Aby-a-Day – 20 September: “It is usually customary for the life of the party about the middle of the evening to put a lampshade on his head…” (Thursday Things)

At the hotel we stayed in when we went to the show in Västra Frölunda, Izaak was fascinated with the lamp. And not just because Björn was waving a feathery cat toy above it.

So of course Lorelai had to join in.

And go inside the lampshade. Because apparently all the kittens are doing it these days.

She kinda took over, there, for a while. It’s hard to remember that she’s actually two weeks younger than Zak.

They were both enchanted and mesmerised by the cat toy over the lamp.

Rory may be a little bigger, but Zak can hold his own, thank you.

Rory is such a copycat…

I don’t know how long they played with that stupid lamp and cat toy, but oh, it was so much fun to watch!

Aby-a-Day – 19 September: Wordless Wednesday (Pro photos from last weekend’s show)

Aby-a-Day – 18 September: NO CAPES! (Cartoon Tuesday)

I am sure most of you saw this coming…yes, it’s Lorelai as Edna Mode. Above is the inked linework, done in Procreate, with the speech bubble and text done in Photoshop.

And…here is the colour version, started in Procreate and finished in Photoshop (I haven’t been able to find as good a fur brush in Procreate, and I had no way to make the eyeglass lenses or the background without Photoshop.

And if you’re curious about why Edna reacts so vehemently when capes are mentioned, check out this very insightful analysis of just why Edna is so anti-cape. You’ll never see that scene the same way again.

Aby-a-Day – 17 September: “When life gives you Monday, dip it in glitter and sparkle all day” (Hipstamatic Monday)

Just another random post-show Monday…here’s how we’re doing, through Hipstamatic’s filters.

Jacoby loves his leopard canoe bed.

After he eats in his own room, he can be found in this bed, digesting and waiting for me to open the door.

Aw, Jake…don’t be shy!

Next we have Angel. Whoa, Angel! Not so close!

That’s better! Now we can see you!

Angel likes to hang out under the kitchen table.

I have had her almost ten years, and she is still skittish.

Next we have Alfred.

Freddy is so expressive.

“I’m napping, here! I’m napping!”

“Oh, okay…one more photo.”

Last, but definitely not least, we have Izaak and Lorelai.

Apparently, Zak’s tail makes a great eye mask to keep the light out.

I just don’t know how Rory can breathe with her nose in Zak’s flank, though.

They really are the best of friends. It’s lovely to travel with them, because they just keep each other company. It’s actually almost easier to travel with two of them than it is with one cat!

Aby-a-Day – 16 September: Dogs on a train (Cat Show Sunday)

Still processing everything from the show. On Sunday, neither Lorelai nor Izaak were nominated, so it was a fairly peaceful show day. We just sat and talked to people. I got to talk to Göran, my one-time nurse, and found out an interesting fact that no one bothered to mention before: Not only could I have lost my finger or hand from the infection caused by the cat bite…I could have lost my life! So, everyone reading, please remember: If you are bitten in the hand or finger by a cat and it becomes at all swollen…go to an ER immediately. Don’t waste time at a local urgent care.

Our train ride home was interesting, though. On Swedish trains, there are special pet compartments that are the only places animals are allowed. In this particular pet car, there were only nine seats…and we had two cats and four dogs! We boarded the train in Göteborg with a very well behaved rescue dog from Greece. He lived with cats and was not at all fazed by Zak and Rory. When a Border Collie got on a few stations later, though, the dog reacted. The Border Collie and his human sat in the doorway. Then in Falköping, we were joined by a Bedlington Terrier and a Chinese Crested!

Their human was delighted to see a Singapura in person and had to have a photo. She said her friend, who had a Somali, would be so jealous that she had met a Singa.

Rory in particular was fascinated by the Chinese Crested. She never puffed up, growled or hissed, and she actually got up the nerve to touch the dog’s ear with her nose!

Aby-a-Day – 15 September: Full court press (Cat Show Saturday)

We’re at a cat show this weekend in a basketball arena in Västra Frölunda, a suburb of Göteborg.

We took the train last night. Izaak and Lorelai once again proved themselves to be excellent travellers.

They had to explore the luggage rack, though.

We were in the nine-seat pet compartment with a group of four young gamer geeks. One of them was allergic to cats and complained when we let them play on the luggage. On Swedish trains, there are only a limited number of pet compartment seats, so you would think people without pets would choose to sit elsewhere. But that just goes to show you that Sweden ain’t perfect…we have our share of entitled jerks who sit in the pet compartment and then complain when someone who has a pet he’s allergic to happens to sit in there with him…it’s just like home!

When we got to our hotel, the kittens – excuse me, juniors, set about proving the axiom about cats loving hotel rooms correct once again.

Like Logan before her, Rory discovered the joy of heated bathroom floors.

And both Zak and Rory were unbearably cute cuddling on the bed.

One thing we got to do was get some professional photos done.

We got some of them done with both of them together, and then some of each of them on their own. I ended up buying four of each: Zak, Rory, and then both together.

As with their first show together, the two of them were remarkably relaxed.

And we got to see our Göteborg friends at this show! We got to see Peter, Anna and Bonk…

…and Jasper…

…As well as Stellan with Oskar and two other Singas.

I didn’t notice the beauty of this photo until long after I had taken it.

This, though…this is awesome. Across from where we are benched is Arextocats. You remember from my my post about my finger surgery, when I ran into a nurse named Göran in Recovery whose fiancée had Rexes..? Yeah…this is her. She doesn’t have a cat fromArextocats…she is Arextocats! And Göran will be at the show tomorrow…which for some reason makes me stupidly happy.

But onto the results. Zak was up against a pretty chocolate Burmese and didn’t get nominated to the panel. But Rory was nominated!

In the panel, first the judge who nominated a cat looks him or her over.

Then the judge looks at the cat or cats that the other judges nominated.

Rory was up against a slightly older, male Oriental Shorthair…and he was Best in Show. This time.

Here they are on the bus back to our hotel. What will tomorrow hold? We’ll find out!

Aby-a-Day – 13 September: Backstory to Wordless Wednesday (Thursday Things)

Yesterday’s post showed professional photos I had taken of Angel, Jacoby, Alfred and Lorelai back in May.

When I saw the poster at our local DjurMagazinet, I jumped at the chance. Not so much for Jake, who has had his photos taken by Chanan as well as other professionals, or Rory, who will have plenty of opportunities to have photos taken at shows throughout her career, but for Angel and Freddy, who won’t ever get to go to a show.

Unfortunately, Björn had to work that Saturday, so I was on my own with the four LunaTicks. I packed up the lot and put them in Jake’s Strollercat stroller.

There was just one teensy problem with that. Jake didn’t want to share. This was the early days of his mystery illness, and he was cranky. So I let him ride on top of the stroller. He was actually fine with that arrangement.

It was not at all easy to wrangle them over to DjurMagaznet…but at least it was scenic. Look at those gorgeous poppies!

When we got to the store, Jake didn’t want me to unzip the stroller and let the others out.

Too bad, Jake.

Of course, all the LunaTicks were instant hits with staff and other shoppers.

It’s one of the idiosyncrasies of Sweden that there are ice boxes full of ice creams for sale in all kinds of random stores. Even pet shops will sell you an iced lolly. And Freddy wanted one.

He was disappointed- “Aw…Mooooooommmmmmm…!”

Meanwhile, Jake occupied his stroller.

And pretended to ignore that Rory was still in there.

Meanwhile, Angel and Freddy were exploring the little café that the store has set up for customers.

And Angel and Rory spent some girl-time together as well.

This was Rory’s first really big outing with other cats.

I wonder if she saw Angel as a sort of mother figure? She’d only been with us three weeks…

Yeah.

Stay classy, Freddy.

Rory especially drew a lot of attention from people…kittens have that effect on people.

Jake occupied his stroller whilst shooting daggers at the other cats.

When it was our turn to have photos taken, I had some help transferring the cats to the photo room. There are, of course, no “behind the scenes” photos…I was too busy trying to herd four cats!

Towards the end of the session, Rory was starting to get sleepy.

On the walk home, I was able to open the stroller and let them walk. They didn’t all avail themselves of the privilege right at first.

Eventually, they all got out and walked a bit.

Although it would have been a lot easier if they all wanted to go in the same direction at the same time, but hey.