See Beautiful

We are pleased to be joining the See Beautiful blog hop today, along with Sugar the Golden Retriever who is generously donating $1.00 to See Beautiful's non-profit of the month, St. Anne's Center - Lantern House PET AREA for everyone who joins the blog hop today.  Isn't she awesome?

I've learned a lot of lessons from my animal companions over the years ... 

Lessons in loving passionately and wholeheartedly even when you know the heartbreak of loss is waiting, unseen but keenly felt, down the road ...

Lessons in patience, when trying to communicate in a loving way with creatures who don't speak your language ...

Lessons in the joy that is yours when, through that patience, you forge a close and loving relationship, and a shared language, with another creature ...

Lessons in tolerance, when blending together animals of different species, personalities, and life histories into a harmonious family unit ...

And perhaps most of all, lessons in being aware that the many precious moments we share with them are, when strung together, the individual pearls in a luminous necklace of memories that help to in some small part sustain us when they have gone on ahead ... 

As one of my personal heroes, Ferris Bueller, was wont to say, "Life moves pretty fast ... if you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." 

Our animal friends are masters in the art of never forgetting to stop and look around.  They can spend 30 minutes intensely sniffing a single blade of grass.  When they feel the sun warm on their heads, they never fail to raise their heads skyward, schedules and deadlines be damned ... the better to soak in the blessed, healing warmth.  They love passionately and unreservedly, with no thought for any day of reckoning or loss that may be waiting somewhere beyond the horizon.  That may well be because they aren't capable of the foreknowledge of death, but I choose to believe that it's also because they would rather focus on sucking every possible drop of joy and beauty out of the present than on pointlessly worrying about the future.  

For these reasons and so many others, the two dogs and three cats I am so privileged to share my life with are beautiful beyond all words to me, and it never fails to amaze me that one of the reasons I'm so lucky to have them is because the beauty I see in them, that is all too obvious to me each and every day, was somehow not recognized by others.  Which is those people's loss, whoever and wherever they might be, and my inestimable gain.  

So this post is for Tucker, for Olivia, for Tanner, and Phoebe, and Finn ... 

My sweet and beautiful friends, thank you from the bottom of my heart for enriching my life each and every day with the beauty of your love, companionship, and abiding affection.  I can't imagine what I could have done to deserve it, but I am forever grateful, and although I know you will never read these words, I hope you somehow feel my love for you all, as I feel yours for me.  I believe that you do.  

Friday Maintenance Post

TaDa!  It's me, Olivia! 

I heard that my presence had been requested, so here I am! And I have OODLES of news!  Plus, I have a full day of sunbathing, napping, and grooming my furs planned, so let's get to it!  I've got things to do! 

1) Finn's Comment-A-Thon for Back in Black 2 - we have 13 days left and 78 comments to go!  So please leave your comment today, if you haven't already.  If you are the randomly chosen winner, we'll make a donation in your name to the rescue group or shelter of your choice! 

It will make Finn really happy to reach his goal this year, and even though he's a bratty little thing completely lacking in the proper respect for a calico princess such as myself, his comment-a-thon is for a good cause, so I feel I have to support him, even though I TOLD Mom that we did NOT need another cat around this house.  Of course, I told her that when she brought Tanner home, too, but she didn't listen then, either.  Sometimes I think she needs a refresher course in Catonese.  Cause the woman doesn't do half of what I tell her, so maybe she just doesn't understand?  Ah, well.  That's a post for another time.

2)  Did you know that our friends over at William of Mass Destruction have opened up their own store?  I mean, it looks to me like the human is trying to take credit for it, but it's definitely William, Caroline, Russell, Olivia, and Gracie's store.  After all, whose pictures do you think these are?

William

Gracie

Russell

Caroline

Olivia

PHOTO CREDIT TO THE HUMAN AT William of Mass Destruction

You may not know this, but reading William's (and Caroline's, and Russell's, and Olivia's and Gracie's) blog was one of the things that convinced Mom that we should have OUR own blog.  So we are forever in their debt in this regard, and it's one of our favorite blogs to read every day.  I'll tell you one thing, though ... I think that Caroline is a little bit of a hussy.  She's always flirting with Spitty, as if I NEEDED any competition in that department!!!  That boy's already romancing half the lady cats in the Blogosphere.  In fact, if it gets any worse, I might have to consider whether there's a handsome mancat out there who might be more steadfast in his affections.  Do you think William would want to go out on a date with me?  

Anyway, their store is called Feline O' Mine and their stuff looks really cool.  Plus, it's been tested and approved by all the gang at William of Mass Destruction, so it's gotta be great!  We're going to have Mom help us pick out some stuff this weekend and then we'll be reporting back about it!

3) Mom has been SUPER stressed out lately with all these food recalls.  And you might not know this, but some of the food that was recalled was for cats, even though it wasn't as widely publicized.  So she was pretty happy yesterday when she got an email from K9Cuisine.com (they have cat food, too).  I was reading over her shoulder and the email said that because of the recent recalls, they are offering a 15% discount on certain foods that have NOT been affected by all the recalls.  Those brands are Pulsar Grain Free, Horizon Legacy, Darford Zero/G, Fromm, and Orijen.  All you have to do is enter the coupon code SWITCHFOOD to receive the discount, and any orders $50 or over receive free shipping!

Phew!  I'm exhausted!  I feel a nap coming on! And I know just the sun puddle I want to take it in!  

Have a great weekend, everyone! 

And don't forget to leave your comment HERE!

Olivia's Opinions - # Who Knows in an Ongoing Series

Hi, everyone - it's me, Olivia!  And my Opinion for today is that since it has been THIRTY THREE WHOLE DAYS since I last got to post, I am going to post a BUNCH of pictures today, because really - who knows WHEN I will get another chance!!!!  What with my mom constantly putting things like work and socializing with friends before blogging, and all my siblings stealing my thunder, it's a wonder I get any blog time at all, and frankly, that is just NOT acceptable!  

And so ...

Lately, one of the things Mom has been obsessed with is her new friend, Pic Monkey.  It's a photo editing site that replaced Picnik, and while Mom was sad to say goodbye to Picnik, she is really loving Pic Monkey!  It can take just about any photo and make it better, which for Mom is good, because even though thanks to her photography class, she now at least knows how to hold her camera correctly, I'm not gonna lie to you ... Mom is no Ansel Adams.  

Now, take the photo below for instance.  It's - well, this is probably a poor example, because this is a STUNNING photograph.  Then again, it IS of me!  Mom took this photo several months ago - (you can see I'm not wearing my new blue leather collar with the rhinestones) but it's always been one of her favorites.  No arguments from this corner. 

But see how this same photo is improved with our new pal Pic Monkey's help!  With a quick adjustment to the sharpness and clarity, my eyes look even more jewel-like than they did in the previous photo, and you can see more of the detail in my beautiful calico furs! 

 

This one has the Orton effect on it.  Don't I look dreamy?

This one is cross-processed with blue.  

While this one is cross-processed red ... I like how it makes my eyes look gold and makes my red calico furs really pop!  

This one is the HDR look ...  

And this one is daguerreotype.  See how old-timey I look?

Mom says she can't quite decide which one of these looks is her favorite.  I say they all look fabulous.  Which one is your favorite?

One Word Wednesday: Peaceful

Olivia's Opinions - #5,432 (Otherwise entitled: Why cats don't go to art shows)

Hi, everyone - it's me, Olivia! Yesterday, the question was posed as to why I did not attend the art show that Tucker posted about.  There are actually several reasons for this, not the least of which is that I dislike large crowds, loud people, and human fingers sticky with kettle corn touching my impeccably groomed calico furs.

The most compelling reason, though, is very simple.  When YOU ARE the art, you don't need to go to an "art show."  

Do you take my meaning?  

After all, as a wise man (and very famous artist) by the name of Leonardo da Vinci, once said: 

"The smallest feline is a masterpiece." 

Mr. da Vinci, I quite agree.

XOXO,

Olivia 

Word for the Day Wednesday

Hi, everyone. It's me, Olivia. And my word for the day is UNHAPPY.  

Allow me to illustrate ...

This is me. This is me UNHAPPY.

Why am I UNHAPPY, you ask? 

Well, if you must know, it's because all I was trying to do was to relax on the dining room chair which is my one of my favorite under the radar places to snoopervise from, when my privacy was rudely interrupted and my top secret cover blown by my stupid little brother!  

So - I am UNHAPPY! Spitty, isn't there something that YOU can do to help?  A royal decree of some kind you can issue? A Diva such as myself can only take so much aggravation, and I am at the end of my rope!

XOXO,

Olivia 

P.S.  If you haven't already entered our Orijen giveaway provided by MrChewy.com - you can do so HERE!

Olivia's Opinions ... #5,431

Disclaimer:  This is not my five thousand four hundred and thirty-first post in this series.  For one thing, I haven't even been alive on this earth that many days, and we haven't been blogging NEARLY that long.  But I  chose that number at random for two reasons.  #1 is that I couldn't remember what number I was on.  #2 is that I have a LOT of opinions, and I like to voice them ... loudly.  It's true - ask anyone. So it's entirely possible that I could have HAD this many opinions ... even if I haven't posted them all here.  I would have to have my own blog AND a full time staff for that, and Mom says we don't have enough green paper to hire anyone.   

WHATEVER!

My Opinion for today (call it whatever number you want, I don't care) is that just because Mom asks me to look at her so she can take my picture ... 

doesn't mean I have to listen.  I wasn't feeling in the mood for a photo shoot for one, and for another, this shot shows off my new collar!

P.S.  Mom was trying to be "artsy" again and I guess she did SOMETHING to the original photo because now it looks all vintage-y or something.  Whatever - you can still see my collar ... isn't it pretty? (And now Phoebe and I match!)

XOXO,

Olivia

P.S.S.  Plus this photo shows that my one ear is calico patterned and my other ear is white.  Something you may not have known about me before! 

Snoozing on Saturday

Hi, everyone ... it's me, Olivia!  I heard from the little man inside the talking box in the armoire that it was supposed to get cold again today.  Also, it's raining out, so I can't even go out on the cat porch and stalk lizards. It hardly even counts as the weekend without a little bit of lizard stalking.  So I've decided to just stay in bed today.  

Happy Saturday, everybody! 

How My Mom Wasted A Perfectly Good Friday Afternoon ...

Hi, everybody!  It's me, Olivia.  Tucker was going to tell this story, but I heard through the grapevine that my presence had been requested, so I convinced Tucker to let me take this one. Let's get right to it.  Mom decided to take a half day off of work today.  I had heard her talking on the phone about it to one of her colleagues from work, and I was really excited!  A whole weekday afternoon with Mom here to cater to my every whim!  Unfortunately, Mom obviously didn't have the same idea.  So here I sat ... waiting ... waiting ... for Mom to come home early, only to be bitterly disappointed. 

What was Mom doing all afternoon, you ask?  Well, the dreaded E word, for one.  Tucker says the rest of the word is spelled errands.  I don't really know exactly what it means, but whenever she goes out to do those E-rrands, she always comes home with lots of bags full of stuff (not enough of which is for me, by the way) and clothes on hangers covered in plastic wrap.  But today, after her E-rrand running, she went all the way to the MOON!

What's that, Tuck?  Oh, ok - she didn't go to the real moon, I guess.  She went to this one: The Blue Moon Trading Company.

Mom says that this Blue Moon place is one of her favorite places to waste time browse.  She always finds at least one or two treasures there every time she visits, and something about the atmosphere there puts her in a good mood.  

Plus, how could you not love a shop with a resident shop Pug:

 

 Today she found :

These great paintings of dogs.  The artist does commissions so she's going to call and see if the artist does cats, too! 

She also found this guy ...

She thought he was a carousel horse at first ... (Mom has sort of a thing for carousel horses ... and horses in general, for that matter ...) but when she got closer she realized he was more of a "ridin' the range" kind of guy, and thought it would be just the right addition to her friend A.'s studio so she texted him a picture.  He agreed, and now Mr. Horse is going to have a new home. 

And as for me ... Mom did still get home early enough that I could go out on the catio and relax in the sunshine for a few hours before dinner.

I guess I forgive her.

Sunday Picnik #3

Monday Meows ...

Hi, everyone ... it's me, Olivia!  Can you believe it's Monday ALREADY?  I don't know how come the weekends are so short and the weeks are so LONG! Shouldn't it be the other way around?  

Anyway, we didn't do much this weekend because Mom said she needed to relax.  Fortunately, being a cat, I have a PhD in relaxation.  See what I mean? 

Have a great week, everyone!  Only four days till Thanksgiving!  

Sunday Picnik #2

Sunday Picnik

Hi, everyone ... it's Sunday and we're having a picnic!  Oops, I mean a Picnik!  Happy Sunday, everyone!

   

Freshpet Reviews Continued (Plus last week's giveaway winner!)

Hi, everyone, it's me, Tanner!  Tucker is tired from working late last night so  he said I could announce last week's Fresh Pet treat giveaway!

This is the ledge in the mudroom where I eat my meals.  Because I prefer a table with a view, don'tcha know!

And the winner is ............................  wait for it ........................  Hound Girl!  Hound Girl, please email us at tuckertellsall@gmail.com and give us your address so that we can send you your Bison Chews!

And ... 

Anyone who would like to be entered to win the Dog Joy Fresh Bones pictured above, all you need to do is comment to be entered and we'll randomly draw a winner next week.

Now, on to the "meat and potatoes" if you will!

This ....

is this ....

Freshpet select Roasted Meals!


It's for dogs, so I didn't taste any of it, but Tucker and Phoebe and Cosmo all did and they thought it was yummy.

THIS ...

is what Olivia, Finn, and I got to try!

Olivia and I thought it was pretty good.  Finn has been a raw-fed kitty since he was just a baby and he is not as fond of things like canned food or, in this case, cooked food.  (He's a little crazy, though!)  

In addition to this stuff and the treats Tucker has been talking about in previous posts about Freshpet, they also sent THIS ... 

Tucker & Phoebe and Cosmo also tried this and reported that it was yummilicious!  

So overall the response to these products was very favorable.  Even Finn eventually sampled his portion of the Roasted Meals for kitties, and he seemed to find it acceptable, if not downright delectable.  But then, like I said ... he's a little big strange!  

So ok - it's official!  This stuff is delish!  Get your humans to buy you some today! 

Oh, wait ... Mom wants to say something.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi, everyone - MP here.  I did have to add my two cents to this post.  First of all, I'd like to once again thank the kind people at Freshpet who sent us a really substantial amount of products to try and share with our friends, both IRL and in the Blogosphere.  I offered some of the chews and treats to my coworkers' dogs and they were favorably received by all.  Unfortunately my coworkers did not follow through on my request to photograph their dogs enjoying the treats/chews.  Two were just plain negligent, and the third, little Baby B the Shih Tzu's mom, had the best of intentions when she gave Baby B one of the Fresh Bones before she went out for an hour or two.  She had no idea that Baby B. would have liked it so much that the entire bone had been consumed in her absence, leaving her unable to take a picture.  

Tucker & Phoebe, and my sister, K.'s dog, Cosmo, also enjoyed the treats.  Phoebe's favorites were definitely the Sweet Potato Chews.  They also quite enjoyed the Roasted Meals (which come in a resealable bag) and the Slice and Serve which come in long tubes, kind of like sausages.  The cats (Olivia and Tanner anyway) also enthusiastically sampled the Roasted Meals sent to them to try, and Finn did eat his portion, though he did not initially dive right in.  But then again, he often has the same reaction to canned food on the rare occasions I offer it. While Olivia and Tanner will fall upon it like  they've been starving in the desert for weeks on end, Finn is very much a raw fed boy (he's been on prey model raw since four months of age) and he doesn't often seem to know what to make of even premium quality commercial food, which I would certainly consider Freshpet to be.  


As to MY overall opinion.  Well, ok.  Let me get this out of the way.  Those of you who know me from elsewhere, either IRL, or from discussion forums like Dogster, know that I'm a bit of a freak about my animals' diets.  Both dogs and all three cats are fed a prey model raw diet for the simple reason that 1) it makes the most sense to me because it's the most natural, species-appropriate for my companion carnivores to eat and 2) because with all the recalls and shenanigans that go on in the pet food industry, there are very few companies whose products I unreservedly trust.  So when I got the initial query from Freshpet, asking whether they could send us some products to try, I was cautious.  Before agreeing, I did a little basic research and when I didn't spot any red flags in the ingredients, and my digging turned up no news of recent recalls of the Freshpet products, I figured that even though my own animals are on a raw diet, I have a lot of dog and cat owning friends and family who really love their dogs and cats but for various reasons don't want to or can't feed their dogs/cats this way.  Plus, my sister K.'s dog, Cosmo, is on a rotational diet of premium kibbles (Orijen, Acana, Horizon Legacy, and a couple of others) but K. likes to mix some kind of topper in with it at least a few times a week.  It's usually a similar brand of canned food or some type of cooked meat, but because the Roasted Meals come in a resealable bag, it's somewhat more convenient than canned food is, and plus it SMELLS a whole lot more appetizing.  Let's face it, canned food can sometimes be stinky.  That's how it got its nickname stinky goodness!  


Also, as I've mentioned before, Tucker is on a thyroid supplement that he gets twice daily with food.  It's a powdered supplement prescribed by our holistic vet, and it is a little bitter.  So I am constantly switching up the things I will mix his medicine into.  I've used jarred meat/veggie baby food, canned food, canned green tripe, canned sardines or jack mackerel, etc., The Slice & Serve proved especially useful for this because you can make kind of a meatball with it and roll the powder inside.  For those of you who rely upon Kongs to keep your dogs settled and entertained while crated or left alone, both the Roasted Meals and the Slice & Serve proved great for this.  I mixed the Roasted Meals with a little bit of meat baby food and put it in the freezer for about an hour so that it wasn't frozen solid but still firm.  The Slice & Serve I was able to pack in there pretty tightly and it didn't need to be frozen at all, though for dogs who are Kong-a-holics you might want to freeze it.  

Bottom line, I am not switching the kids from their current prey model raw diet, but I absolutely would buy these products and use them as described above.