Thursday, March 28, 2024
backyardblack catscatsdaily photogardengarden catsmewsettemimi

Daily Photo: Snow Day

two black cats at door
Mimi and Mewsette at the door.

The girls impatiently wait for me to get with the program because it’s time for them to go outside, snow or no. The snow outdoors brightens things up as for just a few minutes the warm glow of the sun tried to move through, thought it faded back behind the clouds.

When I did open the door, Mimi says “nope” but Mewsette braves the snow on the deck because there is an important message on one of the chairs. So important that Mimi actually changes her mind a little bit later and checks it herself.

Then later, Mimi follows me out the front door and lets me know how she feels about there being snow as far as she can see in all directions. She makes her way back to the house but can’t resist a stop at her catnip garden, pretty ragged now after I freed it from eight inches of snow, then in we go.

The heavily promoted snowstorm finally reached us, and I’m glad it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. We did have piles of snow, at least eight inches in my back yard piled atop a bird bath and a chair, and during the night the snow changed to sleet and freezing rain a few times. My car is covered with ice, which is not nice, and I decided to let it warm up a bit so that it was easier to scrape off before I ran off to the woods and the creek when there was a little more sunlight, probably tomorrow, since rain is forecast for Wednesday…we finally have our snow, can’t we just keep it for a bit?

~~~

From Instagram

The videos above! and from the weekend…

Mewsette had to sample the peanut butter and jelly muffins even before I did. Happy #caturday!


Hamlet is enjoying my new self-healing cutting mat, sure that I got it because it matches his furs. It matches a few other furs in the house too, but we’ll let him think he’s special, because he is.


Must be the cold weather, I don’t see these two cuddle very often at all. In fact, the only time I saw them in the same cat bed or next to each other in any way was when Simba came back from the vet the second time and was feeling pretty uncomfortable. I found Midnight Louie curled up in the bed with him the first time then. A few more times, then not again until recently.

So maybe it’s the cold weather, maybe not, I had heard they were never terribly close although they lived in the same house for 5 years, but I’m happy to see them a little closer to each other. Then again, maybe it’s #caturday.


It’s turned into a snowy day, and it’s also a sew-y day as kitties settle on the bed to #supurrvise me while I work. So cozy.

From the Garden and Beyond

Click the photo to read more.

Garden Chair

Garden chair has a nice fluffy cushion. Might be a little cold, though. A few months from now Mimi will be snoozing on it. About eight inches of snow in that part of the yard, five or six elsewhere.

garden chair with snow
Garden Chair

And from over the weekend…

Full Moon Waiting for Me

full moon through wavy glass
Full Moon

I turned off the lamp
but light still shone,
my bed awash with cool blue
pulls my thoughts to follow a path
up toward the full Wolf Moon
the imperative solo light of January nights;
I hear her distant howl across the valley
and feel her pull on me
to follow her path
past the effect of old wavy glass
through the tangled branches of the spruce
to the clear cold blue night of adventures
that might have otherwise been mine.

A poem in progress. Read more…

 

From around this date in past years

Cats Are So Much Fun, 2021

three black cats
Judgy cats.

Don’t worry, I’m okay. See the photo below.

I posted these photos on Instagram on December 4 when I was being observed in the kitchen by three judgy cats, Giuseppe, Mewsette and Mimi. Instead of getting the usual face-on photo I thought I’d get one that was from a more interesting angle. I did this by holding my camera below them and using the front-facing camera. I had a great laugh when I looked at the photos I’d gotten and decided to share them right away! And then I was a little concerned someone might think I’d fallen on the floor (and couldn’t get up), so I leaned forward and took one more.

three black cats
Don’t worry, I’m okay.

I’m trying my best to catch up! I still have photos from November that I haven’t shared, and I overloaded my studio schedule this week and didn’t have the time to post. Well, I was having fun in the studio this week, that’s the truth. You’ll see it all soon.

~~~

From Instagram

November 18: Mimi told the neighbor’s cat something I can’t publish here when he came over to sample her catnip plant. He wisely stopped in his tracks and quickly considered his escape route. One afternoon last summer, when he wanted to come over to stalk birds at the bird feeders, she chased him all the way across the street into his own back yard and cornered him behind a lawn mower. She lived her young years primarily outdoors, raising kittens, and dealing with every unneutered cat in the neighborhood. She’s never too far away from that when she’s guarding her castle. Don’t mess with little Mimi cat!

November 18: Some days I’m not sure what to think. Guesses?

November 21: Supurrvisory staff is having a difficult time getting motivated on this cold and rainy Saturday morning.

November 25: Judgy Mariposa is not impressed with Sienna’s bedmaking performance.

November 25: Mr. Sunshine looks mildly annoyed at the little love scene behind him. I think I’m running out of space on my desk, and it’s time to quit for the moment.

From the back yard and beyond.

November 25: Oh, hai. I know you can’t see me because I am perfectly camouflaged. So I’m just going to saunter across your yard here, and I may decide to walk up the steps to your deck to eat that parsley too, now that the groundhog has gone into hibernation and doesn’t get all the good stuff before we get here.

November 21: Never pass up an opportunity to bloom, even if it’s a cold and rainy November day. Feverfew is always ready, cheerful and bright.

November 21: On a cold and rainy November day, enjoy a warm October sunset. I took so many photos of Autumn this year, and had so little time, I didn’t get a chance to share so many.

 

Burnished Sunset

Think this one’s going to be a painting. I recall these lines of poetry–I was shocked to find this welling of emotion happened to others…

from The Princess: Tears, Idle Tears
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more

I’ve been posting regularly on my photo website Today, but I really don’t have the time to share the photos here each day. The deer have been so inspiring, birds, squirrels, and all those autumn photos that I’ll never forget…if you’re interested, please click the link each day to go there and see what’s new! If I have a chance I’ll share photos.

 

From around this date in past years

Thinking About Fishes, 2020

black cat with pisces ornament
Bella thinking about fishes.

Bella notices everything, so don’t think she doesn’t know there’s a Pisces medallion behind her ear. She’s aware of composition and hidden meanings, and I suspect she’s a Pisces like me, judging from her rescue timeline. But she was also a champ at the cat fishing game on my tablet, until I dunked it into the dishwater. Someday I’ll have to make that up to her, but in the meantime she is sending me a very clear and colorful message.

From Instagram

Morning watch.

. . . . . . .

Photos from around this date in previous years

Catching Some Sun, 2019

Basil in the sun.
Basil in the sun.

Basil was racing around the kitchen, excited because it was about to be breakfast, when he ran into a patch of sunlight and stopped. What is this stuff? It’s nice and warm! I think I’ll just stand here and cast an interesting shadow for a while…

~~~

Photos from years past.

.

How Formerly Feral Cats Enjoy Cold Weather, 2018
Bella, Basil and Hamlet enjoy some CatTV
Bella, Basil and Hamlet enjoy some CatTV

These three often get together to enjoy some CatTV. If they hadn’t been rescued, though, they wouldn’t be enjoying it through a window, they’d be out there. Not one of them has ever expressed an interest in getting the “real” experience. I enjoy watching them.

Before the tree fell down in 2016 it was in the background along with all its branches, and there was a lilac in front of the window that I let grow and kept trimmed so I could open the window, but it would still provide cover for the birds at this feeder. The birds avoided these feeders almost entirely for over a year, but finally they are showing up here again. Of course the bird populations on the feeder change every moment, and that’s part of the fun. Here is what they were watching.

Birds at the feeder.
Birds at the feeder.

From Facebook

Did I interrupt something? I just wanted to join the girls' club.
Did I interrupt something? I just wanted to join the girls’ club.
Mimi enjoys a sunbath.
Mimi enjoys a sunbath.
The sun is fun until the cat named Sunshine thinks it belongs to him, even if you have a major crush on him.
The sun is fun until the cat named Sunshine thinks it belongs to him, even if you have a major crush on him.

~~~

From previous years

.

And Yet More Photos of Jack and Diane

These two!
These two!

At one point while they were doing their thing on the windowsill I just stood there and snapped figuring a few of the had to be good. Well more than a few of them were good, just because kittens are cute. They are at an angle that would make Jack appear larger, but really he’s growing so fast and is noticeably bigger than his sister. Their expressions and posture in the one above just make me smile! My caption was, “These two. Stick a fork in me, I’m done.”

After this the two of them settled themselves into the corner of the windowsill for some intensive birdwatching, but it’s clear Jack doesn’t take it quite as seriously as his sister.

This is my favorite photo out of the whole set.
This is my favorite photo out of the whole set.

Below, there is no better toy than a sibling’s tail. They were busy chasing each others’ tails on the windowsill. Jack told Diane, “You bite my tail, and I’m going to bite yours!”

Diane bites Jack's tail...
Diane bites Jack’s tail…
...so he's going to try to get hers!
…so he’s going to try to get hers!

Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

AfterDinnerNap-Etsy

Fine Art • Photography • Gifts • Greeting Cards • Books • Commissioned Portraits & Artwork

watercolor of black cat on windowsill
“Snowy Morning”, watercolor, 5.5″ x 8.75″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

When I woke up and saw Bella fascinated by the early snow squall, this is what I saw, and I also remember that without someone to rescue her she’d be out there, she might be trying to feed herself and kittens like Mimi did, she might not even have survived, instead of sitting safe inside a big window in a warm house with her current career as an artist’s model. It’s not just what I see that’s inspiring, it’s what I know too. 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.

6 thoughts on “Daily Photo: Snow Day

  • We’re not big fans of snow days here!

    Reply
    • I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who’s a big fan in this house!

      Reply
    • Mimi finds it necessary to patrol her territory no matter the weather!

      Reply
    • Yes, those are burd tracks, but it wasn’t burds that left the stinky message on the chair!

      Reply

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