I found a couple of sketches I did back in SFI that I never posted. The first, I think we were talking about Swedish wildlife, so of course I started drawing lynxes. Then I started trying to compare a lynx to an Abyssinian.
This one I did before we got Logan. We had one teacher who lived on a farm and loved to talk about all the animals she had. I guess that day, it was all about chickens. After I got tired of drawing them, I started practicing the differences between Abys and Singas. I haven’t gone to SFI for about a year now (they moved to a different location and changed teachers and we just got unengaged busywork – stuff I’d actually already done a couple of times already). But it was good for something: it made me draw more regularly than I do now.
The other day when we took the cats outside, Alfred and Lorelai ran down the hill to the woodsy area at the bottom.
Rory ran back up, and she had a feather!
She was very proud of her find, too.
Rory carried her feather around for a while.
Behold, the mighty feather huntress!
Then Freddy came running up the hill…and he had a feather, too.
Apparently, it was a very tasty feather. I suspect they found a dead bird down there and pulled feathers from the corpse. Or something.
Oops! Freddy’s off to find another feather…buh-bye!
As I have mentioned before, Lorelai is our little huntress. She especially likes to hunt birds when we’re outside.
But she also likes to hunt birds when we’re inside. We have these bird feeders that attach to the window with suction cups, and Rory in particular really loves to “watch the birdies.”
I wanted to capture her banging into the window on video, but I failed. You can hear her fearsome chatter, though…
Izaak has two brave brothers and a daring neice, so he has bravery running through his veins.
And Zak is brave! The other day when we were outside, our upstairs neighbours were unpacking their car…and Zak just hopped right into Bruno’s doggy pen in the back! If ate dry food, he probably would have eaten that, too.
The other day, watching TV, a commercial for small loans came on, featuring “typical Swedes.” The man in the advert is meant to be Lars Johansson (the Swedish version of “Joe Average”), complete with manbun. I laughed and said, “Jeez…And of course he has a manbun! Manbuns are so 2016!”
Which reminded me of the time I Photoshopped a manbun on Jacoby. I’m still pretty proud of this one.
As I have posted before, Lorelai has never minded seeing dogs on trains. She has also always been rather fond of our neighbours’ dog, Bruno. And then there was that time that Rory chased the Papillion
The other day, Lorelai, Izaak and Alfred were outside exploring when we met a new black dog. At first, Freddy tried to do the big brother thing, protecting the younger cats.
But, rebelling against Freddy’s protectiveness, Rory decided she was going to meet this new dog.
She marched right out and went to touch noses with this new dog.
The dog was actually a little thrown off by this very forward, very outgoing, little cat.
Emboldened by Rory, Zak also came to meet the dog.
He wasn’t as sure about the dog as Rory was…but he at least managed to stay calm in the dog’s presence. That’s at least progress, right?
In London, we spent a good bit of time looking for treasures in second-hand shops. I was on the hunt for anything regarding the early Abyssinians, and I figured England might be the place to find it. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any Victorian-era cat breeding books, but I did find a print by the pre-eminent cat artist Louis Wain. There were a couple of different ones, actually, but I thought the limerick was charming:
A girl, who was dreadfully flustered,
Helped Ma-in-law to a spoonful of mustard!
Her Ma-in-Law stared,
Asked how she dared!
But she told her she thought it was custard.
The print was marked as being from 1910.
When I got it home and framed it, however, I discovered it wasn’t just a print…it was a page from a book! And the other side was also very cute…but there’s a mark on it that I Photoshopped out when I scanned it, so I kept the limerick side out. Louis Wain is known for more than just his drawing…he also had some sort of mental issues (possibly dementia or schizophrenia; mental illness wasn’t as sophisticated 100 years ago), and, even though he was put in an asylum, he kept drawing cats that became more and more psychedelic as his illness progressed. In the filigree decoration on the back of page seems to presage his future drawings.
He was an incredibly prolific cat artist, and his work was published in books and as postcards. I found this very Aby-looking fellow online as a part of series of postcards celebrating “taking the waters” at Harrogate, one of the first ever “spas” where people went every summer for sulphur treatments. The treatments involved both drinking and soaking in the water, and Wain did four series of six cards each as souvenir/advertising. After finding the Abyssinian “sulphurer,” I became fascinated by these little glimpses into history…probably because, as a kid my dad tricked me into drinking sulphur water from the Lithia water fountain in Ashland, Oregon. I know what it tastes like!
In researching Louis Wain’s work (I was unable to find my images online anywhere, believe it or not, so I don’t know what book my page came from), I also came across this happy little guy. I know know much about him…but doesn’t he look like Izaak!? It actually kind of reminds me of that sketch of Zak I did back in March.
Lately when we’ve taken the three younger cats out, we think about how it will be when we add Dashiell to the mix, and start teaching him how to outside. And then, too, I’ve been thinking about how Angel would enjoy going outside with us offleash.
Today, when I was letting Izaak, Lorelai and Alfred out for a bit, Angel acted interested in going out, too.
So, I let her.
At first, she stayed close to the building, with Zak.
But then she got more adventurous and struck out on her own.
And after that, she started to RUN!
It was so much fun watching her outside with everyone else.
Rory seems to be the one other cat Angel is most friendly with, although she likes the boys as well.
But Rory is Angel’s best friend. The one she plays with.
Freddy joined the girls on the driveway.
And then the three of them ventured out onto the big green open.
Angel never ran down the hill, the way both Freddy and Rory eventually did, but she did explore outside with all three of our other cats.
It was pretty great to see her outside, exploring.
And then, when they were done outside, they all brought themselves back in the building.
Angel is becoming more and more “one of the gang” the longer she lives in Sweden.
The other day, Izaak found a stick toy in Kalle’s room. It was a fuzzy green ball with a bell and a leather “tail” attached to an elastic cord, with the stick stuck in a crate.
He really wanted to play with that toy, but I was in the middle of doing laundry, so I didn’t move the stick for him. But that wasn’t really what he wanted; he just wanted to play with the soft toy on its own, not as a stick toy.
Singapuras are very…focused little cats. When they want something, they don’t give up easily.
You can watch Zak’s determination in this video…it went on a lot longer than just this, though. There’s stubborn…and then there’s Singapura stubborn!
Izaak loves his Ikea mice, but he also loves his Ikea rats.
The other day, he wanted us to throw him his rat instead of one of his mousies.
Which, when thrown, were dutifully returned.
Eventually, though, the whole “throw, fetch, repeat” theme didn’t seem to matter so much on the “throw” part of the scenario as far as Zak was concerned.
I guess he thought that if he killed the rat ahead of time, he wouldn’t have to fetch it and bring it back?
Tonight, Björn and I are going to see the new live-action Lion King movie. We have been watching the trailers for months now, and one thing about them has really struck us.
Yep…
There’s definitely a similarity there. And it’s not just Izaak, you know…Millions of innocent cats have been held up in the air because of The Lion King.
One of the supermarkets I shop at has old-school, red-painted metal and glass Beaver vending machines with toys and candy in them.
A few weeks ago, one of the machines was filled with Fuzzy Tongue Flickers (which, amazingly enough, is actually a safe set of words to Google). Little fuzzy balls with googly eyes and a red tongue that sticks out when you squeeze them. Yup, looks like a cat toy to me.
So, when I got home, I showed it to Izaak.
He definitely found it interesting.
Okay, get a room.
Then the batting commenced.
Apparently, the Fuzzy Tongue Flicker is an excellent toy for batting.
Oooops…
…And was the last time I saw Fuzzy Tongue Flicker. I think he’s somewhere under the sofa. I think I need to go and find him.
Last week, I got my memorial tattoo of Jacoby.
Whilst in London, I realised that the Red Sox logo needed to be a part of his tattoo, because the Red Sox were such a part of who Jake was. I mean, his name and identity was based upon an event in Red Sox history.
This is the photo that the tattoo was based upon…The time we went out in the courtyard and played in the snow five years ago. It’s one of the most iconic photos I ever took of Jake.
Linus started with the Red Sox logo and then worked on Jake’s parka.
Then Jake himself was filled in.
The parka’s fur ruff was the last to be done.
Here it is, almost finshed, where you can see how it looks on my calf.
And this is Jake, finished.
Linus made a little video of the tattoo. Click on the image above to view it in Flickr.
Do our cats miss us when we’re gone? Alfred and Angel are used to us going away, I was particularly curious how Izaak and Lorelai would react to our being away, since usually when we go off on a trip, they come with us.
Hero the London Lion which I had seen in a shop in Covent Garden, but we were too tired and hungry to go in and look at him. Later, after a rest and some food, I wished I had stopped and gotten the “Lion in a British jumper” because he was wicked cute!
As luck would have it, I found him at the airport as we were leaving!
I introduced Hero to Rory…but she didn’t seem very impressed.
“Really mom? Really? You left us ALONE. For a WEEK. Without taking us with you! And you bring this thing back with you?
“Look at me. My eyes are bigger, and I am way cuter!”
In the end, I am not sure if Rory missed us…or the fact that we take her outside to run.
Meanwhile, the moment we walked in the door, Zak was yelling for his chicken neck.
After he had demolished it, we sat on the sofa and I gave him cuddles. At first, he seemed happy I was home…
…but then…
…I think he remembered how much mommy kisses him.
I have a deep suspicion that he didn’t miss the kissies.
But he did miss me.
So much so that he is clearly contemplating his escape from my dastardly clutches.
The other day, I noticed Lorelai had lost her collar somewhere in the apartment.
This happens from time to time…the collars I have been using for almost ten years, made by Etsy seller Hi Tide Creations, are wonderful, light and…just one piece.
Most people would recommend against a non-breakaway collar for a cat, but I have always had collars on my cats. The Tag Collars are the best because they are lightweight…and escapable.
I finally found Rory’s collar…caught in the cat-proof netting on our balcony. And that’s why these collars are so wonderful. Rory got her collar caught in something, but she was able to get out of it. Collars don’t need to be breakaway…they just need to be escapable in case of emergency.
Yesterday, I showed you the cat toys I found in London to bring back for the cats.
But what did the cats think of them?
I got our resident soft toy expert, Izaak, to examine them. First I gave him the Donald.
Zak really liked “killing” this toy…even before I had a chance to take it off the cardboard!
So what did he think of Donald when I took him off the card?
Yep, still good.
Putin was also a hit. Not as much as Donald, but still worthy of a solid kicking.
The Catmium credit card and the Catberry were…okay. Zak liked the card’s rattle.
But which was the “best” toy?
ALL of them, apparently! Although I think Zak’s favourite is Donald. The hair probably reminds him of his mousies.
In Kensington High Street, I discovered a brilliant card shop called Scribbler. But not only did they have cards (of which I purchased many), but they also had cat toys. I was not expecting that.
And these weren’t just any cat toys…these were none other than the leader of the flea world, Donald Trump cat toys.
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Well of course I had to. In case you were wondering, the UK really dislikes Trump – the rumours are true. He’s the only non-UK political figure to be made into a cat toy. That’s saying something.
It was our last full day in London, and it occurred to me that we hadn’t gotten any souvenirs for the cats. So, I Googled “best cat shop London” and found Pet London. It’s not a big, fancy store, but it is awesome and a definite must-see on a trip to London if you need souvenirs for the kitties, especially since most of the shops I found catered more to the canine crowd.
It’s definitely a hidden gem of a shop. It’s on the top floor of a rather ordinary office building in Marleybone. We almost didn’t see it.
You ring the buzzer to be let in. There’s a tiny elevator (Björn and I were very cozy) and, of course, stairs.
But it is so worth it! They had an amazing collection of cat items – including kitty clothing!
A lot of their items were their own designs, too. They even have a plushie of their feline mascot (I told them that if they ever mass-produced them to save me one).
That’s not all they had…they had a different Trump toy, this time for dogs.
And they also had a catnip Vlad Putin to go with that catnip Trump I bought earlier!
Shirtless, of course…complete with cowboy boots. Of course I had to buy it. Oh, yeah.
And nifty story, the catnip Putin and Trumpy chew toy are from a company based in Vermont.
I also got this Catnium credit card…
…and a Catberry, both with their signature kitty on them.
Both of them have catnip inside of them. The credit card rattles, and the Catberry has feathers on its antenna.
But, as we’ve seen before, cat toys that appeal to humans don’t always appeal to their target audience. So, did the cats enjoy their British gifts? To be continued…
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 