I'm not good at this snow stuff

So my neighbors said they had been spending time sweeping the snow off their outdoor plants. I thought to myself "should I be doing that too?" I know nothing about plants you see - that gene went from my mother to my sisters and bypassed me. I grow cats. Nevertheless I picked up a rake and went outside just now and started whacking my plants. I whacked a really big one, and the entire contents of the tree next to it, fell on my head. In effect, I threw a really big snowball at myself and made a direct hit! Snow down my shirt, in my hair, covering my glasses - thank goodness it was dark!! I immediately stopped my plant whacking, I suck at this snow stuff!!

Ok, the snow is not so cute anymore

I never for a minute thought I'd ever be snowed in - in SEATTLE. Yes, I'm officially snowed in. My neighbor went skiing this afternoon and he barely made it back here in his 4x4 and it is still snowing. yesterday my neighbor and I managed to get my truck out of the driveway, took an hour and a lot of kitty litter. But this allowed me to get out and get some essentials. My cell phone was on the fritz so I got a new one, and I bought kitty litter, diet coke, and toilet paper. Seriously, what else does one need when they are stuck in the snow? But I have not been able to leave since yesterday. Even walking on my lawn, the snow is higher than the top of my waffle stompers. Here are some snow photos.

Dinner anyone?

My dad built this in the 70's, look at the snow!!

The cats are fascinated by the snow

No bird seed today

Let it snow let it snow let it snow

It is snowing - won't stop snowing. I wish it was just enough snow to keep me from work but not enough to keep me from the movies. No such luck. Here are some photos. Meeee in the snow.

Yes, I feel like I'm in Siberia. You can't see it well, but this is a photo of my trucks efforts to get out of the driveway.

The neighbors keep coming over and begging for food

Show Results

Sammy went 2nd best cat in show!! I am so thrilled I can't stand it! Blondie went 4th best kitten in show - fantastic for her first outing :-) Gato went third best alter in show - not bad for an old fart. And of course Cassie went best household pet kitten. I just wish there had been more than three kittens there. I am really looking forward to the rest of the season!

Puyallup Wa Show Dec 13-14

Wow, is what I have to say about this weekends show. This may very well be the most successful show of my cats careers. We had so much fun and the success was overwhelming. This was Blondie's first kitten show in TICA, Sammy's first TICA show since July, and Gato's first show of the year. It was also Cassie's first outing as a household pet kitten. They all came out in the top end of their respective classes. Gato picked up four BEST ALTER awards and went best of breed in 11 of 12 rings. Not bad for a 13.5 year old grandpa. He picked up 8 finals out of 12, that was so heartwarming. Sammy, who is looking like quite the brute right now, picked up 9 finals!! Not bad in a field of 52 really nice adult cats. He did not get the one final he needed to become a supreme grand champion, but he picked up some really nice points. Blondie loved showing and showed herself off well. So well in fact, that she picked up a BEST KITTEN in her first All Breed ring!!! That was one of two best kitten awards she picked up this weekend. She ended up with a total of 7 finals out of 12 - not bad for a 4 month old kitten in her first show. Cassie was shown in the household pet kitten class and picked up 10 Best Kitten awards. I'm very proud of her - but I wish we had more competition. There were only 3 kittens competing.

Needless to say we are very much looking forward to the rest of the season! This is Blondie.

This is her daddy Sammy.

Portland Cat show Dec 6-7

The Lewis and Clark cat show in Portland this weekend was the largest I had attended in the Northwest. It was nice for the club and the region to have over 300 cats attending this show. It did make it a campaigner show, which is not so good for cats just starting out, but it is a nice opportunity to see some spectacular cats. Seamus was in top form physically, but his reluctance to stand on the tables affected him this weekend. When you are competing against 75 other cats, you need to make a good presence, and sleeping on the table doesn't cut it. He picked up 4 finals out of a possible 8, all from NW judges who knew him. He ended up 14th out of 75, very respectable. I pulled Grissom from the show on Saturday. I found that his whiskers had been poking him in the eye and his eye was all red. Sunday he looked much better. He did not make any points, but enjoyed the attention. His coat needs to grow in some more to make him a contender. Sammy had a great time. Had his coat been perfectly white where it should be white, he would have done better. But I had just pulled him from the cattery and he was still yellow in places. As a result he only made one final. But proved to me that after a 5 month layoff, he still enjoys showing. The kittens (Legally Blonde and WALL-E) did very well for their first show. They were not scared in the judging cages. WALL-E took a while to warm up to the judges but they were very gentle with him. At the end of Sunday he was playing with them. He picked up a best of breed from Diana Rothermel - there were 4 Selkirk Rex kittens total. Blondie loved every minute of being on the judging table, she has lots of potential. She made one best of breed. Most of the other BOB went to Curly Bears Sassafrass, a 7 month old female. She is really spectacular and is now #1 Selkirk Rex kitten in the world - yay!! I felt bad for her owners, Sassafrass started her first cycle at the show and was very grumpy. But Sassy is a nice BIG girl - she made one final.

Showing 5 cats was exhausting but it was fun to spend time with friends. I spent way too much money on the vendors. But hopefully the cats will appreciate my spending. I bought three hanging beds to go in the cages, two tents for travelling, and some cage and hammock covers. We are now white and zebra stripes - crazy.