Daily Photo: Waiting for Birds
We had a few slow days at the feeder and Hamlet and Ophelia were a little disappointed. With the big black cherry gone and the lilac that used to be under the window as well, this feeder is out in the open and some days we only have visits from the nuthatch and little downy woodpecker. Hope springs eternal with cats and their entertainment, though. Here’s hoping for better stations on Cat TV!
Sorry, Tabbies O Trout Towne!
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What other photos have I shared on or around this date?
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It’s All About the Baskets
What happens when you have five cats and only four baskets.
After a weekend spent in the studio with my cats, this is how things worked out with the baskets. Over the two days I shared several photos on Facebook because they were killing me with their cuteness, but this one really was the grand finale.
Because Giuseppe was sleeping atop Mimi, eventually she had to get out from underneath him and settle in a separate small auxiliary basket that only fits her. But she did seem to enjoy looking at her children.
Earlier today four of them were so perfectly lined up in their baskets I had to get their photo.
“All lined up in their baskets. Sorry for all the basket photos. I’ve largely spent the weekend in my studio with my cats and they are so cute with these baskets I have to share it.”
This actually is the purpose of the baskets–to give them a safe place to observe me and to sleep while I’m working in here with paints and pastels and glue and all my other materials, and making and trimming prints and cards on various papers and so on. The chance of accidents is very high in a place like my studio, but to date we are accident free. And they are non-stop cute.
Then from last night…
“The baskets are slowly filling up for tonight’s napping marathon.”
Well, our weekend in the studio is about to end, and here’s looking forward to another one!
Meal Planning With Cats
Meal planning with cats. Of course all those piles of papers are for cats to sit on and rearrange as they see fit. Mimi just wanted to go outside. Basil thought it was a great spot to watch out the back door. It took me about an hour to sort through just to find a handful of recipes. Such fun in the kitchen!
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Daily Photo: Shamelessly Flirting, 2015
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.
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.
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Daily Photo: Caught!, 2015
The girl really gets around! Last night I turned around to see this in the dark but I caught them in action with my flash. Brazen, the two of them! Just a moment before they’d been all cuddly and cozy like this:
And then they just ignored me and went right back to it! But I discovered it wasn’t Mr. Sunshine—it was Bean!
Bella apparently feels really good!
But it’s Bean, and he’s kind of like Santa Claus. He was her first love, love for cuddling, and he still gives her a pretty good bath. She does love it. So, actually, it wasn’t what I thought.
Ms. Bella does have a secret admirer though. You’ll meet him soon!
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What other photos have I shared on or around this date?
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How to Make a Good Box Even Better, 2014
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!
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Where Did the World Go? 2014
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.
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Little Rainbows, 2014
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.
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Free Cat Bed With Trimmer, 2013
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.
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3…2…1, 2013
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.
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The Dark Behind the Door, 2012
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…
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.
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Mewsette Watching the Rain, 2012
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.
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item. Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter. © 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski Weekly schedule of features: Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters Tuesday: Rescue Stories Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork Thursday: New Merchandise Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
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© 2017 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
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Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
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BURDZ ???????!!!!!!!
🙂 ♥♥♥
I apologized to you!