Lovely Scout

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. iPhone 8Plus

A few weeks ago, we had this beautiful girl as a houseguest for a week.

 

iPhoneography: Lobo in the light

My beautiful gray boy Lobo in the morning sunlight—I was coming out of the bedroom and looked down to see him there. (This is why I love my iPhone camera—it allows me to capture shots like this anytime, anywhere…a no-fuss, speedy, unlimited creative tool.) iPhone 8Plus in portrait mode, Snapseed2 app border

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Lily Rose

This is my sister Kelley’s cat, Lily Rose, atop her throne.

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iPhoneography: Nite nite, Queso

Curled up next to mom (wearing her $5 Walmart nightshirt, adorned with cats, of course)

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Thanksgiving 2017: Guess who’s coming to dinner?

Quest awaits the dinner bell!

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iPhoneography: Queso in repose

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Interloper

Queso slips in to steal the spotlight from Pixel. iPhone 6s / Snapseed app border

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Pixel in the sunbeam

iPhone 6s / Snapseed app border

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Foxy on the bench

My neighbor Eric’s cat, Foxy, is a frequent visitor to our garden. A few months ago, she discovered that the newly-placed cushion on the wrought iron bench was apparently put there just for her. She allows me to photograph her, but she still hisses at me if I get closer to her. I’ll extend my hand and she’ll lean in a few inches from me, never averting her eyes from mine. And then comes that nonplussed hisssssssssssssssssss. Every single time. I’d say she’s a bit ungrateful for a feline who was just given a comfy bed on which to languish in the afternoon shade! Ah, well…she makes a great (and frequent) model, doesn’t she?

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Revisited: Sewing with Jasper

We lost our beloved Jasper (aka Stripey Joe and Mr. Twitchy) in late October last year. He had been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and an enlarged heart two years earlier. While we knew the condition could be monitored and medicated, we were well aware we could lose him sooner than his normal lifespan. Even armed with the prognosis, how can one ever prepare for such a loss? We loved him fiercely for almost ten years and he is never far from our thoughts. He was my furry photographic muse. I still see him by the patio door in my studio, watching birds and skinks and squirrels, and I can still hear his terradactyl-like meow. While we still have ZenaB to spoil, there is something missing in our little family.

Originally posted July 18, 2010.

(Sounds like a reality show, doesn’t it?—like Project Runway, but with felines). I’ve been in a sewing mood since the 4th of July weekend at the lake and to date I have made three tablecloths, 33 table napkins and six table runners. Do I need more table linens? Of course not! Every time I start sewing, Jasper insists on joining me and nestling into whatever fabric is available. Hope you like cats because that’s all I’ve photographed this week. It’s been too hot to do anything outdoors! This evening, my friend Karen joined me at the sewing table. She was making the second of two pillow shams for her bedroom (and we were so brave—flying without a pattern—whoo hoo! Wild women!). In the second photo, Jasper is serving as her topstitching quality control inspector. While Karen sewed the sham, I pulled out the Sculpey clay supplies and made some large leaf-shaped buttons for the pillow closures. Now I just have to bake them in my clay-dedicated toaster oven, paint, and seal. If they turn out halfway decent, I’ll photograph them and show you the finished effect.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Interior Design Lesson #1: How to match one’s cat to one’s decor

What cat? I don’t see any cat! Where is Matilda?

I think my friend Sue has done a most excellent job at feline + floor coordinating, don’t you? Move over, Nate Berkus!

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Frequent visitor to my garden

I was potting two ferns near a bench and looked up to see my neighbor’s cat, Foxy, lounging on top of the fence, surrounded by honeysuckle blooms, and warily watching me. I noticed how green her eyes were and how bright the green background was and knew I had a great combo going! I grabbed my camera and got a bunch of shots. She remained on her lofty perch for more than an hour.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Foxy on the fence

This is my neighbor Eric’s cat, Foxy. She is a frequent visitor to our garden (but she still hisses at me if I get too close—never did change her attitude!). No matter, she’s still welcome as long as she continues to model for me. I thought about naming this post, “Cat on a hot tin roof,” but it’s really an asphalt shingle shed roof. And it’s been raining all day long, so it’s wet and definitely not hot. And technically she’s on the adjoining fence, not the actual roof—-so Foxy on the fence, it is!

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Layla, Louie and the lovely lady

I photographed my friend Karen and her Ragdoll cats, Layla (left) and Louie this afternoon. Last year I photographed her with Layla for her Christmas card. (Learn more about Layla in my post here.) Karen adopted Louie earlier this year.

Many of you may be familiar with the saying, “herding cats.” Well, getting these two furballs to sit still and actually look at the camera (and not punch each other out) was like….well…herding cats! We got the best photos when Karen sequestered them on her bed (see how color coordinated everything is—her bedroom walls are painted the softest spa blue—looks like a portrait background, doesn’t it?). And in this photo, one might actually think the two cats love each other. One would be so very wrong. We’re both happy with the results and the cats are no worse for the wear…especially after we plied them with treats.

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Tuesday’s tabby

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Tuesday’s tabby

Jasper under the table © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Indy on the roof

My morning (and frequent) visitor—Indy, a sweet neighborhood cat. To the left of my most-often-used Mac is a window that overlooks a side yard with a tool shed and attached firewood shelter. Indy comes up the stairs of the front stoop, jumps to the wrought iron railing, then makes his way over the shingled wood shelter roof, where he stares at me until I come out. He has an unusually deep and flat meow—a cat’s equivalent of something curmudgeon-ish—a complaintive “muh-wowwwl, muh-wowwwl.” This morning he was just lounging on the roof, staring down at me. I ran out to get this shot—one of only three shots I could manage—and then he was off to chase a squirrel out of my garden. (I confess that I got this shot while talking on the phone with a friend. Self-kudos to me for the shot actually being in focus! While on the phone, I saw Indy…ran upstairs to get my camera…back downstairs to grab a CF card…then outdoors to the backyard…climbed onto the edge of the raised tomato bed to get the best angle…cradled the phone on my shoulders and shot just four snaps before he ran off. How’s that for multi-tasking? And yes, I heard and understood every word my friend said.). Check out my first posting (plus a really cute photo) of Indy here.

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Just as I suspected….

I always thought maybe Jasper did sneaky things when I wasn’t looking. This afternoon, he was obviously annoyed that I was trying to photograph him while he was trying to nap in the afternoon sun. I went to put in a new CF card, got ready to focus again, and here’s what he did. (The pattern in the foreground is a silhouette of metal flowers in a large vase…looks tropical, doesn’t it?)

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Annie Belle

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