Treasure Box, or, um, maybe Litterbox Thursday

With my dad now in hospice for his cancer, needless to say, I have not really been thrifting much lately. I've been playing a lot of Scrabble with him-- (we experienced our very first Scrabble draw, where I was left with a Q and he, a U, and we finally had to use teamwork to finish the game)-- and other general visitation.

So I regret I have no treasures for you this week. I can only offer you a couple of shots of Harry-- the furry little bugger who is a treasure to me, and who surprised me this last week with his antics on top of my refrigerator where he is so not supposed to be.

I figure with whole web sites like the marvelous www.cuteoverload.com dedicated to the kind of cheerful pet shots that merrily lower your IQ just by looking at them, you might forgive me this week for including these.

I'd caption this one: "If I hold really, REALLY still maybe she will think I'm a fridge magnet."

And this one: "Oh no.... Busted!"

I hope you all have a furry nice rest of your week!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Furry Funny?

My schedule is a bit wonky this week and I'm currently not posting this from home-- but hey, it's Treasure Box Wednesday and I don't want to leave you all with nothing in the virtual treasure chest.

So I was thinking, the pet lovers among you (and after all, how many homey homes don't contain a pet!) might get a smile from my latest humor post over on Of Cabbages and Kings-- "Object Identification from a Cat's Perspective." (Click here to check that out.)

The post draws on my extensive (okay, three months) observation of feline MacGyvering abilities. (Yes, MacGyver is a verb.)

And if you must move on to other locales in the blogosphere?... Then have yourself a furry nice rest of your week.

Secondhand Fur

Had you going with that title for a minute, didn't I?

But no, I hadn't gone mad and decided in this oppressive summer heat that what I really needed was a thrifty fur jacket. I'm referring to my new cat-- my first furred pet ever, actually-- Alice. I got her from Animal Friends, a no-kill shelter, and while things didn't work out with her first family, I'm delighted to give her a home this second-time around.

At the price of a donation, she was a bargain! (And by now you all know how I feel about bargains.)

Alice has been very well-behaved around the various collections I have-- she knows to admire glass and bisque vases but not to touch, which I appreciate. And while we're still working through a few things when it comes to textiles, I feel confident, we'll get it right in the end.

I thought you folks would get a chuckle seeing that, yes, her scratching post has a red ball on it to match my red living room, because yes, I am that sort of person...

It's a sickness, really. But I'm okay with it.

I also got her a red velvety cat bed, which she's finally decided might be of her taste...
This is really so she'll be less interested in my red velvet sofa. It doesn't react well to biting-- which is why I stopped doing it myself after a week or so. (Heh.) So I'm hoping some cat-prevention tape and some anti-scratch spray will make it less tasty for her.

At least she has a comfy view of the neighborhood...

And most of all, I think she's a bit of a thrifty lass herself. I mean, while she does love a good feather-on-a-stick (okay, so maybe that's really for me)...

...Apparently a balled up wad of newspaper, a cardboard paper towel tube, and the plastic ring off the milk bottle are the Best. Toys. Ever.

The best things in life really are free.
Here's hoping your upcoming week will be up to scratch!