Pet beads

Mandy Hula blue merle beads

I have been working on a series of pet beads.  Some were inspired by the unfortunate passing of some dearly beloved pets.  I made one series with blacks, grays and hints of brown and blue to honor a blue merle Australian Shepherd, she of the dancing hairy skirts known as Mandy Hula.

Sambeaux tortoiseshell beads

Another series was made to honor a very pretty tortoiseshell long haired cat named Sambeaux.  I had a nice time snuggling with Sambeaux, scratching under her chin while she purred nonstop.  I will miss both of those dear friends and I know their owner is missing them mightily.

Jasper orange tabby beads

A third series were in the colors of an orange and white tabby, our friendly neighbor cat Jasper.  I had not seen him for several weeks and feared the worst, but he showed up with a freshly shaved neck which tells me he must have spent some time at the vet’s.  That series was an extra challenge as the opalino cream colored glass has a lower melting point than the clear and amber encasing.

Click on any of the photos to see the entire row of beads in each series.  I think Aura Sun Arts will be specializing in these pet beads for many a furry friend.  Custom requests are always accepted.

Defending one’s turf

whack! take that!

Miss Nimbus gets rather upset if she sees neighbor cat Jasper sitting on the outside windowsill.  She will charge him and smack the glass with her paw, trying to bat him away.

I sometimes hear an odd thumping from the next room and come to investigate.  She is often successful in chasing him away.  The scratches in the tabletop bear testament to the vigor of her defense.  She really gets indignant.

He doesn’t go to far, hanging out on the porch in the sun, that loud raspy voice greeting me if I go outside.  Jasper seems pretty pleased with himself and life in general, just look at the picture below.  He and Mo get along well, they are outdoors together during the day.

Miss Nimbus remains housebound during daylight hours to give the birds a chance, such as the hummingbird spotted at the waterfall this week.  Keeping her on the night shift works better than bells on the collar.  It would be super for wildlife if more cat owners followed this policy.

happy cat jasper

Sawdust is… Jasper!!!

Hello Mo fans!

Well our visiting cat friend Sawdust gets the spotlight this week.  He is the orange and white cat with the sweet face who has been hanging around from time to time.  When the weather took a real cold turn a few weeks back Mr Sawdust became a very regular visitor, stopping by the back porch every morning, sitting on the windowsills, meowing to come in.

When I went outside he would rub up against my ankles and seemed so determined to come in that I became worried and fed him a small bit out on the porch some mornings.  There were a couple families that had moved recently, had he been abandoned?  I finally decided to try a test message and put a red collar on Sawdust with a short message:  HUNGRY: am I a stray?

Oh giggles, he shows up a few days later with a pretty black collar and name tag:  Jasper!

Mr Jasper stops by for a visit

Jasper is a type of semi-precious rock that comes in a variety of browns, quite the appropriate name for him.  The name tag also had a phone number on the back, and a call to Jasper’s family was fun.  Apparently Jasper goes visiting to quite a few neighbor’s houses, and he is just over the back fence from me so we are happy he is not crossing any roads.

My cats are quite relieved to not have this intruder be homeless.  Miss Nimbus has had her run-ins with Jasper, it was he who had her trapped up on the shed roof.  Now when she sees him sitting on the windowsill she jumps up on the inside of the window and smacks the glass with her paws to scare him away.  Cats can be very jealous defending their human from other cats!

I sneak outside and give him the chin scratch anyway, he’s such a nice fellow.