From the Archives: A Cookie Centerpiece
Doesn’t every kitchen have a Cookie centerpiece? Or at least a tortie centerpiece? Really, Cookie owns that table, especially the blue and white plaid napkin in the center as she is sitting in the center of the center.
It’s a bright and cold January afternoon in 2006 and Cookie are apparently spending some time in the kitchen, where she must find the most advantageous spot and be certain I photographed her.
That digital camera was a 2MP FinePix, great in sunlight but a real failure in the house a good bit of the time. I kept getting blurry photos so I held it steady against the edge of the stove and got one clear photo that was still a little discolored. I cropped the photo above out of the center of it. Below is they full photo with pleasant memories for me of the round white table that is in “Peaches and Peonies” and was the backdrop for many photos in that kitchen. That and all my plants, because no one ate them at the time, and the lack of clutter is a wonderful thing to see. Don’t mind the closeup of the edge of the bowl at the lower left. That’s just from leaning the camera on the edge of the stove.
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What other photos have I shared on or around this date?
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Tossed on the Rocker
Oh, that’s why I cleaned off the rocker. It’s right inside the door and catches a lot of the stuff I need to put down when I come in, and then I never pick it up again until I need it or put it away. I also use it to catch the things that go into the entertainment center for storage. It looks as if I’ve tossed a handful of cats here too. Apparently a number of felines have been eyeing it up for napping—I didn’t even get a chance to remove the last bag from the seat before they were settling in as if drawn by a magnet, and all have their eyes closed as if they are already fast asleep. Even Mimi has joined Mr. Sunshine, Giuseppe and Mewsette for an all-afternoon nap, all tucked together like puzzle pieces.
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What other photos have I shared on or around this date?
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The Cats in the Hat, 2010
Both Kelly and Cookie put one of my hats to the test—before it’s even done!
Every crochet item I make must be tested by at least one kitty, especially Kelly, my Lead Crochet Tester. This means it must be subject to the following activities as appropriate with the shape and size of the item: walked on, kneaded, climbed into, climbed underneath, smelled, tasted, slept on, slept in, carried off or fought over.
Kelly generally tests items for sleepability, and this alone involves most of the items above. She did try to fit herself into it in various ways, but only succeeded in getting all four legs in it and crouching in it. The hat flunked Kelly’s sleeping test, though it was fun to sniff and walk on.
Cookie was actually the first one to step into the hat, but she was distracted by the crochet bag. Not to be outdone by Kelly, when Kelly was done with her testing Cookie got back into the hat. Cookie usually tests for bathability, how comfortable the item is for having a good bath. Again, the hat flunked Cookie’s bathing test.
Perhaps this means I get the hat all to myself? No, it can always be smashed down and slept on by a pile of cats! I took it away to finish it before this happened.
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Way Up There, 2015
Smokie has continued with his upward mobility since he discovered “up” on the entertainment center, and has graduated to the shelf above the landing—with great ease and no small amount of feline ego, I might add.
My ceilings were lowered on the first floor, using plaster so they look like the original ceilings, but the original ceilings in this house were 10 feet, not eight. They were not lowered upstairs, so the ceiling you see above Smokie is 10 feet from the landing at the top of the stairs. The shelf is in the corner of the landing above both bedroom doors, 18″ from the ceiling.
Yes, he likes to look down on me from his lofty perch! The other morning he took a leap from a table by my bedroom door onto the top edge of the open door and stood there, but couldn’t move much without the door moving, and there weren’t too many places to leap down. I watched to see how he dealt with it and he looked calmly around, chose his spot and lept back onto the table. He knows what he’s doing, so I’m not concerned he’ll hurt himself with all this.
And catifying this area to make it a little more safe has been on my list for a while (along with patching all the old cracks and lumps in the walls). You’ve seen Mewsette up there, and Bean too. Right now they hop up from the corner of the wardrobe, and really, for a cat, it’s a small leap, about the distance of jumping from the floor to the kitchen counter, which is no challenge at all.
But a fall could be devastating from that height if they missed—consider if Mewsette was up there and Smokie jumped, was startled and lost his grip. Or, when Mewsette or Bean get a little older and a leap isn’t so easy any more…
Originally I’d installed this shelf to hold my house plants through the winter since it was cooler there, lots of winter light and enough moisture collected from the bathroom to keep their leaves healthy, and in summer it was hot and dry and darker there there and I dried flowers and herbs on the shelf and hanging from it. Until the day that I saw Mewsette up there among the spider plants with one of them teetering on the edge. Clean those cobwebs, Smokie! Make use of that tail!
Putting a shelf above the bathroom door would make it an easy step/leap from the wardrobe, then a right-hand turn and another step/leap onto the existing corner shelf. I could add other shelves too so they could walk all around the tiny 2′ x 4′ landing, up in the air. I’d also considered taking it down, though, in part because that louvered thing in the ceiling is an attic fan and I’ve wanted to to get it fixed so it can help air circulate, and I certainly don’t want any kitties near that! But for now, Smokie enjoys the challenge. And it’s so catlike to look down on the human.
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What other photos have I shared on or around this date?
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Why Aren’t We Famous?, 2014
Complain, complain, you never heard cats complain so much that I was away for days—weeks, in fact—and they got no attention whatsoever. They always exaggerate, but they are right, I did have several busy days where I was away for most of the day, and I guess the special canned food and treats, which I only do when it seems they truly need such extravagances, didn’t impress them too much. So I decided while I was getting a few things done in the kitchen, we could watch a few movies on the computer they might be interested in. So we read “What cats get up to when you leave the house” and then watched How attached are cats to their owners?. They could have easily watched Kodi walk around with the toy, meowing, for all 35 minutes he did so. But the real excitement was when Shorty appeared. Above, Mewsette, Jelly Bean, Giuseppe and Mimi are transfixed by the movie. I had to play it several times.
Below, more berating for me.
“Why aren’t we famous like those cats?”
“Just what are you doing when you’re out there, not here?”
“You need to work harder to make us famous.”
“Those cats are on the computer, we’re not.”
It’s not true. I played a few videos I’d made of them, and they were pretty bored with it all. But at least I gave them treats.
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A Presence on the Stairs, 2014
Lady Emeraude has been feeling pretty good lately. Not only does she stop over in the studio when we’re all gathered in there, but today when I worked downstairs for most of the day and all of the Five were with me I heard shuffling steps on the stairs and the click of claws that I associate with older cats trying to get a grip on a smooth surface. There she was, holding her own, balanced on a step.
She’s still pretty unsteady, and I’m not sure she should be cruising the steps, which are fairly steep. She really didn’t want to join us, but wanted us to come upstairs to be with her. She turned around and went back up on her own and it took a noticeable amount of effort to get to the top but she wasn’t incapacitated by it. I thought that was awfully nice of her to invite us up! We never did make it up there.
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. Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter. © 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski 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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And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
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