Just woke up and found my cat lying on my chest! I am sleeping on the sofa as I can’t get upstairs with my injured leg.
He’s a friendly cat, but usually he is happy to lie down next to me on the chair arm. But tonight? I guess I’m the warm spot on a cold night. Seconds before I grabbed my phone to take this shot he had his head down, fast asleep and snoring.
Unfortunately for him I had to shift him as I was literally pinned down by his weight. He is now curled up snoozing at the other end of the settee and I’m sitting up with a cup of tea.
My cat was lying, belly up, looking at me. He was on the Sunday papers so I decided to add a mosaic to the background. The only problem is the tool has a pointer that magnifies where you are drawing but it doesn’t line up with the edge of the image. It also means a lot of filling in if you use a small nib, and overlap if you use a larder one. It means if you try and draw round the outline of something like the cat it often overlaps and you have to use the back toggle or add a bit of extra drawing to cover over the uneven areas. Still it looks better than when he was sprawled on the newspaper.
What’s in a cats mind? Waiting for something, but what? No sounds outside, no rustling leaves, but he waits. His sister or brother outside. Is it them he’s sitting, waiting for.
The cat likes to be patient, it’s in his nature, will he see a spider cross the floor? I wrote this, then looked up. A click or clack and he’s out the cat flap, to explore.
Night sits over the house. Will he see a mouse? Will he wait and stare some more, or pounce? No presents please. I don’t need the hassle. You sit and stare, at peace.
Puss cat curled up at my feet last night. I wanted to put my feet up on a footstool, but he wouldn’t move! I think he’s trying to take care of me. He sits next to me on my chair arm sometimes. His brother on the other arm reaching a paw out to me every so often. It’s so sweet.
Then the queen arrives, she jumps up and nuzzles me, saying hello. The boys ignore her but she is nervous of their size, I think she’s a bit bullied by them, but generally they all get on well together and with my hubby….
Kitty likes curling up by the sofa. Right where I walk to get into the kitchen! He turns over and miaows at me when I approach him. Delighted that I’m saying hello. Then proceeds to get underfoot, as I walk slowly behind him. Sometimes he tries to rub against my ankles, which could be deadly to him as I’m still using crutches and am quite unbalanced. Then he jumps up on to the kitchen cupboard miaowing for a tasty treat or to run his head against my hands. He’s a lovely, medium sized cat. No malice, mainly living indoors although he does pop outside sometimes. His one trick is not to come when I whistle him. He used to, but when we got the bigger boy rescue cat it seemed like it learnt to come to me when I whistled, but my old friend has decided to come over when he wants not when I call him unless treats are involved.
Late last night, as I was sleeping in my armchair, there was a curious clattering noise. I woke up to see my big cat walking into the living room with the door of the cat flap and the surrounding plastic bit stuck round his belly!
A few years ago I had to replace the flap and the bit around it because he had battered the original flap trying to get through it. It was before he was our cat and he used to sneak in and pinch the other cats food. The replacement is a bit small so it can fall out if it’s treated roughly.
It was very amusing seeing him wearing the door as a skirt! He was soaking wet from the rain. Looking like a black and white otter! I released him from his trap. He fell asleep on the chair next to me.
The cat has got really protective since I hurt myself. For the last two nights I’ve slept on my old armchair and our big tomcat keeps coming and sleeping next to me on the arms of the two chairs next to each other. It may be that my body is adding warmth to the room as its been cold for a few nights, so I’m a temporary heater? But I like to think it’s more like love or companionship. When he’s awake he puts his paws on my hand and gently kneads it. I feel like I’m being protected by him. It’s lovely.
Old oil painting of my cat leaping between gate posts. She was really clever and if I tapped the gatepost opposite where she was sitting she would leap across the gap. She would also come to me when I whistled for her. This was taken from a photo using a 35mm olympus camera. It took a few shots to get the image to paint from.
I used to paint in oils when I was in college and just afterwards but eventually started using acrylics when I found how quick and easy they were to paint with.
Sorry for the blurry photo but it’s high up on a wall and I would have to stand on a, step ladder to get close enough for a good photo.
Sorry, I’ve always loved cats, I’ve had cats since I was a child. We never had room for a dog, I don’t think my parents had the time to walk one while they were looking after all of us children.
Cats always seem aloof, but once you get one, and start to understand it they can be very loving. I used to whistle a little tune to get our cats to come home. I’d do it when they were due to be fed, or at bed time, and I suppose they understood the reason behind the whistle so they would come. So cats can be trained. I had one which would jump from one gate post to another when I tapped the post and whistled. She was very special and liked climbing up on my shoulder and having a little ride around the house or garden.
Don’t get me wrong though, I do like dogs, it’s just that when you go out to work all day it seems cruel to leave them shut in the house or tied up in a garden. At least cats can use cat flaps and enjoy independence. And I know you can get dogflaps but they look like a burglar could get in through them…
Also, thinking about cats, I think they are not as expensive to look after, although when you have multiple cats it’s not cheap. Maybe one day if we suddenly have lots of money I might get a dog.
Mallaband-Brown 