Winter Weeks

Well, I have been quiet on here lately, but I have not forgotten you guys! January has been busy around here in other things than arts, crafts and gardening, and I can't believe we're already nearing February. The days are already getting longer and that always makes me feel so happy! I absolutely love this first half of the year where daylight stays a bit longer every day and where Nature works its magic on all the plants and creatures, and Life just springs again. I think I probably say "I just love this part of the year" To pretty much any part of the year, mind you. ;)  I just find there's something enjoyable all year round. There's always something beautiful to observe, or something nice to look forward to.

Despite the fact that I was so busy in January, I did manage to find some time for hobbies. I started 3 different projects with 3 different mediums... but none of them is ready for "presentation" yet. However, here are a few samples, just to pique your curiosity... ;)

Acrylics... 

Paper maché...

Crochet... 

All 3 projects are fairly long-term, but I really hope to succeed in completing each of them within a fair period of time. Ideally before the big gardening season starts! If you guys remember well, last year, I did my first vegetable garden ever. It did not go perfectly, but it went anyway and I managed to harvest some good vegetables out of it! I learned many things about gardening and this year is the first time I have to "re-start" a garden. I still have much to learn and I am looking forward to it. I know that soon, I can already start thinking about sowing a couple of things indoors, but as of yet, I only have a faint idea of how to prepare the garden patch again. I'm sure I'll learn... one step at a time. :) I'm excited to see how things will go this year, as I at least know a little more where I'm going regarding what sorts I want to grow and such. 

Anyways, but for now, the snow is covering the ground and it finally looks like winter. I say "finally", because we'd had mild temperatures until about 2 weeks ago, and for a moment I thought we might go straight into Spring after the holidays! But the snow arrived and stayed a while, and is still hanging around. Now, I am not your biggest Winter fan, but I do enjoy how cozy the living room feels in the cold season. Besides, Spring feels even more magical after some snow and cold weather. 

I'm afraid the cats, however, are finding this little Winter visit a little too long! They are staying a lot more indoor and when they do go out, they stay very much around the house. Occasionally, they venture in the back of the garden, but they never stay out very long!

Tiana and Kashew,  bored and wishing the snow would melt already... 

My adventurous Kashew... 

That's it for now! I hope you're all keeping warm and safe... :)

Ooh no, it's blue!

Ever seen someone horrified, laughing non-stop and running after a cat all at once?  No?

It is quite a sight!

I was checking mail at the computer, waiting for colours on the canvas to dry before moving on with the next step of a project, when Tiana walked into my hobby room, greeted me with her meow, jumped on the desk, walked to me and climbed down on my lap.

So far, no worries.

Moments later, my eyes are drawn to a spot of paint on my desk... and another... and another... as I come to the realization that Tiana walked on my palette and is now sitting on me with her paws covered in acrylics! "Ooooh no you didn't!" I'm thinking... as much to her about walking in my paint, as to myself about not taking precautions to avoid this!

Ohhh dear... What to do what to do! I pick her up, bring her to the bathroom to assess the damage. Of all colours, she had to walk in blue paint. For those of you who paint or know anything about colours, you'll know that blue pigments are like a never ending story! It takes forever to wash off! So Tiana's back right paw is covered in blue paint, and her front left paw has a touch of black. My clothes are covered in both and I'm home alone to fix the issue. Oh joy!

I don't dare putting the cat down anywhere, so holding her with one hand (err... she's a big cat!) I gently turn on the faucet with the other, and ever so gently try to bring her back paw under the running water. What was I thinking, right? She of course didn't like that, fought to get loose, succeeded and to my horror, jumped down on the white floor of the bathroom... and out in the entrance hall and up the stairs into the living room... and to our bedroom, as I'm running after her, laughing like a madwoman and yelling "Ohh Myyy Gooodnesss NOOO TIANA COME HEEEERE!" I know I know... why didn't I close the bathroom door... right?  I really, really don't know. But oh how I am laughing. Funny and horrible at the same time!

Imagine this through half the house!

Anyways, fast forward a few minutes. I finally caught the furball and brought her back in the bathroom, closed the door (!) and am about to fill a small tub with water when my phone (laying in my hobby room) rings. Well of course, it had to ring there, at that very moment, and since I was waiting for an important call, I had to take it! So I am forced to put Tiana down and I run out to get the phone (making sure to close the bathroom door behind me).

Yeah... what happens when you leave a blue-pawed cat on a white bathroom floor, you think? Yes, exactly!

This picture does't do the situation justice, believe me!

After the phone call, I sat on the floor in the bathroom with Tiana in my arms, a tub of water and some gentle soap and started dipping and soaping the little paws. Tiana was cryyying like a lost soul, which made Kashew, my other cat, meooow (something she very rarely does!) on the other side of the door at the sound of her sister's plea. I tried to reassure both of them with gentle words while avoiding Tiana's front paws trying to grip at everything and anything to get out of her miserable position. Poor little kitty girl. She was not happy! :(

But we got through and the peace is back in our house. In the end, Tiana is left with a lightly blue-tinted paw, as it proved impossible to remove it all. The floors and clothes are clean again, Kashew is reassured, and I survived the whole thing without a single scratch - which is NOT an easy task with an angry crying cat having her paws dipped in water and rubbed with soap!

Another meaning for blue prints. hehehe

I can't help it though. I'm still giggling at the situation! teeeehehehe :)

Tiana's time

The weather here has been absolutely perfect for some early garden preparations and such. It has been sunny and comfortable. I have spent SO much time in the yard in the last few days and accomplished so much! I just love that time of the year where I can feel the warmth of the sun on my skin and start trading my winter jacket for a simple fleece vest. :)

But I'm not the only one here who really enjoys sunny days. My cats are also especially lively and affectionate when the sun is shining onto our patio and into our dining room. I guess the sun really is important to all life and really does play a role on the mood, no matter who or what you are.

Tiana's ultimate happy time is when my husband gives her a massage on the sunlit patio. This especially happens on Saturday or Sunday mornings from Spring to Fall. Not only does Tiana love it, she asks for it! She meows and "calls" my husband until he goes to her for massage time. He then starts caressing her fast and quite strongly from head to tail, with the tip of his fingers. This causes Tiana to "bruuu", purr, roll and twist in pure enjoyment.

Sometimes, she sounds almost angry, so you would think she doesn't actually like it, but if my husband stops, Tiana runs after him, meows and "talks" as to get him to start again. It's quite a cute sight! The massage also removes a lot of loose fur, which stays outside instead of falling inside on our floors! At the same time, we help the birds build a cozy, soft and warm nest for their little ones to come. :)

For Basil

A friend of mine recently told me about an incident that happened with her 4-month old kitten, Basil. One morning, Basil's lower jaw got stuck in his collar.* No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get free, and by the time my friend got to him (thanks to champion kitty Chili, for getting mommy!), Basil was foaming at the mouth and seemed to have trouble breathing.

This was quite traumatic for my friend and probably for the cat as well! Luckily everything turned out fine and little Basil is not harmed.

This inspired me to write about collar safety for your cats. Whether kitty stays inside or is allowed to visit the outdoors, there are precautions to take in the choice of a collar. Here are some tips regarding cat collars:

- Choose a safe collar

Choose a collar that has either a safety release clip or an elastic band. The safety release clip will release upon pulling, allowing your cat to break free if his collar hooks on something. The elastic band collar will insure pretty much the same thing, except that in stead of the collar opening, it expands to let your cat's head slide out.

*Note: Little Basil was wearing a safety release collar, which did not unclip despite the hard pulling. So things may well happen even if taking all the precautions. 

Safety release clip collars should release upon medium strenght pulling. This means not too easily, but without too much effort either.

- Fit the collar correctly

Insure that the collar is correctly fitted. This means it's tight enough so it doesn't get stuck in branches or other things, and loose enough that it is comfortable for kitty. Rule of thumb: When the collar is tied, you must still be able to slide two fingers between the collar and your cat's neck.

- "Undress" kitty for the night

If your cats stay indoors overnight, consider removing their collars during that period of time. My cats are allowed outside, but in the evening, we close everything and the cats stay inside with us, where I know they are safe. I "undress" them in the evening, and I "dress" them again in the morning before letting them out again.

To conclude, I must say that the best way to avoid injuries due to collar wearing is to simply not put collars on your cats at all. The best way for identification is to get your cats microchipped. But if you're like me, you will probably want your cats to have their name tags on with contact number, even though they are actually microchipped. I may be a little overprotective. ;)

However, after the incident, my friend lost trust in collars and chose to remove them from around the necks of her cats. Maybe we should all learn from her experience.

I hope this was helpful. :)

Disclaimer : I'm not a professional. I'm a life-long cat owner. (or cat slave... )

My little Tiana

As mentioned in my post titled "Kashew's early years", I visited Kashew often during her stay at the vet clinic in 2005. During one of those visits, I was presented to a little grey / cream girl-kitten who was in search of a forever home. The vet team knew that I was looking for a second cat to complete my fur-family. I was taken to the adoption room and there, in a cage, was a little 2 month old gray/cream cat looking up at me with what would seem to humans as a "will you be my mommy?" look. I crouched down to take a better look, and as soon as I started talking to her, the kitten meowed and put a paw up against the cage door. My heart melted. I asked to see her out of the cage. 

I picked her up, caressed her, cuddled her.... And of course, there was no way I could put her back in a cage after that!

This is a picture of Tiana the day we adopted her

It was really hard to take her home while my little orange furball (Kashew) was still confined to the clinic. :( But there was nothing I could do about that just yet. 

So although Kashew was adopted first, Tiana made it home before her. She was a healthy, playful, affectionate and mischievous kitten, who was loved and spoiled from day one. :) 

Today, Tiana is a calm, easy-going, affectionate lady cat of nearly 7 yo. She has a lot to say and expresses herself in a wide range of meows, mrows, mews, bruus and meooowbruuus. It's quite easy to converse with her. :) She enjoys being around or on us and she has a passion for long strings and massages in the sun. She loves to "help" mommy change the bed linen or fold freshly clean clothes. Tiana also enjoys eating - especially if there's tuna on the menu! 

This is our sweet Tiana today with her sister Kashew

More stories about Tiana and Kashew in the near future... :)

Kashew's early life

In 2005, while we were still living in Canada, my husband and I adopted two adorable (I may be biased!) cats: Kashew and Tiana.

Kashew was the first to enter our lives. She was found wandering alone on a campground, at about 3 weeks old. She was crying and shivering, and seriously underweight. Our vet clinic at the time took her in and bottle fed her, day and night, weekdays and weekends.

I had a good contact with the staff, and they knew I was looking into adopting two kittens. One day, I walked in the clinic to get some special cat food for my mother's cat. The woman at the front desk greeted me, and then took this tiny bundle of fur and put it on the desk in front of me, saying "We've got this little furball, if you are interested".

I looked at the fierce little kitten. Picked it up, listened and watched it as it meowed and squirmed like a baby lion in danger. I looked at its fur. Orange... not yellow, not ginger... no.... orange. A beautiful, flaming orange. The kittens eyes were still a little sick from infection that was being treated. And it meowed, and yelled and squirmed... I put it down again. I will say with honesty, this wasn't love at first sight. Sure it was cute, and I also do love kittens from the moment I look at them... but this was not "my kitten". I always liked the mellow, easy going kind of cats... plus, I do prefer having female cats around, as they tend to be cleaner and less territorial. I was living in apartment, after all! Yellow / ginger / orange cats are most often male.

"Cute but fierce little guy" I said. Thank you. I'll think about it. I must talk to my partner first.

"It's a she", answered the woman.

"A she? are you sure?"

"Yes, I assure you... this is a little girl"

I picked up the little lion cub. Yes, I looked for myself. And yes, it was indeed a little girl.

On that moment, I thought... This means something. This cat is special. I asked for her story, where she came from, how healthy she was, or how healthy did they think she would be.
My heart melted. This little one fought for her life, got a staff to help her make it. Was still not out of the wood, and here I was, judging her solely by what I thought was her gender, and by her reaction to a total human stranger.
This tiny (she really was tiny) kitten needed the love and care of a family, and I wanted us to be that family.

And so we adopted the little furball. But it was only a month after my first contact with her that I was allowed to take her home. She needed to be over 1 lbs. At 2 months old, she weighed 1,2 lbs (still 0.8 lbs under ideal kitten weight at that age)

During the month waiting, I visited her at the clinic very often. She was My kitten, and I felt very protective of her. She got used to me and became much more affectionate.
Today, Kashew is a very healthy, spoiled, loved, furry and affectionate nearly-7 years old lady cat. As for her personality? Well, let's just say I was right. She IS a special cat! But that will be for another post.