Yes, yes, the purrents are working hard to make our summer days fun!
The plan is to have a little outdoor place that we can lounge in that is screened in and safe from any escapes.

LuckyNumber7's question reminds me that some of you may not know or may not remember all the backgrounds of the Tribe members. Here's the short version:

William: he has one non-functional eye (defect at birth) and was destined to be in a no-kill shelter for the rest of his life because he just wasn't a perfect looking cat and adopters passed him by. We didn't care...he has a heart of gold and is just a big clown. He's 8 yrs old.

Tiger - One good eye - the other one has about 20% vision (so the eye specialist says). He was born at the same shelter as William and was also overlooked because of his eye problems. The shelter called us after we had William for about a year and described this loveable, social tabby cat to us. We fell for him immediately - he is now Dad's cat through and through.

Pippin - blind from birth. About a year after getting Tiger....the shelter called again. A priest had brought Pippin into them when he was about 4 months old. Although we don't know the whole story...best guess is that some guardian angel at the local convent had been caring for him, was found out and forced to give little Pips to the local no-kill. We gladly took him too, (since we were specializing in cats with less than 2 eyes anyway. And all the precautions I insisted we put in place to "protect" our little blind cat - you know, cushions around the bed and steps going up and down the bed...etc. Well, all I can say is the little booger is just as active climbing, jumping up and down and racing up and down the hallway as any of the rest of the Tribe.

Percy - He showed up at the backdoor one October evening and never left. He was a Pet Talk Cat of the Day and that's how we got started on PT.

Norbert (formerly known as Bandit) was about to be thrown out of the house by a not so nice neighbor along with his 4 other house cat-mates. She had decided she just couldn't handle five cats anymore (after having them indoors only for 6 years...go figure?) Anyhoo, I stepped in and made her sign over custody of all the cats to me, placed the adoptable ones in a no-kill shelter (they all got adopted) and we took in Norbert because he was just so skittish and could not be handled. We've had him going on 4 years and still have never picked him up. He does let us pet him when he is laying on the bed with his forever buddy Percy.

Scooter Pie and his girlfriend Antoinette (aka The Swiffer):
Our rescue contribution to the state of Washington. After we moved the menagerie of 5 here to the Seattle area, we thought it only fair that we adopt a laid back, sandal wearing, coffee drinking liberal kittie from the mean streets of Seattle. We found Scooter on Petfinder and after visiting him in his foster home, brought the little dude home.

Antoinette's story is the most amazing, I think. My hubby found her under the hood of our Dodge 1-ton dually pickup one night in December when he stopped for gas. He popped the hood to check the oil and she had secured herself a spot up by the battery and was hanging on for dear life while the truck was on the freeway. Best we can figure she got in there when he was parked in the lot at work and just hung on until he found her at the station. She didnt make a peep until he got her in the cab and warmed up. Then she wouldn't shut up She was a holy mess - fleas, dirt, oil, etc. We cleaned her up, got a clean bill of health from the vet and she is now our little Queen of the house. Turkish Angora we are told.

Sorry for the longer than usualy post, but in case anyone was wondering how the Tribe came to be 7 members, there you have it.

And don't forget Samson, the truly Golden dog. He keeps the Tribe safe and sound.