From The Archives: Brothers at Five Months, January 7, 2008

Bernadette January 2, 2022 1 Comment black cats, black kittens, cat photographs, cat photography, cat photos, cats, feline photographs, pet photography, pets, photography

Yes, it was interesting getting to know them as they got older. By this age they were far easier to distinguish than when they were tiny, but still had so many habits in common looking at them was often like seeing double, or triple, or quadruple. The tails, head tilt, eyes, ears, so much is nearly identical. Jelly Bean and Giuseppe have always been the closest, synchronizing their naps and movements, and also performing for studio wrestling, and yet they were the most unlike physically in many ways. Giuseppe is tall and long, Bean is short and rather stout with a shorter tail, a shorter nose and smaller ears, but side by side the comparison was, and is, remarkable.

Here is another pair of brothers relaxing between me and my monitor just presuming that space is for them, Giuseppe sitting up and Mr. Sunshine reclining. Mr. Sunshine assumed a supurrvisory capacity early on, but Giuseppe was still up for some fun and games. But in this case Kelly, behind the monitor, has the good spot, behind the monitor where it’s warm. It’s clear attention was much more important to them at this point.

two blacks kitten on desk — Brothers on desk.

Jelly Bean has settled in the “in” bin, where he’s sure to attract attention with his natural cuteness and his gracefully-curved leg.

black kitten on desk — Jelly Bean is “in”.

Mewsette joined them a little later, possibly, as you can see in the photo below which I posted last year. The above photos were taken through the day, and the one below in the evening. I’m still debating but the kitty on the right really looks like Mimi. So scroll down and see a few more photos from the first week of January in various years from my digital archives prior to blogging.

From the Archives in Previous Years

Kittens All Over My Desk, January 7, 2008

five cats on desk — Peaches and kittens all over my desk

Peaches is wondering where her favorite evening napping place went. She had always enjoyed having a bath on my lap and then napping under the kitty keep-warm lamps, but that area all seems to be covered by those pesky kittens who won’t seem to go away. Peaches was 17 years old then and a little hazy, but she had her schedule and those kittens kept interfering with it. Soon enough, however, she learned the benefits of napping on said kittens—yes, on them—and did so for the rest of her life. And they adored her.

The kittens were about 5-1/2 months old here and spending more of each day out of my bedroom and on the first and second floors.

So it’s Peaches, Giuseppe, Jelly Bean and Mr. Sunshine. The kitty on the farthest right is probably Mewsette, but might be Mimi. That little loaf shape is still how Mimi looks, but Mewsette looked a lot like her as a kitten too, and Mimi isn’t in any of the other photos I took while they were all on the desk.

Cookie’s Minions, 2009

I know everyone’s eyes go first to the eyes of the black cats behind, but mine go to Cookie, who was pointedly ignoring me. She was never a happy model until her last two years.

Behind her is all five of the black cats. Cookie hardly thought of the Five as her minions, but they certainly gave her loving respect as here when they decided to share their shawl with her. I was trying a little photo shoot with them when the light was very bright coming in the window, and Cookie decided to join them for a nap. I let them all resettle and then did my best to get them all to look at me at the same time, but this was as close as I got, not even any good faces that I could Photoshop in place.

In the front, obviously, it’s Cookie. Directly behind her to the right is Mimi, Cookie’s lady-in-waiting even then, though I didn’t realize it, staying close and likely absorbing a lifetime of learning from Cookie. Behind Cookie to the right is Mewsette, Cookie’s gentle guardian. The three sets of eyes you see are the three boys, Giuseppe on the left, Mr. Sunshine on the right and Jelly Bean in the back, in the middle. The kids were two years old, while Mimi was six.

While there are six cats in this photo, there were still three others in the house at the time. Missing, but probably not far, are Kelly, Peaches and Dickie.

Sweet memories for a December afternoon (I missed sharing this in December).

~~~

Silly Boy, January 7, 2003

gray and white cat on tub — Look at those eyes.

Namir was such a goof. He’d pull off the cool, graceful classic feline routine, strolling around on his slender Oriental feline shape, then I’d find him draped over something, waiting for me to find him. In this case it’s the tub, and this was apparently why I began draping the bath rug over the side. I didn’t know that when I decided to just make a tiny little change in the bathroom one day, but no doubt it was Namir’s mind control compelling me to set up a comfortable spot to drape himself.

He would drape himself over anything he could fit himself on, and didn’t limit himself to furniture. He also draped himself over my thigh, just dangling his front legs and tucking up his hind legs, or all legs if I occasionally crossed my legs. He would do that to guests too. It made us all feel very special.

But it’s those silly expressions. He had extraordinary eyes but could often look somewhat mournful, a ruse to get what he wanted out of you, which was always attention. Others fell for it, and I didn’t fall for it I just loved him for it and gave him attention all the time anyway.

He also liked the smell of bleach as I’ve known a few other cats to do. When I used cleanser to clean he would appear in the doorway, kind of glassy eyed and enjoying the smell, and he’d roll in the tub as soon as he could. That was one of the things that inspired my change to safe cleaners, and how he became the poster child for my “Living Green With Pets” series and the article “Spring Cleaning”.

Photos From the Archives and Vintage Photos

Photos pulled “From the Archives” were taken by one or another digital camera of mine between 2002 and, well, yesterday, but usually they are older than that, and I had never had the chance to feature them. Vintage Photos are from my film archives back to 1983 when I purchased my Pentax K-1000 camera. They’re a fun way to “introduce” other members of my feline family who came and went before I began blogging, and to illustrate my feline family in general from days gone by.

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sketch of two cats wrestling, vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, white charcoal, black and white conté — “Clash of Titans”, vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, white charcoal, black and white conté, 11″ x 8″ © Bernadette E.Kazmarski

One of Giuseppe and Jelly Bean’s famous wrestling matches. Click here to read more and purchase.

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