Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
One morning before work I stepped out of the shower and saw Emma sitting on the ledge next to the bathroom. She loves wet hair and I had a few moments before we needed to leave, so I leaned down and let her play in my hair. She purred and purred her quiet chirpy purrs and put me in a good mood to start the day.
Here the warm beds put her in a good mood to end the day.
Emma got her teeth cleaned over the break, and since it was her first time under anesthesia we were advised to keep her separated from the other animals for the rest of the day and keep an eye on her. I stayed with her in the evening in the guest bedroom and she was all over me, rubbing her head up under my chin, a temporary lap cat. Much like she was that first night we brought her home when she was so nervous, making me feel bad for her now, as I knew stress was driving her behavior.
My wife switched with me at bedtime as the other pets often sleep on me. Emma hates to be confined though and mewed loudly under the door and kept me from sleeping (but not, apparently, my wife). I eventually freed her and let her roam the house, but she decided instead to spend the night playing in our bedroom, grabbing little objects and then batting them around the hardwood. I got very little sleep that night but fortunately she was back to her normal self the next day and we both slept in peace once more.
Last weekend I took the ornaments off the Christmas tree and yesterday took the tree itself down. Emma has lost her favorite tree but her second favorite remains. I took this picture of her on the cat tree last year after I got my new camera, I was using her as my test subject for using the off-center focus points.
Sam and Emma underneath the Christmas tree, a slightly calmer scene than yesterday. I was going to title yesterday’s post “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”, but since I recently got a nice new camera I couldn’t do it in good conscience. Today’s cameras really are remarkable. I took both of these pictures tonight, handheld, with the Christmas tree lights providing the only illumination. I decided to try the 7D at ISO 3200 and used the image stabilization in the lens to compensate for the slow shutter speed.
There’s a reason I don’t put the ornaments on the tree right away.
I thought with another year of wisdom and experience the cats might be kinder to the tree. But yesterday we got home from work to find this carnage in the living room.
The investigation initially focused on two prime suspects, juvenile offenders with a past history of tree climbing, but the discovery of a clump of soft, black fur in the treetop has narrowed the focus. The accused did herself no favors when, as I righted the tree, she climbed back into it before I even had it upright again.
In her defense, the tree stand isn’t the best. It certainly wasn’t designed with the idea of a ten pound ornament hanging from the top.
📷: Canon 7D | Canon 24-105 L
🗓️: December 17, 2009
Many parts of the former British Empire celebrate Boxing Day after Christmas, a day originally set aside to give gifts to the less wealthy parts of society. While we don’t celebrate Boxing Day here in the States, we do celebrate Unboxing Day in our home, a day set aside to unbox our artificial Christmas tree. This day will always be a day of joy and sadness for me, as it was not only one of Templeton’s favorite days of the year, it was also the day he died in 2007.
But it is also a day of joy, as the cats all love it, Emma especially. I brought the box down early this year but didn’t get the tree out for another week, and every day when I came home from work Emma would be sleeping beside the box. I’m not sure if the smell brought back pleasant memories or if she was trying to guilt me into putting the tree up.
I finally put it up last night, and before I even had the top assembled Emma was sleeping under the bottom branches. Sam was climbing in it before I had the branches spread out, and today it showed clear signs of cats tunneling upwards through the branches. We’ve had this tree throughout our married life but I don’t how much more of this kind of love it can take. Scout used to love to climb in it when she was younger, but being the resident genius she at least figured out how to climb up without leaving an evidence trail behind her.
Last night all three cats were under the tree, and I hoped to get some pictures but Emma woke up and came out to greet me so I didn’t have much time. Snuggle buddies Sam and Scout stayed put so I had a little more chance with them.
Emma sneaks down from the top of the cat tree to poke Sam from above and catches the little fellow unawares, but not helpless.
Em? Emma? I’ll take that as a yes.
For the past seven years, we haven’t had one stitch of furniture in the dining room. But it is empty no more!
We stopped by one of our local pet stores and picked up a cat tree with three perches. Of course, being cats, when we set it up in front of one of the big picture windows, they wanted nothing to do with this new thing in their lives. I sprinkled some catnip on each perch and walked away. Scout was the first to venture in, followed shortly thereafter by Emma (seen here in the covered perch).
Sam was a harder sell but after finally trying it out, he has rarely left it since. And he isn’t just sleeping on it, during the afternoon he was swinging all around the thing like a gymnast on the uneven bars.
I have a dog bed in my office that sees heavy use from more than just our dear Ellie. When my wife made it she didn’t have quite enough stuffing so peaks and valleys form, an irresistible draw for crevice-loving Sam. Emma often sleeps on it as well and with her black fur resembles a little Ellie. She’s rather fascinated with the dog and often snuggles in beside or behind me while I toss the hedgehog with Ellie.
Emma’s also been snuggling with Sam lately, although to be honest I didn’t see who snuggled up to who, it could be that Emma was just tolerating our Grade A snuggler.
Boolie 