Thanksgiving

I had meant to post this on my sister's birthday, as this vintage postcard reminds me of how she was as a little girl - especially from the old photos - always hugging a kitty. Then I meant to post it on Thanksgiving, but other things were (and still are) on my mind. But without more delay, here it is, in recognition of my gratitude that my sister is back in my life again, something which i probably don't say often enough (have I said it at all?)

Endings

Drying, dying - little hearts
Just hanging by a thread
Waiting for the final gust of wind.
Soon, soon...

Buckets of Rain

"Buckets of rain, buckets of tears..."

In this part of Quebec, the skies opened fully last Friday and even caused serious local flooding, but we were ok, and it was my day off, otherwise I would have been stranded at work. The weather matched my aching heart completely: and still I cannot understand why, and how, Angel was found on the side of the road: she was always in the garden, and I often thought what a good girl she was to stay on the property, unlike some of the others. We will never know who, or why...

As I sat on the edge of the bed after a bath recently, I was thinking how our little routine would never be again: upon exiting the bathroom, Angel would come to cuddle with me, sensing the warmth off my skin and inside my bathrobe. This time, as I sat there, sniffling quietly to myself, little white Tristan hopped onto the bed and nudged me, as though he sensed my pain. He looked at me briefly with that at once funny and sad little face and then quietly lay down beside me...

"Life is sad
Life is a bust
All ya can do is do what you must."
(Bob Dylan)

Angel

So, the cosmos decided to give me another birthday present this year: I just got news that Angel is dead – found by the side of the road. She never went out onto the road, she was always in the garden. Lately she was getting more and more affectionate – and we had a routine, after my bath, she’d hop out of her basket and cuddle with me. We never know when it’s going to be the last time. Last year at this time, Timmy was alive, but fading fast - a sudden illness, and was gone the day before the 29th, my birthday. Then Chesney in May. Three have now gone – in one year. Angel appeared as tiny kitten that fit in the palm of my hand - on my birthday - all those years ago. She would not, could not, ever be held - affection was on her own terms - when she chose.

Sometimes it seems like life is just one long misery. Teaches me to have the blues for no good reason...

Fading of the green...into blue

[What is it? Answer further down...]

While I do love the fall with its cooler, more humane temperatures and glowing foliage, I also get the blues big-time knowing what is waiting just around the corner. I hate not being able to dine in the solarium as it's too cold - the increasing darkening of the days - the fading blooms on even the stalwart rudbeckias and such. Today is the last day of summer, as the Autumn Equinox teams up with the full moon to officially end the season tomorrow. And of course all summer I have half expected to see Chesney wander back into the garden; his sudden disappearance in May certainly cast a shade of sadness over the summer.

But, we have had lots of good times: cat visitors, cat adventures, long evening dinners out on the porch, chilled rose wine at weekend brunches, and of course flowers, lots of flowers:


Answer: Water bead on Elephant Ear (Colocasia esculenta) - don't you just love that?!




Droopy and healf-dead all winter inside, Abutilon, or Flowering Maple, explodes with delicate blooms by mid-summer and continues until frost...

Tigridia, or Mexican Shellflower: a gorgeous but annoying flower as it can only be seen early in the day as I leave the house in haste on my way to work. I take a quick photo, because by the time I get back, it has already closed. Good grief, even the Daylily has the decency to remain open until I get home! I don't think I'll grow it again until I retire - so I can see it all day :)

More to come....

Tristan Brings a Friend

Tristan is a little scrapper - albeit a sweet one. He often stays out all night, refusing to come in with the rest of the gang at the end of the evening. And sometime he'll come back with a slightly bloody ear, or a nick on his nose, or some grease mark on his pure white fur. Naughty boy! He is obviously going where he shouldn't be going. Early one morning he brought over this fellow - who looks a little bewildered...

Happily this rather serious looking visitor has a collar and and ID tube...
Bandito is hanging in there despite his diabetes. In summer it is sometimes hard to chase him down to give him his shots, but we do what we can....
The new patio furniture is so popular we had to buy another chair! And even so, sometimes we go in to the solarium to find all the "good" chairs occupado by the felines...
And Chaiyka demonstrates that clearly the new couch is only made for one - no room for anyone else - no sirree!

In other news, a small ginger cat was spotted up the street - I hope he's not homeless; a friend is feeding a grey cat that was abandoned after moving day - she cannot keep him; ((sigh)); and Rascal is still begging for food, at times looking totally desperate, at others turning his nose up, and SOMEONE is cutting out his mats - hmm....

Oh yes - that's him on our table - hmmm.....

August in Bloom

Amaryllis "Matterhorn"...



A simple bouquet in the sun...



Impatiens balsamina...very prolific/invasive, but lovely, and the bees LOVE them...

Daylily "Jen Melon" - a gorgeous shade of melon yellow.

Cat in Marble: Georges Gardet 1907

As an archivist, loving all things vintage at work and at home, I was happy to have made this recent purchase. It is breathtaking in its simplicity, and the fur looks almost real (click on the picture to enlarge and you will see what I mean). This is a superb study of a young cat with an outstretched precocious paw ready to tip the origami and indeed makes me think of the precocious Tristan who loves to nonchalantly toss things off tabletops.

And after having done a bit of "research" on sculptor Georges Gardet, I feel especially pleased to have something of his works, albeit only a humble postcard of "Jeune Chat" (young cat). I wonder where this piece is today???

Georges Gardet (1863 - 1939) was born in Paris, France on October 11^th 1863. He was a highly talented sculptor whose early studies were with his sculptor father, Joseph, and Aime Millet. He was influenced early in his career by the works of Emmanuel Fremiet whom Gardet studied under at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Big game animals fascinated Gardet and his detailed treatment of these subjects is reflected in this interest. His fascination with animals was not limited to just the large wild ones as he did a number of small works of domestic animals and even a few private commissions of "pets" also. All of his animals are executed in an extremely powerful vein, each having an individual character of its own unlike many of the other sculptors of his day who were coldly producing static animals in bronze. His subjects are proud and romantic and this combined with his very high technical standard of detail and finish leaves a lasting visual effect. Occasional glimpses of the late Barye's influence are found in the treatment of his combat groups.

He started to exhibit at the Salon des Artistes Frances in 1883 at the age of twenty, and continued exhibiting throughout his long carrier, culminating in the Grand Prix at the 1900 Exposition Universelle. His monumental works include a Bison and Jaguar for the entrance of the Museum of Laval in 1892, Lions to ornament the stairways of the Alexandre III bridge on the Right Bank in 1900, as well as several monumental commissions for private Chateaux through France. Not all of his models were cast in bronze, many were originally carved in marble and a few were done in Onyx and only reproduced as bronze reductions for the most popular groups. Many of his works were produced in unglazed porcelain by the Sevres factory. He is considered by many as the finest animal sculptor of the late Animalier period.

Source: http://www.bronze-gallery.com/sculptors/artist.cfm?sculptorID=23

Manitou - Flooftail in motion

In the Garden Today

Luscious daylilies after the rain....I am beginning to collect many different cultivars - so many gorgeous types are available now...