Does this make me Schroedinger?

Spider: "Im in ur box. Or iz I?" 

foundling kitty

I wanted to put up pictures of Henry (the kitten abandoned on my sister's farm) awhile ago but other things kept coming up. I don't see how anyone could abandon a kitty so cute and sweet, but that's neither here nor there. I love the little guy and am more than happy to keep him here until we find him a nice human or family to live with. He's really brought out Spider's maternal side which is kind of precious to watch (when they aren't both in my lap wrestling because they are strong but small). He's growing so fast, though. He can't be much more than 2 months old since he had his milk teeth when my sister found him. As a frame of reference, Spider who is in some of the pics with him is 8 months.

Okay, on to the adorable pics :) Some are on the blurry side because they were taken with my computer's camera

That would be me in the picture with him. Typing one-handed slows me down some but, like all males, Henry likes laps and chests ;) I have learned to adapt...

This is Henry in my lap with Spider, who no longer lets him sit there alone if she can help it. She has no interest in my lap unless Henry's already there.

Once she's there with him, she spends ages grooming him, which turns him into an even bigger purr-box than usual.

(I did not realize that this blog was going to include photos of my lap. Sorry about that. But, as you can see by the grin, Henry luuuuuuurves being groomed by his surrogate mama.)

And here is a curious young man wondering what that flashing red light on the computer is:

(blurry or not, I love this image)

Spider and Henry spend a LOT of time together. Including full-contact Xtreme Tag at 3 in the morning every morning, lol. But she also teaches him more traditional kitty passtimes like eagerly watching birdies and critters and looking at humans like they're idiots.

Granted, Spider's a pretty small lady, so here's a picture of regular-sized Betty on top of my Mahjong set and one of Henry on it for comparison.

So he's definitely not all growed up yet, but he is definitely a big boy *pets him*

It's the most wonderful time of the year

I know most people prefer the summer, spring, and winter, but I am all about the autumn (or maybe only when it's happening since I'm quite fond of the other seasons as well). But it's like the world is snuggling down into bed for the night (winter) and covering itself with a big honking blanket of leaves. I'm more of a fleece person, but whatever works for Ma Nature.It's funny how you forget between one autumn and the next how gorgeous it really is when the leaves change.

Cuyahoga Valley foliage - how to create a free slideshow

(pictures by me)

It's not just the colors that make me love fall, either. I was taking out the garbage last night before I went to bed around 11pm and I was struck by how different it is at night during the fall. Everything is going dormant and you can sense that in the stillness all around but, at the same time, every breath of air carries a dozen smells and sounds. There's something almost alive about the way the night sounds in the autumn with the leaves slithering over each other and sound carrying for miles and miles. This time of year, you can even hear the trains go through Akron from here. And, since they moved the pound a couple months ago, I can only assume those aren't domestic dogs I'm hearing howling in the PM. Brother-in-law says the coyotes are getting fairly bold this year, getting near their house and everything. Which is a shame since I kind of love moonlit strolls through wild areas but I'm too sensible to do it where there may be potentially dangerous wild animals. Still, I can enjoy the night weather almost as much from my own living room, so won't complain too much :)

"This world is but a canvas for our imaginations." (Thoreau)

How's this for a color-palate?

I love the contrast of those first two. It's been SO dry here lately and this weekend's been the first real rain we've had in ages, so the grass is brown and the sky is threatening but the leaves have finally started to turn. Here are some of the brighter colors that we'd normally be seeing right, left and center by now:

On a related note, I made a wreath to hang on my front door:

I took dozens of pics in the Valley today but those three are all I'm posting for now. More soon, probably. Updates about the kitties soon as well, I should think. Spider has adopted foster brother Henry and is being soooo lovey with him.

Colors of the wind (no, not Disney-related)

A friend sent me this video and I just had to share it.

It's by a gentleman named Simon Christen and it's one of the most lovely things I've seen in a long while.

The Unseen Sea from Simon Christen on Vimeo.

The video's wonderful and has me wanting to play with color palates for jewelry. Darn it, muses, fall is underway and we haven't even finished playing with those color combinations yet. Stop being all ADD and finish one project before you demand another!!! Even if some of the colors in the video would be stunning together...

Spider is a monkey (an entry that has nothing to do with spiders or monkeys, just cats)

I recently acquired a new kitten who, thanks to my 6 year old niece, ended up with the moniker Spider-Monkey ToeChomper (for her habits of climbing everything, swinging around and, of course, chewing any exposed toes she can get her little teeth on). I'm sure it helped that she bears a passing resemblance to a spider monkey:

Or perhaps that's just me? We tend to just call her Spider (did you know that, like felines, tarantulas have retractable claws?) and it suits her somehow.

At any rate, my Spider Monkey lives up to her name (as does her big "sister" Betty who we named after a land-mine when we acquired her because of her habit of going off unexpectedly). She has recently discovered her favorite place to be: on top of any door she can get at.

She also likes helping me blog:

and designing jewelry:

Actually, basically any time I'm busy, she wants to be the center of attention:

Betty's much less interested in being the center of attention, so most of my pics of her are either from a distance or while she's giving me the "Why are you pointing that thing at me?" look

Or else the "You just gave me a bath, woman!!!" look

Betty just seemed miffed. Spider looked more like she was contemplating an appropriately painful punishment for me:

When she's not being adorable, she can appear quite evil

Okay. I think that's enough pictures of my lovely ladies for now. I have lots more on my hard drive and in my camera, but this'll take long enough to load as it is. Maybe I'll post more soon. And the girls do temporarily have a foster brother who I haven't posted pics of yet. Hmm, sister of mine was right: it's not hard coming up with stuff to talk about here :)