Ay Carumba

Our good buddy, Rachel's brother Peter, has been travelling around North and South America since July. We missed him a lot, as he often came around to visit us and sometimes looked after us when Rachel and Pete went away. He sent us quite a few postcards while he was away which was nice, and emailed photos of the cats he met on his travels, which made us a bit jealous :-(

Anyway, this week he came back to the UK, just in time for Christmas. He came to see us straight off his flight from Mexico, and we think he was pretty pleased to see us. We hardly recognised him though as he had some kind of strange hairy growth on his face... we didn't mind much though, because he brought us presents! Typically Lila refused to play ball but I LOVE my new sombrero! I feel a bit like Puss In Boots, time for some swashbuckling!

Isn't it a pretty hat...

I tried on the green one too.

But I wasn't quite as sure about that one.

Geddit off me!!

But then, Rachel said that this the last blog before Christmas, probably, and a sombrero wasn't really very Christmassy. So she put this silly hat on me and I was sad :-( The sombreros are WAY better!

I'm so depressed.

Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone!!

Christmas Outtakes

Mia got so excited about the Christmas decorations coming out last weekend, Rachel got a couple of silly photos of her... I know it's rare to get a silly photo of Mia (hmm...) so we thought you'd like to see them. Obviously, they both involve tongues.

First, posing with her new collar:

I'm actually testing the wind direction...

Second, getting a bit excited while playing with the Christmas pudding:

I'm actually concentrating VERY hard

Finally, this one doesn't involve tongues, but a bit of winking... Rachel's learned how to make a gif!!

Christmas Prepurrations

Hooray! We've got our Christmas collars at last, yay yay yay!!

I've got a super cool pink snowflakes one, and Lila has a merry Christmas one. We did have our eyes on the Snowman and Reindeer collars, but they sold out! Boo!

It's not only us getting decorated for Christmas - Rachel has at last had some time away from the sewing machine to put some lights up:

Hm, these aren't energy saving. Won't somebody please think of the electricity bill?!

We don't have a giant tree in the house this year, which is a shame, as I had lots of fun with it last year. But there are still quite a few of the fun dangly round things to bat around the floor, although I was a bit wary of this Christmas pudding one...

Does anyone actually like Christmas pudding?

And last but most DEFINITELY not least, our stockings are up!! omg, they've even got our names on!! We're trying to think of what we'd like to find in them from Santa Claws on Christmas morning... I'm thinking,  a new mouse toy to play with, some more of the catnip drops from the Advent calendar, and a new scratching post, as ours is looking decidedly wonky. Lila wants a copy of The Economist Review of the Year and an iPad. I think I've got a better chance of getting my wishes, if I'm honest...

I'm sooooo excited!!!!! Are you?!

Helping (Part III)

Well, Rachel is still very busy - I don't think she's EVER gone so long without helping us blog! She's so busy that we haven't even got our Christmas collars yet. We're trying not to be annoying about it, but when we see all the collars being sent out to other cats, we do get a bit jealous! Already some of the ones that we liked the look of have sold out. Oh well, at least we've got an advent calendar!

Mia, that's CHEATING!!

So anyway, after Mia saw how good I was at being kind and supportive to Rachel the other week, she thought she would try a bit better to be a help rather than a hindrance. She was looking out for the perfect opportunity, and it finally came at the weekend when Rachel had been hunched over the sewing machine all day. She said she was so achey and sore and all she really wanted was for someone to run a bath for her so she could have a lovely soak.

Mia's eyes went all big and she said to me - now's my chance to be helpful! I wasn't sure how exactly she would accomplish this, seeing as she doesn't have any thumbs to turn the taps on, but she was insistent that she'd be really good at running the bath. Off she went, and sure enough, there came a noise from the bathroom. First I thought it was the pipes... but then realised it was something else. Rachel and Pete came to see what all the noise was and this is what we found.  Mia running the bath...

Helping! (Part II)

Rachel has been ever so busy recently, you probably noticed, as she hasn't blogged for a while... She is writing up her PhD, whatever that means. She was trying to think of a title for this PhD thing, we suggested "How Many Kitties Do I Need And How Cute Are They?", she frowned but said she'd add it to the list of possibles...

As well as being ever so busy at work and having to stay there late, she also has been pretty busy with Mog's Togs. Apparently we were featured in an Etsy Finds email last week and since then lots of people have realised how amazing we are and bought collars for their cats from us, yay!! So she's been sewing away to finish all the orders that have been coming in, and we have tried to be as helpful as possible. I thought it would be helpful if I scrabbled around on the shelving unit and knocked things off, and then when Rachel didn't seem too impressed with that, I tried to pounce off the DVD tower onto the printer. Lila had other ideas though, I think she was on the right track as she didn't get told to go downstairs and bug Pete instead...

Gosh this is a huge mess isn't it... Do you want me to do some tidying?!

 

Do you need an extra paw?

I'm always here for moral support!

Don't Let The Cat Out Of The Bag For Life

Hello, Mia here. I've been enjoying spending the evening sitting in this French bag for life recently. I'm not going to tell you why, maybe because it's a bit crinkly, or maybe the other shopping bags inside it make it nicely insulated, it will remain a mystery to you. Rachel said I looked cute and took a video... 

Leftovers From Year One

OK, so Lila promised you some nice photos of us - here they are! They never made it to a blog post of their very own, so we figure it's time to clear them out in preparation for a new year of beautiful photos of us *preens*.

Firstly - us out in the garden. We love to hang out on the garden wall keeping a neighbourly eye on things. [nosing at the neighbours, more like - Ed.]. Cats make excellent guard dogs, you know... oh wait, not dogs, you know what I mean...

We'd headbutt intruders to death

Here I am watching TV at Christmastime - I never usually take any notice, but I loved these polar bears!

I want to play in the snow!

Usually when Rachel & Pete clean the house we escape to the garden - don't worry, it doesn't happen very often ;-). This time it was raining outside when they got the hoover out, so we didn't fancy going out, instead we bravely huddled together on this chair ...

We don't usually sit as close together as this...

Me hiding under the cupboard in the study. I probably can't fit there anymore...

Who's tail is that?

  Ahh look at pretty Lila! She's very playful sometimes, you know. But what's happened to her ear?

Pardon?

Out in the garden again, and double decker kitties! The best thing to do in the wheelbarrow is to roll around in the dirt in it. And then go inside and roll around on the carpet.

Mia it's your turn to push me now...

We do try to be helpful when Rachel is working hard on the business side of Mog's Togs. Look, I've filed myself away for future reference.

Should I be in C for cat or F for feline?

We hope you've enjoyed our posts over the last year!!! Don't worry, we've got no plans to stop. If you're new to our blog, why not have a look at our older adventures, there's a list over there on the right hand side.

And the giveaway winner is...

Using the trusty random number generator at www.random.org to pick one of the 19 entrants, the winner is ... [Drum roll please.....]

Number 14! Anna BlackCactus!! Well done Anna! I'll be in touch to get your address and confirm which collar you want.

Thanks everyone for entering and also for reading the blog and joining in on Twitter and Facebook too over the past year. We've enjoyed it so much and can't wait to see what the next year has in store. We'll do another giveaway soon, promise!

PS Look how important Rachel is with all the windows she's using on her computer!! What a show off!

Circle Of Life

Rachel and Pete were out all day today, and apparently while they were out they watched the Lion King 3D at the cinema, which is supposedly, like, the BEST Disney film, like, EVER. When they came home they were singing Elton John songs (badly), and then this happened!!

Can you feel the love tonight?

I know, the similarity is uncanny...

 

 *Sigh*. Mia is going to need a LOT of Whiskas Temptations for this...

Blogiversary Giveaway!

To celebrate our first anniversary of blogging and a year of Mog's Togs too, we are having a little giveaway!

The prize is a lovely collection of bits and bobs for feline and owner alike. For your cat: firstly, a cat collar of your choice... which will you choose? We've put a few ideas below for you, and we will be on hand to provide feline fashion advice if you require it (or check out this post)!

Two catnip mice toys made by Rachel's fair hand from upcycled fabric and remnants from collar making. These are carefully sewn to keep them in one piece for as long as possible, and each contains a heaping teaspoon of the good stuff to drive your cat crazy!

The one on the left is Edith, and on the right is Reginald.

For the human... A sheet of cute cat stickers, a cat craft punch, and a fabulous "Beautiful Cats" set of playing cards! It's true, they were purchased at the local bric-a-brac store, but they appear to be unopened and intact. There's a different photo of a Beautiful Cat on every single card!! THAT'S 54 ADORABLE MOGGIES!

Ooh, with these exquisite cat goodies you are really spoiling us..

So, I hear you ask, how can I enter to win this cornucopia of goodies? It's pretty easy, you just need to leave us a comment on this blog post, either letting us know what your favourite blog post has been over the past year, or which collar you would pick if you won (have a look at our shop for that). The winner will be chosen at random from all entries received before midnight GMT on Thursday 10th November. The giveaway is open to EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE!

GOOD LUCK!

PS - Please make sure there's a way I can contact you if you aren't commenting from a Blogger account - a twitter name, facebook page, etc (or your name if we know you from a previous Mog's Togs order). As a last resort you can email your email address to rachel@mogstogs.com, or just make sure you check back on Friday 11th to see who the winner was!

A Very Pathetic Halloween To You Too

It's Halloween!!! Obviously as a black cat, today is my favourite day of the year. I'm going to go out and scare all the trick or treaters, and sit picturesquely by a pumpkin, and look directly at light sources so my eyes glow, and arch my back and stick out all my furs at right angles to my body whilst making a terrifying racket! Hurrah! 

What's that you say? The cat flap locked an hour earlier because the clocks went back yesterday? HOW VERY DARE YOU GMT!! *Sigh...* I guess it's another Halloween on the sofa then. At least I can jump out from behind it and scare Mia, even if I do do that every day...

So anyway, we asked Rachel a month or so ago if we could dress up this Halloween, she said that sounded like a good idea and she'd make some cool kitty costumes for us. We collected together some ideas for her, which you can see here, but we let her have the final decision on what exactly our costumes would be. So by this evening, we were beyond excited, even I was having trouble maintaining an aloof, dignified exterior. Just what marvellous disguises had she whizzed up for us on the sewing machine? We waited with bated breath... to be presented with...

Well. What can I say. DISAPPOINTED. The first one wasn't great... this was my costume, a mess of pipe cleaners and bit of fabric which was, apparently, supposed to be a spider...

This is rubbish. I'm so depressed.

Even depressed spiders have to eat sometimes...

And then when we asked about Mia's, Rachel looked a bit bashful, disappeared to the bathroom, and came back wielding a fist full of toilet paper. Yes, dear readers, Mia was to be.... Mummified Mia...

Um... I don't really know what to say about this...

My spider costume suddenly looked Disney-worthy compared to this. Obviously there was only one way THAT was going to end.

This IS clean, isn't it?

To be perfectly frank, this is NOT what we signed up for. How are we supposed to hold our heads up amongst other blogging cats with this pathetic Blue Peter-esque attempt at Fright Night? Rachel's excuses, of which there were many, included something about writing up a PhD by Christmas... something about having to prepare for a job interview today... something about a wholesale order... something about making lots of collars for the Christmas fairs coming up... something about how those cats in costumers never look very happy about it anyway and she just KNEW that if she tried to get us into a proper costume she'd be mauled (OK maybe that bit might be true... but couldn't she look at the positives and consider the deep claw wounds a shortcut to a mutilated zombie outfit...?)

After seeing our disappointment, she suggested one last costume idea. This one at least appeals to my intellectual nature although again the effort that went into this one was, once again, minimal. Mia, of course, did not "get it", even after an exhaustive explanation of quantum physics. Can you guess what I am dressed as here?

Yes, my scientist friends, I am Schrodinger's Cat.

Happy Halloween!

Black Cat Awareness Day

Today, apparently, is BLACK CAT AWARENESS DAY. According to Cats Protection, anyway, who say that black cats are the least likely to be adopted from their shelters, out of all the cat colours!!

Yes, I AM aware... that YOU are interrupting MY nap!

That doesn't seem very fair does it. Although, even if it is a bit unfair, why do black cats get a WHOLE day?! I asked Rachel why there isn't a Tortie Awareness Day, and she made a funny snorting noise and said something about being aware of me 365 days a year... But I didn't hear her properly, as I was too busy jumping off her tummy with all my might in order to belt around the room for no particular reason and end up on a top shelf, carefully knocking over all the knick knacks AND the light on the way up. Awesome!

Out-takes

It's been nearly a year since we started blogging! There have been so many photos taken over the past year there are plenty of good ones that we haven't managed to show you yet, so we thought we'd take the chance to share them ... BUT you'll have to wait until next time for that, this time we are going to show you some out-takes from the past year!

Most of them involve Mia... and tongues!

She was looking so pretty in front of the geraniums...

Maybe she's catching flies?

Slurp

Some of them, amazingly, AREN'T tongue related! This one was taken after Mia had been exploring outside in the tipping rain, she came in absolutely SOAKING, so shook herself like a dog to dry off.

Where did my ears go?

This one, well this is a perfectly good photo! I don't know why Rachel didn't want to share this. We were investigating the toilet and considering whether to take up careers as plumbers.

Where's the bleach...

Goodness, well I guess I had to appear in here somewhere. Somewhat ironically this one was taken after I had showed off my feline genius in our Scrabble tournament... not looking too brainy here. Sigh.

 

Duhhhh

Anyway... hope you enjoyed a laugh at our expense. Next time hopefully there'll be some more flattering shots. Hmph.

Nobody Likes A Fat Cat

Anyone got any exercise tips for us? We've heard that Fat Cats are the most hated people in Britain, so we need to do something drastic before we're lined up with Fred Goodwin and the like...

Sooooo... there's a gate in the fence at the side of the house that leads onto the driveway, and Rachel is always very careful to leave a couple of flower pots in front of it so that we can't squeeze under the gap. As it turns out, she might as well not bother.

Lila had sneaked round through the next door neighbour's garden to the driveway and was telling me about this FEATHER she'd found out there! omg! I thought I'd better go and have a look so decided to take the shortcut.

Yep, plenty of room for a svelte feline like myself...

Just slip through under here, no problem...

Um.... bit of help please?

Ah yes, I remember, I think there's a bit more room on the other side ...

No problem.

Ah crap...

Lila WOULDN'T stop laughing at me! So I gave up, and was about to go round the long way, when she said she'd show what a little chubster I was by coming back under the gate.

With my shiny fur I'll slip right through

Looks like it's not just me who's a little chubster!!

Curses! Foiled again!