Thundery Thursday

Tom: It's very hot and feels thundery out today, and #1 is frantically busy (Sen-Chan will give you the details tomorrow), so this will be as short post, with just a couple of fetching photos of me and Sen-Chan.

Here I am, guarding the gate:

And here is Sen-Chan, looking beautiful, as usual...

Relationships

Tom: I am not the one who is usually given the task of elaborating on philosophical issues, but our topic today is relationships. Needless to say, the most important relationships in my life are with #1 and with Sen-Chan, my close family, but there are so many more. I would like to share with you a photo taken yesterday that shows me and my friend Pie (an important relationship!) having a very deep and intent "treat relationship" with Pie's Ms.A:

On a day-to-day basis, though, I share almost everything with Sen-Chan, and #1 keeps aiming the camera at us, as though we were doing something unusual...

Sen-Chan: Well, I have certainly had my share of relationships over the last 24 hours! Last night, I was sleeping on my Boogie Mat, between #1's keyboard and screen, when this most peculiar creature landed on my tail!

Can you see it? It was quite overwhelming in its sheer greenness! #1 said it's called a grasshopper.

And then today, when the time for my outing came, I thundered out of the door, and shortly thereafter, thundered back in to offer a beautiful giftie to #1. Well, the fuss! She rounded up both me and Tom, and locked us up. I was looking through the crack in the door and saw her crawl under the table and retrieve my catch (it was quite unharmed, honest!)

So, anyway, she took it back out and put in it a tree hoping it would be OK, And guess what I got:

Can you believe it has a BELL on it?!

Tails on Tuesday

Sen-Chan: Well, this post is going to be mostly about me because I am the one with the serious tail around here. #1 laughs when I am outside and going places because I often carry my tail straight up, like some kind of antenna she says... Anyway, I am personally very happy with my tail which has a chocolate tip!

Here is more of a close-up, which #1 took yesterday:

TOM: OK, it's a fact. I don't have much of a tail. Although it is now illegal to dock tails in Europe, there is a special dispensation for hunting dogs, and I was "done" when I was very small, well before I came to live with #1. It's apparently not a full dock so I have plenty to wag, and do I wag! #1 says that it is all that wagging that keeps me so slim! Anyway, it apparently also makes it very hard to take photos of my tail! Here is the best #1 could do:

As you can see, I have some rather nice feathering to brighten up the darker colour!

Mundane Monday

Sen-Chan: It is too hot for any excitement today and we are all taking it easy. It's pleasant inside the house and I got a bit of a shock when #1 opened the terrace door and I ran out.  It felt a little like when I get too close to the hob on the cooker... So, here was my measured approach to the situation:

I have a feeling I'm going to stick close to the shade today.

Tom: Being English, my resistance to heat is pretty limited. It was already hot when we went for our walk this morning! Thankfully, the garden offers pleasant resting places:

Earlier today, #1 was assembling something she calls an electric fan. I have a feeling that this is going to be exciting! But anyway, we are invited to dinner again at Pie's tonight so I know I am going to get to romp later. What's this about thunderstorms in the forecast....???

Social Sunday

Tom: We've had a pretty busy Sunday which is why we are a little later than usual in updating our blog. First of all, the neighbours are away so my pal Madrac is with us - great news for me! This morning, she joined us on our morning walk. It was nice and sunny and all looked very poetic, says #1:

They harvested the wheat this week and the fields are now just down to straw, so lots of new stuff to explore!

Anyway, before I forget, I made a new friend yesterday. She is totally AWESOME!

Yep, there is a lot of hair there! She is a "Briard" or "Berger de Brie" a French breed of sheepdog. She has the cutest ears with long hairs falling over them, and it's sometimes hard to tell which direction she is facing. But she's really cute and loves to play!

Our guests were fun and threw the Frisbee for me a lot, so I had a very good time!

Sen-Chan: Since we had guests, and they all had lunch sitting out on the terrace, I got to stay outside for a long, long time. I discovered the lavender bush, which is full of the most fascinating creatures! (#1 calls them bumble bees). Anyway, I lurked and tried to catch one but they move fast and they go bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Awesome!

After all that excitement, I didn't mind coming back indoors when our guests left. I had to beautify myself at leisure!

Award and Markings

Sen-Chan: We are starting this post in fine style, with a big thank you to our friend Abby for giving us The Cool Cat Award! Wait a minute.... why am I saying "we" and "us"? It's ME, ME, ME!!!! I am the COOL CAT!!!! Yeahhhhhhhhh!!!!! #1 says she is going to look for an extra cool photo in honour of my honour! In the meantime, here is the award:

I am probably going to be accused of Aby-centrism, but since the award did come from "Abby" I thought I should pass it on to "Abys"!!! So, I would like to pass on The Cool Cat Award to BAF, Mica, Isis and Ramses.

So, what cool shot of me did you find, #1?

and one more...

Tom: Well, nobody gave me an award today, but #1 told me a bunch of times that I was a "Good Tom" so what more could I want? #1 decided that today would be a good day to show off my beautiful markings, starting with this rather poetic photo:

Followed by this one:

Wishing everyone a good weekend!

Resting Easy

Tom: We always seem to have a lot of action shots in our blog, so we thought we would give you a more restful experience today! Of course, in my case, I like to have action tools by my side, in case I might get a sudden urge to romp:

#1 says that when I dream, I often go "woof" in my sleep! The only time that I am really quiet is when I sleep with you know who tucked into me:

Sen-Chan: Needless to say, #1 has a wide selection of sleep shots of me available. When I sleep, I often like to stretch out:

or do yoga in my dreams:

And of course keep a paw on the important stuff...

Tummies on Thursday

Sen-Chan: The sun is shining, it's warm, but there is quite a wind blowing out there, so in fact, inside is not a bad place to be today. I had my little romp earlier but when the guy came to cut the grass, #1 thought I would be better off inside.

Being a cat, of course I can sleep wherever I want, be it #1's bed, sofa, Tom's large and comfy bed etc, etc... But my absolute favourite spot is the one #1 has made for me between her keyboard and screen. Here it is:

Pretty nice, don't you think? And here I am, enjoying the entertainment:

And to get to the point of today's title, here is a tummy shot which I dedicate to my beautiful girlfriend ISIS:

Tom: I have been looking through my files to see f I can find a suitable tummy shot. This I what I came up with:

What do you think? Do I have a lean and manly tummy?

Our Friend Pie

Tom: Aside from having a kind and loving #1, friends are among the most important things in life, and I consider myself very lucky in that category. One of my best friends is a lovely lady called Pie. I have mentioned her before as we had several walks together last week when #1 was incapacitated and Ms. A came to take me out. Last night, #1 and I were invited to dinner at Ms. A's and I got a chance to spend the whole evening with Pie! It was a beautiful evening and the people ate out on the terrace while we romped and romped and romped... and finally flopped:

Sen-Chan: For some obscure reason, I was not invited yesterday and I had to, sniff...., spend the whole evening at home by myself, sniff..... But I wanted to tell you that Pie is my friend too! In fact, I call her Sweetie-Pie! Apparently, Ms. A is not quite sure whether she wants to cover me in kisses or eat me up, but I know it's the former! See for yourselves:

Blind Follies

Sen-Chan: We all have that one little thing that really captivates us... For my friend, Abby Normal, it is shoes, but in my case, it's BLINDS! #1 has bamboo blinds on the windows in her study and I find them so versatile in providing entertainment.

For starters, someone mentioned that bamboo was really good to eat, so I thought I would have a little taste:

I really would NOT recommend it. It's pretty tough and there is NO seasoning! So, I decided that I might find something interesting to do with all the strings that were dangling...

And once #1 helped me get disentangled...

You should have heard #1! Anybody would have thought that the circus had come to town! It was all very exhausting in the end, so I did what any sensible cat would do:

Tom: OK, OK.... you want an embarrassing picture of me? As I am such a handsome and dignified dog, these are few and far between., but somehow #1 managed to locate one. All I can say is that I was quite a bit younger then...

The real tragedy here is that I demolished that fly swat and #1 hasn't been able to find another one like it so far! I am a truly excellent swatter but am equipment-deprived!

Busy, Busy!

Tom: Our Sunday started out slow and relaxed but picked up pace later when #1 let both me and Sen-Chan out in the sunshine. We love to play tag when we're in the garden but that pussycat beats me every time. I am no slouch when it comes to galloping but Sen-Chan just flies. Here is an action shot of me trying to catch him:

You see what I mean... But we did have the best time! And then this morning, we had to take our guest back to the station and #1 said I could come too. She has a special dog hammock at the back of the car so I have the whole back seat to lounge in and play in. I love riding in the car!

When we came back, she took me for a little walk up the lane. I snuck into one of the fields and there was something that smelled so sweet in there! It was brown and gooey and I just rolled and rolled in it. You should have seen #1 when she saw me coming! She went straight for the hose and shampoo and she says that NOW, I smell sweet! I beg to differ but she never seems to agree with me on that...

Sen-Chan: I had the BEST time outside again yesterday. #1 actually left the terrace door open for part of the afternoon so I could go in and out. I whooped and bounded and explored. Here I am, looking very much the part of the wild adventurer:

The weather forecast is pretty good for the coming week, so paws crossed that she will let me out again very son!

Snuggles on Sunday

Sen-Chan: Our guest arrived safely yesterday and we are enjoying a quiet and relaxed Sunday. Since there is not much on the news front, Tom-Tom and I decided to continue our study of US! Yesterday, we focused on handsomeness. Today, we are looking at snuggleworthiness. Me first:

And now, here's Tom. He being the outdoorsy type, the photo matches the persona : 

And now for the prize... Can you resist this?

Wishing you all a Sunday full of snuggles!

And lest we forget, we do also want to say a big THANK YOU to our pal Petey (and his catbro MICA) who sent this beautiful award our way.

In turn, we would like to bestow this on our friends Daisy, and Gandalf & Grayson

Handsome Boys!

Tom: It's Saturday, the day our guest arrives. One friend of #1's is coming this afternoon to take me for a run, and another is taking her to the big train station, which is an hour away, to get her friend. Hurray again for friends!

It's grey out, although they have promised sun for later. I don't have a whole lot else to tell you, so I thought I would show off the gorgeous highlights on my ears!

Sen-Chan: If Tom can have a "show off" picture in today's blog, so must I! Here is one #1 took a couple of days ago, of me on the bookshelf above her desk. With me, that makes it two handsome boys!