Thursday, March 28, 2024
black catscat photographscatsdaily photofoster catsMariposamewsette

Daily Photo: Soaking in the Sun

two cats on counter in sun
Mariposa and Mewsette soaking in the Sun

The girls soak in the sun as it comes around into the kitchen. That spot on the bean counter gets pretty warm when this happens, and kitties have been known to doze off and sleep there long after the sun has left the area. So many colors! So much interest! The girls are beautiful, big and little, old and young.

From Instagram

Just remembering the last sunny, warm (dry) days in the back yard, Mimi balanced on my knee. Winter is on its way this weekend.

A good day for some serious #snuggles.

Veterans Day

Alfons J Kazmarski, Army of the United States Technician Fourth Grade, 115th Quartermaster Bakery Company, Asiatic Pacific Theater, India, enlisted 11 May 1942, discharged 21 Mar 1946.

No great battles and no medals but everyone has to eat, and that was how my father served his country in WWII, with the baking skills he had from working in his parents’ bakery. I am grateful to him and all who served and serve today in any capacity, in this nation’s armed services.

Like so many others in this huge group of baby boomers, my father served in WWII, and like so many who served returned with untold stories and unhealed wounds; it’s actually presumed that the Parkinson Syndrome that shortened his life took hold of him as he fought the fevers of some tropical illness when serving in India.

But because of his service and my mother’s memories stateside, I always felt like WWII was my war too, for better and for worse. The war was not done when they came home. It changed their lives, and so it changed ours too.

And because of the service of my parents’ generation I am a grateful daughter, and I fly my father’s flag with pride, the one given to us at his funeral, especially on Veteran’s Day.

Photos from previous years

Sienna is Ready for October, 2021

tortoiseshell cat
Sienna is ready for autumn.

Sienna is surrounded by autumn colors as we move from September to October, the colorful month. For a while today we had the windows open and listened to the birds and even the crickets, funny because the windows used to be open all day and all night as we tired of the heat, and now it’s exciting. Sienna is a window lover, for the sunlight, the view, the fresh air, she can always be found near a window, and she looks beautiful when she does it.

~~~

From Instagram

Lots of exciting little scuffling noises in the gardens this time of the year.

Mewsette has done a good job of keeping the lemongrass under control all summer, as anyone who has grown it knows, it will take over your herb garden if you don’t have a diligent kitty like Mewsette.

Current view.

From the garden and beyond

Colorful Sunlight

Don’t be so concerned about your destination that you miss the beauty along the way.

Photos from previous years

Hamlet Around the Corner

Hamlet Around the Corner
Hamlet Around the Corner

Hamlet is acting so much like a regular cat that sometimes he actually forgets he’s supposed to be feral.

Hamlet just discovered this counter right inside the kitchen doorway. He spent several days stretched out in all sorts of positions there. Each time I went through the doorway I had to touch him. I have to go light with that, but when I do he loves it, so that’s my reward. Here, I am at my desk, and Hamlet just realized there was a room behind him. He’s not sure what to think. Giuseppe is in the background, keeping watch.

. . . . . . .

Photos from previous years

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Kitty Things, 2017
Cat and dog bookends with shocked kitty shadow.
Cat and dog bookends with shocked kitty shadow.

I took this photo at the Pet Memorial Sunday event two weeks ago. Deb is stocked with pet-themed things for her display. I like to photograph things like these wherever I find them, and share them here when I remember. These bookends have such purrsonality, though—the kitty looks like she’s hiding and the dog looks like he’s trying to peek into where she is. But what really clinched it for me was the angry kitty shadow looming out of the lower corner. That’s a wire holder for a flower pot, and Deb has both a cat and a dog of those as well. Just as I took one photo the sun peeked through the leaves and cast the shadow of the wire kitty. It was too good to pass up.

Sometimes these photos are for inspiration, like the kitty rock below, which is also one of Deb’s memorial items. I had begun painting these years ago from rocks I found in my outdoor travels, but stopped because they are, I’ll say, a little inconvenient: heavy to pack and carry, and most people want their own kitty on the rock. But I think I like the idea and, of course, I’ve been collecting rocks just in case…but then, I always return from my outdoor adventures with a rock or two. Really, I do. They usually end up in gardens or plants, but we’ll see how this goes. At the end of this post is one of the things I sell that was inspired by one of those kitty things I photographed and pondered for a while.

Cat rock.
Cat rock.

And speaking of outdoor adventures, a local customer has commissioned me to do a portrait of herself and her dog playing in Robinson Run, the stream that runs along the Panhandle Trail that I’ve painted and photographed often. She liked my paintings from the Panhandle Trail show last year and purchased a few canvas prints. Recently she’s been thinking of Baylee, a Great Dane who is six years old and her best friend, and how she’d like to hold onto the memory of their daily trips to the trail and the stream and how they play. So even though it will be months before I get to it we wanted to capture this season right now, and on Monday we met there and I photographed the two of them having a great time.

I am sharing those photos with her so we can choose what the portrait will look like, and I will share those later. In the meantime I gave her my phone to take a photo of me standing in the water because I never have photos of me “in action”. Today when I shared one of the photos I’d taken of just the stream several people asked me if I got into the water and shared how they love to do that. You can’t keep me out of it. It’s still pretty hot here right now, and this is looking pretty good.

Me in Robinson Run.
Me in Robinson Run.

~~~

Shipping Supervisors

Adding a few last-minute “free black cat hairs” to a couple of orders.

Adding some free cat hair to a package.
Adding some free cat hair to a package.

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Photos from previous years

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How to Take a Really Good Nap, 2014
black kitten
Smokie demonstrates the art of a really good nap.

Smokie thinks his fur sister has been getting a little too much attention lately, and decided to take control of the situation. First, the totally relaxed nap, above, which any living human would find irresistible. I did, anyway, judging by the number of photos I took of him. He quietly took it all in stride, knowing he’s a star, as well as the cutest kitten on earth. He may get that idea from what I’ve been telling him since he came here, but I also think it’s a cat thing.

Then, just as I thought the cuteness couldn’t get any more intense, he rolled over on his back to show me…his gray bits. Yes, this is why his name is Smokie! It’s a little difficult to see on a daily basis because his coat isn’t nearly filled out yet, but he has irresistible silvery gray fuzzy areas around his neck, in his armpits and on his lower belly that will develop into distinct feathers when he’s an adult. Who could resist? He is going to be one handsome mancat, and I think he’s been learning form Giuseppe the art of the kitty centerfold photo. You can also see he’s not a frightened unadoptable kitten anymore.

black kitten
Smokie shows off his gray bits.

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Wordless Wednesday: Fore and Aft, the Secret Meeting
three black cats
Jelly Bean joins the boys’ secret meeting at the top of the stairs.

. . . . . . .

Once Upon a Time on a Rocker, My Have We Grown
four black cats
And settled in.

This is the mess in my office, with cats. This is where and how I store my merchandise right now, and it serves the kitties just fine—always something new! Boxes to smell and climb on and rub on and scratch, and most important, nap on.

Here I’d shuffled things around so the seat of the rocker was exposed, and I got down to the level with the cloud bed they’d grown tired of. Cloud bed went on the rocker seat, really just temporary, but they found it immediately and have exposed me to two full days or rigorous torture as they arrange and rearrange their sweet selves all over the bed in twos and threes and, finally, in fours. This is behind me; each time I turned around it was another case of sweetness.

In fact, I took photos of them and began this post, then stopped to take more when Mimi joined them, then more when all four finally found a way to share the rocker. They are still there, as you see them at the top of this post.

Below is what they looked like in November 2007 at four months, a slightly different rocker and the throw that’s always on it underneath, and below that, a photo of the four today in their first attempt to curl up together until the ones on the end kept falling off.

four black kittens on rocker
Everybody on the Rocker!
four black cats
They kind of fit…mostly because of the cloud bed.

Below is a slideshow of the whole event…and later on, a sketch.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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What’s Cookin’?, 2012
two black cats on cookbook
What’s cookin’?

Giuseppe and Mr. Sunshine are always hopeful, but it’s not looking too promising with the parsley, though it was good when they tasted it.

On the other hand, sitting on the cookbook, basically just stacks of paper when it’s open, is such a cat thing, the boys could stay there all day. In fact, they did, even when I wasn’t there. On a cool day that turned rainy, a simmering pot of soup kept the kitchen warm and comfortable. I enjoyed the company.

And don’t tell the boys the cookbook was just being used as a feline containment and management device so they wouldn’t get mixed up in my chopping of vegetables and such…

. . . . . . .

Can You Turn Down These Lights? 2011
black cat with paw over face
Giuseppe trying to nap.

“I’m trying to take a nap here,” Giuseppe says.

“I’m trying to work here,” I respond.

“But it’s so nice and toasty warm here,” he replies.

“It won’t be if I turn off the lights,” I tell him.

“I need my beauty rest. Mlle. Daisy may contact me at any moment and I need to look perfect,” he insists.

“Mlle. Daisy can’t see you,” I inform him.

“But I can see her! Of course she can see me!” he seems upset. I let it go. “Mlle. Daisy loves you no matter what you do, she tells you that all the time,” I say.

“But I can never be too sure, I did hear there is at least one other black cat who visits her door, I need to be very careful,” Giuseppe says.

“If you like to eat, you might consider moving to a more comfortable spot to get your beauty rest than lazing all over my desk so that I might get some work done,” I remark.

“But I have to he right here if Mlle. sends a message, and I have to be perfect!” he protests.

“Giuseppe, the two of you don’t have Skype or anything, she can’t see you when she sends you a message,” I tell him again.

“She can’t?” he asks.

“No, baby, she can’t see you. Can you see her when you send a message?” I ask.

“Not when I send a message, but I just always thought she could see me,” Giuseppe says, confused.

“It’s just words right now, Big Guy, you don’t need to comb your ear hair and shine your whiskers,” I tell him.

“I’m so disappointed…” he trails off.

“Perhaps you could go and sleep on the bed with your brothers,” I suggest, trying not to be too obvious. “They will help you feel better.”

“Can we send Mlle. a message right now?” he asks.

“Sure we can,” I reply. “What would you like me to type?”

“Mlle. Daisy, mon cherie, I love you with all my heart and every piece of fur on my body!” he says. I type this.

“And, and…I have a gift for you! It will be a surprise,” he continues.

“That’s very sweet, Giuseppe. Anything else?” I ask.

“Love and kisses, nuzzles and purrs, your love, Giuseppe,” he finishes.

Some things never change.

Click here for the full list of stories and correspondence of the past year’s affaire between the two feline lovers.

. . . . . . .

Two Torties on One Lap, 2010
two tortie cats on my lap
Two Torties on One Lap

One for each leg! And they are touching each other! I am sitting with my legs crossed on my desk chair to accommodate them.

Cookie and Kelly have always more than tolerated each other, unlike the typical tortie story, but even these two don’t curl up together with anyone but me. However, if both of them want my lap badly enough they have no problem actually touching each other. It’s a little awkward to get work done with a lap literally full of cat and not being able to roll in under my keyboard shelf. I actually tried working by balancing the keyboard on top of the two of them, to no avail. I just reached a little farther during their nap time.

Seems like yesterday.


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

AfterDinnerNap-Etsy~~~

Feline Artwork from Portraits of Animals!

watercolor and ink sketch of two cats.
“Their Faces to the Sun”, watercolor and ink, 5″ x 7″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Mimi and Mewsette settled in the sun from the window on the landing, both of them enjoying the wash of the warm light on their faces as the shadows crept up over their backs. 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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© 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

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Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life

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Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats

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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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