Daily Photo: It’s 85 Degrees Because Mr. Sunshine’s Belly Said So
Happening right now, it’s officially 85 degrees in here. Mr. Sunshine’s belly thermometer rolled him over on his side and we had a few false starts, then he went all the way over, exposing himself to the neighborhood. He is very reliable in this. (This is from Tuesday when it was hot! So are several others in this post.)
From Instagram
Today’s already a hot one so Mimi is chilling with the Angry Bunny on the shady front porch.
“Me being up here has nothing to do with Mimi eating her lunch,” Mariposa said. “I just like the view.”
“When are you going to plant those tasty tomato plants? And how about those green beans? Can’t wait!” Look who came dancing out of the native plants and stood in the middle of my garden. Can you say “fence” my deerie?
Georgiana Shaylor peony, I think. Not bad for a mostly-dead stick that I took home from Agway at the end of their plant sale years ago.
Photos from around this date in previous years
Sienna Says It’s Naptime, 2019
Sienna says, “It’s naptime. Would you care to join me?” Sienna LOVES to sleep with a human. She’s so happy she can’t settle down, and she purrs and rolls around and head butts me, and gives me nose taps on my nose. So purrhaps it was a good thing for Sienna that I needed to get back to work instead of napping. Someone’s got to pay the bills around here, you know.
Sienna’s response to that.
From Instagram
Basil’s Caturday morning mystery: what is that lump under the quilt?
It’s the melodramatic master cat who thinks it’s chilly this morning.
Photos shared in past years
What is Mewsette Thinking? 2018
Mewsette has always been the intellectual of the little family of Mimi’s kittens, pausing for long, deep thoughts. I often find her staring off into space, obviously visualizing…well, I’m not sure. In this case she may be visualizing a piece of artwork, sitting on my drafting table in my studio with the brushes in the background. Or, perhaps I’m visualizing…
Apparently thinking so hard made her very tired.
Even more tired. I know I yawned in response! I liked this blurry photo just as much as the clear one. I know that very soon after this Mewsette joined Mimi in a nap. I don’t think I did though.
Mariposa and the Catbird Have a Talk, 2019
I’m not certain they are having the same conversation, but the catbird sits up and emphatically chatters with wings flapping, then Mariposa’s long whiskers move up and down and quiver though the rest of her remains completely still, and I know she’s engaging in a little cat chatter herself, probably whispering to the catbird about appetites and flavors. (Don’t worry, there’s a screen there, it disappears when I use my zoom lens.)
We’ve had quite a bit of bird activity here lately, and most of it has been from CATBIRDS. Catbirds?! They don’t even sound like cats—except when they do. They chatter away with random noises and squawks and imitations of other birds and other sounds, and then they mew a few times and they sound so much like a kitten that I’ve gone beating through the bushes in my yard looking for the felines. Farther down in this post I have a short video of the catbird talking to Mimi and me in the back yard. Here’s a catbird who commenced scolding me as soon as I got out of my car after parking it in the driveway.
And here is a catbird from a couple of years ago who came to visit Bella.
Photos shared in past years
What is Mr. Sunshine Thinking? 2018
Mr. Sunshine is not quite the intellectual Mewsette is but he has his moments of deep thought, probably about something to do with tools or engineering some household project. Maybe sitting in the sunshine makes them sit and think, since sitting in the sunshine is part of both scenarios, it makes them drowsy, and so it seems his thoughts are the same as Mewsette’s were the other day.
Now that’s a good one, ears folded back and all! Now let’s relax a little.
~~~
Photos posted on or around this date in previous years
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Eight Black Cats and the Garbage Truck Monster, 2017
Breakfast was interrupted by the irregular appearance of the garbage truck monster. Seven black cats are huddling on the cabinet while brave Bella goes to the window. All survived.
Last Friday
Well, I made it through most of last week with posts, then abruptly stopped on Friday afternoon. I had a field trip on Saturday which you’ll read about in another post. Mimi and I had little time outside last week after we found the little one in the back yard. By Friday Mimi was barely speaking to me, and I really need my little breaks outdoors to exercise my body and my eyes and recharge my creative batteries by just going outdoors for a few minutes and activities once or twice a day. So I decided we could visit our little courtyard out front for a while, until the little one is safely walking around, though I do have two little videos from a few days before the fawn showed up in this post as well.
Now that’s a cat tree!
Mimi the tree hugger. We are out front for a while because of the little one in the back yard.
My river birches, evening light. What Mimi is scratching on.
Standing on my feet. Mimi has some interesting ways of showing me she’s happy.
Welcome Kitty says, “Have a purrfect evening.”
Mimi says, “Surely you’re not considering getting up?”
The Wrens
Mimi and I approach our woodland garden and suddenly the mulberry tree is filled with what seems like dozens of squawking wrens! They must have had fledglings on the ground. We stopped and watched the show.
The Catbird Talks to Mimi
I have no idea what she was saying, but Mimi was listening intently.
~~~
Photos posted on or around this date in previous years
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The Magic Grapes Box, 2016
“I’m going to nap in the grapes box, okay?” Hamlet is pushing his boundaries, and feeling very brave. The grapes box has magic in it.
Everyone has been taking their turn in the grapes box. Somehow, frightened and feral kitties don’t feel so wild in the box, and they play and nap. It’s just an arm’s length from my chair at my desk downstairs, so all I need to do is turn my head and see a wonderful image.
Above is Hamlet, below is Bella. She got a few more comments and likes on Facebook, but both of them got plenty
“Bella gets some time in the grapes box too, and of course she is CAT 1.”
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Deliciously Lazy
Ophelia was deliciously lazy today. Note that she is resting her head on the end of her tail.
She has been adjusting well lately. Hamlet was moving faster than her, and far more confident, while she was often timid and hiding, but friendly when she felt safe in a familiar room. But this fourth try at letting them out most of the day has finally done well for her. She explores the house carefully, and she does run from me when downstairs, but she always returns to her familiar space upstairs and is very friendly, as sweet as can be, so precious it’s really hard for me not to scoop her up and hug her, but she would be terrified. I must control myself and not squeeze the floofy. But I did pet the belly, which she loves.
Shared on Facebook
Cats have such difficult lives. The four siblings are trying to decide where to nap today.
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Daily Photo Reprise: Mewsette in the Mirror, 2012
Diffuse glow...
Mewsette settles here every day after breakfast, quietly reflecting in the sun. In the brilliant yellow morning light the photo looks as if it’s sepia-toned but it’s not, that’s just the natural tones in Mewsette, in the old cream lace curtain, the antique gold mirror frame, even the pine wood of the wardrobe. The mirror is very old and slightly clouded, pitted here and there.
She still does this, nearly every morning, summer and winter, and I’m getting a number of lovely photos of her here again this year.
I decided to try out a few of my favorite filter techniques on this one, and I think I see a series of cards growing out of Mimi and Mewsette here at the top of the stairs, Mimi in the Mirror, Mimi and Don’t You Wonder What They Think?. Yes, it was a wonderful idea, read more about it, below!
Let me know which of these three you like best: at the top is the “diffuse glow” filter, immediately below is the original photos and below that a feathered and textured cream edge.
Feathered and textured cream edge…
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