Florida, Weather and Fires- Guest Author- Hobbes

Hobbes here- sneaking around Jillian’s back again. I noticed she’s been posting some pretty dull things over here and decided she needed a little help. We live in Florida but you’d never know it these last few weeks. Now, today, as my paws are hammering out this post, it’s 73 degrees and sunny, sunny. A perfectly perfect day. A couple of weeks ago, it got down to 24 degrees a couple of days with a high only in the 40s. For you Celsius people that 73 Fahrenheit today would be 23 Celsius. BUT the 24 Fahrenheit we had those days would be something like negative 4 Celsius. That is pretty cold, people. Even those of us with permanent fur coats get a mite chilled then. Sometimes we get air that cold here but not normally in November. It usually comes in February.

Luckily, Jillian knows how to make fire. What a handy skill that is even though she doesn’t get to use it often. This is me digging the heck out of the fire she made the other day. 

That contraption they call a Christmas tree should be arriving soon. I always appreciate it when they bring the outdoors inside since I love being out there so much. In fact, every day when Jillian comes home from work, she has to let me out on the screened-porch for a minute so I can make sure outside is still there. She finally caught on to that trick, though and leaves the door open. I thought I was being all slick going out and as soon as she closed the door, asking to come back in but I was not a clever puss after all. She’s on to me and my tricks.

Shhh. Did you hear that? No? Well, I did, and here she comes. *closes laptop and meows nonchalantly.*

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Shh, Don’t Tell Jillian

Hobbes the cat here. I’ve taken over Jillian’s post since she’s been a lazy bum. She started mentioning last week that she had her Backyard day coming up but then she left me with the men in the house and ran off to some stupid book signing in Atlanta, Georgia. She had the nerve to be gone for two nights, too. Doesn’t she know those guys aren’t swayed by my sad eyed stare that means, “I need a snack and I need it now”? See photo for the look. Who can resist that? Yeah, I know. Those guys who live here.

Anyway, Jillian finally dragged her carcass back home late on Sunday and mentioned this post again but still sat around working on something she calls a WIP. Hmmm. Sounds dangerous, doesn’t it?

She talked yet again about doing the post and setting it to go off on time on Monday night but that night, she read some book about that Tudor King who liked to marry and kill women. What kind of nut was he? She said it was for research. Research, smesearch. Not a fun topic for sure. It would’ve been better to read about a mouser. You know, adventures in hunting mice or something like that.

Last night, she fell asleep on the couch and I had to bat her face and jump on her spleen to get her to go to bed. Sheesh. She was taking my spot. What’s wrong with her?

I finally decided the woman was not going to get this post done so I did it for her. Won’t she be shocked when she finally gets over here to find that she’s not even needed? Henry Tudor can have her. See how she likes that axe on her neck, right? Wait, no, we can’t let that happen. What would happen to my snacks? Must. Look. Out. For. Stomach.

Be very, very quiet. Let’s see how long it takes Jillian to check in.

Happy April!

Shhh, Be Very, Very Quiet

I’m taking over today. I’m like Elmer Fudd tiptoeing through the grass huntin’ a wabbit so be very, very quiet and maybe that woman who is always telling stories on me won’t realize it’s her Monday over here at the Backyard fence. You all do know she’s always forgetting that, right? She’s used to that first Wednesday thing but man, Mondays have her over a barrel.

So, if we’re really careful, she’ll never know I’m here.

Who am I?

Ah, I’m wounded to the quick that you had to ask. It’s Hobbes. Yes, it’s me. That crazy Jillian thinks I can only walk across the keyboard while she’s working and turn on iTunes. She has no idea of my real skill set.

Now, I know Lavada’s cat, Rue, took over here one day and she got away with it and I’m hoping none of you will rat me out. Ha ha, I said rat.

Anyway, I wanted to ask you all about this thing called a printer. It’s a real mystery to me. Jillian tried to tell me that it’s on a wireless thing where they can print from laptops in any room but it seems like some kind of black magic to me. I’ll be snoozing away in my favorite spot on the couch (and yeah, it’s leather and I won’t sit on it without a blanket- so what? It’s cold- so sue me) and that thing goes off. Noise ensues and paper starts spewing. I’ve leapt on it many times to try to stop it from destroying anything but haven’t been successful. I’ve climbed all around and inspected it – all to no avail. Anyone know how I can disable it? I need my rest (because I have mischief that needs doing and I have to be ready) and they insist on startling me with the darned thing. A cat can only take so much, you know?

Here I am trying to learn to turn the demon thing off. The picture is dark because I was trying to sneak but got busted. Can anyone help me? I must not let this defeat me or I’ll be the laughingstock of the catnip crowd.

Happy March

I love March. It’s the month that both of my children were born and it’s also one of the best months weather-wise that we have in Florida. It’s cool in the morning and evenings and the sun is usually shining with the lovely blue sky peeking through the puffy stark-white clouds. A true piece of paradise.

I’m looking foward to a semi-quiet month -oh, wait- maybe not since the schools’ and colleges’ spring breaks are all coming up soon and that means traffic, traffic, traffic. Those folks love to hit our beaches and who can blame them? There goes my peaceful month but since it happens every year it’s almost like azaleas blooming. It’s going to happen whether we want it to or not. I’ll adapt and handle it.

On a totally unrelated topic- or maybe not since I’m going to tie it together- My sister hates a lot of the new slang words such as “Kewl” for cool, “you rock”, “little man” for a baby, “po-po” for police and “woot” for good news. There’s a long list but I’m sure you get my drift.

For the month of March I hope you all can “chillax” which is slang for chill out and relax at the same time. That’s my goal for the month. One inhabitant of my house knows how to chillax like a professional. Check him out: