Lucky

Those of you who read the Atkins Boys blog have heard about the homeless cat that we fed and assumed would adopt us. We haven't been so sure.

After spending a couple of days at our house, we stopped seeing it. The cat food we left out disappeared when we weren't looking. Then we went on vacation for several days while Scott continued putting out food. He never saw a cat but the food disappeared.

Since leaving cat food outdoors can entice all kinds of undesirable creatures, I decided to discontinue the outdoor banquet until we could determine what was eating it.

More than a week went by but last Sunday the same homeless cat appeared on our driveway, looking even worse than it looked before (see above). After being served a breakfast of dry cat food accompanied by some of Lily Pearl's favorite Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys, it retired to a secluded spot under the lorapetalum bush where it spent the day. Afternoon brought another portion of dry food and a few of Lily's Greenie treats.

Scott & Greg arrived for dinner, with the news that "our" cat was downstairs on the porch. It got another helping of dry food and more fresh water. We were sure it would be waiting by the back door Monday morning. It wasn't. I left out a little dry food all day, just in case it came by when we weren't looking. No cat. Carl and I puzzled over the strange behavior of a cat with no home, obviously starving, that doesn't recognize a good thing when he sees it.

Turns out he does. He was lying by the back door Tuesday morning when I went out to begin my morning weeding chores. He was rewarded once again, with plenty of food, fresh water, and human company whether he wanted it or not. Wednesday brought more of the same.

Now it's Thursday and he seems to have gotten the message. He's beginning to lose his starved look, has worked up enough courage to take a couple of naps on the porch while I sat in the swing and he spent the night on an old quilt I placed there for him. I suppose it's time to give him a name.

Our friend, Norm Perrill, suggested that we name him Lucky because he will be the luckiest cat in the world if he decides to stay at our house.

The other names submitted were Orphan Anne or Orphan Andy, Phantom, Big Foot, Hairball, Orphan or Orphy, Newman (after Paul Newman's blue eyes), Hairy, Beni Gaku (a hydrangea) because Lily is a flower and we can call him Beni, Raleigh (because we liked living there), Wishful, and U.W. (stands for unwanted).

Lucky seems to fit the situation best. What's more, it's gender-neutral and we aren't absolutely certain that Lucky is a boy. Now if I can just figure out what to do about that awful hair mat……………..

Bird Girl Again

Here is the second version of Bird Girl.

The original painting went off to an exhibit as soon as it was framed and, meanwhile, Father Paddy asked to buy it the minute he saw it. Since it is my favorite of the last several paintings I have done, I decided to paint another version for myself.

I didn't attempt to duplicate the first painting. I simply painted the second one with inspiration as I had done the first one. I entered Bird Girl 2 into the Southeastern Pastel Society's annual competition before the first painting came home. It was one of the 65 paintings accepted out of 226 submissions.

Then Bird Girl 1 came back from the gallery. Much to my surprise, Bird Girl 2 is smaller! It is also brighter and the crystal globe is larger. And there are other differences - one is softer in feeling and the other has crisper edges. My artist colleagues in Southern Colours had quite a discussion about which painting is technically better and the conclusion was that they are simply different.

Now Father Paddy has the first Bird Girl, the second one went to Athens for the SPS exhibit as soon as it was framed, and I still haven't had the opportunity to hang either painting on my own wall. If Bird Girl 2 is sold during the exhibit, I think I'll have to wait awhile before painting Bird Girl 3.

Father Paddy kept his promise to tell me what immediately drew him to the bird girl painting. He simply loves the way the crystal is painted. He said he feels like he could reach right into the painting and pick up the objects if he wanted to. He noticed the symbolism after I pointed it out but that wasn't what caught his eye at all. Like anyone else, he loves the painting because he thinks it is dramatic and skillfully painted. He knows what he likes when he sees it. End of story.