This memory came up today on Facebook: Jacoby’s and my last Seacoast Cat Show in New Hampshire. It was a great show; Jake got 136 points at that show.
That show, and the one CFA show we went to in Sweden where he made every final, was enough to make him 10th Best Abyssinian in Premiership for the 2016-17 show season, on top of his 8th Best placement the season before.
I know I have some awesome cats now…but I still miss my Jakey.
Today I finished that special portrait of Dashiell I started almost a month ago. Because Dash is named after the author Dashiell Hammett, who wrote The Maltese Falcon famously portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in the film version, I had an idea I wanted to make real. Above is the fur texture layer along with a neutral grey background.
Then I added a shadow of the Maltese Falcon based on one of the two photos of Bogie I used as reference.
Of course, Sam Spade needs a dashing fedora.
And a trench coat.
Then the final touch, to give the portrait a real Film Noir feel…the shadows.
But something was bothering me. I went back to my other Bogie reference photo and realised what was missing: There is a dark shadow of his hat, and the original background had a shadowy texture. I went back and fixed those two things and…voilà!
However, I generally crop my drawings to a standard size, but I draw on a larger canvas. This is the full-size version. Not really different, apart from the proportioning. It’s such a great feeling to finally get the image out of your head so others can see it.
It all started so innocently…
…Alfred and Izaak were cuddling on the sofa, and Freddy lazily started to groom Zak.
And then Zak started grooming Freddy in return.
It was so sweet. It reminded me of Freddy with Logan.
I mean, okay, they are a year apart in age, so not quite “brothers from another mother” the way Freddy was with Logan…
…but at least Freddy still has a Singa pal who’s fun to be with.
Zak, of course, loves all the Abys in the house. He happily cuddles with everyone.
However, all of a sudden things took a turn. Freddy started to groom Zak a little…
…too enthusiastically.
Zak had had enough! He way weigh around three pounds less than Freddy does…
…but with true Singapura stubborness, Zak can stand up to anyone when enough is enough!
As I posted last week, Lorelai loves the sand in the play areas in our apartment område.
The other day, Rory and Izaak helped me take out some recyclables (they love doing that, and they always know what we’re doing when they see the bags), and on the way back, we had to stop at the sand at the bottom of the slide near our building.
Once again, Rory rolled around in her beloved sand.
Zak…seemed perplexed.
I made a little video of her rolling about so you could see her in action.
The last time I took the cats outside, one of the neighbour boys was fixing a toy car for his little brother out on the lawn.
He asked me if I had a 13mm socket wrench. I don’t use those, but I know Björn has them, so I told him to wait until he got home, which was only in a few minutes.
At that point, everyone else had gone inside, and only Alfred was still outside. When the boy went to chase after his little brother, I got an idea. It took a few tries to get Freddy to pose properly (again, I was really missing Jacoby)…
…But he finally figured it out.
As everyone on the planet knows, we are experiencing a pandemic and we’re all being held hostage by a familiar virus. Unlike the rest of the world, Sweden is managing the Covid-19 situation in a…unique way. Most businesses are still open, high schools and universities are teaching online but all other schools are still in session, there are markings on the floors near the checkouts in shops, but there are no measures taken in the aisles to keep people apart. And nobody is wearing masks. But I am. I have asthma, and everytime I get a cold, it doesn’t go away. It settles in my lungs, and turns into bronchitis or pneumonia. I know how insidious coronaviruses can be. I have been reading studies of one certain type of coronavirus for twelve years now, and I am not taking any chances.
I bought a box of 50 semi-disposable medical masks on Amazon.de to tide me over until I can get some cuter ones. On a whim, I thought I would try one on Izaak. Whoops…sorry, Zak, you can’t see with it on like that!
Okay, that’s better. Zak actually wore it pretty well, but I am not going to lie, I miss Jacoby. He would rocked this mask!
Even though he’s not the pro Jake was, Zak did finally strike a couple of pretty good poses for me.
Of course Alfred had to come check out what Zak and I were doing.
Huh. That’s rude. Guess he’s not a fan of masks.
Given his reaction, of course I made him model it, too. He only kept it on long enough for one good photo, though, and I didn’t have time to adjust it so it wasn’t covering his eyes. Again, sometimes I really miss Jake.
But I really want a better mask than these disposables. One of my Facebook friends sent me a link to a super cute face mask with Abyssinians wearing masks on it! I love that a blue Aby is the main cat on the mask. (There is also one with Somalis on it.)
But look what else they have! A Singapura face mask! I ordered one of each. I know they seem a bit expensive ($24.95), but each mask comes with three replaceable filter pads, to give a little more protection when you go outside, and you can always get more filters. I can’t wait to try them on!
Today is Kylie’s 15th birthday! She and Tessie are both healthy and happy back in Boston.
Dashiell has a complicated relationship with going outside. He’s still rather skittish and timid at times. While the other Abyssinians (even Angel!) and Izaak eagerly rice to the door when I open the front door, I almost always have to catch Dash and drag him outside to get some fresh air and play. If I didn’t know better, I would think he had a cellphone and was playing video games!
When I finally do get him outside, he sticks to the paved path next to the building. He also tends to stay close to Zak.
He also sometimes tries to go back inside.
But once he gets used to the idea…
…he really loves being outside.
He hasn’t done anything like run down the hill, but he will explore the trees with Lorelai and Zak.
We’d had very strong winds recently and there were a lot of fallen branches. Apparently they were very interesting to investigate.
Okay, maybe he doesn’t have as much fun outside as Alfred does, but he does enjoy himself outside.
I’m still working on that special portrait of Dashiell I shared two weeks ago. While it isn’t finished, I have actually got more done that I am posting today. Above is the colour layer, ink layer and whiskers layer.
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This is the only the colour layer, which is underneath the ink layer. Instead of painting inside the lines, I painted under them. It’s a neat technique. This was all done in Procreate using what fur brushes I have there; now I need to add a texture layer (for his ear furnishings and ticking) with my fur brushes in Photoshop, but I think I got his base colouring pretty well. As someone commented last week, getting the markings and colours right on an Aby is not easy!
And, of course is just the Dash part…there’s still the background and the other details to be finished.
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, one of Dashiell’s favourite afternoon napping spots is at the end of the sofa.
He’s a big, gangly yearling, but he manages to get his legs rolled up in a tight ball.
…And, the camera woke him up. Sorry, Dash!
It’s been wicked crazy windy all week, but it finally died down enough yesterday and we were able to let the cats out for a much needed run. And of course, Lorelai had to say hello to her favourite sandy place, because she loves to play in the sand.
And when I say she loves the sand…I mean she really LOVES the sand!
As I posted last Sunday, Izaak and Angel’s cat tree battle has become an afternoon ritual.
Angel goes to hang out and chill on the top of the cat tree, Zak tries to unseat her, and she defends herself.
And she is 100% capable of defending herself. I mean, look at that hiss! She may have only two teeth, but this girl is FIERCE!
Angel has no problems keeping Zak in his place.
Zak attempts to take over the top again…
…but look at Angel’s cocked arm. She’s more than ready for him.
Zak makes one last half-hearted feint at Angel…
…and nearly falls out of the hole in the bottom of the house.
…and…Zak out.
Since Jacoby’s deathday and birthday are so close together, I posted some photos of him on Monday In Meöwmorium on the Facebook group This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED. I included some cutouts I’d already made along with some favourites…and wow, the other members did not disappoint! I especially love the image Trisha Pettingill made with Jake in the Red Sox dugout.
Lucia Robson made this one of Jake in Baseball Heaven (which of course is in Fenway Park).
Helen Yang, who had so much fun with Izaak and Lorelai a few weeks ago did this amazing one of Jake on the field with Rally Cat II at an Angels-Cardinals game in Anaheim!
She also did these of Jake in various forms of heaven. So sweet!
And then there are my challenges…this cat was named Pirate, so…
Dangles’ human wanted her to have legs, but I gave her eggs instead.
This was an amazing photo on its own…most people went with an ascension or jet pack theme, but I went in a different direction.
Mr. Kringle’s human wanted him to run for president. That was easy!
This isn’t really a Photoshop challenge per se, but I had to do it.
Sophia’s smile made me think of second grade.
Someone commented on this photo of Bebby that Yoda the trapeze artist should be dancing with her. So here they are at the Bolshoi.
Switch’s photo reminded me of Theda Bara.
But this is my favourite of my projects this week. When I saw Reginald in his cowboy hat, I instantly thought of A Million Ways to Die in the West. I knew what I wanted to do: Reginald with Seth MacFarlane’s Albert and Doc Brown. It was a lot harder to get the parts to match than I expected…but I think I finally got it to look pretty good in the end.
Izaak and Dashiell spend a lot of time in the bedroom, since they eat their meals and chicken necks in there. And after they finish, they snuggle under the comforters.
Zak generally naps on top of the covers (he prefers to sleep under the covers when humans are there.
Dash likes to sleep under the comforters, which is easy since we have the Scandinavian double duvet system.
And Dash is so damn cute when he comes out from underneath.
I mean, just look!
What’s funny is, Jacoby used to like to sleep under the covers like that, too. It’s kind of nice.
Imma just leave this here…
The other day, Titti sent us an Easter drawing Emma made. Little creatures in Easter eggs: a lion, an elephant, and…
…Baby Yoda! This kid is going to grow up to be awesome!
Not only is today Jacoby’s birthday, but it’s also the day Alfred and I went to Jönköping to say goodbye to Logan.
It was two years ago, and Izaak is a wonderful Singapura and friend to everycat…but I think Freddy still misses his brother from another mother, Logan.
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 