Friday, March 29, 2024
Basilcatscats for adoptiondaily photofoster catsgiuseppeMariposamimi

Daily Photo: Reactions to Some Plumbing Fun

Mariposa and Basil safe and comfy.
Mariposa and Basil safe and comfy.

Are they precious or what? Mariposa and Basil are safely tucked into the pillows on a nice soft bed, away from the noise and mess of the plumbing excitement in the kitchen…and safe, warm and dry inside on a cold, muddy, rainy day. Total win for two rescued cats! Basil is such a natural foster and Mariposa loves all the other cats. Basil is the only one who is her friend so far, though. But with a friend like Basil you’re in good paws.

About the plumbing fun

Well, here I am in the corner of the kitchen with seven cats in front of me and Giuseppe singing the song of his people. Someone check on me later.

PS: I was preparing for some unexpected plumbing, happening right now. Giuseppe is supurrvising the operations. He is such a busy body.

Seven cats and me in the corner of the kitchen!

On Sunday I rinsed Mariposa’s water bowl under the tub faucet, then went downstairs to the kitchen to find water dripping through the ceiling. I have had water issues off an on since the bathroom was redone nearly 10 years ago, but nothing like this. I called my retired friend Bill to help me troubleshoot this and after looking in there from the bathroom we found a bad connection, but had to get to it through the kitchen ceiling. So the stained and peeling area was cut away to be replaced now that I think we’ve determined what was the problem. And I think it also might be a part of why I so often have water in my basement. It took the whole day, so I’m behind again, but thanks to Bill I just owe him a lot of bowls of homemade soup.

Giuseppe made sure everything was done purrfectly. Now I just have a hole in my kitchen ceiling to cover until we can close it up and a holy mess to clean up.

Giuseppe checking the materials.
Giuseppe checking the materials.

See that big dark thing above? That’s the hole in the ceiling. Mimi has her eyes on it.

Mimi!

Photos from previous years

Wordless Wednesday: Watchers

Watchers
Watchers

Trio, 2017

 

Trio
Trio

They are gathered on a cardboard box in front of the window but they look as if they are posing for a monumental sculpture. It’s Mr. Sunshine, Jelly Bean and Basil.

~~~

From Instagram yesterday, last night and today

Wow, yesterday at this time (about 4:00 p.m.) Mimi and I were enjoying a relatively warm afternoon. Today we had snow flurries and everyone is sleeping in heaps.

But Mimi was beautiful and very inspiring. I didn’t even get a chance to use all my photos.

Nice warm sunshine.
Nice warm sunshine.
A good scratch on her favorite rocker.
A good scratch on her favorite rocker.
Mimi and her shadow self.
Mimi and her shadow self.
Pretty Mimi with mums and purple.
Pretty Mimi with mums and purple sun flares.

Four #blackcats neatly lined up on the throw at the foot of the bed, yes, last night was cold!

Four cats neatly lined up on the throw at the food of the bed.
Four cats neatly lined up on the throw at the food of the bed.

Basil has his imaginary spa treatment. What will they do when it gets really cold?

Basil in his imaginary spa.
Basil in his imaginary spa.

~~~

From 2014, “The Panther”

black cat on tree
Silhouette in blue.

What a difficult choice! Mimi and I went out into the yard today, the first time in a while, and I usually try to limit my photos in posts but I just couldn’t for this. She was so beautiful prowling around on her tree, a real tree, not an indoor cat tree! Even choosing the main photo to feature—one of the black and whites where she really looks like a panther, or the silhouette against the blue autumn sky?

After wandering around in the grass we made our way to the picnic table where Mimi had a good preliminary scratch.

black cat on tree
Starting out on the picnic table.

Then we walked around in the leaf-covered woodland garden to the leaning mulberry tree—at more than a 45-degree angle, so it’s purr-fect for Mimi to simply step up and start walking.

black cat on tree
Mimi boldly climbs her tree trunk!

And stop and have a scratch—look at those fearsome claws!

black cat on tree
A really, really good scratch!

Then up and up and up!

black cat on tree
Up and up and up!

It was very important for Mimi to rub herself all over this particular vertical branch, especially rubbing her face, cheeks and chin vehemently up and down. Must have been some intense messages there for her to respond to!

black cat on tree
Face rubs!

Then she got back to some scratching.

black cat on tree
Fear this!

And this one is my other most favorite—she could be a real panther!

black cat on tree
Mimi looking convincingly like a panther…

You’ll notice in most photos that Mimi is wearing a harness and leash, and as usual her leash became tangled on a small branch and she nearly fell—I often unbuckle her leash when she’s in the tree and was actually reaching to do so once I saw her turning around which is when she gets tangled. I’m always right there so I reached up and caught her and unbuckled the leash. She was done with the tree after that because there were other places to investigate…

Hearing little rustles in the leaves…

black cat
Watching the brush.

Looking very pretty in the green and orange…

black cat
Looking pretty.

We had attempted to go outdoors yesterday to take our compost to the compost bin, had Mimi’s leash on and stepped outside. I looked around the yard to check for any hazards and saw none, still holding Mimi’s leash as she started down the stairs, then I heard rustling out in the yard…

two white-tailed deer
Our resident deer.

Mimi’s reaction; you can’t tell she’s completely puffed, and she’s talking about the situation, but she’s still just a little cat, though perhaps Mimi is thinking of dinner…?

black cat
Mimi stops in her tracks and puffs her fur and talks to the deer.

Yes, the deer are back—in fact, they really never left. The spots where Mimi was sitting were where the two does had laid down yesterday. The buck was not minding his harem today, but I really didn’t think Mimi should encounter these two at all.

It’s been a strange summer for Mimi and me. I had far less time this year than usual so I waited until the weather was reliably warm to plant without fear of frost. Though I usually plant as early as March but knew I might not be able to cover a really early garden in the case of late freezing weather. Then the groundhog had a feast. I took the time to turn the soil and mix more compost in, and planted again. Then the deer showed up and ate the second planting, and I just let the garden go. After 23 years it can use a break, and I have some updates I need to do and decided this year could be devoted to catching up with work especially after buying my car in the spring. My fence is just vinyl-coated wire with metal posts, and it’s served me well in the years I’ve been here. But neighborhood kids cutting through or past my yard along with falling tree branches have smashed it down, and I’ve known for a while I’ve needed to repair it and let the vines grow on it again. Now I really have to! I think the deer are beautiful but I rely on my garden for food, and working there and enjoying my yard through the year is my solace, not to mention Mimi’s territory as well. But that’s why it was so special for Mimi and me to have a nice early evening today—it’s been a long time!


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Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

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