Shades of Gray

Simba

I stopped by neighbor Melanie Isis' garden this week. She is an avid gardener and animal lover. While there, her two cats came out and joined us and I asked Melanie to share a bit about them.

"Simba is the grey cat, about 16 years old, male, very thin and constantly hungry. Also. loves to be near his owners physically.  Kiwi is the long-haired black cat, female, and perhaps about 4 years old.  My daughter bought her from someone’s ad in North Carolina, when she was in college.  We’ve had her for a couple years, and she is a delightful sprite.  Don’t think she had a lot of physical handling in her kittenhood, so she’s kind of skittish, but very dear, beautiful green eyes, compact body and loves to take walks with us and our dog Walker.

They both like to hide in the shrubbery, and to walk amongst the perennials like they’re in the forest."

Kiwi

To the Viktor belongs the spoils...

Back to the cats of Nick Adam Lawes....

Recently, he shared a collection of garden cat photos with us and we started with Max and then George, Max's brother. After those two handsome boys, I thought it was time to let some girls shine - see Klara and Sofia.

This week, we have Viktor. Whom Nick describes as a "Viktor is a real garden cat. He’s shy, but loves being with me when I am working in the garden."

You can find more of Nick's photos and about the home restoration at his web site: https://www.fromno19.com/.

British "Brothers"

Taking a short break from Nick Adam Lawes' cats this week to share with you two personality-filled kitties from Helen Page in Peterborough, UK.

Helen writes, "Charlie and Reggie are both three years old and are not related, but I got them from Peterborough cat rescue when they were kittens."

Mother's Daughter

The last two weeks, Nick Adam Lawes shared a collection of garden cat photos with us and we started with Max and then George, Max's brother. After those two handsome boys, I thought it was time to let some girls shine.

Now we have Sofia. Nick wrote, "Sofia is like a ray of sunlight! She’s always delightful and spends lots of time with her mother, Klara"

Klara is pictured below. Nick said, "Klara turned up in my cellar as a tiny kitten. She managed to get pregnant before I could get her sterilized and so I decided I had to keep the kittens. Since Mario’s death she’s become the boss."

You can find more of Nick's photos and about the home restoration at his web site: https://www.fromno19.com/.

And here are some bonus photos of Klara and her pride.

A Real Gardener’s Cat

Last week, Nick Adam Lawes shared a collection of garden cat photos with us and we started with Max. This is George, Max's brother. 

Nick wrote, "He loves the garden and is so relaxed he can’t stay upright even when he’s excited about the prospect of getting a meal. He’s a real gardener’s cat and love being close by when weeding is being done."

  

You can find more of Nick's photos and about the home restoration at his web site: https://www.fromno19.com/.

Maximum Cuteness

Nick Adam Lawes shared a collection of garden cat photos with is and we will be parceling them out over the next several Caturday/Saturday posts here. First up is this gorgeous white kitty with a touch of marmalade on his forehead and some dipped on his tail too!

Nick said, "This cat is called Max and he is about a year old and is the youngest of my 9 cats. (I used to have 10, but I sadly lost my Italian cat, Mario, a few months ago at a good age of 15)."

"All my cats and my black German Shepherd Luca (he’s an angel) started out as unwanted or we’re just given to me as kittens.

"Max is originally from Prague and was given to me with his brother George last year. He is extremely loving and comes to find me at night and actually hugs me for hours sometimes. He seems to have developed a lot of his behavior from my German Shepherd and kind of acts dog-like!"

Nick also shared about himself. "I’m English. but I lived in Italy for many years. I ended up in the Czech Republic to restore my father's neglected holiday home and I started building a garden from scratch. A garden is not really a garden without cats and dogs."

  

You can find more of Nick's photos and about the home restoration at his web site: https://www.fromno19.com/.

Next Stop: Sleepytown

Fellow garden writer Louise D. Clarke, who works at the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphiam PA, shared this photo:  "Ayame, a female cat, belongs to Sara Leighton, who lives in Newark, DE. While Sara is away, Ayame is staying with me in Media, PA. Ayame is at least 10 years old and is pictured in my home garden under the shade of crape myrtles. She has an automatic feeder and is very good at telling time. She also likes high places to perch."

I did some side research and found that "Ayame" is a popular female name in Japan and the name of a trains service there. The association between cats and trains is a common one world-wide -- from Chessie  here in the Mid-Atlantic USA to Felix in the UK to Shawarma in Israel. All aboard!