Tuesday, March 19, 2024
cat photographscatscats for adoptiondaily photofoster catsMidnight LouieSimba

Daily Photo: The Boys Get Some Furniture!

two black cats on cat tree
The boys enjoy their new used cat tree.

The boys have something new! Well, new to us. I’m really grateful to the people who put this nice cat tree out at the curb for trash pickup just in time for me to drive by and see it and pick it up and bring it home.

I’ve been wanting to get a cat tree for these guys, and honestly that’s how I’ve gotten most of the cat trees I have. They love it, and have been on it since I moved it into the room aside from the fifteen minutes or so it took for them to inspect it.

Never underestimate the importance of cat furniture, and of cats having something that belongs to them. My studio is jam-packed with furniture and goods that I use all the time, organized so it’s easy for me to use, even after I moved a good bit of things down to my basement studio. But it’s all my things and surfaces I need to work on and keep clean and neat. Except for the windowsill, there was really no place they could have for themselves, and that wasn’t enough.

I have always wanted a cat tree in there but haven’t been too concerned about it because I don’t spend full time in there, and when the cats join me they can accommodate themselves somewhere that I’m not working. We got along just fine.

These guys live in there. Simba continued to be stressed by encountering cats everywhere he went when I let him out of the room despite all the behavioral practices, pheromones, treats, play, even a calming collar didn’t seem to change him. He even began targeting other cats, like Hamlet and Mewsette, to threaten and chase them. I had planned to just keep working with him and eventually we’d find a way for him to feel more comfortable but he started up his urinary issue again, even on the prescription diet. For the sake of that he had to go back in the room for a while. I know he’d be fine with fewer cats because he was friendly and sociable when there were up to three cats in an area with him. More than that and he was done.

I still work on my portraits and other paintings in my studio, but being in there full time he and Louie needed more attention, and soon I wasn’t getting any painting done at all because Simba would swat my brushes, drink my paint water, and both of them would walk over my paintings when I worked on my table, or even grab my arm when I worked at the easel,  literally getting into the things I do here in my studio. I had to move my painting activities out of there too and work on them in the basement, which took longer, and I got very behind in finishing things.

And I was also spending very little time with them, just to get things done. This was stressful for all of us. I had the cat tree, but I just couldn’t figure out how to fit it into the room. I spent time just moving furniture in my head and I finally arrived at a solution, but I really wanted to finish one particular portrait before I tried it out, I was getting that close to a deadline.

But I kept dreaming of working at my easel again, and I knew that portrait would be so much better, and all the others, if I could get back on my easel. Having my work vertical in front of me, at eye level, is the best way to really see my painting, especially a larger one, and that was the only way that was going to happen.

So last week I decided to just go ahead and do it. If it didn’t work I’d work it out. I had to fold up my drafting table so that means the paintings I do on flat surfaces like watercolors and certain other media I’ll need to do someplace else, which I still haven’t figured out. But the bonus is that I can position my easel and me better than I could with the drafting table in place. And I can just turn around and pet both of them then get back to work.

 

~~~

From Instagram

Current situation. If Bella won’t share the basket bed, just lie on top of her and get comfortable.

From the back yard and beyond

You Don’t See Me

 

From around this date in past years

All Tucked In, 2021

tortoiseshell cat napping
Sienna is all tucked in.

This first truly cool day was full of happy naps, kitties cuddling and tucking themselves into spots they hadn’t enjoyed since last spring. Sienna took advantage of her favorite spot, on the pillows with Preppy Kitty.

~~~

From Instagram

It’s #tortiethursday and Sienna will be noticed!

#synchronizedsleeping on a chilly early autumn afternoon. I think they’ve been waiting for this just as much as I have been.

 

From the back yard and beyond

Whenever I see mushrooms sprouting in the grass I can’t help but envision some parallel but alien society living among us. Or maybe it’s elves.

black and white of mushrooms in grass
The Gathering.

You never step in the same stream twice.

The Same Stream

 

From around this date in past years

Go Away Summer, 2018

Chilling at the front door.
Chilling at the front door.

Mimi calmly stretches out and appreciates the cool air coming in the front door on a hot afternoon. Basil, however, always adds a little drama to any situation and writhes in the corner as if he’s in great suffering. It’s not THAT hot. But that’s life with Basil.

. . . . . . .

What other photos did have I shared around this date?

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Framed, 2017
The joys of framing, with cats.
The joys of framing, with cats.

Mimi’s been framed, Basil is exploring the tissue box and Mr. Sunshine is stealing my tools. The joys of framing, with cats.

I’ve had my hands full with framing some of the art I’ve been creating as well as a few purchases. Until I get the studio in its final rearrangement I still need to put all my framing orders together with my personal framing and do it all at the same time. With this sort of help, well, things don’t get done too quickly, but we do have a lot of fun.

I shared this on Instagram and Facebook on Sunday, September 24.

. . . . . . .

What other photos did have I shared around this date?

.

Random Thoughts, 2013
cat shadow and cat toy
Random Thoughts

It’s just an odd sort of capture, Giuseppe on the landing with the light from the window casting him in silhouette, and the current favorite cat toy right there. If a cat were to sit on the landing and dream, wouldn’t it be of a sun puddle and a catnip toy?

. . . . . . .

Wordless Wednesday: Some Things I Love, 2013
black cat with basket of vegetables.
Mimi and a basket of fresh vegetables she helped me harvest.

. . . . . . .

What a Mess, 2013
two black cats
What a mess!

I had lots of entertainment at my desk today, if you consider the Unbearable Cuteness of Black Cats on a very busy day to be entertaining. I certainly did, especially when they provided me with cuteness breaks at just the right moments so that I didn’t lose my mind. Above is how it ended up. Below is a slideshow of how we got there.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

. . . . . . .

Touched By Sunshine, 2012
four black cats
They still want an explanation.

Giuseppe, Mr. Sunshine and Mewsette are still wondering what the problem is with black cats when they are being as pretty as possible. Mimi is not concerned.

Just reinforcing for “Less Adoptable Pets Week” that “less adoptable pets” are beautiful once they get into your home and your heart. Anyone I know who has adopted a black cat intentionally or unintentionally has soon come to love all black cats for the depth and beauty of that black fur, and learned that underneath the color, all cats are cats, despite what humans think.

Tomorrow we’ll learn about living with a deaf cat who the kids never met.

. . . . . . .

Wordless Wednesday: Peaches Reflecting
calico cat reflected in table
Peaches Reflecting.

From 2010, featuring the beauty and love of a highly-adoptable senior kitty; this is the photo that inspired my daily photos on The Creative Cat.


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black and white of mushrooms in grass
Kelly With Grapes and Apples, ink marker and watercolor pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

Kelly on the very same cabinet in about the same angle of sun, but in March, 2012. Read more and purchase.



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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!

 
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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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