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The Story of a Cat and his Pot

by on November 3, 2012 in Daily Life

This is my mum’s cat, Ginge. (Ginge is short for Ginger. Terribly original, isn’t it?)

Ginge adopted my mum. Yes, you did read that right! Back when mum lived on a farm, he just turned up at the house one day. When he first appeared he was awfully timid. He’d creep into the laundy for food when he thought no one was looking, but as soon as he caught sight of anyone he’d run away as far as his little legs could carry him. This went on for months and months and we all assumed he was a wild, untamable thing. But then… He started running away less. Eventually he let mum pat him. Then he began spending more time inside. It took a long while but slowly he became more comfortable with other people too. Mum took him to the vet. He got more confident, even around strangers. Little by little we all gained his trust.

These days Ginge is the smoochiest, friendliest cat you ever could meet. He sleeps on the bed with mum, cuddles up to the dogs and spends a good portion of each day sitting in the flower pot you see above. That’s Ginge’s special pot. It did originally have a plant in it, but he soon claimed it as his own and squished the plant flat. The pot is perfectly cat-sized and positioned in the sunshine.

We believe Ginge is very old and think perhaps he was dumped in one of the farm sheds by someone who no longer wanted him. He was so terribly afraid of people when he first showed up, it’s likely someone was very unkind to him at some point. Happily, that’s all behind him now. Dear old Ginge will spend the rest of his days with my mum, snoozing contentedly in the sunshine by the back door. Just a cat and his pot.

Katie x

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Then and Now: Daisy Turns One

by on August 25, 2012 in Daily Life

The day we found Daisy and took her home to my mum’s place, after a big feed she napped under the lemon tree in the backyard. To this day whenever we visit mum Daisy likes to sit under that tree, and last time we were there I took some pictures. It’s amazing looking at photos of Daisy in the same spot 8 months on. My, how she’s grown!

Under the tree, December 2011.

Under the tree, August 2012.

Daisy Delilah, December 2011.

Daisy Delilah, August 2012.

When we first found Daisy, the vet estimated she was around 4 months old. We found her on December 26 so we’ve decided to celebrate her birthday on August 26, which is tomorrow!

When we adopted Daisy she had a nasty case of pneumonia, fleas, worms and mites. She was severely underweight, extremely timid and very wary of people. Today, Daisy is a completely different dog. She’s strong and healthy and happy. Those droopy little ears perked up within a couple of days of her coming home with us and they haven’t drooped once since!

Though we are still fighting the mites (they are very almost gone now but it’s been a saga!) and she’s still afraid of strangers, Daisy has come such a long way since joining our family. Dear Daisy is such a sweet and affectionate girl. She thinks she is a lap dog and insists on lying all over us. She’s very playful and we’ve lost many shoes this year (and our two cats have been rather traumatised!) She doesn’t like squeaky toys but loves playing tug of war and is obsessed with chasing the vacuum cleaner. She likes sneaking hot chips and pieces of cheese. She is bestest friends with Molly and whenever we visit my mum they are utterly insperable. She is the spottiest, silliest, snuggliest, smelliest dog there is!

We will never know what awful things happened to Daisy at the beginning of her life, but we do know that she will never be cold, hungry or lonely again. We truly believe that she understands we rescued her and is grateful for it, and in turn we are so thankful for all the joy that Daisy has bought to our lives. She has completed our little family and stolen our hearts.

So Happy Birthday, Miss Daisy! We love you.

Katie x

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Lucky

by on August 19, 2012 in Daily Life, Musings

Katie and I were on our way back to the car from one of our favourite op-shops yesterday (with our arms full of newly acquired vintage sheets, books and a vinyl copy of The Smiths’ album ‘Louder Than Bombs’) when Katie suddenly came to a stop. I turned around to see her crouched down, picking up a poor little snail who had wandered too far into the car park. After packing our treasures into the back of the car, we walked across the car park together and popped the snail down in a large patch of grass.

While I took these photos, I thought about how lucky that little guy was that Katie happened to walk past and see him before he was squished. It also reminded me of just how lucky I am. Few people would bother to stop and rescue a snail, but just like when Katie found Daisy, she came across someone who needed help and couldn’t continue on her way until something had been done. I love and admire Katie’s sense of compassion.

Going by what we share here, it might seem like Katie and I are exactly alike, but in reality we are very different to each other. Our perspectives are often poles apart, we don’t always agree on things, we communicate very differently and we are polar opposites in many ways, but when it comes to what really matters we are on the same page. We share the same core values, beliefs and ideals. Though to many it might seem a strange thing thing to do, had I seen the snail first I would like to think I’d have stopped and put him out of harm’s way. Watching Katie do exactly that I was struck by just how fortunate I am to have found someone so wonderfully different yet perfectly alike myself. In a world filled with so many people it seems so unlikely that we should find each other. Yet somehow, we did.

Isn’t it funny how these tiny, seemingly insiginifcant moments can catch us by surprise and fill us with gratitude?

That snail and I, we sure are lucky

Reuben

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The Australian Sheep & Wool Show

by on July 21, 2012 in Adventures, Daily Life

Today was a gloriously sunny winter day, perfect for getting out and about in, so we spent the afternoon at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show. We wandered about and admired all the different types of sheep. We swooned over the spools of cuddly yarn and piles of rainbow roving. We saw a fashion parade. We cuddled a cow, some alpacas, a goat and some chickens (please know that when Reuben was photographing me holding that little hen, she wasn’t nearly as miserable as she looks in the picture!) We ate baked potatoes. We watched a shearing competition and some sheep dog trials. We melted into puddles over the sheer cuteness of little lambs. And we thought about how wonderful and satisfying it would be to learn how to process fleece, dye and spin it, to make our very own yarn from scratch. Oh, one day…

What are getting up to this weekend? Whatever you are doing, I hope it’s lovely and sunny and full of happy things!

Katie x

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The Sheep Shearing

by on July 8, 2012 in Adventures, Daily Life

This week we have been spending time out in the country with family visiting from New South Wales. They have been staying at a sheep farm just north of Bendigo and while catching up with them, we have been lucky enough to hang out with the sheep on the farm and see some of them be shorn.

Watching the sheep get their haircuts was such an interesting experience for me. Katie grew up on farms but until this week I had never seen shearing in real life. Before we even got to the shearing shed we had Kelpies dancing around our feet, saying hello and looking for pats. The dogs were so friendly to us and then they’d get a call and they were off to round up some more sheep. Inside the shed, the men moved so fast and the fleece came off all in one piece. Within minutes of being reluctantly dragged out of their pens for shearing, the sheep were outside again adjusting to the crisp air. When the ordeal was over you could almost see them smile.

I dream of having a few sheep of my own one day, so I get very excited at the chance to see them close up. Getting to watch them at shearing time was the absolute jackpot! Even though shearing looks like very hard work, I really hope to give it a go one day and (if I’m lucky enough) maybe even shear my own sheep. For now I’m happy just watching on…

I hope you’ve been having a nice week while we’ve been relaxing. We’ve got lots more pictures and stories to share with you soon!

Reuben

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