Midnight was lazing on the couch as I approached with camera in hand.  The wrist strap stuck out, and it caught his eye.  He acted all Mr. Innocent.

I love the way he does that.  I wanted a closeup of my furry friend.

It was the moment he had been waiting for and he seized it.  The moment and the wrist strap.

He got a tooth in it and tried to twist it away.  That failed.

So he got both of those huge teeth behind the strap and improved his angle even more.  We had a lot of fun, and like any youngster his attention was soon diverted to something else.

Midnight is about a year old.  We don’t know the exact date.  His mother gave birth in the neighbor’s barn and no one was there to note the event or the date.  I think I’ll arbitrarily pick April 1 to celebrate his birthday.  I officially retired on an April 1, and that was the same day that my mother-in-law passed away.  It will help bring some balance to that day for me.  What were you thinking?

Midnight loves to check out trash containers.  He has a compulsion to see what’s in each wastebasket in our house.  Look at this:

Doesn’t that look like fun?  It’s not fun for your staff when they have to clean up after you.  Midnight knows he’ll be in trouble if he goes wastebasket diving.  For that reason, he normally checks them out when we are not around.  However, he leaves the evidence of his visit.

Midnight has been in the guest room.  Can you tell?

He also stopped by the bathroom.  This time he brought a friend (Mister Mousey) with him.

I can’t be angry with our kitty.  He’s just doing what comes naturally.

Some folks have armed guards.  Junk yards are notorious for their vicious dogs.  Me?  I have Midnight.  In the words of the song, “Someone to Watch Over Me.”

Nothing like a good vantage point to watch over me and to keep an eye on things.

If someone approaches, he’s ready to meet them.

Midnight’s baby teeth are gone and the adult teeth are in place.  (In this shot they were still growing.  So he has weapons, and he’s not afraid to use them. I know.  Trust me I know.

Beware the ides of March?  Beware Midnight.

Midnight loves to play around the rug on the kitchen floor. That rug used to lay on the floor in front of the sink. Lately, Midnight seems to think we should experiment with other locations.

There it is neatly folded like an accordion.  Beside the rug is one of his favorite toys, Herr Rabbit. Or is it Hare Rabbit?  Every day, he tries new configurations.

Let’s try moving it in front of the dish washer. That’s a milk ring from the top of a milk container. (Midnight thanks Autie Lin for introducing him to milk rings.)

Wait!  Isn’t there something under that rug?

Sylvia checks it out and finds Midnight. The games go on.

Midnight Loves my computer desk. One of his favorite things to do is stretch out in my work space. That spot between the keyboard and the monitor.

Usually, this is not a problem. See how he watches my hands? Does he wonder what I’m doing?

Maybe he needs a closer look. Now what’s the guy doing with that mouse? I’d like to play with it.

Sometimes, a fellow needs a little shut eye. You can tell Midnight has been playing in the basement. Or maybe he was dusting some areas down there.

It seems amazing to me how much our little guy has grown in the 11 weeks since he moved from the barn into the house. Midnight was a “little guy” as you can see below:

And did he have fun with those Christmas decorations? You bet he did! And we learned to put most of them away.

Two and a half months have passed. Midnight has been well cared for. He has eaten his food. And he has grown! Look at this:

Yes, same chair and same kitty. No fooling.

He loves to play games with me. One of our favorites is peek-a-boo. We peek around corners at each other until he makes a run for me. Sometimes, I turn the tables on him and I jump at him just to watch him scurry away. Then we get together and make nice.

One of his favorite games at night is ambush. He hides just out of sight — not hard for him to do in the near dark. As I walk by he jumps out and wraps his paws around my ankle. What fun! It’s even more fun when I’ve got a glass of water in my hand. That’s when the floor gets wet. And then I laugh. It really is fun the way we amuse one another.

Sometimes a body needs a consultant. That someone who will provide insight for blog content, style, words and photos. All must all be woven together into a tapestry that is functional and beautiful. I have such a consultant, his name is, Midnight.

That’s right. Midnight loves to stretch out on the computer desk between the keyboard and the monitor while I am blogging. He’ll lay there for a while and then he’ll sit up and put his nose to the monitor. If there is motion on the screen, he’ll watch it intently. He may even try to catch it with a paw.

Feline indifference must be maintained at all costs. When the camera comes out you straighten up, but never make eye contact. Peripheral vision is good enough. A cat must maintain his dignity.

So today’s question is, Is my cat going to be bald? Is he worried and is he just pulling out his hair? Is this normal? Is it right? Is it thin fur and light skin underneath?

OTHER

Yesterday after church we had friends over to watch the Daytona 500. There was about 2 and a half hours of delay during the race while they did track repairs. The race ran much longer than we expected, but made up for it with a spectacular finish. Well, you know that will happen at Daytona.

Sure is nice to see the sun coming up earlier each day. February is half gone. Spring can’t be too far away. Can it? I sure hope not.

My friend, Dawn, participates in Macro Monday. Her blog is well worth a visit if you like good photos and good poetry.

So there I was sitting in my recliner with the camera at hand when I started thinking maybe I could get some good close up shots of Midnight. He came and sat on my lap, I tried and failed. Our little guy is just that — a little guy and just as antsy and wiggly as any youngster.

Just as the auto-focus finishes it job, his head spins and my hands jerk and . . . you can see how well it didn’t work. I’ll try again. Hey!  He’s looking right at me. Now I’ll get that good close up.

Almost. Everything must be sniffed. That’s got to be part of the Kitty Constitution. At least Midnight has to explore with his nose and tounge. (For example, Saturday morning I was sleeping in the recliner when Midnight found me. I knew that he was there when he licked the tip of my nose. Twice. Yeah, I get it. Time to get up.)

Back to the day of my photo shoot. Sylvia came in and sat in her chair. As usual this means our little guy leaves me and goes over to be with her. He is no dummy. My chance to get that elusive shot.

Poor Midnight. What happened to his face? Aargh, it was a smudge from Kitty’s nose. Time to call it quits and go clean the lens. Maybe I’ll try again another day. Maybe.

Thursday evenings are usually a quiet time. Sylvia and I usually spend a couple of hours sitting in our easy chairs talking, reading or watching TV. Count on it — Midnight will be there with us. Sometimes he likes to play, and others he’s content to curl up next to Sylvia and rest. Last Thursday was a bit different thanks to Midnight. Let met tell you the story from his point of view.

“Hey lady, mind if I have a drink of water?” (The answer was, “Yes, I do mind.” That blur on the right is Sylvia reaching to rescue her water.)

“Okay. Let me adjust these blinds for you.”

“Here I go. A piece of cake.”

“Hey, having a little bit of trouble here. Sure wish I had thumbs like you.”

Midnight finally gave up, but I know that he’ll try again. He already has.

Cool Mama Contest reminder — You have until noon Eastern Time to send your entry to: chuck at k8ch.net. You know you want to do it. Don’t delay.

Friday morning our little guy visited the vet for his booster shots. He didn’t have much pep the rest of the day. He was either playing lazy boy in Sylvia’s LA-Z BOY chair or napping on my lap all day.

The Soft Paws (we call them “his acrylics”) are holding up well. Last week Pricilla shared in a comment that at her house they only lasted two weeks. Sylvia asked the vet about that. The vet said that she had problems with the Soft Paws manufacturer’s adhesive. It was difficult to deal with and sometimes the Soft Paws would fall off in a couple of weeks. So she tried super glue, and it works very well.