This is Tiger and today was a good day to be a cat. The sun was out to warm my fur and cheer my soul. And even better, I had the catmint all to myself on this glorious summer day.
Catmint – it’s what’s for lunch.
~ Tiger
After a busy day out and about in long lines and traffic and life’s uncertainties, I made it back home and went into my garden to rest. Here the lavender never fails to cheer,
while the scent of the woods, the sound of birdsong and the beauty of the stream lifts my spirit. The stream was made by my creative husband a few years ago. A flip of a switch causes the water to flow. I love the soothing sound it makes and how the light reflects upon it in the early evening.
Benji joins me and stops for a cool drink,
before striking this handsome pose.
~ Susanne and Benji
Under a light rain I venture outside to the spring garden and admire the faithful flowers blooming there. These are the ones who really do bloom where they are planted, requiring little if any assistance from me.
I planted the Clematis a few years ago to fill in a spot of chain link fence. It has been pleased to do that and more, happily climbing overhead onto nearby evergreens, spreading color everywhere.
This Rhododendron, though completely neglected by me, blooms heartily every year in spite of it.
The Candytuft gets no special attention either,
yet fills the air with its sweetness, attracting the attention of two residence cats, Benji and Tiger, who also appreciate its scent.
Sweet Woodruff provides a nice bed for the bird bath and kitty watering hole,
while this uninvited intruder fills in where I can get nothing else to grow
providing a nice background for a portrait of the handsome Tiger.
All are happy in the spring garden.
~ Susanne
Sleeping.
With Style.
Nobody does it better.
~ Benji
Most mornings after I rise I settle into my office with coffee in hand and shortly thereafter a kitty will appear. If Tiger, he will saddle up next to the chair for a good scratching. Benji will take the lap as he did this morning and enter into a state of kitty nirvana.
One might think such a deep state would last longer; but Benji can go from kitty bliss, to kitty this, in a moment’s notice,
until I am driven completely from the chair.
Good Morning everyone from Susanne and Benji.
While waiting for my coffee to brew this morning I took a quick walk through the garden. The dew was still fresh everywhere and I found the Lady’s Mantle covered in jewels.
I also found this handsome Tiger sleeping.
Maybe that’s why they call it a garden bed.
~ Susanne
Good Morning to humans everywhere and especially to Sue, my paws down favorite. Today I am in a reflective mood, pondering the mysterious intersection of the feline life and the human life. It is a wonderful intersection indeed, though not always easy.
We get along well most of the time yet we are different in many ways. This requires that we cats make continual adjustments to satisfy peculiar human inconsistencies and foibles. (It is obvious that we are the ones to make the adjustments, at least if we aspire to indoor living.)
For instance, I have yet to understand the human aversion to the natural feline sharpening of the claws. It seems to me their own claws would become much more useful if they practiced this habit as well, rather than remaining purely decorative. Many surfaces exist throughout the house for this purpose. If only they could see this! Alas they are unwilling to learn in the smallest matter! And so I am forced to use the inferior small posts inside, saving the most rigorous scratching for the trees outside. Speaking of outside, it is certainly a puzzle that so many food sources go unclaimed by them. We felines learned long ago that anything living and smaller than ourselves is good for food. (The hunting itself provides invigorating exercise.) They also seem to be untrainable in this.
Fortunately I have big brother Tiger to help me understand these matters. He reminds me that felines and humans are not the same species and this alone explains much of the challenges we face.
(Read Tiger’s story for yourself in the link below.)
He has also taught me that when the going gets tough inside, I must demand to go outside. There I can spend time in the wild alone, or with my own kind. A few hours thus spent solves most of the problems.
And so I sign off,
~ Benji
