Peppa's Posts--Spring 2020

Hi, I'm Peppa!



This is me with my mom, CassieBash. She adopted me several years ago and I love my furever home, even if I have to share it with other cats.



Mom said I could have my very own post in this group, which I must say is about time. She keeps promising me my own YouTube channel too, but that hasn't happened, so I suppose this is a first step towards that.

Today I wanted her to stay home; I don't like that she works so many days in a week. So I tried to hold her clothes hostage when she tried to get dressed this morning.

I tried pleading.


I tried subtle threats.


I tried being nonchalant.


I even tried being incredibly silly and cute.


It didn't work. She said she had to earn money to buy kitty kibble. I guess I should let her go, even though I know she has a full, unopened bag of kibble yet. Then again, you can never have too much kibble stashed--especially when my house-neighbor, Pretty Boy Floyd, comes to visit. He lives in the two rooms next to mine, and when he gets out he jumps the baby gate that keeps one of my best friends, Fauna the cocker spaniel, from coming in and eating my food. But baby gates mean nothing to Floyd! It's OK; he'd rather eat my food than get right in my face and threaten my position as top cat, which is fine with me.

This is my friend, Fauna. Mom hasn't uploaded any pictures of Pretty Boy yet; she promises to try to get some pics so I can show you the reprobate.


I look forward to your admiration!

=^..^=

Smiles. Thanks.

Admiration duly tendered. What a handsome tuxedo.

>2 MerryMary: and >3 Taphophile13: Thank you! There is another tuxedo on the property but I don't like him. Mom takes care of him, too, but I'm the best one! Even the other dog, Serenity, thinks so. That's grandma's collie mix. This is her picture:



Ser is OK with other cats, I'm told, as long as they aren't in the house and they don't try to pounce her. That's why Pretty Boy Floyd and Frosty Paws (I really don't like him!) live in their own rooms. I'm special and get to go everywhere else in the house because Serenity actually loves me!* I rub against her all the time and she pushes me around with her nose. She even lets me use her bed, like in the first picture!**

*Note from CassieBash: Peppa tends to overestimate how much the dogs really like her. Ser likes her well enough but "love" is probably a bit too strong a word. I would personally use baffles and accepts as the words that best describe Ser's relationship with Peppa. Peppa doesn't get that the pushing thing is really Ser's way of steering her in a specific direction, usually one that pushes Peppa away from her.

**Ser doesn't actually "let" Peppa use her bed. If she's not on it and Peppa beats her to it, then she finds it easiest to just let the cat have it. She often then just uses the couch or her mom's bed, so don't feel too bad for her.

Love the cat pictures!

>5 thornton37814: Well, of course you did; they're pictures of me! So I will not disappoint and will share more pictures of me. Aren't you so very lucky?

These are some of my first pictures ever taken at my furever home. I was shy at my foster home when these three women came to look at me, but by the end of the ride home, their voices and scents were familiar to me. And the room where I started out was great! There were toys--some of them my new mom hand-sewed with love (and lots of dried catnip!)--and a little cat bed that sat on the end of mom's big bed. And the head of mom's bed is the best, because there are books in the headboard and the bed is right up by the window, so I can look out and watch the birds, squirrels, and the big goldfish and koi in the water garden pond just below. When the weather is nice, she opens the window a little so I can get some fresh air--but she doesn't open it enough for me to squeeze between the glass part and the screen part. She's afraid I might accidentally push out the screen and fall out. I suppose that it's a good thing since we're on the second floor. She's very safety-oriented, as she keeps my cat carrier in our room and we have a fire escape ladder. My cat carrier is one of those soft-sided things with a shoulder strap, so she'll have both hands free for the ladder. That's her plan, anyway. We hope we never have to test it.

Here I am on my first night at my furever home, making it clear that her personal library needed a cat. She still thinks this is her favorite picture of me so far.



This is me playing with one of my first homemade toys, a fishy I loved to death.



Like most cats, I like cozy places. Pillowcases used to be good when I was smaller.



Mom insists that I share some of those photos of my neighbor, Pretty Boy Floyd. Mom says Floyd lives up to his full name but I'm not sure. He's OK I guess; at least he doesn't try to chase me or get in my face.



In all fairness, mom seems to think every cat she sees is pretty, so I think there might be a little bias there. And she does say I'm the prettiest.



That's his mom, my mom's sister, holding him. I guess that makes her my aunt? Does that mean that Floyd is my cousin???



Ugh! If that's true, then that means that the little upstart who lives downstairs with mom's older sister is also my cousin. I certainly don't like him! He's pushy and too in-your-face for me. His name is Frosty Paws. Mom says she'll try to sort through pictures to see if I can post pictures of him, too, if you want. She says cat people love to see all sorts of cats and not just tuxedos. I guess if you insist....

Until then, I hope you all take long naps this weekend with your own cats.

Happy St. Catty's Day! Mom says that Gertrude of Nivelles is the patron saint of cats and she has a feast day today. Mom joked (I hope) about dyeing me green for St. Patrick, but I told her that she shouldn't be paying any attention to him when there's a cat saint to celebrate. Though since she's not Catholic, I'm not sure why there's all the fuss anyway. I think she just likes the excuse to wear green things and things in the shapes of little shamrock leaves, because green is her favorite color and she likes plants and gardens (another reason to like Gertrude, who is also the patron saint of gardening).

Last night, I did some yoga:



I take my yoga sessions very seriously, and meditate at the same time. I am not sleeping!



I don't appreciate it when mom starts taking pictures of me. It disrupts my meditative state.



This is a jaw stretch, a very important part of my yoga routine. It is not a yawn!



I don't think it's fair that my mom has to go to work with this thing going around that makes people sick, but she says people are counting on her. Whatever. I think she should stay home and cuddle with me; it is St. Catty's day, after all! But that's not up to me--so I hope all of you other cat owners get to stay home and kitty snuggle today. I hope you all stay healthy (and I hope my mom does, too!).

Take care,

Peppa

love this thread!!! keep it up. and happy st. cattys' day, Peppa!

While we're on the subject of cat saints, let's not forget Mother Julian of Norwich, who lived secluded from human company ( a bit like me at the moment) save for the company of 'ane cat', in order to better contemplate divine love. Here's a lovely stained glass image:

>8 al.vick: Thank you! What's not to love? Though if you ask me, mom does go a bit overboard with the pictures. She says that's what people want, though, so I guess it's OK.

>9 Zambaco: Oooh, another one! That is a lovely picture. Maybe I can convince my mom to go into meditation with me for a few years.

This morning I tried to get her attention in my usual subtle manner of reaching out and tapping her on her foot. It got me food, which wasn't what I really wanted, which was her to stay home and do some serious kitty snuggling. She says the weekend is in three days but those three days are like an eternity away.





She did snuggle a little before she left, giving me kisses on the top of my head. Still, I love the days when she can stay home and read. I understand that there are cats out there that are jealous of books, but I don't get that--if she's reading, then I can lie on her feet or sit in her lap and get idle pettings. Why wouldn't you want your human to read???*



*CassieBash's note: It's true, Peppa doesn't do what most of my other cats used to, which is rub against the book, worm their way in front of it, or chew on the corners and pages. She will settle beside me somewhere and fall asleep.

Thanks so much for sharing, Peppa! You are adorable.

>11 Narilka: Thank you, Narilka. I am, aren't I?

I am very happy since my mom will be spending LOTS more time at home for a couple of weeks, what with this thing going around shutting down all "non-essential" jobs. She told me that she has to monitor the phone and email and help people remotely but I don't care because she can email people while I lie on her feet in bed. She says that she has other things to do around the house, too, but I'll wear her down, don't worry. There will be lots of kitty snuggle time.

She finally got some pictures of the little jerk, Frosty Paws, who lives downstairs under our room. He stinks like strange boy cat, even though mom tells me he can't smell that bad because he's "fixed". I hadn't known he was broken. He's not as pushy as he once was; when he first came in, he wanted to take over MY territory! Imagine the audacity!! Mom says its hard to get good pictures of him because he's always on the move.







This is my newest yoga pose; it's very advanced, so I don't recommend you try it at home:



Again, not sleeping!!!

Mom will have to take lots more pictures over the next two weeks so she can post a lot when she gets back to work. I'm sorry that you won't have new images of me to look at for awhile, but you all have your own cats to fuss over, right? So what are you waiting for? Go give them kitty snuggles!

Love to you all,

Peppa =^..^=

Peppa here. We are all healthy here. We hope you’re healthy too.

Now I’m here to set the record straight; my mom read two letters about this work from home stuff—one from the cat’s perspective, one from the dog’s. The dog was all for everyone working from home forever. The cat wants everyone out of the house. I’m here to say that this cat—whoever he is—is NOT to be listened to. He is completely crazy, spouting his opinions that humans need to go back to their offices! Maybe his human, but NOT MINE! I’ve loved this month! I’ve known where—and I mean EXACTLY where—my mom is almost every minute of every day. And it’s been great! I sleep better knowing that she’s typing away on that borrowed laptop while I pin her in place by lying on her feet and ankles. She is safe with me. Out there—who knows? So I’m going to say for the record that I am firmly in the dog’s camp on this one. Let’s all stay at home forever!!!

But you don’t have to walk the dog 6 times a day if you don’t want to. That’s excessive.

It's lovely to meet you, Peppa! You have such wonderful long pretty whiskers.

Good luck with keeping the boys in line; they obviously need a strong lady to be the boss of them.

>14 Darth-Heather: Thank you, and you are sooo right about those boys! It takes a lot of kitty kibble to grow them that long, plus catnip treats. Mom does this weird thing with keeping my shed whiskers when she finds them; her younger sister is an artist and she says one day she’ll commission a little statue of me and ask her to use my real whiskers. She said it will be a nice keepsake when I’m gone. As if l’m going anywhere....

Everyone still healthy? Good! Mom went into the office twice this week; she says she has to go in some now while students are returning textbooks they rented. She said the next two weeks will mean lots more office time but she assures me she will be taking precautions. Fortunately she stocks up on hand sanitizer going into the start of cold and flu season, so she has plenty—and it’s the good stuff, 70% alcohol! She has her mask and gloves and disinfectant in a spray bottle. And she says she will come home every night. I guess I should be glad that she’s not having to do that one week conference thingy that she had to do every spring for a few years. I hated that she was away for so long!

Mom says to tell you all that she apologizes for the lack of new pictures, but while she’s at home, it’s hard to post them using just a phone. And when she’s been at the office she has too many things to do right now. But I know she’s been taking them so maybe she’ll binge post. I’ll try to convince her to do that in the next week or two.

I've convinced mom to share the picture of me supervising her work. I'm guarding her computer. Note that while it looks like I'm relaxed and sleeping, this is merely to fool those who would tamper with my mom's important work-at-home equipment into a false sense of security. Really, I'm ready to leap into action at a moment's notice!





I'm trying out a new yoga pose:



Mom has been going into the office again--she insists she's taking precautions such as those funny cloth things she wears over her nose and mouth and keeping away from others, plus stinky stuff she calls "hand sanitizer". She says the little things that cause her to get sick don't like her sanitizer; I can smell why! When I get a whiff of the stuff, I leave the room! But I guess if it keeps her safe, and she comes home at night, I can let her go to the office again a little bit.

I just wish she'd stay home when it gets all dark and cloudy and loud outside, with all those bright flashes of light. I don't like the outside to start with, but when it does that....*shudder!*....I'm glad I'm always on the inside!

I have been insisting that my mom that she needs to do an update; finally, she listened! She has been working half her days in the office still, so I get to supervise her during the afternoons. She tried to get a good picture of me this morning to share but I made it difficult because I was getting some exercise in, working up to a big kitty zoomie session (not to be confused with mom's online Zoom sessions!). This was the best she could do:



But she did get some pictures of me a bit ago that she still hasn't shared, so here are a couple:





We were also wondering if anyone knows what type of bird may have left this in the barn? Mom says she doesn't see the wild turkeys going into the outbuildings but that's the bird she most likely suspects, based on feather size and color. I told her I would have to taste the bird to properly ID it, but maybe one or more of you can ID it by a solitary feather?

You have such beautiful eyes, Peppa. I have no idea what kind of bird that feather came from but it looks like it would make a nice toy. Is your mom letting you play with it?

>18 Taphophile13: Thank you! Mom won't let me play with it yet because it is in "quarantine"; she says it could have little things on it called lice that might make me itch. I already have sensitive skin and scratch a little too hard already, so I guess I don't want anything that might make me itch more!

I DID suggest that maybe if I tasted the feather, I might be able to ID the bird, but mom said it didn't work that way. I guess it was worth a shot.

nice to hear from you again Peppa!

>20 al.vick: Thank you; it's nice to hear from an admirer again, too!

Mom has been spending a lot of camera time on her other "cats", which in this case is short for "caterpillars". Every year she raises these worm-like things until they somehow sprout wings and then she lets them go. I don't see the point but except for a few minutes here and there to feed them and admire them and clean their cages, she spends relatively little time with them so I suppose it's a harmless hobby. I much prefer her reading and sewing hobbies, because then I can curl up close (or at least close by)--and it's even better if her sewing is to make catnip toys, because she always gives me a little on the side!* But she's been taking more pictures of the caterpillars and not so many of me recently, so I'm forced to share older pictures of me. Here's one from last summer, or maybe the summer before that. Mom must have either just been getting ready to go out to garden, or she had just come in, because she's wearing her gardening hat.



I will have to insist she start taking and sharing more pictures of me!

*CassieBash note: If I don't do this, she gets pushy as I'm trying to make the toys, so I've gotten in the habit of sewing up the toys en masse and then stuffing them en masse so I'm not having to drop small piles of catnip every other toy. If I stuff a bunch at once, one small mound usually keeps her occupied long enough to finish the job.

I didn't want mom to go to work today. It's too hot and I wanted her nearby. I know she usually comes home at lunch and works from home for half a day but I didn't want her going PERIOD. So I tried to convince her that she should stay and play with me.



I got some pettings and lovings from this but she still started to get dressed for work. So I tried to get her to stay with hints that it's too hot to go anywhere. I tried to convince her how good it felt to just stay right in front of the fan.



She said that her library has air conditioning, just like grandma's room, and she'll be nice and cool at work. Pooh!

Then I tried to tempt her with going back to bed. I told her I'd stretch out beside her and sleep with her some more if she'd just stay. Look at how comfy the bed is!



But that didn't work, either. I'm rather annoyed!



Humans and their work--Grrrr!!!

Last night was great! I went up to our bedroom with mom and she read while I did a pre-sleep nap before she turned out the light. I was ready for the main sleep by that time so I just stayed where I was and slept until mom woke up to take her meds at 4:30 this morning. It was still so dark out, but I wanted to catch a breeze so I went to sit on the head of the bed (it has built-in bookshelves so it makes a great perch) in front of the window fan--and you'll never believe what was going on outside the window! Flying mice!!!! (Mom calls them "bats" but I know better.) I had such a fun time following their erratic flight patterns and dreaming of catching one. Mom says they were chasing after flying insects to eat and that's what bats do. I guess that makes sense since the ground mice will eat insects too and things like crackers, peanut butter, and cheese don't fly. I watched for a long time before I decided I was still tired and went back to sleep on mom's legs. Maybe I'll sleep with mom again and see if they're going to be flying around again tonight!

>23 CassieBash: Oh, Peppa, I bet they will be flying again tonight. And I'm sure your hearing is good enough that you can hear a little bit of their squeaking.

>24 Taphophile13: Yes, squeaking—and everyone knows that mice squeak! Flying mice—see, mom?

She says they may not fly much tonight because it’s rainy and windy and it’s supposed to get noisy with those bright flashes of light; I think maybe I might spend the night under grandma’s bed instead....

>25 CassieBash: We're having some rain, noise and flashes too. I think curling up under a blanket sounds like a good idea. Stay safe, Peppa.

>26 Taphophile13: Last night wasn't so bad; there wasn't a lot of the noise and flash (but there was rain). I did end up sleeping with mom for half the night but the flying mice weren't out (or at least weren't outside the window). Maybe they don't like getting wet, either.

Mom took a picture of an out-cat, Kraken. I've never met him because I'm an in-cat only, and mom says he's positive for feline HIV, which is apparently a big deal. So he has his own pen with a little insulated house. Mom says he doesn't even try to get out; he's happy where he is. And she says he could make other cats sick and spread his HIV, so it's good that he is kept separate and is OK with that. This is Kraken:



Mom was super-excited when she got home because one of those "cat"erpillars of hers had finished transforming and had becoming a flying worm instead of a crawling one. She wouldn't let me play with it before she let it go. This is what it looked like:





Mom says it's a "giant swallowtail" but it's smaller than me and it isn't a swallow at all! But then she does call the flying mice "bats".

It's been a little while since we've had an update. Hope Peppa had a good summer!

>28 Narilka: Summer was good, thank you for asking. I am not enjoying fall as much. They have gone back to this "face to face" stuff which means that my mom is no longer spending much time at home with me, where she belongs. She does say that the face-to-face semester will be shorter than usual and that she will take some vacation time in December and January to spend time with me (and do some things around the house).

I did sleep with her all last night; it was cool out and it felt good to snuggle on the blankets over her legs. I like sleeping on legs and feet. Sometimes, in the middle of summer, she doesn't sleep with any blankets at all, and then I feel bad for her and sleep back to back with her to help keep her warm.

Here are the pictures from the other night when I felt really snuggly; it was cold out and mom had been at work all day, and I just wanted to be right up against her. So while she was reading by the light of her bedside table lamp, I found the best place to be--right on her hip and legs while she read.



I was so cozy and warm, I got really sleepy and couldn't keep myself from yawning.



Oh, I can't wait for December and January!

Warm snuggles on a cold night are the best.

This Halloween season is so fun; I just love watching TV and horror films in particular. We watched "Burnt Offerings" this past Sunday (or maybe this was "Children of the Corn" on Saturday?), and I got the best seat in the house. (I'm sitting on the gate on the right side.)



As you can see, I'm very attentive to the plot.



Sometimes I settle in for the long haul.



Watching TV wears me out, though, especially those intense scary films.



So after a great horror flick, there's nothing better than a good night's sleep with mom.

Wow, it's been a long time since the last update! I hope you are all well and that you'll have a wonderful meal tomorrow for that thankful day thing. Mom is going to give me some canned food and (even better) lots of kitty snuggles. She was supposed to get today off but there are still students on campus today and mom said her boss told her that if she works today she can swap off the holiday time-off with another one in December. Something called flex time.

Anyway, mom has pictures to share. I was very, very happy when this one was taken because it was close to bedtime and I knew my mom was getting ready to go upstairs to bed. I LOVE bedtime, because there is always some kitty snuggles before sleep.



Mom couldn't resist reaching down to give my ear a little tickle.



I've been very busy keeping up with my yoga:



And this is me giving mom a head kiss right before lights out. Have I told you all how much I love bedtime?



So Mom will have 4 days now--tomorrow through Sunday--to spend time with me. She has promised to make catnip toys for a friend's cats so that means I'll get my share of dried nip sometime over the weekend. I imagine there will also be a fair amount of reading so that means I'll be able to settle beside (or on) her.

I hope all of you have some great plans for this holiday that include your cats!

Good to see you again, Peppa. That first picture really shows off your beautiful eyes.

Thank you; I use them to their best advantage to try to get people, especially Mom, to do what I want or to get them to forgive me if I've been a cat (i.e., naughty by human standards). She's even tried using them to get students to do stuff:



Not sure how effective they are, but do you want to take college classes now, lol?

Love your updates Peppa!

Then you'll love these from last night, when I was lounging while my mom was playing some stupid game on her phone:









Note the casual, subtle glances to see if she's paying attention there at the end. Note how I show her that I don't need her attention focused completely on me, but still exerting my cat powers to convince her to stop playing her game and pay attention to me instead. That's true artistry. If your own cat is good at this, you're in deep trouble if you want to get anything accomplished. Good luck with that.

My mom has been very busy with holiday stuff and her own mom, who is sick. So she has not been doing much picture-taking, and what pictures she has taken are still locked up on her phone. But I am well and she is well, and we hope all of you are well, too.

Nice to hear from you Peppa and Peppa's Mom. Hope everyone is healthy again soon and to see more of your lovely photos in the new year :)

This new year has been scary so far! Mom says that the frozen water that came down from the sky was the cause of all the problems and that was why the house got all cold and dark on and off for two days. She said frozen water is heavy when it collects on trees and the big, thick strings that bring us power for heat and light. We had to have a fire in the fireplace and lots of blankets, and grandma and her dog Serenity and mom’s hermit crab had to stay at grandpa’s in town where there was heat and light. Mom and her sisters ran between places so the fire always had one person watching it. I am glad mom stayed at home when it got dark outside as well as in; it was scary and when she would go to the porch for more wood, I was worried she was leaving me and I followed to the door and waited right inside until she came back in. I guess it was silly to think that she would just leave me and Fauna (the other dog) alone. I’m glad that the power is back now and everyone is home, and that my mom is here in bed in our room. Sleep tight, everyone!

Glad you stayed safe!

Mom has more pictures of me to share now, but not many. Her old phone's battery died suddenly and the most recent backup that worked was from August. She's sure that she'd tried backing up before then so she's wondering if the battery wasn't the only problem. So until she can find out if the Apple Store (which is appointment only right now, and over an hour away) can retrieve the pics, she has to start from scratch with me-pics. But here are some she took this weekend.

This is when we first woke up--and there's the sun! We haven't see much of the sun in like 2 weeks, so it was very exciting!



And because it was the sun, it made me not want to get out of bed, so I went back to sleep while mom took care of outside-cats.



But later, she was organizing and sorting some of her crafting stuff, and she cleaned out this plastic Christmas gift bag, which was really cool, because it was like a little cave for me. I enjoyed supervising the sorting from my little cubicle.



But then mom started stuffing catnip toys, so I had a tough decision to make--stay in the bag, or go out and get some nip? This was me, thinking hard about my options.



I chose the nip in the end.

St. Catty's day is coming up soon; don't forget to wear green and shamrocks (I think it should be catnip!).

Purrs to you all!

Peppa =^..^=

Yay, more pictures of me, 'cause the Internet can never have enough cat pics!





I tried to look my Siamese-y best today to try to convince her to work from home.

No such luck. She went to the library anyway.

Bummer.

But the weekend starts soon and then I get to monopolize her time for TWO WHOLE DAYS!!!

You all should let your cats do the same. It's good for you.

Enjoy the weekend!

you're so beautiful Peppa!

>44 al.vick: I know, thanks!

Happy St. Catty's Day, all!



Like the shirt? It's for sale here.*

Note: Neither Peppa nor I are in any way profiting from this website, online store, or sharing the link--but a lot of rescue animals are! So go ahead and browse the shop for cat, dog, and horse themed gifts. (Peppa personally likes the shirt about me pushing you in front of zombies to save her; I've told her let's hope that test doesn't come up. No offense, but I can't say I wouldn't necessarily do it....)