Your Tuesday Tonkinese

Ah! Hello friends! Sometimes the sunny spot AND a blanket stuffed with catnip are just what a guy needs.
Hope you are all enjoying your Tuesday as much as I am enjoying mine! xo, Busby

Mancat Monday-We Have a Winner!

Hello friends! Happy Mancat Monday! Yesterday at Noon our giveaway contest came to an end and I SNOOPERVISED my Mom as she used Random.org to choose a winner. (see me STARING at Mom intensely?)

Are you ready???

And the WINNER is....

THE ISLAND CATS !!!!!!

Concatulations to the Island Cats! (We can see their next blog post now, "What's that Wally Winning?")

CSN will be emailing the Island Cats directly with their $75 gift code. Woo Hoo!

Thanks to everyone who took part in the giveaway! Have a great Monday friends!

xo, Raymond

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Hello friends! It's a mellow Sunday here. There's a rumor going around that Raymond and I are going to have our claws trimmed today. Let's hope it's not true. I'm keeping my eyes open just in case.

Before we forget, I've entered the "Do the Q" contest. You can find my entry here. Raymond may enter too, but he is rather modest and rarely does a full or even a partial Monty.

Our $75 CSN gift code giveaway goes until Noon Pacific Time today. Go here to enter. One entry per family please!

Enjoy your Sunday friends! xo, Busby

Photo Hunt: Framed

Hello friends! Today's PhotoHunt theme is FRAMED.

Here's Busby and I, framed by this lovely sunny spot. Thanks to our skylight that we get this sunny spot every afternoon. Unfortunately, it seems to be moving higher and higher up the wall these days. Something to do with the change of seasons.

Don't forget we are having a giveaway, a $75 gift code for the CSN on-line stores. Visit yesterday's blog post if you are interested. The deadline to enter is Sunday August 29th at Noon Pacific time. You don't have to be a cat blogger to enter.
Are YOU playing the Photo Hunt today? Leave us a link to your blog!

Have a great weekend everyone! xoxo, Raymond & Busby

Frootbat Friday and a Giveaway!

Hello friends! Behold the Mighty LASER-EYED Frootbat! I'm participating in Scofflaw Week by opening up the cabinets and doing some exploring. I think next I will go take a stroll on the stove. Where do you like to explore? Up on top the fridge? Perhaps on dining tables? Dining tables are always a good place to look for bits of left over food!Guess what? We are giving away a $75 gift code for the CSN stores. You know them, they have over 200 on-line stores with a wide variety of merchandise. We got our very cool blue fleece CAT TREE from CSN, and we LOVE it! (sorry overseas friends, but they only ship to the USA & Canada)

To enter, just leave a comment on this post. We will draw a name and announce the winner on Monday, August 30th. All entries must be in by Sunday, August 29th at Noon Pacific time. If you win we will contact you for your email address & CSN will send the gift code directly to you via email.

Here's the fine print: The gift code is a one time use code for $75 off your entire purchase. Many of CSN's items have free shipping, but there may be international shipping charges on Canadian orders. CSN's websites are easy to use, and the Promo code is entered during the last step of the checkout process. We've done it ourselves and it's super easy! Only ONE entry per family please!

Good luck everyone, and Happy Friday! xoxo, Raymond

Thursday Garden Stroll with Raymond and Busby

Hello friends! It's time for our weekly stroll through the garden. Thanks to our friend Jonesie, we are members of the Society of Feline Gardeners. YOU can join too if you go to her page. Alfie Marshall is the VP of the Feline Gardeners, he can help you join too! We've had some HOT weather this week. It was 101 degrees on Tuesday, which set a new record for our town. The little fig on our tree LOVED the heat! It seemed to grow overnight.
Since most of the plants in our garden are from seed packets, we weren't sure what we had. We THINK this is an Aster. (does anyone out there know for sure?)
The Borage continues to thrive and attract bees.
Here is another little surprise that sprang up. We think this is Red Clover. (Mom will keep the seed packets next year so she knows what she is planting. She planted two packets. One was a "Butterfly Mix" and the other was a "Hummingbird Mix".)
This Poppy was hiding amongst the Cosmos. We just found it today!
You can see why it would be easy to miss the Poppy in all these blooms!
This Larkspur was a surprise too! Mom was pleased to see it. The butterflies like it too.
The smaller Sunflower bloomed this week. It looks completely different than the mighty Sunflowerzilla.
Sunflowerzilla is turning into bird and squirrel food. It still towers over the garden even though it is starting to go to seed.
Thanks for visiting our garden today! We hope you visit all the other Feline Gardeners today too! xoxo, Raymond and Busby

Wordless Wednesday

Your Tuesday Scofflaw Tonkinese

Hello friends! We understand that FIN over at Housecat Confidential has declared this to be SCAFFLAW Week. (We think the "A" is for cAt) I know you all THINK I am a well behaved boy. Well, think again!

Here I am, just yesterday, on top the cabinet where Mom would prefer I did NOT go. I'm shooting at her with my lasers. Yes, that is the kitchen ceiling just above my head. I have to climb WAY up on top the fridge to get to this spot.

What's that Mom? You are going to take my photo for Scafflaw week? Not if I melt the camera lens with my LASERS first!

Hee hee! Have a lovely Tuesday friends! It's HOT here, in fact, the weatherman says it will be our hottest day of the year so far. We plan to take it easy and we hope you do too! xoxo, Busby

Mancat Monday

Hello and happy Monday friends! Did you all have a good weekend? My Moms went to the Santa Cruz County Animal Services office this weekend and looked at adoptable cats & DOGS.

Hey, wait a minute! Do you suppose they are thinking of getting us a little brother or sister or two?! Maybe even a DOG???!!!

They say they are just thinking about adopting again at this point. *Whew*. I'll keep you all posted on any new developments.

Meanwhile, have a terrific week! My Mom is playing in a golf tournament tomorrow. She hasn't played much this year and her game stinks. Should be interesting! xoxo, Busby

Easy Sunday with Busby

Hello friends! We are enjoying a glorious weekend here in Capitola by the Sea. We hope you are having a great weekend too! xoxo, Busby

Caturday

Ah, finally the weekend!

Napping is on my agenda for today. What are your plans?

Have a great Caturday Saturday friends! xo, Raymond

Frootbat Friday

Hello friends! I know you were expecting the MIGHTY FROOTBAT, but today we have a special GUEST frootbat, and his name is also RAY!

Say hello to RayPod! Or as we like to call him, East Coast Ray. He was one of the cats who my Moms spent time with last week in New York. RayPod has great Frootbats, don't you think?

RayPod is a Cornish Rex cat. He has curly furs like Daisy!

Happy Friday everyone. We hope you all have a pawsome weekend! xoxo, West Coast Ray

Thursday Garden Report with Raymond

Hello friends and fellow garden lovers! Quite a bit has been going on in the garden. Mom was surprised by how much some things had grown while she was in NYC. Let's take a look!
These are some Verbena that are growing in the window box on the front porch. They were not yet blooming when Mom left on vacation. When she got home, this is what she found! (see the ceramic wormy? Our neighbor made it.)

The Hibiscus, which was also just a little pink bud when Mom left, is also blooming. Woo Hoo!

Sunflowerzilla is going to be an explosion of seeds!

A second sunflower has started coming up BIG. Not nearly as big as Sunflowerzilla, but still a nice sunflower.

The Borage (Thanks Kool Kitty Krew!) also know as a Starflower, is attracting LOT'S of bees! We are always happy to attract bees to the garden.

We'll wrap up today's garden post with a shot of the Lupine! It was yet another plant that bloomed while our Moms were in NYC. Mom didn't even notice it until she was scrubbing out the bird bath. We love Lupine!

Have a great Thursday friends! Don't forget to visit the other Feline Gardeners today.

xoxo, Raymond

Way Wordy Wednesday With Raymond

Hello friends! Check me out, I'm smiling 'cause my Moms are home from NYC.

Guess what? Our friends the Kool Kitty Krew and the Four Crazy Cats both gave us this award yesterday. Thanks gang! Now we have to list seven facts about ourselves, so here goes:

1) Our blogging Mom was born in Gary, Indiana. She lived there until 1972 (when she was 13) and then her family moved to a town called Crown Point, Indiana. She has lived in California for 22 years. (she's super old!)

2) Our Non-blogging Mom is a native Californian. She grew up in Irvine, back when it was all orchards and ranches. The house she grew up in is gone now and there is a freeway built on top of it.

3) Our blogging Mom loves to play golf. Last year she won the Santa Cruz City Amateur Tournament.

4) Our Non-blogging Mom is a public health nurse and works for the County of Santa Cruz. She works for the Homeless Persons Health Project and she loves her work.

5) We live in a very small house. In fact, it's what they call a "manufactured" home. It's very comfortable and even has a fireplace that ALL of us love. It's just a few blocks from Monterey Bay.

6) When they were in New York last week, our blogging Mom went to the City Clerk of NY and got a copy of her Grandparents marriage license so she could find out the name of her Italian Great Grandparents. (she never met her Grandfather, so she didn't know anything about his family.) Her Great Grandfather was Aniello Festa & Her Great Grandmother was Filomena Branca. They immigrated to America in the late 1800's and lived in Brooklyn.

7) Our non-blogging Mom's Mom (our Non-blogging Grandma?) is 91 years old and we are trying to get her to come and live closer to us. We can always use another lap to nap in, right?

I think this award has been around for awhile, but I am going to pass it along to five other bloggers anyway.

TK & Squashies

Cat's Cats

Noir's Nook

Simba's Antics

William of Mass Destruction

And we think anycat who wants to should go ahead and copy and paste the award to your blog and tell us seven facts about yourselves because you are ALL versatile bloggers in our opinion!

We had all ready written this post when we found out late last night that blogosphere legend Fat Eric had made his journey to the bridge. We join the rest of our friends in purring for Eric's family. Fly free Eric! xoxo, Raymond

Your Tuesday Tonkinese

Hello friends! Here I am on Mom's lap, giving her the love eyes. Guess what? Mom thinks I look a bit heavy. I think it's because the cats she was hanging out with in NYC last week are all petite and one of them has NO HAIR. HELLO! No wonder she thinks I look heavy. It's true, Bebe did feed us A LOT of Greenies while our Moms were out of town. That had no effect on my weight, I can assure you! XOXO, Busby

We're Back!

Hello friends! We are happy to report that our Moms have returned from a wonderful week in New York City. The trip home (and the three hour time difference) left them a bit tired. We are tired by association, and so we are napping today. However, we have a photo from their trip to share with you...
It's Mom and MOCHY! Our Moms both fell a bit in love with Mochy, who is apparently a very sweet little pink Sphinx girl. Towards the end of the trip, our non-blogging Mom even started dressing like Mochy. (in pink!)

We're glad our Moms are home and we look forward to catching up with all of you this week. Drop us a comment and let us know what adventures you had last week while we were on our non-blogging staycation. xoxo, Raymond & Busby

Mochy Monday

Hi friends of Raymond and Busby! It's their Mom here, still temporarily doing the blogging this week. Yesterday we met one of our other New York cat blog friends, Mochy ! Mochy likes to play with this LONG string. She really a very interesting girl.

Mochy likes to play hard and then she likes to relax somewhere cozy. Even though it is in the 80's here in New York, Mochy likes to be in the blankets.


Mochy has two brothers, RayPod and Mouse and a sister named Coco. More about them later this week.

We miss Raymond and Busby but we hear from Bebe that they are doing great. Have a good Monday friends!

Mom Gets to Blog-Temporarily!

Hi friends! Raymond and Busby here! Our Moms are in NY while we are luxuriating here (with our Bebe) at home by the sea in Capitola. We thought you might enjoy seeing some of the sights our Moms are seeing, so we are going to temporarily let Mom take over the blog. Take it away, Mom!

Thanks Boys! I just wanted to introduce Mister Mickey Harris. He is the brother of the grate Jeter Harris hisself and our official greeter last night when we got to Long Island, NY.

We also briefly saw Jeter last night but he was ready for bed and not in the mood to entertain company. Having a great time in NY and ready to have an adventure on Governor's Island today! Thanks for sharing your blog, Raymond and Busby. We miss you boys! xo, Mom

Fly-Away Friday

Ooops, you caught us! Busby and I are cracking up (behind our Moms backs) because they think we will be horribly lonely and sad while they are in New York City this week. Ha ha ha! They don't realize that our Bebe (Barb) treats us like kings when she is here taking care of us!

Yep! It's pretty funny! We WON'T be lonely because we are going to be spoiled ROTTEN the entire time our Moms are gone! Catnip! Greenies! Toys! Belly rubs! It's all good!

We will miss visiting all of our blogosphere friends though. We MAY be remotely blogging and visiting if Mom has time during the trip. Otherwise, we will definitely be back on Monday August 16th. We love you guys! xoxo, Raymond and Busby

Thursday Garden Stroll

Hello friends! Here I am, Busby, looking out onto our garden from Mom's lap. BIG news from the garden this week! Are you ready????

SUNFLOWERZILLA HAS BLOOMED!!!!!!

Here is the bloom on the first day it opened...

And here is the bloom today. The bees are having a field day with all the pollen.
So far the gopher hasn't been able to munch on Sunflowerzilla.

Our Bachelor Buttons finally opened yesterday. We were holding our breath, because the gopher has been eating plants all around them. Maybe the Bachelor Buttons don't taste good?

Our Cosmos are thriving!

We'll finish this week with one of the surviving Mystery Plants!

It bloomed yesterday. We have NO idea what it is.

We couldn't get a better photo because it is behind a lot of other plants.

Mom thinks it might be related to the Geranium. Any ideas?

Happy gardening friends! Don't forget to visit all the other gardening cats today!

Mom will miss the garden while she is travelling next week, but we will

keep an eye on it. Our friend Lorraine will come by to water and to keep the birdbath filled.

Have a great Thursday, xoxo, Busby