the patchwork dress

remembering murphy

murphy - may 2009-august 2010

...we shall miss our beautiful, handsome and funny guy...

 

 

we love you Murphy, and miss you very very much xxx 
 

 

someone...

... wasn't feeling too well yesterday and had to go to the V-E-T... 

He had to stay in all day, and took himself off to 'bed'.  I caught him peeking out from underneath the blankets looking very cute, and actually quite content.

much better today and back to old form, out chasing butterflies!

murphy likes sticks

 

  
 
 

 

... in search of Spring

Last weekend it snowed - and this weekend, the snow is still lying all around the house, frozen to the ground.

Murphy and I went out in search of Spring.

"Signs of something here, boss" - but still - much later than last year.

It's Murphy's first spring.

 

I can tastes it!

I'll climb up on the roof and see if I can see it?
 

Nope!

Nothing that way...

Are you sure you're not making this Spring Thing up?  
  

   

 

notes

This has been my first officially free day off, since I began the part time contract - so I had a clear out of my studio, literally my "creative space" to get things going again.  Organising and clearing.  Doing things I hadn't got round to, like changing a lightbulb, and swapping over a table lamp I've been meaning to.  Now there is much more space and light since I also got rid of a couple of pieces of furniture.  It was way too overcrowded in there!

Symbolic?

 

During the clearout I found birthday gifts from last year that were still wrapped up and fabrics from the quilt show in Birmingham, still in their bags!  Also this little stash of mini notebooks I have bought or been given.  

The top one came from Susan Green Books - it's tiny, but so cute.  I saw it a while ago, and when a colleague left work I bought one for him and one for me!  Hm, July was when I started this long run of work, and also Murphy came into our lives - he is taking up quite a bit of it ("that's some cat you've got there" my across the road neighbours have commented, the household next to that know him by name) - things just kind of went on hold.

A couple of weekends ago I was worried as Murphy was on the roof and looking down the chimney. Shouting and throwing stones and then cat biscuits would not distract him! After distraught phone calls, I managed to persuade N to go up and wire up the chimney pot opening.  The next morning we could still hear sounds like debris falling down the chimney and realised a bird must have got down, and would now be sealed in by the wire.  So N had to go back up again.  

(murph checks out a bag) 

Our neighbour came out to see what was going on, and offered to send a brush up his chimney, as we now deduced it was his flue not ours.  The brush came straight up, perhaps it had just been a mouse.  We'd just given up and gone back inside when there was a knock at the backdoor.  Our neighbour had found a starling in his fireplace.  I reckon it must have been stuck there for a few days as Murphy had been acting very strangely in the bedroom by the wall, miaowing - and then going up on the roof.  I think he was trying to tell us "there's a bird stuck in the chimney" - so although he was looking for it, he actually saved it's life!

I feel a bit rusty at blogkeeping - please forgive me and hope I can post a bit more regularly now.  Best go as Murphy is climbing on all surfaces, looking for some mischief!

 

murphy's xmas hat

 

Most years I make my own Christmas cards - it's a bit of a tradition, but this year I don't see myself having much time.  

I thought I'd do a quick photoshoot with Murphy and a hilarious little xmas hat that N had bought - but Murphy has other ideas.  To him, the hat is something to run around the house with, dangling from his mouth.

I tried stuffing it with some paper to make it sit up on his head... but it wasn't going to be!

(I don't know who the crazy woman asking the cat where the xmas hat is, though - honest).

gratitude with catitude

 To join in with Ginny's month of grateful thinking, my first thought goes to this funny wee furry fellow who has come into our lives this year.  

Murphy is quite a character - at only 5 months he already looks like a fully grown cat! I love the way he purrs and "tiggers" onto the bed in the morning - but most of all I love the sound of him drinking his 'kitten' milk.  He laps it all up without stopping for breath, and is just so focused, & very contented.  It gives me a warm feeling to have provided something he enjoys so heartily, and I just love the noise he makes as he drinks!

lucky hallowe'en black cat

Life still goes on being rather busy on the work front - spending most of my spare time catching up on life at home, and managing energy levels - making sure I get some 'down' time... which usually means doing my share of cooking and cleaning!

Meanwhile, this little chap has grown up! Here he is as a kitten - you can see when he still had the stripes in his fur, and some of his behavioural characteristics - pouncing, attacking, galloping from room to room!

He now has his own Youtube channel where you can see a video of him drinking from the tap which he likes to do of a morning... but if you'd like a lucky black cat to cross your path on Hallowe'en - here he is all grown up.  Murphy came to us with an umbilical hernia - so a few weeks ago had his operation, where he also had the 'other' op too - so it was a bit of a double whammy for him!

I must have felt a bit guilty, and bought him a new toy.  It is actually meant for a small dog, like a Yorkshire terrier - and it's an odd little creature we call 'the varmint' or the 'critter' - it looks like a punk squirrel roadkill and has a squeaky inside the head!   Anyway, he absolutely love/hates it - and was delighted, as it was the first toy that looked like a real catch. Oddly, for a cat, he doesn't get put off by the squeaky head which can often be heard round the house as he bites into it! So he proudly trots around with it hanging out of his mouth and occasionally has been found draped over my shoes.

However, when we first gave it to him, he was terribly possesive and we had the first ever growl - which you can hear here! It's a full moon this Hallowe'en - so I don't know what to expect!

Have a good one!

murphy

Well it was an eclipse on the 22nd of july, and our birthdays were rather eclipsed by a new arrival to our household.

Ahem, I will try not to let him take over the content of this blog, but he is just so cute - this was exactly the expression on his face when I first met him.  Slightly gormless, but in wonder.

Our floors are now buffed to high gloss with his belly skite-ing across them.

He is black but has a slight browny tinge with dark tiger stripes.  Watch out.

Meet Murphy x