Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Daily Photo: You Need a Break

Mimi tells me I need a break.
Mimi tells me I need a break.

What Mimi does when she wants attention, though she tells me it’s all about me. Ever-vigilant Mimi tells me when I need a break, which coincides with when she wants to go outside. I think she knows our nice, though overly hot, days are short. But she has no qualms about walking right into my working area.

~~~

From Previous Years

Three, Four, Five Black Cats, 2017

Three cats trying to balance.
Four cats trying to balance.

This situation never really worked out for everyone involved, but it was surely entertaining.

Some days they all need to sleep in a heap as they did when they were kittens, but they don’t always choose a spot that accommodates them at today’s size and weight. I piled a bunch of stuff on the rocker because it all needed to move out of the house in one way or another. My cats love new set ups and new items, and that was probably the attraction for them to try to add themselves to this uneven pile of stuff.

Above, they are all settled, but some of them are slowly sliding off the pile…

Below, they all got up and resettled, sort of. Some kitties are obviously not comfortable.

Four cats settling in.
Four cats settling in.

Then finally they find another point of balance and they each get a little bit of sleep until…

Four cats asleep.
Four cats asleep.

Mimi joins them! And it all falls apart. Small as she is, there is just no way they can all fit there and relax and have a nap.

Mimi joins them!
Mimi joins them!

So it ends up with the three who started it, Giuseppe, Jelly Bean and Mr. Sunshine.

A three-cat clover.
A three-cat clover.

I just want everyone to know that we do have beds and baskets and boxes all over the house.

~~~

From Instagram

Working backward from this morning…

Mr. Sunshine is enjoying a dark, rainy day in his best form–on the bean counter, on his back, all toes curled in bliss.

Sunshine at his best.
Sunshine at his best.

From Sunday in the kitchen…

Good thing I needed the stock pot today so Mimi could have a cozy nap spot.

Mimi has a good nap spot.
Mimi has a good nap spot.

Even when her boys wanted to share it with her.

They boys want to share.
They boys want to share.

Easy Sunday cuddle puddle with Bean and Basil.

Bean with Basil
Bean with Basil

 

 

. . . . . . .

Special photos from previous years on this date

Now That’s a Scratching Post, 2016

Now that's a scratching post!
Now that’s a scratching post!

Nos that’s a scratching post! Mimi and I spent some time outside this afternoon and she ran for the river birch as soon as she saw it and had a really good, long scratch. She scratched so hard that she ended up with bark chips on her face! Watching her in this I could imagine how good it felt—stretching her back, her legs, exercising her paws, getting a good, deep grip in the bark and yanking pieces off.

Mimi has bark chips on her face.
Mimi has bark chips on her face.

. . . . . . .

Special photos from previous years on this date

Wordless Wednesday: Autumn Kittens

black cat silhouettes
Bella eyes Smokie’s tail as they enjoy the windowsill.

. . . . . . .

Daily Photo Reprise: Back on the Butterfly, 2010

Back on the Butterfly.
Back on the Butterfly.

The furnace came on the first time this season on Sunday night, and Peaches wandered into my office and sat in front of the furnace vent at the foot of the stairs, her favorite sleeping spot. In honor of the occasion I unpacked the cleaned and rested butterfly rug for her comfort.

Just as if the heating season had never ended last spring, the boys all gravitated toward it and joined Peaches while she tucked herself in between them. Giuseppe and Jelly Bean gave her a few licks and purred, but mostly they just transferred warmth and youthful energy. I swear it’s what keeps her going so well.

I just have to leap over them to get to the steps, but what’s a little inconvenience for the comfort of up to six cats?

One caution if your cats sleep around heating sources such as furnace vents, wood stoves or cooking stoves—make sure they don’t press against any heat-producing source. Cats are heat seekers, but they can easily burn through their fur down to their skin if they curl up against a standard furnace vent, the legs or other parts of some wood stoves, especially older ones, fireplace apparatus like screens or andirons while the fire is burning, some radiators or even an old-fashioned gas stove top with the pilot underneath. You’d think they’d know they were burning themselves, but haven’t you ever burned yourself on the stove or on a grill and not immediately known it?

This vent is intended for high-traffic areas and is an alloy coated with Teflon. It doesn’t hold enough heat to burn skin or fur while the furnace is blowing hot air unless the furnace goes above 85 degrees (mine never sees 70). I tested it with my own hand.

I have all my other vents, which are basic painted metal and can’t be replaced because of their size and placement, surrounded with a wire cage—nothing fancy, I made it out of vinyl-coated fencing held far enough away from the vent that the wire or vinyl can’t build up enough heat on the outside of the cage. Most newer wood stoves or other burners have protective barriers on legs and parts around the bottom, but the fireplaces and stoves are still an issue requiring care. I actually had a cat who slept on the stove top over the pilot, and I had to layer cookie sheets over it so he wasn’t directly in contact with the hot metal where he repeatedly re-burned his front leg.


Art and Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

AfterDinnerNap-Etsy~~~

Feline Photography from Portraits of Animals!

Remember to Dream

Mimi reminds you that dreams do come true, so it’s advisable to remember to dream every day, no matter the circumstances, so the universe will know what dreams you want, and when they do come true, you’ll know what to do. Read more, and purchase.



Copyright

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.


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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.

5 thoughts on “Daily Photo: You Need a Break

  • off topic of this post; back to the tote; this sounds crazy; but the entire color scheme
    of the project in works; a lite blue background with “wisps” of maroon around the cat
    and the books would make for a nice tote, as well as the black on the white…. !!??
    see: Peeling off the acetate backing 🙂 ♥♥

    Reply
    • I have lots of ideas for tote colors and combinations, maybe someday if these actually sell. But I like the clarity of the design and don’t really want the wisps, which I’d have to do by hand. Thanks for the ideas!

      Reply
    • One other option is to find a marbled fabric and make my own totes. I’m actually working that out with my sewing machine, just as soon as I dig it out from under stuff. But I hate being stuck with limited selections of totes.

      Reply

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