Maude, Skyler, Polly and Daisy

[Rick C]

Usually, I might post pictures of our two Golden Retrievers, Abby & Keeper but instead I will introduce our four cats, Maude, Skyler, Polly and Daisy.

Daisy and Maude are sisters who were birthed in the wild and washed up on a nearby acreage sans mother when they were about four months old . . . . as a result, they aren't your normal domestic cats.

Although they are 100% indoor cats now and three years old, they will still run and hide at the least provocation and won't come out when strangers are in the house. They appear to love Abby & Keeper more than they like humans.

Here is the luxuriant, but slightly warped, Maude:



Here is the always paranoid Daisy getting ready to dash for cover - seriously.



You might remember Polly, abused in a local pet store and losing her back feet - not her back legs, just the feet - as a result, who came to us with her five kittens of which we kept one, Skyler.

It is one year now since Polly lost her back feet. She used to be an outdoor cat and since she can't run on her stumpies, we occasionally plunk her on the grass with constant supervision (eagles and hawks returning now). She takes great delight in rolling in the dirt in the flower beds . . .



And little Skyler, a runt of a boy, sitting next to my computer where I post on Pet.ca, the gloomy day hiding the Rockies in the distance. Skyler, like Maude and Daisy, is a 100% house cat.



Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[Prin]

Are those the Rockies in the background? I haven't seen them in so long. :sad: Those are beautiful kitties-- you can kinda tell they're a bit wild by their eyes... (how'd you post them all on one post?)

[Lucky Rescue]

Had to put off toddling off to bed to comment on your beautiful and VERY lucky cats! Buncha cuties.

I have two like yours - ex-ferals - insanely terrified of everyone and one of them is still terrified of me and won't even allow her pic to be taken.

[Extier]

OH my!! Beautiful cats and equally beautiful photos.

I think I'm in love with Maude.

[happycats]

Your cats are beautiful!! And what a breathtaking view you have !!!

[Rita]

Beautiful furbabies
Fantastic scenery in the background as well

[twinmommy]

I remember your dog pix!! The travelling tourists??

Your cats are just as beautiful!!

thanks for the pix--and the beautiful view!! Things in MTL are dingy and gray here with only dirty, black snow left You made my day with these!!

[Rick C]

Originally Posted by Prin

Are those the Rockies in the background? I haven't seen them in so long. :sad: Those are beautiful kitties-- you can kinda tell they're a bit wild by their eyes... (how'd you post them all on one post?)

Yes, we're a few miles southwest of Calgary. Polly is sitting on our lawn and right over her head, miles off into the distance and over the first hill, would be Black Diamond, Alberta.

Maude, Skyler and Polly watch the falling snow and the birds at dusk.



Polly shows her missing feet:



Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[goldenblaze]

Very nice kittys, I too look foreward to seeing your pics, love the backgrounds. Gorgeous!

[chico2]

Rick,I did not even know you had cats too and you are wonderful to have taken in Polly,one lucky little kitty :love:
Beautiful pictures,as usual...We saw some of the beautiful Rockies when visiting Alberta,but we stayed with friends in Pincher Creek where it is flat,flat and flat and windy,windy,windy

[Rick C]

Originally Posted by chico2

Rick,I did not even know you had cats too and you are wonderful to have taken in Polly,one lucky little kitty :love:
Beautiful pictures,as usual...We saw some of the beautiful Rockies when visiting Alberta,but we stayed with friends in Pincher Creek where it is flat,flat and flat and windy,windy,windy

I think Pincher Creek is the windiest locale in Canada and they have a big kite festival there every year. Its a couple of hours due south of us. . . . . there's also a wind farm just down the road while Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump isn't too far away on the other side of Pincher.

Its pretty breezy off the Rockies here too sometimes, as noble Keeper can attest standing sentinel on a windy prairie day:



Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[glasslass]

Really impressed! Both with your fur-babies and their stories, as well as your photos! Love the name "Keeper"!

[jiorji]

sigh... i wish MY backyard looked like that...with the rockies in the background and a cat sitting on the grass..

[Prin]

Me too! All I see is traffic and fat naked neighbors!!! Bring on some rocky mountain scenery!!

[Rick C]

Originally Posted by Prin

Me too! All I see is traffic and fat naked neighbors!!! Bring on some rocky mountain scenery!!

Here's our fat, naked neighbours . . . . a herd of about 100 elk, part of a larger bunch of about 430.

I pictured this group two weekends ago at dawn as we were going to get the newspaper at our box on the highway but they thundered through our yard at dusk on Friday night, leaping fences or just crashing into the fence, in a big panic about something . . . . fortunately, Abby & Keeper were inside at the time.

I guess these aren't really pets but what the heck. . .





The photo directly above is a bit of an optical illusion. It looks like I took it crooked but the first hill on the horizon is actually straight. The mountains on the left are actually about 10 miles closer than the one's on the right, so the curve of the eartch creates a slant. And the field in the foreground really does look like that.

My wife Carol with Abby walking by the very same scene above but taken with a wide angle view. Abby is a bit of a wanderer so she gets the leash . . . . its one mile to the mailbox from our house.



Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[Princesss04]

WOW! I love all those pictures. I am so glad to hear that you have such a BIG heart to give all these babies a wonderful home. You are truly a special person. As always love the doggy pictures. I am glad I got to see all your cats they are just as pretty!

[Cinnabear]

Gorgeous pics. Daisy is like our Sprite, very skittish. Personally I think Lethbridge is the windiest. Everytime we would go there it was always very windy. Certainly miss the mountains.

[BamaRama]

What a beautiful array of animals...such dear babies...and such a gorgeous background...To me, where you live, is paradise.

[Luvmypit]

Those pics took my breath away. They really are chicken soup for the soul... or the eyes.. whatever.
Honestly are you a professional photographer?
I absolutly love looking at your pics. I can't say it enough.
Oh your animals are very sweet. Love the pic of the cat looking out... oh forget it I love all the pics. Please keep them coming. i would love to see what you see in the morning with a warm cup of coffee.

[Rick C]

i would love to see what you see in the morning with a warm cup of coffee.

Thank you for your comments.

Since you asked, here is the morning sunrise hitting the mountains, the view from our deck every morning. (I'll edit it to a smaller size when I get home).

The fence is ours and keeps Abby & Keeper in our four acres. My wife would be sitting on the deck, as she does every morning, coffee in hand, winter or summer, watching this scene as the sun rises . . . . even though I might be gone to work.

Halfway up the other hill and just off the centre, you can see the farmer's white truck as a speck as he takes out a big bale of hay to the cows . . . and the dots are the cows. Its a 20 minute drive on the highway to my office in South Calgary and eight minutes to McDonalds in Okotoks!!



In another lifetime, now 25 years ago, I was a photographer for a daily newspaper. But that's ancient history.

Love the pic of the cat looking out...

Maybe you're talking about this picture at the link below:

http://www.goldentales.ca/P1000331_edited-1.jpg

Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[chico2]

Rick,your site is wonderful,I don't have time to read it all,but I read about Gretz the visiting cat(funny!!) and"Who shot Sam"so very sad :sad:
If you are doing the writing,you are not only an excellent photographer but a great writer....

[Rick C]

Originally Posted by chico2

Rick,your site is wonderful,I don't have time to read it all,but I read about Gretz the visiting cat(funny!!) and"Who shot Sam"so very sad :sad:
If you are doing the writing,you are not only an excellent photographer but a great writer....

Oh, you must be mistaken. The dogs wrote those stories. A little tough without opposable thumbs but I only helped a bit with punctuation.

"Conversations" is pretty good.

There's another one - a true story - about some Golden puppies who grew up - for a few weeks anyway - in a coyote den.

But I leave Abby and Keeper to write that stuff.

I do my own writing on www.calgarypuck.com, one of the more popular internet hockey chat sites where I'm a partner. I used to be a journalist . . . . but I've been a stockbroker/investment advisor for 18 years now. That's the real job.



Keeper on the run to some new adventure. . . .

Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[fred04]

Those are all amazing pictures! I especially love the ones w/ the kitties looking out the window.

They are all great shots.

Thanks for posting!