Cats Archives • The Prodigal Stranger

27th January 2020

Best Pictures of 2019

My health has not allowed for a lot of opportunities to go out and take beautiful pictures lately. Nonetheless, I did manage a few in 2019 that I am particularly proud of. These are it.

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I have a thing for cobalt blue glassware. The way that it captures the sun, causing patterns of blue to dance and flicker across my living room floor, the intensity of the shades. There is something deep and mysterious about these lights and patterns, and I can sit and look at them for hours. Fortunately, these bottles and vases are pretty hefty, too, because the cats regularly push them off the sill. Because cats.

I snapped this one last spring while I was still surprised at just how much water the Spang Å river system detains when the sluices get closed in winter. The entire valley floods. That line of fence poles? That’s the river. Everything else—is not. Supposedly.

Low key photography is a skill I have yet to master. On this one occasion, though, the Sun and Piv conspired to create a tableau of flame and darkness and all I had to do was click the button.

Another river valley picture, also from spring. The colours and sharpness of this one amazed me; I had only owned that camera for a day and I was so very fascinated with what it could do.

Here is to hoping that 2020 will be a little kinder health-wise. I mean, I have a camera, I want to go out there and use it.

23rd August 2019

Cats, Cats, All the Cats

Well, close, anyway. Pictures of cats and barn kittens from the last month or two. It’s been quiet around here for health reasons—turns out the foot isn’t broken but they’re still sending me to a specialist to find out why it’s still double size—but at least there’s still cats.

Bella, she of the Loud Voice and the Cuddly Temper. Youngest barn cat.

Blackie, She of the Sharp Claws and the Even Sharper Tongue. Oldest barn cat.

Blackie’s kittens were explorers. Particularly the two blue boys.

We managed to find homes for all six. Five out of six are now barn kitties elsewhere.

Rumour has it, though, that the two blue boys are more living room kitties than barn kitties.

Miv, He of the Big Tummy and the Smug Grin as he Eats Your Dinner. Not a barn cat, probably descended from a potted plant and a sofa cushion.

9th July 20199th July 2019

June’s garden pictures

This summer continues to be colder and windier than average, but nonetheless, the sun came out enough in June for me to get at least a number of good flower pictures.

I also managed to acquire a bone bruise on my left shin (at least I didn’t break it, so there’s that!), so horse pictures are in short supply this month as I sit quite still and quietly swear to myself about the pain.

Bee garden. Feed them! — We turned a patch of the lawn into bee paradise, planting wild flowers native to hedgerows and meadows and doing absolutely nothing to them but let them grow in peace. The result is beautiful and the bees love it.

Clematis flowers — Our pink clematis is singing on its last verse and will likely be replaced next year. It did manage two beautiful flowers all the same.

yellow columbine — Columbine is one of my favourite flowers, wild or domesticated. The plant as a whole is not much to look at, but the flowers are little pieces of intricate art.

Of course, blue is my favourite colour so blue columbine is even better.

June is also the month of the first hay harvest. When I was a kid we’d all help out and it still works that way today. Of course, all I’m capable of doing is sitting on the first bale and shouting encouraging things to the workers, but it all counts, right?

The bee garden quietly turned itself into an ocean of cornflowers.

cornflower — Blue is my favourite colour. Guess my favourite flower?

black kitten — In the barn, Blacky’s kittens are growing up and will be leaving home soon. This one’s still up for grabs, incidentally. She’s adorbs and playful, and loves people.

stripy kitten — This little girl is also still unspoken for. She’s a bit more cautious but loves licking faces.

grey kitten — This girl was the first to be claimed. She was only a few days old when one of the barn girls adopted her.

blue kitten, stripy kitten — The two blue boys are spoken for as well. They’re going to be barn cats!

bright night clouds — June gave us the curious nightly phenomenon of glowing skies. This photo was taken at 1 am. The sky was really that bright.

For those bees of a more sophisticated taste we have roses in bright orange and bright yellow. Sitting outside is like being steeped in rose perfume at this time.

Morning glories — These are wild morning glories that we brought the seeds home from Malta for, years ago. They don’t look much like the morning glories we’re used to, but they’re pretty!

12th March 201911th March 2019

New toys are great!

Getting to know my new camera is great fun! Here’s my best first shots.

Startled kitty is startled! Piv is not convinced that the camera lens can be trusted..

I'm still not trusting that, says Piv. — I’m still not trusting that, says Piv.

There are surprising amounts of water in Spang Å at this time of year. Technically, the river is the part inside the fences. The rest is dry pasture. Technically.

This one is the favourite of the day. I do love my blue glass bottles so when they catch the sunlight.

Begonias like flowers on fire, with blue glass in the background. Fantastic colours!

The resident swans decided to check out what I was doing.

11th April 2018

The Murderkittenz meet the sun room

This past week was kind enough to sport a few days of bright sunshine and high temperatures. We promptly took the chance to introduce the terrible two, the murderkittenz Miv & Piv, to the sun room of our new house here in Pjedsted.

The sun room has been closed off since we moved in in November last year. It’s essentially ‘just’ an outdoor area fenced in with tall glass windows and a roof, with no insulation or heat of its own. But now April is here, and it’s time to start enjoying it!

Piv loves high places. The higher up she gets, the better. It didn’t take five minutes before she jumped around and explored the rafters.

But of course she also needed to explore on the ground level.

The previous owners of the house left various pieces of oldfashioned tea sets sitting around the rafters for decorative purposes. I think it looks rather neat so I didn’t remove them. Piv has not disappointed me: Of course the littlest murderkitten is too dainty to push things off shelves.

Miv, on the other hand, is keenly aware of his own eight kilos, and has not even made the attempt to get up into the rafters. He explored ground level carefully instead.

The kitchen window opens up out into the sun room. The kitchen window is now cordially known as Miv’s personal cat door.

This is how Piv gets up there. Sproing!

Even the top rafter, with almost no crawl space, was thoroughly explored. Many flies were caught. The sun room is also now guaranteed spider free.

Cats aren’t the only people who love basking in the spring sun. The husband and I took lunch out there while the kittenz explored.

Gotta admit it. Miv may not be small and elegant like his sister, but in his own steamroller fashion, he’s a handsome cat.

Piv remains the porcelain doll of the house, though.

That window really is fascinating. You can be outside in the sun and at the same time keep an eye on everything in the kitchen. This means you can sunbathe and beg for treats at the same time. Awesome!

Pictures by me, myself, and I.

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