Monday, March 18, 2024
black catscat photographscatsdaily photogiuseppejelly beanmr. sunshine

Daily Photo: A Gentle Sunbath

two black cats
Napping in gentle sun.

 

For once the weather was a little cooler and the boys could have a sunbath at the front window without roasting themselves. You can see by Basil’s and Mr. Sunshine’s blissful expressions how welcome it is. We expect summer to be hot, but temps near 90 are a little too much for our tiny house at certain times of the day. If we can get a nice day here and there we promise to appreciate it!

~~~

From Instagram

Kind of a quiet family gathering this morning.

Gossips.
Brothers are occupying my desk this afternoon.

three black cats
Brothers.

From the back yard and beyond

I’m a little behind but I’ll be sure to catch up on my daily photo blog Today.

 

From around this date in past years

But…How Many Cats Are Really Here? 2020

two black cats by mirror
How many cats are here?

But how many housepanthers are actually napping here? Is it the full complement of apocalyptic cats? You’d think they’d at least want some social distancing in this heat!

two black cats by mirror
Too many ears.

Giuseppe and Mr. Sunshine are not telling.

two black cats by mirror
How many cats are here?

 

From around this date in past years

As Graceful as a Waterfall, 2019

Hamlet on the wardrobe.
Hamlet on the wardrobe.

Hamlet sleeps like someone threw him there. On top of the wardrobe all afternoon, it’s hard to tell what part of him is which in all that fur. Until he suddenly pulls himself up into a complete cat form, like a wood nymph formed of leaf litter and twigs from the forest floor, then he gracefully spills over the edge of the wardrobe, his paws landing perfectly on the windowsill, so that he can inspect a bee buzzing outside the screen. From sleeping in a heap to able predator in an unusual posture in a matter of seconds. Cats are truly amazing.

 

Photos from Instagram

I’m ready to play now.
Mariposa is always clear in her messages. But to clarify, she does not want pets even though she is soooo cute because my hand would become a toy. I have interactive toys handy for moments like this.

Mariposa is ready to play.
Mariposa is ready to play.

 

Photos shared in past years

Long-haired Boys, 2018

Long-haired boys keeping cool.

The longhaired boys enjoy the cool quiet of the basement floor in both the heat (with all that hair!) and our community fireworks. Now the neighborhood is getting lit up so they’ll be down there a while.

It’s blurry but I love this photo of the two of them. Hamlet still needs a little guidance and while that usually comes from one of the ninjas, Basil is often his partner in crime and advisor all at once. I was glad to see both of them in the basement in the heat, though. They insisted in staying in the kitchen aside from occasional times to sit and look out the basement door, even when I occasionally caught each of them panting just a bit. But the firecrackers drove them both down to the basement where they settled on the cool concrete floor. My good boys.

~~~

From Instragram

The super talented groundhogs in our neighborhood are so fun to watch. A little one trims along the sidewalk while an adult climbs my mulberry tree and eats every berry and most of the leaves.

 

 

. . . . . . .

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

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A Good Sunday Stretch, 2017
A good Sunday stretch.
A good Sunday stretch.

Bella has such long legs that when she stretches they all get tangled and confused. When you’re in the middle of a good sunny Sunday morning nap it doesn’t matter if your legs are tangled.

. . . . . . .

From Facebook and Instagram

Mimi and Mewsette enjoying the laundry shadows and staying close to the waterbowl.

Mimi and Mewsette enjoying the laundry shadows and staying close to the waterbowl.
Mimi and Mewsette enjoying the laundry shadows and staying close to the waterbowl.

. . . . . . .

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

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Golden Morning
Golden morning.
Golden morning.

I posted this on Facebook because I couldn’t wait to share it.

Not bad for a photo I took and played around with before I even got out of bed! Nice way to awaken the creative senses on a Monday, and about 15 seconds of muted sunlight.

It’s rare that I have my Smartphone in my bedroom because I usually charge it at one of my computers overnight, but I saw Bella on the wardrobe through my bedroom doorway and just got the phone and took a quick shot without even sitting up, sure she’d move if she saw me move. She did not so I could sit up and zoom in and capture her in about six postures, sitting in the same place but turning her head this way and that. I chose this posture because the silhouette was so clear, then used a few filters to fill in the background with light and isolate her silhouette, then used my camera’s sepia filter. Everything is blurry and a little out of focus but Bella. I think we’ll be seeing more of this image.

. . . . . . .

From Facebook and Instagram

Hamlet was helping in the studio over the weekend.

Hamlet is determined to be a studio cat, because pens are irresistible.
Hamlet is determined to be a studio cat, because pens are irresistible.

Today Mimi and her children were very distracting.

My studio staff is working hard on this Monday.
My studio staff is working hard on this Monday.
Now they've made it a family affair. Really, I can't tell you what an amazing thing it is to turn around and see this pile of happy black cats, and they have no idea what a wonder they are. I don't know how I get anything done some days.
Now they’ve made it a family affair. Really, I can’t tell you what an amazing thing it is to turn around and see this pile of happy black cats, and they have no idea what a wonder they are. I don’t know how I get anything done some days.

 

. . . . . . .

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

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Cookie in Speckles, 2011

tortoiseshell cat in speckled sun
Cookie in speckles, from July 2011…for some reason, a very special photo.

Cool, sunny summer mornings are rare, but if they are not spent outside, they are best spent by the basement door, at eye level with all that’s going on in the back yard, catching the breeze and enjoying the play of sun and shadow.

So says Cookie, a connoisseur of such things. She’s been sitting at this basement door all her life, a considerable time—in fact, her name and pawprints are pressed into the concrete of the step along with her soul-sister Sophie’s because the two spent many hours together, sitting quietly like a couple of stoop-sitting babushkas watching the world go by from their front porch.

And I love watching Cookie enjoy these things. I was going to photograph the name and pawprints to add to this, but the moment grew a little too emotional when I began to think of Sophie, and of she and Cookie in younger days. I’ll save that for another time.

. . . . . . .

This photo is from July 1, 2011. I photographed the heck out of Cookie that year. She looks fine and was feeling great, but on that particular morning, in that moment when she looked up from her bath, seeing her in all those speckles of sun in by the basement door where I’d seen her for years, somehow I knew, and she knew, that 2011 would be our last year together. Possibly that was the reason for the tears when I considered photographing her name and Sophie’s in the doorstep. I can still see Cookie there on speckled mornings, and Sophie too sometimes when I look in from the yard.

. . . . . . .

Easy Sunday in a Box

black cat in box
An easy Sunday in a box.

Well, there isn’t much better than a nice quiet Sunday spent in a fresh cardboard box in the sun. Jelly Bean is enjoying all the nuances of the box and the sun on the kitchen table. It was so good that I had to take a bunch of photos as the light moved.

black cat in box
Could anything be better?

Jelly Bean is fine! I’m so sorry for anyone who was worried about him! I had copied and pasted some images about Kennedy here from a former post and forgot to change the text!

. . . . . . .

What other photos did I feature on this date?

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Bad Hunters!, 2013
black cat with yellow beans
All they got were these beans!

Giuseppe is, to say the least, disappointed at the prowess of his human Mama Bernadette and feline Mama Mimi.

black cat in garden
Mimi slinks around the bean tub.

Our moms went hunting in the garden and all they brought back was this useless basket of beans! They were out there all morning and we were watching them among the tomato plants and broccoli thinking “sauteed vole with fresh grass” or “chipmunk stew with catnip”. It was almost more than we could bear, the waiting, and even though none of we Four like to go outdoors we were almost ready to charge out there and meet them, and were hoping we’d have enough for lunch and dinner, after all that waiting.

And then the two of them came strolling into the house with this! And they were happy about it! I dug around in there and tried to see if perhaps the mousies or voles were hidden underneath but I knew they weren’t because I couldn’t smell them.

As for Mama Bernadette, Mr. Sunshine knew there was something wrong when he inspected her garden seeds the day she went out a-planting and didn’t find seeds for mousies or catnip. He and Mama Mimi tried to tell her it was all useless but she would not listen.

black cat in garden
Mimi strolls quietly around the garden.

We’re worried maybe there is something wrong with out Mama Mimi. Maybe she’s been hanging with Mama Bernadette too much. Mama Mimi never taught us to hunt or brought us things but she told us all about it so we knew just what to do when the first mousie showed up in the basement.

And that’s what we’ve had to resort to—hunting for our own dinners! Mama Bernadette calls it some stupid “Mousewatch” thing and has a good laugh on our behalf, but this is serious stuff. If they’re going to go hunting out there and only bring in this sort of thing, we Four have to get to work! Already Jelly Bean has caught two, but the tell us it’s five mice per cat per day…let’s hope it rains a lot so they come running into the basement.

I don’t mind them supplementing their diet with a real mouse now and then since they do invade the basement on a regular basis, but don’t let them convince you they are deprived or forced to live on a vegetarian diet—they do get their twice-daily raw meals!

And no need to worry about Mimi’s prowess. One morning while on her leash with me attached, Mimi caught not one but two voles and calmly brought each of them to me. They’ve overrun since Namir and Cookie are gone, and as they are shallow-tunneling creatures and eat as they go, last year they ate the roots off of nearly all the vegetables in my garden. I left the voles in the garden where Mimi had set them down, and about two hours later they were gone, likely taken by the crows.

. . . . . . .

Hmmm?, 2012

tortoiseshell cat sleeping on windowsill
Hmmm?

It’s too hot for anything more than just opening one eye a tiny little bit. Kelly has found a spot in the shade on a cool marble windowsill and she isn’t changing that for anything.


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One thought on “Daily Photo: A Gentle Sunbath

  • doodz….for sure…..therz nappin in de sun…then therz ….yow… de sunz like fryin fish on de sidewalk with out coalz !!! 🙂 happee week end two all ♥

    Reply

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