The Co-Habitant and I celebrate
four holidays during the Festivus season! - and since one of them is already in progress, our cats urged us to send everybody some warm wishes. They even agreed to pose for these photos inside my Pashley basket.
To give you a sense of the size of the basket, our kitties are
Norwegian Forest Cats, which are almost as large as Maine Coons. One is black and white, and the other is brown. They have asked that we not reveal their identities, and as you can see they are a bit camera shy.
And here is
Eustacia Vye in her entirety, bedecked in a festive red bow. The holiday season has been good to us so far and we now own some better quality digital cameras - which will, hopefully, lead to nicer bike pictures on this weblog. Having read the holiday wishlists posted on some of the bicycle blogs out there, I realise that I am actually pretty satiated in the velo department and have no bicycle themed items on my list. It is good to be happy with what you have... Either that, or I better get my thinking cap on!
Aww..
ReplyDeleteTwo of my greatest weaknesses--bikes and cats--in the same photo. That'll keep me happy for a while.
Really, the best gift you can have is to be happy and secure within yourself. And the best gift you can give is to pass on the joy that you get from your life. The rest of it, as an old friend of mine says, "is just stuff."
cats in a bike basket? too cute of course! happy festivites and all that!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, this festive season allows us to feel the nice air..and to spend some time with ourselves , to relax, to be happy, and to forget all the bad things happened....
ReplyDeleteAmen...
Four holidays sounds quite stressful. But I'm also looking forward to some free time next week in the coutryside :). Have a nice time!
ReplyDeleteCats! Bow! Cute overload! One of my cats is a Norweigan Forrest Cat, too, at least primarily. We'll never know exactly where she came from because she was found starving, sick and injured. She has two congenital defects (cleft pallet and heart murmer), so I've considered that she may be the product of overbreeding. I'll have to get a cat-and-bicycle shot of her for your gallery :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays!
!!!
ReplyDeleteMy cat is a Norwegian Forest Cat! Being a female, she is much smaller than the males... and for a moment I had to do a double-take at the cat in the basket in the first photo because that is the same coloring as my "feline co-habitant"! =^.^=
You know, get one of those little "yippy" dogs and those cats would liven up considerably as they teach the dog who really owns the house.
ReplyDeleteHaving revisited my film camera, I must say that digital cameras are darn convenient for a blog!
Dottie - Our cats were found abandoned in a box at 6 months old (right after the cute period of kittenhood, a very common time to abandon cats). Both had initial health problems because of what they were fed an the conditions they must have lived in, but we got them treated and they were soon thriving in our home. They are remarkably sweet-tempered and behave more like dogs than like cats - following us around, licking affectionately, never biting or scratching. The one genetic abnormality they have is that they are polydactyls - with five digits on each paw, where the extra one is distinctly an opposable thumb. This makes them extremely (sometimes annoyingly!) dextrous - able to open closet doors, pick things up with their "hands", etc.!
ReplyDeleteAstroluc - Both of our cats are female too. I think the spotted "cow cat" colouring is a popular one for this breed. We did get them locally, so perhaps they are even related to yours!
Steve - Oh yes. For a blog, using film would be a time drain and financial nightmare. A yippy dog? The kitties would eat him! But no, they are really very kind and gentle. They would scold him.
Ooooooo, black Wegie. I don't suppose you've got a drop spindle to go with it?
ReplyDeleteThe black one is actually a deep brown colour and glistens orange around the chest/belly furs in sunlight. Indoors and in dim light she of course comes off as flat black. It's hard to expose for her, she usually comes out as a colour blob in photos, but she actually has a very cute face.
ReplyDeleteThe other one is black & white where the white is a true white and the black is the same deep brown colour that is the other cat.
By the way, this is the huge Pashley basket we're seeing here. Do you see how huge these kitties grew? If they stand up on hind paws, they can see the surface of the kitchen table.
perhaps she is... but we may never know since my poor little dear was rescued from the "mean streets" as a stray. She was fixed and obviously housebroken and personable when she came to me; but the vet said that she had years of neglect. Over all, though, she was healthy and has been with me ever since! (and that was 6 almost 7 years ago).
ReplyDeletea bit off the bike topic, yes... but here's some pics =^.^=You can see how my cat's black fur glistens that orange you spoke of in the 3rd pic.
I'll stop now. ;)
http://astroluc-music.blogspot.com/2009/12/kitten.html
that last comment about the orange was meant for MDI, and I did not specify... sorry!
ReplyDeleteAstroluc - Thanks for the link, your cat is so cute! And she could definitely pass for our cat's sister; ours even has the same curly white tummy fur as yours. The one difference seems to be that our cat has very round eyes, where as yours' seem to be more almond-shaped.
ReplyDelete"The black one is actually a deep brown colour"
ReplyDeleteWell, that would at least be my second choice. Blend it with merino or cashmere to knit some really nice, seasonal thinking caps.
too cute!
ReplyDeletethat is too cute!!!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely! You have gorgeous cats - I adore 'big' domestic cats and used to have a massive silver tabby that was Maine Coon size or perhaps a bit bigger - 14" at the shoulder anyway. And hey, you have cats with opposable thumbs, every cat's dream! How blessed they are and how busy they must keep you :-). We now have two Birmans and the boy is on the big side.
ReplyDeleteHappy holidays and a great festive season to you, the Co-Habitant and your cats. And of course the bikes... hope you get some journeys in over the holidays :-)
lovely!!! Love the red bow especially! On your Pashley is the basket and basket support original to Pashley? Because mine keeps on turning, independently from the basket and it looks a bit skewed (!)... I am thinking about upgrading the basket support... what do you think?
ReplyDeletekfg - We'd actually been wondering whether there is such a thing as catwool. Gently collected, of course. My cats shed so much, it's a shame for it all to go to waste - especially since their fur is so long and silky.
ReplyDeleteLorenza - I use the original basket support, but we have tightened it and strengthened it considerably, wrapped black electrical tape around it to cushion it, and tied the basket down to it with multiple zip-ties. It is fine now and I do not feel the need for a different support - but it took some work to get it this way.
Carinthia - Thanks, and yes the opposable thumbs keep us busy : )
Filigree:" We'd actually been wondering whether there is such a thing as catwool."
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. And dog as well. Any animal with an undercoat. I haven't been keeping up on recent fiber trends, but a couple of years ago Husky was the hottest (and most expensive) animal fiber in the fashion world (nettle was the hottest in vegetable fiber. It makes a finer linen than flax).
Cat fur is short and very glossy, however. It does not spin well on its own. It can be done, but the yarn won't have much in the way of tensile strength. It blends wonderfully with longer, courser fibers though.
If you don't want to take the time and trouble to learn how to use a drop spindle it is quite practicable to hand twist yarns a few yards at a time here and there as time (and shedding) permits (bearing in mind that you'll need several yards of thread to make a yarn, because you're going to three ply it).
Polydactyls - that is the coolest defect. They sound like lucky kittens to be brought into such a loving home where they get to play in bike baskets :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the camera-getting. Your pictures are already beautiful, so it will be lovely bicycle overload here!
Happy holidays to you! Your cats are huge - and gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI have a friend here who has spun cat hair in with her sheep's wool - so as kfg points out - it can be done. If you've got time/inclination.
I too am looking forward to even more lovely bike photography!
"If you've got time/inclination."
ReplyDeleteAlthough the spinning wheel was a great leap forward in production, it had the side effect of binding the spinner (almost without exception women) to the home.
The great thing about a spindle, or even twisting, is that's it's so highly portable. Women did much of their spinning while going out for walks together in the days of the spindle. These days you can stick it in a zipper freezer bag to keep it neat and clean, stuff it into your messenger bag/satchel; and pull it out during those silly faculty meetings.
Once you get the knack of it it's meditative, essentially mindless, work that takes no time at all, since you can do it while you are "doing" something else.
We have two cats that look like twins. Same color and markings but different parents. As most cat lovers do we spoil our pets till it hurts they being us so much joy! :)
ReplyDelete