When the cats go outside, one thing they love to do is take a dust bath.
Look at Alfred luxuriating in the warm dust at the base of this tree.
Lorelai found a different tree…but the same lovely warm dust.
And finally….here we have Izaak, also rolling in the wonderful warm dust. They are so much fun to watch outside.
Yesterday, Alfred and I went to the veterinarian to see how his lungs look after pneumonia.
As I have said before, it’s a two-bus, almost hour long bus trip from our house to the vet. And we had lots of hang time waiting for the transfers.
This is at Resecentrum. I love this shot.
When we had a bus transfer wait of more than ten minutes, I let Freddy out of his carrier.
Goofball.
But at the vet we got good news: Freddy’s lungs are completely clear.
Not only are his lungs clear, it also looks like he doesn’t have asthma. So that’s great!
Much like Jacoby, Freddy loves to sing the song of his people when he’s outside.
This IS an Airport, Please Announce Your Departure: Aeroplane Ear Posting.
After the vet visit, we stopped off a DjurMagazinet to stock up om raw chicken necks and raw meatballs.
Of course, Freddy helped me pick out the raw food I bought.
Of course, Freddy made friends when we were on line for the cash.
That’s Freddy’s superpower: making friends wherever he goes.
At long last we boarded the Silja Symphony ferry to Stockholm. First we rode the elevator to our cabin to put our luggage away and set up Dashiell’s food and litter.
Dash really seemed to enjoy the windowed lift.
This is kind of a dark photo, but you can see the shopping promenade and the cabins with overlooking windows. We stayed in one of those cabins on the way to Helsinki and it was kind of fun do have that view. They don’t have pet rooms in that block of cabins, though.
After we got our room set up, we went up to the deck to say goodbye to Helsinki.
This is what the ferry looks like from Helsinki. We happened to be at the waterfront the day before when the ferry was leaving for Sweden.
Here is me with Dash.
I posed almost the exact same way with Jacoby in 2016.
Björn posed with Dash as well.
On the aft deck, there is a little sandbox for dog owners to let their dogs go to the toilet.
I have to say, it was pretty amusingly decorated. I have seen dog toilet areas on other ferries, but none decorated like this.
Dash was not impressed.
He was more interesting in people-watching from the vantage of a deck chair.
Just then, a dog passed by on his way to the toilet. I guess we took a look at it in the nick of time.
Despite what it says on the website, the crew staff assured us that cats were allowed anywhere onboard the ship. We thought a nice refreshing beer would be nice before taking Dash back to the cabin and checking the duty-free store.
Dash was happy to sit in his carrier and watch Björn pour his beer.
Dash never even tried to get out of his carrier.
After our drinks, we took the elevator back to our cabin.
I think Dash was happy to go back to the cabin and take a nap after all the excitement of the cat show and boarding the ferry.
Ferry rides are a lot of fun. They go overnight, and some people treat it as a party. On this trip, there was what looked like a stag do going on. Not sure which guy was the groom, but my money’s on the guy in the bell bottoms.
We had seen them in the bar earlier. They were going around to people in the bar with a straw, asking if they could have a sip of their drink, taking photos of it. It was pretty funny.
There was also a new machine in the ferry’s casino – Diamond Cats! It’s a bit like Kitty Glitter except with no Somali. It was not a bad game; at least the Siamese have blue eyes on this game. But it was fun to play and I ended up winning a little, which is always nice.
The very first time Jacoby went to the Apple Store was back in 2011, when we went to get our brand new iPhone 3. It was a Massachusetts sales tax holiday, so everyone was trying to get a phone to save money, and we had to stand in line for a while.
That was his first, tiny stroller.
He seemed to enjoy himself.
And then, just for comparison, here we are on our most recent trip.
He still enjoys coming out on errands with me!
When we were at the Apple Store, of course I posed Jacoby in front of the gorgeous Apple logo on the third floor window.
It really is pretty impressive.
And it’s definitely a photo-op.
So, here’s Jake and a really enormous Apple logo.
One thing the Boston flagship Apple Store is known for is its 3-story-tall spiral glass staircase.
And it is gorgeous. A bit treacherous if you’re on the small side of the steps, but it’s pretty. Apple has even patented this glass cylinder staircase design.
Jacoby thought it was pretty interesting.
He seemed to really enjoy watching people go up and down the steps.
Although I always try to remember not to wear a skirt when I go there…because reasons.
Of course there’s an elevator, too. How do you think Jake and I got to the Genius Bar on the third floor? I don’t know what I’ll do in Sweden, though. The closest Apple Store is in Helsingborg; the other two are in Stockholm and Malmö. No more walking to get my machines fixed…
When we were strolling through Back Bay, Jacoby took a particular interest in the window display at Lord and Taylor.
Apparently, our Jake not only like wearing fine fashion, but he likes to look at it, too.
It’s nice to see a boycat so in touch with his inner fashionista.
Last Sunday, I needed to go to the Apple Store and it was a nice day, so I took Jacoby along with me.
I can’t remember the last time we went out to something that wasn’t a cat show. I think it may have actually been ArtBeat, last July.
Jake seemed really happy to be back in his stroller! However, that trip ended up in my MacBook Pro being sent in for repairs…and then replaced! And I only just got it back. So if you’ve been wondering where the posts have been…that’s what happened. I will be catching up over the next couple of days.
So the display on my MacbookPro was acting up…and, as any owner of an Apple product knows, this can mean only one thing…a trip to the Genius Bar!
Since it’s been crazy warm in Boston lately – especially for February! – I took my buddy Jacoby with me to reacquaint Boston with Strollercat.
Here we are on Boylston Street…in February…without even a jacket on!
As we do every July, Jacoby and I went to Somerville’s ArtBeat festival. This year’s theme was “Loops.”
As always, we stopped to visit our friend Kim at Stella Marie Soap.
She’s always so happy to see me and Jake.
We also stopped to look at the M.U.S.C.R.A.T. bus.
With its ears, it reminds me of the Cat Tank in the webcomic Stand Still Stay Silent.
This year, there was a lot of sidewalk chalk art. Some that you were allowed to touch…
…And some that you weren’t.
All in all, we had a really gerat time, the two of us.
It was a little bittersweet, though, since we probably won’t be able to go next year.
And our unbroken string of ArtBeat dogcat tags (16 for me, 6 for Jake), will have to come to an end.
cats are known for their homing sense. And Jacoby’s is as strong as any cat’s.
As I’ve mentioned many times, he knows which T stop we live at.
Not only that, he knows the stop before our stop.
Once the doors close on that stop, he’s all ready for it to be our turn.
“Open, open, open!”
When we do get off at our stop, Jake knows exactly where we’re going.
Of course, we don’t take the escalator anymore, especially with his stroller.
But he knows where the elevator is.
“Why do all these doors take so long to open!?”
Jake is such an city cat. Riding in an elevator is just everyday routine.
And, like any urban dweller, he’s quite impatient with how long the ascent takes, no matter how quick a trip it is.
“Are we there yet?”
“Seriously? How is it possible that we are still on this elevator? Plus, it kind of smells like pee in here…I didn’t think you humans did that?”
Finally, the door opens!
Jake knows we have to take a second elevator to the street level.
As we approach the elevator to the street, he gets excited and stands up in his stroller.
I think he does that to make it feel like he’s going faster.
He waits impatiently for the doors to open.
Another (shorter) ride up and…
At last! The doors part and he is outside on the street!
The traffic and noise of Dorchester Ave. don’t bother him at all.
In fact, I think it bothers him less than being stuck in the smelly elevator did!
This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Stop.”
And here is the famous Strollercat at the Davis Square T stop.
Just doing what Strollercat does…
…waiting for a train…
…so he can go for a ride!
At ArtBeat this year there was a young woman, Angela DeCarlis, doing pencil portraits.
Of course, I wanted to get one done of Jacoby and me.
She sketched me first, and while we waited Jake had a lot of attention from passersby.
Once she had me down, she had me pose with Jake.
While we were posing together, Rachel from the Somerville Arts Council passed by – she was one of the people in charge of the Copy Cat Festival we were part of a couple of years ago!
She took these photos of me and Jake while we were sitting. I’m showing off our ArtBeat tags.
If Jake looks a little grumpy on my lap, it’s because he just really wanted to back in his stroller. That’s his safe zone, his territory – and also the secret to how I’m able to go to places like ArtBeat with him. As long as he’s got his stroller, he’s happy.
And here’s how our portrait turned out! I kind of wish I was smiling…but other than that, it’s pretty dead-on. What do you think?
This past weekend was ArtBeat, Somerville’s infamous art festival.
As always, Jacoby and I went out to participate. It’s been a while since we’ve been out together, since Jake’s not currently doing therapy work. He really seemed to miss his stroller!
He also seemed to have missed riding the T.
At least, he seemed to be happy to be out and about meeting people and getting admired.
I have to admit, I’ve missed going places with him, too.
Once we got to Davis Square, I got our tags. This is my 16th one!
Jake got his tag, too, of course. This is his 6th ArtBeat – he’s been coming with me since 2010.
We had our traditional lunch – Redbones BBQ!
It was a bittersweet ArtBeat, though, since it’s probably the last one we’ll be able to go to.
It was a long day, and tiring in a good way. When we got home, we just relaxed in the art room, me on my cushions and Jake on his S-curve.
Jacoby first visited Dr. Natalie at South Boston Animal Hospital on 4 August, 2009.
While he was checking out the waiting area, he met a little Chihuahua puppy.
The puppy wasn’t much bigger than Jake, and they were almost the same colour.
I’m not entirely certain that Jake knew that the puppy was, in fact, not a cat.
Of course, Jake gravitated towards the cat food for sale on the shelves.
Six years later, Jake still explores the lobby like he owns it.
And, of course, he’s still very interested in the prescription dry food they have on display!
I just had to share these photos of our friend Dante Mooner that Marsha Zapp Ammons posted on Facebook last week. They are the perfect embodiment of the concept of “Father’s Day.”
Marsha wrote: “Dante Mooner to one of his Humans, John: You’re mine, you’re mine, you are ALL MINE!”
Marsha also explained that “Dante loves to go walking, but he often ‘asks’ us to hold him, like John is doing in these photos.”
Awww…look how much Dante loves his human dad!
When we went out on our snow adventure, I tried to take some Hipstamatic shots with my iPhone.
However, my iPhone is getting old, and it’s been doing this thing lately where it gets to between 40% and 60% charged and then it just…dies…saying it needs to be charged! When two seconds earlier it was showing it had plenty of remaining battery life.
Apparently, this phenomenon is exacerbated by cold weather.
It’s really a pain. I need a new iPhone. But we’re waiting for the 6s to come out. That and I’m not crazy about the iPhones becoming bigger and bigger.
Talk about reverse evolution! Cellphones started out as enormous bricks, and as they improved on them, phones gradually became smaller and smaller…until they became “smart.” Then they started getting huge again. Thin…but huge. Pretty soon we’re all going to be walking around talking into our iPads.
I’m also kind of annoyed that Apple doesn’t make a yellow leather case for the 6 or the 6 plus. My 5 has a yellow leather case to match my iPad’s yellow leather case (which, apparently, they also no longer make.)
I love the leather cases for iPhones and iPads, by the way. There’s something kind of awesome about puttting something so modern and high tech into a case made of something so primal and natrual. Leather is a truly amazing material. It can be made as soft as a piece of silk or as hard as armour. Humans may have invented the iPhone, but they haven’t invented anything quite like leather.
If only humans could invent a damn iPhone battery that would hold a charge…
It may be spring according to the calendar, but it actually snowed in Boston yesterday.
Jacoby seems to really enjoy going out in snow.
As I posted last week, he’s been out in the snow several times. He’s always been very interested in the cold white stuff.
Maybe it’s his Canadian heritage, but he’s a regular snow cat.
Most of the time, anyway. Hey, snow is slippery!
I think I see why he dislikes his boots, though.
Look at that grabby hand action! I don’t like wearing shoes or gloves, either, so I can see his point.
The snow was deep, and at one point Jake was exploring my boot prints.
I guess he figured if I’d been there, it must be safe to walk there. After all, he’s smaller and lighter than I am, so if I didn’t sink in, he wouldn’t either.
I understand he doesn’t like wearing his boots, but I do worry about his feet getting cold without them. I know cats’ paws are better insulated against cold and heat than our feet are, but they still can’t handle snow as well as their wild, snow-loving cousins like lynxes and snow leopards.
After all, domestic cats are descended from desert cats, not snow cats.
Luckily, Jake loves wearing his coats and sweaters.
We’re going to need to work on the wearing boots thing, I think.
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