Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Cairo Days

This is his nose. Neo Cairo Nepenthes, the puppy cat. The napping, half-fat, tuxedo cat, who is growing back the fur he pulled. I take a lot of pictures of him. He's cute, and behaves ridiculously, which in a cat's case is usually an endearing way to behave. And, somehow, even when he is a little pill, he is endearing. And so, this post, which is really only a collection of the pictures from my phone, features Cairo Fluff Nugget the Boop, quite a bit. I have no regrets.




He knows his name more than any cat I've known or met. And he knows very well when he is misbehaving, which is why at least once a day you will hear someone calling his name, and see him skulking away like a guilty bandit.






I've learned some amazing techniques for watercolor painting, and I am glad, but I am also eager to learn more, and practice more. Maybe I am, at last, a sophomore, not an absolute beginner. But this stage of my studies presents its own humility... I know enough to do better, but the challenge is to apply it all, without being disheartened by the skills I still lack. So, more practice is called for, so I can gain more experience.


Lighthouses are all well and fine, but sometimes I simply need to see my ratty-rats.






And as much as I enjoy painting, sometimes I simply need to crochet, so I emptied my little back of travel wips, and finished the last of the fingering weight yarn from our summer visit to The Cat and Crow. (Which reminds me: I have not blogged a pip nor a peep about that lovely, summer visit to Wisconsin... something I've been meaning to do, because it will be nice to revisit that lovely time.)

Yarn. Wool. From Blackberry Ridge Wooledn Mill. It was a brilliant souvenir: local, compact, lightweight, and crocheting with the autumn colors kept me happily occupied the rest of summer and into fall, making garlands, like the ones I saw hanging in the shop window of The Cat and Crow.









Garlands complete. I already shared one, and I have another I would like to give as a gift. Today I will hang the rest, as we are preparing for a Halloween party. I like to think of them as pumpkins and leaves on a vine.

This is where we left him, when we went out on errands. And this is where we found him, hours later. Teasingly, I asked, "Cairo! Have you been snoozing all this time?"

You're not the boss of me.

Then, when it suits him, he finds a warm lap, and commands snuggles.

Homework days. If this isn't strictly Cairo Days, then it could be Homework Days. Alex is taking his chemistry and history homework with tea for his cold. Max takes his homework with reams of paper for the long proofs he is writing. Maria takes her homework with diligence and attention to detail, and I get to help, too... reading lines in Japanese! I hope some of this sticks!


He quite possibly is the boss of all of us.