Angry Bob moved in almost two years ago. He moved in after Scout did, but started hanging out before she moved in. At the time the only cat I had was the late Grover and he was all that I really ever wanted. I'll follow up with pictures of him. As much as I love Angry Bob, I wish that Grover could have handled him better.
At any rate, Angry Bob is the lover of the neighborhood. If he were a human, he'd be hanging out in bars saying, "Hey Baby" to everyone he meets. He's the guy you don't really want around, but he wears you down with his persistence. And, of course, I really want him around.
I first met Bob late one January evening when I came home from work. It was raining and he followed my car into my garage and proceeded to run circles around me. It became obvious to me that he wanted food. I fed him, he left, and I thought that was the end of it. Of course, it wasn't. Eventually, I would find him sleeping on my couch or wandering around my house. I wasn't the only woman on the block he did this to, I was just the one he decided to spend his nights with. I got him neutered so there wouldn't be little Bobs running around and I honestly thought that would be the end of it. Every man I know agrees that a good neutering should prevent return visits. At any rate, Bob moved in with his suitcases and has lived here ever since. He still spends his days with his girlfriend next door, but he comes home to me at night. I suppose that I should be flattered by this behavior. He is also incredibly sweet and is a welcome addition to the cat army. If anyone asks, he doesn't live here. My homeowners association only allows two pets. Bob breaks my quota.
This picture is from his days of living in the garage when I thought I could persuade him to just stay outside. That, of course, didn't happen. I didn't know at the time that he had already instigated "operation become a house cat" when he was eating canned food next to the car.
This picture is more recent - as you can see, he is resembling Jabba the Hut more and more these days. He's just putting on his winter weight - honestly.
The cats have diligently worked to make sure that they are involved in everything that goes on around here. Some time ago, they decided that they needed to be able to sit in the window above my bed without dealing with those pesky blinds. Accordingly, they knocked small, cat sized holes on both sides of the blinds - an entrance and an exit for their convenience. Not wanting to be an exhibitionist for my neighbors, I've decided to put up curtains over the damaged blinds. I'm not replacing the blinds because I sense a pattern here. Today seems like a good day to work on the curtains, but as you can see Sammy and Scout need to be involved. Scout is sleeping on the fabric right now which gives me the opportunity to blog about it. 
It is day three of my captivity by snow and ice. It has started to snow again and the cat army is getting very wound up. Sammy insists on playing all the time and I'm wondering if I can get him worn down. The interactive cat toys are not doing the trick. He like strings and/or feathers on sticks so I'm stuck on the floor working him out. On the plus side, he's got some nice moves and may have a second career in the cat circus. 
I may have mentioned that I planned to do something about the non-functioning blinds in the office/guest room. I replaced the blinds - which was no easy task by the way. I managed to get them installed and cleverly left the pull cord trapped between the blinds and the windowsill. After swearing a lot, I took down the blinds, freed the pull cord and installed them a second time. I also decided to add a valance to make it a little prettier. I made the valance you see here. It is actually four panels that I shoved together on the bar over the window. Having window treatments really makes the place look like someone with a job lives here, don't you think? 
My captivity by snow continues into day two. It snowed again last night and has reached a high of 30. I just got back from checking out the roads (on foot) and discovered that there is about 4 inches of ice/packed snow down. While I could probably get out, I choose not to. The weather report says not to worry. We are expected to get freezing rain and high winds in the next two days. Which means that I get all the fun of being isolated with the added benefit of not having power. I can't wait. Luckily, I got cat food before all this started and I have lots of cheese and apples for myself. 
I think mom will appreciate that I have another cat who knows this trick. Sammy is still a bit of a kitten and wants to play all the time. The kids would approve, I'm sure. By the way, Scout was just a little to the left of this paw and did not seem to be enjoying this moment as much as I was. Let's just hope I can go to work tomorrow.
