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.... how difficult it is to stay concentrated and not lose patience when a very loud cat is sitting in front of a closed door?
When I started to work with polymer clay, the upstairs kitchen became off-limits for the furry inhabitants of this house. As the fur tends to creep in under the door, it's hard enough to fight it off without having a wild chase around the table with hair flying in all directions.
The fact that there is a closed door is particularly hard for Ponder and Esme. It starts with a soft sound that changes into a yodel (Pon) or wild squeaking (Es) pretty quickly. Ponder takes it even harder than his sister. Even when he hasn't been around me for an hour or longer, he seems to feel that I'm behind "The Door" suddenly and he just won't have that.
So imagine me trying to roll clay with my hands while nerve-wrecking yodelling comes through the door, so loud that I'm afraid the neighbors will get me for torturing my cat. Imagine me trying to poke holes into about 40 beads while the yodelling starts to be accompanied by scratching on the door, not to mention the attempt to climb the door. Yes, Ponder walks up doors and it's a very distinctive sound.
I'm weak and can't stand that for very long which is the reason why it took me a few days to make all the beads.
I had started with the big focal one. The smaller ones are not as clear in their pattern, but that is why a focal is, well, a focal.
The necklace is not finished yet. I still need to string the beads and add a clasp, but I was curious to see what it might look like.
And now I have a purring black cat in my lap, happy that I came back out of the mysterious room, back to him, to serve him, in good days and in bad days. Doh.
I'm back at my own computer, but I still haven't listed anything new. I have to work on my time management which is always more difficult during the week. When coming home from being away for at least 12 hours I have to feed the monsters first. Then I have to decide if I want to work on a piece or if I go and sit at the computer. I get absorbed easily in both and suddenly I find I haven't had time for taking photos and listing. Either the day needs more hours or I need to quit my day job ;-)
Today the cats were even crazier than usual when I came home. It's often like that on a Monday. It seems they have to get used to the thought of being left alone during the day again. And as they are great actors who are all nominated for the Academy Awards this year, they bring on a great act of course.
1. Greebo finds a glass bead on the floor. We play fetch for a while. This cat thinks he's a dog. He doesn't bark, though. He sounds more like a bird.
2. I hear strange sounds from the kitchen. After a while they stop and I don't pay attention. About half an hour later I hear them again. The tall guy goes into the kitchen and yells at me from there: "Smart move to leave the kibble box on the counter!" Uh-oh. Killed by merciless hunters it died a gruesome death. Remember the pictures of lions after a meal? Fat bellies hanging down? I feel Ponder has one like that now. The black ball next to him must be his sister.
3. Meffi is thirsty. Mylady doesn't drink from the bowl anymore. After many years she went back to drinking from the faucet and only there. Usually she waits by the sink and makes her funny little cat meows. Sometimes she sits in the sink. And if she is ignored for too long (at night for example) she'll come and wake you up. But now Ponder is up there, eating from the fresh cat grass. Never mind. Meff is thirsty NOW. So she jumps into the sink and I turn the faucet on. She gets out of the sink, bumping into Ponder. Have I mentioned those two don't get along too well? Often Meffi is the one leaving, but ... yes, she's thirsty. So she hits Ponder on the head twice and he is so confused he leaves.
4. Esme is mad because I wouldn't let her take the last kibble from Meffi. She runs upstairs and shows the box with my envelopes what she thinks about this unfair world.
Doesn't it look as if we have a tiger in our house marking his territory? The tiger is white and black and his name is Greebo. Now that he did the main work, the black fellows join in the fun. They probably expect a big treasure in the box ... Enough now. I know this was a very random post, but that's all my brain was good for today!
So much bubblewrap and it's all for me? What a cozy bed!
P.S. He's sleeping there now ..........
It would be wrong to think that Ponder is the only psycho cat in this house.
His sister Esme (Terry Pratchett fans might know her full name is Esmerelda Weatherwax) comes close, even if she doesn't have "Da Voice". She's a girl after all and while Ponder is the yodelling expert, Esme has a wonderful squeaking soprano.
There are two situations in particular that make her show her diva's abilities.
The first one is when I take pictures on the chest of drawers in the tall guy's "playing room". For some strange reason she can live well with me taking pictures somewhere else, but although she likes to sit on the chest without getting angry or anxious, she comes running from downstairs (!) as soon as I set up something there. I haven't found a reason yet, but it makes her downright aggressive sometimes!
The second one is when I whistle. She can't stand my whistling. Today I was sitting at the computer, listening to music, one of my favorite songs came up and since I lost half of my singing voice (the high-pitched notes), I whistle more than I used to. Mistake! Lady Es came running upstairs and squeaked the second voice to the song in utter despair. When I didn't stop right away, she bit me. Not the kind that hurts, but the kind that says "Stoooooooooooop, please!! My ears!!"
Now all I want to know is - why doesn't she do that when Kyu Sakamoto is whistling in his song (that I was listening to)??? Feel free to comment on this .......
Haven't heard a Ponder story in a while, have you? Well, here is one, but I have to tell it in a very low voice as I don't want him to hear it. He might get embarrassed and I don't want that because I love my crazy cat very much.
Sunday evening often is time for me to relax once more before the weekend has gone by and what do I like to do for relaxing (besides playing with wire)? Lying in the tub with a book (Linda Fairstein this time), looking forward to my handmade soap (pomegranate this time), listening to music (none this time, I forgot) and trying to keep Esme from drinking the water. For some reason she likes my Dr. Hauschka baths that I got for my birthday.
Ponder also is a regular guest at the tub. He likes to jump into the corner, tries to conquer the mountain that is our taps without slipping, hanging his tail into the water and telling me stories while doing so. He hadn't done it for months, almost years, it was enough for him to walk the shower screen. He loves the adventure.
Today he sat in the corner, though. He played with the water a little and next thing I saw was bottles with shower gel and soap swimming in the water next to my cat. I think he had slipped on the soap dish.
Amazing was how cool he still was, he didn't panic at all and probably he wouldn't have needed my help at all. When I dragged him out and put him outside the tub, he only shook a little and then walked off with all the dignity he could bring up. Others of my cats get hit by a drop of water and start licking like crazy. Not Ponder. He came back into the bathroom after a while, jumping on his usual spot beside the washbasin and only licked a little. I swear he looked as if he was wearing sunglasses, my Mr. Stibbons.
Oops, he is coming up to visit .... shhhhhhh!!
So it was time for the vet's. Again.
This time it was Ponder's turn. The black devil is losing hair on his belly and leg, so I thought before alien parasites would take over the house (too much X-files on my mind?), we take him there to have it checked out. Not that I have seen him licking himself excessively and it was only a little red, but I didn't want to take chances.
He did put up quite a fight when we were there. A few times he almost sat on my head. I had him around the neck like a stola, I had him on my shoulder, clawing some of my best parts with his hind feet, I had him pinned down to the table and it was exhausting. And that was only when we were waiting!
While she checked him out and ripped out some hair, he tried to hit me a few times. When I agreed to do some tests for parasites, he really had "fun". It took three of us to hold him so the vet could scrape off a little skin here and there. I wish I had brought the camera, my sister could have taken a picture. The assistant holding him by the neck and his front legs, the vet holding one hind leg and scraping away and me holding the other hind leg and his tail out of the way.
The good thing is - no parasites found. The bad thing is - what is the problem? She asked me if anything had happened lately and I told her about Gandalf and that Ponder likes to pounce Meffi since Merlin is gone.
Possible diagnosis - I have a psycho cat. She thinks it could be psychogenic alopecia. Either the boy is frustrated, sad or a freak. No, I made the last one up.
Since he is full of energy, it's possible that he does the licking during the day when we are not there to play or cuddle with him. For the others he is playing too rough sometimes.
So now we put up Feliway diffusers with pheromones hoping that will help and he will need even more playtime. I might get some more scratches when playing kitty monsters with him (my hand under the blanket, him pouncing it), but so what? He is so worth it!
If this doesn't make any difference in the next two to three weeks, we'll go back to searching what it could be.
Psychogenic alopecia is a controversial topic, but hey, I always knew he is special ;-)
When we came to pick you up, you were hiding behind the heater. You had had a rough start into life. Rescued from a farm, you had cat flu and your right eye needed to be removed. We had just lost Jester, the one-eyed, and didn't want Magica to be alone, and then you sat there on the table looking at me from this large beautiful eye and the lady said in a sad voice "People don't want sick cats." We didn't have to think for a minute.
You were the quiet and shy type, not a cuddly cat. You would rather sleep on our feet than on our laps, but you liked to be close. There were a few very rare and precious moments when you let me hold you without trying to get away - once when I picked you up from the vet's where you had had to stay overnight, you jumped into my arms. A few days ago you sat on my chest for 15 minutes kneading away.
You truly were the grey eminence. The others respected you, only Meffi sometimes couldn't hold back and chased you a bit. She never caught you, you were fast. That fact earned you the name "Grey Lightning". We used to say you didn't run on the carpets, but underneath them. Ventre-à-terre, so-to-speak. It probably helped that you had short legs.
You didn't like strangers, but in the last year you didn't mind them too much anymore. You sat in the door looking at them, your eye saying "Look, but don't touch". For years people hadn't believed us that you actually existed and I still see some of them how they lay on the floor taking a peek at you sitting underneath the bed.
As a baby you had an office, first in the cave of the scratching post, later underneath the bed. If we were searching for a pen, we knew where to go. I still see you running a worldwide empire from underneath the bed, but I never found out what exactly you dealt with. Catnip maybe?
Catnip was not your own poison, but you would have killed for chicken or turkey. Standing up, clawing at me while I was cutting it for you. You have been known to steal chicken from the plate, it was something you couldn't resist, no matter how well-behaved you were.
You didn't like to get combed. Your hurt look when the tall guy picked you up, held you and went to work was something else, especially since one tooth had been pulled and you had that slightly crooked smile. When you felt your soft fur was too tangled for you to handle yourself, you came by and dropped, showing us your belly or your pants (the long hair on your hind legs), only then it was ok for you if we combed you, we didn't even have to hold you then.
Today it was time for you to leave us. You spent more than 16 years with us and they were mostly good. But now you got weak and skinny and I'm sorry in case we selfishly dragged it out too long.
Tonight I had a dream about Merlin and you, a sign that he would pick you up maybe? When I came downstairs this morning, I saw that you were ready to say Goodbye. Thanks for giving me the chance to stay with you and hold you one last time. It means a lot to me.
Run free, Grey Lightning, Merlin is waiting for you and he is not the only one. You will be missed.
Wow, this is harder than I thought.
This post is dedicated to Merlin who passed away February this year at the age of 13.
I "stole" him (we thought we rescued him not knowing the Humane Society would come by the next day to pick up his oh so young Mom and his siblings, but still I think I wouldn't have cared!) from a neighbor of the tall guy's cousin who neglected them (the neighbor, not the cousin, they were the ones that fed them at all). When I saw him sitting on a post - we are talking small village and former farm here - with running nose and half-closed eyes, I knew I had to take him with me. Although he very bravely tried to scare me off by hissing at me, I took him off the post and glued him to my sweater telling the tall guy that he was coming home with us and that his name was Merlin.
Little did I know what he would become to me. Of all the cats we had and have the honor to serve (we do know our status in this house! ;-)) he was mine the most. He slept in my arm at night, he listened to me ranting, laughing and crying and he was the one all the other cats seemed to respect. Not because he was tough, oh no, he was a big couch potato, but around him they all calmed down - after a fight, after a rough game, after the disappointment of another meal not suitable for their gourmet taste.
When he was 8 years old, he got diabetes. We pulled it through together, he just let me do what was necessary and finally he didn't need insulin injections anymore.
Like so many cats he got a kidney problem, though. In February he told me very clearly he needed to go, with a look from his beautiful eyes.
Although he is in my heart of course, I wanted to do something else to remember him by, something special.
Then my way had already led me to SJA and when looking at the pieces of Dawn from California, I suddenly knew what to do.
It took us a while. I say us because I hope Dawn didn't feel neglected during this time, left alone with the task to satisfy a crazy cat woman and a grieving one at that. The way she asked me about Merlin, how he got his name, what his character was like, showed me she didn't just want to copy a photo, she wanted the pendant to show him. As she had other commissions to work on and there were vacation trips in between as well, it took a while until Merlin finally made his way from California to Germany.
I wasn't home the day he arrived and when I came home the next day, I was alone in the house. I opened the parcel and there he was.
Don't the beads compliment the pendant perfectly?
I have been staring at him for over a week now (with small breaks to go to work) and still I am amazed, stunned, speechless. I had expected a lot, but this went beyond my expectations.
There is also a little surprise on the back, but that will stay my secret.
I know I already said it, but I'll say it again. Thank you, Dawn, thank you so much.
And now for something completely different.
That's not true, but as a Monty Python fan I couldn't resist to say that.
Merlin has been drawn years ago when he was still a youngster and his figure a little, ehm, fuller. My friend Denis (from California as well which is pure coincidence because I first met him years ago) who is a talented animator made some sketches of our cats for us when he visited.
This is "his" Merlin.
Ok, now I am sitting here bawling and smiling at the same time. It's time for bed. Thanks for bearing with me through Merlin's and my story.
Although the tall guy thought it impossible I would be ready on time with packing and everything, I am. I woke up at 6 without help (ok, the kitties did help a little as usual).
So now comes the time when I don't want to go at all. The cats will be lost without me, I know. Of course my friend moved in like she did innumerous times before, but will she really, really, REALLY be able to handle this gang of brats? Will she know what Gandalf means when he comes up here, sit beside you and does his funny little meows, paired with a desperate look from his one eye? Will she know what to do when Ponder jumps Meff, when Esme conquers the upstairs bathroom or when Greebo does his vacuum impression and doesn't let the others eat?
Will I be able to sleep without kitties dancing and pouncing on top of me?
It's the same every time. I get all mushy and teary, tell them I love them and to behave and the last glance back pushes me over the top. Get out those straight-jackets, I'll be needing more than one!
Think Nessie is gonna pounce me if I take her back to the hotel? *insert X-files theme here*
Oh no, they are already starting to fight! Gotta go down there, now!
The advantages of a virtual picnic are - no ants, no rain, comfy seating. The disadvantages are the drool spots on your shirt from looking at yummy stuff and not being able to taste it.
As we don't have any sun here in the moment, I can live with the virtual picnic, though. Maybe you will enjoy it with me in this treasury that is called "Tea for two hundred" after my favorite Donald Duck animated cartoon. Check it out on YouTube for example. I love this duck!
Oh, and like always click the image to enlarge.
After you hopefully had a little fun with the treasury, have a look at my latest kitty head listing. I made some a while ago, but kept them for the local zoo project. Today I decided my ArtFire studio was definitely missing some more feline influence. He has a big ole tom head with big cheeks and reddish brown tiger eyes and seems like a pretty relaxed guy to me.Unlike some other real kitty who thought it was fun to stuff his belly very fast and then throw it all up on the stairs, also very fast. I am happy to announce I did not step into it and the culprit - no, I won't say names - helped me cleaning it up in his unequaled way, wiping like crazy around the spot that already wasn't there any more. Can someone make little paw cloths for him? The way he runs around here the floors should sparkle all the time. Washable, please. Contact me for my address data ;-)
So here he is now *drum roll*
We have a little zoo in Göppingen, I have mentioned that before. And we have a very big zoological/botanical garden not far from us, about 25 miles, the Wilhelma in Stuttgart. Our club president has connections to the Wilhelma as we are sometimes coached by them, the vet has helped us out with medical treatment when ordinary vets in the area couldn't help anymore and so on.So today we were taken behind the scences by one of the curators. Unfortunately he didn't have much time, so we could not go where the animals are. No cuddling the baby chimps or the tigers! ;-) We saw and heard about the technical side, though. It was very interesting and he is a good story teller. For example I hadn't known that the Wilhelma has the world's largest collection of zoo posters in their food preparing area. He said they hadn't known, either, but when one of the seasons of a zoo show was shot there, the TV people were amazed about all those posters that come from all over the world and had somebody from the Guinness Book check it out. Shhh, just between us - I would have loved to take some of those posters home, especially the old Stuttgart ones.After a while he had to go to supervise an arriving animal transport and "released" us. We split up in two groups, the adventurous one wanting to see as much as possible and the one I initiated, the slow one checking out only a few things (I had been there a short while ago and love to sit in front of an enclosure and just watch, my favorite are the Keas). As always when I visit a zoo, I had to buy a t-shirt and it's a real cool one, too. It has a big lizard on it. To work I usually wear my animal t-shirts, it's my trade mark.It was very humid, the kind of weather I can't stand very well. Also I only had four hours of sleep (thanks, Ponder, grrr), so I am tired now and will probably meet my old pal Morpheus as soon as my head hits a pillow.
I was not all unproductive today, though.
One idea I had for our zoo, I only have to make some more samples, is to sell my animal pendants there and split earnings between the club and me.
Today I made another kitty and because a nice lady from SJA recommended a Siamese, I gave it a try. Here is the picture I took in a hurry (as you see, complimentary real cat hair is included ...). Pictures of the other critters will follow as soon as I have a bunch together. By the way, suggestions for possible pieces are still welcome!
Actually I had a quite relaxed Saturday as well. Going shopping and disposing of cans early, some light blogging, plurking, emailing later. Sounds like a weird kind of fitness training. Then I fell asleep in my chair in the afternoon and visited Morpheus, my old pal, for quite a while. In the evening I woke up all cranky and tired and foggy in the brain.I know who or what is to blame for that.Cat sleeping gas. You won't find it on Wikipedia, you won't find it on a list of dangerous substances, but it's there. At first I had thought it was a matter of touch and sound. A cat snuggled into your arm and purring makes you go to sleep pretty fast, doesn't it? After years of thorough research, though, with the help of my trusted furry assistants (even if they think I am the assistant or even less than that) without who my work would not have been possible, I found out that it's a gas. It enters your body and you won't know it. I am sure it finds its way not only through the nose, but through all skin pores and that way controls your body and your brain.It works best if you are already in a horizontal position or at least half horizontal. That way you won't have to move to fall asleep. You won't fall if you are standing. You think that is nice? I think it was designed that way to keep the furry masters' slaves from hurting themselves. After all they need us. Well, they need our opposable thumbs. Still. Who knows for how long.
So why do I think it's a gas? Because it also works when there are cats sleeping in the same room. The more, the faster you are gone.
A master of this cruel game is Greebo, the innocent-looking one. He swears by all methods, the purring, the snuggling, the shedding hairs - ah, sorry, that one is wrong in here - the licking and the gas. He was the one that got me yesterday. I was just sitting in my armchair, crochet hook in hand, wanting to pick up my wire and there he was, snuggling into my armpit, smiling at me innocently and then working his spells. I think it took about 10 seconds for me to drop like a fly.Now he is here in my lap, relaxed as can be. Sorry, his head is cut off a bit in the second pic, but my arms were not long enough to catch all of him like that and holding the camera above my head I also couldn't check the display.
Oh-oh, I feel a tiredness coming on .....................
No, I haven't gone mad. Well, not more than I was before already.
Chicken man is a dear memory from my teenager times when I was still listening to AFN on Sundays. Casey Kasem and the American Top 40 - aaah, what a trip down the memory lane.
Sundays there was also Chicken Man. I don't remember much about it, but for those who want to check it out (Americans probably know what I am talking about), here you go.
Now, what did I want to say? Yeah, right. I remember now. CatsWire is everywhere, is everywhere ;-) Not to save the world, but to make it a little more beautiful maybe?I hear you yelling from the side "Get going, lady, it's boring out here! What do you want to tell us?"
Ok, it's not Etsy, it's not ArtFire, it's my DaWanda shop where I listed two new earring pairs from my kitty line!
And last, but not least ... a very happy birthday to my favorite witch in the whole world!! :-D
Granny Esmelvira, have the greatest birthday possible. I am so glad to know you are my friend! Hugs and cheers for and to you!!
Ok, the line itself is not so new as you know from a former post. The line surfacing in my shops is new and I can't seem to stop making those little kitties, probably because they are all as different as my own fur monsters are.
Speaking of fur monsters, Greebo's eye is starting to close up. I hope it is "just" a little cold and not another allergy attack like a few years ago when his asthma started. That was so terrible, my poor baby hardly able to breathe, only when he was standing up. I so do not want to hear these whistle sounds again! What worries me is that it came so sudden. Tomorrow we are off to the vet's. I can't go tonight because I have a doctor's appointment myself. I would rather go to the vet's!
Back to the kitty line. The little fellows have no closed eyes and are immune against colds and allergies. If it always were that easy ;-)
