I’ve been without my computer this week which has been extremely exasperating to say the least, so I finally spent some money on a tablet until I get my laptop back in working order. Now I’m trying to post my weekly photos taken with my smart phone by an app on my new galaxy tab. We’ll see how it goes.

Seeing as how we’re getting close to the end of February,  I thought I’d post my favorites photos taken this month. I know, most of them have been posted already either in Facebook or Instagram, but my blog is a more like a diary or album of my work and I want to be sure they are included here.

  A flock of turkeys at the neighbors house.

Blue skies at the library.

Mom’s Christmas Cactus-still going strong after 2 months.

                  The moon is caught in the branches of a tree.

                  Boy cat waiting for Mom to come home.

              Snowy night.

A year and a half ago, I adopted a couple of stray cats that had been hanging around the house and didn’t seem to have a home. Using my cell phone, I occasionally take photos of them when they are looking especially cute (usually while they are sleeping).

Buddy:

Buddy is the boy cat; like most guys, he likes huntin’ and defending his territory from other male cats. He’s never quite worked out how the kitty litter box works, though I once caught him peeing in a flower-pot that I brought in for the winter. He prefers to go outside and if I let him out after dark I can’t get him to come back in the house ’til the wee hours of the morning. He’s very handsome and his personality is very laid back, mellow and mild-mannered. He actually had a collar and name tag when he first began hanging around the house, but when I called the phone numbers listed on his tag to find his owners, the first number had been disconnected and the 2nd number was to some woman in the U.P. who had never lived in town. So he joined my household and has settled in very well.

My first photo of Buddy still wearing his original collar.

Trying out the black and white feature on the cell phone.

He likes to hang out with me when I’m on the computer.

Foot Paw studies

Portrait of a Cat

Sammi:

A feisty female, and I believe that of the two – she’s the smarter one. She began hanging around the house during the late summer while I was trying to bond with the cautious and half-wild Buddy and get him to come into the house; she had no fear and would actually beg to come in. I wasn’t really interested in adopting a 2nd cat, but as the nights began getting colder, and it was obvious that she had no other home to go to, I relented and let her in the house, where she immediately took over.

She figured out what the kitty litter box was for right away and even though she likes to go out, stays close to the house.  She is queen of the castle and seems to enjoy picking fights with Buddy – he goes out of his way to avoid her even though he is bigger and stronger. While both cats will catch mice for me, she’s the main mouser in the family.

I must admit, it took me a while to warm up to her, but her kooky personality and talkative meowing won me over in the end. I admit, now that I know her, Sammi is probably not the right name for her. I usually end up calling her Sammikins, Missy or Babe but she will come no matter what I call her – as long as food is involved in some way.

I love her little Colonial Sanders mustache and goatee. She made herself right at home immediately.

I spent most of my summer evenings outside, trying to stay cool; Sammi would do the same, always within petting distance.

This is her window, watching and waiting for me to come home.

More paw studies

It’s deceptive: she looks so sweet and peaceful when she’s asleep.