Salaciouscrumb

My boy is apparently now completely unfazed by the vacuum cleaner. Trinket, on the other hand, has once again gone into deep hiding. She still thinks it’s Stalingrad.

I realised I’ve never owned a fast wide-angle lens before. And I’ve gotta say, I like it. Mr. Crumb was assisting me by totally destroying the corner of the bed as he likes to do. One thing no one’s mentioned about this fantastic little ttartisans 17mm f1.4: it has a screw-in metal lens cap. Everyone talks about how inconvenient that is. But in this case it screws tight with a half turn - making it in some ways easier to manage than a clip-on cap. The 50’s cap takes multiple turns and is totally impractical as a working lens cap. But this one on the tiny front element of 17mm is actually great.

They were having some mid-afternoon madness - usually reserved for the late evening. This chap is getting chonky again in defiance of my meal planning. The box behind him is an extremely rare Gibson lap steel guitar from 1967 belonging to @sad_ivan (who was supposed to collect it after I discovered that fewer than 50 were known to have been made and hence they were a chunk more valuable than we’d suspected… but COVID).

A grab-shot of my boy moments before he jumped up next to me where he is as I write. He had a scare the other day where he tangled himself in the handle of a paper shopping bag that then followed him making hideous noises no matter where he ran. Even after being rescued - and his assailant banished forever - he’s been a nervous fella for a few days. We shan’t let such grotesque monsters come into contact with our high-strung boy again.

Why yes. We are those kinds of childless cat owners.

A truer love you’ll seldom see. The weather is beginning to turn in Cape Town. And Skitten is far more tolerant of this kind of thing than she was a few weeks ago. It’s my birthday which, for symbolic reasons, means it’s Skitten’s birthday too. It’s 14 now. A venerable creature. It still doesn’t know anything. A little less feisty and not quite as adventuresome. But otherwise very much the same strange little animal that @withoutaleaf sent me from Maatjiesfontein back in 2007.

When Mr. Crumb first met Skitten, he was a smitten kitten. It’s happened to many. Four years on, his love for Skitten is still deep, pure, and a regular source of annoyance to Skitten.

This fat boy is as tranquil as ever - fastidiously washing his face. He’s taken to lounging about in the shade outside - including in flower pots with his limbs hanging out. One day he’ll let me photograph him like that.

Spoiled Boi got a comfy spot provided under my morning balcony coffee chair. Taking a load off those big paws.

The sleepy midday Crumb.