Simon's Blog

New urns...at long last

Rainy today...I can't go out . I helped mom change the bed. She loves having kitty helpers. Jacquelyn and I do our very best to make sure the sheets go on just so. Then we leap and squiggile them all up again..it makes Mom scream. We try hard to amuse her.

Well people have been asking for urns ,to put their beloved kitty's ashes in , forever. Many poeple have bought the vases for that purpose but there was no way to seal it. So Dad, when he was casting the vases figured out a way to make a lid that fits and can be glued on after the ashes are inside.

Mom made a wonderful urn of TJ the beautiful bengal angel. His mom wanted a special resting place for him because she loved him so much and misses him. This is what Mom came up with..

TJ urn

You can see how the lid fits in place and then can be glued there and sealed.

and then she put Teege next to Marybeths vase on the sideboard. they are angels together now...

You can also order a long hair cat vase urn

Be sure and scroll down to see more of mom's recent creations. She spends most of her time in her studio and she does not let me in there. She does take the "dog" Amos though and it makes me very angry. hummppfh...doesn't she know I am supposed to be her main companion. i will sit on her tonight while she is trying to eat dinner and flip my tail in her plates..yes..thats the ticket

August 3, 2010

Wow, I have been so remiss about writing but today I am going to start getting into the swing...telling you what I have been up to and all about the wonderful new ceramic pieces my Mom has been creating.She is going to help me post lots of pictures of her new works.My mom is an animal artist and paints bowls and tiles and vases and spoon rests with portraits of peoples cats, dogs, horses, llamas, roosters, or anything else they want like dragonflies or dragons or flowers. This is all done in ceramic which she and Dad design and fabricate out of clay, or cast in molds they have made from original designs they have made. Mom says she can paint anything and I believe it though she has yet to paint ME. I am her darling and she pets me to center herself she says..does that mean I can be in the center of everything???

Lately she has been painting a lot of memory tiles...portraits of kitties and doggies who have recently become angels...like Tommy

and the Angel KC

and the angel Quinn C

She has also made some dog ear plates like this one of Robin Hood the siberian husky

and Bailey, the American eskimo

and this 12"pasta bowl of Miss Dixie Monroe

and she did 12"pasta bowls of llamas Milagro and lindoro

and she painted this 7"bowl of the wonderful cat Smokey

and Kitty ear plate of Little Bit the grey tabby

and a special 8"tile for Chadwick to commemorate his 15th birthday

and then she did some dragonfly bowls too

and she even did a series of rooster tiles for a ladies kitchen..she did 8 designs..here is one

and she did a series of 5 different Peacock bowls..here is one

Mom has been painting up a storm of animals..The memory tiles make great gifts for people who have lost a beloved pet. Any of the tiles or bowls or earplates can be made in the image of your favorite animal. They are wonderful keepsakes for yourself or as a gift. Right now she is working on two big bowls with horses on them and dog portrait tile to set into a keepsake box.

 Mom is very busy and so am I...I have to keep  her on her tasks...like brushing me every morning and letting me sit on her lap every night and feeding me every half hour or so...mol...I prefer shrimp but she says she would like shrimp too and we will have to be happy with what we get. I am going out on the deck and sit under the geraniums and watch the birds.

If you want to order any items like you see here be sure and check out the website www.ninasbigstore.com    and come back soon cause we will shortly have pictures of the new cat urns and more cats and dogs...purrs to all,roll in the catnip and take a nap. Simon

Where does the time go.....

Simon sits by the window and looks out at the rain. Summer is gone and the gardens are wet and turning into compost and mud. On the days when the sun peeks out there are leaves that blow and rustle and are fun to chase. Many of the summer birds have left for places far away to the warm south, but they have been replaced by the birds from the north who winter here and hang out in the Rowen tree which is laden with berries, or fight for the feeder.

Simon jumps down and heads for the food table. Jacquelyn is there , waiting, wondering what is for lunch today. Simon licks her ear and then turns away, wondering why he feels so friendly to her..they usually argue. The last couple months have been difficult...the head cat of the household, Marybeth, who turned 21 in August has just succumbed to a cancer tumor in her mouth, so the family is smaller and everyones hearts are aching." Here is Marybeth with the vase Mom made of her...Mom is happy to think of the thousands and thousands of Marybeth vases in home all over the world. She won't be soon forgotten".

 

Mom likes to go visit her grandson,Ian and play games . They play all sorts of games but cards are a favorite. Ian's cat ,Bangle, who is a bengal cat, likes to play cards too.

 " I have a great furrend on catster and our moms became friends. My furrend is Alfiechinacat from the UK, I have put his picture in here before and told his story of how he was rescued. Now he is the International top place household pet and shows all over the UK and Europe. Well his mom decided to travel al over the US and visit many of the furrends she and Alfie have made playing on catster. She came to visit us and we had a wonderful time. Mom and Alfies mom Lyn took our cut out pictures to the Pike Street Market in Seattle. So we got to go to the original Starbucks for coffee...

The we went to Moms favorite seafood seller and she asked if Alfie and i could pose with the shrimp and he said we could so...here we are with the giant shrimp...oh I do adore those shrimpers...

 
Crowds in the market thought we were very funny...flat cats having their pictures taken. Mom took our picture when we were on our way home on the ferry. She kept telling Lyn "over there is a huge mountain range and over there is Mt Rainier...it would be right behind Alfie and Simon" and Lyn would say "oh i think you are making that up" cause the clouds were out and it was raining so the mountains hid. They do that."

Soon Lyn will head back to her kitties in England and her amazing puppies. She has two Tibetan Mastiff puppies (see pet of the month) and they are much much bigger than our puppy, Amos, even though he is much bigger now. Here are Gus and Kira the Tibetan Mastiffs. If I had a castle in Tibet I would not worry about attack if I had a herd of these.

 
Amos was totally infatuated with Lyn and she spoiled him rotten with all her loving. He was so sad to see her packing.

 
I guess Mom needs to get on to some other work so i will sit here in the basket next to her and watch for her to mispell..she is prone to that. Not because she is a bad speller but because she is a bad typist.

And so i depart for the moment...enjoy today. Life is full of constant change...we treasure the moments we have, we are grateful for those we love and those who love us in return....purrs Simon and his Mom , Nina

Sunny days, summer dreams, autumm fantasies

There are times when I wonder why I do this blog...seems like the months go by and I am so busy I forget to write about it. Today I am out in the garden watching the birds. Not to worry...I just watch. There is a squirrel who keeps coming to the feeders and I have to keep an eye out to chase him away. I love to help Mom in the garden.

She and I have a great garden this year. She has not been able to garden for about three years because she could not walk, but now that she has TWO now hips she can walk and garden and play with ME. We have grown about 12 kinds of lettuce, basil, tomatos, many kinds of squash,cucumbers and all kinds of flowers.When I am very very good at catching moles and chasing bugs I get to have the treat which I love best.SHRIMP!

 

We have had a happy summer and a sad summer. My dog sibling Jasper passed away a couple months ago. My mom and dad were so upset of course, he was very special to them. Their daughters thought they needed a puppy cause they have so much love to give. Sarah found a litter of puppies and Jessica bought Amos. He was born May 25 and is a blue eyed , blue merle Australian shepherd. I guess he is Ok..if you like puppies...everybody squeals and oohs and ahhs when they see him. He and I get along pretty well..I hiss at him if he thinks he should be the boss.

I turned eleven in August and Marybeth turned 21...Mom still calls her her little tiny kitten. We all sleep with Mom ad Dad. I guess if Amos gets bigger we will all fall out of bed...why am I laughing...he IS getting bigger!

Mom's daughter Sarah came out for her birthday.Mom got this funny picture of my cousin Audrey off her camera. Audrey is a great cat.

Mom also visited her grandson and other daughter,Jessica. Her grandson Ian has a bengal cat named Bangle. She is a very beautiful and large cat as you can see.She can literally climb the walls. Bengals are extremely athletic. I get into enough trouble , it's a good thing i don't climb walls, Mom complains when I climb in her closet or if i get out when i am not supposed to.

The horse of the month this month is Cappy, an appy my Dad met in the banner forest where he runs every day. Cappys mom either rides him or walks her two horses on their leads every day cause they like to go for walks and she thinks they need the exercise and amusement. Dad says maybe we should walk our horses like we do the dog but Mom says not the best idea...her horses are a little nutty. She can walk me on a leash..i will go..well no ...probably not. Here is another picture of Cappy in his costume. He loves to dress up. His mom says when she goes out with a new outfit he comes running to try it on and her other horse flees in terror...

Well, I guess I will have to sign off...my mom did a silly thing ...she had this blog all typed out for me but she forgot to hit the save button and lost the whole thing and had to redo it..so she is cranky...I don't see why..she got to spend more time with me listening to my views on life...i think I will go take a nap....till next time...

Well, where the heck have I been for a year

I am almost embarassed to be writing this...a year has gone by and I have been remiss. I have some flimsy excuses....had to sit and think a bunch...you know ...ponder life. That took awhile.I have had to take care of my companion through one hip replacement and now we are waiting to head into another. It is so bizzarre to me that humans get their parts replaced, but it is a good thing because she can walk better now and will be purrfect once the other one is done. Plus, I got to snuggle with her a lot while she recovered.
I turned ten this summer, can't believe I have been with my companion that long.....helping her in the garden and in the kitchen. I help her on the computer too. Marybeth and I sit by her keyboard and tell her what looks good and what doesn't when she is designing stuff...and wow ...has she ever designed a ton of new stuff this past year. Some of the designs she licensed out , new cat vases and dogs vases and money banks, nightlights and salt and peppers, will be out the beginning of next year. She also has done many new horse designs and wildlife designs and cat and dogs designs which she is going to put on products through a cafe press website...really fun things...mugs and dog dishes and dog shirts and tee shirts and aprons, even teddy bears. She is working on that now and will send out a newsletter when that is ready to go.
  My companion has also been busy doing some special order vases and tiles and paintings for people. She did a great painting of three cats

and one lady called her to do a vase to be used as a crematory urn for her kitten who died of the dreaded FIP disease...it was hard to do it , my companion said, but she loved capturing his sweet spirit and image on the outside of the container that would hold him forever. His name was YinYang
 She also painted a vase of a cat named Phoebe and when she sent it to the lady , the lady sent this picture back  and called it "Phoebe's verdict"...she really seemed to like her likeness.

Then my companion did a fun tile of a wonderful pit Bull who was a rescue from the Hurricane Katrina and is now happily living on Whidby Island near Seattle. My companion loves to do portrait tiles.

I also want you to meet my beautiful friend Maggie. She was a rescue cat who lived in a rescue for a year before being adopted to her loving forever home in Florida along with her sister Aggie. they are lucky kitties.

 

The Season Turns

I sit by the sliding door on the deck and look out. It is raining. Sometimes , I go to the front door and ask to go out that way - maybe it isn't raining out that door - but , I find, alas,that it always seems to be raining out every door- why is that? I can go out and sit under the table on the deck - sometimes i do that but maybe  digging in the pillows on the bed for a nap is a better idea.
  The season has changed and now it is dark when my family gets up. Why is that? i am full of questions today. I don't know why they get up in the dark when the bed is so warm and cozy. My companion turns on the heater in the kitchen and we cats all sit by it in the morning, yawning and wondering why we are up - OH....FOOD- food is why we are up , we can always nap later. The fog sits low this morning, as I look out the window , I see the tops of the trees peeking out from the mists. I hear the horn from the ferry boat my companion will take across the sound today to visit her daughter. I have not ever been on a ferry boat but I hear from the dogs that the boats are very scary - all surrounded by water and bouncy. I would not want to go on one and  I hope my companion does not fall in the water.
  My companion has been very busy designing many new things. She tells me she has designed a whole new line of Santa Dogs and Cats for ornaments, and angel cats and vases, all of which will be out next spring. She did do a new vase for the Rescue Me-ow line , of my friend Alfiechinacat. He looked so real my sister Marybeth and I thought he WAS real and had come to visit us. She is also painting portrait vases of peoples cats and bowls and tiles of peoples dogs. You can see Marybeth with the Alfie vase here, doesn't it look like he just came to visit us. Marybeth is quite confused.You can click on these images to make them larger if you want. I asked Alfie if he wanted to share my lunch . He did not eat much, which is fine by me...since i like to eat everything in site.My companion said he was easier to clean up after, than I am .

If you would like a vase of your own cat you can go to the new special orders -originals section and order one.

  My companion wants me to tell you about a friend of hers , Joan Ranquet, who is one of the worlds foremost Animal Communicators. She has just published a book called "

"Communication With All Life, Revelations of an Animal Communicator" by Joan Ranquet. "

   You can go to her website  www.joanranquet.com   and read all about the book and Joan. She is amazing. I know this because I have talked to her.

  Another fabulous thing we have to report , is this. Remember little Adam, the burned kitten. Well, there is a happy outcome for the story and he is now going to his forever home with the woman who has been caring for him through all his surgeries and skin grafts. You can read all about him at his webpage, it is so wonderful that he has a forever home now...what a story  http://www.catster.com/cats/597964

I hope you are all having a lovely season... time to be Thankful and Grateful for all that we have , for each other, and for our own talents, successes, and the ability to meet the challenges we all face in everyday life. Don't forget to give the best gift of all , a smile. Purrs, Simon

Midsummer Madness

It is August. My companion is an August Leo...try and deal with that one.She is good to me though. I was her birthday gift 9 years ago when I was just a scrawny rescue kitten. Now, I am a big orange guy in my prime. As she was brushing me this morning she told me she was so grateful to have me be a part of her life. It is good that we have each other. She talks of visiting someone who had no cat. She said it was so strange...so quiet. She says a house without a purr is just a big empty space no matter what is in it. A purr fills the moments of silence with warmth. A purr can fill your empty heart, dull pain, dry a tear, create a smile. A purr can heal, provide gaity, music to sleep by....ahhhh..a purr is a small miracle. Now , I know my companion and my companion's companion also greatly enjoy the presence of the makers of the woofs...we love the woofs as well, and the whinneys that waft in from the fields....all a great part of every day life, sounds to live with , that create your space. But the purr...the purr is the heartbeat of a home and the lives therein. Some purrs are tiny little inaudible rumbles that need to be felt almost , instead  of heard. Other purrs are big and bawdy ,rolling ,rumbling and vibrating  . The purr is a mystery, it is magic. And we wish that everyone, everywhere can some day know the wonder of their own house fulls of purrs.
  Our purrs  of late are joyful  because a little kittens story has brought to light the good vs evil battle and made us all so hopeful for a happy ending. The kittens name is Adam   and he has become an international celebrity because of a tragedy that almost took his life....set on fire by mean teenage girls, saved by a little boy who stopped them, and then by a team of doctors and caring people.He has had so many skin grafts....the poor little mite, and lost his tail and parts of his ears, but he rallies and plays and  lives and purrs. Read his story here www.forgottenfelines.com and you can see his catster page at http://www.catster.com/cats/597964
We hope Adam thrives and stands as a symbol for better laws to be put into effect against animal abuse.

     Purrs are also in order because I found the most wonderful cat on catster. She is a tortoisehell exotic short hair, persian mix by the name of Raza. Here is a great picture of her covered in cobwebs...isn't she beguiling? My companion has a real thing for Torties so whenever we see one she has to stop and go oooh and aahh....what is the deal with that.Since it is her birthday I am posting this beautiful tortie just for her. Raza is truly wonderful to look at however and we enjoy having her here. We who have families to love us and care for us are so grateful  for that.Raza lives in Auckland City in New Zealand.

   We also want to post the pictures of the cat portrait tiles again. My companion has just been delighting folks with portraits of their kitties and doggies. Here is the Zoey tile, and once again Pumpkin and her tile. Wouldn't a fireplace surrond of tiles of all your dogs or cats or horses be great. Or a  sink surround  or a  big tile thing behind  the stove . She can do anything, my companion, well almost. She is not good at mousing....I have to do that for her .

    Did you see the horse of the month this month, Mr. Smith? My companion is a great admirer of Morgans, and Mr. Smith has the quirky, lovable, intelligent personality that is so endearing in the breed. Here we have to put another picture of him in to show him pulling his surry with his mom , driving through their arboretum.Now the only thing that could make this picture better would be if the surry were full of  cats.

  So, August will wend it's way . Myself, I enjoy the lazy warm days in the garden. My companions have  made some lovely spots for me to sit and watch the birds  in their bath, the butterflies  in the butterfly bush and the hummingbirds just everywhere.  I so enjoy  hiding under the zuchinni plants  and leaping out at anyone who may be weeding...I always enjoy a good scream. I am also tempted to toss a snake or two about, but my companion  has them on the same no no list as the birds and butterflies, she says they eat the bugs and slugs. Yuck..anything that would eat a slug has to be crazy. But, I am glad it is the snakes and not me.I did take one into my companions studio area once but they removed it after much noisy surprise, they did not seem at all pleased like they usually are when I bring them a mouse or rat. Guess they only like to eat rodents so that is what I will bring them. I think for my companions birthday I will bring her an even dozen.Maybe she will put them on top of her cake.

i have a friend named Mango, a gorgeous orange and white kitty, who is an inspiration to anyone. He has Cerebellar Hypoplasia, a neuralogical syndrome that renders him unable to control his legs and body normally. But he is happy and loving and giving and just plain perserverant. I wish I had a picture of him to put in here but I do not. I do have a short video of a cat named Charley who has the same physical challenge. It is wonderful and inspiring. Please view it and share with me the joy that there are people who care about these pets with physical challenges. They and their pets are an inspriation to the rest of us daily. http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=dJQG6V1MOVY

And so to end the monthly purr session here I am going to put in two pictures of my companions most recent love...good thing he lives in England or I would be jealous. She is always going on and on about how gorgeous he is. Well , he is the cat of the month this month and he is the International #1winner in the house pet division on the Cat Show circuit, and since he is my good friend I have to say hats off to him....Alfiechinacat

   so, Purrs...purrs and more purrs. If your house doesn't have some....be sure and get some real soon.

 

Summertime

Ahhh....summertime - it's true you know - what the song says - the livin' is easy, at least for cats. The long , long days leave lots of time for lying in the sun on the deck railing or snoozing in the shade under the picnic table, or, best of all,sliding quietly through the low growing leaves of the plants in the garden. I can sit silently in the heather watching the hummingbirds as they flitter around the Graham Thomas honeysuckle. I dasn't snatch one though or my companion will shriek louder than thunder at me. I will never understand why? Humans are just not to be understood.
I love the garden. It buzzs and hums. The nodding flower heads bump my ears and tickle my nose as I wend through the nooks and crannies of stems and mounds of flowers. Above me archways of roses reach for blue sky and bow to the sun. There are so many smells - roses , mariglods, mice, moles. It's just all so wonderful.
My companion and her companion just had a celebration in the garden. They drank champagne and talked about 41 years of being married. I have only been here for 9 so I do not know of 41 years. It seems like a very long time. They laugh though - so it must be good. I caught a nice fat young rat as a gift for them and took it , still wriggling, to the deck door . I thought it would be nice of me to provide their dinner since they provide for me all the time. I knew they would be pleased. My companion shouted loud shrieks of delight, then caught her breath and praised me "Oh Simon,how wonderful and thoughtful you are." Her companion came and praised me too and scooped up the rat and disappeared with it. I guess they were saving it for later. I did see them eating some shrimp which they shared with me, but, they did not share the rat. I can't be angry though. It was, after all, a gift.
My companion has been so busy painting in her studio. She has done two large Hereford Bull paintings for the Gallery ARTE in Uvalde TX. Here is a picture of them hanging in the Gallery. Please click on picture to see it larger.

  She also just finished two 8" portrait tiles of cats named Zoey and Pumpkin. Here you can see Pumpkin with her tile. You can see both

tiles on the opening page of my companions website  www.ninasbigstore.com   
Now she is working on a painting of three cats together and then she has a horse to paint.You can click on the picture to make it larger.

  My good friend Twist , who is a top male fashion model in the cat world, has just had his first birtdhay. here he is in his houndstooth beret and scarf. He always looks so well turned out and dapper. I have

to admire him for that. Happy Birthday , Twist!

My companion tells me a fan sent her a picture of a different pet. She told me I had to keep my claws and teeth contained.  Good grief...now what. Well I guess it is a pet gerbil named Pippin and as you can see by the picture he is pretty cute. So we will welcome Pippin to our friends group as he does look like a jolly sort doesn't he.

  I guess I will sign off now, the day is golden and I should be out in the sun chasing something. I have many new friends pictures in my friends group so please do take a peek and send me your picture if you want to be in my gallery of friends.I do have to pop one more picture in of my cousin Bangle the Bengal who lives with my companions grandson. She is becoming quite a beauty as you can see.

Have a humming, sunny, lazy, yummy summer...Simon

 

The garden

it would seem that May is the month the garden truly begins to make noise. I was sitting in the foxgloves today, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my fur. My companion struggled a few feet from me with a shovel and huge clod of dirt and weeds. She was uttering unprintable words and snarling. I have no understanding of this process at all. She digs a huge shovel full of dirt and green grass and rocks and then heaves it into the wheelbarrow. If she enjoys this why does she snarl and snorffle and if she does not, then why does she do it at all. Humans are a great mystery...a great mystery. Finally she threw the shovel down, snatched me from my reverie and plunged her nose into my fur ,taking a deep breath, then proclaimed I smelled like sunshine. Madness, I tell you. She suffers from madness. She put me down and I tried to reclaim my serenity , but alas, I was overcome with the sounds the garden makes , the rustling, the growing, the buzzing and humming, the bird sounds,and  sounds of creatures crawling just beneath  the  ground. So many sounds...fun to sort and identify and  pinpoint and  pounce on.I enjoy an afternoon in the garden with my companion , she is just part of the entertainment.
  Someone who purchased the Dreamer planter, from my companion , because it reminded her of her  Maine Coon Cats, sent pictures to my companion and she used one for the cats of the month. She is quite enamored of these cats. I have to say  they are rather special to look at . Their companion said "Maine Coons are often referred to as gentle giants because they are so large and sweet tempered. These two live up to that, Weeji is 20lbs and Misty is 16lbs.They are 38-40" from nose to end of tail and Weeji is so long he can stand up and reach to the center of the kitchen counter" I must say I wish I could do that sometimes. I will put pictures of them in here so you can see for yourselves how tall they are. Are they not amazing? My companion brushes me every day but she wonders what the care for these two must be like.
  I must say I, myself, have fallen into sighs over Misty . Here is a picture of her looking demure.

So, the month of May rolls onward and I get to spend many hours on the deck or in the garden chasing things that buzz and hum and rustle. And, I love the hours in the sun , just perfect this time of year. Not yet too hot, but just right for whiling away a bit of dreaming time...because that is the vocation of cats.

Spring Delights

Spring seems to be here in a fury...my companion just oohs and ahhs constantly about the trees and shrubs and flowers all blooming. It sure does feel like a fantasy land of smells when I go out on the deck. There are so many birds singing and flying around I almost fell off the railing trying to snatch a quick snack. I love to go outside and watch the insects and the birds. My companion runs out and grabs me every once in awhile and freaks out screaming "eagle" or "hawk" . I have no clue what that means but it always means I get to be snatched off the deck for sure. She says they are big birds. I say 'yummy" but she says 'Simon my dear, they would think you are the yummy one". She knows these things I guess so I will abide.
   This pet food scare sure has her in a twitch though we never did eat any of those brands. She is very careful about what we eat. She bought special food that has no corn, Newmans  Own, because my sister Marybeth is 18  and  has to be careful what she eats to stay healthy.  I will put in here a picture of Marybeth . Doesn't she look like the pin my companion made of her? Speaking of pins have you looked at all the great new designs my companion made. Now she is working on dogs...why, I can't even imagine.

I went into my companion's companion's garden the other day. There are many new flowers growing and the smells that surround a cat are just overwhelming sometimes. He has placed one of his big porcelain pedestal bowls next to a sculpture, as a bird bath and drinking bowl for us cats and dogs. I like to sit and drink and dream. Sometimes I sit in the shadow of the Eupatorium Purpureum and watch the birds bathing and splashing. I daren't grab one as my companion gets positively hysterical screaming at me and doesn't let me out for days and I do so love my little garden forays and my afternoons on the deck.

I hope you go to my  Simons friends pictures and see all my new friends. 

I wanted to put this great picture of the horse next door in here. Her name is Figi and she is wearing Rhythm Beads her mom makes to help keep her calm and relaxed. You can read more about them at her site   which is in our related links area.

Ithink I will end this post with a picture of me having a nap in the sun. My companion tells me she is not only working on dog pins but also on portrait tiles of dogs and cats to top wooden boxes for jewelry. She is busy always. She is also painting paintings. Huge portraits of hereford bulls if you can imagine that. She says she has a Gallery in Texas that loves her bulls. Don't they love cats in Texas. What is Texas? There are a few things I don't seem to know. Perhaps today will bring answers. ....and catnip!