Daily Dose of Cute

Happy (3rd) Birthday Rosie!





And, really, what is the fun in sitting still long enough to get a non-blurry picture when there are Things To Be Watched From My Perch and brand new birthday toys to chew on?

Daily Dose of Cute

Zelda has an unparalleled capacity to make herself look very big and very small.

P.S. Doritooooooooooooooooo earrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs!!!!!!!

Daily Dose of Cute

Doggedly Cute:


Dudley


Zelda


Besties

Daily Dose of Cute

CAT FACTS!


True Fact: The static electricity in Matilda's fur after a vigorous winter petting session could, if properly harnessed, solve the energy crisis. [cc. Al Gore]


True Fact: Sometimes you can only get peace from a rampaging rambunctious greyhound on top of the water heater in the laundry room.

"That dog's 7 minutes of activity a day is really aggravating."—Olivia.


True Fact: This is a picture of Sophie, thinking about Europe. Where the history comes from!

Daily Dose of Cute

So, most of the time when Dudley wants to run around the backyard like a wild greyhound type person, Zelly is right there with him. But, occasionally, Zelly doesn't feel like it, and Dudley will engage in all sorts of ridiculous antics to try to get her to join in. Last week, he discovered that if he starts digging, she'll come over to investigate. At which point he takes off like a shot, hoping she'll give chase.

This is pretty amusing, except for the fact that his massive clodhoppers can dig a GINORMOUS hole in about six seconds.

(And it's not that we care so much about the state of the yard aesthetically, but neither of us wants to break an ankle walking across a yard full of holes, especially when snowfall renders them invisible.)

I managed to catch this on video over the weekend. Note, in addition to the hilarity of Dudley's goofballery and my increasingly serious pleas to knock it off with the digging already, how quickly Zelly susses out that I don't want Dudz digging and starts herding him away from his trenches. I don't know what her breed mix is, but there's some kind of amazing intuitive shepherd in there.


Video Description: Dudley runs behind some trees, futzes around for a minute, then bursts out and goes tearing around the yard, Zelda in hot pursuit. When he notices that Zelda has stopped giving chase, he stops and starts madly digging, throwing huge piles of dirt out of the hole with his huge paws. "Dudley, stop digging you stinker!" I tell him. "Dudley! You better stop digging, you little stinker!" He continues to ignore me as I walk toward him, but Zelda runs over and chases him away. He runs from one side of the yard to the other; when he stops at the hole, Zelly chases him away again. He runs to a trench he's started on the other side and begins digging. "Dudley! What are you doing?!" Zelda chases him away. He runs back and forth. He goes back to the first hole, leans in, and starts digging. "Dudley, stop digging!" I say, serious now. "Zelda, go get him!" I walk toward him. "HEY! Hey, Dudley! STOP! You're gonna dig your way all the way to the other side of the earth!" He lies down next to the hole. "All right, you just hang out there," I tell him. "I think we're gonna need a shovel."

For those who can't view video, some still shots of the Bad Boy and the Good Girl...


Dudley proudly shows off the giant hole he dug in a matter of seconds. I'm not even going to tell you how long it took me to clean the mud from his feet and belly.


In addition to being a well-behaved dog who doesn't dig giant holes in the yard, Zelly also learned how to "high-five" in about ten minutes this weekend. She learns tricks faster than I can come up with them.

Dudley and Zelda have also learned a joint trick that is redonkulously cute: When I say, "Shake together!" they both put their paws in my hand, one on top of the other. It slays me every. damn. time.

Daily Dose of Cute

Jack and Potter, BFFs.

Daily Dose of Cute

Dogs + Sunshine Edition


Besties


Dudz


Zelly

Daily Dose of Cute

Kittehs!


Matilda


Olivia


Sophie

Daily Dose of Cute

Weekend Doggehs!


Lord Dudlington


Lady Zellyworth


Besties

Daily Dose of Cute

Today, Matilda's mobile groomer came to the house to give her a bath and trim her grody butt, since Tils can't be bothered to clean herself and would sooner destroy my soul than let me do it. She is now in her favorite corner of the loft, pouting and gazing upon the rest of us with haughty disdain.

In other words: Situation Normal.

Daily Dose of Cute

Dudley, as I may have mentioned once or twice or three thousand times, is a lazy git. The other night, he was lying on the loveseat, and Zelda wanted to play tug-o-war with him, but instead of getting up off his lazy ass to play with her, he stayed put, trying to play with her from his repose, while she valiantly struggled to convince him to get with the program.

(Set to a section of William Shatner's original self-authored track, "Struggle." Which, by the way, is amazing.)


Video Description: Zelly carries a long, stuffing-free plushy skunk in her mouth over to Dudley, who's lying on the loveseat. He takes the opposite end in his mouth and they wrestle with it, Zelly pulling backwards to try to get him off the couch. He drops the end. She picks it up and offers it back to him. Rinse. Repeat. She tries spinning in a circle. Another circle. Offers him the skunk again. She drops it and they nuzzle. She picks it up again. Circle. Offer. He takes it. He wrestles with her half-heartedly. Drops it. She offers it again. He licks himself disinterestedly, then flops over. He paws at her; she sneaks underneath his paw and gives herself butt-scratches using his lazy paws. (Hilarious.) Then she drops the skunk and walks away. "Welp, at least I got some butt-scratches out of the deal!"

Continuing on the theme of laziness, this is what I discovered when I walked upstairs into the loft last night:


He literally will not move ANYTHING that is in his way when he wants to lie somewhere. There was once a piece of paper, a single looseleaf piece of notepaper, lying on the downstairs loveseat, and instead of moving it, he sat in front of the loveseat and whined like the giant baby that he is until I got up and moved it for him.

Meanwhile, here's Zelly this morning, looking cute as she surveys the yard to make sure the homestead is safe from wind-caught plastic bags, squirrels, and other ne'er-do-wells.


Truly, I will never get over the irresistible cuteness of those Dorito ears. NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!

Daily Dose of Cute

We've had quite the thunderstorm here in Ellis County, TX over the past 18 hours. On top of that, we are coming off of the worst heat wave/drought in 30 years or so. There is now a rushing river behind my parents' house, where before there was just a dry gulch. Storms after droughts spell flash-flood warnings, so that means even the kitties who usually stay outside get comfy indoor nesting areas during weather advisories. We don't want any casualties!

This was the scene at our place at 5:20 this morning, as lightning and sheets of rain raged over the floodplain outside:



Dougie, age 4: "You expect me to go squat where now?"




Frobozz, age 12: "I ain't going out there neither, human--I'm fine right here in my stroller. ANY QUESTIONS?"

Daily Dose of Cute

"What?"
So, I'm out walking the dogs earlier, and they're doing their usual thing—trotting along, being no trouble, sniffing about at various Stinks of Interest as we move down the (new!) sidewalk. And we're walking, and we're walking, and, at one point, I look down to discover that the little Dorito-earned rapscallion pictured above has somehow acquired a GIANT PIECE OF FRIED CHICKEN and is just happily bopping along beside me with it in her mouth.

Where this piece of chicken came from I have no idea. It probably fell out of a garbage bin into one of the lingering piles of snow at the ends of driveways, and she managed to scoop it up without missing a step.

"Eww! Where did you find that?!" I laugh-exclaimed, reaching down for it. "Drop it." She spit it into my hand and grinned. I tossed it aside, and she gave me a pitiable look. "That's grody," I told her. "I'll give you a good treat when we get home."

And so I did.

* * *

Below, a quick little video of Dudley being lazy after our incredibly taxing 15-minute walk.


Video Description: In the backyard, Zelda spins in a circle in front of Dudley, trying to get him to chase her. She darts off, while he stands there looking goofy. "Dudley," I say, and he turns to look at me with perked-up ears. "Are you gonna go for a run? Go on!" He looks around nonchalantly. "Go on, stinker." He looks at me and then yawns. I laugh. "Is that a no?" Fin.

Daily Dose of Cute

"You want to give me a treat. Look into my eyes. You want to give me a treat."

Bonus Weekend Cute

We had eight inches of snow here yesterday during our first serious winter storm of the year. Today, however, was a beautiful sunny day, and the dogs and I had all kinds of fun running around in the backyard. I do love a good gorgeous winter day.


Video Description: Dudley and Zelly run around the backyard, through piles of snow that somehow don't even slow them down in the slightest.

That was at the tail-end (very punny!) of a burst of energy that sent Dudley around the yard at top speed for dozens of laps. He just loves running around in the snow. And Zelly loves chasing him. She also has enormous amounts of fun burying her wee muzzle in a snow drift then looking up at me with snow all over her face, sending me into gales of laughter.

For those who can't view video, here are some still pix:


Zelda


Dudz

Daily Dose of Cute

Will all Good Dogs please come sit at attention?





That's what I thought.

Daily Dose of Cute

So, earlier today, I gave Dudley and Zelda each a biscuit and then they wanted to go outside. So we went outside, biscuits in tow, and then the two of them commenced to be giant babies because they like to lie down in the grass to eat their biscuits, but there's icky crappy coldy snow on the ground! This is especially traumatic for Dudz, who is basically naked with no body fat to keep him warm, but nonetheless refuses to wear his coat and boots.

"I can neither run nor do my business in them! Shut up!"—Dudley.

So anyway, here is the worst thing to happen in the history of America (#LittleEdie), and please forgive my heavy breathing; I'd just been running around the yard with them before I started filming and I apparently will never learn not to hold the camera directly in front of my face.

Dudley and Zelda play with their biscuits in the snow, then carry them around, looking for a place to lie down. Dudley sits his skinny buttsy on the ground, then immediately stands back up, his biscuit hanging out of his mouth (vertically, natch). The dogs look at each other, like, "What now?"

Dudley spins in a circle, then trots toward me. Considers lying down several more times; looks confused. I laugh. "Dudley, would you like to take your bone inside?" He ignores me. "Do you wanna go inside?" He trots away. (It should be noted he knows what "inside" means, and he does NOT want to go there, despite its provided ease of biscuit-devouring.) He runs over to the grass bush (to which he is allergic) and drops his biscuit to the ground where he starts to munch it.

Meanwhile, Zelly stands in the middle of the yard with her biscuit on the ground. I laugh. "What about you, Zelda?" She picks up the biscuit, then drops it again and runs over to Dudz. She investigates what he's doing, then returns to sniff around for her biscuit. Dudley comes meandering back over with silly ears and half a biscuit. He looks pathetic. "Dudley," I say laughing, "I'm thinking maybe we should just go back in." He looks at me. "What do you think?" He trots away to the far side of the yard.

Zelda retrieves her biscuit out of the snow, wagging her tail at its discovery, and then finally lies down in the snow to eat it. Dudley stands on the far side of the yard, eating his bone with his back to me, just to make sure I know he can do it! Shut up!

"This is truly the saddest thing I've ever seen," I say. "Well, actually, it may be only the saddest thing I've seen since Agony Antler."

For those who can't view video, still pix of all the furry residents are below the fold.

In ascending age order:


Zelly Belly!


"Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!"


Sophs, just sittin' in the sink. Like ya do.


Olivia, getting high and showing off the Tail of Doom.


"Nope!"

Daily Dose of Cute

[Click here to take action.]

Daily Dose of Cute

When we first got Dudley, he was so scared of me touching him that he'd pee on himself in fright if I got near him. Yesterday, not quite two years later, I was sitting on the loveseat in the living room when Dudley hopped up next to me and laid his head across my lap.

That was a remarkable moment, because, even though he has now long loved affection, and would cozy up next to you if you sat beside him, he hasn't been the type to initiate an intimate snuggle. That, Zelda taught him.


Video Description: Zelda grabs a plushy lobster from the dogs' toy bin and carries it, through a sea of scattered toys, over to Dudley's dog bed where he is lying. She lines up next to him, then lies down beside him, carefully threading herself between his gangly legs. (When Zelly first got here, she'd try this maneuver and Dudz would hop up and walk away.) She chews contentedly on the lobster. "What are you doing, puppies?" I ask, from behind the camera. Zelly looks at me, then goes back to chewing. "Are you being good dogs? Djohhhh. So cute."

Daily Dose of Cute

Sophie is not only the Monitor Cat; she is also the Stair Master.






Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig streeeeeeeeeeeeeetch!
Two of Sophie's favorite stair games are: Try to Trip Two-Legs While She's Walking Down the Stairs, and Tease the Dogs Then Run Up the Stairs and Dash Behind the Couch. There is just soooooo much fun to be had!