A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER

That's a poem by John Keats.  He's really famous, you know.  I'm going to let you read just the first few lines:

A thing of beauty is a joy forever:

It's loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A lower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

It's a really long poem and Mr. Keats talks about many beautiful things.  He didn't mention cats, but I think that's because these first few lines are so obviously about cats.  We cats are especially soothing to our angels and that's what this is about.  I mean even the kittens, with all their energy, bring a certain quiet health to the angels who adopt them!  I bet you didn't know that I like poetry.  And I bet you didn't even realize that I, Janie, really do a lot of thinking!  But I do!

And here is what I think.  I think when Mr. Keats wrote his poem he had in mind a kitty just like Miss Molly!  I'm going to show you a picture of this creature of beauty!  She came to us because, for whatever reason, her humans could no longer keep her.  Their particular solution to this problem was pretty drastic!  And, just like with me, the StreetCats angels saved her life.  Don't worry, she isn't sick like I was.  She is healthy enough to sometimes want to play with the kittens at StreetCats!  That's pretty neat because she is not a kitten at all.  She is 11 years old!  And she can still jump onto things!  Well, here she is!

And here is something interesting about Molly and her color.  She's white, right?  Well, she is, except that she has some black smudges on her head!  And you can see some black smudges on her paws!  Isn't that interesting?!  Here is what I've read . . . That white cats aren't really white!  Huh?!  No, really.  I don't know if this is true or not, but what I read is that white cats are a color that is being suppressed by a certain gene they have!  That sure is an interesting idea!  So . . . is Miss Molly really black and her gene to suppress her color doesn't work very well?  I think there are scientists who like to explore these possibilities, but I think I'll just call her a white cat with some black smudges!

Whatever the answer to that question, Miss Molly is a sweet, healthy older kitty who is a thing of beauty who will bring joy to any human who will adopt her and take her to her forever home.  She will bring YOU, dear human, a healthy sense of peace that is full of quiet breathing!

Bye, bye!

Midnight shenanigans!

Really didn't think I'd be doing this so soon, but here we go!  This is just a small sample of the nighttime activities at StreetCats.  You see, we cats are not only nocturnal, but we can see in the dark!  Now that is just cool if I do say so myself!  Of course I do not participate in any of these naughty activities!  I wouldn't!  It is just not my nature to be at all destructive (note to potential adopters!).  But I do observe.  And I have promised not to name any kitty names!  And oh yeah, one more thing.  Vickie, the blog photographer is not here during the night so I had to take these pictures myself.  Boy, am I ever NOT a photographer!  So I apologize!

As you can maybe tell, this is a picture of cabinets.  And when my angels leave in the evening these cabinets are shut and hooked.  So how, you ask, did the kitties get the doors open?  Well, I can only tell you that cats are determined and persistent!  And smart!!!!  And why, you ask, would cats want to open the cabinet doors?  Well, have you heard the phrase "curiosity killed the cat?"  I've never liked that phrase, but it does point out that cats are curious.  And we do not like closed doors!

   

Now here's another picture...

Now you will see in this picture that the cats have opened the lower cabinet doors, too.  When we get curious, well, we get curious!  See the towels on the floor?  Now you wonder why there are towels on the floor, right?  Well, they were dragged out of the upper cabinet and dropped to the floor!  If you think the cats were making a new bed on the floor you would be wrong!  No, they were rearranging the upper cabinet so that they could sleep in it comfortably!  We have so many beds at StreetCats!  BUT, a cabinet is always best!  Oh let's face it, you will probably never really understand . . . unless you're a cat!

Okay, one more picture and then I'll quit.  Here it is!

Now if you look closely at my poor photography, you will see that the sign on the container says Janie's food.  Well, I am Janie and that is definitely NOT me getting into the food!  Now this could even irritate me!

Here is my suggestion for keeping these crazy things from happening.  Angels, if you are reading this, please pay attention!  There is room in the big cat room for a human bed.  We would even give you as many beds of our own as you need.  Then you can take turns sleeping here with us at night!  Isn't that a great idea!  Gee, I wonder just how many kitties would sleep in the bed with you, play with your hair, purr in your ear, etc.    I bet we would bring some toys to your bed, too!  Of course if the cats went to sleep you would not be free to move lest you disturb them!  Maybe you would learn to be nocturnal, too!

Bye, bye.

Sleep Deprivation! Really!

Did you ever think that a cat could be sleep deprived????  Well, it was certainly nothing I ever thought could happen!  How did Lulu do it???  Here is my problem.  I'm nocturnal, right?  So I'm awake quite a bit at night observing what goes on around StreetCats during the wee hours of the morning.  That's just my nature.  (Someday maybe I'll tell you all about the nighttime StreetCats!)  Well, if I'm going to write a blog about my angels and all they do for us I also have to stay awake during the day because that is when they are here planning and cleaning and planning and petting us!  I know that Lulu napped all day!  I bet she had 20 naps a day!  How did she do it?!

There has been so much going on with my angels!  I still haven't figured out what that meeting was about and I'll tell you about that just as soon as I find out!  And, believe me, I'm working on that!  So here is what I DO know.  The other day my angels took a bunch of "merchandise" and went to an event called Affair of the Heart.  They sold things there!  This Saturday, 12/7, they are going to another deal called Darnaby Craft Show.  It's at a place called UMAC.  That stands for Union Multipurpose Activities Center.  It's at 6836 S. Mingo Avenue in Tulsa and is from 9:00 to 4:00 that day.  And they'll take more merchandise!  And they'll sell it!  And whatever money they make will be spent on all the cats at StreetCats!  Amazing!  Hey, I know!  If you haven't done all your Christmas shopping yet, you can come there!

And here is something else they are doing!!!!  On Sunday, 12/8 from 3:00 to 8:00, on Monday, 12/9, from 5:00 to 9:00 and on Wednesday, 12/11, from 5:00 to 9:00 some of my angels will be at the Barnes & Noble on 41st Street to wrap your gifts for you!  Now I don't know whose idea that was, but I think it's a pretty nice thing to do!  And they do it for free!  (Okay, if you want to make a donation to us kitties, you can.  And, believe me, we would appreciate it!)  There is one volunteer, Joyce Deboard, who makes really beautiful bows for this wrapping gig.  I haven't seen them because she can't make them here.  That's because the kittens would want to play with them, right?  Right!  But I hear they are beautiful!  Isn't that just so nice of her to do that?!  Joyce, please bring me one of your bows!

Oh, I'm so darn tired!  I've just got to figure out some napping time!  Should I write to Lulu and asked her for advice?  I'm yawning so much that it's even hard to eat!  Gee, I wonder if my angels are sleep deprived, too?  They sure are doing a lot!

Bye.

Angelic Angels!

Hi everyone!  It's Janie!  Do you remember me?  Just in case you don't, here's my picture!  Lulu's picture is still at the top of the blog so I thought maybe you should see who is really talking to you.  Lulu doesn't live here any more.  I wonder if her picture will always be at the top of the blog.  Since I'm the blogger now, is that something that I can decide?

And speaking of Lulu, here is the story I want to tell you today.  Remember the time I told you that I got an email from Lulu but I was feeling too happy to read it?  That was a couple of weeks ago.  Well, I finally did read it and Lulu and I have had a disagreement.  She was very mad at me for calling HER servants angels!  Yes, really, she was!  She told me that I had to change and call them servants from now on because she says cats don't have angels, they only have servants and staff.  But I told Lulu that even though they were her servants, they saved my life and are my angels!  We went back and forth with emails on this subject for several days until finally Lulu said that she was done with me and with StreetCats because her new servants had supplied her with enough toys and, you know, that bird room, that she didn't even have time to worry about us any more.  So I don't know if Lulu is still mad at me or not, but I don't think we'll be hearing from her again.  I just hate for anyone to be displeased with me!  But doggone it, they are angels!

So I wanted to wish all my angels a Happy Thanksgiving!  This is their holiday, but they like to include us kitties.  So even though it is a holiday for the angels, they will still come to StreetCats and give us our turkey dinner and clean everything in sight so that we will be safe and happy for the day.  Did you know that no matter what, they always come!  If an angel scheduled to come gets sick, another angel takes their place!  It is so darn angelic!  And tomorrow it will be just like at the angels' houses.  We'll have our turkey dinner early and then someone will come back in the evening to be sure we get our leftovers!  They treat us just like their families!  I get a little choked up just thinking about it!  Have a great day, ANGELS!!!!

Wow!

Hi everyone!  It's me, Janie.  I just wanted to tell you that since I somehow got put in charge of writing this blog I've begun to notice more and more things here at StreetCats.  I am truly amazed by what I see!  Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I wrote to you about two of our kittens who look just alike and are actually brothers?  They are orange tabbies named Odie and Lokie.  Well, if you remember, that's great!  But I have to tell you that I have noticed that we have two other kittens who look alike!  Isn't that amazing!  We have two sets of twins!

Well, not really.  These two kittens aren't even related!  I didn't know there could be two unrelated kittens who look just alike!  I'm going to show you!  First I'll show you Pepper.  He is all black and was born last spring.  Someone, we don't know who, just left him at StreetCats for us to take care of.  And that's exactly what we did!  My angels took care of him!  Here is a picture of Pepper.  He is really a sweet kitty, likes the other cats and loves my angels!

Now I'm going to show you a picture of Judy.  Judy is also all black.  Well, she actually has some white on her neck and a few white hairs on the tip of her tail, but you can't really see them, at least not easily.  She was also born last spring, about a month after Pepper.  And, just like Pepper, she is such a sweet girl and she loves the other cats and the angels that take care of us!  Okay, here is a picture of Judy!  We have promised Judy that we will find a forever home for her!

See what I mean!  In this picture Judy's eyes look a little darker than Pepper's eyes.  Hmmm, I'm going to have to take another look at that because if that's the case then they don't look just alike.  Let me double check on that.  I am just so amazed that we could have two cats who aren't even related who look so much alike!  But I think I already said that.

Here is something else to tell you about that I observed!  The other night about a dozen of my angels came back to the shop and they sat in a circle and they talked for about two hours!  They wouldn't let any of us cats in the room with them!  I heard the words "pink" and "fur" or "furry" and I definitely heard "Valentine!"  And I heard my name at least once and also Lulu's!  I have no idea what is going on, but as soon as I find out I'll tell you!  Bye, bye!

Long Legged Handsomeness!

This is a singing in the rain kind of morning!  I can't remember when I've been in such a good mood!  It may be raining outside, but I can see clearly now!  I guess I should explain what that means.  I've been away for a while, at Lulu's spa.  It is her spa, but it is where my angels take all of us kitties when we aren't feeling well.  And I've been there for a few days because I had a little eye problem and the angels at the spa got me all fixed up!  They are such nice angels!  Katie is my favorite!  Before, when I was really sick and the angels were saving my life, she took me home with her and I lived with her until I was completely back on my feet again.  She is so nice!

But seeing clearly isn't the only thing I'm celebrating today!  For months now, in order to save my life, my angels have been poking pills down my throat.  I don't know if that has ever been done to you before, but I don't like it!  You're sleeping peacefully and all of a sudden here they come with their pills.  I'm afraid I don't suffer in silence and I've told the angels that I don't like this.  Well, now they say I am so healthy that I don't have to have the pills any more!  Can you believe it?!  So it is rainy and windy outside, but inside I am grinning from ear to ear!  Hurray, hurray, hurray!!!!  My angels are happy for me, too!  They hated to do anything I didn't like.  They are so nice!

And the huge bonus of being back at StreetCats is that I get to see Donald.  He is so gorgeous that some of the cats call him "eye candy."  Isn't that silly!  They should not refer to him in such a disrespectful way, however, because I feel sure that if he lived in Egypt he would be considered a god! He is about 2 1/2 years old and he has an awesome personality!  He is so sweet!  He lets the angels hold him and he purrs and purrs!  He is also very curious and he loves to explore, especially through open doors!  He can dart through those doors so fast!!!!  When he gets adopted I think we'd better tell his new family about that!  He is what you might call "outgoing," and I think he likes dogs because they are fun to play with.  He likes to play with cats, too, but I've seen him be a bit of a bully to shy cats.  And once he and Lovey really fought!  But he and Gigi were playing recently, so he just needs to be with the right cat . . . or dog.

And now I'm going to show you a picture of Donald.  But I need you to know that this picture doesn't show his most outstanding feature.  This guy has the longest legs I have ever seen on a cat!  He is a big, sweet, interesting, lovable boy with gorgeous long legs!  Okay, I guess I'll admit that I'm going to miss him when he goes to his forever home.

 Just one more picture!  Sigh!

I'm feeling so good today that there is something I'm going to do and something I'm not going to do.  I'll tell you first that there is an email from Lulu that I'm NOT going to read right now.  Wow, I feel so brave!  And what I AM going to do is to start spelling forever correctly.  If the angels want to spell it furever, then I guess they can.  But I know how to spell!

I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain, what a glorious feeling, I'm happy again!  Bye, bye!

Brotherly Love . . . and Mischief!

Lulu says that I should apologize for taking so long to write my second post.  But it has taken me a while to figure out how to sneak into the office and use the computer.  And then when I finally got here, I learned that Lulu isn't really gone!  Well, she is, but there is something called email and she had emailed me!  It was in this email that she reprimanded me for taking so long to write!  I am just hoping that soon she gets so busy with her new toys and figuring out how she can sneak into her new bird room that she completely forgets about me and StreetCats!  I don't think you could call her criticism "constructive!"

Lulu told me that I should write a post about the kittens so that someone will come and adopt them and, therefore, StreetCats would be "rid" of them.  I really don't think that's very nice!  I should go on record here that I do not dislike kittens the way Lulu does.  I will admit that I don't particularly want them close to me, but I think they're cute and I like to watch them . . . from a distance!

Anyway, I want to tell you about two of the kittens we have at StreetCats right now.  Their names are Lokie and Odie and I think they are identical twins.  Well, maybe not, because Odie is a little bigger than Lokie, but I think if Odie wasn't wearing a collar my angels might have a hard time telling them apart.  Here is a picture of Lokie.  My favorite thing about these kittens is that their eyes match their fur.  Cool!

Lokie and Odie are about six months old and they are the most playful of all the kittens at StreetCats.  They are so entertaining to my angels!  The human angels just laugh and laugh, especially when the kittens want to take a ride on their backs!  And Lokie can jump so high they worry he might hurt himself!  Apparently they don't always land on their feet!  One thing you need to know about these brothers is how much they love each other!  Do you know the word "bonded."  This is what my angels call them . . . "bonded!"  I'm going to show you another picture!

Aaahhh, so sweet!  And because of how much these two love each other, are "bonded," my angels want them to be adopted together.  Don't worry, if you can't afford two adoption fees my angels will show their angelness (is that a word?) and talk to you about not having to pay two adoption fees!

I do need to be sure and let you know that these boys are what is called "active!"  That just means they like to play . . . a lot!  I really think it would be fun to see them playing with a dog who likes cats!  I bet they would give that dog a run for his money!  Sometimes they play with the other kittens at StreetCats, but I think they like playing with each other the best!

See what I mean!

Okay, I think I'd better sneak back out of this office again!  I'll try, since Lulu says so, not to take so much time before I sneak back in here again and tell you more things about what is happening here at StreetCats!  Bye, bye for now!