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Posts Tagged ‘cats’

Discover. Play. Build.

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

I live with a household of pets. I would have it no other way. There’s my constant companion and love of my life, Charlie, part poodle, part schnauzer, perfect mix of the sweetest dog ever.

But today I am celebrating cats. We have three, one diva Mimi who lives inside, and two outside coulee cats Buzz and Bill.

In the fall, my Facebook/blogging friend, Pamela Hodges posted that she was creating an adult coloring book of cats. She wanted cat rescue stories and pictures. Of course, I was in with my diva cat Mimi. She was found in a tree. Her mother had rescued her litter from a flood and taken them all up a tree. When she came to us, she was tiny and the most perfect picture of a tuxedo cat. She even has a perfect bow-tie mustache.

In the process of living with us (or despite us), she has turned into quite the queen. She is actually mean to strangers. She will hiss, bite, scratch if anyone tries to pet her. But she loves me. She will sleep right on top of me. I think she likes that I accept her for exactly who she is.

Pamela had read my posts about the upcoming wedding of my middle daughter, so for her coloring book, she drew Mimi in a wedding gown. Mimi was not at all flattered. Even when we explained to her that she is now famous.

Color the Cats is available on Amazon.

Color the Cats is available on Amazon.

Mimi as a bride

Mimi as a bride

I brought Color the Cats to school and allowed each of my students to pick a favorite. I copied them and for a Friday treat, they could color them. (No one chose Mimi, but I haven’t told her yet.)

Coloring by Emily. "Color the Cats" by Pamela Hodges

Coloring by Emily. “Color the Cats” by Pamela Hodges

Bill and Buzz are famous, too. They are the subject of a bumper sticker we had custom-made at Vistaprint.

Our two outside cats are brothers. They were rescued from a neighbor’s home. Their mother had them under my friend’s house, then she was hit by a car. These little orphans have total opposite personalities. Bill is effeminate with a high-pitched whiney cry that is like fingernails on a chalkboard. He cries all the time. He will go to every window begging to be let in. While Buzz is chill-man. He is big and round and content. He looks at Bill with disdain.

This is Buzz.  Be Buzz.

This is Buzz. Be Buzz.

My husband created a family slogan, “Be Buzz. Not Bill.” He loves family things that no one can really quite get. (We used to place a large Santa frog sign in our yard at Christmas.)

Appropriate that you can see cat paw prints on the bumper along with the family bumper sticker.

Appropriate that you can see cat paw prints on the bumper along with the family bumper sticker.

Celebrate cats. Be Buzz.

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Join the roundup over at These 4 Corners with Paul.

Join the roundup over at These 4 Corners with Paul.

Cat Talk

Have you ever wondered why a cat lands on all fours or why its tongue is rough or if he really has nine lives? These are some Wonders you can explore on Wonderopolis.
I am a cat owner. I’ve had many cats in my life from my first cat Tommy to the meanest cat ever, Mimi. Years ago I picked up this beautiful poetry collection by Patricia MacLachlan and her daughter, Emily. The illustrations were done by one of my favorite artists, Barry Moser. I could spend time petting his cats. I love the poems because they do not rhyme. I am not a rhyming poet, and more and more, I embrace this fact of my poet-life. These poems captured the personalities of each cat from Tough Tom who climbs through the window to Peony who under all her fur is little.

I asked my students to notice the literary elements. We talked about many: personification, onomatopoeia, metaphor, simile, imagery, and alliteration. When writing our own poems, let’s try to use at least one of these elements.

Reed wrote while I read the poems. He was thinking about what Shakespeare said about the nine lives of a cat, “For three he plays, for three he strays and for the last three he stays.” – See more at: Wonderopolis

Bad Kitty

For three, he plays and plays with me.
Why, is it a sight to see.
The way he’ll twirl and whirl looking like a squirrel,
I start to wonder is he a boy or a girl.

Next three he stays in the allies on the streets.
Many people who look may think he’s sweet.
Trust me he’s not. I’m not sure he loves me.

The last he will stay and curl up with me
as I know I must let him free
onto heaven with a cat trinity.
–Reed

Tyler has experience with cats, too. His poem reflects found lines from Maclachlan’s poems.

A Cat’s Needs

The black shadows of the night,
Stalking their prey so silently,
Quietly licking your ankles,
and lying on your face
not wanting to move.
They have many things that
they like to do.
–Tyler

Emily illustrated her poem and took a picture of me and Jack (the lemur) holding it up.

Emily illustrated her poem and took a picture of me and Jack (the lemur) holding it up.

Mimi has no interest in poetry or Henry.

Mimi has no interest in poetry or Henry.

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Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

I am not a grandmother yet, but this week made me feel old. The CLMOOC make cycle #2 was on making memes. High learning curve for me. For one thing, you must be tuned in to popular culture…not! And another, you had to have something clever to say…another not! So I got a little rebellious and decided that memes were just not for me.

Slide1

During the week I posted this silly picture of my cat, Mimi. She loves to perch on top of books. This makes her look especially intelligent. My husband made the comment that she was in her literary post. On my Facebook post, Julie Johnson commented that I could make a meme of that. Since Mimi was sitting on top of Donalyn Miller’s books, I created a caption about book whispering. The post only got 5 likes. Needless to say, I don’t think I get this meme thing.

But I do like that I am out there in this digital world taking a dare. Trying to be brave. Trying to be digitally literate. In all honesty, I will not be using memes with my students; they are only elementary age. Then comes this question from the Connected Learning team, “How do we turn the principles of Connected Learning into memes that spread in an educational setting?”

The CLMOOC principles are important for education. See Why Connected Learning. These principles should be spread. Am I responsible for spreading them in my small corner of the universe? As responsible as I am to any principle that I believe in, so whatever I may personally think about memes and my ability to create a clever one, I should find a way to express the principles of Connected Learning.

connected learning tagxedo

Read more about serious memes on Kevin Hodgson’s site and another one from Beth O’Connor.

So Mimi begs the question, “Am I a Meme or a Mimi?” Sorry, just had to have a little pun fun.

Made in WordFoto

Made in WordFoto

Link up your DigiLit Sunday post with Mr. Linky.

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2013 poetry swap with stamp included
Tabatha Yeatts invented the Poetry Swap. I have been writing a poem each week to send out to my assigned Poetry Buddy. This week I received a poem from Tabatha herself. And she knows I have cats. The featured cat in my photos is our house cat, Mimi. These thirteen ways of looking at Emma could easily be about Mimi. She enjoyed hanging out on Tabatha’s poem while I wrote at the computer.

Mimi naps on a poem.

Mimi naps on a poem.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Emma

By Tabatha Yeatts

with thanks to W.S.
for M.S. and E.

I
The tail moved
always —
before,
during,
and after.
There was never a time
the tail’s journey was over.

II
The cat’s nose
in the dog’s ear —
whispering love poems
with her whiskers.

III
Anything can be hidden
on the ceiling.
No one looks up.
Except the cat.

IV
The cat walks across the board game.
The whims of fate
cast furry shadows.

V
Only the spiral circles
of pacing and waiting
can express the longing
the scent of chicken
incites.

VI
The cat’s bones
ripple
like a pebble
dropped
in a water dish.

VII
Sleeping upright,
paws hidden,
tail delicately curving
around her side,
the memory of deity
remains.

VIII
The cat,
guardian, silent companion,
desires to be close to the rabbit,
as the tree guards the moss,
as the leaf guards the air,
as the earth guards the moon.

IX
A plane can take you far from the world,
but a cat can always bring you to it.

X
The cat discerns the approaching rain,
spins, and returns so adroitly
you might never imagine
that was not her original direction.

XI
Next to the cat,
the man sneezes.
The cat licks her side.

XII
One cat stalks a darting fly.
Her sister leaves her sleeping post
only to find another.

XIII
Shadows fall around the cat,
the icy gray fingers of age ruffle her fur;
the cat gets up
and moves.

When Mimi is happy, she flips.  We call her "Mrs. Flips."

When Mimi is happy, she flips. We call her “Mrs. Flips.”

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Keri at Keri Recommends.

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Keri at Keri Recommends.

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Slice of Life #12

We are a household of cats

refugee cats
cats rescued from car tracks
and kids’ antics.

Here’s Sammy, three legs, one eye
hanging out in his “office” space,
in a cabinet not used for food.
My husband calls it the Japanese apartment.

And then there’s Buzz.
(Say Buzz in a deep voice cause Buzz is Big!)
Buzz hangs out in small spaces, curling over his big belly body,
in planters

and even in my favorite serving bowl.

Then there’s Bill
(say Bill in a high-pitched voice because he has a high-pitched voice.)
Bill will sleep on anything soft,
moving blankets, grocery bags, and a fresh pile of laundry.

Our cats have all come to a better place, heaven on the bayou,
a soft place to land.

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