Daily Photo: Happy New Year!
I got a little creative with my tablet in the kitchen on New Year morning, adding a lot of Wonder Bread polka dots to a rare photo of all nine cats together. I think it was an auspicious way to begin the new year.
Then today, January 2, we all got back to work. The above photo and below were first shared on Instagram and Facebook.
How helpful of six cats to help me organize the kitchen this morning. I pack up recyclables, then Basil opens the cabinet and Bella boldly marches in and hands off things to Giuseppe and Sunshine, whose behinds you can see protruding from the cabinet, that apparently need to go. Hamlet and Ophelia, on either side of the scene, don’t know what to think. Is this what housecats are expected to do?
When each cat had inspected the job, including Mimi, Mewsette and Jelly Bean. Basil came along and closed the door. Really, Mimi was looking in the cabinet and Basil came along and gave the door a little push. She got out of the way and the door swung shut.
~~~
What other photos did I post on or about this date?
.
Daily Photo Reprise: Black Cat Keyboard Rest, Kitten Edition, 2015
This concept is so popular I have to share it again! This was before Basil began using his forever name. And if you have no idea what the “Black Cat Keyboard Rest” is all about, there’s more information below.
Well, I guess their training is complete if Smokie and Bella can model the newly-released Kitten Edition of the Black Cat Keyboard Rest!
As one would guess when using kittens as the base for this unique addition to any office or home computer work station, the model is smaller, cuter, and uses a more compact keyboard to see more of the kittens. An option with the Kitten Model is a white keyboard to better distinguish the kittens from the keyboard—they tend to want to play if you try to type on their bellies!
As with the prior Two Black Cat model, two black kittens will sleep all day on your desk or countertop, raising your keyboard to a convenient height. They are strategically placed so that you can rest the heels of your hands on them, their warmth and vibrating purr giving your hands a constant massage. You won’t want to quit working!
Unlike the original Two Black Cat model, however, the kittens must sleep facing away from each other or they will begin to unexpectedly wrestle with each other. This model is not available as a Unicat Keyboard Rest because they just aren’t big enough, though we are working up a Uni-kitten model for small devices. And of course, these kittens will grow up into adult cats. An adult-size keyboard is optional to be included with the set, but a lifetime commitment is required with purchase, and there are no returns.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read Black Cat Keyboard Rest (below), Unicat Keyboard Rest, Black Cat Model and even possibly the Strange Doughnut-shaped Formation.
~~~
Purr-fect Fit
Well, it was my own fault, I really should have known better—tossed my fuzzy slippers under the furnace vent to warm up and when I went to get them Mimi was acting as if she’d been sleeping on them for hours and had no intention of moving. But then, even if she’d only been there for minutes, seconds, she would have had no intention of moving. I guess she has the right to sleep wherever she pleases, and of course it’s just not right to move the cat.
But they were nice and toasty warm when I swiped them after she got up to go have a drink of water! Hey, she took advantage of me, turnabout is fair play! And then she decided to sleep on my lap, and that’s okay too, we both got our way.
. . . . . . .
2012: From the Archives, January Light
This is one of the photos I mentioned in my post earlier today, “Darling Clementine”. Is Namir posing, or what? He had complete physical awareness. I am convinced he was a great stage actor in one of his incarnations. He certainly played the part here.
I will point out one thing to you—look at his neck, on the right side, in the white area. You see a square outline in his fur, and looking a little closer you will see that he is shaved there. Namir was the cat with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and who occasionally slipped into congestive heart failure (CHF). He saw a cardiologist once or twice a year and no matter the medications or treatments he also slipped into congestive heart failure once or twice a year, for the entire five years he lived after his first trip to the emergency clinic. He had apparently been in for a tune-up, either planned or emergency within the month previous to this photo. But Namir didn’t care that, because of his condition, his life could end suddenly in four or five different ways, none of them very pleasant. He made the best use of every moment, including striking a dramatic pose in morning sunlight. He knew exactly what he wanted this shot to look like.
He has his toys there, the sisal mouse and a milk bottle ring, and he is ready for his closeup, but as animals, and humans, do when they meet up with the relaxing effect of warm winter sun, a contemplative stillness falls, and perhaps a nap ensues, and I’d better hurry and get the shot.
Namir was so graceful and dignified and obviously knew how to strike a pose, even though he was a total goof and in another moment could be on his back with his legs impossibly twisted, or toss that mouse up in the air and do a back flip right after it. I love his pose, and also the little touches of home, my home, the canning jars, honey jar, oatmeal container; perhaps I only love it so much because it was one of those complete moments that we all experience now and then, where every familiar thing is in its place and all is warm and safe and filled with love.
Namir was 13 here. He lived every moment to its complete fullness until he was 15.
. . . . . . .
Act Normal, 2012
What’s she doing in there?
I smell food.
Funny noises!
Is she doing something with the sink?
I hear food dishes.
But Cookie sounds unhappy.
Kelly isn’t making a peep.
Mom is making nice noises for Cookie.
She could at least leave the door open so we can watch!
Now she’s feeding them! I just heard her set down the dishes!
What’s so special about those two?!
I have a feeling it might not be so nice.
She’s opening the door—act normal!
The Curious Quartet are always outside the bathroom door when I open it, and they always try to make it look as if they are just going about their day there on the landing, which might be true but they were nowhere to be seen when I went in. They have no idea I’ve just given Cookie a few medications, then a dose of subcutaneous fluids before I fed them food laced with supplements but I’ve no doubt they’d each tell me that getting a dose of fluids would be okay if they got an extra meal in the middle of the day.
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!
Copyright
Subscribe to my e-newsletter
PORTRAITS OF ANIMALS WEBSITE
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE| EMAIL
| PATREON
Art and Gifts Featuring Cats You Know!
~~~
HCMT/Pittsburgh C.A.T. 2017 Calendar, still a few more left!
I designed and am publishing this calendar on behalf of these two organizations for which I volunteer and support. All proceeds of sales of this calendar after costs will go directly to our work Making Life Better for Cats Every Day of the Year. Price includes shipping. You’ll find a box to enter your address or special instructions in your shopping cart.
Each month features a cat and its story who we rescued through TNR or rescue from abandonment, neglect or abuse, offered medical treatment, fostering, socialization, and a loving forever home that met their individual needs.
In addition, each month is sponsored with an ad from veterinarians, businesses and individuals who support HCMT and Pittsburgh C.A.T., including five of the veterinarians who regularly take a shift at our clinics to spay and neuter plus pet sitting and pet first aid training so you have ready resources for services you and your pets can use right at your fingertips.
© 2017 | 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!
—
I’ve never gotten a keyboard where the cats were included! Looks like you aren’t short helpers in anything 🙂
Momma Kat, they are involved in everything! And they don’t mind when I put them to work!