The funniest, cutest thing happened this morning.
Izaak got inside Björn’s duvet cover and was trying to get to me for a cuddle. He got his head through the hand hole…and then got stuck.
Which is funny, because I always thought that if a cat could get his head through a hole, the rest of the body would fit, too. Apparently, not so much.
I had to make a video of him for Björn, who was making his breakfast and couldn’t come to see Zak in the duvet. I thought you all would like to see it, too.
Angel has sort of claimed the top of the cat tree as her own, but as I have previously posted, Izaak has been challenging her for control of the top. But a new challenger approaches: Lorelai. Seems she was napping on the top of the cat tree when Angel wanted to be up there.
But whilst Angel is attempting to deal with Rory, a complication presents itself…
…Dashiell got up on the tree, too.
I don’t think Dash realised what he was getting into.
I think he thought he was just getting on the cat tree to play with Angel and Rory.
I think he was wrong. Angel was determined to oust Rory from the top of the cat tree.
Using as much force as necessary.
Finally, Angel managed to evict Rory from the top of the cat tree.
(A close-up of the ousting.)
Rory’s disinvitation made Dash abandon the tree-ship as well.
Angel was careful to make sure that all the younger cats were well away.
Angel remains the Queen of the Top of the Cat Tree.
This morning, Facebook reminded me of the creation of the Frankentree that we keep on the balcony.
Angel loves sunning herself on there.
But then, she liked it before it was upgraded.
Alfred and Jacoby were also ond of the Frankentree…
…although it was a bit awkward when Freddy tried to nap in the cubby.
Logan loved the Frankentree.
But Angel and Lorelai continue to be the biggest fans of the Frankentree.
Although Angel doesn’t seem to enjoy sharing it with anyone.
I mentioned Dashiell’s obsession with the trees outside.
Well…he’s still fascinated by whatever is in those trees.
Birds? Leaves? I have no idea.
Whilst the other cats are running around, Dash is looking up into the trees.
I had intended a better post for today, but we’re all well knackered from the trip to the vet…wrangling five cats on the bus is exhausting! But I had ordered some prints of my recent art projects to send to my mom and dad in the States, and they came today, so I got them ready to mail them tomorrow. My mom hasn’t got a computer (well, she has, but it’s on dial-up and is still running Netscape, so…), and I don’t know if my dad still has his since he’s in assisted living.
Anyway, I put each set into a greeting card, and as always, I did a little cat sketch in each card. I had a certain cat in mind on each sketch…can you tell who I drew?
Tomorrow is our annual vet visit. Luckily, I was able to schedule it for a day Björn is off from work this time, so hopefully I won’t have as many problems on the bus as I had last year.
Mentally preparing for the visit, I’m trying to think of the things we’ll have to discuss tomorrow. I know that everyone needs at least one vaccination (either rabies or FVRCP). Nobody has any major issues; their weights are all good, their teeth and ears seem fine, and theire’s no diarrhea or anything like that. Angel, who will be 13 in a couple of weeks(ish), is pretty healthy for her age. Her weight has been stable and she’s quite active. Her eye seems to be the same as ever, and apart from her having lost that tooth, bringing her down to two, she seems to be in perfect health.
Alfred is probably overweight. Last time I weighed everyone, he was 5.1 kg (11.25 lbs), and he looks heavy. He’s also been wheezing and coughing, so he may have asthma after all.
Izaak and Lorelai are fine, but I have questions about their fertility and birth control. I am wondering if Zak’s Suprelorin chip is wearing off, and if he should get another one of if he needs to be neutered. I hope he can get another chip; I wanted to show him as long as I could as a Champion before going to Premiership…but the pandemic is making that difficult. As for Rory, she should not be on the pill too long, and she will be meeting a nice young boycat later this summer. Depending on how that litter goes, we may have one or two more, but it’s definitely something to discuss for with the vet.
As for Dashiell, he’s a healthy horse of a year old cat. He’s a little goofy, and still a bit skittish; I would like them to check his teeth because he doesn’t let me get a really good look at them, but apart from that, I don’t think he’s going to need much attention tomorrow.
We’ve trained Alfred, Lorelai and Izaak to come along with us when we take out the garbage and recyclables.
And they know, when we let them out when we’re carrying bags, that we’re not just “going outside,” but we’re going out to the bins. These three all know how to walk home from the bus stop from vet visits, and the bins are just next to the bus stop.
They love it…and they do know the difference. Dashiell hasn’t had enough practice outside to do this…and Angel is happier at home.
Rory so loves to run free outside. I say she is the very embodiment of joy when she runs.
Sometimes, she even climbs trees!
Here’s the video I made on the way back (note the Swedish social distancing).
This afternoon we had a freak hailstorm.
Alfred was fascinated – he leapt to the top of the balcony door to watch it! I don’t think he’s ever seen hail before.
It built up quite quickly on the balcony windowsill and railings.
Lorelai also wanted to see the hail from the top of the door.
I scooped up some of the hail so Freddy could look at it close up.
“That…that’s what was falling from the sky? Little ice balls?”
I am not sure why he was so puzzled by the hail. He’s seen snow plenty of time.
Rory hopped down from the door to look at the hailstones.
“Check this stuff out…it’s awesome!”
Freddy still seemed amazed at the fact the hail came from the sky.
Meanwhile, Rory examined the tiny ice balls.
“What is this magical ice, Mom?”
Yesterday, Facebook reminded me of the time we got bored at a cat show and put some of the hair I had groomed off Jacoby and put it on his head.
After I did that, we noticed that the pile of hair on Jake’s bore a striking resemblance to a certain American president.
Especially from the side.
Jake was always such a good sport…
…and he really could rock anything he wore, too. I miss that.
When the cats go outside, one thing they love to do is take a dust bath.
Look at Alfred luxuriating in the warm dust at the base of this tree.
Lorelai found a different tree…but the same lovely warm dust.
And finally….here we have Izaak, also rolling in the wonderful warm dust. They are so much fun to watch outside.
Last week, my friend Sanna-Leena posted this awesome photo of Kiipi and her kitten on the Facebook group This IS an airport, please announce your departure: Aeroplane ear posting. I love Kiipi, and I have drawn her before. When I saw this photo, I wanted to draw it.
I tilted the photo a little, so I could add in their tails. This is my preliminary sketch.
I decided I wanted each cat on its own layer. This is my second sketch of Kiipi.
And this is the second sketch of the kitten.
And here they are together. The next step is ink, and then after that colour and texture. Stay tuned!
Dashiell and Izaak eat together in our bedroom. Breakfast, chicken neck snacktime, and dinner, those two always dine together. This is because, for whatever reason, Dash doesn’t try to steal Zak’s food (the way Alfred or Lorelai would), and since Zak only eats raw, he won’t try to eat Dash’s meal.
This is one of the reasons this pair are such fast friends. When the other three cats are done eating, and I open the bedroom up, I often find them cuddling together, sometimes on our bed, and sometimes in this fuzzy pink cat bed we won at a cat show.
It’s pretty girly. We thought it might be good for Rory, but she never sleeps in there. Angel does sometimes, but it’s mainly Zak and Dash who nap in that bed. The bed also has the white blanket that was in Zak’s crate when he came here from Poland, so that may be part of the attraction.
Who says boys can’t rock the pink?
I fall asleep watching television pretty much every night. I never see the end of movies we watch.
I guess Angel decided I needed some company and settled herself on top of the big sofa cushion and joined me in my little nap.
When Izaak decides he wants to nap somewhere…
…He naps there.
Regardless of whether or not someone else is already napping there.
There’s this one old cat tree is especially popular for some reason.
Dashiell has taken a liking to sleeping in the cat bed in that tree.
And because Dash wants to sleep there…so does Zak.
And when Izaak wants something…he usually gets it.
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Whether you want it or not…if a Singapura wants to cuddle with you, you CUDDLE!
Gun-Hee loved chasing his tail. I posted a video of him chasing it in 2007, and then, a few months later, I posted a
“non-video” version of him chasing his tail.
Later, I took my three favourite shots…
…separated them from their background…
…and made a sort of action-collage of the three.
I was so proud of this at the time, I even put it on a T-shirt…but looking at the original PSD file…YIKES! Those edges are so bad! I guess I have learned a thing or two in 13 years.
Izaak loves his chicken necks.
I left the refrigerator door open for a minute while I was making dinner today.
And…yeah. He jumped up into the fridge.
Like a heat-seeking missile, Zak zeroed in on his precious necks.
And he would have stolen one, too…if I hadn’t been standing right THERE. I think there’s a flaw in your masterplan there, cat burglar.
I know you’ve all seen my version of Tessie, Kylie, Angel and Jacoby as the main characters of Frozen. I wish I had the Photoshop file with all the layers…but somehow, all the PSD files of my cartoons after number 80 have disappeared.
When I got the idea, it started as Kylie being Elsa and Jake being Kristoff…and it just took off from there.
Elsa (Kylie) and Anna (Angel) went through a few test sketch ideas, but Jake’s Kristoff and Tessie’s Sven were pretty much set from the beginning.
This sketch is where I finalised Angel’s Anna pose.
Not wanting to waste paper, I would do pencil sketches and final inks on the same page. This is one of those.
I worked on getting Kylie’s arms just exactly right. A LOT.
I also drew Kylie separate from her clothing (Jake and Angel were always drawn with their outfits on). I wanted to be sure her body looked right under the translucent costume layer.
When I was inking Jake’s face, I did a few trials before settling on his final face. In some ways, it’s way easier to draw on the iPad than it was to draw on paper!
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 