Outside cat is huge!

I just noticed that the outside cat (seen here inside) is almost as big as my trumpet case. This gives you an idea of the scale of him! He’s got used to knocking on the cat flap now. He could walk through it as we have it set to coming in only, but I think he would struggle to squeeze through!

Tonight he was lying on the two arms of our armchair, on a cushion placed between the arms. He had his paws and his face on my hand. He was dreaming and his head and ears were twitching, his claws stuck in my hand at one stage. Then he woke up and went to the back door. He only stays in for a couple of hours, unless he’s deeply asleep. No doubt he will be back in an hour or so.

X

Tummy rub pose.

Well, outdoor cat has become very friendly, even rolling over and showing his belly! He doesn’t let you be friendly for long, it’s like he still can’t just trust us for long. After being abandoned by his previous owners I suppose it’s understandable.

He even let me tickle his tummy, and he still puts his paws out to touch my hand. He is still getting on well with my two indoor cats. He seems happy. X

The cat comes knocking…

Knock knock!

Bash the cat flap

So it rattles

Let me in!

Ouside cat

Wants in

But won’t come through

The cat flap.

I let him in..

He eats..

Then yowl!

He wants out.

No the cat flap

Is only set to open

Inwards…

I let him out

Ten minutes later..

Knock knock!

Cheeky cat!

Who owns who?

New book received.

Imagined Islands, edited by Huw Lewis-Jones looks like a lot of fun. Lots of different maps by illustrators in different, fun, styles. I think it will help me get a feel for the map project I’ve got to do for college. In the meantime my cat seems to want to help me by interpreting the word ‘archipelago’….

Sleep

An old drawing done in 2019. When life was comfortable, the cats were snug. I hadn’t started doing my illustration course and I was drawing for pleasure.

I’d done another challenge, a hundred days drawing challenge, I think this was done on the third day because I’ve highlighted the date in red. I don’t know which of the cats this was. It isn’t our outside cat, because he was still living outside then (now all I have to do is whistle by the back door and he comes).

Anyway this just popped up in my memories, so I thought I would share it. A happy black and white cat, asleep, with no worries.

Cat map?

I drew this years ago. A celtic style cat. I did a full colour acrylic painting afterwards but I don’t have a photo of that and I think my sister has it now.

I was trying to think of a subject for an illustrated map we have to do for college. I’ve been visiting a local lake recently and there is a hedge maze there. You cannot see the shape of it from the ground and it would be interesting in mapping it out, but I don’t own a drone camera! Then I thought the map might be based around ideas of the Staffordshire Hoard found in this area a few years ago. This was coins and gold sword ornaments and other pieces of treasure. I might base my map on these Saxon patterns. Then I did my original thesis on pre Christian celtic art, and that’s where the idea of a celtic cat came from.

Decisions…. What to draw…. Hmm

Cat…ching up

After a morning on college work we finally got out in the sunlight for an hour.

Instead of walking up the hill we took the car to the top, then walked around the circumference on it. We walked down, then climbed back up again. Rushing because I thought I had another lecture at 5 (it was actually 6) we managed to get back to the car and home by ten to.

My hubby encountered this charming cat, fluffy and friendly, on top of a wall in between a row of terraced houses. The cat was purring loudly and having a lovely time, it was a shame he had to leave it as we walked on up the hill. We only managed a couple of miles, but it was great to escape for a while.

Cat bell

Wooden cat ‘bell’ one of the weird things I’ve collected over the years…

I seem to collect cat ornaments and friends give them me as presents, so much so that they clutter up everywhere. I’ve got cheap cats and cheerful ones, a few expensive ones… What other collections? Books and paintings and indoor plants. It’s amazing what you can fit on hotizontal surfaces in a tiny terraced house!