These three absolutely adorable kittens are in the Austin, TX area, and need a home! Reader Trudy rescued them off the street, tamed them and loved them, and helped them grow into the beautiful boys you see here. Now it’s time for them to find their forever home! Please click on the picture (or this link right here) to learn more about them.
Please spread the word!!!
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Paulie Walnuts got adopted last night! It’s about time – hopefully he won’t be the last Soprano to go home this weekend!
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What a year!! I will always remember being the one who suggested Lilybet and the Royals that became Kate and the Royals! so many kittens. Is this a record number??
I thought for sure that this had to be a record year, it seemed like we had a million kittens go through here, but when I read the “2012 in review” post from a year ago, I found that we’d also had 38 cats and kittens move through here in 2012.
I expect that our numbers will be smaller in 2014, due to the loss of one of the foster rooms, but we’ll see!
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BTW, Bunnie’s coloring makes me think of chocolate-caramel swirl ice cream.
Oh, I love that description, it’s perfect!
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Robyn, your Christmas card has just arrived in Szczecin, Poland. Thank You! I wonder to how many countries (continents?) You have sent cards this year… Is Poland the most distant destination? Anyway, thank You for everything You do for the kitties and for me. Love and Hisses is my happy place 🙂 Happy New Year to You, Yours and all the L&H readers!
Happy New Year!
I actually kept track of where I sent cards this year, and here’s the list:
Date I began sending out cards: December 2nd.
Number of cards sent: 242
States that received 10 or more cards: California (16), Texas (16), Alabama (13), and Maryland (10).
States where no one requested cards BECAUSE THEY HATE SWEET FLUFFY KITTENS (hmph!) : Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming.
L&H cards went to these other countries: Canada (21), United Kingdom (2), Germany (2), Ireland (2), New Zealand (1), Australia (1), Sweden (1), Estonia (1), Finland (1), South Africa (1), Taiwan (1), and Poland (that’s you!)(1).
Next year I’m doing post cards rather than regular cards, and I’m ordering a ton of them, so it’ll be up to YOU GUYS to make sure that I’m not left with a ton of postcards at the end of the year!
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I just saw The Blues Brothers for the first time a couple days ago. Quite a fun film!
After I got done watching it, I had an “A-ha!” moment and realized that Loony Jake and Elwood (RIP) were named after the titular characters in that movie because they were brothers, and because (I’m guessing) of their blue coats. I’ve been reading this blog for years and I don’t know how I missed that!
Also, the 2009 archive link for today had such a great pic of Elwood and Tommy. Tommy’s all, “Fine, you can clean my ears IF YOU MUST.”
Oh, that Elwood. He sure did love Tommy with a bright, burning, squeaky passion!
Yes, Jake and Elwood were named after the Blues Brothers. We considered a lot of names for those boys. I really liked Loki and Bart, but Fred did not. I was very enamored of the names Ham and Egg, but Fred was not. He wanted Remus and Romulus, but I nixed that right quick. I thought we should just give them the same name, or similar names that could have the same nickname, because I couldn’t tell the two of them apart when they were little. He suggested Grey’s Anatomy names, then said we could name one of them McDreamy, and I said we could name the other McSteamy and call them both “Mick.” I also really liked Bubba and Gump, but Fred didn’t (odd, since that’s his favorite movie). I suggested George and Lenny (Of Mice and Men), Stu and Larry (The Stand), Fred suggested Javert and Valjean (Les Mis) or Jesus and Judas (heh).
He suggested Frick and Frack, which I kinda liked. Lisa suggested Thing 1 and Thing 2, which I liked a LOT, but Fred did not.
What I really really REALLY liked, was that Samuel and Jackson would be EXCELLENT names. Sam and Jack! How perfect is that?
But then Fred came to me, after we’d spent several days dithering over their names and said “They’re blue. They’re brothers. They’re Jake and Elwood!” Definitely the perfect names for them!
Also, I adore this picture of baby Jake. Such a loon.
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I’ve probably asked you this before, but how in God’s name do you get such great cat pictures? I guess you’re not using a cell phone? Are you usually using a flash or natural light? I’m asking because I think I take the worst cat pictures in the world.
I use a big ol’ Sony DSLR camera (a Sony SLT-A55V, to be exact). The number one rule for Takin’ Pitchers Like Robyn is that you have to be willing to (a) take a LOT of pictures, and (b) spend a lot of time deleting blurry or otherwise terrible pictures. I use natural light whenever possible (I take the majority of my kitten pictures on sunny days – the foster room gets a lot of afternoon sunlight, which is perfect for taking pictures), and avoid using the flash because the light tends to be so harsh. In the rooms where I do the majority of my picture taking (the foster room, Fred’s bedroom, and the computer room), I replaced the regular lights in the ceiling fans with Ottlite bulbs, which are bright and don’t give off a yellowish light.
I mess with the settings on my camera a lot, and will be honest with you – I rarely have any idea what I’m doing, so I’ll change a setting, take some pictures, change another setting, take some pictures, and fiddle around with them until I like what I see.
I don’t do a lot of processing of my pictures other than cropping and lightening them, because I’d rather toss the picture than spend time processing it so much that it doesn’t look real.
But again really, for me it all comes down to taking a LOT of pictures. Last week I took about 300 pictures, trying to get a good one for next year’s Christmas card (I have a Groupon for VistaPrint that I need to use by January 7th – so yes, I’m thinking ahead!). Of the 300 I got, 20 were decent and 10 were good ones. In the course of a week I usually take 800 – 1,000 pictures, and end up sharing 60 – 75 here on the blog. I’ve gotten pretty fast about going through and deleting the unusable (or boring) ones, it might take me half an hour or so to go through them.
So, long story short: get a decent camera, mess with the settings, take a lot of pictures, and you can be fancy like me. Disclaimer: I yam not a professional photographer and am not trying to be, I think we all know that. A real professional would probably not NEED to take 1,000 pictures to get 75 decent ones, so I highly recommend a look around Pinterest, where people often share articles about good picture-takin’ techniques and knowledge and such.
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I know this is mainly a cats place, but have you seen this naughty-dogs-acts page?
Yes, and I love it. I especially love the hedgehog who chases the dog around because the dog is scared of him now!
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At our house, we’ve “converted” a Rubbermade Storage box to a litterbox. Not the clear ones – one of the 35 gallon (dimensions are 32x20x19.6) solid colored ones that come with a latching lid (that we promptly threw away because our cats’ heads are taller than the box when they “assume the position”). We bought the largest one that would fit in the space we had for it.
These containers are made of a tough plastic, so I let hubby do the cutting. Over the years, he’s found that a set of tin snips is the easiest, safest way to cut these boxes. Handsaws and box cutters have been tried and are dangerous and lack the control to cut a nice opening – tin snips are more like using scissors 🙂 Make this opening as big as you want – just make sure the bottom sill allows enough depth for your litter plus several inches.
We’ve used these for years – and I’ve yet to find a traditional litter box that works as well. They’re less expensive than a traditional litter box and the boxes are available in much larger sizes than traditional litter boxes. The sides are deep enough the cats can’t do their business over the sides or up the wall. “Litter kicking” stays in the box (cats don’t tend to turn their backs on the entrance, so it very seldom goes out the door). And while they can look out over the sides, they still have some privacy while doing their “business”.
That’s a great idea! Also, tin snips are a great suggestion – I know that with a box cutter, I was never able to get a decent looking opening. When my Target litter boxes need to be replaced, I’m going to give the Rubbermaid containers and tin snips a try!
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OMG, seriously, how on earth did you get that second to last kitten/light photo where they all were just sitting there?? A Christmas miracle!
It was just sheer luck – they were still for a mere moment, and then they were on the move again!
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Hi! I have two of those Target litter boxes. I got them about six months ago in two different Targets, then couldn’t find any more even though I kept checking about four or five stores. Last week the Target closest to me got THREE in at once! Woot! There’s hope.
The box is Boots and Barkley’s “High-Sided Extra Large Cat Pan,” SKU 90830 20176 if you want to just call around. (This is from my old label, I’m sure it didn’t change.)
Be careful if you take the lid – make sure you really want it. It costs like $13 separately!
Thanks for the info! And you’re not kidding about that lid!
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What program do you use for the collages of the kitties?
PicMonkey! That site is a lot of fun to play with.
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Hey did you know the story of Khaleesi and her kittens made the list of Love Meow’s Heart Warming Cat Stories of 2013?
I did! Isn’t that neat? I love Love Meow!
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Today, the last two Sopranos collages. First, Silvio.
And wee Tony!
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I’ve said it before, I’m sayin’ it again: I love the way his eyes match his fur!
“Everything looks so different from up here!”
Tricki noms the feathers on the feather teaser (which is why the feather teaser cannot be left unsupervised with kittens!)
Tricki checks out the view from atop the food container (while John Smith checks out the food!)
Bunnie, chillin’.
“Is snack time?”
Oh, those eyes. They kill me!
“Feather teaser, patch of sunlight… does life GET any better?”
SMUG.
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Oh Corbie, you grumpy, sleepy, BEAUTIFUL boy!
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Previously
2013: “I WASN’T SLEEPIN’!”
2012: Chuckles and Patty, stressing out as usual.
2011: Someone looks super guilty here, am I right?
2010: “If you call her my ‘little girlfriend’ one more time, I’m going to cut you.”
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: (I myself suffer from Shut-Up-And-Go-Away-itis)
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.