Our Beautiful Cat

These photos were all taken after we retired and moved to Wivenhoe... our cat loved it here as much as we did ! She would often come and sit just inside the door of my studio down the garden, as she loved indoor sunbathing, finding her place in the sunshine and out of the wind. I always thought she enjoyed the quiet atmosphere near me while I was painting... by then she was very happy to be near people, but it had taken many years for her to be happy alongside humans... We had gone to Battersea Dogs (and cats) home as my father-in-law had always supported their work with abandoned or mistreated dogs and heard they had extended to include cats and kittens, and we particularly wanted to find a kitten to replace our "vicarage cat" who had sadly died after his kidneys packed in... We were almost spoilt for choice : so many kittens, all looking as though they would love to be stroked and adopted...but John found a room where there were some kittens who had been rescued by the police from a gang of young lads who were mistreating them: he was told they would need very careful owners who had a garden, but no young children...well, we fitted both criteria, so were invited to choose one of these kittens...John immediately fell for this little mongrel kitten that was clearly very frightened as she sat shivvering in our hands. I had grown up next to a farm where cats were encouraged to live in the barns to keep down the mice, and often cats and their kittens would come into our garden and play with us... so I was very used to kittens, but I had never seen one who was so frightened of humans,skittering across the floor to hide under the furniture, until one morning I tiptoed downstairs very early while she was still fast asleep and managed to sit beside her 'bed'and then picked her up as her mother might do(gently by the scruff of her neck)and suddenly this little ball of furr began to nuzzle into my tummy, settle down and purr against me...