Here is a picture of my awkward boy, sitting across the couch and side table, paws together. Izzy the cat can be seen behind him through his ears. I almost captured the magnificence of his whiskers. I need to get him against a dark background because they are epic.

Long haired cats really need daily brushing. I have not been able to brush Mr Tom daily (yes, he’s my neighbor’s cat, but he lets me brush him, so I do), so over the winter he had matts build up under his legs. When I first noticed them they were tight to the skin, making cutting them out a risky business. As his fur grew, the matts came away from the skin and I was able to slip a small pair of scissors in to clip it off while he was lying on his side. He only allows me to get one off before he lets me know he’s had enough, though, so there is still some work to do. Spring time shedding should help, and will be a good time to get him matt free again.

I brush Shadow less, but Shadow keeps himself groomed better than Mr Tom.

Thor the cat is obsessed with my brass singing bowl. He really likes to try to chew the wooden mallet, and stick his head in the bowl. I recently figured out how to make the bowl sing, loud, and I see why it is a good meditative process, if you get distracted, you lose the ring sound. It takes some concentration and focus, but not intensity, to get a clear loud tone.

I think Thor could smell the felted wool ring that came with the bowl and was looking for it. Once he found it, I had to put the bowl away lest I loose the ring to becoming a cat toy. The boy really likes wool.