Goodbye Kibeau

 

Last Saturday my sweet Kibeau crossed the rainbow bridge. He had declined rapidly - I'm still shocked about how quickly; one day he was jumping a six foot fence, two days later he couldn't walk ten feet without resting. Granted, he was a very old cat - 18 years, which translates to 85+ human years. But that didn't make it any easier. Renee, Kibeau's "legal" owner, eventually found a vet who would come to our home. It was very peaceful, I stayed with Kibeau until the very end. I had been his person for the last six years and there was no way I wouldn't be at his side for his last journey.

I admit, I haven't cried that much in a long time than I did the last few days.

Here I wrote how he became my cat. The following photo is the very first picture I took of him when he turned up in my garden in the fall of 2018.

Back then I was already fascinated by his paws.

He had the cutest paws - big and chubby, and ready to extend those claws!

Like all cats, he was a master snoozer.

In 2020 he began staying in our garden full-time, no going home anymore and Renee asked us if we could feed him. Of course we could. I have to give it to her, she took it very gracefully that Kibeau wouldn't go home to her anymore. I guess there were too many other cats in his home plus a dog - and he really hated dogs. When I thought about the timing later, I realized that he decided to stay here shortly after Kaefer had left for Germany.

He adored Kaefer!

Because of the Geek's severe allergies, Kibeau couldn't come into the house, so he became the most spoiled and pampered outdoor cat in the neighborhood. I got him a cat house, friends of ours gave us a heating pad that their little dog didn't like (and Kibeau loved) and it's emparrassing to admit how many blankets he had so that he would stay warm in those cold winter nights.

He was there when I put the laundry on the line, sat with me while I was knitting or just snozzed in the flower beds.

One day we hadn't closed the screen door completely and suddenly he turned up in our bedroom.

Of course he took his sweet time checking out everything and being cute.

Sometimes I let him in my studio where he enjoyed sitting at the window. looking out. While I was trying to follow along a creative writing course on Zoom, he thought it was appropriate to take a nap on top of my notebook.

He was such a rascal!

But in the last few days he reached his ultimate goal - our couch. The Geek, my allergic husband, took dozens of pictures of Kibeau sleeping on our couch. He is such a softie.

Kibeau had worked his way into our hearts and he has a special place there. I will always remember him very fondly.

And today, Kibeau is my star for Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Türkiye Kedisi - Cats of Turkey

 

Resting in the ruins of Ephesus

For Nicole's Friday Face Off I am sharing cats' faces today. In August 2018, after we had come back from our trip to Turkey, I had already written about the cats of Istanbul. However, somehow I missed to give the cats outside of Istanbul the same "honor". Until today.

In Göreme

The Turkish people are very cat (and dog) friendly people. Especially cats are seen everywhere - most of them are stray cats that nevertheless are looked after. And they are loved by everyone and everyone looks out for them. It was quite amazing to witness.

The cats seem to hang out everywhere - in the streets, in ancient historical sites, in national parks, in museums, even in mosques.

Keeping us company while we had dinner in a street café in Selçuk

We visited the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk and look who was hiding there! Professor Cat, taking a nap.

The roof of the building across from our beautiful small hotel in Selçuk was a meeting point for cats of the neighborhood.

But the highest number of cats we saw in the archaeological site of Ephesus.

It was a punishable hot day and the cats took all the spots in the shade.

They were completely unimpressed by this:

They did what cats can do best - sleeping, napping, resting.

Only a few were a bit more alert.

I guess sleeping in such a historical place on such ancient stones is just perfect for cats. Meow.

If you love cats, you will love this 2016 movie, "Kedi" (cat), about the cats in Istanbul. I loved it. Here is the trailer. 

I might not be able to get to your blogs today. Kibeau is ready to cross the rainbow bridge (he is 18 years old) and we hope the vet can come over tomorrow. Today is probably his last day and I want to be at his side. He has always loved company.

Doodle Portraits

This month Kaefer and I do a "Fun in the Sun" challenge together. We do this via an app we both use. When you live so far apart from each other (5527 miles straight line flight distance or 8896 km) you have to use different methods of doing things together than if you're living in the same city or the same country. 

One of the challenges is to doodle a self portrait. I'm not good at drawing or painting portraits in the first place, but in this case I didn't really mind. I didn't even try to achieve something like a resemblance to the "real me" - I just enjoyed doodling a rather wonky face. I used graphite pencils for this.

Kaefer, however, chose to draw herself doing something she loves - riding her bicycle. Just a few weeks ago she took a week-long solo bike trip along the Donauradweg (Danube Cycle Path) and around the Neusiedler See (Lake Neusiedl) in Austria and Hungary.

You probably already guessed that these two drawings are my contribution to Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Patches of Light

 

The different quality of light fascinates me and it is what draws me into photography over and over again. I especially like the morning light, when only patches of light are visible while everything else is still in shade. Often I go into the garden before breakfast just to see what the light looks like. Of course this only works on non-gloomy mornings, and we had a lot of gloomy mornings recently (just debunking the myth of sunny California).

In the morning the sun has to get past the enormous old Coastal Live Oak next to our property. Rays of sunshine dance through her branches and leaves and lighten up only small areas in the garden.

There are always shadows on the fence that delight me.

Later in the day, the birdbath will become quite popular. One of the Mourning Doves loves to hang out on the angel's head.

Look how the Salvia sclarea lightens up in the few rays of sunshine. When the seeds develop, this plant becomes very popular with the Lesser Goldfinches. They balance on the swaying stems and pick the seeds. I love watching them while they do that. The bumblebees love this flower as well. And as an extra perk, it's drought tolerant and thrives in sun as well as in shade.

The deer love to visit the front garden. I wish the would eat the weeds with the same enthusiasm as they raid the olive tree, smokebush and sometimes even the buckwheat! Evidently they haven't read the note that "deer don't like this plant". Well, mine do!

The photo was taken through the window screen, hence the stripes

Isn't that a sweet face for Nicole's Friday Face Off?

We also had repeat visits from a skunk family - here is a super short video taken with our outdoor camera (turn up the volume). I think this was the evening when there were five little skunks. Two days later, there were seven. We're wondering whether next time there will be nine...

Aren't they stinking cute?

And today - I found this little guy in one of my favorite nurseries. It's a planting pot. It's "only" 295 bucks (+ tax), a steal! Gosh, I love Talavera pottery. If I were rich I would have taken him home and he could keep company with my metal cow in the garden.

Does he count for Friday Face Off, too?