Mimi and Mewsette Monday: Rolling in the Sun, Napping in the Laundry Shade, June 22, 2017
Mewsette on what I think is one of her first rolls on the sun-warmed concrete in front of the basement door! What a silly girl, she’s so happy! Even in winter, without snow, the sun would hit that concrete first thing and by the time we went outside around 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. it was warmed just enough in cold weather, and happily warm in summer and fall. Though others were known to sit there, Mewsette was the only kitty to celebrate this miracle of warm concrete in all my garden cats. More photos below, and finally when it was too hot, her and Mimi resting in the shade of the laundry hanging on the line.
I’ve been thinking about Mewsette lately, saw the dancing lights in the yard the other morning, thought I saw her in the garden another morning, and just feel her gentle, joyous presence. The third anniversary of her entering her next life was June 11 so maybe that’s not a surprise. I had drafted an essay about her but found I had more and more to add and wanted to let that play out. I’ve also been busier than usual with getting in the groove of making stuff and vendor shows along with a few doctor appointments for me, nothing wrong, but a lot of annuals and age-related stuff, and much as I love making things and getting good test results I can’t wait to settle down to long days in my studios again!Â
Below, Mewsette continues her purrformance, rolling this way and that and dragging herself around on the concrete.
But this turned into a very hot morning and all of that rolling got Mewsette pretty well toasted. She moved off the edge of the concrete under a section of the laundry shade.
Then she moved under the larger part of it where Mimi had already settled. You can see the curved base of the metal rocker leg on the left edge of the photo, and under there is a water bowl. Mimi settled herself where she could get to the water bowl without the need to leave the shade. Mewsette thought that seemed like a pretty good idea. As an aside, note they are both wearing leashes. Mimi often wandered toward a neighbor’s yard because she’d done that before she became an indoor cat here, so the leash and her bell collar just helped me keep track of where she was in the yard. Mewsette was far less likely to wander but she could and I didn’t want either of them to do that. We regularly took walks around the yard and even into the neighbors’ yards so if they did get away from me they’d be familiar with it, Mewsette especially because Mimi already seemed to be.
I offered to let them both back inside more than once, holding the basement door open so they could go right into that cool basement with its cool concrete floor, but they wanted their outdoor experience. Here, Jelly Bean and Bella were even keeping back from the door and, well, they never really had any interest in going outdoors but especially not on a hot day.
I could always find something to do outdoors while they enjoyed it as long as possible. On that day that quickly grew hot I think the laundry was just about dry and I could bring it in!
I always think of how much they’d enjoy my regular schedule of garden work and my frequent visits to the garden myself.
Below, Mr. Max and Morty! And piles of black cats and collections of black cat faces, early Mariposa photos, Birgitta’s farm one of the visits when I took feral cats, and some lovely flowers and bunnies too!
From around this date in past years
Happy Summer! 2025
Happy summer! I’d like to say that the sun shines through kitty’s eye on the morning of each solstice, but that would not be true. She and her counterpart are magical nonetheless, out there in all weather on tall metal poles above my pots of herbs on the deck, sometimes illuminated by the votive sconce below, since 1998-99.
This was intended to be my Friday post, then my Saturday post, now it’s Sunday…just everyday things.
Getting ready for the heat
Spent the day (Saturday) getting ready for the heat, with no air conditioning, a series of ceiling fans and strategically-placed floor fans turned off/on/moved at certain times of the day, blinds and shutters on the windows and on the deck and porch up and down, open and close, small evaporative coolers that want attention. One ceiling fan (studio, installed 1997) and one floor fan no longer working. Reinstalled mini blinds and shutters in my bedroom (removed for the renovations in 2023). Last thing I want to do in the heat! Kitties can stretch themselves all over cool concrete basement floor but they usually don’t.
And with the heat and humidity, nothing is drying as far as paints and finishes! I am eager to keep getting these things done!
Now, Sunday, reinstalled mini-blinds in bathroom and studio. What makes this fun is that I purchased the blinds in the early 90s and they still work fine and I still love the colors I bought then so reinstall is good. But they are so old, and in the renovation process most of the hardware was lost in part because of the condition of my plaster around the windows, that no one sells anything like what they need anymore, anywhere in the world.
Getting things done around the house
But I have coffee cans full of old hardware and also an inventive floor person at Lowe’s had a few ideas, so the reinstalls involved digging through said old hardware, matching them to what the blinds needed and the space they would go. I did not have woodwork around my windows before, and now I do, which makes installation tons easier than digging through layers of stucco, drywall, old plaster and lathing strips, both hard as rocks, all requiring bolts through the wall to hold things in place. I’m glad it’s done! I’ve been finding it more difficult than before to just do things like this; I’m still getting back up to speed after all the losses and changes.
Mr. Max is feeling good!
Mr. Max was having a really hard time a couple weeks ago, like a scary hard time, but with the guidance of Dr. Elgersma I’ve been able to get him to feeling better than he has in a while, except that I also think whatever is happening in there is cyclical and I can’t take all the credit for making the change, only for helping him deal with it. Either way, I’m sooooo glad he’s active and playful and eating well and only an occasional intestinal cramp.
Morty is keeping cool in the studio
I was most worried about Morty in the studio behind a closed door because it’s 90 degrees in the afternoon/early evening on my second floor. That room is shaded by both my river birch and the spruce in the front of the house so it’s more than tolerable until mid-afternoon when sun actually does hit the windows. The ceiling fan did a great job just keeping air moving, but that’s the one that decided to retire; I think it’s just that the switches wore out after almost 30 years but there’s no way to fix those anymore. I’d seen free ones on various marketplaces, knowing I should pick up a couple but I didn’t, now looking again but maybe a good sale.
I had decided that if I couldn’t keep the room cool enough I would follow him around the house and try to keep him on good behavior, which I’ve been doing anyway, but to get him out of the heat for a few hours I’d take him to the basement in a big mesh crate, which is what I used in 2023 during the renovations when everyone had to go to the basement for a couple of days.
But the little evaporative cooling unit I got for the room has been doing well enough—it does not cool the room, maybe overnight with lower temperatures and no sun, but it cools an area really well—and he tolerated my turning up the fan. He’s been sleeping on the floor because it’s too hot on the cat tree, right by the window in the carpeted cups, so I put the evap unit on the floor to blow on him and moved the fan there. The temperature stays right around 82 to 84 degrees in that area, and checking his paw pads, ears and belly, his body temperature from the outside feels completely normal. He’s eating and drinking and very affectionate. I check him each hour to be sure the evap unit has enough water and the temperature is still good.
So if anyone else is looking for ideas to keep your fur friends cool, that seems to work very well.
Let’s hope we can make it through the week. Stay cool everyone! Scroll down to enjoy photos from previous years!
From around this date in past years
Friday Four or More: Basketing for Three, 2020
I’m not sure how many photos I have of the three boys sleeping with their heads together…”when we put our heads together, we fall asleep.” I even have a painting, “Dreams of Three.”
They huddled like this so often but I always found it enchanting. How close they were that they slept this way, with their heads together. Certainly they curled up together in all other sorts of shapes and combinations, but when they put their heads together I knew it was something special.
Look at those faces: Mr. Sunshine, Jelly Bean, Giuseppe. One of those moments when I always knew me, the human, was a step outside of their relationships. That was always okay with me.
Mewsette did eventually catch on to the gathering down here and a little later there was a big shuffle among the baskets to fit her and Basil and Hamlet. Here they are all settling down together for the Second Afternoon Nap.
I imagine they are still napping together, somewhere.
~~~
From Portraits of Animals
From the years when I didn’t have a garden because of the deer, just the geraniums and parsley growing on the steps to my deck made me smile every day. So I painted it.
From around this date in past years
Friday Feline Thoughts, 2023
These two are an interesting pairing. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Bella and Hamlet sitting together. I’m sure they’re sharing some feline thoughts and feelings.
Hamlet has been enjoying my desk lately, which is new. He has been quietly walking in front of me and stopping for pets, which I am required to do if I am ever to see my computer screen again because he manages to block my view of it completely. Bella usually shows up on my desk if her true love Mr. Sunshine is there, but she’s also been showing up now and then and sitting where I can pet her. I guess I’m getting some special attention, and I also note that some kitties continue slowly socializing at their own pace. I enjoy the company of these two gentle and quiet housepanthers individually and together, whatever the reason.
From around this date in past years
Playing Little Games, 2022
I turn around and see this little bit of cuteness watching me! She love the attention of my photographing her, and how can I resist?
~~~
From Instagram
Mimi and Mr. Sunshine find that even a flattened #chewybox is good for a nap.
Power naps. Jelly Bean, Bella, Sunshine, Mimi, from bottom to top.
Sleeping on the job. How am I supposed to get my portraits done?
From around this date in past years
Your Guess is as Good as Mine, 2021
It could be me saying that, or it could be Mariposa. She could be studying what I’m doing and just not getting human things. I could also be wondering what she’s thinking and whether she’s watching me, or if a big crazy race around the house is brewing. Whatever it is, she is loving life and is very happy in this moment, and that makes me happy too.
~~~
From Instagram
It’s #tabbytuesday and Mariposa wants to show you her special skill. She found Mr. Sunshine’s hiding place! But she decided that he deserved his privacy, so she closed the door when she was done. My well-loved old handmade cabinet desperately needs a scrape, sand, and paint. That’s where the cat food is stored, so it gets a lot of use. And probably why mr. Sunshine decides to hide in there, so he’s convenient for every meal. With the level of cuteness around here, I will never have the time to get to that cabinet.
All my other Instagram posts were photos I’ve already posted here, but here is this awesome rainy sunset from the day I drove the feral colony to my friend’s farm—and I will finally be updating you on that in the next post!
From around this date in past years
Mariposa Loves the Camera, 2020
Mariposa LOVES the camera. It means she’s getting ALL the attention. There she was hanging out on the steps observing the room and simultaneously blocking Hamlet’s way up the steps. Of course I had to get a photo of her and those long, long whiskers, green eyes and super-confident expression. Then I decided to walk a little closer and refocus, and Mariposa decided to get her nose all up in my camera.
~~~
From Instagram
Just that kind of a day. Monday was full of little hurdles and I felt like Giuseppe.
Shapes and patterns. Nice and cool on the bricks first thing. Mimi and I are both happy I cleared away all the grass, moss and overgrowth. We love our patio. I’m thrilled to be able to bend over and kneel down so I can do these sorts of things. I have a lot of catching up to do!
Some synchronized sleeping happening between two formerly feral fursisters here.
And photos from the back yard and beyond
Baby chocolate bunny. Perfectly disguised.
My old old red rambling rose.
From around this date in past years
Because I Moved the Basket and Everyone Had to Get Into It, 2019
Because we only have one basket, and I moved it onto the desk to get to something else, and suddenly it was prize territory. In about three seconds Jelly Bean was in it and curled napping as if he’d been there all day, then Mimi hurried over because she needs to be in every container of any sort immediately. Just barely settled, Mr. Sunshine decided he would have his space too, and got himself in there behind Mimi, who is looking rather annoyed at being squished between her two sons. Perhaps she should have had smaller sons. Mr. Sunshine is looking patient, because he knows he will wait this one out and eventually have the basket all to himself. That’s the way it happens.
From Instagram
Everyone enjoys a sunny morning in her own way. Mariposa, Bella, Mewsette.
Not just that they are enjoying themselves, but that they are rescued, safe, healthy and happy indoors on a beautiful spring morning.
Cat friends are sweet. Minutes later they were in a high speed chase around the house.
Both Hamlet and Mariposa integrated with the household without any issues, each loves other cats and respects their elders, and though they are about two years apart in age they have similar active purrsonalities and have grown into best friends. Maybe playing well with others is one of the lessons learned growing up in a feral colony.
How did tiny Mimi give birth to these four medium to large cats?
Photos shared in past years
Farm Field Trip, 2017
This is Flounder, and he’ll be your tour guide for your visit to the farm. Of course, I couldn’t visit a place full of animals and landscapes without a few gigabytes of photos. I mentioned him in my last visit, and here is his story: Birgitta opened the basement door one winter morning and he hopped in, his legs all stuck together with burrs in his long hair. He never left.
Below, along with Bella the golden retriever mix, he makes sure the farm is running smoothly. I tried so hard to get a photo of the two of them together but they never stopped moving and this was the best I could do.
Flounder marked each of the steps before I walked up them.
And yes, he’s very friendly! It was not quite “Hug Your Cat Day”, but he thought it was.
Here are a few of the other farm animals, the chickens and goats. I have a lot of photos of chickens but I’ll just include these.
The Amish neighbors, who didn’t mind having their photos taken.
And the property and neighbors’ houses.
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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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