Aby-a-Day – 18 Juli: My sweet summer child (Swedish Singapura Sunday)

You may recall, I have been working on a Four Seasons of Izaak project and a couple of weeks ago I took some Summer photos.

I wasn’t completely happy with them compared to the Winter and Spring photos.

Also, the tree looks more “summery” now than it did last month because now, the cherries are ripening.

So, when we went outside yesterday, I put Zak up in his tree and took some more photos.

Just like last time, he climbed up the branch, used it like a scratching post, and tried to eat the lichen.

Zak is pretty good at moving around up in the branches.

I think he really enjoys his tree time.

In the end, this shot is the one I’ll use as Summer in the project. And, like the Spring photo, I may have touched it up a teensy bit in Photoshop…but only three layers, no big deal.

Aby-a-Day – 1 Juli: Sum-Sum-Summertime (Thursday Things)

So, you may recall that I took some lovely photos of Izaak and his tree in winter and spring. Well, the other day when we all went outside, I thought the tree was ready for the summer photo, so I put Zak in his tree.

At first, he thought about jumping down.

But then, Zak climbed even higher into the tree!

And…used the branch as a scratching post.

Juuuusssst before trying to eat the lichen on the tree. Cat won’t eat dry or wet cat food, but lichen he eats?

Eventually, Zak decided to come back down, and the photo session was over.

This one shot, though, is the one I think I’m going to use in the Four Seasons project.

Aby-a-Day . 2 Juni: Wordless Wednesday (Two boys, one tree)

Aby-a-Day – 1 Maj: A bird in the paw (Swedish Saturday)

Because of Covid, I have not had the energy to clip the cats’ claws on our regular schedule (it takes a LOT of energy to clip five cats’ claws and do all the other necessary grooming).

That turned out to be a good thing when we took the cats out for the first time in forever last Thursday.

Because Lorelai ran right up a tree with the intent to catch a wood pigeon!

She actually got wicked close, too.

She was also fearless and überconfident up in the tree.

Rory was in complete control up in that tree.

And when she decided to come down out of the tree, even that was deliberate and measured.

I mean, look at the focus on that face. She’s in complete control.

Aby-a-Day – 26 Februari: Where there’s food, there’s Freddy (Photoshop Friday)

Apparently, posting about the big cats at Borås Djurparken inspires me with Photoshop ideas. I woke up this morning with this idea, based on the time Alfred climbed up a tree. Because of course Freddy would fight a Lynx for food.

Aby-a-Day – 26 Juli 2020: “Consequences: If you climb up a tree, you must climb down the same tree” (Silly Sunday)

The other day when we went outside, Alfred suddenly ran up a tree!

We were all surprised at his feat…I think Freddy was the most surprised of all of us. Look at his face!

He didn’t seem sure of what he wanted to do.

At first, Freddy thought he might try to climb higher.

But in the end, he decided to jump down. What goes up, and all that…

Aby-a-Day – 28 Juni 2020: The Mighty Izaak (Singapura Sunday)

When the cats go outside, the Abyssinians bolt out the door and run as fast and as far as they can.

But not Izaak. Zak…well, the best way to describe it is, Zak marches out the door and onto the grass.

He also loves to hunt when he’s outside. Wonder what he sees?

Oh! A honey bee! Zak, please leave that little guy alone…we need all the bees we can get!

That’s not to say that Zak doesn’t run. He does.

He’s usually chasing one of the other cats, but oh, he runs.

He’s such a sturdy little man. As I mentioned before, someone compared him to Ron Swanson…and apart from the lack of mustache, it’s an apt comparison.

I mean, look at him.

Finally, I have this photo. In my opinion, this is Zak’s first iconic photo. Jacoby had a few: Sitting on the carousel, posing in his hat and boots, and the one of him wearing his parka in the snow, among others

Aby-a-Day – 22 Juni: “Keep your eye on the prey” (Swedish Saturday)

On one of our outside adventures, Lorelai saw a pigeon perched in a tree.

It’s kind of hard to see, so I’ve marked it in this photo.

Rory was so intent on hunting it.

(Here it is marked again)

You could see her brain working out how to catch that fat bird.

The pigeon was hard to see up in the branches, but Rory never lost her focus.

At one point, I thought she was going to give up.

The pigeon was still watching her, though.

But suddenly, Rory climbed even higher in the tree!

She was actually as high up in the tree as the pigeon!

I think her idea was to get higher than the pigeon, and then drop down on it.

I couldn’t believe how high Rory climbed!

She really wanted to get that pigeon. I honestly don’t know why the pigeon stayed there so long. Maybe it was curious about the small predator.

I think this may be the closest Rory’s ever gotten to a bird. Impressive.

Aby-a-Day – 11 May: “Whenever I see a tree that is climbable, it must be climbed” (Swedish Saturday)

As I have posted before, Lorelai loves to climb trees.

Unlike Izaak, she can actually shimmy up the on her own without human intervention.

She also seems to feel very comfortable in trees. She routinely naps on the top of our floor-to-ceiling indoor cat tree, and she walks up the side of it without a second thought, so that makes sense.

Not only does she feel at home in the branches…

…she seems quite eager to see if she can go higher!

Oh, wait…what does she see now?

Aby-a-Day – 9 Maj: “The only time I can really relax is up a tree or somewhere outside” (Thursday Things)

Unlike Lorelai, Izaak doesn’t seem to be able to climb trees on his own. He tries…oh, how he tries. He runs up to the trees at full speed, but where Rory uses that momentum to go up the side of the tree…Zak just stops short.

So, I decided to help him out.

I put Zak up in the tree.

He really loved being in the tree. It was as if his every wish had been granted.

He may not be able to get up in the tree on his own…but once he’s up there, he knows what to do.

First: Pose.

Second: Try to climb higher.

Third: Pose some more.

In case you were worried, Zak wasn’t that high up…and Björn and I were right there in case anything went sideways.

Aby-a-Day – 12 December: Wordless Wednesday (When the Aby you spy is up higher than high, that’s a Rory…)

Aby-a-Day – 5 December: Wordless Wednesday (Sausage. Seriously. Sausage.)

Aby-a-Day – 3 November: Look out for that treeeeeee! (Silly Swedish Saturday)

The other day we took the kittens out again before it gets too cold. Lorelai ran as fast as she could to her beloved trees.

She always looks so funny…she runs so fast and so hard, with every ounce of strength she can muster.

And the way she attacks those trees…

…she’s just a little bit crazed, really.

But I will say this for our little Rory…

…She throws herself all into whatever it is she’s trying to do.

No matter how tall the tree, Rory’s gonna climb it!

Aby-a-Day – 25 October: “Come, Boy, climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and be happy” (Thursday Things)

On one of our outdoor excursions, Lorelai and Izaak were very interested in the trees.

Rory actually managed to climb a tree! Two trees, in fact.

When she got up into the first tree, she was so proud of herself.

Zak tried…

…but ended up sharing Rory’s view from the ground level.

Then Rory conquered her second tree.

There was a moment where she contemplated climbing higher…

…Like, really considered it.

Fortunately, she decided to stay where she was and enjoy the view.

Which, admittedly, is pretty great on a warm autumn afternoon.

Zak tried to climb this tree, too, and join Rory up there…

…But again, he wasn’t as successful as she was.

Rory loved it up there.

Then she jumped down from that tree and tackled the biggest, tallest, deadest tree in our yard. It’s too big for me to get my arms around it, that’s how big it is.

Sadly, it is dying from Dutch Elm Disease; it didn’t have any leaves this year. As a matter of fact, they just cut it down this morning.

Zak really wanted to climb a tree like Rory. The fact that he tried so hard to climb that enormous tree was adorable. First, he studied it closely…

…Then he took a step back to size it up.

Rory gave it some thought, too…

…and then ran off to try out another tree instead.

Zak, of course, trundled along after her.

Rory was hilarious to watch, tackling every tree she could.

Zak…tried very hard. He never quite made it, though.

Aby-a-Day – 19 July – “Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing” (Thursday

Lorelai is the kind of cat we have always wanted.

Oh! There she is now!

Yes, Rory is that rarest of cats…

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…the kind of cat I have only had twice before…

…Yes, Rory is…

…a shoulder cat! And she will jump from a high surface down onto your shoulder, or she will climb up to your shoulder from the ground. Suddenly. And without warning. Especially on the day before claw-clipping day.

Aby-a-Day – 24 May: Graceful, agile, elegant Abys (Thursday Things)

When we went to our local DjurMagazinet, Alfred checked out the cat trees.

They have a really good selection, but here in Europe they seem to cover cat trees with sisal and faux fur fabric rather than carpeting.

Freddy was just happily playtesting the trees when…

…This happened. Not gonna lie, I laughed. He totally reminded me of this cartoon I did 5 years ago!

But I mean, look at his feet (and hand)! I had to highlight them…because, well…look at them!

Meanwhile, Lorelai was having trouble managing her new harness and leash.

Then she decided she wanted to be up in my lap.

Ambition and ability are, sadly, two very different things.

She wasn’t fazed, though.

Quite the opposite, in fact. She was gathering herself up for another attempt.

Aby-a-Day – 4 June: “Snazzy” (Saturday Photo Hunt)

This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Snazzy.”

I have this very snazzy, super deluxe, floor-to-ceiling cat tree from Drs. Foster and Smith. I had it in the kitchen of my old apartment in Somerville, and Harri, Patrick, Tessie, Kylie and Gun-Hee all loved it.

Patrick especially loved it.

I mean, he really loved it.

I got it in 2005 as a replacement for the older, blue one I’d brought with me from Atlanta, which was getting a little ragged. Patrick couldn’t wait for us to unpack it.

He even helped to assemble it.

He could not even wait for it to be put together before he was climbing on it!

Sadly, it wasn’t tall enough for the very high ceilings in the old condo, so when I moved out of my apartment in March 2009, the awesome tree went into storage.

When I got Angel in 2008, I wasn’t spending much time at my old apartment although I still kept it for a few months after I married. I’m not sure if she has ever seen this cat tree (but she really loved the floor-to-ceiling cat tree my mom has at her house, and wasted no time climbing it). I know Jacoby never has, since it was put into storage before he was even born!

But on Monday, it was packed up to go to Sweden.

It was pretty amazing to watch the mover pack it up in paper.

We decided not to take it apart, except for the very top, spring-loaded part.

He was so fast! I couldn’t imagine wrapping up a cat tree in moving paper…but then, he’s a professional.

So, here’s my snazzy cat tree, all packed up and ready to go. Next stop, Sweden!

Aby-a-Day – 30 March: Angel and her sisters

Aby-a-Day – 28 January: Pile-up on the cat superhighway

This is why it’s so important to have a two-way cat superhighway.

Angel is pretty much trapped up there in the top box while Jacoby (and Tessie) block her one way down. And don’t think it’s accidental. Jake just wants to be up there in that top spot…and Tessie is just “helping.”

I had wanted to eventually create some kind of way down to the windowsill on the other side, but it never happened. However, Björn and I are already planning a walkway in his (our!) apartment what will be a two-way street. He also has a balcony that is going to be a cat paradise when I get finished with it. Now if I could only just move there!

Aby-a-Day – 13 January: Wordless Wednesday (Three eyes)