Author / greg-in-washington

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Posts by greg-in-washington

Cat guy. I live in Pierce County, Washington, USA. Like cats, old photographs, and short blog posts.
by greg-in-washington

Zeke (part 1)

Zeke, a striking Maine Coon cat, has always been the mascot of the Feline Cafe; however, when Scooby arrived, Scooby seemed to takeover. The original hierarchy here was Miss Opie, Zeke, and Marigold the Elder. When Scooby moved in, he immediately moved to the top of the ladder. Everyone is OK with that except Opie who was dethroned. She hisses, screams, and swats at him whenever he is too close. One of Scooby’s favourite games is to chase Opie around the house. Zeke enjoys having a new brother to hang out with.

A short recap about Zeke’s origin: He was born to a pair of feral cats, who lived in a barn behind a small log cabin in Tennessee, (I just made that up about the barn, log cabin and Tennessee.) as was Opie to the same cats. He was tiny and lived in a tipped-over flower pot on a neighbor’s porch. (true) I had already reluctantly taken in Opie and had five cats. I said I did not want Zeke. They took him to the shelter, where they said Zeke was feral–he made a big fuss–and that they would kill him that very day. They decided to bring him back instead, and I took him in. I am glad I did now. He does not go outside, except for the catio. He is afraid of the outdoors, and other people. He has a nest under a bed where he hides and sleeps. A doorbell ring sends him running. Unlike Scooby, he has no fear of visits by deer at all.

Zeke cat tree

Top of the cat tree

Zeke chair

I hope Zeke likes the cushion of my nice chair

chair

We will never forget. We have no proof–just suspicions it was Zeke. He will not confess.

zeke box

Zeke in a tiny box. He likes boxes too.

zeke box

Zeke box and blankets–better

zeke window

Zeke in catio window

zeke catio

Zeke in his favourite place in the morning

zeke catio

Zeke in catio

Zeke part 2 is a work in progress. No sense having a part one without a part two!

by greg-in-washington

Lions in woodland park zoo seattle

Here are a few photos of lions taken at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle this week. Pictures of animals in zoos may not be interesting to some. Many do not like to see animals confined in zoos. If they were not in a zoo, they may not survive, as the wild is a dangerous place now. If you cannot see a real animal in a zoo, how can you care about them in the wild, when you have never seen a real one? I wonder if Scooby would be afraid of seeing these animals? There is a very slim chance a mountain lion or bear could show up in my backyard–but slim is not zero! I have many animal photos to choose from but I will just stick with these cats, as this is, after all, a cat blog.

Lions in zoo

Seattle Woodland Park Zoo

male lion

Scooby Senior

scooby cat

Tabby cats are descended from African wildcats. See any resemblance? Cats, giraffes, and camels are the only animals that walk putting their right front foot and right rear foot forward; then left front and left rear foot forward, and so forth and so on. You might need to know this on the “Jeopardy” television quiz.

Below is shown a photo of lions in the London Zoo I took back in 1976! When you are counting how many shots you have left on your roll of film, you have to be selective. I concentrated on “people” photographs. They are the ones that stand the test of time.

 

London Tower Bridge 1976 and Lions in London Zoo
Zeke cat valentine
by greg-in-washington

Valentine greetings and vintage cards

Zeke cat valentine

Valentine greetings and felicitations to all! One again I dig into my father’s collection of cards he saved as I child, and present some more children’s vintage Valentine cards from the 1920’s. I have no cards with cats upon them. There are, however, several with dogs shown. The cards shown today are all from the 1920’s. I have plenty more of these for the future to show. Note that I deleted all previous Valentine Day posts.
23 vintage valentines follow: Continue reading →

Marigold sweater
by greg-in-washington

Snow (the third day)

Yesterday was the third day of the snow storm. I documented the cats’ activity and post it for you all today. Thousands are STILL without power, because many falling trees knocked down the power lines. My luck held. So, what’s been going on?

Scooby asleep

What I found in my bed when I woke up. Not interested in the catio


More photos: Continue reading →

wedding cake
by greg-in-washington

Snow days

In Snow days, the first wave of snow hit, I took the photos following, and yet more snow came since I took these photos. There was minor damage to trees and shrubbery, but nothing serious. Many thousands lost power, but I managed to hold on to most of mine, and the daily routine was normal, except for some snow shovelling. My cats did not get to go out in the snow. The catio is as close as they came to it. I think they prefer it that way. Scooby has made it clear that even if he is bundled up, he still hates having frozen feet. He needs booties like the Alaska sled dogs running the Iditarod dog sled race.  Seen in the previous post, Zeke likes the cold weather.  Where is Opie, you might ask?  Wanting none of this and in a very warm place.

scooby cat snow

Scooby watching the first flakes of the snow storm

snowfall

Increasing snowfall

marigold cat catio

Marigold checking morning snow and weather the next day–long after Zeke’s earlier inspection (see previous post)

Marigold cat snow

Marigold checking out the backyard

tree snow

My poor Japanese maple. I beat it with my snowshovel and it popped back up to normal shape!

wedding cake

Wedding Cake. Looks tasty!