Cats

Weekend Cat Blogging #315: Garden Cat

For today’s Weekend Cat Blogging, we feature a “garden cat” we encountered at the Mount Madonna Center the Santa Cruz mountains:

This cat was very friendly, and followed us around during a walk in the gardens:

But there was also something that made it connected to its wild surroundings:

I was at the retreat for a sad occasion, a memorial service that I also referenced in this previous post. But the walk in the garden afterwards and the encounter with the cat were a nice postscript.

Weekend Cat Blogging #315 is up at Mind of Mog

The Carnival of the Cats will be returning to Meowsings of an Opinion Pussycat, with Nikita and Elvira.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging: 6th Anniversary Edition

This weekend marks the 6th anniversary of Weekend Cat Blogging.  It was started by a group of food bloggers who took a break from the regular topics every weekend to post about their cats.  It is not an in appropriate combination, as like their human counterparts cats enjoy good food and good company.

We at CatSynth found Weekend Cat Blogging back in 2006 and have been regular participants ever since.  This is of course not a food blog, but we do appreciate food and have indeed made recipes posted by long-time participant.  Indeed, a diverse collection of bloggers have participated on and off over the years.

If you would like to participate in this anniversary edition, please leave a comment below, or tweet us @catsynth with hashtag #WCB.  We always welcome new participants!

We are also celebrating another anniversary this weekend: Luna’s adoption.  If you have not had a chance to yet, please visit Luna’s Gotcha Day post.

And so let us get on with round-up.

Jules of Judi’s Mind Over Matter has been a regular participant, and he can be counted on to make an appearance whenever we host.  Call it “black cat solidarity” if you will.  In any case, we think he makes a very handsome outdoor model, though he sometimes wants to eat the props.

Catsparella has a Caturday post featuring several cats from around the internet, including Mar (aka Mar(ilyn) Manson aka Tuxedo Bad-Ass).  In addition to having an interesting namesake, he is a cancer survivor.  He also loves eating spaghetti.  We wish him the best for a healthy and happy future!

Over at Gattina’s “My Cats and Funny Stories”, Rosie is practicing her seduction skills on one of the many cat statues that adorn their garden.  It makes for some very cute photographs.

At Pam’s Sidewalk Shoes, Smudge is posing on the garden pathway in an apparent attempt to distract us from the garden weeds.  We think it is a very handsome portrait.  And the weeds in the stones of the pathway add a rich texture to the image.

At The Chair Speaks, Pebbles enjoys a day of relaxing.  She evokes an image of poolside bliss on a deckchair.

Regular reads know that we at CatSynth are regulars in our local arts community in San Francisco, so it’s great to see our “TX furriends” Samantha and Clementine featured at a gallery near you.  That’s a gallery near you, not near us.  But it’s great to see their virtual art show – and nice prominent placement of their images (I particular like the big one of Clementine).

Our friends at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life present the cats in Cat Room 8 taking it easy on Sunday.  Our Sunday is busy as usual, so we will just have to live vicariously through their great photos.  These cats are likely dreaming of loving homes in their futures.

At Herman’s Hideaway, it appears that Herman and Emma are stuck in an infinite loop (are stuck in an infinite loop) as each watches, ready to pounce if the other does anything.  Read the post to find out the full story.

Our dear friends from Vienna Kashim, Othello, Salome and Astrid have been participating in Weekend Cat Blogging just about as long as we have.  They look back on WCB’s origins this week and link to their original post.  They also discuss the fun and value they have received from sharing these posts over the years, and we could not agree more!

As we wind down this edition of WCB, Ritzi shares a contented moment with a blanket at Mind of Mog.

Our friends Georgia and Tillie along with the rest of their household stopped by for the WCB 6th Anniversary.  Check out their Friday Close-ups!

It’s always great to here from another Luna!  This week Luna T Katt and Zulu are remembering Luna’s littermate Keiko, whom they lost to the rainbow bridge last year.  The kitten pictures are very cute – and they all miss her very much.

It seems that Gracie has been having trouble with the blogger monster and thus having trouble leaving comments for friends.  But she was able to make it though and wish Luna a happy 6th Gotcha Day and everyone a happy 6th Anniversary of WCB.

We will continue to post entries throughout the weekend, so please continue to comment or tweet us if you would like to participate.

Happy Gotcha Day, Luna!

June 10 is Luna’s “Gotcha Day”. It was six years ago today that she was adopted from Santa Cruz County Animal Services and became the much beloved member of our household that readers have come to know and love.

As we often do on this occasion, we look back at some early photos in comparison to the present. This particularly cute one was taken during her first week at home in June, 2005.

By contrast, here is one of the most recent photos of Luna:

She is quite fond of that PurrPad at the moment.

Another interesting comparison. Here is Luna sitting with our often-featured glass table in June, 2005:

And here she is again in 2010:

Some things stay the same.

Please join in me in wishing Luna a Happy 6th Gotcha Day! It is a day to celebrate, and to remember what’s important in life.

We would also like to give a mention to Friends of Santa Cruz County Animals – I support them every year in gratitude connecting us.

Carnival of the Cats #377

We at CatSynth are happy to be hosting Carnival of the Cats this weekend.   For those who have no idea what this is, Carnival of the Cats is a long-running weekly round-up of cat-related blog posts from around the internet.   All blog authors with cat posts from the past week are encouraged to participate using the handy submission form, or by leaving us a comment below.

As usual, we’re off to a slow start this Sunday.  But with plenty of coffee and our eclectic music in the background, we are ready to begin.

We open with a sentimental post from Ellison of Lost in the Cheese Aisle. While Haukna sits quietly, it looks like she is being watched over by the late Matata on an electronic frame, while we imagine Gershwin’s classic in the background.

Good news from our friends at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life.  Long time shelter resident Bootz has found a new home.  It’s always nice to hear about more mature cats being adopted, and wish him well.

We loved reading this post from Catsparella about fashion photographer Kristina Wilson and her fondness for cats.  It was interesting read, lots of great pictures, and that first photo from Tokion Magazine is quite inspiring (not sure if the cat in the photo agrees, though).

At Gattina’s My Cats and Funny Stories, Rosie investigates one of the cat figurines in the garden.  She ponders whether this is in fact a dead cat, but after learning that it made of stone, decides it is a good place to rest.

At Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat, Nikita and Elvira are helping their Dad heal from a serious ankle injury.  As one can see, it is quite an exhausting task.  We are glad that their Dad Kiril is on the mend.  They also want to thank everyone who has sent good wishes and healing thoughts.

StrangeRanger presents this study in black and white in lieu of “scintillating prose.”  It seems they have been busy tilling the earth and thus quite tired out.  We are of course fond of wordless images here at CatSynth, so welcome this “place holder” post.

Over at Mind of Mog, we have an exercise in contrasts.  Ritzi enjoys her spot on the sofa covers while Meowza enjoys rolling in the dirt.  He is also out enjoying a nice Sunday morning before it gets too hot outside.  That is something we definitely don’t have to worry about here this Sunday.

UPDATES: Samantha and Clementine share some glamor shots to share with us for the carnival. Visit their site for the full-size versions.

Finally, Nikita Cat asks the question “do cats watch too much TV?” There are reasons for and against watching television, with the observation that cats experience the images from this popular device differently. Read further to see the conclusions for yourself.

This concludes the carnival for this weekend!  We will continue to add late entries for the remainder of Sunday (US Pacific time) so let us know if you would like to participate.