About a Cat - Ms Mitz

I had made my mind up during childhood that I wasn't a particular lover of Cats. I didn't appreciate them killing things, or their sharp claws and surprise attacks and their fur irritated my nose.

So, many years passed in which I gloried in canine company, such wonderful creatures! So many lovely dogs shared my life over the years. I even smiled at them in the street. I was most decidedly a 'dog person'.

Then one day through my window I spotted a young scrawny cat eating bits we had thrown out for the birds, we lived in quite an isolated place and I knew it didn't belong to anyone who lived nearby. It looked hungry so I put some dog food on a dish and went outside but as soon as it heard the door it was gone like a streak of lightning!

We started to see it in the garden more frequently and my lovely and very patient man took it upon himself to try and gain the trust of this young feral cat, who obviously hadn't had any contact with humans before. He would put out food for her and sit quietly yards away as she warily walked very slowly to the food and bolted it down before turning tail and disappearing.

She eventually became more confident, as long as he didn't move she was more at ease when she ate. Then we noticed her swelling belly! She was hardly more than a kitten herself.

Weeks later, we found her in a tiny old run down shed, wedged in a corner with a pile of her kittens. . . she was wild eyed and hissing so we retreated. Later we checked back, she had gone, moving her kittens to safety. That was the first of three litters she had. She disappeared between times and evaded our attempts to catch her and get her neutered, we managed to get one batch of kittens and with the help of a local animal charity they were taken and rehomed. Two other lots, we never found out what happened to them.

But she was still visiting for food and we had gained her trust, she would now wind herself around your legs while you were putting the plate down, but if you touched her, she would hiss and swipe at you, as though your hand was some strange creature out to get her!

It was then we noticed she was pregnant again.

We knew she slept in one of our sheds, so we made a bed up in there and hoped that she would stay close this time. She got bigger and bigger and we knew that her time was near. One morning we gingerly peeked into the shed and there she was, laying in the bed we had made for her, with her kittens. . .

This time we were prepared, my lovely Man had made a mesh inner door for the shed that reached almost to the top, so that she could jump over it, but wouldn't be able to move the kittens this time. When we saw her leave to hunt, or to eat food we had put out for her, we would sneak in and look at the kittens, we were determined that they would be used to humans, so they could find homes and not have to live a feral life like their Mother.
She no longer ran when she saw us and welcomed the food we gave her too. We took to sitting on the floor in the shed on old cushions, with the gentle light of a lamp, lighting up the dingy space. She would eat the food we gave her and we watched as the kittens grew and we stroked them at every opportunity. She too started to like being stroked, she watched as we stroked her kittens and seemed to sense that it wasn't harmful! and enjoyed it herself as long as she didn't see your hand! :-)

The kittens were getting bigger and wandering around, climbing and playing.
It began to get really cold at night and I began to worry for the kittens, when we went in there, they huddled close to me for warmth - it was then we decided to bring them indoors!

We set up an area in our spare bedroom with plastic on the floor covered with newspaper and a fenced in area and of course a litter tray! and set about bringing them inside.

We had a cage and we put a little food in that, and in she went. followed by one of her five kittens. My man quickly shut it up and threw a cloth over it, as I (in not one of my most thought out plans) put the other four Kittens in a shopping basket! We opened the shed door and both made a dash through the darkness. It was icy cold and pelting with rain and I hadn't bargained on the kittens trying to climb out of the basket I was carrying them in!
Well we made it! They were inside, and the kittens settled fine, exploring their new surroundings, the Mother cat was a different matter she started up a continous distressed miaowing.

The plan was to rehome the kittens when they were old enough, and then get the Mother cat done so she didn't have any more!

So, flash forward - we found homes together for two little golden girls and off they went to their new home. Three kittens left! I didn't like the idea of one being homed on its own, so was trying to find homes for all three but people only wanted two, it was heartbreaking and I had fallen in love with these beautiful little creatures! So they stayed and so did their mother! (once she had visited the vet and made sure she wouldn't bring home any more kittens!)
So now eight or nine years after we first met that skinny little feral cat, Ms Mitz is now a fat exceedingly friendly cat and a much loved member of our family. She and her kittens totally changed my views on cats and I am forever grateful that she came into our lives. Patience paid off!

The Gifts That Friendship Brings

"To know another is not to know that person’s face, but to know that person’s heart." - Chinese Proverb

Right there on my window sill sits a pretty five sided container, made from glass and brass and with little brass ball feet - it holds treasure.

So close, that I can reach out my hand and touch it with my fingertips, it is always there to remind me. . .

I love the ocean, I have an affinity with that big, swirling, tumultous world of waves and depth, and foaming spray. I live too far away from the coast and have learnt to deal with my longing to walk along quiet shores and towering cliffs, with the sounds of crashing waves echoing and bringing peace to my soul.

Through the vast limitless space of the internet. . . people find one another, whether by chance, design or synchronicity, kindred souls are drawn together. It was in such a way that I met a special lady, who though living on the other side of the world, understood and empathised with my love and longing for the ocean.

"There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound." - Diana Cortes

She knew the ocean well and walked its shore every day, collecting beautiful things and writing beautiful words. . . words that moved me. We became friends, and without the barriers of formality became close, and for a while we spoke deeply - one soul touching another.

Then came my birthday, and I finally opened the slightly squashed package that had arrived with a thud through my door the week before. . . I carefully pulled away the box and gently pulled open the big tightly shut plastic bag inside.

I plunged in my hand and with tingles running up my arm, the tears came to my eyes.

She had sent me her beach! There inside, were exquisite things she had collected day after day as she walked by her ocean, shells, driftwood and pebbles - a crabs claw, a feather and there filling the bottom of the bag, the finest silver sand.

She had shared her beach with me, and it was beautiful . . .

It sits beside me every day, so I am always close to the ocean.

I don't know if she ever realised just how much her gift meant to me.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." - Anais Nin

I Just Love Colour

I guess we all have favourite colours and mine have definitely changed over the years. I remember when I was a child my favourite colours were Orange and Purple! I loved bright colours.

I have also been though patches where I didn't want colour - where I wore black and was attracted to things in Black and White - perhaps I needed the clarity - to literally be able to see things in Black and White?

I then went through a subtle phase where I enjoyed neutral tones, I loved their delicate shades and the way light moved over their surfaces, making shadows and creating gentle hues.

I then moved on to the colours of nature, greens and browns and lots of real wood, as though the outside was inside with me. I felt I had bought a forest indoors.

But through all of this and starting right from when I was small, I have loved the colour Turquoise! I love pairing it with shades of cobalt blue or a richly saturated yellowy green - In my bedroom it is paired with lots of white and gives the room a feeling of being by the coast. There are traces of these colours all over my home.

I just love Colour!

Have you got a favourite colour - has it changed over the years?

"Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form,
can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways." - Oscar Wilde

I Just Found This. . .

I just found this adorable photo of Bina (one of my three Cats) taken when she was a kitten!
I had forgotten how tiny she was - Isn't she lovely! She used to curl up on this Pink scarf on the corner of my desk. She is 7 this year and still sleeps on my desk, though she takes up a lot more room these days!

More of My Favourite Things - No.4

"A smile can brighten the darkest day." - Author Unknown

Every day as I walk into my bedroom I see this Sun smiling at me and I smile back involuntarily - it has that effect on me!

When I wake in the morning and throw back my curtains, the early morning light hits her face and makes it glow.

I look into her eyes and feel that creeping sense of happiness making its way to my lips for another one of those Sun induced smiles.

"Most smiles are started by another smile." - Frank A Clark

She started out with the original paint faded and worn and to tell the truth - a slightly weird expression!

So I decided one afternoon, rather than throwing it out, I would repaint it.
I sat with my paints and as I worked I saw her appear, glowing and with a look in her eye that caused me to smile before she was even finished drying.

"Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it." - Author Unknown

I was going to varnish her and put her in the garden peeping out from behind some greenery but something about her and the smile she pulled out of me so readily, earned her a place beside my bed - where I see her every morning as I arise and every evening before I climb into bed.

This earns her a place among my favourite things!

More of My Favourite Things - No. 3

Here's another of my favourite things.
I just LOVE the colours, design and decorative glaze of this beautiful pot.

" Surround your self with colour "

I get so moved by colour - I adore it!
It makes such a huge difference to both our mood and our surroundings.
(I have also noticed that my favourite colour seems to change, as I change.)

"Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can." - Danny Kaye

How do you feel about colour?
Have you a favourite colour?
What colours affect your mood?

More of My Favourite Things - No. 2

A couple of years ago I went through a phase of buying moulds and filling them with cement/concrete to make my own garden ornaments. This was one of my favourites!
I intended to make lots and maybe set them into some paving or into decorative gravel - but I never got that far!

I made this one and when it was finally dry,
I hand painted it to give depth and a little bit of colour, then I promptly fell in love with it and it never got to live outside. It has sat proudly on many shelves and even decorated the mantelpiece for a while. I love the organic shape, the subtle colours AND best of all the fact that I made it!

It is about 9 inches across and VERY heavy! - Who knows, maybe one day I will get to carry out my original intention and make more for the garden - I still have the mould!

My Favourite Things - Number 1

Well, I was happily snapping away with my new camera the other day, when I had the idea to take some photo's of some of my favourite things from around my home.

So I am starting with this pot.

It is a beautiful piece of West German pottery and stands about 12 inches high.

I have quite a collection of pots and I absolutely adore this one and its glorious colour - I love turquoise!