Saturday, August 31, 2013

Welcome to Heidi's playground!

We've got it all figured out now.

Failing to get a place in the patio and kitchen, Heidi has now declared that the playground is hers.

Yes, the entire playground. All of it.

And when you step into the playground, Heidi runs from "miles away" and greets you warmly and joyfully.

She is an exemplary host. The best I've seen.

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And if you wish to use Heidi's basketball court for a good reason (like exercise), she not only allows you to (rent free) but she even accompanies you.


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You are also allowed to take your morning walks around Heidi's playground.


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I missed the shot of the white cat. She came with Heidi and both were on the basketball court.


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I'm a very generous cat, you know...


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Even dogs are allowed on Heidi's playground. We do not discriminate.


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Rosie's watching...


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And if you visit Heidi's playground, she will entertain you with her tree-climbing skills.


Whisky, frisky hippity hop,
Up she goes to the tree top!


Can you see Heidi?


No? Zoom in, please.


where is heidi

See Heidi now?


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Whirly, twirly, round and round,
Down she scampers to the ground!


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And of course, any cat is allowed to visit too.


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May I join the morning chat?


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 I know, you wish you could go out too, but...


Maybe one day...but only if you promise to come back when we call you.


Will cats come back if you call them? Not all. Normally they will pretend they cannot hear you, right? Worse is if they suddenly freak out and run helter-skelter. That would be a total nightmare. That's what happened to Cleo once when she jumped off my arms outside the clinic. It took us 7 hours to finally get her back and all the while she was hiding inside a large crate, just too freaked out to come out. I even called a friend who had some (reiki) psychic powers to help locate her. 7 hours, folks. The worse 7 hours of my life and I remember regretting it so much that I had made a wrong judgment call, thinking I would be able to carry her into the clinic without a carrier. Wrong!!


http://myanimalcare.org/2009/10/19/we-found-cleo/


Anyway, it's not so bad in Bunny's Place too, is it?


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You can sleep like nobody's business and not worry about anything.


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I would say this garden is pretty good too, by Hong Kong standards...


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There are shelves for catnaps.


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Or if you prefer the penthouse, you could ask permission from Pole.


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There's a clubhouse too.


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If you prefer indoors, that's okay as well.


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And when it rains, you can all come in. You don't have to hide in the drains on the streets.


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And yes, the Patio Family is dying to get in.


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I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it?


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Let's be happy where we are and be at peace with what we have (if we cannot do anything to change it)!


Happy Merdeka!!


(Yups, despite the water woes and all...at least there is no earthquake and flesh-eating viruses, and we can still purchase bottled water, if we have to. It isn't so bad, really...)

Oh no! WHO bit this hole?

I was about to go to work yesterday morning when I saw Daffodil (yes, Daffodil!) mooching around the two bags of Equilibrio in the kitchen. We are staying in an old house, so the storerooms were built really small at that time. I have no place to store the catfood so it would have to be in the kitchen.

It is rare for Daffodil to be so brave and so near any human, so I went to have a look. She didn't even budge as I approached.

Then I saw it...some had bitten a hole in one of the bags and some kibbles are already spilled out.

Daffodil refused to move.

Gosh, are you so hungry, Daffodil? The Patio People get two big meals in a day, plus a small snack in between if someone makes the call.

I quickly taped the hole as I was rushing off to work.

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Then, by evening yesterday...


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Oh no! Another hole had been bitten on the bag.


This calls for a major transfer and I was out of large containers.


The garbage enzyme had to go...what to do?


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I filled up the existing containers, with the kind assistance of Rosie and Ginger.


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Me on 20% diet. Me no raid food arsenal. Me good boy.


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Me too.


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What's that you said a moment ago, Timmy?


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I hope the food is safe here....for now.
(That's me speaking, not Timmy!)


I know of a cat who can open Tupperware covers. Not the ordinary plastic containers, but the branded Tupperwares. And Cleo can bite through plastic. She bit through the Halo jars previously.


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Dame Heidi was outside sitting on my car. This is her permanent night-spot these days.


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Vincent is good. He is not greedy.


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So, how much of the kibbles did you manage to eat just now, Timmy?


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This was breakfast this morning.


With Primal, I normally would have at least 3 patio cats helping me mix the meal.


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Tabs gets to help too!

Another change of taste

My brood, inside and outside, LOVE Monge. There's no two ways about it. They love Monge and that's that.

It's just me who wants to give them a variety of foods.

So a friend asked me to try Avoderm.

Avoderm contains carrageenan, by the way. So does Natural Balance. But Monge has no carrageenan. It uses broth to bind the meat.

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I tried the Ocean Fish yesterday but they didn't like it, so today, it's the Chicken.


Verdict: They liked it; it was "okay", they said.


The outside brood, well, they like everything...except Natural Balance Ocean Fish.


By the time I came into the room again...


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Everyone had finished but there were bits and pieces left in the bowls.


It wasn't a clean sweep like Monge.


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Everyone was busy grooming after dinner.


But where is Cow?


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He's here watching the outside people.


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The Patio Family was also grooming after dinner.


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Soon, Indy came to take over guard duty.


AND...as promised, my camera was ready for collection today!! To cut a most evil story short, I had to look for the shop to collect it from and it was located in one of the shopping malls which I dare not venture into alone. You see, I am severely lacking in spatial intelligence and coupled with mild dyslexia, I have great difficulty in remembering directions and finding my way around. So, if I may digress, I have the greatest empathy for my students who cannot do Mathematics. They probably lack logical-mathematical intelligence but are very likely whizz-kids at some other tasks. But then, why do they want to become engineers? I certainly have no ambition of becoming a tour guide, that's for sure.


So, I'll find myself saying to my students: You just cannot see the logic, can you? And they will stare blankly at me and blink.


But similarly, I'll have people shout at my face: My goodness, don't you know which is your left and which is your right? And I will stare blankly at them and blink too.


To each his own, yes? Nobody's perfect.


But...my camera's back!!!  And yes, it's not perfect, but here are some really nice photos I took just now:


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Hooray!!  My camera's back!!


And if it fails again, I've already checked out a Canon at the shop just now....  Nothing fanciful or even semi-professional. No, no. It's just a point-and-shoot. But it is small, slim...and one was even pink in colour. It would go nicely with my pink bicycle!