Friday, March 29, 2024
black catscat photographsdaily photomimi

Daily Photo: Over the Weekend

Mimi has a drink from the birdbath.

I cleaned and refilled the birdbath with fresh water, and Mimi found it irresistible. I put all the watering cans by the door to take inside for refills, turned around and there she was climbing up on to the rocker and leaning into the birdbath. For all the years we’ve been visiting this porch, she’s never done this!

Climbing up from the chair.

Then she took a sip here, took a sip there, and even stepped into the water.

Then, because she is a cat, she elegantly balanced and walked all around the edge, after stopping to admire her reflection.

Admiring herself?
Walking around the edge.

A Special Guest

Our rescue friend  Terry has also visited us during our open houses and has also come to my Panhandle Trail Show, and she stopped over to talk over a design she had in mind. Of course, she did not really come to see me.

Terry with cats.

Giuseppe and Mewsette had her well under paw right away, and Jelly Bean was looking for a spot. Below, Mimi, Giuseppe and Mewsette settled on the table I’d set up for us to work on. So much for that.

They participate in our meeting

Later, Mimi occupied Terry’s lap. That meant Giuseppe wasn’t getting any attention, so he draped himself over his mother. Family dynamics.

 

Welcome kitty with wildflowers

I took my car to service on Friday and picked it up on Saturday. The shop is in a little valley close by and is surrounded by wooded hills and some untended land. Wildflowers are all over the place after the rain we’ve had, and since I was trying to use my time over the weekend for a new art project I decided I could steal a little time to walk and see the wildflowers and take some home, one stem of each: ironweed, woodland sunflowers, wingstem, soapwort or bouncing bet, gaura, Queen Anne’s lace and wormwood. I try to keep flowers in this vase by the front door. In spring and early summer my yard is blooming pretty regularly, but slows down to just some phlox and bee balm. That’s when I start bringing home bouquets of wildflowers, always careful to choose only the most plentiful, and only one or two cuttings from most. Except Queen Anne’s lace. Sometimes that’s all I have, and I love it.

Welcome kitty with wildflowers.

Mimi’s Favorite Scratching Post

Mimi’s favorite scratcher.

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Photos from previous years

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Sunbather, 2017

Bella sunbather filtered.
Bella sunbather filtered.

Bella fussed around until she was at just the right angle for a purrfect sunbath this morning in the basement. Above I have it with the Instagram Nashville filter, below it’s just black and white.

Bella sunbather black and white.
Bella sunbather black and white.

Later, I only washed tank tops and shorts this morning so the girls had no nice shady areas from dresses and skirts. But Mimi and Mewsette found garden shade. I finally managed to clean the overgrowth off my brick patio by the basement door. From last year when the tree fell it took weeks to clear off and then was the place to put things to be out of the way. Little by little, I am getting my lovely yard back.

Mimi and Mewsette on the patio.
Mimi and Mewsette on the patio.

And we had a visitor this evening when I went to bring in the laundry. A black phase female tiger swallowtail was so excited to find the phlox I’m surprised I got a photo that was clear.

Tiger swallowtail happy to find the phlox.
Tiger swallowtail happy to find the phlox.

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Photos from previous years

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New Territory

Graceful Alvina, tail and all.
Graceful Alvina, tail and all.

Little Alvina is a real window kitty! As soon as they were out of the bathroom today she was at each of the three new windows well before her brothers. Little Vee is a real birdwatcher while her brothers prefer to chase each other and toys.

Birds in the trees.
Birds in the trees.

It was time to let the kids out of the bathroom to get accustomed to living in the rest of the house, little by little, and to meet the ninjas. Well past time—I’ve had so many projects upstairs with frames and glass and bubble wrap and all sorts of other things that I didn’t want the kids to get tangled up in, so I’ve kept them locked up aside from a few escapes. Theodore discovered the apron strings hanging from my chair in my studio and soon all three joined him.

The little three invade my studio.
The little three invade my studio.

The bathroom needed a good cleaning, though, and inspection by the adults in the household, so I blocked the stairs and opened the door. A few of the ninjas were upstairs already, and over the next couple of hours they came and went when I moved the package of matboard to let them up or down the stairs. All but Charm met the kittens. I think she’s had enough of kittens for a while.

Basil, Bella and Sunshine explore.
Basil, Bella and Sunshine explore.

Simon was up on my bedroom windowsill too. As far as I know, Theodore stayed on the floor—he’s a specialist in exploring nooks and crannies and making cat tracks work. Unfortunately, the windowsill in the bathroom is too narrow with the baby gate up for protection so no one can sit there, Alvina puts her paws up and looks out all through the day but neither of the boys has ever paid any attention.

Simon discovers the windowsill.
Simon discovers the windowsill.

Bella was on my bed when the little ones started their invasion, but she was okay. She is the master of getting her little body into silly positions as she hung off the bed like a cricket to tap noses with Simon.

Bella greets Simon in her own special way.
Bella greets Simon in her own special way.

Basil was totally amazed at everything they did, and wavered between hissing and swatting when the kittens got too full of themselves to having a really fun chase. Funny to think of Basil as the adult!

Basil gets a taste of his own medicine.
Basil gets a taste of his own medicine.

Simon was the most confident of all of them. Alvina and Theodore were a little timid and ran from me at first, but were fine with me as soon as I touched them, but Simon ran over to me for kisses and supervised the cleaning of the bathroom floor. Such wonderful kittens!

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A few photos from Friday

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Flat Browser Visits!
Browser at the front door of Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.
Browser at the front door of Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.

As a follow-up to the book review I wrote last weekend of “Rescued”, and Browser the Library Cat I was excited to have “Flat Browser come to visit, and encourage readers to buy a copy of the book during July to help support his rescue. But he didn’t arrive here until Friday afternoon, the last day of the month. Still, it was fun to run over to my library and capture photos of Browser all over the place! And, of course he met the kids.

Giuseppe, Sunshine, Mewsette and Basil meet Flat Browser.
Giuseppe, Sunshine, Mewsette and Basil meet Flat Browser.

A literary house panther, Browser B Katz, came to visit our library in Carnegie, all the way from Pine River MN today! He stopped to pose at the front door of Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie, then went inside to visit the temporary library in the basement because the “real” library is being restored, but he did get to meet Katie at the temporary circulation desk. Then he went on to visit The Lincoln Gallery, and he was even on the stage at Carnegie Hall! And then he met Basil and Sunshine and Giuseppe and Mewsette at Bernadette’s house! What a fun day! You can read more about the book I starred in “Rescued”, and Browser the Library Cat. Don’t forget that all sales of the book through the end of July help support Paws and Claws Animal Shelter!


Art and Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

AfterDinnerNap-Etsy~~~

Feline Photos from Portraits of Animals!
Mimi's first idea.
Mimi’s first idea.

Mimi knew exactly the pose I had visualized, and here she is, as beautiful as I had imagined. Read more, and purchase.




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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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