A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from my life. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

The idea for "This Moment" is from the beautiful blogger Tracey at Clover.
Update: Oops, Tracey informs me that this orginates from Amanda at Soule Mama.

This week I am participating in Linda's Black & White Wednesday with photos of one of my favorite subjects, Charlie. I have to admit, I cheated a little by doctoring color photographs in Picnik to make them black and white.

I wish I could show you a picture of how Charlie looked when I first found him as a tiny five week old kitten so that you could see the contrast. He was skeletal and had a swollen, infected eye. I doubt he would have lived through another day if someone hadn't rescued him. (If you would like to read the story of how Charlie came in to my life, it is here.)

I take lots of pictures of my kitties, but my camera never seems to be close by when they're doing something especially cute. By the time I fish it out of the bottom of my bag (my camera, not my cats), the moment has passed. And then there are other times when I think I'm about to get the perfect photograph, only to discover I pressed the button two seconds too late.

In this one, Charlie is *helping* me out with a close up. Or maybe he's about to attack the camera.

Apollo keeps one eye on me.

* * *
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This is turning out to be a quiet weekend. I slept in this morning and then did housekeeping chores. It is cool and overcast today, and tomorrow it's supposed to rain. Nice stay-home-and-cuddle weather.

I wonder if Charlie knows an angel watches over him while he sleeps.

I wonder if my yarn knows an angel watches over it while it sleeps.


Sometimes that particular angel falls asleep on the job.


Nevertheless, there's lots of watching over going on around here.

:0)

♥ Happy Valentine's Day! ♥
Love,
Charlie & Apollo
xxoo

I think I *might* know who has been wreaking havoc around the house.

I recently treated myself to a dozen yellow roses and put a few in a vase by my bed. I stopped buying fresh flowers when I got my cats a few years ago because I figured they would knock them over or chew them up. Turns out I was right-- I came home from work to find the vase upside down, water everywhere and the roses on the floor. But the good news is after my kitty got it out of his system, he didn't do it again. So I guess I have no excuse for keeping fresh flowers around :o)

Yesterday my little black cat hopped up on my lap and looked up at me with his sweet hopeful face, and for the life of me I could not recall his name! Isn't that awful? It came to me after a moment or two ... APOLLO! I didn't name him, so maybe that's why I couldn't remember it.


A while back I told the story of how Charlie came to live with me, so now I'll share Apollo's story. A few years ago, my neighbor stopped by to ask if I wanted a kitten. She said that one of her co-workers discovered him in her kitchen, in the oven vent! He had somehow gotten up on the roof of the house and fell down the vent. I agreed to take him, and a few days later a tiny five week old kitten was delivered to my door.


Apollo and Charlie were best buddies right off the bat. Apollo still needed mothering, and even though Charlie was only one year old, he took care of him like a parent, cleaning, playing, and napping with him.


This is my favorite picture of the two of them when Apollo was a kitten. He looks like a tiny monster. I wonder if in his head he was saying, "Grrrrrr ..."


The person who found him named him Apollo, but I tried to change it. I called him Tink for a while, but he never responded to it. He seems to know that he is Apollo, so I went back to that. Of course, he does have lots of nicknames, like Polly, Tinkles, and Boo Bear.


Oh, maybe that's why I can't remember his name. :o)

Have a great week.

This is my latest attempt at a collage. I tried a new technique, crumpling tissue paper on canvas and then dabbing it with paint and gesso before adding the collage pieces. It's now out on the patio in my little art gallery.



Hope you're having a great week!

I woke up yesterday morning to the strangest sound outside the window. It was like drops of water were falling out of the sky and landing on the ground with a soft patter. I jumped out of bed to look, and sure enough, rain! Plus, it was chilly ... so chilly I actually put on a pair of socks for the first time in months, and used my bedroom heater for the first time since I moved in to my new place. Hurray!