Nims with golden streamers on her collar
Our pretty Miss Nimbus is in the doghouse for killing birds. To help protect the birds we have added gold streamers alongside the bells on her collar. To be extra careful, she is now only allowed outdoors at night. Catch all the rats you want, honey.
She spent a night in jail, the doghouse, (literally a large dog pet carrier), after bringing in the bird’s body.
Seattle is having a mild winter compared to many parts of the country. The varied thrush only visits at this time of year; it’s a rare bird that looks a little like a robin but with a big black V on it’s chest. Learn more about birds at the Audubon Society and get hooked by joining your local chapter. Unfortunately, even well-fed cats kill a very large number of songbirds, with more solitary species being more vulnerable. Here is an article from the American Bird Conservancy.
The fishpond in the yard is a water supply for birds and my bird list for recent visitors is pretty impressive. The nuthatches have been absent this year, sad to say.
Bird list: Chickadees (Black Capped and Chestnut Backed), Cooper’s Hawk, Crows, Juncos, Purple Finches, House Sparrows, Rufous Sided Towhee, Varied Thrush, Robin, Flicker, Ruby Crowned Kinglets, Steller’s Jay, Pine Warblers, and a glimpse of a wren.
black and white necklace with earrings
Black and white beads set each other off; the white ones twinkling like the stars in the winter sky. Here I have the necklace I created a few weeks back with new matching earrings. I added a third row of beads on the necklace as well. Looping and branching as you work is a nice change from beads strung in single file. Click on the photo for a close up view.
There are three handmade Aura Sun Arts beads in the set, the large black and white beads. They have traces of goldstone and bluestone glitter jazzing them up.
Speaking of the night sky, Venus makes an appearance in the early morning hours. Check with Astronomy Magazine for the best viewing in your locale.
Nims bravely enters the tub
Miss Nimbus had one bath, months ago, when her white coat was really dirty. She did not take kindly to this warm water dousing, and has been hesitant to even enter the bathroom, and especially not the dreaded bathtub!
Mo hops in the tub often to check out the dripping tap and get some really fresh water. I was thinking it would be handy if she were aware of this extra water source, and wanted to quell her fear of the bathroom, so I decided to try bribing her with food.
They both adore Hills Tartar Diet food, which I originally got for Mo’s dental health. I tried leaving a couple pellets of this treat in the bottom of the tub for Nims. At first she was very interested but would not go near it while I was in the bathroom. Later I checked and it was gone. Soon she was putting her paws up on the edge of the tub and watching me put out treats, licking her lips, then she was brave enough to jump in the tub – but immediately jumped out with the food in her mouth to eat it in the safety of the doorway. Pretty funny. Finally she was relaxed enough to eat what she found right there in the tub.
Here they are having a tussle in the kitchen. They will play fight and chase each other around the house. I hope they are playing more than fighting, sometimes I break them up when it starts sounding too mean.
Nimbus and Mo play fight
black, gold and blue focal bead with moonstone accents
This week’s handmade Aura Sun Arts creation features a focal bead with a black core, drifts of metallic gold and bluestone, and captive air bubbles encased in clear glass.
The lentil shaped moonstone accent beads along the necklace have their own mysterious hints of blue and gray. So sophisticated!
It measures 18 inches; the balance of smaller seed beads are in colors of matte and oil blacks and gold.
Click to see it close-up for true appreciation.
To learn more about the optical properties of moonstone, you will find the Wiki entry on adularescence is most enlightening.
Nims chasing a Christmas Mouse
The cats had a festive holiday, a dusting of snow, special treats to eat, a little catnip, and Christmas presents! Here is Miss Nimbus chasing a Christmas Mouse that has a special pull string to make it animated.
One cat carried said mouse upstairs, the double-take when you spot a mouse in your bedroom is entertaining. In the photo you can just see the gold ribbon on the back of Nim’s collar. I had super glued several festive streamers on her collar and she promptly pulled all but one of them off. She then lost her collar outdoors, and I put on a substitute new collar, a soft baby girl pink that complimented her ears. A white cat with white ears is something to watch. The vet pointed out to me that when she is interested in something, the blood flow increases and her ears turn a bright pink.
A few days later I found her original collar outdoors. When I held it up to put it back on her, she heard the bell and ran for it. No self respecting cat would want to wear gold streamers, please let me keep the pink collar!
Mo, Sawdust, and Nimbus
Here they are hanging out watching Mr Sawdust, who had been showing off his tree climbing skills. Sawdust even got a pinch of catnip out on the porch, to ring in the new year.
the mo report | mary | 
January 29, 2011 12:35 am | 
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