Author: Carol J. Post

It’s Zaturday – Traveling Kitties!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog!

Ziggy here. Zorro and I just got back to Florida after spending a week and a half in North Carolina. This time Daddy went with us. When Daddy comes along, the car is a lot more crowded. But I like it when Daddy goes with us. It’s fun having him around. He pets me a lot and calls me Ziglet the Piglet. He says it’s because I eat a lot.

Zorro and I have taken lots of long car rides, but Mommy told us about a cat that has traveled more miles than any other cat. Her name was Princess Truman Tai-Tai. She was a crew member on a British ship for 16 years and traveled over one and a half million miles.

I don’t know how many miles it is between Florida and North Carolina, but it seems really far, because Zorro and I are in the car all day. Zorro doesn’t mind it much. In fact, he seems to like it. He curls up in Mommy’s lap and stays there through the entire trip. I don’t know how he can be content just laying around so long. I think he’s lazy.

I have more energy than that. I don’t like staying in one spot for so long. There are no toys to play with and the car is too small for me to chase Zorro. So all I can do is go back and forth between the back seat and the front seat. I can’t even get all the way in the big back section of the car, because Mommy has me in a harness with the leash tied to the gear shift, and the leash is only long enough for me to get in the back seat. Zorro doesn’t need a long leash, because he’s never more than a foot away from the gear shift. Unless he has to use the litter box.

One place I like to be is on top of the seat back, because I can see out the window really well. When Mommy stops, I get up there to check everything out. Mommy doesn’t let me ride there, though, because she says it’s not safe.

 

I like Mommy’s lap, too, for short times, but Zorro always beats me to it. When Daddy is driving, I sometimes get in Mommy’s lap with Zorro. He doesn’t seem to mind, but I think it’s a little bit too crowded.

Sometimes I try to get down at Mommy’s feet and she yells at me. That wouldn’t be a comfortable place to ride, because there’s pedals down there that Mommy is always pressing with her feet. Mommy has her purse down there, too, so there’s not much room. It’s really not a good place to sleep. But Mommy has made it off limits, so that makes it irresistible.

Soon we’re heading back to North Carolina, but it’ll be just us and Mommy. Another long car ride. Even though Princess Truman Tai-Tai holds the world record for miles traveled by a cat, I think Zorro and I are going to catch up with her.

It’s Zaturday – Kitty Workers!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog.

Zorro here. Mommy told us an interesting story this week. A long, long time ago, before Ziggy and I were even born (Mommy says 1868), British Post Office cats started getting a weekly salary. They even got a raise later. Their job was to catch mice.

I think paying cats is a great a great idea. Ziggy and I are trying to think of things we can do to make money. There aren’t many mice to catch, but I help Mommy write by laying in her lap. When she gets stuck and has to think about something, she reaches down and pets me. She says that helps get her going again.

Ziggy sometimes helps, too. He walks on Mommy’s computer and adds things to what she’s doing. Mommy doesn’t seem to like it, though, so he must not be doing it right. He would probably need some training before he could get paid.

If Ziggy and I got a paycheck, it would be fun picking out things to buy. We wouldn’t need to spend any of our money on food, like Mommy and Daddy do, because they buy us lots of good kitty food.

Weruva

 

We wouldn’t have to spend it on litter, either, because we always have plenty of that. And Mommy scoops the box several times a day, so it stays pretty clean. We don’t need comfy places to sleep, either, because Mommy and Daddy always let us sleep on the bed.

Maybe toys. Although, we have some pretty fun toys, too. There’s the red one with the scratchy thing in the middle and the ball that goes ‘round and ‘round. And the toy lizard that looks real.

 

 

At Aunt Kim’s house, we have a long fuzzy thing on a stick that Mommy shakes. It’s so much fun to chase.

Cats looking out windowWe even have a kitty condo with perches to lie on, hidey holes to sleep in and posts to scratch on.

Hmm, I can’t think of anything we could buy with our money. Mommy and Daddy already give us everything we want.

So maybe we don’t need to be paid after all.

 

It’s Zaturday – Search and Rescue!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog!

Image by Manfred Burdich from Pixabay

Ziggy here. You’re probably wondering why I’m starting out with a picture of a dog. No, I’m not having an identity crisis. It’s because Mommy has been talking a lot about dogs lately. She just finished writing a book about a search and rescue dog, and she’s really excited about it. Zorro and I think she’s a little too excited. She keeps talking about search and rescue dogs and how what they do is so interesting. Like how dogs have 600 million scent receptors in their noses and people have only 6 million. (I guess she didn’t even bother to look up how many cats have.)

Image by Ana_J from Pixabay

 

Mommy’s been saying a bunch of other things about search and rescue dogs, too. Like how they have to get used to a bunch of different sights and smells and sounds. And how they learn to walk on all kinds of uneven surfaces, even climb ladders. And how they are able to pick one person’s scent out of a whole bunch of other smells.

But not all dogs can do search and rescue. Mommy said they have to be tested first to make sure they’re friendly and not aggressive. Zorro and I would pass that test, because we’re not aggressive and we’re both friendly. I’m friendlier than Zorro, though, because he’s afraid of strangers. When someone that we don’t know comes over, Zorro hides, but I run up and rub against their legs. I always hope they’ll feed me, but they never do. I usually get petted, though, which is kind of nice.

Oh, yeah, back to search and rescue dogs and how Mommy keeps going on about how talented and smart and wonderful they are. Zorro and I are starting to get a little worried. The next thing you know, she’s going to be bringing home a puppy.

Mommy seems really impressed, but we can’t figure out what’s the big deal. After all, cats are good at finding things, too. And we’re really stealthy. If a bad guy was breaking into a store to steal cat toys, we could sneak up on him a lot easier than a dog. I bet we could find a missing child, too. Especially if he rolled in catnip. I don’t even mind wearing a leash. Mommy and Daddy make Zorro and I both wear leashes and harnesses when we travel.

I don’t see any reason why Zorro and I can’t be trained to do search and rescue. In fact, I think that’s what Mommy’s next book needs to be about—a search and rescue cat, starring…me!

It’s Zaturday – Happy Cats!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog!

Zorro here. Lots of things make me happy. Things like eating.

And hanging out with Ziggy.

And stretching out on the bed.

And hiding in the towel closet. (Can you find me?)

Cat hiding

 

When I’m happy, I purr, and that’s most of the time, especially if Mommy’s around. I love Daddy, but Mommy’s my favorite person in the whole world.

I purr a lot. Like when Mommy first adopted me. She took me to the vet and I just couldn’t stop purring. The doctor was pressing this round thing to my chest, trying to listen to my heartbeat and my breathing, and he said all he could hear was my purring. He tried tipping me over, but that didn’t work, either. I can purr upside down just as easily as I can purr right side up.

So then he took me into the back where there was a sink with a faucet. When he turned the handle and water started coming out, that did the trick. I hate baths! But as soon as I found out that he wasn’t going to put me in the water, I started purring again. But he was done with the round thing by then, so my purring was okay.

When Mommy left the vet with me, I was still purring, and I purred all the way through Tractor Supply. Mommy put me in the cart and packed a pail of litter and a bunch of cans of kitty food in all around me. That was totally okay. I never mind sharing my space with kitty food.

Whenever Mommy travels, she usually takes Ziggy and me with her. But sometimes she goes places that she can’t take us. Then I really miss her. But she misses me, too. She has the sound of a cat purring on her phone and plays that while she sleeps so she doesn’t miss me so much.

Purring has other purposes, too. Some people say purring actually helps cats get better faster. The vibrations it makes help ease our breathing, lessen pain, build muscle, repair tendons and even heal bones and booboos.

But I don’t have any booboos. In fact, I’m really comfortable. I’m purring now because I’m a happy kitty!

It’s Zaturday – Ziggy’s Take on Cat Idioms

Posted on by Carol J. Post

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog!

Ziggy here. The other day, Mommy said something about Daddy letting the cat out of the bag. I got all excited, but when I looked around, I didn’t see any cats except Zorro. And he wasn’t in a bag. He was laying on one of the dining room chairs.

But Mommy said she wasn’t talking about a real cat. She said she meant “spilled the beans,” which really doesn’t make any more sense to me than letting the cat out of the bag. Mommy said people say that because a long time ago (before Zorro and I were even born), some farmers would put kittens in bags and sell them as piglets. When these people got home and opened the bag, a kitten would come out.

I don’t see what the problem was. Why wouldn’t somebody be excited to find out that they got a kitten instead of a piglet? We’re a lot softer and we purr. We curl up in your lap and make great company. Pigs don’t do any of that. Besides, we’re really cute. I mean, look at this face:

Another weird thing that humans say is “Cat got your tongue?” Zorro and I never mess with Mommy or Daddy’s tongue. That would just be weird. Zorro likes to lick Mommy’s nose, though. Mommy encourages him, telling him what a sweet kitty he is. But I wonder about him sometimes.

People say other crazy things about cats, too. Like “It’s raining cats and dogs.” I haven’t talked to any dogs, but I’ve never met a cat that fell out of the sky, at least not that they could remember.

And why does everyone say “scaredy-cat”? I’m not scared. I’m brave. Mommy used to have a dog that was so scared of storms she would start shaking before it even started raining. She was a “scaredy-dog.” But no one ever says that. It’s always the cat who gets the bad rap.

And here’s another one: “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” That one makes me nervous. I’m not sure what skinning a cat is, but it doesn’t sound like fun. When Mommy says that, I go hide.

 But I’m not hiding now, because I just heard Mommy put our dishes in the sink. That means in a few minutes, they’re going to be washed and full of fresh food. Zorro and I will be scarfing it down, because we love to eat. Hmm, I wonder if there are any cat sayings for that. I’m going to make a cat of myself…I’m catting down my food…Zorro eats like a cat…

Nah, those just don’t have the right ring. We’ll let the pigs, wolves and horses keep those sayings.

It’s Zaturday – Mighty Hunters!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

cat huntingIt’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog.

Zorro here. Ziggy and I love to hunt. It’s what kitties do. But being indoor kitties, we don’t get to do it very often. We have to content ourselves with watching the lizards on the other side of the windows and sliding glass doors.

We have a toy one that we like to bat around. It slides across the floor really nice, so it’s a lot of fun. But it doesn’t move unless we slap at it, so it’s not nearly as much fun as the ones we see outside.

Sometimes we have some excitement, though, when we’re in North Carolina. Every so often, a little field mouse will get into the house. When that happens, Ziggy and I go nuts! Although we’re pretty fast, the mice are usually faster, and they can get into little tiny spaces that we can’t. Once in a while, though, we’ll catch one. A lot of cats kill mice and eat them, but Ziggy and I aren’t interested in that. Mommy feeds us too good. But mice make really great toys, because they move on their own! The only way they would be better is if someone rolled them in catnip.

One time a snake got in. I was the one who found it. He was a pretty good opponent. He kept striking at me, but I didn’t let him get away. I had him trapped in the corner. When Mommy checked to see what I was doing, she got all freaked out. She was afraid the snake bit me. But I’m too fast for that.

Mommy grabbed me and locked me in another room until she and Aunt Kim caught the snake. Aunt Kim got out her snake book and found that it was an Eastern rat snake, which isn’t poisonous, so they took it outside and let it go in the woods.

When Mommy came in, she scolded me and said I should never play with snakes. I always try hard to obey, but I can’t make any promises if one gets inside again. If it moves, it’s way too tempting.

Review – All That I Dread, Linda J. White

Posted on by Carol J. Post

Recently I was looking for a romantic suspense book featuring K-9 search and rescue and found All That I Dread, by Linda K. White. I wasn’t familiar with Linda’s writing before, but I’m definitely a fan now. All That I Dread had everything I look for in a story—relatable characters, an intriguing plot with twists and turns, and lots of emotion. I could tell the author really did her research. From search and rescue information to police and FBI procedures, it was clear the author knew her stuff.

Early in the story, K-9 handlers Nate and Jessica are participating in a search and rescue training exercise when they find a young woman’s body in the woods. Turns out, there have been others found in varying locations over the years, and FBI agent Scott is determined to find the connection between them. He is driven to the point of obsession, due to a long-ago tragedy in his own life. All three of these characters were so real. Nate and Jessica were both dealing with PTSD issues and in need of healing—Nate from his experiences in the military, and Jessica’s from another traumatic event.

The story has a great faith thread, too, portraying how people can find healing and forgiveness, done in a way that is completely natural and not preachy.

All That I Dread is a must-read. I give it five stars.

Jessica Chamberlain and her German shepherd, Luke, volunteer with the Battlefield Search and Rescue group in Virginia. Called out to help an FBI team investigating a series of abductions, Jess discovers she’s not finished with the past she thought she’d escaped.

Available for purchase at Amazon in Kindle, audiobook and paperback.

 

It’s Zaturday – Oh, Boy, a Box!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

Oh boy, a box

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog.

Ziggy here. Every so often, boxes show up on our doorstep. It happens in both North Carolina and Florida. Zorro and I always get excited, because sometimes there’s stuff in there for us. Like cat food. Lots of cat food. Bunches and bunches of cans. Litter too, which is almost as exciting as food, because nothing is better than a clean, fresh litter box.

But empty boxes are pretty exciting, too. As soon as Mommy or Daddy take all the stuff out of one, Zorro and I get in. This one had toys in the bottom of it, but that didn’t matter to me. It was still a box. It didn’t matter to Zorro, either, because as soon as I got out, he got in.

Cardboard boxes are the best, but we’ll take plastic ones, too. In fact, laundry baskets are like boxes. This one has soft, clean clothes in it, so it was much more comfortable than the box with the trucks.

I think all kitties love boxes. Zorro told me that Midnight used to love boxes, too. I never knew Midnight. He was an older kitty who was Zorro’s buddy before Mommy and Daddy adopted me. Here’s a picture of him in one of his favorite places—a box! Mommy named this picture, “How to fit 17 pounds of feline blubber into a 7×10 box.”

Zorro and I don’t fill out boxes the way Midnight used to. But I think we look just as cute!

Novel Giant Pancake

Posted on by Carol J. Post

I recently learned about a fun blog titled “Investigating Food Used in Novels,” by Sally Jo Pitts. Last week, she featured my book, Lethal Legacy, where the heroine Andi Wheaton makes hero Bryce Caldwell a giant pancake. She tells him, “It’s super easy. You mix up the ingredients, then bake it in a cast-iron skillet. Slather melted butter over it when it’s finished, sprinkle with sugar and voilà, breakfast.”

Sally Jo recreated the giant pancake using a Kodiac Cakes dark chocolate flapjack and waffle mix. In her words, “…the results were yummy.” You can check out her post here.

Giant pancakes for breakfast used to be a regular occurrence at our house, but in recent years we’ve gotten away from making them. Seeing the picture of Sally Jo’s gave me a serious craving for a giant pancake again. Except now, I eat grain free, almost keto. So I had to make some substitutes. Here is the original recipe:

2 eggs

½ cup of flour

½ cup of milk

¼ tsp nutmeg

4 Tbsp butter cut in small pieces

2 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in cast iron skillet. Beat eggs, then beat in flour, milk and nutmeg. Pour mixture into skillet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. When top is slightly browned, sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar. (serves 2 or 3)

When I made mine, I substituted ¼ cup of almond flour and ¼ cup of coconut flour for the regular flour. At home, I would have used almond milk instead of regular milk, but since I’m at my sister’s house in North Carolina I used her regular milk. Instead of the sugar, I drizzled raw honey over the top. Here’s how it turned out:

fast easy breakfast

The texture was grainier than the way I used to make them, because of the different flour, but the taste was similar. It gave me a tasty and reasonably healthy alternative to my usual green smoothie. Looks like giant pancakes will be making a comeback at my house.

Someone wants her family secrets buried

He’s her only chance to survive

Andrea Wheaton thought her parents’ tragic deaths were accidental—until she’s attacked during a burglary at their home. Now she’s also being targeted. Her ex-sweetheart Sheriff Deputy Bryce Caldwell insists on protecting her, though she refuses to trust him again. But with a killer closing in, can she and Bryce uncover her family’s secrets before it’s too late for them both?

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

 

 

It’s Zaturday – A Black Cat’s Take on Friday the 13th!

Posted on by Carol J. Post

It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s Facebook page!

Zorro here. Mommy says yesterday was Friday the 13th. I don’t know exactly what that means, because for us, there are just two kinds of days—days in Florida and days in North Carolina. Well, three. There are also the days that we spend in the car getting to Florida or North Carolina.

But apparently Friday the 13th is supposed to be an unlucky day. Mommy says that’s not true, because she and Daddy got married on Friday the 13th and it didn’t bring them any bad luck. Some people believe black cats are bad luck, too. But Ziggy and I think that’s crazy.

Black cat
Image by Karen Arnold from Pixabay

Like how they say it’s bad luck if a black cat crosses your path. The only time that’s true in our house is when Ziggy runs in front of Mommy and trips her. Then it’s bad luck for both of them—Mommy almost falls and Ziggy gets accidentally kicked across the room. That happened not too long ago. Now Mommy is wearing a big black boot and walking funny. But I’m smarter than Ziggy. I’ve figured out how to stay out of the way of the humans’ feet.

But people say nice things about black cats, too. Like that dreaming about one is lucky. (I help Mommy dream about me by sleeping on her pillow.) And that a black cat on your porch brings prosperity. (We can’t help Mommy and Daddy there. They don’t let us outside.) And how about this one: In olde England, it was believed that a sty in the eye would be cured if rubbed with a black cat’s tail. (Ziggy wouldn’t like that. He doesn’t want people messing with his tail.)

 

Image by lemondedis2 from Pixabay

But Ziggy and I think all those superstitions are silly, whether good or bad. Black cats are just like any other cats. We like to play, eat, get scratched under the chin, curl up in a sunny spot and spend lots of time sleeping.

So what should you do if a black cat crosses your path at night?

Pick him up and love him!