Luna

Weekend Cat Blogging and more: V-Day edition

We at CatSynth present our own “Valentine's Edition” this weekend:

Actually, the pink “kitty” heart is among Luna's favorite toys. I placed all of Luna's toys downstairs after the move, and it was one of the first I found on the floor in the loft upstairs. But despite being well loved in the that toys often are, it has managed to survive for two years. Indeed, we saw Luna playing with it in some photos from Weekend Cat Blogging in 2006.

The astute observer might notice the black yarn that used be part of this toy.

“Valentine's Edition” is the theme of this weekend's Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos, hosted by SnotFace & Merlin Kitchen at Bad Kitty Cats Journal.

Weekend Cat Blogging #141 is being hosted by Samantha and Tigger at Life from a Cat's Perspective.

The Carnival of the Cats will take place on Sunday at Mind of Mog. And of course Friday Ark #178 is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Embracing Modernism

As we continue to adjust to our new life, we see Luna exploring our new surroundings:

The sun has finally shown up as well.

With all the additional space, I have been free to push the modern glass-and-metal look that I have always wanted. And the architecture of our home supports that with its own modernist features:

Luna's sleek elegance fits into the design as well. And she seems to enjoy it. She will make a great city cat.

Appropriately, our bohemian kitty friends Kashim and Othello are hosting Weekend Cat Blogging.

The Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos is at The Cat Blogosphere. The Carnival of the Cats is being hosted by Pet and the Bengal Brats at Pet?s Garden Blog. And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: The Move-in

Well, it's now been a week since the big move to San Francisco.

Luna arrived last Sunday, after a spending a few days safely away from the commotion in the care of the folks at Kitty Hill Resort for Cats in Santa Cruz. It was a great place to board her, with nice large quiet rooms. But it's not home.

The trip up was difficult. And Luna was of course frightened the first evening, mostly hiding behind boxes. But eventually she ventured out to explore, and found some new interesting places:

Here she looks out from several of our balconies that overlook the cavernous main space below:

Yes, we still have quite a bit of work to do here to get set up. But that hasn't stopped Luna from claiming this comfy rocking chair in the loft as her new favorite spot:

When I come upstairs, there is a decent chance I will find her sitting there, or napping. With some effort, I have managed to convince her to share it. Indeed, we are both enjoying the chair right now.

Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted on this Groundhog Day by Katie and a rather agape Puddy at A Bytootaful Life. Check out Puddy's photos and the round up.

The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos goes home to Megan and Zed Monster at the Bad Kitty Cats.

The Carnival of the Cats is going to be with the “Meowers of Death” at When Cats Attack this Sunday. And of course the Friday Ark is hosted by modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and more: Getting packed

This weekend is the beginning of the big final pack-up of our home. And for Luna, things are definitely changing:

She definitely is good at watching over things, and is wise enough to stay out of the way, lest we end up with something like this:

Even though the drama has been building up for weeks and isn't over yet, we still have some time and space for humor 🙂 Seriously though, we have a long way to go before “we iz all paked.” A lot of the major stuff is already done, or waiting for the pros. But in the meantime, the devil is in the details, as it often is.

Weekend Cat Blogging #137 is being hosted by Pumpkin, along with Upsier and sher at what did you eat. Pumpkin is settling into his new home quite nicely.

The Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos is being hosted by ” Mz. Mog & Kitty Cats” at Mind of Mog. The Carnival of the Cats is going to Missy, KC, Sol and Smokey this Sunday. And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and more

A busy weekend here, so we present a couple more photos from our cat sitter Ronni West:

Luna has this wonderful wide-eyed expression in many of these photos. You can see another example in this recent post. We'll miss our pet sitter when we move.

Weekend Cat Blogging #136 will be hosted this weekend at Chey's Place.

The Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos will be happening at the House of the Mostly Black Cats.

Carnival of the Cats is coming to Life from a Cat's Perspective on Sunday.

And a special note for Carnival of the Cats founder Laurence Simon, who lost his feline companion Frisky this week. Are thoughts go out to Laurence, Gina and Nardo.

Finally, the Friday Ark #173 is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging and more: The Storm

California was hit by a nasty set of winter storms this weekend, and our soon-to-be-former home in
Santa Cruz was certainly in the middle of that:

Spectacular white-capped waves, heavy rains and high-powered winds battered Santa Cruz County on Friday causing clogged roads, sending trees and power lines into houses and buildings and flooding area roads..

Even from our window, it was obvious this wasn't an ordinary winter storm:

Even more than the rain, the real problem was the wind, well over 60MPH at times. And with wind comes power outages:

There were 46,010 PG&E customers without electricity in Santa Cruz County as of Friday afternoon, said company spokesman Jeff Smith.

We were among those customers, with power out until well into the evening. No lights, no heat, no internet or radio, and only a small amount of phone service. Perfect time for some extra long afternoon naps:

Luna has recently found this black pillow and made it her own.

At some point in the afternoon, I decided to try going out, maybe find a cafe with some electricity, warm drinks, and internet service. But it seemed that the entire town was without power, and most businesses were shuttered. This is what a hurricane must feel like as the storm approaches. A bit disappointed, I returned to the cold, dark house, for at least the warmth of a blanket and “kitty love.”

As afternoon turns to evening, the lack of light becomes more of a problem for humans. But for cats, who have excellent night vision, activities can continue largely uninterrupted:

Indeed, Luna was quite active in the early evening as darkness settled in.

Fortunately for us humans, power was restored to some parts of town by early evening, and I was finally able to go find a cafe for warm drinks and internet service (and to recharge the all important cell phone). The chatter of others and bustle of activity was quite welcome, indeed. But still no power at our house; our block was frustratingly dark even as others started to light up. I was able to spend some time and enjoy a warm meal at a the home of a friend whose power had returned, and by around 9 or 10PM our power was finally back on. As I returned to the house, I could see Luna's face peering out the window, with light in the background…

Weekend Cat Blogging #135 is being hosted by Katie and Puddy of A Byootaful Life. It seems that they are experiencing a rainy weekend as well, and they're inviting everyone to come inside.

The Carnival of the Cats has a new home at The Cat Blogosphere, and they will be celebrating the inaugural edition this Sunday.

The Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos will be hosted by Ammie & Menagerie at Sleeping Mommy. The option theme is “Gotcha Day Stories.” You can read about Luna's Gotcha Day from this anniversary post back in June.

And of course Friday Ark #172 is at the modulator.

Weekend Cat Blogging: A day of the year

For our last Weekend Cat Blogging of the year, we weave several of our favorite photos from past into a narrative about the present.

Of course, we at CatSynth wouldn't deign to open such a narrative with “it was a dark and stormy night”. But it was a very gray morning, a bit like the Dark Gradient we posted a couple of weeks back. Yet another perfect day for lying by the heater:

Dark or otherwise, I have been an early riser of late. Even on a Saturday, up by 9AM, and fresh coffee brewing soon after. Certainly the thing to get one alert and wide-eyed:

Actually, morning coffee is an opportunity to relax and enjoy a moment before the real work of the day begins. Read a bit, listen to the radio, do a crossword, and start on some Weekend Cat Blogging. But none of it was happening. Too weary, too numb. Back to bed.

To her credit, Luna soon left her comfy perch above the heater to join me. She's always ready to provide much needed “kitty love.” Of course, she has to first knead her spot on the bed:

Cuddling up for a morning nap, and letting go of the outside world and its worries. Yes, that's what we needed. And now we will be ready to continue with our day…

Things can change very fast. A phone call around noon sets in motion events that may determine the fate of “soon-to-be-former CatSynth HQ.” I can spare you the details, except to say we suddenly need to clean up a bit more than we have been. There's all the boxes and debris such from our expected move:

along with our general sloppiness over the past few months:

But in addition to the task at hand, there is the melancholy of what we will be leaving behind. Some favorite spots, for one:

But we have our photos and our memories, and of course, we should have new favorites in our future home.

So it's back to work for us…

The main focus of today's effort is the downstairs studio/office room, scene of many creative and musical moments:

as well as some moments of comfort:

The goal for today, and indeed for much of work around the house, is simply to get things clean and organized. From complete chaos and bewilderment to something manageable, that we can envision packing up and moving. We have been fortunate to count on our friends to help us in the effort, today as well as last week. And their help has been invaluable. Indeed, the last month has reminded about friends and family and what's important in life:

It looks like we're not the only ones going through the challenges of moving. Kashim and Othello and Astrid were going to host Weekend Cat Blogging #134, but they have just moved and are temporarily without internet access. Fortunately, Samantha and Tigger have stepped in to host the New Years Edition of WCB.

The Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos will be hosted by Zed Monster and The Bad Kitty Cats. The optional theme is “birds or feathers.” Hmmm, that sounds rather familiar…

Carnival of the Cats returns this Sunday to its original home with Laurence Simon. And of course Friday Ark #171 is at the modulator.

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Weekend Cat Blogging and more: December morning

This Saturday morning, we see Luna enjoying a different window:

It was a very cold morning, with frost.

Frost isn't very common for this part of California, though we have had a lot of frosty mornings this December. Yes, it has been quite cold. Perfect for spending even more time on a favorite perch above the heater:

But we all know the best source of heat is curling up together for some cuddling and pets:

This of course brings us to the theme of this weekend's Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos: family and friends. Being close to one's family, human or feline, is important, and for me what keeps me going during what is an otherwise “difficult” period. Friends, too. And we hope to hear from some of our friends this weekend…

Weekend Cat Blogging Holiday Edition is being hosted by Katie and our favorite Luna-look-alike Puddy. Puddy seems even more like Luna than usual (except for the hat).

The Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is being hosted by our friends Astrid, Kashim and Othello at Catboys Realm. As stated earlier, the theme this weekend is “friends or family,” and it looks like Othello is getting things started with a sibling tribute of his own.

The holiday edition of Carnival of the Cats will be hosted by Missy and KC at The Cat Blogosphere. And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

Weekend cat blogging and more: photos old and new

Some readers may recall we ended up using an older camera a couple of weeks ago for Luna's birthday pics:

Well, older cameras sometimes have older photos stored in them. Here is photo of Luna from sometime probably in 2005:

With things such a mess right now, I don't really want to search through our photo archives to find the exact information on it. But it's always fun to see Luna “then and now.”

Weekend Cat Blogging #132 is at Life from a Cat's Perspective. Enjoy some “festive feline holiday music” while visiting.

Megan and Braum of the “Bad Kitty Cats” are hosting the Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos with optional theme “story time.” Perhaps we'll find time to share a story this weekend as well.

The Carnival of the Cats will be happening this Sunday at Mind of Mog. And of course the Friday Ark #169 is at the modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging, Festival of Chaos, and more: Toys and Boxes

The theme for this weekend's Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is “toys or boxes.” And we at CatSynth have both toys and boxes. Luna received a package this week from a friend of ours, conveniently arriving for both her “burfday” last weekend, and Channukah this week. What's inside the box? Well, we have birthday cards:

and of course some fascinating new toys:

You want more boxes? We got more boxes!

Yes we have been packing up things here at “soon to be former CatSynth HQ”, even though we're not entirely sure where it is we are moving to.

Thanks to everyone who wished Luna a happy birthday last weekend. We will pay individual visits to everyone as soon as we can.

The Bad Kitty Cat Festival of Chaos is being hosted this weekend by Samantha and Tigger at Life from a Cat's Perspective. Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted by our friends Upsie and sher at What Did You Eat. Upsie is still working through her diabetes, and we wish her well.

Carnival of the Cats is being hosted by our friends Megan and the Bad Kitty Cats. And of course Friday Ark #168 is at the modulator.