Happy Caturday, Cutetropolitans! No matter how much love and attention we pour onto our feline friends, they remain aloof, a fact that reader Muppet2171 demonstrated for herself:
I always see these “before and after being told he’s a good / pretty / handsome dog / cat / other” photos and decided to try it. Attached are pics of Teller before and after being told he’s a pretty boy. Um… yeah.
That’s pretty much the reaction of every cat I’ve ever been owned by! ❤️ Teller, he’s so gorgeous!
Hope everyone has had a good week and is looking forward to a great holiday weekend! Just to celebrate, here’s Lily napping in a sun puddle!
Something so blissful about a kitty in the sun
That’s probably why I always go over to wake them up.
Teller: “Talk is cheap.”
I think Teller’s reaction is “Why are you telling me what I already know?”
Yep, already knows. 😁
My dad used to argue that cats’ expressions never changed. I said they did. I stand corrected. 😂
Yeah two handsome/beautiful kitties to start the weekend!!!! Love seeing Teller and Lily. Georgie is over here “killing” his fleecey wand. He’s such a character, he grabs the fleece and then tries dragging the whole wand off with him.
Not doing much this weekend as it’s going to be hot, hot, hot this weekend. Temps are going to hit over 100! Did someone switch CA with AZ??? Biggest news is I get a haircut today! Can not wait, shaggy doesn’t even begin to describe how my hair looks. Other than that, just usually errands and maybe drive up to a nursery to get some specialty plants. Had a beautiful Dolphins Necklace succulent that is on its last legs after numerous attempts to revive so I want to get a new one. Not sure if I overwatered or underwatered or if excess heat/sun just cooked it.
Enjoy the “last“ weekend of summer everyone.
“Verbal praise does not compute. Please administer tummy rubs for 20 minutes, OR provide delish fresh fish. Thank you.”
I think one of the whiskers changed positions.
Teller is beautiful, whether he appreciates hearing it or not.
Unfortunately no good holiday weekend here. My uncle passed away on Tuesday, at 88. The viewing is Sunday at the funeral home and the funeral on Monday at the church, then cemetery. Which is bad enough but with pandemic concerns on top of that I’m sad + anxious about being around people. Socially distanced/masked funeral will be strange; not sure what to expect and just hoping everyone follows the rules and no one is sick. After the funeral there is lunch planned; NJ opened limited-capacity indoor dining yesterday, so I don’t know if lunch will be indoors or outdoors. Kinda hoping for outdoors, just because I’ll feel better about that. The high temp is supposed to be 82 on Monday and sunny so eating outside shouldn’t be too bad.
On a lighter note, something I came across this week…Not animals (though there are dogs in the video) but this is adorable.
I join with the others in expressing my sadness for your loss. I hope that the service and luncheon will be both safe and uplifting for you and all who knew and remember him. And yeah, the driveway guy is cool.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Allein. A big virtual hug to you!
Sorry for your loss, Allein. 😢
I am so sorry to hear about your uncle. My thoughts for you and your family
So sorry to hear that, Allein!☹️ I would also be having the same concerns about being around so many others at this time. ((Hugs))
The driveway guy is the coolest! So glad everyone is having fun👍🏼😁
Allein, I’m so sorry to hear about your uncle. I don’t think I can put it any better than Mike did, really. Holding a good thought for you. Bibi sends comforting puppy kisses.
Thank you to you and Bibi.
Speaking of puppy kisses…the funeral home director has a 3 year old chocolate Labradoodle named Stella and he brings her to work!! She was playing with a ball in the lobby; she would “throw” it by nudging it with her nose and sending it rolling toward someone, clearly expecting it to be thrown (or in my case, kicked) back. She should be a goalie. And she didn’t bark once. The goodest girl. I didn’t pet her because she wouldn’t stay still. 😛
I’ll send Mike pictures.
Here’s Stella, the funeral home labradoodle!
Thanks, Mike!!!!! 💗💗
She’s gorgeous! How interesting that a funeral director has his dog at work – very progressive in my eyes but I wonder if everyone feels similarly, like maybe they’d feel it wasn’t dignified enough. One could think of her as a therapy dog! She reminds me of a spanoni (? Sp?) an Italian water dog.
I hope you’re ok, Allein.
As for Teller, gorgeous fellow, I was reminded of a cat meme – gorgeous, languorous cat with the the text, “Now for something completely indifferent”.
First time I’ve seen a dog there (we’ve unfortunately been there a few times in the last few years…enough for me to notice the changes they’ve made in the lobby furniture). He said he got her at about 8 months old and she’s about 3 and a half now. I don’t know if she just naturally plays quietly or if she was trained to, but she squeaked her ball a few times and that was all the noise she made, other than her feet skittering across the floor when she chased it. Her favorite spot seems to be next to one of the couches, where there’s just enough space for her between the couch and the edge of the rug. And I’m guessing she was trained to stay away from the funeral room because she didn’t even go near the doorway. She was either in the lobby or the office the whole time (didn’t even know she was there until almost an hour after we got there).
I’m doing okay. Funeral tomorrow, then two days of work at the office, then two personal days for a four-day weekend.
But I just realized I have a dentist appointment next Saturday…
On the up side, my dentist is near a Barnes & Noble with a cafe so maybe I can go try one of the new tea lattes someone told me about.
I’m so sorry about your uncle. I hope the service and gatherings are at least somewhat comforting and not all stress.
The driveway owner is a lovely person.
Yes, exactly. So sorry about your uncle, Allein. And so happy for this neighborhood.
Yes, Allein, so sorry about your uncle and that the funeral and luncheon are held responsibly and carefully. Stay safe! We need you here!
And the driveway Guy is lovable and creative!
Teller! Lily! And someone engaging in an act of kindness! These are a few of my favorite things.
Went to dinner last night with friends—finally. We had an outdoor table, kept masks on most of the time, tried to be careful. It was my first meal out since lockdown. I’m still processing my feelings. I did cancel on a friend’s potluck today—sharing food with people I don’t know seemed really irresponsible. Fortunately, my friend understands and we’ll get together in a safer setting before she and her husband move.
Birthday coming up. Bleah. I’ll ignore the mental pain by working some more on my house. Since we’re supposed to hit 100 today and tomorrow, this weekend will be quiet. It’s actually supposed to snow here on Tuesday. Feels like 2020.
Hugs to you all.
SNOW??!! 😧 After days of 100 degrees? Where in the heck do you live?
Front Range of Colorado. Our weather has just been bizarre lately.
In the Rocky Mountains? It must be a beautiful place.
Typically I’d be at a festival with 85,000 other people but instead I’m home alone. One of the few times that I get to see some of my friends each year.
Kentucky Derby’s today so I sent off the horse pool to my folks.
There is a festival every summer in my town. Of course it was cancelled this year. I miss that 4 days of fun so much 🙁
Thank you, everyone.
I’m a little late, but can I join the group hug?
Regular viewers may remember that I have a fondness for searching out strange names in my family tree. Earlier today I discovered that in the 1890s my first cousin three times removed was the landlord of the Bay Horse Inn, Oxenhope, near Haworth. His name? Mephibosheth Sunderland! His six siblings included Zebiah, Elkanah and Jedidah – the other three got off lightly with Deborah, Abigail and Miriam. I can’t help wondering how long it took little Mephibosheth to learn to spell his name and what the family called him for short…
Group hug is for everyone.
My grandfather’s name was Speredione (we’re not even sure if that’s the correct spelling) but everyone called him Spity.
Is Mephibosheth a character in the Bible?
According to the Books of Samuel of the Tanakh, Mephibosheth (or Mephibaal) was the son of Jonathan, grandson of King Saul and father of Mica or Micha.
According to the biblical narrative (2 Samuel 4:4), Mephibosheth was 5 years old when both his father and grandfather died at the Battle of Mount Gilboa. After the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, Mephibosheth’s nurse took him and fled in panic. In her haste, the child fell, or was dropped while fleeing. After that, he was unable to walk.
Some years later, after his accession to the kingship of the United Monarchy, King David sought “someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God” and Mephibosheth was brought to him. David restored Saul’s inheritance to Mephibosheth and permitted him to live within his palace in Jerusalem.
The Hebrew name is מְפִיבֹשֶׁת Mefivoshet, meaning “from the mouth of shame” or “from the mouth of god Bashtu”, or Merib-baal (Bib Heb: מְרִיב־בַּעַל, Trans: Meriv-Ba’al, Mərîḇ-Báʻal).
–Wikipedia
Thanks. And wow. What would possess people to name a baby after this character?
Crikey! On Friday I bought a little book entitled “Oxenhope and Stanbury Through Time”, these being the villages near Haworth where many of my ancestors lived. Last night I sat down to read it…and guess who’s mentioned next to an 1890s photo of the Bay Horse Inn? “Mephibosheth (‘Phibby’) Sunderland was there from c.1890 to his death in 1900.” So now I have another entry on my list of family-related places to visit, together with the Fleece Inn on Haworth’s Main Street – another relative, Phibby’s daughter Rhoda, was married to the landlord Arthur Grace between 1927 and her death in 1933.
Phibby? Could it be that Mephibosheth was a common enough name that there was a diminutive form? Or was Phibby just the result of desperate flailing, an attempt to avoid using the full name?
I’m going to go for “desperate flailing”. The census takers did a remarkably good job of getting his name right over the years except in 1871, when it was rendered as Maphibosha.