Friday, March 29, 2024
black catscat photographsdaily photomimi

Daily Photo: Mimi and Me on a Walk

Mimi rolls around on warm concrete and on my feet.
Mimi rolls around on warm concrete and on my feet.

There really is nothing like warm, scratchy concrete, especially if you’re a cat. Mimi is in mid-roll, and dropped down for more rolls as we made our way down the sidewalk.

Mimi wanted some adventures on Sunday’s walk. I’m happy with that. Up to now she hasn’t been at all interested in walking on a leash, but when I asked her if she’d like to walk last weekend and began down the sidewalk, she came with me. We don’t actually “take a walk” because Mimi has to check out everything on her way, look in neighbors’ windows, try to eat grass in others’ yards and other sorts of cat things. It takes some time. We keep each other occupied as we walk a comparatively short distance down one block and back.

She really wants to visit the sewer, and while that may seem odd, when she was an outdoor cat, she traveled the sewer rather than walking among cars and people, even if it meant meeting up with the neighborhood raccoons. At first I thought she just wanted to look in because it’s not too deep, but then she started to twist around to get in above the grate. Oh no you’re not! We still look in, but I keep her on a tight leash. Mimi is still very quick.

Mimi wants to visit the sewer.
Mimi wants to visit the sewer.

Then she wanted to cross the street to the house where she used to live. I told her that house was all different now. This view is almost across from the end of my driveway, and when she would come to my yard to hunt it was an easy trot across the street to the side of my driveway, then privacy all the way through the fence and into my garden. I’m sure she did that daily for nearly all four years she lived primarily outdoors. One of these days we’ll stroll across the street and sniff things, during the week when no one is home.

Mimi looks at the house where she used to live.
Mimi looks at the house where she used to live.

So, foiled in all the things she thought were fun to do, she rolled around in the sun on the concrete some more then sat in some wildflowers to think. I guess autumn is a time of reflection for all of us.

Mimi sits in the wildflowers and thinks.
Mimi sits in the wildflowers and thinks.

From Instagram

Honestly, the photos above were shared on IG first too.

Kitties enjoyed a gift of some real homegrown from our guests today. A catnip party was had by felines while a pizza party was had by humans. I have to say that we will all miss the visitors and their treats when my convalescence is over.

A catnip party was had by all.
A catnip party was had by all.

 

~~~

Photos Shared on Previous Years

Sunny Morning Activities, 2017

Mewsette in camouflage.
Mewsette in camouflage.

Mewsette, cleverly camouflaged by a white bedspread on the clothesline. I don’t see a black cat there.

This extended summer has been very odd, but even with that we haven’t had a lot of time out in the yard in the mornings lately. The humans says she’s too busy. Mimi is not amused, nor Mewsette. At least I’ve been opening the basement door for Bella, Basil and Hamlet, but that’s not the same as eating grass or feeling cool dirt under your feet. Nor for the human, except for the part about eating grass. So I decided that we would reinstitute our little morning sojourns so we all got outside and I could work out the kinks in my back from sitting too much.

Below, Mimi gives me an ultimatum. Bella and Hamlet are impressed.

Mimi is the boss.
Mimi is the boss.

I love their silhouettes, and even the grate on the screen works well here. A cold front is coming so we’re enjoying a warm, sunny morning watching Wildlife Reality CatTV. It’s really busy out there!

Watching Reality Wildlife CatTV.
Watching Reality Wildlife CatTV.

All of the above photos were shared on Instagram today. Below are some of the wildflowers in the back yard right now.

My, what big ears you have! Asiatic dayflower.

Asiatic dayflower.
Asiatic dayflower.

Yellow wood sorrel.

Yellow wood-sorrel.

Smartweed.

Smartweed.
Smartweed.

Shadows through the laundry.

Laundry shadows.
Laundry shadows.

~~~

What other photos have I shared on this date?

.

What Cats Think Ironing Boards Are For, 2012
What cats think ironing boards are for.

For some reason, this photo is one of my favorites and I have to share it again.

Mr. Sunshine is rolling around and feeling groovy while Mimi looks at the world from a new perspective. What we humans, especially female humans, see as the ultimate object of drudgery, even household slavery, our cats find to be a source of entertainment and even joy.

I admit, I did warm it up nicely for them, and it has a nice soft pad on it, plus it’s elevated, and as a bonus I was using it and would not let them on it, all criteria for any cat to absolutely need to be up there. Underneath that nice clean muslin cover is a reflective Teflon cover, so it’s like a heated cat shelf. Like some nice fresh black cat hairs with your freshly-ironed tee or tablecloth? They come free with every order unless I go after them. The ironing board cover gets rolled for cat hair more often than any of my garments.

When I screen print or block print a product, the ink needs to be set with heat once it’s dry to make it completely washable. This can be done in the dryer, but then said item is rumpled and looks used, not something you’d want to buy that’s considered new, so it needs to be completely ironed. It can also be set just by ironing for a period of time, and this is what I usually choose to do. But I often end up ironing and entire thing anyway—t-shirts come packed so tightly in the box they practically pop out when I open it, and are sometimes so wrinkled I have to iron them to print. Tablecloths and placemats and other fabric items are made from fabric which I prewash so it needs to be ironed in that case, then often I hem or trim it so that also needs to be ironed. Iron, iron, iron, they don’t tell you you’ll be doing housework when you say you want to be an artist. Good thing I enjoy it; I can sing to my cats or watch a good movie on my computer and the ironing time flies.

And because the ironing board is a little tippy and I know as soon as I leave the room that two or three cats will immediately launch themselves onto it, I actually set it up so it is braced and is very difficult to knock over. The iron is unplugged and placed in a safe spot on the floor.

I can keep these guys from jumping on it while I’m working, and I’ve kept most cats from doing so, but Cookie would have none of that. Unless I ironed outside she would find a way to get onto the ironing board—she couldn’t ever jump that high, even as a kitten—so even if it meant she had to start in another room and step up and up and up from one thing to another she would eventually get up there, prance around and wave her tail and purr, very pleased with herself and happy to have my attention. From last June, I Will Never Get To Retire.

Mamá, they all say, you are incapable of doing all this without our supervision! I should be glad for it, I guess.

Besides that, black cats look spectacular against a background of white cotton and unbleached muslin.


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Feline Photography from Portraits of Animals!

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

Mimi is never so happy as when she’s out in the yard, as you can see by her “happy tail”. She’s so short that I can’t get a good photo of her face without flowers in the way, but perhaps that’s how she wants it.

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.

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