Feline Fun Friday – Are You a Little Bit Cat Crazy

Have you ever been accused of being a crazy cat lady? If so, congratulations!!! I enjoy the title. This week I even wore a Bandaide on my finger that had an image of a woman with a cat draped across her shoulders and it said, “crazy cat lady.”

Those of you who follow this blog know that I collect cat décor items and art. I didn’t start this trend—many of my pieces were gifts from family, friends, neighbors. A couple of neighbors have passed along cat items they no longer wanted. I even have a lovely Llardo piece a friend bought when working in Germany and no longer wanted—or maybe she just thought I would enjoy dusting it more than she did. Friends will also pick up cute cat things in thrift stores and department stores just because they know I like cats. Now those are some beautiful gestures.

I’ve listed a lot of my cat stuff here in my blog. This holiday season I acquired even more. I’m using an adorable mat for under the cat food and water dishes with a picture of a cat and my cats’ names across it—Sophie and Olivia. Neat gift. One of my daughters also had a photo I’d taken of Olivia reproduced on canvas. BEAUTIFUL. And my sister (for my birthday) gave me a coffee cup with the cover of my first Calico Cat Mystery. Thoughtful. Oh, and another daughter gave me a 3 foot tall cat made from metal scraps. Unique. I love the unique and I love cats. They kind of go together, don’t you think so? I received a late Christmas gift a couple of days ago (Damn COVID). It’s a pair of slippers with a cat face. Last week I received a St. Patrick’s Day card—yup, with the most adorable fluffy kitten on the front—a kitten that had been died (or photo-shopped) green.

Do you collect things related to a particular type animal? I also have a lot of owl items because I used to stalk a pair of great horned owls and their babies every season and photograph them. It’s interesting how cats and owls kind of look alike in some ways.

One daughter has a Beagle, so she receives Beagle cards for special occasions and she has a lot of Beagle things—socks, scarves, stationary, pens… Another daughter has a houseful of horsey items. I gave her a porch mat this Christmas that says, “Wipe your hooves.”

I used to do a lot of sewing—I mean a lot of it. I made one of my daughters’ wedding dress, I made equitation suits and even chaps when my three girls rode in shows. My grandmother gave me a fancy thimble used by my great grandmother and that started a collection of thimbles. I picked them up while traveling, everyone I knew brought me thimbles from their travels. I had quite a thimble collection. But I can tell you the thimbles didn’t take up nearly as much space in my house as the cat motif items.