[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 6 November 2022].
lamb's tongue (one o'clock gun)
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 4 November 2022].
a whole lottie love
I had hoped to share photos of Lottie I took with my "proper" camera back in late October. After returning home from being her companion, nursemaid and room attendant and having her as my therapist for almost two weeks.
Unfortunately, life has been (even more) exhausting on several fronts since early October.
Until now, I haven't had a chance to do more than import and edit the photos I took with my D700. Though I shared plenty of my iPhone photos to social media during my time in her home.
One of Lottie's adoring humans, Sarah - a talented wedding photographer and a fellow cat-sitter - became a virtual friend back in the mid-2000s on Flickr as part of the (now-defunct) Female Self-Portrait Artists Support Group (FSPASG).
We finally met in person in 2011 when we attended a workshop run by Miss Aniela and Brooke Shaden in Eastbourne.
It turned out we lived in adjacent suburbs here in London, but I think we'll take equal blame for how irregularly we've met up since then. Though we now live 30 minutes walk apart, and lived closer for a period when I was in Wood Green and then Bounds Green.
I think the last time we'd met up before October was for drinks at one of our joint local pubs for my birthday, along with at least one other FSPASG member, Sevgi. I don't remember the year.
When I posted to my social media accounts that I'd fallen into cat-sitting, Sarah mentioned the Cat In A Flat site. I stumbled upon it while researching what I should charge for my services. Once I established that cat-sitting was something I could not only do but enjoy.
So, when she and Pete decided Lottie needed a sleepover buddy, not just a once or twice-a-day visitor, she messaged me to ask if I was free.
Lottie had been unwell for some time, but the vets couldn't figure out why.
I had scooped up dead mice and cleaned up poop from a kitteh going through some behavioural issues. So, the concept of cleaning up kitteh puke at least once a day for almost two weeks didn't put me off hanging with Lottie.
We met a couple of times before the sitting started, and she was such a sweet, placid kitteh.
Lottie proved even more affectionate and approachable when I arrived a few hours after Sarah and Pete left.
She spent a lot of time napping on the pillows on the bed. But when she felt up to it, she would come to listen to my Teams calls while I worked. I would clear a spot for her by my keyboard, or she would sit on my lap if there wasn't space to park her butt on the desk.
I checked on her regularly when she wasn't nudging my hands as I typed or draping her tail across my keyboard.
I brought her breakfast (lunch, dinner and in-between meals) in bed as she had lost interest in going downstairs for anything except using her litter.
The first two nights I stayed, she woke me at 03:00 and 06:00 with her loud eating by the bed. Thank goodness I don't have misophonia...
She quickly fell into sharing her night-time ritual with me. She waited until I was settled and lying down, then walked on my belly and chest. Sometimes she would settle down and curl up on me. Sometimes she just stared me down from her higher vantage point.
On one of the days when I could have a lie-in, we started our day this way, and then she curled up against my body on the bed.
The first couple of nights, she had her pillow chosen. I slept on the other side (which suited me as it was the opposite side, away from her food). But we fast fell into a pattern of her curling up on the pillow above my head, purring away. The proximity provided great comfort to both of us though sometimes her long whiskers made me giggle when they tickled my face.
I would wake at about 06:00 to her watching me. The sort of gaze that, if it came from a lover, might be disturbing or sweet, depending on your temperament (and maybe their intent and expression).
I'd rouse myself to fetch her fresh wet food for breakfast, and then we'd settle for a few more hours of sleep until I had to work.
Though there were a couple of days where the combined stresses of news from Australia about my Mum's health, the project in my day job causing me to work long hours and worrying about Lottie's health overwhelmed me. More often than not, spending time with Lottie and worrying about her distracted me from the other stresses.
And she was always an absolute pleasure to be around, even with her illness.
Sarah, Pete and I obviously all hoped that, once they returned, the vets would be able to finally figure out what was wrong with Lottie.
I looked forward to staying with Lottie in future when she wasn't feeling so poorly.
So, I was heartbroken to hear that, a little over a week after Sarah and Pete returned, Lottie's health had deteriorated to the point that she had to be put to sleep. The vets finally worked out what was wrong, but too late to save her.
Sarah let me know while I was with Sammy, Lily and Poppy in Bromley, so I treasured my time with them even more than usual, having heard that news.
I wanted to edit photos of Lottie that evening. Especially knowing I'd planned to do so eight to nine days earlier. But I decided I'd prefer to write something and edit and share photos of her without rushing.
So here we are.
Such a beautiful, gentle kitteh. I feel privileged to have spent that time with Lottie. And to have (hopefully) been a comfort to her during her illness. The comfort definitely went both ways.
RIP Lottie (aka Peanut Butter Cup, as I was wont to call her).
I hope there are suitcases for you to claw and laze in where you are. That there are supine humans just waiting to be walked upon by you. That the humans there hold out the brush for you to brush your own chin. And the humans where you are will be more generous in sharing their Brie with you than I was. (Yes, I would have given you the same look if you'd put a chicken meal in front of me instead of Brie. Maybe I'd have been less cautious and more generous if I'd known how little time you'd had left).
basic (baby, you can drive my car)
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 4 November 2022].
rue des mineurs
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 October 2022].
visions from the big tree
coronary
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 2 October 2022].
this road floods each tide
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 30 September 2022].
It's been a while (like, over a year) since I created and shared a new digital collage for my lost in her own world series.
So here's one I created this evening using a photograph I took in Bosham a little over a year ago.
#FridayFeels
It's also been over a year since I wrote an instalment of my postcards from another's life series. But I've had some ideas gestating the past couple of days inspired by a couple of podcasts I listened to earlier in the week. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to write those soon.
I hope you have good things planned for the weekend x
friendships
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 30 September 2022].
camber sands
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 28 September 2022].
Despite visiting Camber Sands with friends on such a lovely day with perfect weather, albeit a bit windy, I barely took in my surroundings. I only captured a handful of photographs with my dSLR and my iPhone.
And some of those iPhone photos were taken while I sat in the car with my mind elsewhere.
Specifically: on the outcome of the Brexit referendum, which had taken place the previous day.
I'd stayed up into the wee hours keeping an eye on updates but had finally succumbed to sleep before the result was confirmed.
I woke up a couple of hours later and checked the news on my phone. Seeing the headlines, I tossed my phone on the bed in disgust, went to the bathroom, and then returned to a fitful sleep, brought on by my disappointment and disbelief.
My mood hadn't lifted over breakfast. It wasn't helped by our B&B hosts being unashamedly pleased with the outcome. Phil and I both struggled to contain our frustrations out of politeness to our otherwise welcoming hostess.
Even now, my disappointment over the decision for Britain to exit the European Union is still present. It's reinforced every time the current Conservative government takes the Overton Window further and further to the right.
The political situation in the UK, US and Australia had already been heading that way for at least two years. But I feel Brexit was the beginning of an even more accentuated move away from common sense toward the politics of Drumpf and beyond.
And it doesn't seem to be swinging back anytime soon, unfortunately.
god is love
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 25 September 2022].
mamma mia!
Just over a year ago, I unexpectedly fell into cat-sitting.
If you'd told me then I'd do it again, let alone that after a year I'd have regular kitteh clients and had cat-sat ten kittehs across five homes, I'd probably have laughed in your face.
And yet, this month, I'll spend just under two weeks with my eleventh kitteh client in the sixth home.
I'm looking forward to becoming better acquainted with Lottie, the kitteh master of my long-time Flickr friend, Sarah.
Lottie is a black cat with a sweet nature, and we seemed to take to each other well during our first meet and greet last week. I'll pop in to see her again this week before becoming her temporary companion.
I'll also return to be the ever-obedient servant of Lily, Sammy and Poppy later in the month. I think there have been only two months since December 2021 that I've not served those three kitteh masters faithfully. They are already pencilled in for December this year or January next year (or a bit of both).
And so, I finally set up a profile on CatInAFlat. Who would ever have thought my Top 8 (well, 10 actually) would be made up of cool cats? Tom never saw that coming...
Though I'm already booked out for most of October with overnight stays, I'm open to once or twice daily visits locally around those. (I think it's wrong to have affairs with other kittehs during my overnight stays. Lottie, Lily, Sammy and Poppy will smell other kittehs on me).
And I'm open to meeting more kittehs locally and further afield from November.
If you or anyone you know needs a cat-sitter, feel free to hit me up here or via my CatInAFlat profile. There's plenty of information on my profile but slide into my DMs if you have further questions.
I'll also sort out getting a police check done later this month, and I can provide references on request from those I've cat-sat for before.
Meanwhile, please enjoy this adorabubble portrait I took of Mia whilst we sheltered from one of the UK heatwaves this summer.
embracing the stem
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 25 September 2022].
Bistorta amplexicaulis, the red bistort or mountain fleece.
From Wikipedia: 'The Latin specific epithet amplexicaulis means "clasping or embracing the stem", and refers to the leaves' habit of growing around the stem.'
full to burstin
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 25 September 2022].
The Grand Burstin hotel in Folkestone.
entrapment
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 27 August 2022].
until the day dawns
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 20 September 2022].
it's got pockets!
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 24 August 2022].
As promised, this is the second image from a new series inspired during my recent gig cat-sitting Meg and Mog, titled plush.
The cats' mothers' new home features some vivid interior design colour choices. Colour choices they would not have made. But that they have inherited from the previous owners.
Jo and Becky are far less enamoured with these colour choices than I am.
While there, I struggled with going out and about much due to my health issues and the heatwave. So I spent quite a lot of time, when not working, hanging out in the lounge room with Meg and binge-watching the most recent season of The Handmaid's Tale ahead of the new season airing next month.
After my visit to Minera last October to cat-sit Meg and Mog while they house-hunted, Jo had sent me a link to the advertisement for their new home. When she contacted me to ask if I could cat-sit their two cuties again, I dug out the link and almost immediately asked about the decor. Had they torn out those carpets and removed the wallpaper?
Jo assured me everything was as it had been in the advertisement apart from (obviously) replacing the furniture with their own. I might have squee'd.
When I arrived, the carpet in the lounge was everything I had hoped for. However, I hadn't registered the purple carpeting in one of the bedrooms (the one I stayed in) and the blood-red carpet in the playroom (formerly the dining room) from the photos. Jo pointed out, quite rightly, that the red carpet would have helped mask red wine stains.
I enjoyed and shared the colour coordination of my tights and the carpet in my temporary bedroom before venturing out, trepidatiously, on a photo walk on my first full day there.
But, between work, the heat and my anxiety toward venturing out, I wasn't as attentive as I usually would be in thinking about potential photographic projects in the space during the first few days.
Fast forward to late afternoon Wednesday, and I found myself planning a series of self-portraits inspired by - of all things - the carpet.
I didn't have specific images planned out, but I knew the clothing I had with me and the three carpets I wanted to use as 'backdrops'. Anyone who knows me knows I love colour coordination, so that was in the forefront of my mind.
So I took an extended break from work late afternoon on Thursday to roll around on the floor during the heat and play with some ideas, moods and colour combinations.
So far, the other two images from the series are more related to how I've been feeling recently and thus more emotional. But this image is more playful.
As any woman who owns a dress with pockets knows, whenever someone compliments you on the dress, it's obligatory to announce, "It's got pockets!" And to proudly place your hands in the pockets to demonstrate how awesome it is to have those pockets.
Though my pose may not come across as enthusiastically as I would show you in real life, I am no less pleased with these pockets years after I bought the dress.
But, more importantly, this series is a celebration of carpets. Perhaps the series title should be plush: an ode to wall-to-wall carpeting*.
As a child growing up in the late 70s and 80s, carpets in the home were the norm. The thicker, the better.
I had lived in carpeted properties until about 2014. I even lived in a flat with a carpeted bathroom in 2000 (I don't recommend going that far!)
But since then, I have lived in homes sadly bereft of carpet.
I miss the softness of the carpet underfoot. I dislike the amount of noise I make walking on bare floorboards or laminate floors if I have shoes on. I wear my slipper socks to cushion my feet after a long day of walking, even in the summertime, because I don't have carpet to do that.
I spend much more time brushing dust and hair off my feet before putting my tights on while living in an uncarpeted home.
I remember the excitement of walking barefoot on Jo and Becky's carpet in Minera when I arrived. It was like coming home.
I rue bare floorboards coming back into fashion and landlords deciding laminate flooring is cheaper and easier to maintain. And I'm not ashamed to say so.
So, this will potentially become another ongoing series of self-portraits captured while cat-sitting, like wallflowers.
Let's see how the images pile up.
*I can't resist pointing out that this would also make a perfect title for a series of photographs of people sporting their natural pubic hair. A sight that is probably as rare as carpeted homes these days ;)
N.B. Don't worry about the bruising. That appeared to be from the careless carrying of my laptop bag during the journey to Cotton End. It was no worse and possibly less angry-looking than the bruising I acquired from recent blood tests. I decided not to edit it out. It was too large and had purple tones to match the carpet. Colour coordination :)
moth orchid (magenta)
inner turmoil
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 August 2022].
This photograph is the first from a new series, plush, I started while cat-sitting in Cotton End a couple of weeks ago.
I'll share more about the series - its inspiration, my intentions, etc. - with the second image, which I'll share midweek.
That one's a little more lighthearted.
the queen's head
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 September 2022].