tortoiseshell cat – Page 15

Shadowland

Trixie hangs out in the shadows in the hallway outside our bedroom.

I thought our first cat Templeton was a bit on the small side so I gave him the nickname Little One, but then we got Scout and later Sam who were much smaller. And then there’s Trixie, the littlest of them all, I think she’s up to 8 pounds something but is still a scrawny little thing. We try to get her to eat as much as possible, but all apologies to Emma who I thought was a slow eater, Lil Nibbler takes forever to eat and doesn’t always finish. She likes the food but also likes to nibble. I think she’d prefer just to graze throughout the day but there are three other pets who are ready to pounce the moment she walks away from her bowl. She is an absolute sweetheart though and I’m so thankful she found her way to our home, and to all those who made that possible.

Goldeneyes

Sam’s Log, Stardate 70756.6

12:12pm: Curled up on dad’s legs. Purred so loudly he couldn’t hear his show. Then he reached out and scratched my head! Doesn’t he know that will make me purr louder? Now he’s rubbing my footpads and I’m getting sleepy. Really sleepy. Reaaaaallllly sleepy.

2:37pm: Red alert! Red alert! Trixie has entered the room! Dad tells me to relax.

2:38pm: Intruder! Intruder! She’s curled up on dad’s lap, just inches away from me! I voiced my displeasure but to no effect! Dad tells me to relax, she’s not bothering me. But we both know what is about to happen. “Maybe she won’t,” he says, but I know he doesn’t believe it anymore than I do.

2:41pm: See! She pretended she needed to stretch and then resettled just a little bit closer, now her legs are resting on mine! Dad tells me to relax, scratches my head. Don’t distract me now, I know what comes!

2:43pm: Her feet are now on my belly! Dad tells me to relax, says she adores me like I did Scout. Not the same! He lets me lick his hand, that always makes me feel better. Why does that make me feel better? His hands are filthy.

2:45pm: Oh! Oh! Her whole head is on my feet now! Only one stage left! We know it’s coming, it always does! Still he says relax, gently massages my head. I do like that, it feels so nice when … but I will not be distracted!

2:46pm: Face-to-face! As if there was ever a doubt! Dad tells me to relax. He doesn’t know what it’s like having someone constantly snuggle all over him, and I told him so! He says “No I wouldn’t know anything about that …”, but he says it in that voice he uses when he’s trying to teach a lesson, but I think Trixie is already asleep so she didn’t even hear him! I am so upset I might not be able to sleep! I might not! I do like the way he’s rubbing my ears though. Am I purring? Stop purring! Stop purring!

(There are no more entries in Sam’s journal)

Not Just for Guests

Trixie takes a nap on a summer afternoon in the guest bedroom. Yesterday and today I’ve spent in our bedroom across the hall as it’s been hot and didn’t cool down much overnight, and we have a portable air conditioner in this room. Trixie took a nap on my lap for a few hours around noon so I took a nap too to avoid disturbing her. By mid-afternoon there was a shift change and Sam replaced her, he’s curled up on me at the moment.

It Is Defended

You might think you can sneak into my office, past the guard dog whose old bones are loathe to move unless food is in the offing, whose old ears can no longer hear footsteps. But that’s when you fall into my trap! For waiting around the corner in my office is young little Trixie, who will eagerly snuggle up into your lap and … I think my office defenses need a re-think.

The High Heat of Summer

When I took advantage of a big sale back in March to buy my new camera and lenses, one of the lenses I decided to try was the Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 lens. It’s a full-frame lens but on my crop camera behaves more like a moderate telephoto, a useful lenses for taking portraits of people, but that’s not something I do. I do take portraits of the pets of course but I was worried it would be too long of a focal length for indoor use. Still, I had loved it from afar and decided to give it a chance and was playing around with it for these portraits of Trixie at the top of the cat tree.

I often don’t like shots with an overly shallow depth-of-field and I could take it or leave it here. I’d like a little more depth of field on Trixie but I do like the way it renders the out-of-focus stained glass in the background, and I like the way the slightly compressed look of this length of lens puts the focus on her but still with a sense of the background for the room.

The old cat tree is in front of the large picture window in the living room. It’s actually three windows, two smaller ones on the end that slide open and big fixed one in the middle. There are pull-down shades sized to each window as well, and the big shade she is sleeping next to is pulled down, while the other two were open, letting the sunlight reflect off the brown walls and bathe her in warm light. For the shot below I moved slightly to the right to include the context of the window, which I knew would blow out because it was so much brighter than the rest of the room, but I love the way the lens handled it, two similar shots and I like both but the slight shift gives each a different feel. As does Trixie’s ‘smile’, really part of a yawn, which seems part warm and playful and part ‘my ancestors devoured yours’.

It was quickly heating up on this summer morning when I took the pictures, but when the Little Furnace curls up in my lap, that’s when I feel the real high heat of summer. Not that I’d ever turn her away, my little Trix, and of course Sam and Boo are always welcome too.

How Much Loved Is That Trixie in the Window?

With all my heart, our little Squeaks McGee, with all my heart.

Helping Hands

I’ve got you my brother and will not let you fall, except to fall asleep.

Race Fans

I do my best to indulge the pets in their favorite pastimes. While Sam is a football fan, Trixie and Boo love open-wheel racing so I’ve spent many weekends working on my laptop while they snuggle up on my lap and follow the racing action with rapt attention. These pictures are from last summer, they spent the morning watching Lewis Hamilton win the Formula 1 German Grand Prix for Mercedes while in the afternoon they watched Simon Pagenaud win the Indycar race at Mid-Ohio for Team Penske.