom was IN THE DARK!

Yep – we haven’t done this in a long time but I decided to ask yesterday morning if she would pretty please put my harness on and take me outside while it was still dark and Dad was still snoring sleeping.

I don’t often ask anymore because we have that cat that visits us fairly regularly named “Stevie” who sometimes is outside in the mornings and she and I don’t exactly get along well.  She probably just wants to play with me but sometimes she jumps on me and it scares me SOOOOOOOO if I see her out there, I don’t ask to go.  Well this morning she was NOT out there!  

I went to the basement door and gave Mom “THE LOOK” after she’d finished cleaning my litter box for me.  She keeps my harness and leash right by the door and I help her to put it on me – I lift my paws up one at a time so she can put the harness on and snap on the leash…..Oh I just get SO excited!  The door opens, she turns on the light so we can see, and out we go into the dark……..

I had a bit of a nibble on the grass – even though Mom mowed a couple of days ago there’s always a few spots (and of course I know where they are!) where she can’t get the mower so that’s where I go for a munch. 

Then we slowly started around the side of the house…..I guess I wasn’t moving fast enough for her (well, it was starting to rain a little bit and I wasn’t in a hurry) so she picked me up in her arms and we kept walking.   She talked to me the whole time and I purred and purred back……it was nice for her to hold me and keep me nice and warm because it was a little bit coolish!  We didn’t see any other animals but the birds were just starting to wake up and make some noise in the big leyland cypress trees. 

Finally we got to the back yard and I started to squirm a bit in Mom’s arms because I wanted her to put me down…….why?  Well because it’s a big game we play as to who can get to the basement door the fastest!!!

She put me down and let go of my leash and WHAMMO – fast as a cheetah I ran to the door and beat her!  YAY SAMMY!

I may be old but I’m still fast………….when I wanna be!

Happy Friday……..

Sammy the Cheetah

Pre-Dawn Door Patrol

C'mon Mom....let's go "owwwwwwa" (out) !

I know this door might accidentally open and I might accidentally slip out – accidentally……on the other hand, it’s DARK outside and when it is (as it’s bound to be at 5AM) the only door I can go outside from, is in the basement.  Why?  Because that’s where my harness and leash are and for twelve years, that’s where we’ve gone OWWWWA from! 

Still, whenever Mom’s passing by the front door and I just happen to be looking out the side window, I can’t resist asking.  Once it’s light outside and Mom can SEE me and where I’m wandering, then we can go out this door because it leads to the porch – one of my favorite spots. 

Can’t blame me for trying though.  A couple of times through the years Mom has “trusted” me to stay by her side without my harness when it’s been dark outside – she had a flashlight at the time of course to keep an eye on me and I thought it would be fun to play “catch me if you can”…..Mom didn’t think it was as funny as I did.  She just worried that I’d run too far, too fast trying to get her to chase me for fun and maybe she was right.  SO, we don’t go out the door without the harness on if it’s dark.  PERIOD.

This morning we tried to do a harness walk out of the basement but a neighborhood cat was out there and once I saw it, I changed my mind about wanting to go out there!  I don’t do so well around other cats – especially when they’re “invading” my yard…..SO, I guess I’ll just wait for it to get light and I’m sure Mom will go out with me with OR without my harness on.  

After all, she’s just trying to protect me…….I just get impatient sometimes!!  Don’t we all?????????????????????

Happy Thursday

Sammy

 

Gettin’ In Trouble

Uh Oh...What Did I Do Now???

OK – we’ve all done it – at some time or another, we’ve either done something we KNEW we shouldn’t, or accidentally done something that turned out to be – BIG TROUBLE.  Am I right?  Well, you can tell from my Cousin Toby’s face in this picture that he knows he’s been a BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD boy. 

I have to honestly say that the only time I’ve been in trouble was back when I was a little guy.  I was less than a year old and was still at the “wow!” stage – everything was new and neato and overwhelming – especially the woods in our backyard.  Mom and I used to walk down a path into the woods with me wearing my harness and leash.  I’d hop up on an old oak tree that had fallen down and it was fun to walk up and down the bark while Mom sat there and watched me play.  Well, not long after that she gave me a chance to try out NOT being on the leash/harness.  By then I was responding to her calling my name so she thought I’d “mind” her when we were outside together.

HA!

Well the day of the BIG trouble, we started out just fine.  I was right by her feet and only went off the path a foot or so in either direction……I was being ever so good.  Then I saw my very first chipmunk about ten feet off the trail.  WOW……something to play with that was closer to my size!  Off I flew – I couldn’t even HEAR Mom calling me back – nope – I had one thing on my mind – finding my new buddy.  Mom came after me of course but as soon as she’d get close to me I’d run off further……there were a lot of bushes and shrubs and weeds and brambles and Mom couldn’t get to me as I scurried along tasting true FREEDOM!!!  The closer she’d get, the further I’d run.  Pretty soon she had to stop – she couldn’t go further because of the dense underbrush but I sure could and I sure did……out of sight. 

Mom found a way around the brush that was blocking her way but I was nowhere to be seen by then.  She called and called but I was busy.  She didn’t see me and I didn’t see her.  She gave up and went back to the house to get my Dad so they could hunt for me together.  They couldn’t find me.   They hoped that I would remember the way back home and I know Mom felt just awful that she’d let me get away from her.   Honestly though, it wasn’t her fault – – – I was just being a wild child !! 

They sat on the back deck and waited with eyes watching the woods and sure enough – about an hour later – one tired, straggily looking kitty came out of the woods and they came down into the yard and we had a big HUG-FEST.  I was so happy to see them and Mom cried happy tears to see me………..

That was my last time EVER not minding my Mom…..as I recall it was quite a while before she trusted me off my harness again too!

LESSON LEARNED………….and we’ve all lived happily ever after. 

Have YOU ever been in trouble?  Come on – ‘fess up – tell your friend Sam how you got into big trouble…….you’ll feel so much better if you tell………… 🙂

Happy Thursday

Sammy

 

Saturday With Sam

Just had breakfast...just resting while I digest!

Taking a little post-breakfast rest under the dining room chair.  From here I can observe what’s going on this early Saturday morning.  Actually, Saturday morning is usually pretty quiet around here.  I did change things up a bit this morning though – it’s been a while since I asked Mom if she’d take me out in the dark….I spend a lot more time in the house than out these days.  However, since both my parents were actually up EARLY while it was still dark I thought “why not!!”…..so they harnessed me up and we went outside in the back yard.  The sky was totally clear so while Mom and Dad pointed out their favorite star formations, I ate some grass and sat observing.  I could hear the rain drops plopping through the trees onto the ground but not even the birds were awake yet so it was pretty quiet out.  Nice. 

We only stayed outside for about ten minutes.  I just wanted a little fresh air.  It was too muddy to walk around much – my white paws would have gotten all yucky!!  Once we got back inside, we all went up to the family room where I hopped on Mom’s lap and did a quick “clean up” to make sure I was spotless as usual.  A guy’s got some pride you know……………. 🙂

I’m not sure what my parents have planned for today but if it’s a typical Saturday the answer is NOT MUCH.  Fine by me.  Mom said something about maybe going shopping – that might mean a new toy for me but as you all know, my toybox (wagon) is already full of stuff……still, a new toy might be just the ticket!!

It's full...but there's always room for JUST ONE MORE!!

Nothing like a new toy to perk a guy up after several days of rain!

Hope your Saturday is super in every way…..mine’s gonna be.

Sammy

 

My Morning “Adventure”

Even when she's NOT on the recliner with me, it's still a pretty swell nap spot!

Whew!  I just got back from a quick breath of HOT air outside this morning – time to grab another nap.  Actually this morning wasn’t quite as icky out as it has been although it’s going up to 100 here later……it wasn’t quite light yet when Mom and I ventured out onto the front porch and I got adventurous and decided to go on a “walkabout”.  I checked things out in the front rock garden (Mom has a dwarf Japanese maple in the garden that’s JUST MY SIZE) then sticking to the side of the yard by the woods I inched my way down, sniffing, checking stuff out……..I made sure to mark my territory a few times.  Doesn’t hurt to remind other wildlife just whose yard this REALLY is!!

Anyway, Mom was with me of course but she let go of my leash to go pick up some little branches that had fallen out of an oak tree and out of nowhere popped my little visiting nemesis “Stevie” !  Well, as you know by now, I tolerate Stevie pretty well – she’s the only neighborhood cat that’s allowed to come up on the front porch and get her morning snack from my Mom…..and we make eyes at each other through the window by the front door.  HOWEVER, just because I tolerate her, doesn’t mean I want to play with her – – – she saw me and came flying over to me and chased me 100mph all the way back up the big hill to the front porch!  We were a whole lot faster than good old Mommy – so we arrived before Mom was able to get there……..I was banging on the front door………”SOMEBODY LEMME IN!!!!!!” but nobody was there to save me………..until Mom breathlessly arrived and rescued me. 

So – that’s why in the photo above I’m passed out on Mom’s recliner.  That’s the most exercise I’ve had in a long time and the farthest from the front porch I’ve been out into the front yard in a long time too!   I used to do that a lot more but there are an awful lot of cats around my neighborhood now that weren’t here before.   Nowadays I’d really rather just grab a good old nap………so if you’ll excuse me – YAWN – I’ll say “have a nice day” and go back to sleep!

…….zzzzzzzzzzzzz………..

Sammy, One Spoiled Cat