Aby-a-Day – 30 Augusti: Angel’s follow-up eye exam (Medical Monday)l.

Last week, Angel had her follow-up eye exam, so we took the bus out to Skultorp to see the eye specialist.

She had quite a lot to say about that.

She waited patiently in her carrier in the cat waiting room. There was also a woman with a white longhair named Mitzi. She and Angel had a very cute conversation.

We weren’t waiting long; the tech took us back to the exam room quickly.

Then they turned out the lights and checked her eye. It was good news: the drops worked, and her eye is much clearer. She’ll need to keep getting the drops for the rest her life, but she’s in good shape.

On the way home, we stopped at DjurMagazinet to get some cat food, and Angel got some treats from one of the clerks. All in all, a pretty good day.

Aby-a-Day – 29 Augusti: Thai tuna salad (Silly Singapura Sunday)

I have an awesome recipe for Thai tuna salad from the Wei Chuan cooking books I learned to cook Asian food with back in the late 90’s.

The books had been boxed up since I moved out of my Somerville apartment in 2009. I rediscovered them earlier this year, and one thing I wanted to make again was my Thai tuna salad. Canned tuna isn’t a staple in Sweden the way it is in the States, so when I found canned tuna on sale at the supermarket, I was all over that action.

It’s such a great salad because it doesn’t involve mayonnaise. The version I make has fish sauce, sweet chili sauce, lime juice, mint leaves, celery, lemongrass, and scallions; I also add cucumber and Romaine lettuce. But you can also include cilantro (coriander), tomatoes, crushed peanuts, Thai basil, carrots…well basically anything Thai and salady.

Alfred was quite interested in my empty container, as you might expect.

Izaak can express so many feels in one look.

Aby-a-Day – 28 Augusti: Remembering the cat bite (Swedish Saturday)

Facebook has been reminding me of my epic, life threatening, cat bite.

This is what I was doing hours before Pyret bit me.

I got cold, put on my Aby hoodie, and goofed off with Logan.

Well, to be fair, he fit really well in the pocket.

Logan was such a little sweetheart. I know, Izaak is almost as good…but I still miss Logan everyday.

Aby-a-Day – 27 Augusti: And yet, more fun with This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED (Photoshop Friday) UNDER BACKGROUND CHECK CODE IS §

I’ve been doing more “Photoshop challenges” in the Facebook group This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED lately. This one is actually a two-fer.

This person’s cat looked like he was melting; I was stunned nobody else had done it before I did.

I also made this cat into a Slinky.

Shelby’s human wanted Shelby in a Shelby Cobra for her boyfriend, so I did this. Bonus points: Her boyfriend’s favourite colour is blue.

Ruthie was strutting, so I made her strut with Leo.

When I saw this bonnet-wearing cat, the first thing I thought of was Little House on the Prairie.

But then I thought of that one episode of Friends…

Leo was born to fly, so I gave him wings.

And finally, this lucky kitty had a unicorn cat tree. What else could I have done with that?

Aby-a-Day – 26 Augusto: Izaak and his new rat (Thursday Things).

Björn rented a car, and we went to Fallköping and Jonköping today.

One of the things we do when we go to Jonköping is to go to IKEA.

IKEA may have discontinued their mice, but they still have rats.

There’s only one colour now, a sort of shiny beige, but Izaak doesn’t care. It’s an IKEA rodent plush…he loves it.

And Zak violently loves his IKEA rodents.

Even though we have about a dozen of these things around the house, this is now his favourite.

Aby-a-Day – 25 Augusti: Wordless Wednesday (Some cats have NEVER had tuna water before…)

Following up on Monday’s post…

On Monday, I posted about the underground recycling station in our område.

Well, today I happened to walk past it whilst they were emptying the bins.

I thought you might like to see how they empty the bins, so I took a few photos. Basically, a big truck comes, pulls them up and dumps them. I am not sure how they pick them up, but i think it might be magnets.

Aby-a-Day – 24 Augusti: Salta Katter (Cartoon Tuesday

Back when I was in SFI (Swedish for Immigrants) classes, they had a really cool poster of the Salta Lakritsfigurer cat. It was created by Tommy Hallgren, a Swedish graphic artist who designed several Swedish candy brands, among other things.

A couple of weeks ago, Björn found a framed print of the same poster at the second-hand store – signed by the artist!

Izaak, of course, had to “help” me take a photo of our poster.

This is how the Salty Cat looks on the actual candy boxes. But take a close look at the box on the right.

See the holes? Yep…Alfred, with his fierce belief that anything in plastic is food, bit the box.

Of course, Zak had to “help” me with the candy boxes, too.

Aby-a-Day – 23 Augusti: “When you put the whole picture together, recycling is the right thing to do” (Hipstamatic Monday)

Sweden is well-known for its recycling system. We used to have to go to several different places to recycle (paper and cardboard were in our område, but metal, glass and plastic were in other areas around town.

But two years ago, we got two consolidated underground recycling stations in our område. It is so much more convenient!

And, we can take the cats with us, turning a mundane chore into a fun outing.

The stations have kiosks for regular household trash, food garbage (which is turned into fuel for buses and home heating), coloured glass, clear glass, metal, cardboard, paper, and plastic.

It’s also an amazingly clean and odourless place, too, considering it’s a place people bring their trash.

The stations also don’t attract scavenging corvids, seagulls, or rats. Just Abyssinians and Singapuras.

One other nice thing about the recycling stations is that you can meet your neighbours. I think the whole concept of these tidy little stations is brilliant.

Aby-a-Day – 22 Augusti: “You cannot handle my swag” (Cinema Singapura Sunday)

As you might recall, I have been trying to document Izaak’s swagger for a while now.

Yesterday, when we took the cats outside for a walk, I think I finally managed to get it.

You can really see his bum swing in this series of photos.

Compare the way Zak walks compared to the way Alfred walks. Freddy’s back stays straight and he bends his wrists and ankles more.

Here’s a short video showing Zak’s Singa swagger on YouTube.

Aby-a-Day – 21 Augusti: “The lion crouches in the tall grass. The gazelle sniffs the air. The awful stillness before the strike” (Swedish Saturday)

This afternoon, we took the cats outside. The grass on the hill is really tall right now, and Izaak was looking at it longingly.

Because he always follows me everywhere, I went down the hill myself to give him a little push.

And, of course, Zak marched down the hill to meet me.

I love watching him move through the grass. It’s almost like he’s swimming through it.

Meanwhile, Alfred was coming back up the hill.

The grass where Freddy was is even taller than the grass Zak was in.

Lorelai was in the tall grass, too. Even though she was restricted by her leash, her joy at being outside after a week of rain was undiminished.

Everytime I see the cats in the tall grass, I wonder what it must be like to be a small cat in the big world, where walking through tall grass is like strolling through a jungle.

Aby-a-Day – 20 Augusti: Aby and Singa Stickers by Cloris Creates (Fashion Friday)

Last month, a member posted this in my Singapura Facebook group: ⭐️ Looking for models! ⭐️ Hi, thanks for the add! I’m Cloris, a cat mom, animal artist, and small biz owner! I’m looking for people who’d be interested in taking a photo of their cat with their matching sticker (see photos) in exchange for a Singapura sticker bundle ❤️ Bonus points if you can post to social media since I’ll be sharing the photos there too! Preferably US-based but open to shipping worldwide too. Comment/message for more info and thanks for your time!

Well, of course I contacted her! The envelope arrived on Wednesday. As soon as I opened it, Izaak had to see what I was doing.

And…of course he had to play with his Singa sticker.

Zak likes to bite paper things, and I worried he would try to bite his sticker…

…but he couldn’t manage to pick it up.

Zak is so adorable when he’s frustrated.

Dashiell, however, was not as excited about his Aby sticker.

He wouldn’t even jump up on the sofa to look at it.

I put it on the coffee table, and Lorelai took an interest.

She managed to knock it onto the floor, where Dash finally took some interest. They are nice, thick, shiny stickers, and cats like shiny things.

With the stickers, she sent me a little thank you card for helping her with her sticker promotion.

Cloris has stickers of almost every breed of cat (and dog, and some other animals) available in her Cloris Creates Etsy shop, and if she doesn’t, she can make it for you. They are very awesome and very cut.

Aby-a-Day – 19 Augusti: Happy Birthday, Pyret (Thursday Things)

Today would have been Pyret’s 22nd birthday.

She only saw 18 birthdays, but no matter how long they’re gone, you always remember their birthdays.

Pyret was an only cat for many years…until she had a couple of Abyssinians thrust upon her.

She adapted well, though.

And then…she met Logan.

Right from the start, they had a sort of bond, those two.

Of course, when there’s a Singapura involved, bonding is not exactly an option.

When Pyret started dying, Logan watched over her closely.

Even after Pyret died, Logan spent time with her body. It was especially poignant in hindsight, as Logan died a month later…almost as if he knew.

So, happy 22nd birthday, Pyret.

Aby-a-Day – 18 Augusti: Wordless Wednesday (Izaak’s first cat show, Lorelai’s second)

Aby-a-Day – 17 Augusti: Dashiell as the Serlot (Cartoon Tuesday

When Emma was visiting, we watched Raya and the Last Dragon again, and this time I was reminded of the Serlots from the region of Fang. Their name is apparently a portmanteau of “Serval” and “Ocelot,” but they look more like Caracals. Watching the movie for the third time, I thought that Dashiell would make an excellent Serlot.

So I started with the sketch and the ink layers.

Then I needed a break from detail work, so I switched to creating the background. I played around with different textures to create the landscape.

After the background, I went back to the undercolour later, which I also did a bit differently than the way I usually do it; I used fur brushes rather than airbrushes.

I didn’t spend as much time on the fur layer as usual, probably because of my using fur brushes for the undercolour.

And here’s the finished Dasherlot. It’s different from some of my other works, but I kind of like it.

As usual, here’s the Procreate video in Flickr. It’s a little different from the other videos, because I exported it after two different drawing sessions and then edited it back together, but you get the idea.

Aby-a-Day – 16 Augusti: Dashiell in the sunshine (Hipstamatic Monday)

Dashiell really loves to sit on the elliptical and bask in the afternoon sun.

His fur is so shiny and bright, too.

Lorelai tried to get some of Dash’s sun puddle, but he was not giving it up.

Good for you, Dash!

The moral of the story: never relinquish your sunshine.

Aby-a-Day – 15 Augusti: The boys on the bed (Singapura Sunday)

This is a scene that happens most days.

The three boys love to hang out together on our bed.

Dashiell and Izaak have always been best friends since Dash came to live with us. Zak was Dash’s first friend, and they eat all their meals together, especially since we haven’t been going to cat shows. Dash hasn’t been without Zak in his life in Sweden.

Alfred often joins them, but he doesn’t always cuddle with them.

Freddy does cuddle with Zak and Dash in the morning when we’re all in bed, but for some reason, he gives the younger boys their space in the afternoon and evening.

Maybe he remembers his best friend Logan, and he doesn’t want to intrude. I really do wonder if Freddy thinks about Logan.

Aby-a-Day – 14 Augusti: Heels over head (Silly Saturday)

I honestly don’t know how this can possibly be a comfortable way to sleep. And yet, Lorelai sleeps like this a lot.

She also sleeps with her eyes a little bit open sometimes. That’s just creepy.

Aby-a-Day – 13 Augusti: I joined the Navy to see the world, but what did I see? I saw the sea (Photoshop Friday)

When Emma was here, we rented a car and took a trip around Skaraborg, the area between the two lakes in Västra Gotaland. One town we visited was Hjo, a little lakeside town that is over 600 years old.

As we were walking around the harbour, we noticed a sailboat with a red flag on it. Curious, we took a closer look, and realised that the boat was from Singapore! so of course I had to put Izaak on board.

Aby-a-Day – 12 Augusti: The Descendents of Bastet (Thursday Things)

For over ten years, Karen Lawrence has been working on collecting, archiving and publishing the history of the Abyssinian breed. At long last, her book has been published, and my copy arrived yesterday. It’s an incredible oeuvre, and an incredible resource.

There are photos of all sorts of relics from the early days of Abyssinian breeding, like this pin from the Abyssinian Cat Club in England that’s 102 years old.

And these CFA registration cards, when the records were kept on index cards.

The cover of the first issue of Cats Magazine from 1945 featured Abys.

And, yes, as advertised, there is a chapter about the Somali, too.

And there are also a few nifty surprises, too, like these photos of Aby kittens taken by Kenneth Heilbrom. I have some of his prints.

And look, I even have a mention! I sent Karen a photo of my Selene’s Firefly

Apparently, it also makes a fine seat for a certain blue Aby girl.