Jun 17, 2011
Today is a special day in our house – it marks the close of the 14th year that our cat, Lady Jane, has been with us.
Lady Jane is short for Lady Jane Grey, the former, very short lived, queen of England. Her name came from the fact that she was quite obviously a grey tabby, she looked so dainty and small (a “lady”), and the fact that my sister, who paid the adoption fee as a gift to us, has the middle name Jane. It all seemed to fit.
Lady Jane, like her brother Ripley, is also a rescue, the exception being that her original home was the Brampton Animal Shelter. We adopted her as a kitten of about 3 months old. Now, when I say “we”, I should clarify. My husband wasn’t there when I picked Lady Jane out and adopted her. My sister was. But, I had to call Dean and let him know what I had done. I’ll never forget the conversation.
“Hey honey, you will never guess what I have gone and done!”
“You adopted another kitty?”
Silence. How did he know? He says now that it was simply in my voice. And the fact that we had had some conversation about Ripley needing a sister at some point. I honestly have no recollection of such a conversation, but I was so happy that Dean was willing to welcome Lady Jane into our home.
Lady Jane changed our home forever. Initially, she did not stop moving and I do not remember her ever sitting down. She would only collapse on occasion to sleep. At night, she would walk on us constantly until such time that she needed a warm place to nap. While Ripley preferred my feet, Lady Jane’s “place” would be my husband’s face. She seemed to like the warmth of his breathing, kind of like a heating vent. So, he would awaken to the feeling of being suffocated, which in retrospect, he probably was.
She climbed plants, she chewed things and enjoyed laying on her back with her legs in the air. Anything but a lady! She also has an eye defect – the pupil of her left eye does not contract completely in bright light. So, she compensates by closing her eye a little. However, it also throws her perspective off a little bit and in the beginning, she would run into things at break-neck speed or miss things when pouncing. She purred all the time. Even at her Veterinarian’s office while getting her annual shots. When we spayed her, we were supposed to keep her “quiet” for a couple of days. But that was a lost cause. Apparently, even in Recovery at the vet clinic, she had opened her eyes and begun running about. She was such a happy, comical cat that through everything we would sit back and laugh and love her.
Today, Lady Jane is much calmer than in her kittenhood. She has grown to the point where she is bigger than Ripley. But, she is content to be the little sister and allow her brother the role of Alpha Cat. She moves less and sleeps more as the 14 years of life take their toll. She no longer sleeps on my husband’s face – that would literally kill him. Rather, each night, she lays on the bed, holding my finger in her paw for a few minutes. It is our good-night ritual, just before she moves to sleep on her ottoman by the side of our bed.
Tonight though, we will celebrate. With new catnip mice and treats and belly rubs. We will tell her what a good kitty she is. And she will purr, just as she has for all these years. Happy Anniversary Lady Jane!
Jun 3, 2011
As Posh Pets continues with Project 52, I am posting an image for this week that I think captures the simple theme of “love”. For nothing is stronger than a mother’s love, be it human or animal.
We happened upon this mama cat and her baby during one of our travels in the country of Bulgaria, more specifically the ancient city of Plovdiv. The “old city” is beautifully restored and has an abundance of little shops, lining winding streets, in which you could happily get “lost” for hours. We had decided to enter a local craft shop to see what we could buy when we came across this scene. Technically, the cat was a stray. This we learned from striking up a conversation with the lovely shop keeper. She explained that mama had appeared one day and the she had kindly given her some food. Seeing as the cat continued to come around, she eventually provided a basket for her to make a bed in. And then she had had her kittens. She had never left, preferring to carefully watch over her little ones, hugging this one as he napped (he opened his beautiful blue eyes for us when I took the photo).
As far as we know, to this day neither mama or her babies have names. They are most likely still living outdoors on the streets with only the kindness of one woman to rely upon. However, it was inspiring that, in spite of her circumstances, mama cat had not turned into an angry, fearful animal. Rather she had maintained her trusting nature and allowed us to approach her. She had remained true to her nature – a domestic cat. It made me think that maybe that that sums up the power of love. To be able, in the face of unfavourable conditions, focus positively on someone else important in your life. And to allow that relationship to prevent you from losing your humanity.
Now, it is time to travel around the world. Please check out Karla Ogilvie’s blog and see her interpretation of love!
Apr 22, 2011
For those of you that went looking for last week’s post, so sorry, but we had to miss a week. With all of our travelling, the days just went by too quickly to shoot, edit, write and post. But, Posh Pets is back this week with a new theme – Landscape!
The instructions were: get outside, let the landscape inspire you, try to positively incorporate the surroundings rather than cut them out, and possibly shoot wider than usual. Which, truthfully, sounded like a lot of fun. However, if you live anywhere near Toronto, you will know that this past week featured absolutely horrendous weather. It was hard to go outside without being rained upon, blown about, hit by hail…never mind trying to do this with animals. So, what could I do? Well, in order to meet the deadline, I must confess. I cheated. Just a little. But I will come clean – this week’s image was not shot this week. Rather, it is one the images I took on my vacation about 10 days ago.
You might not find this landscape particularly “inspiring”, but, for me, it tells a story. I will always remember coming upon this dog with the soulful eyes. Who, after having checked us out, continued down the obviously seldom-travelled road alone. And who, just before she disappeared around the corner, turned back one more time, as if to wish us well on our travels. That look is this week’s image. It made me think: as we travel through life, we will meet new people and have experiences quite “by accident”. Sometimes this will happen in the least “inspiring” of places. Do not take these for granted. And, whether we enjoy them for years, months, weeks, days or for only a few moments, be sure to wish them well before we depart.
For another take on this theme, please check out the wonderful Steph Skardal’s image and blog. Do not forget to click through each link to complete the circle and end up back here. We will be waiting for you!
Apr 8, 2011
This week’s theme was “Perspective”. Seeing as we are currently travelling in Europe, finding animals to photograph was a little more of a challenge this week. But travelling does change your perspective on the world, does it not?
I was able to capture this image of a very small, adorable pup who we found by the side of a country road. He doesn’t look that tiny in this photo, but if you are looking for a reference point, look at the height of the grasses where he is sitting. Those are normal blades of grass. Mama was close by keeping watch to make sure we did not hurt her baby. That in itself was quite a touching example of a mother’s love. When we got out of the car, Mama approached our car, obviously very frightened by strangers. As we went to pat her, she lowered her body and turned away – perhaps strangers have not treated her well in the past – but her fear did not stop her from doing all that she could to ensure that her little one was safe. So, we talked softly to her, gave her some water and moved slowly to take photos of her puppy. By this time, the little one had scampered away and was watching us from a safe distance. How he must have wondered who these strange beings were with what must have looked like a gun pointed at him (my 70-200 lens with a hood on is imposing). It made us think, what would your perspective of the world be if you were only 8 inches tall?
To see the next image by Ann Kearns, please click here. Remember, this is a blog circle, so click through each of the links on each of the photographer’s sites until you end up back here.
Apr 1, 2011
On to week 2 for Posh Pets! For a bunch of pet photographers, this week’s theme was a bit of a scary thought – to come out from behind the camera and turn it on oneself. But I think it allowed for a pretty liberal interpretation. Us photographers are always “in the shadows” so to speak, so please enjoy this week’s image:
Want to see more? Please check out Ann Kearns entry here!
Feb 21, 2011
As families in Ontario and Alberta celebrate Family Day today, some are celebrating with their pets. Ripley is our beautiful orange tabby and the original Posh Pet. While he is also known as “Ripley Cat”, “Purr Face”, “Baby”, make no mistake…he is definitely one cool and classy kitty! I think he considers the other names we call him as his “aliases” that he uses when he goes on his secret missions. He’s a debonaire, James Bond type of a cat. However, February 13 marked a milestone in Ripley’s life, for he has been an important part of ours for 15 years.
Ripley was a rescue from the Toronto Humane Society all those years ago. My husband, Dean, and I had decided that we wanted a kitty in our lives. Okay, truth be told, I had decided that I wanted a pet in the home and my dear husband probably thought that there could be worse things I could want. He was rather ambivalent, having grown up in a decidedly pet-free home. However, in deciding to get a pet, I had also made another important decision – ours would come from a shelter. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for “unwanted” animals and yes, I am one of those who, on the rare times that I watch tv, can be turned into a puddle of tears should the donation appeal ads come on. All of this led us to set out on a cold February evening in 1996 in search of a new member of the family.
When we arrived at the THS, there were so many to choose from. Dean and I drifted away from each other as we read the notes posted outside their cages. Such a huge decision and big responsibility. After a period of time which left me feeling rather overwhelmed – I wanted to take them all – my husband came over quietly and said, “I think I have found him”. I was so surprised. Dean hadn’t been the impetus behind us getting a cat. But, he had found him. He took me over to Ripley who was sitting his cage looking up at us. I asked my husband why he thought he was the one. He simply said, “He reached out to me”. And so he had. Apparently, as my husband had been peering into each cage, Ripley took his front paw, put it through the cage and touched Dean on the hand. That connection was all it took.
After about half an hour in which we were interviewed to determine if we would be good adoptive parents (we were so nervous that they would reject us), we were handed a cardboard “crate” with Ripley inside and directed to the in-house pet store to pick up things like litter, food etc. We drove home and brought Ripley inside. I still vividly remember how, when we opened his crate, he very cautiously poked his head up like an antennae, looked around and then lithely jumped out to explore his new surroundings.
Today, Ripley is a contented 16-year old who has brought us so much joy. His initial abandonment issues – his former family simply moved on him and left him on the street – have all but disappeared. He is strictly an indoor cat and seems to be happy to spend his days and nights in the warmth of a home, lying on the softness of a bed or couch with a full tummy. He has since also acquired a sister (also from a shelter) and, while she can be a source of aggravation at times (aren’t all sisters?), he likes the fact that she is around. And we’re so happy that he is with us. As he enters his golden years, he has slowed down a little bit, but that has made him all the more cuddly and affectionate.
Happy Anniversary Ripley! We love you…you have truly found your forever home.
Dec 19, 2010
I’m so glad you found us!
After much thought and research, we’ve decided to “take the plunge” and speak to the world through a blog. Not sure where this project will take us, but for now at least, we plan to share with you the comings and goings of the Posh Pets Photography family. Yes, we will include some images and details of the amazing clients we will have from our sessions throughout the year. But we also hope to do more. We’ll want to let you know about any special events in the community, products we are working on as well as anything else pet-related.
This is a big undertaking (for us anyway!). So, please be patient with us as we work out the kinks. Technology is not always kind to artists, especially when it figures out that you have absolutely no idea what you are doing. But we will battle on.
We’re looking forward to it…:)
