@tssfulk I imagine Bosse may be getting to spend time outdoors soon.  

@David-Bennett Did Sally play Gray Cat on a Tennessee Farm? 

Sally checking out the dulcimore Dulcimore Dan made for me

Bosse (She's a girl, but has a male name. Ask my daughter why.) She's a "dvärgvädur," which seems hard to translate. Maybe Mini Lop, Hollad Lop, Dwarf Lop.

She's normally in my daughter's room (we live in an apartment), but every summer she gets to spend some time outdoors at grandma and grandpa's in southern Sweden. 

Entrapment!

Oh my, that's too funny, especially at the end! 

Sally Ann Watches a Movie for Cats (with a couple replicas of vintage instruments in the background)

Richard, I believe the model his his Jinny.

David, Sally Ann is such a beautiful can. I know she brings you much joy.

Which model of Dulcimore Dan's is that one? It sure is a nice looking duclimore.

She's bloomed in to such a pretty cat!

David, Sally Ann looks to be studying how she's going to play with her new acquisition.  :)

Here is Sally Ann admiring the new Dulcimore that arrived from Dulcimore Dan this week. The instrument is made pine and cherry. Sally Ann will be a year old on 9 March.

Thank you, Strumelia! He is as sleek and slinky as you could wish, and very, very shiny! It is very hard to take a decent photo of a black cat - unless they have their eyes open, it's like photographing a black lump! These are a couple of my favourites!

The lady from the animal rescue organisation said that black cats are hard to find homes for, and that people are more likely to drown or otherwise dispose of black kittens. They were very happy to find a suitable home for him, as he had been at the pound and in foster care for quite some time. It's a pity, but I would never foster, as I could never give them up to their new homes - I would know they were safe with me!

My sneaky former boss has two black boys, both domesticated ferals like Bran, and now another friend has 'acquired' a little black boy and a long haired mackerel & white boy to go with her two gingers. All four give her dog a hard time - he is very young still, so can learn his place a little more easily than an older dog.

I think cats and dogs that choose you work out better - mine have always been or have turned into the soppiest things on four paws, and they repay you many times over, wherever they come from. I have only ever had one, back in the mid 1970s, who never settled, having come off a farm way to young, and lived a more-or-less independent life for a couple of years!

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Thank you, Richard! I had intended to pay for him myself, but my sneaky former boss beat me to it! Pug was missing Humbug something fierce, and as I had to leave him on his own for three weeks just three weeks after losing Humbug, he did suffer a bit. But, I just had to wait for the right cat! My cats and dogs have pretty much always been rescues, or 'saved', and they have repaid me with many, many years of companionship and purrs!

Anne, it's heartwarming to hear of a perfect fit between homeless animal and a kindly person.
Sounds like you and Bran are very happy together and appreciate each other totally.

The newer photo of Bran shows how sleek and glossy he is... like a minky otter!  SO handsome. 

I've often wondered what it would be like to have a black cat... never actually had one of my own but who knows one day?  Right now I have a deep red tabby and a solid grey... two boys... and I never thought I'd have boy cats OR a red tabby OR a solid grey cat.  Just goes to show!  All our cats come from animal humane shelters adoptions.  Once you go there it breaks your heart and you wish you could help them all.

What a gorgeous black cat. I know he is a wonderful companion for you. He is so fortunate to have such a good owner.

I don't know who remembers June 2016 when I had to have my beautiful blue boy cat Humbug put to sleep, which left me with Pug, my cream boy cat. Waited 6 months for just the right little needy cat to bring home. Found a lovely little black cat (which are apparently very hard to find homes for), about 15 months old, in December 2016 -  a rescue cat who had had a very hard life, including being abandoned at the council pound, and spending some time in temporary foster care. He was underweight, and, because of an allergy to mosquito bites, a bit scabby and sore. I was allowed to take him early, being an experienced cat owner, so he came home on Dec 21st, as a (slightly) early Birthday and Christmas present. (my birthday is the 24th Dec) His bite sores were treated with PawPaw ointment containing Manuka honey, and he was fed up in little meals like a Christmas chicken! 

His name is Bran, which is Irish for raven, as he is as black as one! My former boss, who is also my 'bestie', gave him to me. The best ever Birthday and Christmas present I have ever had!

Well, what a difference two years has made to the boy, who is 3 and a half in March! He is a different cat entirely! Hasn't bulked up much - I think he is always going to be one of those slinky black numbers, but the change in temperament has been amazing, and most gratifying. He is a sook! He also has some deformed toes on both his front feet - I don't know if they are genetic or something really horrible had been done to him in the past. With a tendency to bite if handled, (he did bite me once quite severely!) he was extremely timid with people - probably thought that everyone who came to the house was going to take him somewhere else new! Now he can be picked up and cuddled, handled, and loves nothing more than to snuggle up in bed on cold winter mornings. He has learned to purr, and plays with Pug - something I think Pug would like him not to do on occasion! The kitchen floor wrestling bouts are epic! Sitting on my desk with me, or lying between me and the computer are two of his favourite pastimes, and he spends most winter days with me in my office, curled up in a basket behind my shoulders while I try and work - bliss!

In one photo you can see how his nose was bitten to pieces, and his nose leather was all pink - it's rare that it grows back black, but it has done just that! He now has a lovely black nose, and I don't feel that I have to colour it in with a black texta pen! The other photo is as he is now, snuggled up to 'his' puppy toy, on 'his' chair!

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Nice looking cats Strumelia. Thanks for sharing.

Should we start a GOFundMe page for an air mattress for you & Brian?

Brian and I generally get pushed off the edges and have to sleep on the cold hard floor. 

Strumelia, is there really room for a human on that bed?  :)

At our house, Wintertime means... cats creating 'impact craters' on our feather bed. Or trying to turn over in the middle of the night but your legs pinned down by a ten ton cat.

Here's what I found the other morning when the sun was shining into our bedroom.
Our two big boys nestled in like Siamese twin pork roasts.  Rufus (the red) and Teddy (the grey), who grew up together and are like close brothers even though they're not actually related. When these two are not sleeping or eating, they're tearing around the house while hollering or happily doing body slam wrestling with each other. Boys! 

Happy Birthday Hazel. That cake sure sounds good!

Hazel is a lucky dog!

Awe, what a lucky dog Hazel is!  The hat is too much!  

Hazel's three today. We had a party for her. My grand daughter made her a peanut butter pumpkin cake.

Pets are family!  

Thank you folks,  She mostly sleeps under an old Magnolia tree nowadays. And Strumelia, she is a sweet girl. When our Daughter was little, and had her buddies around, Callie would watch and herd them, if she thought they were in danger. Here is a photo of her and her best pal, Mouse.  Mouse doesn't like her photo taken, as she is roughly 16 lbs and has body shaming issue.

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Yes Callie is so pretty - her colors, and she looks like a sweetheart personality.  

This is my old girl, Callie. Found her wandering alongside the road 13 years ago. She is by far th best dog I’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing my home with. In this photo she’s 14, and this was taken a year ago. She’s a very old lady now, and I know it’s just a matter of time, but I told her when I found her, she could live with us as long as she wanted.

i have two cats as well, and the older one bonded with Callie as a kitten. The other night I came home, and in my headlights in the driveway, I see the two of them walking together with the cat nudging Callie away from the hedgerow and back into the center of the path she was on. Good pets are good friends.

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Hey, Fodderwing!  

For years, we had a crippled doe in our neck of the woods-- one of her hooves was turned under and she hobbled along on that first joint.  She lived a long time and I don't know what became of her. 

This is Fodderwing. She is an orphan who's mom was hit by a car. Not my pet but comes up to the back porch to visit  occasionally. She actually came over to greet a deer hunter who hunts my farm!. The guy was dumbfounded to see this deer following him around. To cute to shoot.... Robert

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Lucky dogs!  

Wow @susie , those dogs are livin' the life !

We get a lot of snow in Northern Michigan. So, our dogs get a custom race track (maze) out back each year.

I

Thanks for the 'warm' comments on Gracie @susie @robin-thompson @strumelia  

That Gracie is a real firecracker !!         What a terrific photo, Sam!

It's obvious Gracie loves snow more than I do!  haha

Aren't pets great!? 

Gracie LOVES snow!

💕😻🐶

Awwww, Dulcicat you made my day!  

Strumelia, - Many, many thanks for the banner on the home page that encourages adoption of rescue animals from local shelters! I’m so pleased to see that and maybe some lucky dog or cat will be adopted because of it! 

A TAB-ee, eh?   

David, your Sally reminds me a bit of our Ellie... who lived a long very happy and healthy life... and passed away peacefully at age 20, nine years ago.

Here's a picture of Ellie when she had just turned 20. In this photo she was clearly elderly... but when she was young she looked a lot like Sally!  

Does this mean Sally is a "tabby"?

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Frank I just love that you made those stairs for Lacey. 

@frank-ross Lacey is sure a pretty girl!  All our dogs lived long. . . And there's just something special about having long relationships with animals.

@david-bennett What else could Sally do if there was no dog to point to as the culprit?  haha

Yesterday while Karen and I were watching football on TV our young cat, Sally, sauntered in from what we call the "computer-music room and lay innocently on Karen's lap. During a commercial I went in to that room and found turkey feathers scattered all over the floor. Sally had found the stash I thought was well enough out of the way.  As I was picking them up Sally poked her head in the doorway and had this look on her face like, "What in the world happened here?"

Here is Lacey on her 18th birthday. She used to be a big fan of my dulcimer playing but is mostly deaf now. She is still pretty active - likes to watch the leaves falling and the birds at the feeder. She can't jump like she used to and here is a picture of her using the steps I made for her so she can get up on the bed.

Sally's looking sleek and sassy, Dave.     

Sally at 2 months and 7 months checking out my 1931 Uncle Ed Thomas reproduction made by Kevin Messenger 

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Oh my, is Sugar wearing a tutu?  

@belinda What a cutie! 

Wow, Salt, I'm happy all ended well!  

Aw, I'm glad you got the snake out unharmed, @salt-springs !

Don't you get a kick out of getting up in the morning and walking into the kitchen and finding the latest creature that the cat has brought in for your inspection?  A beautiful creature but one that can deliver a nasty bite if so inclined.  I took him/her out to the edge of the deck and let it go, it was not injured but not really happy either.

congrats on the new member of your family.

It was the supreme gift!

We have a writing desk with a writing space that drops down, it is next to a table that our 'puter is on.  For the last week or so on the desk I had a primary turkey feather that I put there waiting to get around to doing something noter/droninsh with.

 The other night, my wife had already some to bed, while I was taking care of business on the 'puter, Sally snuck up behind me on the chair I was in and stealthily got on the writing desk to my left, and quick as a wink snatched the turkey feather and went dashing off with her prize.

 I let her think she got one over on me, figuring I'd later find the turkey feather with her stash of kitty toys, wadded up paper, and other treasures she's collected.

When I finally went to bed I found that turkey feather laying on top my sleeping wife.

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What fun, @hobbyhorse ! 

Jack and Pippi at speed on the sand dunes. Jack, the spaniel X a rehomed pooch, and Pippi, the chihuahua a rescued pup.

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Must be the way she is laying that makes her look like a larger cat. She is a beauty!

Hi Susie.  Sheba is a pretty average sized girl cat.  We got her from the local Humane Society... we get all our cats from there.  

She looks like a good sized cat....how much does she weigh? Very pretty!

Sally Ann has filled out very nicely. Looks like she grew a sleek new coat, too.  

and- my oh my, those are two beautiful dulcimers!

Our 3 cats seem to like it when Brian and I play tunes... as we begin to play they casually* saunter into the room (*so we won't know they actually approve of something we do) ...and they take up positions in various chairs. As though their appearance was all accidental.

However, our red cat Rufus detests my pennywhistle playing... at the very first note he races  out of the room. I can't really blame him.  

Here's a side by side comparison of Sally Ann from 11 May and today (I have this in the correct forum today).

In the top photo Sally is checking out my 1931 Uncle Ed Thomas reproduction made by Kevin Messenger and in the bottom one she is looking at my 1915 Uncle Ed Thomas reproduction made by John Knopf.

Our previous furball, Peachy, really enjoyed it when I'd play my dulcimer and would contentedly watch me play for the longest time she'd even ask me to play. So far Sally Ann doesn't have a lot of interest in the instrument or listening to it much, though she did the other night. I think right now for Sally Ann everything in the world is too new and interesting to sit around and listen to me play music. My guess is when she becomes an adult cat she won't have so much energy and have a more contemplative. And if not, that's ok too!

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One relaxed kitty!

Sheba (aka Boo Boo) likes to lie on the backs of chairs and along the tops of open doors.