Caturday Wisdom #165

Work your angles. Ivy

This angle is as flattering for cats as it is for humans! It's looking like a grey, rainy weekend for us - perfect for napping/sewing, whichever you prefer.

Caturday Wisdom #162

Don't be afraid to put on your mean face to get things done. Ivy

Ivy has an unintentional mean face, she's very sweet and small but when she squints and sticks her nose up she looks like she's gonna beat you up. Ralph doesn't seem to have inherited this trait even though they're siblings. Though maybe he's just such a chicken that it always shows on his face.

Caturday Wisdom #158

A good way to transport plants if you don't have any pockets is to eat them! I find they always turn up again inside. Ivy

No Caturday last week as I had hip surgery on Friday and was too wasted to finish it. Now I am back home recuperating and while the cats have been allowed in my usually off-limit bedroom there has been a lot of plant regurgitation. Ivy just can't get enough! 

Caturday Wisdom #155

Play it cool, desperation is only cute if you're a cat. Ivy

I actually don't know why Ivy was licking her chops so thoroughly. She had probably eaten some grass and was excited about vomiting on the floor later. Good times, right?

Caturday Wisdom #154

Hello from the other side. Ralph and Ivy

I'm sorry if I just got Adele stuck in your head.
Adrianne got a new bed a while ago and before the old bed found a new home there were too many beds in one bedroom and the cats quickly discovered that a bed is very good for climbing. This is probably one of the greatest days/nights of Ralph and Ivy's lives and one of the most alarming for Adrianne and I.
Also, the boxes they're sitting in remind me of the Brady Bunch intro but we need WAY more cats.

Caturday Wisdom #144

Black does not always attract heat. Ivy

Here Ivy is facing a conundrum the cats often encounter: they were sitting in the sun. The sun has moved. They are left contemplating how they might will the sun back to them or how they will move their sun-drunk selves back into the sun. It is honestly the closest you will get to seeing a cat inebriated.

Caturday Wisdom #139

Sing like nobody's listening. Ivy

Ivy is actually mid-yawn here, but she does like to have a good old yowl - only if she thinks you're not paying attention though!

Caturday Wisdom #138

There's nothing wrong with being matchy-matchy. Ivy

Caturday Wisdom #136

Stay curious.  Ivy

Ivy is a very curious cat, both in the sense of being interested in the world around her, and also in the sense of being rather strange.  Jennifer is off swanning around Europe for a few weeks, so I'm back on Caturday duty.   Ivy will miss her, mostly because she is the provider of Ivy's favourite foods (eggs, and coffee), and more inclined to use the heating in the house.  No doubt I'll be getting lots of extra cat cuddles over the next couple of weeks.

Caturday Wisdom #135

The key to camouflage is choosing somewhere super-obvious but staying very still. Ivy

Believe it or not, it took some searching before we found the cats this day. We had both just come home from a walk with our Dad and the family dog, both of which Ralph had laid eyes on but they hadn't come into the house or anything but the cats were nowhere to be seen.

They're very much 'scaredy-cats', they don't like strangers and particularly men with loud voices so they will often disappear temporarily if we get a courier delivery or visitors.

We know their normal hiding spots by now but after checking them all we were flummoxed until out of the corner of my eye I saw something by the window which turned out to be Ivy in weasel-mode! We had spent a good 5 minutes looking and calling them by this point so she had been watching us the whole time from her window spot.

Eventually we also discovered Ralph's rather terrible attempt at hiding, his head was hidden to be fair but there's quite a lot more to Ralph than just his head...

I don't know if their hiding or our seeking is more embarrassing.

Caturday Wisdom #130

 Look, don't touch. Ivy

 

 Ivy seems to really enjoy having one arm hang down. She likes to lie above the fireplace in this exact pose. Sometimes I try to hold hands with her but she only lets me when she's reeeeeeallly heat-drunk, otherwise she just shakes me off haughtily.

Caturday Wisdom #127

Travel in style. Ivy

 

Ivy isn't often that keen to be held by people, she much prefers to head butt your legs, arms, hands and face while standing on her own four feet but every once in a while when you pick her up she will turn into a bag of rice and you won't be able to put her down.

Caturday Wisdom #125

Keep your focus on the important things in life. Ivy

 

I loved reading about all of your 'freshwater cats' last week, clearly Ralph and Ivy need to put more work into their tap-drinking.

Today's picture is an oldie, I took it when this quilt was still in progress which couldn't be 'published' before being shown at Symposium, even in the background of a cat photo!

Adrianne was away for work one night this week which caused Ralph to meow despondently at me the entire time. The poor little dummies even got all excited because they heard a car park in the street outside and they thought it was her getting home. It's nice to know they care, even if they only show it when you're not there.

Caturday Wisdom #118

 There's no place like this box. Ivy

 

Ivy went on an adventure on Thursday.

Her and Ralph are indoor cats, we live on the corner of two very busy roads (and, not to say they're idiots but Ralph ran into a wall the other day) so they are allowed outside with supervision. They're pretty timid when they do go outside and tend to stick by the house and just roll on the ground and chase bugs. Long story short she was let out and went to explore the neighbourhood leading to much worry and walking around the neighbourhood for us. She eventually turned up outside at 11:30pm, sassy as you like.

Ivy, you owe me at least 10 days on a beach somewhere for that.

Caturday Wisdom #114

Deny, deny, deny. Ivy

The cats are way more interested in the foil wrappers than any chocolate but they'll be happy about the extra belly pats they get from this four day weekend. Hope everyone has a nice long/regular-length weekend!

Caturday Wisdom #109

Happiness is sleeping as inconveniently as possible. Ivy

 

Ivy is blissed out. The cats are very happy to have ALL the things from America to sniff, and mediumly happy to have Adrianne back from QuiltCon.

I kid, they've been exceptionally cuddly and I expect they're very glad to have her home since they've only had me for company for the last couple of weeks.

Happy weekend, hope you sleep as well as Ivy!

 

 

Caturday Wisdom #105

In this heat you must conserve all water. Particularly nose water. Ivy

If you've ever had a cat sneeze in your face while snoozing on your chest you'll know exactly how much 'nose water' they can hold. Blegh. 

It has been extremely hot, sunny and bright this week in Wellington, uncharacteristically so - you'll have to excuse the exposure on this photo. Ivy and Ralph have become pools of liquid cat, you will find them spread out on the floor apparently incapable of moving but still able to mew pathetically for a belly rub. Otherwise they can still reliably be found sitting in their most favourite box in the relatively cool spare room.

Hope you have a temperate weekend! 



Caturday Wisdom #99

Watch what you eat. Watch it very carefully. Ivy

I'm so sad that this photo is slightly blurry, you really need daylight to capture these quick little cats. 

Ivy is the most catlike of her and Ralph in a lot of ways but her food preferences are not one of them. Ralph's favourite food is any meat (tinned tuna/steak/mince/tenderloins/sausages/bacon/ham) and he will eat dairy if it's going (yogurt/milk/cream) - what you would expect from a cat. 

Ivy's favourites, as far as we can tell, are eggs, toast crumbs and coffee. She will sometimes eat meat though she takes so long investigating it and flinging it around with her claws that Ralph often gets in first, but she will reliably sit by your plate if you are eating a boiled egg, and will run off with the shell if you're not looking, she cleans up toast crumbs and will stick her head right in my empty mug to lick up the remaining drop of my morning coffee.

Anyone else have a pet with odd food favourites? 

Caturday Wisdom #85

Travel where and when you can. Ivy

We had a bit of a tidy-up a couple of weeks ago and of course Ivy immediately took possession of this empty box sitting with the rubbish bags. I think she would really enjoy a trip to the dump with all the seagulls and enticing smells. This same weekend she chased a neighbours cat off the property which was hilarious and amazing. We had no idea she was capable/even territorial! What a funny creature.

Caturday Wisdom #84

It's not the size of the sunny spot, but your devotion to it that counts. Ivy

As we're just heading into spring (finally!) I'm frequently jealous of both the cats' ability to fit into the slanted spots of sunshine that reach the floor later in the day. I am definitely feeling deprived and cannot wait until for some light and heat as summer comes on. Hopefully it won't rain all weekend!