2010 and a huge thank-you to everyone who’s read my blog

Time flies.  My last blog post was in August 2009.  That’s a whole 5 months’ ago. 

When I first started the blog in 2006 I never thought I’d still be writing in 2010.

In 2006 when I started cat breeding, I wanted a way to distinguish myself from the other cat breeder websites.  My web-designer (Denise Laurent of  The Painted Cat www.thepaintedcat.co.uk) cannily advised me to start not only a blog, but also a flickr photo album. 

The idea of a blog doesn’t seem very innovative now, but back in 2006, while waiting for my website to get up-and-running, I pleaded to be able to use the link to my flickr album in lieu of the website’s and was told in no uncertain terms by the cat association that it wasn’t allowed because a flickr album wasn’t like a website!

How times have changed!  Everyone has online photo albums, blogs and even facebook sites.

The benefits of the blog were brought to me last year when I had a litter of 7 kittens and was worried about being able to find good homes for them in this current economic climate.

For the first time ever I didn’t have to advertise on the cat association sites.  Potential cat owners e-mailed me for kittens.  I was overwhelmed by the number of responses – in the end I was placed in the novel and very flattering position of having more owners than kittens.  A first, but hopefully a trend that will continue.

It turns out that potential kitten owners like to find out about the breeder they are buying the kitten from.  I’ve tried to be honest about how I bring up my kittens, but it was unnerving at times when kitten owners visited and asked whether hubby minded not having as expensive a chicken as the cats got!  I was most impressed that they’d taken the time and effort to plough through years of cat musings.  I hope they weren’t disappointed:  I’m not sure whether I lived up to my persona of crazy cat lady up to her elbows in raw chicken mince and litter trays … .

The blog has been an ice-breaker and made it possible for me to get to know some wonderful cat lovers and kitten owners who have now become friends.

So to all those who’ve followed my blog all these years, a huge THANK YOU for your support, comments and encouragement.

(especial thanks to Den and Rob, Sonya, Fiona, Francesca and Andy)

Merry Christmas from Maya and all at Catswhiskers!

Maya my Bengal girl is famous this Christmas!  Denise Laurent,  the well-known cat artist, used Maya as a model for a Christmas card, aptly titled “The Bell Ringer”. 

Now Bengals Illustrated, the best magazine devoted to Bengals, have chosen “The Bell Ringer” as their front cover festive issue:

 

Photo used by kind permission of Denise Laurent of www.thepaintedcat.co.uk. Copyright Denise Laurent.

Doesn’t Maya look great?  I must say that the painting makes her look suspiciously innocent – Den has captured her playfulness and that wonderful butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth expression that Bengals are known for.  Angelic is not a word I would use to describe my little Bengal rascal!

I asked Maya how she felt about being a pin-up for Bengals.  Her reply was unprintable as she was busy tucking into festive turkey and not in the least interested in making small-talk!

Happy Mother’s Day!

It’s Mother’s Day in England, this Sunday 18th March and I’d like to wish all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day in advance.

I want to share this painting of my Maine Coon mum cat with you.  It’s entitled “Mother’s Day” and I think it captures perfectly that moment of love and intimacy between mother and child (or in this case, her kitten). I love the way the painting has captured the happy expression on my mum cat’s face as her little kitten cuddles up to her.

This painting was done by Denise Laurent, an outstanding and best-selling artist of our furry companions.  It’s available as a print, and any Mum who’s a cat lover would be thrilled by this beautiful gift.

Please check out Denise’s work on www.thepaintedcat.co.uk, and be prepared to fall in love with all her beautiful paintings.

And just to show you what a great artist she is, here is the original photo of mum and her kitten:

Society of Feline Artists – exhibition in London from 4 September

 

If you’re in London and love paintings of cats, this is your chance to see the works of the some of the finest cat artists in England: 

The Society Of Feline Artists (yes – SOFA – it’s deliberate!) London show starts on September the 4th and runs for three weeks at the Llewellyn Alexander gallery at Waterloo in London.

Here’s the address:

124 -126 The Cut, Waterloo, London SE1 8LN UK 
(Opposite the Old Vic Theatre)
Tel: 020 7620 1322/1324 Fax: 020 7928 9469

http://www.llewellynalexander.com/sofa2006/page_1.htm

Sorry for the lack of photos and bad blog planning

Sorry for the lack of photos.

I’m still trying to work out how to upload photos of a decent size. I had a go at uploading one from my Flickr album, but I realised that it was an earlier photo (of the kittens when they were 2 hours’ old) and I couldn’t work out how to move a blog so that it appeared earlier in the series. Maybe you can’t. It did seem weird to have a photo relating to 10 July when the blog was dated 9 August.

The only photo I’ve uploaded so far (in the Welcome blog) is really teeny and is of my Maine Coon girl, Ananda, and Pola, a kitten from her previous litter.

I invoked the patron saint of desperate bloggers and he/she sent me a friend of mine who is a professional web-designer and cat artist.

So if you see photos or improved blog content, it’s thanks to Denise Laurent. If you want to see some fantastic cat art, please check out her web-site: www.thepaintedcat.co.uk

(10 August – hey I think I worked it out:  here’s one to make up.  One … two … three … awwwwww… .)