Monday 18 July 2011

Cats on Tuesday...

I was considering changing the title of this post to Sloths on Tuesday as this is all the cats seemed to be interested in doing...





However all was not lost!  First of all Mrs P spent the day at the vets on Friday (an experience neither of them want to repeat any time soon), and after a war of attrition, they finally got a urine sample from her.  The results came back today and her kidneys are still fine so no more renal meds for the immediate future!  Hurrah for her! To celebrate I'm reposting the rather dramatic portrait I took of her at the weekend, this time in colour.

I'm a Tiger...
Mrs P - she makes vets scream...

Pepper then came through by appearing in the garden when I was trying to get a shot for Scavenger Hunt Sunday.  First of all she pranced about and then tried to get in on the photo (she was 'persuaded' to vacate the shot with a yell of 'Look out! Charlie's mauling the Buddha!').

'Ooh look! A Camera!'

'Why are your trousers rolled up?  Are you joining the freemasons or something?'

Then the competition really hotted up.  We went to the meditation centre in Kelmarsh in Northants for lunch on Sunday, and spotted the elusive Kelmarsh Panther!  (David was very jealous as TKP actually came up to me and let me stroke him whilst studiously ignoring David.  This is only to be expected of course as cats always show excellent taste in the humans they befriend).

'I can kill you with these eyes...'

And finally, tonight when I was trying to take a photograph involving some strawberries (look, it's just something I had to do ok?), Charlie appeared and started taking an unhealthy interest in my props.  He doesn't like strawberries or the soya yogurt they had on top of them so I've no idea what he was up to.  Anyway, to save them from him I had to eat them.  It's tough being a photographer.

Charlie and the strawberries
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the garden...

For more kitty excitement visit Gattina's Cats on Tuesday.

14 comments:

Laloofah said...

Well, I think the Dog Days of Summer just cry out for Cat Naps, don't you? :-)

Mrs. P's photo is beautiful in color, too, but looks so much more dramatic in B&W! Thanks for sharing both.

If I were as gorgeous as Pepper, I'd be flinging myself in front of cameras at every opportunity too. She really is a beauty. The Kelmarsh Panther, on the other hand, is eerily intimidating! Wouldn't want to see those eyes glowing out from a dark alleyway...

My favorite photo of all is Charlie "stalking" your strawberries & soy yogurt. If that had been my bowl of strawberry goodness, I'd have snarfed it down too, just to be safe. You're right, being a photographer, particularly a "wildlife" photographer, is no job for sissies! ;-)

Laloofah said...

P.S. Great news about Mrs. P's U/A results! Josie goes in on Wednesday for her latest infection test... wish us luck!

Barbara said...

Fingers, toes, paws and tails all crossed at la maison Jackson for Josie! Pepper says thanks for the compliments and completely agrees with you. TKP is obviously too enlightened to converse with mere mortals, he's so aloof it's scary! I'm wondering if it was actually the spoon Charlie was after so he could hit someone on the head with it! (Posky has been known to eat soya yogurt, Charlie prefers the valerian teabags) :O)

Anonymous said...

Barbara, I adore your blog! It's the first one I turn to for your wonderful cat photos and sense of humour. The family gathers around when I call 'Cat photos on Barbara's blog!' and we all 'Oo!' and 'Ah!' BUT I CAN'T KEEP UP WITH YOU!!! I've just enjoyed reading the last five posts, I think, all at once!

I'm depressed. I rushed off my photos after an armed battle with the printer (free from Freegle, but good at photos when it prints them) and now think I needn't have bothered! I have NO chance when I see your wonderful pics. And that bee one! Wow! 'Just with my normal lens' says she! (Or words to that effect...)

Glad the Podster's* kidneys are OK. What a relief!
*Hope she'll forgive the familiarity, but I feel I know her...

One of the problems I have with photographing some of our cats is that when they see me approaching, they stop lying or sitting photogenically and rush over to rub and purr... Sigh...

Penny (shambling off dejectedly...)

Barbara said...

Penny, I'm grateful anybody reads my ramblings and always love to hear from you whenever you can stop by. I go through phases of taking oodles of photos and then hardly any, and the same with blogging, but you can usually rely on the cats making an appearance on Tuesday. I really don't think I have any chance at winning the CPL comp (I'm sure there'll be a lot of pros entering!) but it's for a good cause and I'll be really chuffed if they use my photos for any of their material. I'm sure yours are great, you don't give yourself enough credit for your photos! I'll email you the original Bee photo, it was a much wider shot and all I did was crop it down (just make sure you've got it on a low ISO to cut down grain and that your focus is spot-on!), now if you want to see stunning insect macros have a look at Rachael's on Flickr - just amazing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/studyjunkie/
I can't emphasise enough how much luck is involved in getting good cat shots, the only tips I can give are get down to their height (I've been found lying flat on my stomach with camera in gardens/drives/houses more times than I could mention), zoom in, focus on the eyes, or try focussing on a paw etc for a different view, try a different angle, get under them, beside them, just keep experimenting! Mine are so used to the camera that they often take no notice of it, however even they are sometimes(!) unco-operative and Mrs P in particular is so friendly that she will try and get up close me, so when they're relaxed/sleepy is a good time to snap them. Having someone distract them is handy too, the one of Mrs P with the light/shade on her face in this post was achieved by me squatting in the hall with camera, whilst David stood above me waving his fingers at Pod to get her to look up. And it goes without saying that I take many, many photos to get one that's usable!

Gattina said...

You know our cats have a hard life ! Already moving the tail from one side to the other while they nap is exhausting !
The picture of Mrs. P is gorgeous, you should frame it an hang on a wall, then she would not only make your vet screem but all visitors.
Even my bin on paws (Arthur) wouldn't eat strawberries, what a strange idea !

Cezar and Léia said...

Bonjour dear Barbara and sweet friends,
wow it's a good life indeed, I'm enchanted by your beautiful portraits!
Mammy Barbara is a very talented photographer, thanks for sharing these pictures and so sweet story.
Here I need to confess, I ate some yogurt these past few days and wow it's delicious! MOL
Purrs and love to you all
Luna - WE LOVE LUNA and hugs from my mommy Léia

** My big brother came from Brazil to enjoy his vacations from University and I'm so happy because he is very kind and plays a lot with me!

Bree said...

These cats just crack me up. Love the comments the human puts in for them. She is very creative.

Photo Cache said...

what a lovely post. we're glad mrs. p is so fine.

we hate vets too.

emma and buster

Ellen Whyte said...

Hey that's GREAT news. So glad everyone is fine now - and snoozling in the summer heat.

meowmeowmans said...

What great news about Mrs. P! We love coming to your blog ... cats, pictures and prose ... who could hope for anything more? :)

Chronicles of Illusions said...

Love this post - all of it. Such a dramatic photo of Mrs P. I'm in love with your kitty cats...

Ginger said...

I love the last one with him ogling the strawberries. Very nice

{ T G L } said...

Those cats are so cute! I just want to cuddle them, they look so soft and warm!

Thanks for sharing :)

Blessings,
This Good Life

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