Friday, March 29, 2024
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Daily Photo: Shamelessly Flirting

two black cats
“Oh, Mr. Sunshine…”

Bella flirts shamelessly with Mr. Sunshine, turning on every single feline house panther charm available to her, her toes all curled and her eyes like slits. And she does look absolutely adorable in her basket. I had mentioned yesterday that she has a little spayed-kitty crush on Mr. Sunshine, and who wouldn’t? He’s the closest to a mancat we have around here. Bella is not a girly-girl, either, and both are hormone-free, so her idea of flirting is an invitation to wrestle or chase each other around the house is really comical compared to her usual tough girl routine.

But apparently Mr. Sunshine really doesn’t get it. “I have to finish cleaning my toes, Bella,” he says, to her great disappointment.

two black cats
Mr. Sunshine goes back to cleaning his toes.

He did figure it out later, though Bella had to take drastic action and try to tackle him. But that was why, yesterday, she let him sit in her basket. Kitty love.

. . . . . . .

What other photos have I shared on or around this date?

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How to Make a Good Box Even Better, 2014
black cat in boxes
Two boxes at one time!

Put another good box inside of it! Two boxes at one time, it’s almost more than Bean can handle! Look how excited he is!

. . . . . . .

Where Did the World Go? 2014
black cat at frosted door
Where did the world go?

Giuseppe the Singing Window Washer does his best to clean the window, but this time it’s not working. The Five think it’s pretty serious when what’s happening outside blocks their window. Mimi turns around and heads back for the furnace vent when I open the door. I know it’s well below zero when the back door is this frosted. I’m thinking of all the insects overwintering in my garden that won’t survive this. I’ll take another day or two, please, just to be sure.

. . . . . . .

Little Rainbows, 2014
black cat in sun
Little rainbows all over Giuseppe’s fur and whiskers.

Little rainbows? On a black cat? Black cat fur has all the colors of the rainbow, and only takes a good dose of sunshine to see the sparkles and reflections on whiskers and fur. Giuseppe watches the activities out the back door in the morning.

I had chosen this photo before I realized the photo reprise from last year was another similar composition.

. . . . . . .

Free Cat Bed With Trimmer, 2013
black cat in box
Jelly Bean in a box-induced nap.

The trimmer box has a hole in the top, and it was already a little “broken in” by the person who’d owned it before me, so naturally, as soon as I unpacked my new gadget, each cat took turns stepping into the hole, giving the box a good smell and trying it on for size. I have photos of each of them sitting in the box thinking about how nice it would be to sleep there. Thinking about sleeping is almost as good as sleeping, and an adequate warm-up activity prior to napping.

Above is Jelly Bean, adequately filling the opening with a nice rounded shape on the top. I slid the box around on my table as I worked, but Bean didn’t even flick an ear. Guess the box has a magic sleepy spell.

And it even accommodates more than one cat…sort of. Here Bean is underneath everyone on the left, Giuseppe joined him on the right, then Mimi decided her sons would make a nice soft bed inside the sleepy box and settled on top of them. Surprisingly, the box is still in one piece.

three black cats in box
Bean, Mimi and Giuseppe “share” the box.

. . . . . . .

3…2…1, 2013
two black cats
One way or the other, someone’s going to get it in 3…2…1…

Jelly Bean often looks cute and sleepy, but beneath that sweet exterior lies a mischievous little black imp. His favorite activity, aside from engaging brother Giuseppe in a wrestling match, is teasing his sister Mewsette.

Here he is thoroughly relishing his little plot to disturb Mewsette’s reverie, taking his time to decide exactly how he’ll leap up and startle his sister. Look at those eyes. He’s just full of himself and his little plan.

In the end, he didn’t get the chance to follow through because Mewsette heard me behind her and turned around to talk to me. But there will be another chance.

. . . . . . .

The Dark Behind the Door, 2012
four black cats in a pile
Cuddle Puddle behind the door.

Why is the bathroom door closed? I thought. And why is it so dark in there? And why can’t I open the door…

It’s a bi-fold that folds inward but would not, so I pushed the pin down and pulled it out of the track so it could swing free, reached in and turn on the light to reveal…

four black cats in a pile
The cuddle puddle from above.

Another big gob of black cats.

I just have to guess they really, really like to be together. Plus, this is a stolen moment in a space they don’t often have available to them. The tortie girls spend overnight in the bathroom, and a portion of the afternoon. Obviously, this is a choice spot for napping, and what better to use as a pillow than one of your siblings?

If Mimi had come along, as she sometimes does, she would just climb on top of them, bathing ears and noses as she went; she weighs less than half of any of her children.

From the front, it’s Mewsette, then Jelly Bean on the left and Mr. Sunshine under him, and Giuseppe in the back.

. . . . . . .

Mewsette Watching the Rain, 2012
black cat looking out window
Mewsette Watching the Rain

Mewsette watches the rain in a graceful posture.

On its own, the photo is not exceptional and there’s also a bunch of stuff on the table top, but I loved Mewsette’s quiet curving silhouette as she gazed out the window. I decided to use a bunch of different techniques to soften out what I didn’t want and to accentuate what I did.

I desaturated the image, used the “ocean ripple” filter in Photoshop with a lot of action but small ripples, and then added a blue filter to give the photo a bit of mystique, that feel of a rainy day. I will occasionally create a very rough surface on drawing paper in order to achieve the same effect with pastel or charcoal but I felt the “watery” filter was fitting.


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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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