Jelly and her kitten cousins

It's been awhile since there were cats living next door.  Well, Jelly, they're back!   Two kittens Simba and Heidi are your new four-legged neighbors.  Let the cat/dog fun begin!

Heidi keeping an eye on the canine intruder.

Jelly focuses on the human with the treat, ignoring the feline "threat"

Simba looking remarkably relaxed despite the big dog head.  He loves to be held.

Simba is quite interested in Jelly's tail -- particularly when it's wagging.  Best cat toy ever.

No kitten/dog cuddling yet but at least they're friendly enough to hang out in the same photo frame.

New Year's Day 2016

A trip to the park on a sunny but cold day.  Jelly is modeling her "thunder shirt" which she wore just in case of fireworks the night before.   In all but the last picture, she look quite serious (or maybe just glum about her outfit).  

I think she had a fine time though sniffing around at the deserted park which we don't usually haunt so there must have been lots of new smells to take in.

Vacation: Nevada City, Oct 2015

Jelly and I finally got out of town for a couple of days.  We borrowed my mother's car (air conditioning!) and took a 2-1/2 drive to Nevada City.  We stayed a dog-friendly lodge at the edge of the Tahoe National forest.  

It was warmer than I had expected for this time of the year which made it a bit challenging since it was just me and Jelly and I couldn't leave her in the hot car.  We managed though and had some nice walks in the historic part of Nevada City with all the gold-rush era facades.  

Here's Jelly in the fenced in area right for dogs right behind our room.  

 More sniffing in the dog run.  The scenery was mono-thematic: trees!

 This was the lake I had hoped that Jelly could cool off in.  However, the ranger warned that the lake was very, very low and it was.  The mud was too unstable at the edges of the water so I didn't let Jelly go in. I thought she might sink.

Jelly on the lake bed.  Note the metal pier in the background.  That's normally used for fishing off of when the lake used to be that high.

Jelly posing at the dog park in Grass Valley.  This was right before a 4-1/2 month old puppy tried to jump all over her.   She was keen to leave after that.

First day of second grade!

For the twins that is... Jelly is already well-trained and prefers to stay at home and eat, sleep and take a walk around the block.

A quail hunting we will go....

Jelly returned from a visit next door with her prize.  

*No animals were hurt in this production.

Jelly and Pinky

Fierce little doggie

Jelly is terrified of loud noises and will retreat to the closet if she hears fireworks or gunfire.  She will jump off the bed if the human occupant sneezes or coughs loudly.  She also retreats when she sees a fly buzzing around the room because once a long time ago, her dad hit a fly with a magazine and the smack on the wall was scary.  She does not forget, this sensitive little dog.

However, as shown below, Jelly can put on a fierce show.  Her dad and she have developed a "game" in which he pretends to want something that she has (a chew stick, toy, ball or any incidental item at hand/paw) and Jelly pretends to protect the item.   It can become quite vocal and physically expressive though Jelly gets that it's a game.  It's possibly scary to see but the regulation of inhibition (more on Jelly's part than her dad's -- he's ever impulsive) is impressive.  No harm done and a great time is had by man and canine.

Note the slight wrinkle of the nose... this is how it starts

The game is definitely on here.  This is mine.

Quite the contrast in expression and my preferred Jelly face.