Quote de jour
"I love cats because I enjoy my home; little by little they become its visible soul."
                                                                                                                 ~Jean Cocteau

It's Valentine's Day and it's not just for us humans. Every Saturday, Cat Saturday is a love fest for cat lovers, but today we go all out!
My cats Merlin & Coco send purrs... and the million dollar question is...



Thank-you, Patricia!



And last but never least is our CAT OF THE WEEK, his Royal Highness...


Prince Smokey is a young grey tabby who will one day be a king. Born in Detroit, he now lives in Southern Arizona where he enjoys strolls in his royal chariot pushed by his mom Ruth, and the good life. Ruth shared with me how Smokey came into her life.  
" Well, I see Smokey as a lot like me though admittedly I'm a bit on the 'unusual' side, he's that also!
Last September the man that I live with, drove to the Detroit area from our home in Phoenix to show his family his new baby, a Mustang. I neither care for the Mustang nor long drives with him so I flew down a couple days later and stayed at my mom's to visit her and my son.
The night before I got there he, Edgar, went with his brothers to a local pub to have a few beers. They walked home and there were these kittens just wandering around the neighborhood. Smokey crossed his path and whatever he was thinking I can't know, but he just scooped him up and brought him back to the house.
His brother had two grown cats and a preschooler and sure didn't want a kitten, so he wasn't sure what to do with it. His first thought was my mom and I told him he had better not, she had two senior pets already, and I was hoping she would downsize. I had no intentions of getting attached to the kitten, nor was I wanting a pet. We are both middle-aged empty nesters, I hadn't had a pet for more than 5 years and love to travel, whenever, where ever. A pet would cramp my style a bit! Didn't matter, one look at Smokey and he came to me as if choosing me, and that was it. He was mine or I his, I'm not sure which and there was no way I was leaving that kitten in Michigan, let alone feral in below zero temps.
I told Edgar that I didn't care what it took, but he was going to take Smokey in the Mustang with him to his  new home in Phoenix, that he had better not let anything happen to him on the way, that if anything did, he should just keep on going and call someone to get his stuff!
Turns out Smokey is quite a good traveling partner and took the road trip very well, walking on a leash for him at rest stops doing his business like a well trained canine, shared cheeseburgers with him (won't do that anymore, he is on cat food now, no killing with kindness!) never meowed or went crazy in the car and slept on his pillow in a trucker motel.
Now that street rat from Detroit as I once called him, is a well traveled desert rat in Phoenix along with me. He now spends his days keeping the apartment free of pests of any type, attacking and capturing things only he can see and getting me to bring him around town to see his subjects in his favorite thing, the purple Chariot of Royalty.
We estimate him to have been born mid June '08 and he is such a delight, so much character and when the time is right, much love to give. He definitely views himself as the King of all Creatures and many times his actual size as he has no fear whatsoever. I have seen him make 60 lb dogs go submissive as well as 200 lb men and the surliest of those with a feline aversion  to fall in love with this one.
Can't imagine life without him, he truly blessed us when he chose us to have the priveledge of being his servants, our apartment his toybox! He's the first kitten I've ever had, feral or otherwise, that checked out completely free of fleas, ear mites and worms, to me that was another miracle. The way we see it too our son (HRH the young Prince Smokey) has about the same lifespan as we have left in our journey and the rest of our travels will be as a family. A strange family but it's mine and I love it!
Thinking he may need a play buddy though..."


Let's not forget the less fortunate kitties. My outdoor feral Domino has had a rough winter. This is a photo of
him last week. He came for dinner a couple nights ago all bloodied and hasn't been seen since. If you're the praying kind, please send some. It's not like him to stray far from the porch or his cozy bed.

Our link of the week is for a cat sanctuary with the perfect name CAT LOVE, http://www.catlove.org

Our Cat Art of the Week is a Photoshopped image by J.Fisher.



If you are a cat lover, you've probably already read the huge best selling book, Dewey, if not, you'll like it. I'm just finished reading the heartwarming true story of a tiny kitten, abandoned in a library book drop on a freezing, winter night in Iowa. Needless to say, every library has a copy or ten, but endless waitlists. My secret for a shorter wait? I reserve the large print version.