Honey Boy: The Cat with a Plan

My parents have some cats, and one of them is named Honey Boy.

On the cat intelligence scale Honey Boy is right up there at the top, maybe even above the top.



I know Honey Boy is smart because he can plan ahead.

Honey Boy and Casper are the two youngest cats Mom and Dad have. They are also the most playful. They like to chase each other around the house. Honey Boy will start chasing Casper in the kitchen. The chase proceeds into the living room where the roles reverse and Casper turns around and chases Honey Boy back into the kitchen. Sometimes, though, Honey Boy will start after Casper, but will briefly break off his chase to open a kitchen cabinet door, thus creating a "bolt hole" for the return trip when Casper chases Honey Boy from the living room to back to the kitchen. Honey Boy plans ahead. If my Dad is around he sometimes shuts the cabinet door before the chase gets back to the kitchen. Dad gets a kick out of the surprise on Honey Boy's face when he finds that the door isn't open.

Honey Boy is smart enough that he gets into more trouble than the other cats. I'm pretty sure he's the one who got himself briefly locked in the refrigerator one time. He's always thinking of something new to try. Mom says if there is a crash somewhere in the house she knows it is Honey Boy. I read a science fiction book one time where one of the cats had been altered so that it had opposable thumbs. The cat had a little tool belt and would use it to do things. I can see Honey Boy doing lots of things if he had opposable thumbs.

Mom has one of those talking scales for blind people. You touch it with your foot and it turns on and says "hello".... then "I'm ready." Then you step on and it reads out your weight, and says goodbye. If you step on it before it's ready, it doesn't work.

All the cats love the scale, especially Casper. In the middle of the night the cats will be amusing themselves with it. Mom can tell which cat it is by how much they weigh. I think we should write the manufacturer and tell them their scale is so easy to use, even the cats can operate it.

Here's Casper: (9.4 pounds)

The Devious Diva Dog

Yes, I like alliteration.

Mom and Dad have a little mixed breed dog named Sadie. Dad found Sadie sitting beside the highway several years ago. She was waiting for the jerk, errgh...person, who dumped her to come back and pick her up.

Here she is. For some reason she's a little camera shy and won't look up at the camera.



Sadie is the smallest of my parents dogs. She is the smartest and the boss dog as well. She follows Mom around the house all day and keeps those other dogs in line.

Sadie has the natural ability to tell when Mom is going into a diabetic coma. She has barked her head off and awakened my Dad several times at night when Mom had a severe low (low blood sugar episode).

Mom has been legally blind for many years, but two years ago she lost all of her vision. Sadie, cunning little dog that she is, has figured out that Mom can't see. Mom and Dad will be eating at the kitchen table and Dad will get up and leave the table for a moment. Sadie will hop up on the table and start eating Mom's food right out of her plate. Mom's not real happy about this.

Mom and Dad lost one of their older dogs, Boogie, a few weeks ago. Sadie and Boogie had a regular begging routine at the table. Sadie got on Mom's right side and whined. Boogie got on Mom's left side and poked Mom's thigh with her nose. They had Mom well trained because she gave them treats when they did this.

Sadie still has a regular begging routine. She gets on Mom's right side and whines, and gets a treat. Then she goes to Mom's left side. She's a short stubbie little thing and can't reach Mom with her nose, so she pokes Mom's thigh with her foot. And she gets ANOTHER treat. It's a good thing she doesn't have opposable thumbs because she could really get into trouble then. Mom, of course, gets a kick out of Sadie impersonating Boogie.

Now if their cat Honey Boy had opposable thumbs he could get himself and all the rest of us into trouble. That's a story for a couple of days from now though.

(This is Casper with Sadie.)

Posting at Etsy

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted on this blog.

Lately I've been experimenting with the jewelry showcases on Etsy. In November I bought a showcase spot and did notice more traffic to my store, Essential Adornment. I also made a sale. I did another showcase for December. No sales, but again increased traffic and some more people favorited the store. For the second showcase I managed to get more items posted. I'll try again after the new year.

Here are a few items I've posted recently, plus the dragonfly bracelet above:



blackstone cross




pearl and hilltribe silver earrings

Swarovski crystal earrings