A Forever Pepper and Other Gifts

I have been working on this post since last year--December 21 to be exact!

So before I start on my Pepper story, I want to say Merry Late Christmas and Happy Late New Year and I hope that everyone is safe and had a wonderful time with family and got lots of treats and tummy rubs and Catnip. I have had very Happy Holidays with my Library Staff and especially My Assistant Boss Mommy Karen who can't stay out of the library when it is Closed and spent lots of time with me when all the other slackers employees were off doing non-Tober related things.

Yesterday (really December 20, now!) in the mail I got a Forever Pepper.


It is green & orange like my little greenish orangish pepper (RIP) was, and it is cram-packed full of some powerful 'nip. I like normal catnip, but this catnip is super special. When I'm with my pepper, I lick it and bite it and chew it and bunny-kick it and rub my face on it and Love it with All My Heart.

Here we are together.

*This is where there should be a video of us playing together, but Blogger is being Bad and won't let me post it. So maybe I'll save it for later, and here's another picture.*


Because I love my Pepper so much and so violently, my Assistant Bosses have decided to keep it in my treat drawer, so that I can enjoy it while I'm being supervised. (I think they just want to take lots of pictures of me being fierce and Mancatly.) Thank you Pepper-givers for my special treat--you could probably go into business making Forever Peppers!

On Christmas AB Karen got my stocking down and I got treats! I got some from Santa and some from a kitty friend of mine named Chi.

Then, a few days later, I got some of Frankie Frank's Fabulous Feline Frenzy Inducing Homegrown Organic Catnip! And treats!


Here I am wondering why in the heck we're taking pictures of the stuff instead of rolling in it:


This Catnip is also not like the normal stuff (although I like that, too, Staff). This stuff makes my nose super-excited and I can eat whole leafs of it at a time! And then I take a nap. Thank you Kelly for my treats! Now could you please send Karen a note and let her know that she doesn't need to be all stingy with it?

My staff has been very busy un-decorating the library and leaving bits of garland and other sparkly things everywhere. They've also been working to make a January newsletter since (oops) it's now January. And on top of that they've been doing the usual library things like checking out books and shelving books and drinking coffee and eating chocolate. It's exhausting watching them work so hard.

Feeling like One Special Cat,

Tober

The Mean Staff Diet

I have heard my staff muttering the most alarming things lately. I keep hearing words like "supper" and "dry food only" and "treats" and "he'll be okay" and, most importantly, "No More Soft Food."

No More Soft Food.

This is getting out of hand. They think that they can deny me my daily doses of Stinky Goodness because I don't eat it at it too much. I just like the gravy. But still, I like the routine--knowing that they will drop whatever they're doing and run to the grocery store. . . how they apologize and give extra Catnip when AAB Breakfast-Giver Becki is out and they do the usual bang-up job of FORGETTING to FEED ME. . . how the smell of my squishy food invigorates my nose and whiskers after a good seven-hour nap!

What am I supposed to do with these people? I'd fire them all, but I suspect they'd come back because they wouldn't have anything better to do. Oooh, AAB Christine said that was a Rotten thing to say. Well, it's Rotten to starve a Poor Defenseless (no thumbs!) Little Orange Cat and change his routine without asking permission!

You know what else is Rotten?

My pepper from my gracious West Lafayette friends. AAB Britta discovered some fur growing on the underside of it (in the broken part) last week, so we took one last photo together. They even wrapped it in paper towel so AAB Ritchie wouldn't fish it out of the trash like he kept doing with Little Green Pepper.


If I'd know they were going to take my suppers and breakfasts Away, I'd have saved Pepper for a snack.

Wasting away at the hands of my Treacherous Staff,

Tober the (skinny) Cat

Little greenish orangish reddish pepper

Something weird is happened to my New green pepper that was brought to my by my gracious West Lafayette Friends. We have been hanging out together over the last week or so, and I'm noticing changes. Here is a picture of me head-bumping Pepper to the floor last Wednesday. Please note the beautiful green color:


Now, Pepper is starting to get a little wrinkly in this picture, which is A-OK, because that's what little green Pepper (R.I.P.) started to do before he was thrown Away. But then on Monday I saw this:


It's turning orange!!! What is happening? Is it defective? How did it turn from green to green & orange without my permission? Such a mystery.

Today I had AAB Photographer take a new picture of Pepper before he turns purple or something. He looks weird now, but he still smells nice, and the stem is still sturdy and grabbable:


I hope that little green multicolored pepper and I have lots of time left together. My staff have noticed a gaping split in the bottom, but nothing is oozing out yet, so it's all good.

Purrs,

Tober

One Happy Cat

The last time I posted, I was pretty heartbroken about the loss of Little Pepper. While I was pepperless, I tried to make do with items that we have at hand. Here is the text of a Top-Secret Library Business Email (I'm sharing it because we are all such good friends):

Hi everyone,

This morning as I was putting away some Toddler books I noticed a small pine cone in the drawer of books that is on the floor. What? Did a child bring a pine cone in and lose it in the books? Oh well. Myrtle and I threw it away. I also noticed that Tober has decided he doesn’t like the leaves in one of the windows in the J room – he had knocked them completely to the floor! This afternoon I decided the leaves should be put back and in so doing noticed that there are also pine cones within the leaves. Aha! Tober has apparently been playing with the pine cone from the leaves and lost it in the Toddler books! If Tober would like his pine cone to play with it is now on my desk. Myrtle rescued it from the trash.

KB

A pine cone is obviously no replacement for a small green pepper, but it did make a nice crunchy sound. . . Apparently my heartbrokenness upset some of my fans, because on Monday I had two visitors who came bringing a green pepper because they felt sad that mine was thrown Away. Karen Dalman and her friend Brenda came from the land of West Lafayette to meet me and to present me with a fresh small green pepper!!!!

Because of their niceness I allowed them several pets of my Mancatly self. They determined that I am a very Fine Manager and Boss, and they were able to see my 4' X 4' wood quilt (even though it has Tubby Tober on it).

They pronounced me a Very Fine Cat indeed (proving that they have Smarts), declared my quilt square and my Library Fine (more Smarts), and then visited the museum, which they also thought Fine (even more Smarts).

Here is an Action Shot of me with my New pepper, which I Love Love Love:


It makes a satisfying *thump* when it hits the floor (but it's not shriveled enough to fit in the paper tray thingie yet).

Then, because I am such a special Boss, I was presented with (!) a second small green pepper from AAB Becki!!!!!! AND AB Karen brought me a small winesap apple with a nice stem for flinging!

Now she (AB Karen) complains that staff desks are starting to look like Produce stands, but I ignore her because I am Boss and she is Not. I am One Happy Cat to have such thoughtful blog Readers!!!

Here I am posing for a Pepper Picture:


Now I have a desk-full of things to fling and slap! How great is that?

Many thankses and headbutts to my pepper-bringers!

Purrs,

Tober

Happy Early Halloween and Stuff

This morning AB Karen found a Jealous Cat sitting by my barn quilt.


I would be Mad, but I guess maybe Jealous Cat just wishes he had a barn quilt and a Library, too. So he can sit near my barn quilt whenever he wants.

Today the Staff decided to celebrate Halloween early, since only four of them will work tomorrow, and zero of them will work on Halloween (because we are Closed on Sundays).

Left to right you see: a lady with paper feathers on her, a lady with a red cape, a lady with crazy socks, a lady with a wig-hat, a lady with a terrifying hat, and a lady with lots of smileys. These are my Peeps. My Posse. Don't mess with Tober, 'cause they've got my back. (They will probably also send me lots of emails complaining that I bloggified them without permissions.)


We had snacks for Halloween/Helen's-Last-Day-at-Work. Helen is Retiring, which I absolutely forbid, but she said she would anyways, so I Fired her. Helen has promised to return for Tober time, so I'll forgive her (as long as she brings treats).

We have lots of snacks around here, and sometimes it's hard to get Staff to understand that there are "help yourself" snacks and "special occasion" snacks. AAB Becki has to try to keep folks in line:


With all of the excitement and candy bars going on here, a cupcake was left unattended:


I made sure to lick just enough to determine that I really didn't like it, and then left it so AAB Christine could scrape the icing off. (I like cool whip better.)

I have to end this post with some sad news. After much consideration, we (meaning not me) have decided to do Away with the pepper. He is looking pretty rough these days, as he is almost two weeks old.


I still love the pepper, but we really don't have fun like we used to. His leaves are gone, and he doesn't make that nice hollow thumping sound when he hits the floor now. I did swat him into the paper-tray thingie a few times, but it just isn't the same.


R.I.P. little pepper. I will miss you.

Okay, last but not least. . . in case I do not do an Official Halloween Post, I want to say Happy Halloween to everyone, and a special stay safe for all of my blogging friends--especially the fuzzy ones. Stay close to home (or inside) so no rotten mean people mess with you!

Wishing everyone a Happy and Safe Halloween,

Tober

Tober + Pepper 4-Ever

Very Firstly, thank you for all of my Finding Day wishes! I had a most wonderful day, and my Blogging friends helped make it even more special!

Last Monday Ritchie (the Allergic one) brought in lots of Produce and AAB Becki put some of it in a bowl for people to take. I put my teeth in a green pepper, so my AB Karen decided that maybe I should get to keep it since people don't want Produce that a Cat has chewed on (even if it was a Famous Library Cat who did it and the Produce would probably be worth a lot of moneys on Ebay). So it got put upstairs where I could knock it onto the floor with my paws or fling it off of the desk with my teeth.


When I first got it, it was nice and shiny and had a long stem and leaves on it. I could knock it or drop it into AAB Christine's paper tray thingie:


(AAB Britta's camera did this! Biggify to fully appreciate my Mighty Hunter face in the last few frames!)

I love my pepper, but once it started looking all wrinkly AAB Mean Christine decided to throw it Away. She took a picture so I would have something to remember it by (which didn't make things any easier).


But my pepper was saved when Ritchie (the Allergic one) noticed it in the trash. You see, Ritchie has been trained not to throw away my things. I'm sure he was worried that he would be Fired if my pepper came up missing, so he fished it out of the trash and put it near my Feline Training Device Box.

Christine found it on the floor this morning and put it in its rightful place. We have been reunited:


If something terrible should happen to my pepper, I have a nice Apple on standby.

Purrs,

Tober