Meet the Porch Kitties

My indoor cat, Louie Mozart.

I have always loved animals. Picked up every stray cat or hurt bird and brought them home. Tried to fix their injuries or comfort them and thought some day I would be a vet.

Fast forward. I teach graphic design - a far cry from an animal doctor. My compassion for creatures is still here, so when I heard the muffled sound a a kitten crying in the area of my basement, I ran to investigate and rescue. What was a cat doing down there?

One of the kitties coming out to grab a bite to eat before going back into it's safe home under the porch. 

We have a what I call a cellar and crawl spaces around the edges. Creepy. Full of spider webs and god knows what else. Our front porch has a stone foundation that meets the crawl space and over the years a small hole developed. Almost enough to get a small child through. On the outside, a small hole has been dug by animals and it maked a convenient space to house one little baby kitten. Oh, there was room for more under there but I could only see one and figured the mama cat chose this spot to have her kitties and only one survived. She was keeping it from the March wind and cold.

Couldn't get to that baby kitty but I observed a dutiful mama cat sneaking in and out of the hole under the porch. Kitty was being fed. It was safe from the elements. All is well. Soon the kitty will be old enough to be on its own and on their merry little way they go. Too bad that only one little kitty has survived the March harshness...

To my surprise, several weeks later I saw two slightly larger, almost identical kittens near the hole! What? Where did it come from? Maybe there were always two and I just thought I was just seeing one. Nope. There were two.

Mama cat in black with two kitties. 

Another week went by and my husband texted me at an art show that I was a vendor at..."there's FOUR!" What?! Four kittens and their mother had taken a liking to the space under my front porch. Mama cat must have been keeping the others somewhere else and bringing them to my porch. Beautiful creatures all of them. Mama was a black cat, small and thin from her batch of babies. Kitties were a gray/black stripe - one long hair (thanks to daddy cat) and three short hair.

I loved watching them move in and out of their new home. Sometimes they would sun on my deck, getting braver everyday. Tried to pet them but they would scattered. Mama cat liked to come to the back porch. Stare in the house from the glass door. So sad.

I decided to feed them when I came home one day and saw mama cat on her side with all the kittens nursing (or maybe just finding some comfort). She looked so thin and tired. As one mama to another, I knew what she was going through.That's it! Against my better judgement I started to feed them. They all took to the dry cat food and water that I set out. Perfect.

DON'T DO IT, said my husband. YOU ARE GETTING TOO ATTACHED. Too late, dear. They already have names - Chance, Lucky, Bliss, and Joy. Over the weeks they grew, ate, played and sunned themselves on the deck. I was even able to get close to Leona (the mama cat) as she ate on the back porch. Just a small touch here and there. The babies however would have nothing to do with me. Too scared and frightened. They would just be four ferel kittens and roam the neighborhood.

Then, one day in May, they were gone. I was sad. Enjoyed having these outside cats around. How dare they leave the place that gave them shelter and food for all those weeks. Maybe nature had taken its course and they were on their way to bigger and better things. It was probably for the best. I could never take care of all those cats. What about the responsibility of spaying/nuetering five cats? They are gone. Someone else's problem.  It all worked out for the best or so I thought....

Part Two - stayed tuned for a lesson in patience! 

A good spot...

Everyone needs a shrine!

Everybody needs a shrine. I have one over my kitchen sink. When I do the dishes I like to look at all the items that have the honor of being placed on top of it. The window in front of me looks right out to my backyard. Louie, my cat perches on the shrine. I have left some space so he can rightfully take his place of honor. He drinks his water on the shelf…a small dish that was used to hold dipping oil. Close to the sink so I can give him fresh water when he wants. It is also the spot where I snapped a photo of Louie watching the birds in the backyard from the window that sits behind the shelf. Painted my “Cat in the Window, Bird in the Tree” from that moment. Wonder what he thinks of as he sits there?

"Cat in the Window, Bird in the Tree" on my "a mess of things" Facebook page.

My trinkets are all lined up on the shelf. Things I’ve bought. Things I’ve found. Things with special meaning. Here is just a short list of what I have:

• Postcard painted with Frieda Kahlo on it that I acquired at my college’s annual art auction. Her hair is wild with bright gold stokes painted in between her black locks.

• Old glass bottles in a rusted tin can that used to hold yeast. Love putting flowers from the garden in the bottles. Nested with the bottles is an old graduation figure - reminds me of Matt, my youngest. Maybe it is because unlike a lot of his friends who stayed close to home, he picked up and went off to a college four hours from where we live in Wisconsin. Didn't know a soul. Survived and made friends. Now he's making it on his own once again in the city and doing fine. Brave little soul.

• A “Day of the Dead” doll that rattles on a stick. I got it at the Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. A wonderful place to go – bright and colorful and a stone’s throw away from the start of a great walking tour of outdoor murals in the Pilson neighborhood. I took the doll to school briefly and told my students that if they heard the rattle it meant I was putting a curse on them! Don’t think they believed me.

• An old glass bottle that Matt found one day at his job. He is an environmentalist and worked for the Cook County Forest Preserve. He knows I love old, dirty “finds”, so it meant a lot to me that he took the time to pick it up and bring it home with him. Just like a little boy would do. Sweet.

• Two “Louie the cat” statues. Did I tell you that I adore that cat? 

Homage to Louie

On the other side of the shelf there is a miniature replica of an outdoor fruit stand that I picked up in the Dominican Republic when we were there for my oldest son’s wedding. Near it stands a lucky Buda, and a pretty little doll with a teacup on her head – a gift from my sister-in-law.

New things find their way to the shelf. A bright, hand painted bowl from one of my favorite stores - Anthropologie. A sweet cottage with a blue roof. Gifts from a dear friend. 

The little house with the blue roof - a gift from a dear friend because it reminded her of my "little cottage".

Two plaques hang between the window casings. Love the quotes on them. One says, “When mama isn’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” How true. The other is my favorite quote about raising children…”Raising kids is like being pecked to death by a chicken.” Love my kids but oh, how we all can relate to that.

Things get moved around and replaced on that shelf, but not very often. I like to surround my self with meaningful things. Gifts from the heart. Simple treasures. Things that bring back loving memories. It’s nice to come to this spot, even if it is to wash dishes. Sometimes Louie pops up and keeps me company, his tail swishing in the air and almost dipping into the water. It’s a good spot for both of us…

Spring is Here...

I was so excited to show you pictures of my lampshade makeover last week that I forgot to also post  pictures of my birdcage centerpiece that I talked about. To refresh your memory, I bought a small concrete pedestal (the kind you might put a gazing ball on) and placed a birdcage on it. A wreath of tiny pink flower buds crowns the top along with some spring greenery wrapped around the cage.

Inside the cage are three nests that I found during my walks with the dogs or left on the grass in our yard like a tiny gift from God. Lovely little things - two very small ones...wispy and fragile...a finch nest perhaps. Another large one with three blue eggs in it, sitting frozen in time. They all rest on a bed of moss and are carefully tucked in their places.

Louie our cat is very curious about the whole thing. He lurks under the curtains in the dining room and jumps ever so softly on the table every once in a while to check it out. I wonder if he is confused with it all? Sometimes he will sit on a small shelf near the kitchen sink near the windows that look out to the back yard. When they are open and the birds are calling he seems mesmerized with their chant. I long to let him go outside but alas, he is an indoor cat. I am afraid to let him roam for fear something will happen to him. Very attached to that cat.

You see, Louie was the first animal that my youngest son, Matt acquired as a young man on his own in the city. After graduation last year from a small college in Ripon, Wisconsin, Matt headed to Logan Square a charming neighborhood in Chicago. He spent some time there his junior year in college at an exchange semester sponsored by his school. Best thing for him. Learned to maneuver in the city. Embrace everything there is to see, smell, taste and hear. But I'm getting off the track. Louie came into the picture when Matt decided that he wanted a pet. However, there was a small catch...NO ANIMALS ALLOWED in the apartment! He got the cat anyway and after a few weeks he was "found out". The cat, named Spaghetti at that time needed a home. Always wanting a cat and with little convincing of my husband (he's not as found as I am of felines) we gave Spaghetti a home. He looked more like a Louie and his full name is Louie Mozart...Mozart being the street that Matt lived on. Louie is like having a little piece of Matt home with me. A reminder of his "coming into his own" time...of all the precious visits and adventures that we had and are still having when we visit him.

This painting is now on exhibition at Gibby's Wine Den in Geneva, Il. I have several cat paintings as well as other mixed media art there for the month of April. Come on in if you are in the area...grab a glass of wine. Great shopping close by and Geneva is such a lovely little place to wander. My opening was last evening. Went with friends and had a wonderful time. Some new friends stopped by as well to show their support. They bought a painting from my husband at his show last month and were kind enough to come in and view my work. One of the nice things that happens when you exhibit your art are the people you meet and the friendships that come out of it.

Enjoy your spring and find beauty in the smallest acts of nature...