Thursday, March 28, 2024
backyardblack catscatsdaily photogardengarden catsmimi

Daily Photo: A New View

black cat on logs
Mimi looks regal on her logs.

A suitable throne for the Queen. Mimi approves of the spot where I moved her favorite scratching toy. Scroll down, and you can see her realm.

black cat on logs
Mimi surveys her realm. And you can see how NOT overgrown my yard is!

So … I also have some ‘splainin’ to do about where we’ve all been. We’ve all been right here through work and heat and storms and falling trees, though thankfully none of ours! I had a pileup of projects and activities, all of which had deadlines following immediately after the big TNR project and the trip to the farm. One thing I took care of the day after I made the trip out there was…

me with vaccine card
I got my J&J!

I finally got my vaccine! I got the J&J for the convenience. I’m only 60 and vaccines weren’t available to everyone until mid-April, and I tried scheduling but with the car issues and TNR it was a real challenge. I didn’t want to wait any longer and found a local Rite Aid had the J&J. They said I could walk in, so I did.

black cat on logs
Looking around.

Work comes first because that pays the bills, but I’ve also been seriously working on my yard, and especially my vegetable garden area. Because it was so overgrown for as long as five years, I have to repeatedly cut back and dig things out to clear it again, and I have to rebuild the beds and brick walks. It’s my pleasure and I am really enjoying the physical work. In the photo of Mimi above you can see how NOT overgrown my yard is. I’ve intended to at least share photos here as these things happen because I miss posting, but the days fly by. I also find that I don’t work as quickly as I used to, and I had most often written my blog posts later in the evening and just after midnight, and now I fall asleep on them at that time. I am moving things around so I can post at a different time. I didn’t even post on Instagram for over a week. But I hope this time I’m back because I have a pile of things to share!

In the meantime here’s a little video of Mewsette and Mimi in the garden this morning, chasing a cabbage white butterfly! and below that, more photos of Mimi looking regal on top of her pile of logs. I promise to be a good blogger, at least most days.

Below, the whole area where there is dirt and not grass was overgrown with seedlings from my ever-expanding forsythia bush, some of which were pretty big. But I’ve been digging them up and keeping them cut back and so far it’s stayed under control. In the top left, my neighbor and I have been working on the area where our yards meet too.

black cat on logs
What it looks like from a distance.

And some more silly photos of Mimi on her logs.

~~~

From Instagram

June 2 through 7

Mimi is multitasking, monopolizing my calendar planner while eating second breakfast. She’s doing better than I am today!


Spent yesterday hugging my cats, and even got a few hugs in return.

Happy #caturday!


Chillin on cool bricks.


Working late in the basement studio and the cats are down here with me having a party.


So much for productivity this morning. I think I’m just going to go out and play in the garden.


I cleaned off a space on my desk to work, and put my feet up to read some documents. This was the result, trapped at my desk unable to do much of anything.

First Giuseppe and Mr. Sunshine settled down in my working spot, Mimi hopped up on my lap, then Jelly Bean had to be part of it and he got up on my lap too, then Sienna got up and cuddled around my feet. Mind you it was 87° and had just rained so it was about 80% humidity.

The first of many. A tiny, ultrasweet wild strawberry.

 

 

From around this date in past years

Mimi on the Prowl, 2020

black cat in garden
Order in Chaos.

“Order in Chaos”, that’s Mimi for me many times. I really love how she is the subject of this photo, and everything around her is just out of control, out of kilter, bent, broken, yet she sits calmly, perfectly poised on one end of the bench. I intentionally made it black and white so that she would be even more apparent in contrast with her surroundings. There are some days, especially lately, that I have so many thoughts in my head that I can’t focus, so I take a break with Mimi outside, and learn more about my new camera while I photograph her because she always uses her time wisely, exploring, watching, just gracefully walking around. I can focus on her and my photography, and things in my head magically fall into place. And then she had the presence of mind to sit exactly there while I walked around her, photographing.

black cat in garden
Mimi in the garden.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I have galleries of photos of Mimi and I could probably do one post a week of just those photos. I decided Monday would be a great do for that, and I’m here to tell you this is my Monday Daily Photo for this week! I’m not too far behind. I’ve had a lot of paperwork and self-promotion to take care of, and while I’ll finally be getting my new glasses soon, I’m still occasionally developing horrible headaches from wearing my old ones if I’m not careful, and then I really can’t do anything. So I get behind in posting, but in the meantime I still take a zillion photos each day as my creative break, for physical activity, for fresh air, for interacting with my cats in a way we all love, and so, I get behind in sharing photos too.

black cat in garden
Mimi in green and purple.

This set of photos are from May 2, over a month ago, but my garden doesn’t look too different yet. Mimi went wandering and found the bench, and embraced it as her stage.

black cat in garden
Watching the groundhog.

I really liked this one in black and white too.

black cat in garden
Mimi wandering.

I sometimes mention Mimi isn’t feeling well, or that she occasionally needs some support, usually acupuncture or the electromagnetic treatments from Dr. Michelle or reiki from Ingrid. On the day I took these photos I was also worried about Mimi. I was thrilled that she was wandering and enjoying her time around the yard, and you might not notice anything different about her from other photos, but she’s not lifting her head very far, and her eyes aren’t held fully open, and she tired easily. That’s a sign something is up. She always has a good appetite, so I start with a flower essence and make sure we take some time to be outdoors. After a few sessions I’ll talk to Dr. Michelle or Ingrid for a treatment if she hasn’t perked up.

I shared this one last week, but this was the day I took the photo.

black cat huntiog
The garden is where the food comes from, so Mimi is hunting there.

I don’t know why she puts up with my lying down on the path in front of her to get a good photo.

black cat in garden
Stalking.

And here we are, back on the steps out front, and Mimi trying to decide what to do next.

black cat in garden
Undecided.

~~~

From Instagram, last Friday to Monday

I never did post last Friday! This was supposed to be my “formerly feral Friday” post. Hamlet is still the best sleeper, though!

It’s a shame Hamlet can’t relax.

black cat in basket
It’s hard to tell what’s happening!

Mimi is resting up for a strenuous day of modeling.

black cat sleeping with camera
Mimi rests up.

No one will look at me. Hmmm.

six cats in the kitchen
No one will look at me.

Mimi has it made in the shade but Mariposa thinks she’s crazy. Why would she want to be outside?! You can see part of Mariposa’s white collar through the screen as she keeps an eye on Mimi.

black cat in shade
Mimi enjoys some shade in the morning.

And some photos from around the backyard and beyond!

On the left: Okay, does anyone else see a leaping kitty at the top of this moon? Or do I just see cats everywhere? Those gingers get around. A lot of people saw more than one too! On the right: The Full Strawberry Moon rose like a big butterscotch button on Friday night! A little bit of a breeze got in the way of a clear photo, but I kind of like this abstract instead. (Remember, don’t apologize for a blurry photo, just call it “abstract”.)

Afterglow.
Sunday night sunset.

Afterglow.
Afterglow.

My first bike ride to the Post office on Main Street in about three years, but not so much riding with so many flowers (and wildlife, a little later). Lots of busy bees in there too! Still loving my new hip. This is my favorite of them. You can see the rest of them on “Today”.

Salvia
Salvia

 

From around this date in past years

Mimi Chooses a Seat, 2019

Mimi on the rocker.
Mimi on the rocker.

On Friday, Mimi and I did a little photo shoot outside, and despite Mimi’s insistence, she was not the subject! But of all the photos I took Friday I love this one best. Mimi is such an inspiration and such a talented model, using the crappy stuff we have on hand to make it all look beautiful. She is on the old rocker that’s literally rotting away, and not even the rocker feet stay on it anymore. But she had her fun then looked for a napping spot. A peeling old rocker looked just fine.

The rocker is red violet and the bricks are red with green in the background, but it’s one of those shots that makes a good black and white, in part because of Mimi and her solid black, then all the random detail and patterns in every area of the photo. She had started out centered on the rocker, then moved to one side and it was even more perfect than at first. She has her paws tucked and her tail curled up around her hip, so she was really happy.

Mimi hasn’t been outside since it’s been warm enough for ticks to hatch… I found one on me last year and I don’t want to put her in danger so until I find a good tick treatment for her she has to stay out of areas where the deer hang out. She is not happy with this.

But I finally had some clear weather and okay lighting to photograph the new keepsake boxes. She was just checking my lighting and composition. She had a great time and I got some nice photos of her as well as my keepsake boxes.

 

From Instagram

Just a quiet morning gathering to watch me eat my pancake. Note the very empty dishes. (They eat well before me. I was soaking cat food cans to clean and recycle.)
.
Sorry for the very bad photo, sometimes all I have is my cheap little cell phone but I have to share.

Watching me eat my pancake.Watching me eat my pancake.
Watching me eat my pancake.

.


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black cat in Mimi walks through the buttercups and forget-me-nots.
Mimi walks through the buttercups and forget-me-nots.

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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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