Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
Perhaps wildlife watching would be more apt, it might have been a squirrel in the big trees out front that grabbed his attention rather than a bird. From the summer of 2009 in Portland, this was our first cat tree back before it got so much love it had to be retired.
After months of searching I finally found a location so secret that even the superest of spies won’t be able to … track me … down … welp, time to start searching again.
I’ve been editing some old pictures to bring old blog posts back online and was surprised to find this picture of a young Samwise snuggling up on my legs, adopted a month prior, never made it online. He turns 13 this month, with Ellie gone all the pets he grew up with have died. He loved being the youngest so I feel for the tender-hearted little fellow. He’s not wanted Trixie to snuggle up with him lately but that may be more a displeasure with the summer heat, we’ll see in a bit when the worst of the heat breaks for the year.
Awake Trixie is sweet and affectionate and playful. Asleep she sometimes sprawls down the length of my legs, but sometimes I can’t escape the feeling I’m living with royalty.
Emma waits for me to toss her a string early in 2008, not long after we adopted her. She never tired of playing with strings throughout her life. My camera at the time really struggled to focus on her in low light so I have a lot of slightly blurry pictures of her, but that’s better than none at all. This one is OK because I pre-focused and got lucky with where she placed her head.
Sam as a newly adopted kitten in 2008, after he and Emma were released from isolation and given free roam of the house.
Little Squeaks does like her pillows.
Ellie curled up on the couch beside me in the fall of 2013, the day winding down as the clock ticked towards midnight. When I got tired enough to fall asleep she’d follow me upstairs to the bedroom. I’m thankful I took a lot of shots of her doing everyday things like this, I didn’t do it enough in the early days with Templeton and Scout.
I’ve been primarily a laptop user for many years now so only the details of my home office have changed, the computers getting upgraded every 3 to 5 years and notebooks being swapped out when they fill up. One of the changes I have loved is the arrival of smartphones for keeping GPS tracks of my hikes (and dog walks) that I can sync up with my pictures. I also loved the arrival of the iPad and bird books on it, as you can select your location and eliminate all the birds not likely to be seen in your area, especially useful when we moved to Arizona.
Sam is the object that has changed the least, a constant in my lap since he arrived late in 2007. Trixie arrived early in 2015, special props for stealing my seat as soon as I stood up and then curling up like she had been there for hours. At least now there aren’t as many protest squeaks when I take my seat back as there were in the early days.
Ellie in 2009, she came into the living room while I was playing with Scout to let me know she was available for hedgehogging, a minute later she was making music with her favorite toy, then a minute later was ready for a snooze. She’d sometimes have soft little snores, sometimes she’d make little whoops as her legs made running motions.
