sleeping – Page 28

A Year of Boo

It was one year ago today that we adopted a seven-month old black-and-white kitten named Bronco from the Oregon Humane Society. We renamed the shy little fellow Boo and slowly introduced him to the other pets over the course of a month. He was so terrified when we first met that he shook like a leaf, so it’s been fun to see him become a part of our family. On this afternoon in April, he and Sam snuggled up together on my legs.

My allergies flared up unexpectedly this spring so I spent much of my time the past few months relaxing with the pets draped on me, rather than writing or editing pictures. An unproductive time but not an altogether unpleasant one.

Did Someone Order a Box of Boo?

If you’re a very important customer, Amazon sends you a free cat bed with nearly every order.

The Return of the Snuggle Fiend

Sam used to spend his days either curled up in my lap or in the heated bed beside our cat Scout, but her death over a year ago was pretty hard on him. At first he snuggled with me more than ever but then started spending much of his time on his own. Gradually he returned to me more and more and now can usually be found curled up in my lap, and at night follows me up to bed.

Sam & Boo

Sam had been sleeping on my legs when Boo, who had been with us for about six months, came in and snuggled up tight with him. I thought Sam would get up but instead they both fell fast asleep. I wanted to snap a picture as a reminder of how our slow introduction of the shy little Boo had paid off, and thankfully had my EOS M beside me on the couch.

The M doesn’t have an articulating screen so I held the camera out blind and hoped for the best. Thankfully I had the zoom lens attached as it has image stabilization, I needed to stop down to increase the depth of field and in the low room lighting even at ISO 3200 ended up with a shutter speed of a third of a second. It doesn’t combat the blur from their breathing but it did help quite a bit with camera shake.

The Aftermath of an Epic Belly Rub

You can tell Emma is enjoying a belly rub when she extends one of her front legs high into the air, then lets it slowly fall as she collapses into a puddle of happiness.

The Endlessly Bendy Boo

This is Boo at the end of August, he was about 9 months old and had been with us for just under two months. His sleeping position didn’t look comfortable to me but it was one of his favorites. He was skinny enough then to pull it off but it’s not so easy now that he’s grown to full-size.

The Bed Thief

While Sam would occasionally sleep in one of Ellie’s beds, particularly the homemade one, the thieving of dog beds began in earnest in late July. Coincidentally, this is also when Boo was given free reign of the house. This is Boo on his first day out after a couple of weeks in isolation in my wife’s office in the basement. That week began his gradual introduction into the house at large, we’d let him out for a while but at night or when we were away we still kept him isolated.

Boo was shy and nervous when we adopted him and you could see on his face how exploring the house and meeting the pets was both exciting and exhausting for him, so we paced his introduction even slower than normal. Several times on this first day he’d go up and explore the ground level and meet the other pets and then come back down to Ellie’s dog bed for a little rest. The bed was right outside my wife’s office so he could enjoy a taste of his newfound freedom and yet easily scoot back in to his comfort zone if needed.

He showed little fear of Ellie from the start, and for her part, she was nonplussed by the arrival of the little fellow. So when he stole her bed, she laid down beside it on the hard floor, making life a little easier for the kitten as he began to understand what it meant to be home.

Spooning

Peace, love, & understanding.

“I Bet My New Dog Bed Sure Is Nice”

Every time I read the headlines of the day’s news, I wish I could sprinkle a bit of Ellie’s personality on everyone around the world. We replaced one of her dog beds but the cats took to it before she had the chance to try it out. She settled for the carpet rather than drive the interlopers out.

They don’t come any sweeter than our Ellie.

Anxious

We kept Boo isolated from the other pets in his first days with us by putting him in my wife’s large office in the basement and, since it doesn’t have a door, blocking the large opening into the room with a long piece of plywood. These pictures are from his second day with us, up top you can see him sleeping under the far corner of the futon, which for him was progress as he spent much of those early days hiding completely out of sight behind the desk.

Boo was already anxious and stressed from his weeks at the shelter and adjusting to a new home wasn’t going to be easy for the shy little fellow. But he was anxious in another way too — anxious to meet the other pets. The plywood blocked the exit but he could still hear and smell the pets on the other side, so right from the get go we had to be quick when entering or leaving the room, as a little black-and-white shadow might follow underfoot.