cats


A Little Bit About Merlin

We got our beloved cat Merlin in 2005. I desperately wanted a cat because, well,  I just love cats. So one day in late September my mother and I went into Petco. I had a habit of begging my mom to go and look at the cats (and the fish, and the hamsters, and the ferrets, and basically anything else they sell there that breathes – except the crickets) while we were near Petco. We usually did not get anything and I usually came out with the big and teary eyes. The only difference this time was that there were quite a lot of cats this Saturday. As we walked in I was greeted with the little mews and I instantly ran over to the different cages. We were there for about an hour and I kept walking over to this cage with these two white kittens in it. When it was time to go I was whining and saying no. I had found a cat which I liked and I was NOT leaving.  So after a little more begging, she finally gave in after a lot and a lot of thinking and a lot of the

“Its going to be a big responsibility. You are going to have to feed him and clean him and do his litter.”

So I said yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I wanted the white kitten. I would fly to the moon if I had to to get this kitten. Eventually they let me hold the kitten and I knew that he was right for me and then the paper was being filled out and the phone calls were being made. When we brought him home he was very small and only 8 weeks old. It took a few weeks for him to be better because he was a rescue cat and he had ear mites and he had glassy eyes but our love and some medication made him all better.

In a few weeks he had rounded out and was a little bigger and in about a year he was about the size he is now and he was very energetic (and still is). He finds enough ways to be under our feet and sometimes to be pesky as ever. But we still love him and could not live without him. Usually.



Winter Wonderland

Since the beginning of January we have had multiple snow falls and I don’t think that in any area the snow and ice fully melted. It certainly has not in my area. The other day when it snowed, my father and I went out and I decided to take some pictures of the ice. We usually have icicles at my house but we have had some huge ones recently. One of them was at least 3-4 feet long. It took two days to create that. Unfortunately I dropped it and it smashed before I could get a picture of it. 🙁 So anyway I would like to share some picture of icicles which I did get.

And it has been so cold recently that my cat has taken to curling up in the corner of his basket. So today I went into one of our bedrooms and what did I see??????????

Yes, Merlin is under the covers. I had pulled the bed covers back and he later walked under it freely and fell asleep. I took about 3 pictures of him before he even realized I was there. Silly kitty. 🙂


Cat Update

After interviewing Presenting Lenore and seeing her lovely cats I though I would share my lovely cats too.

Incase you have not visited my Cat Page, this is my cat Merlin named after the wizard. Click here to see a history about Merlin and Harry.

Merlin has been his normal perky self recently. He is unfortunately locked in a couple of rooms because we are having work done on our house so he has to be restricted.  So when we let him out he flies around the house at about 90 miles an hour. He has also taken to hiding underneath the bathtub which has proven to be particularly annoying especially when we are looking for him and cannot find him. He shoots under the bath and just stays there. He also is sleeping a lot as seen in the picture.

My outside cat – Harry – is pretty good but he had a fight and was unwell for a bit after that so we looked after him. We are busy getting his house ready for the winter.I do not have any recent pictures of him but if you do not know what he looks like here he is.


A Poem and A Celebration

Have you been keeping up on the Chilean mining situation? After what must have felt like an eternity in the dark, so far underground, the miners are being rescued. Slowly and carefully, one by one.
To read of their ordeal is sobering.
But did you know that while they have been trapped they have been kept really busy? They all had jobs to do. Things like testing the air, clearing rubble, keeping in communication with the surface, preparing food. Writing poetry. Yes, one of the miners was writing poetry. I find this amazing that even in the deepest and most dangerous of places the appreciation of the spoken / written word is kept. How wonderful.

Here is a poem by one of Chile’s most famous poets Pablo Neruda. Maybe Chile is a country of poets. Somehow I can’t see many other places giving someone the job of poet.

Cat’s Dream by Pablo Neruda

How neatly a cat sleeps,
Sleeps with its paws and its posture,
Sleeps with its wicked claws,
And with its unfeeling blood,
Sleeps with ALL the rings a series
Of burnt circles which have formed
The odd geology of its sand-colored tail. 

I should like to sleep like a cat,
With all the fur of time,
With a tongue rough as flint,
With the dry scent of fire and
After speaking to no one,
Stretch myself over the world,
Over roofs and landscapes,
With a passionate desire
To hunt the rats in my dreams.

I have seen how the cat asleep
Would undulate, how the night flowed
Through it like dark water and at times,
It was going to fall or possibly
Plunge into the bare deserted snowdrifts.

Sometimes it grew so much in sleep
Like a tiger’s great-grandfather,
And would leap in the darkness over
Rooftops, clouds and volcanoes.

Sleep, sleep cat of the night with
Episcopal ceremony and your stone-carved moustache.
Take care of all our dreams
Control the obscurity
Of our slumbering prowess
With your relentless HEART
And the great ruff of your tail.