The Black Winter Cardigan

[Lilith]

Ah thanks - the green/golden parts of her eyes in the photo are the black pupils which were quite dilated; the grey is her eye colour, which is a very pale green; it can look almost beige and sometimes, like in in my favourite pic of her (which I can't find) it even looks silver.

Whatever you can do will be most appreciated, and Emily says thanks too

[MarySkater]

Hi Lilith,

I've made two tries; the first is just your original photo, sized down. For the second, I darkened the pupils and took out some of the flash glare. Use whichever you like. But if the system doesn't like either one for any reason, tell me the error message and I'll see if I can fix it.

Mary

Emmy ava 1.jpg (36.09 KiB) Viewed 9070 times

Emmy ava 2.jpg (34.93 KiB) Viewed 9070 times

[Lilith]

Wow!!!!

Thank you Mary the Magician, from Emily and Lil

[bobbys girl]

Looking good Lilith, all thanks to Mary.

Purdy's spot is right in front of the wood-burner. She hates to move from there and even grumbles when we move her to stoke the fire.

[MarySkater]

You're welcome, Lilith. If anybody else wants a photo edited down to an avatar, I'm happy to do it. But maybe we should start an avatar thread, not to side-track other threads. I probably ought to update my own; I took that photo 2 months ago, and Ria is growing like a weed!

Thanks, bobbys girl. Yes, there's nothing like a real fire for cosiness, and it doesn't take the cats long to find it.

Mary

[Lilith]

Molly's learned - at last!

eskimo moll lol.jpg (54.45 KiB) Viewed 9037 times

Hope everyone's snug and cosy at this time of year

[bobbys girl]

Bless her. She looks really zonked out there, and is that a smile on her face?

[Lilith]

Lol - it is.

She IS a right little madam, but still a very smiley cat - she's a 'storm and sunshine' personality; her rages never last long and though if we errm disagree she'll put on a mulish scowl (you've never seen such a face) she'll soon start to turn on the charm again ...

She is the original diva and likes to take centre stage; she gives the impression that she was born for better things and I think her ideal environment would have been a one-to-one home in a very quiet rural setting where she could hunt all night if she liked and return at dawn to her personal slave; I often feel she would have appreciated a stately home and parkland and to have been lady of the manor, but as things are she has to put up with me and two other cats and a tiny backstreet terrace...but she does still smile a lot

[Mayday21]

Hi Lilith Molly probably always knew to go inside the hutch but wasn't going to be told when. She looks so contented albeit your assessment of her desire re one-on-one environment. You know how finicky our fur babes can be ... they choose you & if they decide you're the one, feel privileged. Vivian & the 3 Musketeers.

[Lilith]

Lol Vivian I do - but in Moll's case it was any port in a storm, poor little lass; she's not everybody's cup of tea.

There again, neither am I ...

Yes,she definitely does her own thing, in her own time.

Hey shouldn't that be the three PUSS-keteers, or the three MOUSE-keteers?

Lots of love and fusses to you lot in the sun from us lot in the chill - but the solstice is coming soon!

[Mayday21]

Hi Lilith why am I not surprised with your play on words ... let's go with the 3 puss-keteers. No mouses : - had to rescue a gecko the other night. And yes rather warm 33 yesterday 31 today. A magnificent thunder storm late yesterday. At 8pm light show still going - horizontal fork lightning. TC & Snow Girl not happy, Harper on the other hand has no fear A street trait perhaps! Vivian

[bobbys girl]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who looks forward to the solstice, can't come soon enough! Here in the NW of Ireland we get lovely long summer days, but very short winter ones - and I'm solar-powered.

Mary - love the new avatar.

[MarySkater]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who looks forward to the solstice, can't come soon enough! Here in the NW of Ireland we get lovely long summer days, but very short winter ones - and I'm solar-powered.

Mary - love the new avatar.

Thanks, bobbys girl. The rate Ria is growing, I thought I ought to keep up to date with her image. And I know what you mean about the solstice, being at about the same latitude as you. A lot of Scotland has even shorter winter days, but it's still a bit dreary watching it get dark at 4pm.

[bobbys girl]

Ooh tell me about it! There have been a couple of days lately where it's been 'twilight' all day!

I just have to remember the summer when we go out to the coast to take pictures of the sun setting over Slieve League, at 10.20PM - lovely. Keeps me going.

How did we get here from 'The Black Winter Cardigan'? Rambling old age?

[Lilith]

Lol, well not that off-topic really as it's still to do with the weather, but I like this sort of thread where everything under the sun gets discussed; it's cool

And that goes for the weather here too; well, cool in another sense, and grey; while not quite twilight in Wakefield, the lights get put on in the afternoon and dusk arrives very early. Looking forward to Yule (solstice.)

Mayday, to experience those temps here I'd have to climb into his vivarium with Shahi the python Though different if you're working and travelling in them of course. It's easy to think of Australia as an eternal Bondi beach but it's not. Still, all that sun, bliss ...Naughty pussketeers though, chasing geckos! (Well, it's in their nature ...)

Bobbys girl I didn't realise the climate of NI was so dramatic; Slieve League sounds paradise.

Mary, love the new avatar too - isn't Ria growing up fast, look at the great big pawses on her, gorgeous girl!

[MarySkater]

Mary, love the new avatar too - isn't Ria growing up fast, look at the great big pawses on her, gorgeous girl!

Those big paws track in a lot of mud from the garden, even though I've put down coconut matting over the dirtiest places. Today I was out for a couple of hours, and came home to find muddy pawprints on the toilet seat and down the bowl! She fell into the toilet once before, when she was much younger, and got too nosy about the watery noises, but I thought she had learned better by now. I told her, if she wants to wash her feet, she should stick to her usual method of dabbling them in her water dish.

[bobbys girl]

Living 'off mains' means we have a septic tank that makes some strange gurgling sounds sometimes. This fascinates Purdy and she stands on the loo seat looking for 'Mr. Gloop'. She's never fallen in, but has come close a time or two.

Lilith - if you can't come here, let me share this

Sunset Slieve League

[Mayday21]

Hi Lilith & Mary & Bobby' s Girl out of time this morning to reply - just made the bus. Mary Ria's certainly growing into a stunner - muddy paws & all! Lilith as for TC's round eyes alas he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer but he's gorgeous & he & Harper besotted with each other. He was chasing a leaf on his tail the other afternoon & when he lay down & couldn't see it "Yes I chased it away!" When he stood up you should have seen the look on his face "Yikes its back!" I removed it for him. And Bobby's Girl don't know how I'd cope with twilight all day but certainly would love to visit Slieve League. A trip to the UK, Scotland & Ireland on the bucket list, as is Tannin & St Petersburg. Will need to get the 3 Puss-keteers sorted & that mat take some doing. Vivian

[Lilith]

Lol Mary I'm surprised she doesn't bring in most of the garden on those pawses ... perhaps you need to buy her a couple of pairs of wellies... Oh and on the loo seat ... charming. Not very ladylike! She's a stunning lass - her coat pattern's out of this world - that solid patch of black on her shoulder and then the three broad tiger stripes against the mixed tortie shades, a real beauty

Thanks for the pic Bobbys girl - it's great to know there are still corners like that in the world - beautiful!

Mayday I once had a cat just like TC only she was all black, same great round eyes and, I have to say, not the brightest cat I ever met. You could leave the door open for her all day and she'd sit a few feet away, screaming to be let out of the window ...

[bobbys girl]

Lilith - that sounds like our Willow. I've lost count of the times she has driven me mad, glaring at me through the window 'open the window, human', when the flippin' door is wide open!

[MarySkater]

Lilith, thanks for the compliments about Ria. She is growing up handsome, isn't she! As a comparison with the 6-months-old picture above, this was her 5-week-old advert photo, which made me decide to buy her. Quite a change!

[Mayday21]

Hi Mary definitely a "cat" walk career for our Ria Vivian

[Lilith]

I once read a saying that went: 'But kittens grow up and that is one of the saddest things in the world.' I DIDN'T agree!

Personally I'd rephrase that and say: 'Kittens are nice but cats are twice as nice - and go on and on getting nicer!'

I think Ria illustrates this - sweet little scrap growing up into fabulous cat

[MarySkater]

Thanks, Mayday. Ria likes the "cat walk" of shelves I've put along the sides of the outdoor enclosure, but I don't think she'd ever keep still for long enough for anyone to dress her up like a fashion model.

Lilith, the poet Ogden Nash said,
The trouble with a kitten is that
eventually it becomes a cat.

I've seen another version that goes something like,
You get smitten
By a kitten
Then find out that
You've got a cat.

I think the important thing is that anybody contemplating a feline friend understands that they'll have a kitten for a couple of months, and they'll have a cat for many years. If someone is really determined to have a cute little fluffy baby kitten, they'd do better to get a cuddly toy.

I missed Ria's baby phase (apart from one visit) because she came from a responsible breeder who didn't release her until she was 13 weeks and had had her first two vaccinations. I admit I've been very lucky; I bought her for her looks, and for what I've read of her breed, but she is a lovely natured cat, something you can't predict in advance. I've had her 3 months, and just in the last week, Rocky has accepted her to the point of playing with her, and tolerating her if she licks his head. But he'll have to do without her tonight, because I've just left her at the vets, to be spayed tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed there are no problems.

Mary

[Lilith]

Aww Mary, you and Rocky will miss her tonight - it's awful when they have to go for their op. Paws crossed for her to sail through it - I'm sure she will and this time tomorrow you'll have a sleepy girl home again. It's dreadful waiting though.

Lol before I saw the Ogden Nash verse I was trying to compose a similar verse which only got as far as:

'Kittens are all very well, but they raise hell.'

Umm

But if the rest of the catterel surfaces, you can be sure I'll post it

Best of vibes to Ria for her op x

[alanc]

Mary
Looks like Tilly is going to have a rival on here for the biggest muddy paw prints! (Although she and Ria could never rival Badgers big saucer sized paws.) Anyway, from one lady to another, Tilly hopes Ria has an easy time with her operation and no problems.

[Mayday21]

Hi Mary ditto re Ria's op - how did you all cope without her for the night. I used to miss Mayday soooo much & I do miss the 3 pussketeers. Amazing how they get you around their paws. Vivian

[MarySkater]

Thanks, Lilith, Alan and Mayday. It's Tuesday evening, and Ria is at the vets, ready for tomorrow. I left her favourite toy with her, a glove puppet in the shape of a red panda. If I wear it on my hand, she reacts to it like it was a live animal. If I just leave it lying, she carries it around - sometimes out through the cat flap, and I'll retrieve it from the garden. I hope it gives her some comfort. Rocky doesn't seem to be missing her.

If it comes to a muddy paw print contest, Ria has a disadvantage - she only has the usual number of toes. Polydactyl cats are not uncommon, and I think the prize would go to someone like this kitten. (Picture found on the internet.)

[bobbys girl]

Wow, looks like he's wearing snow shoes.

[Lilith]

Bless him! I've known 2 polydactyls; one of them looked as if she was wearing giant fluffy slippers and some of the toes seemed only attached by skin/cartilage; neither use nor ornament they were and I had to keep an eye on her claws as she couldn't groom or sharpen them; that lad's toes look a bit more integrated, more like double paws. It's an interesting mutation; apparently the writer Ernest Hemingway, I think it was, lived with a colony of polydactyls and in those days they'd have been allowed to interbreed...can you imagine that lot tramping pawfuls of mud into the house...

Hi Mary, hope your vigil is over, or nearly over, and that Ria's ready to come back home, hope all went well