Tails and Whiskers

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This post is dedicated to the four legged friends I have recently photographed.  To begin with, my dear friends Alkistis, Frederic & Athena, belong to Pushkin, a lady cat of infinite patience who is extremely vocal and loves nothing more than to chew happily on human fingers.

‘It’s a friend of mine  – a Cheshire Cat,’ said Alice, ‘allow me to introduce it.’  ‘I don’t like the look of it at all,’ said the King: ‘however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.’

‘I’d rather not’, the Cat remarked. –    Lewis Carroll

Dogs have owners, cats have staff. – Anon

There is no need for a piece of sculpture in a home that has a cat.  – Wesley Bates

Those of you who have been following my blog will be familiar with Odie, a stray dog we rescued while living in Mauritius, newcomers to ‘moi du toi photography’ can find out about him here.  Shirish, animal lover and good friend (he is the racehorse trainer who allowed me to take photographs of his equine friends in my “Wind of Heaven” posts) was kind enough to give Odie a permanent, chain free home, despite the fact that Odie was rude enough to bite him the first time they met.  Um, er, well yes that is definitely another blog post best left unwritten.  When Odie is not in his own little garden and kennel area at Shirish’s house, he spends his time at the stables and going for long walks on the grassy practice racetrack nearby.

…he will be our friend for always and always and always.  –  Rudyard Kipling

Besides Odie, Shirish lives with Curly, an adorable Winston Churchill look-alike pug with an attitude to match and last but by no means least, “The Girls” a pair of noisy young daschund sisters aka Tara and Lucy.

Until one has loved an animal, a part of ones soul remains unawakened. –  Anatole France

Odie and Curly and not friends yet, that may have something to do with Curly’s Churchill attitude coupled with the fact he still has his knackers intact, unlike poor knackerless Odie, testicular envy? Not to mention the fact that Curly also got bitten in the whole, Shirish-Curly-Odie unwritten blog post, oops.   Shirish keeps them separated for now but just to be fair, “The Girls” spend time with Curly during the day and with Odie during the evening & night, so no-one feels neglected or lonely.

This last image is of the next door neighbour Fibi, a happy bouncy dog of indefatigable energy, having fun with our incorrigible golden retriever, Paddington.

Next time …. watch this space for a post and images of our new stomping ground in the Western Cape, Southern Africa.

All my love

moi ♥