I love my master;
Thus I perfume myself with
This long-rotten squirrel.

So, 2009 was pretty much a bust for me and Zoe and this blog. We posted, what, 11 times? That’s not even once a month! Jeesh!

2009 was okay. I mean, all the years are pretty much the same to me. We have the cold times, then the wet times, then the hot times, then the cool times and back to the cold times. But here’s a rundown of the “Year That Was” for me and Zoe.

It was really wet this year. Spring kept lingering and the hot times never really came. We had so few days like these:

Or these:

But I still had fun. We didn’t go in the car very often but when we did we saw some nifty places, like this:

Reid State Park

Of course, the best thing about new places is lounging and watching the world go by, am I right?

Lake St. George Park

Because of all the rain, none of Mom’s gardens did very well. I mean, I like the bare dirt look, myself. If she would let me, I’d lay right down in those bare gardens. They’re nice and cool. But she doesn’t like it when only half of the garden sprouts, like this:

Disappointing Garden

The only time I can remember that I hated this past year was when Mommy went away for a few days with her Mommy and visited someplace called ‘Beantown.’ Why couldn’t I have gone? I like beans! And all they did was walk around – I like walking around! And they look at all sorts of dead people. I like looking at…well, I don’t like doing that, but I do like to walk and eat beans.

John Adams' Resting Place (Quincy, MA)

Because of all the rain during Spring and Summer, we did have a really nice fall. At least that’s what Mommy tells me – I still can’t see many colors no matter how hard I try, but I do look good in those leaves, don’t I? Take a look:

Carpet o' Leaves

Fall had a lot more nice days than Summer did.

Fall Day

But even though Fall is such a nice time of year, it comes with dangers. It’s good for me, then, that one of my human cousins made me my own special spiffy jacket that protects me from those things that go BOOM! during the fall. Here’s me, modeling. Aren’t I an eye-catcher?

China says 'Safety First'

And, of course, the worst thing about Fall is always the evil gourds…**shudder** I hates me those evil gourds.

Evil Gourds 'a' Grinnin'

But they finally rotted away and the cold times came again. We’ve had a LOT of snow this cold time, but at least it looks good with my fur.

Merry Christmas, Give Me Presents

So, that’s how our 2009 went. Zoe, do you want to say something?

Not Enough Pictures of Me

Yeah, well, if you didn’t run around like a demon hellcat from hell maybe Mom could take more pictures of you.

Hellcat, that’s what she is.

So – Happy New Year, everyone!

To all of you who celebrate it, Merry Christmas Eve! For those who don’t – Happy December 24th!

Tonight’s the big family dinner. I normally don’t get to go because it’s just too crowded at Grammy and Grampy’s house, but I always get to go to Christmas morning breakfast up at Aunty Wendy’s. There’s always plenty of room up there and I get to play with cousin Harley. I can hardly wait!

Merry Christmas from China!

You might remember that Mom made a calendar from pictures of my mug last year. Well, she did it again this year! Check it out!

make custom gifts at Zazzle

Today is my Gotcha Day! I’ve been with Mom and Daddy seven whole years.

Here’s me in 2003:

China 2003

And here’s me just last year:

China 2008

I age well, don’t I?

* Animal from ‘A Muppet Family Christmas’

Hello, everyone! Can you believe it? I’m posting! I know, I know – it just isn’t done anymore, but I’m determined that my blog will not become a tumbleweed that clogs those tube things.

So, summer is over. Heck, Fall is over! The cold times are coming and we’re all getting ready for it. It hasn’t been as cold this year but I know that won’t last. When Mom starts bringing the trees inside and making them all fancy, I know it’s about to get really cold cold cold.

Also, we see so much less of Zoe when it gets cooler. She likes to spend her time upstairs under the covers in the big bed. That’s not really fair. I can’t go up there and do that.

Well, okay, I COULD, but that would mean climbing stairs and I HATE climbing stairs. Two or three are fine, but more than that and I start getting nervous. I could slip and fall and going down – that’s the worst! I’m always afraid my back end is going to flip right over my front end and that would just be so embarrassing!

Last week was Thanksgiving and I had myself a great time! I got to go to Aunty Wendy’s and play with all my human and canine cousins. They all love me so much! I even got to chew on a bone and got my very own rawhide. I buried it up there under their porch so I’ll always have something when I visit.

I got LOTS of turkey this year. Mom and Daddy made their own on Saturday and they shared. I got turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and even some gravy! I can hardly wait for next year.

I hope all my internet buddies are doing okay. Maybe I can keep myself blogging. You never know. But sometimes, the urge to nap is just so much more powerful than the need to blog.

Hey, hear that? The couch is calling me. Happy napping!

So, it’s been a long time since we’ve blogged regularly. Mom and Daddy haven’t been all that cheerful for a while now. Work and real life bring them down way too much sometimes. I keep telling them that they should just get jobs as dogs buy they say they’re not qualified. I admit that it’s certainly not something just anyone can do, but I’m happy!

Summer was icky this year. It’s still going on but next week we’re getting down in the nippy temperatures again so I think it might be over pretty soon. Daddy can’t wait. He’s decided that he doesn’t like Summer at all. Mom still likes it, but admits that this year’s hot time was pretty lousy. It took too long to get warm and then when it finally did it got way too hot and really sticky. Seems like we haven’t had much of a break from rain. Mom’s only had to drag out her garden hose twice this summer.

Good news for me, though! Only two evil gourds this year – and they’re the pie kind which aren’t so bad. They never make nasty faces at me and of course – PIE. Mom grew some wee little ones but they’re so cute I can’t be scared of them. (That would be embarassing). Some nasty buggies ate a lot of Mom’s tomatoes but she squished those worms and she still has plenty of tomatoes. You shoulda seem ‘em (the worms) – they were big and grey (she says they were green) and went SPLAT! She used to just throw them in the field but they kept coming back.

Mom shows no mercy when it comes to tomatoes.

Zoe is fine – and still here. Mom and Daddy have been considering a second kitty. I have remained quiet on the subject. It would be nice to have a friend, but I’m just scared Zoe will teach it all her bad habits, including pouncing on my butt. Zoe doesn’t really do that anymore, but she still sometimes chases me.

Well, that’s all for my late summer report. Mom says she’s going to try hard to resume this blog and Zoe and I will try to keep her at the keyboard. To leave you with a smile on your face, here’s a picture of me enjoying one of the few nice days we did have this Summer.

Cute Dog in the Grass

Although we’re still not back to blogging yet, Zoe wanted to thank those who have wished her a Happy Gotcha Day. Today marks her second year with us. She’s still a demon cat, but we love her.

Happy Independence Day from all of us here at The China Cabinet. I like today. I get to have a hot dog!

My humans like watching movies – a lot. They say they don’t have this ‘cable’ thing so they watch their shiny flat things a lot. (I don’t know what they’re talking about – I see cables all over the place. I often want to chew on them but that gets me yelled at.)

Anyways, sometimes I like to watch the movies too, and today I found me a new hero. He’s in a movie called Whisper of the Heart and his name is ‘Moon’ and he has the best attitude ever for a movie cat. I mean, just look at his commanding demeanor. (Click to see bigger.)

No one questions why he’s there, although it’s a ‘human’ mover. He goes where he wants, when he wants and he has all sorts of people feeding him and taking care of him.

I want to be Moon when I grow up.