Daily Photo: My Repaired Camera, and Mimi
I love the delicate angle of Mimi’s paw in this photo, and just a lot of the space around her, and the blurs. She obviously owns it all.
These photos are actually from April 29, the day I came home with my newly repaired camera, and despite all the other things I really needed to do, I went out into the back yard with Mimi and took a couple dozen photos of her just being herself. I shared them on Instagram but with all else I was preparing for my open house I never had the chance to post them. Honestly, I could do a “Mimi outside somewhere” post every single day with multiple photos aside from all the other photos I also share. I will probably do a “Mimi outside somewhere” post at least once a week just to share the photos I know I’ll be taking, because I already have another lined up after this one.
Here’s what I said on April 29:
“The big news is (for me, at least) I finally got my DSLR cleaned and repaired. First thing I did when I got home was take one photo indoors then run out to the back yard with Mimi and make her pose for me. You can tell how thrilled she is 😊. That’s because I had to change the settings and forgot a few and made her pose again…and again… Mimi is such an amazing model, and I’m so happy to have my good camera back. Some flowers too.”
Mimi obliges me by looking at the forget-me-nots, but not the ones you can see.
I just have a few clumps of forget-me nots and not too many other flowers now, but I’ve been slowly working on clearing back the yard from all the overgrowth. I’m not really doing it in any order, partly because a lot of it is done in 15-minute outings with Mimi when I take a break and she gets her outdoor time. Usually, I end up following her around, so I get part of one area trimmed or cleared, then I’m on the other side of the yard with her. But it’s so nice to have a back yard to visit where I can actually see Mimi.
I found I had forgotten where to set some of the settings I use for manual focus and brightening up photos with my long zoom lens. That meant I spent some time crawling around in the grass, following Mimi to photograph from her level. Sometimes I just didn’t get there.
Got to get Mimi with the flowers. Behind her is the forsythia, now very green.
Sometimes I’ll try to guide Mimi somewhere, or I’ll pick her up and put her there, and she’ll humor me. In this case she slipped away from me under the deck and then came out the side. It was a good idea.
Something is rustling over there.
And then she went up onto the deck to explore, then settle down for a nap in the corner where I can’t currently get to her.
And that flower photo, lunaria, or money plant, already past its bloom in some places. Soon they’ll be little green “silver dollars”. I’ll be sure to share with you.
Normally I like to share the photos I’ve posted on social media that aren’t cats, but I’m working out networking between computers, and until I get that resolved I won’t be able to unless I add them later—which I might do! In the meantime, please visit www.bernadettestoday.com and you’ll see them all there.
From around this date in past years
Sienna Supurrvising, 2019
On Friday I was supurrvised by a very beautiful tortie. You can see that Sienna is on top of things.
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Photos from previous years.
Sienna in the Cat Book Library, 2018
(From Sunday) Sienna thinks we should just curl up with a good cat book on this cold and cloudy Sunday.
Maybe Sienna would like to cuddle up with you! She’s a snuggler, a lap cat, a supurrvisor, wildly playful, very affectionate. She can be found all over the house, including the basement, but her favorite spot is the bedroom, in her spot on the bed. She joins me at both of my desks, in my studio, in the bathroom and even the kitchen, and she eats with everyone at every meal. In fact, if I don’t feed her near the beginning she will steal food from others! Basil is always fed first because he will too, but Sienna is fed second now, then everyone else. She feels safe eating on the floor with the rest, and eats whatever I feed her.
She is still somewhat timid and doesn’t come down to greet visitors yet, but she is no longer under the bed when I go upstairs when they are here. Sometimes she is frightened by other things, like when I pick up a dishtowel and it may look like a flying predator or like I’m going to grab her with it. I try not to walk around while they are eating but sometimes I need to grab the phone, or add the half n half to my coffee, and some days she will still run when I start moving, even if I’m not moving toward her, often all the way up to her sanctuary in the bedroom.
I have always felt bad for kitties who were frightened in this way, especially when they couldn’t seem to work their way past it. I’ve been using flower essences with her and that’s probably what brought her so far so quickly, but once she hit a plateau I decided to give her a break for a while and let her adjust on her own. She is slowly improving, but the little momentary reactions are often the most difficult to resolve; once they start into that reaction they can’t turn themselves around except by finding one of their safe places and hiding for a bit.
I’ve seen wonderful results with calming collars on fearful kitties so I decided on Sunday to use a collar on Sienna. I was surprised how easy it was to put on her when she has resisted being handled or petted excessively around her head. I looped the collar through the catch so it would be big enough to get it over her head, rather than putting it around her and trying to buckle it because that’s the moment when many cats, even relaxed ones, really freak out. I had gotten the scent all over my hands, then petted her with the collar and had some love time, and finally slipped it over her head, petted her some more, then adjusted it to fit, and she didn’t even seem to notice. Later I trimmed the end.
Already her reactions to my unexpected movements have eased and she responds to my voice when I tell her it’s okay. Initially, she had growled when she saw two neighbor men across the street, now she doesn’t respond any differently from anyone else. I always go easily on petting but she could still be overstimulated, but that hasn’t been an issue in the past few days. I’ve found with collars that it often takes two or three months to really make a difference, and we are in it for the full effect here. If she is adopted in the meantime, the collars can go with her.
I use Sentry calming collars, and haven’t yet tried another brand, but I may soon do that. I’ve found Hamlet at the same sort of plateau, but he recoiled at the scent of the collar, and it does smell strongly of lavender. I like it, but that’s not a cat thing, so for Hamlet I’m reviewing other brands that don’t have any commercial scent.
You can follow Sienna’s progress from her rescue last December.
Also from the weekend…
Sienna’s true purrsonality emerges. She suffers from the morning crazies and craves belly rubs. To see the “full” story, check the second photo.
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If you’d like to add this snuggly, playful tortie to your household, please let me know! She is for adoption through me, and I will still do a veterinarian check and a housing check. She is spayed and is up to date on her vaccines. She is about two years old and what’s cool about that is that she is likely to remain as snuggly and playful as she is now. It’s a great thing to adopt an adult cat!
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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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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!
mimi ya look gorgoeuz az ever; camera fixed ore knot !!! we hope everee one haza awesum day anda grate week oh end…watch out for de cold front headed yur way…28 heer two morrow nite they be sayin !!!! whoa ~~~~~
🙂 ♥♥
Yes, this morning we were simultaneously enjoying warm sunshine and preparing plants for a cold overnight! Glad to see you back too!