So, my human went to Detroit in July. Yep, another instance of abandoning me, even if only for 3-4 days.
She did think about taking pictures of the “kitties” she saw. I use quotation marks because I’m not sure they’re all kitties. You tell me!
Here’s a mural:
Now these are tigers!
Ah! Here’s a kitty! Can you see the kitty?
I have noticed that there were many kitty furriends living in Texas (especially Twitter furriends)! So maybe that is one of the reasons why when people decorate Christmas trees on the road here, you can find… kitty Christmas trees!
Below are two trees that my human saw on Loop 360 in Austin among dozens of decorated trees (you can learn a bit more on the tradition of Loop 360 Christmas trees on my human’s blog). I think they are pretty cool! If the humans would trust us with a Christmas tree, this is how I would like it decorated!
How are your humans decorating their Christmas tree?
One difference between France and the United States, from my observations, is that French humans tend to have drapes on their windows, while in America, I saw a lot of blinds.
In any case, what the humans do not realize is that when drapes or blinds are closed, it’s like humans wanting to watch TV while the TV is still in its box: we can’t see anything!
My human learned the hard way with her drapes back in France…
Yes, that’s me who did that =^.^=
And of course, I also had to find a solution for blinds when we were in New York! But guess what? She didn’t like my solution! The nerve!
Do you believe in serendipity? The human dictionary Merriam-Webster says that serendipity is “luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for.”
My human says that was serendipity that brought her to meet Ms. Darlene Margeta of Dream Pillow and to discover her work.
While she was wandering around the East Village in Manhattan a few weeks before we moved, she saw something that caught her attention in the window of a little herb store called Flower Power. There were artisan-made cat dolls with different faces! She entered the store to ask for information, and was given the name of the company that make them: Dream Pillow. She was also told that part of the profits for the sales of these dolls benefit an animal shelter. My human had to learn more! She contacted the furry nice lady at Dream Pillow to discuss her products and they met at the French Market on Broadway and 36th St.
Dream Pillow at the French Market on Broadway – July 2013
Dream Pillow makes products entirely handcrafted in New York: pillows, sachets, and cat dolls, that are filled with herbs and flowers, and they smell sooo good according to my human. Among other herbs, they contain lavender that comes from France! The pictures on each product are pictures taken by Ms. Margeta or pictures sent from clients for a customized work. Ms. Margeta has been making these products with the help of a herbalist for about 20 years.
They also make catnip sticks that we tried and loved!
What about my favorite product, the shelter cat doll? Here’s the description from the Dream Pillow website:
Our new cat dolls are not for cats, but for people.
They are replicas of actual stray and abandoned cats rescued by City Critters, a local rescue shelter and adoption organization. We donate $3 to City Critters for each doll we sell.
The dolls contain lavender and fiberfill. Fabrics used for the coverings are assorted. Like cats.Dimensions: 15 inches tall, with long tails.
Shelter Cat Dolls
Wouldn’t it make the purrfect gift (hint: Christmas is in 1 month!) for your human or a human’s friend, and for the kitties it may help?
Ms. Margeta, which my human really enjoyed meeting, has loved animals for as long as she can remember. She was raised with lots of animals around. Her grandmother had barn cats that would wait besides her when the cows were being milked.
Of cats, she says they are like “a piece of art” that are very beautiful, have a sense of humor and enable you to relax. As an artist, she obviously connects with us kitties!
The idea of the cat dolls came when she was taking care of several stray cats in the East Village of Manhattan. She was feeding them and caring for them, until the day they were not welcome in the area anymore. City Critters came to the rescue. She herself kept a couple of kitties. With the dolls, she wanted to help City Critters in return.
The faces of the dolls are of shelter cats and dogs and can be customized with a picture of a kitty in your family (or a doggie…).
Of course, she is owned by several kitties: 11 rescue cats live in her studio, 3 in her apartment and she also feeds feral cats outside. A calico kitty is her artist cat too! You can see pictures of the kitties here.
Now in order to help the kitties too, my human has bought two dolls, one of which one of you will be able to win. Another doll has been generously given by Ms. Darlene Margeta. Yes, two shelter cat dolls will find a home among you, my readers.
[Click on the pictures to enlarge]
What do you have to do to win one?
1. Go visit Dream Pillow’s website here and tell me, in a comment below, which of their products – rescue dolls excepted – you prefer. This cannot be the doll, this must be another product.
2. For an extra chance to win, share this giveaway and post in a separate comment the link(s) to where you shared.
You have until Sunday, November 24, 11.59 pm central time to enter!
The winners will be drawn thanks to random.org and will be announced on November 26! The first person drawn will be able to choose which one of the two this person prefers.
If you cannot wait, or are not one of our lucky winners, you can visit Dream Pillow’s website and order the products you like by emailing them. Their contact information can be found here. If you live in the NY area, you can buy Dream Pillow products at the Broadway French Market (information here).
We really like their products and we are delighted to share and think it would make an original and furry nice idea of gift for humans!
Disclosure: We did not receive a compensation for this post. Opinions are our own. We were offered a sachet, as well as 2 catnip sticks, to test the products. Dream Pillow generously donated one rescue cat doll for the giveaway.
This is, for now, the last cat mural I will post. Next week I will show you other, real NYC kitties (I bet you will love the next series of posts!).
This mural is just across the street of the Whiskers Holistic Pet Care store I featured last week, and it is also a Chico mural.
This mural features humans and a kitty!
It’s been a long time since I have posted a Monthly Kitty Links post (last time was before we moved). So here is one with links going from June to September 20013!
A kitty defends her territory.
This kitty is working as a gatekeeper.
Don’t you want to pick up this kitten and give her a huge hug?
Out of ideas on how to nap? Check this.
Some Japanese Kitty Art.
A wild kitty… or is it a kitty in the wild?
If you haven’t “squeed” already today, go there now.
Band of brothers?
Say Hiya to Freddie Romeo!
Because it’s Caturday.
Life is better with a furriend!
Finally, you might have noticed that I have added a countdown to Halloween in the sidebar on the right. If you don’t know yet, Mollie & Misaki are hosting a Halloween ball! Would a beautiful ladycat be willing to come to the ball with me?
In the meantime, my human spotted this in Austin.
This is not our vet. Apparently, the statues are always there, but they have been decorated for Halloween. Ain’t that cute?
I hope you all have a great Caturday!
Today we are going to the East Village in New York, to a pet store, more precisely, to Whiskers Holistic Pet Care on 235 E 9th St, close to 2nd Ave. As for the other murals I posted, this one was made by Chico and features several animals.
[you can click on any pic to biggify]
If you look closely, you will see that some of the animals have probably crossed the Rainbow Bridge, since it is written “in loving memory.” And indeed:
Phil Klein, the co-owner of Whiskers, is happy to be one of them. Mr. Klein asked Mr. Garcia to paint a small mural of the pet shop’s logo in 2008. In the years since, a crack has developed on the wall’s face, forcing the city to remove it.
Mr. Klein can recall when he first saw Mr. Garcia’s work in 1991. “I used to pass by it every day,” he said. “It started to feel familiar. Now you can’t walk three blocks and not see a Chico.”
Three years ago, Mr. Klein asked Mr. Garcia to paint a mural based on the company logo, which depicts two of Mr. Klein’s favorite former pets.
For the latest project he wants three animals depicted. “I said, ‘Hey Chico, I need my dogs and cats in there, but for everything else, just do what you want,’” Mr. Klein recalled. ”You don’t want to tell a master too much of what to do.”
Earlier this week, Mr. Garcia was hard at work on the mural. Nearby, balanced on a saw horse, rest paint-dappled photos of three of the pets Mr. Klein wants featured in the mural. Two have passed on, but the third, a cat named Rachel, is still alive.
Ain’t that a lovely mural?
On a lighter note… Look! My human saw this poster in the window and thought it was Sammy! It does look like Sammy! Is that you Sammy?
This week’s mural is at the corner of Third Avenue and 103rd Street, in the Upper East Side of New York. There are not just cats but other animals too on this one.
Animal Care & Control New York is not very far from there, up on 110th St.
It wasn’t easy for my human to take good pictures because there were trees and parked cars blocking the view.
This mural was done by the same artist as last week‘s mural: Chico.
[Click on the pictures to biggify]
Apparently, it was painted for Advocates for Animals, back in 2001!
Next week, we will go back to the East Village for another mural.
Last week, I featured a pawsome cat mural in Paris, France, my hometown. But in New York, where we used to live a couple of months ago, there were pawsome cat murals too!
Here is one of my and my human’s favorites.
It is a mural for Mama’s Bar at Avenue B & 3rd St, in the East Village. If you click on the link to the bar, you’ll see another mural with kitties. Obviously, they must like cats! My human has never been there though.
The one my human photographed is signed Chico Art NYC.
What do you think about this one?
These past few months, my human has had the opportunity to take pictures of several beautiful murals that represent cats. What better mural than a mural with one or several kitties on it?
She first saw a couple of them, completely by chance, in New York (that I will feature next week), then she looked for more. She found out that there was one huge and gorgeous in Paris in France, in my place of birth! But of course she was not in Paris, neither could she do the trip at the time. So I asked my human’s Mom if she would agree to go take a picture of it. She kindly agreed!
Here it is! Thank you so very much to Janina.
The mural is in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, at the corner of boulevard Vincent Auriol and rue Nationale. The artist is C215.
[Click on the pictures to biggify]
Those who are furriend with me on Facebook (it is still time to add me!) may have seen that my human attended an event at Strand Books in the place called Manhattan, last Tuesday: a talk between Jackson Galaxy and Gwen Cooper.
[For those wondering, the kitty on the left is NOT Gwen Cooper. I don’t know who the kitty is.]
So I wish I could have been there of course! But having my human go was the next best thing! She had Jackson Galaxy’s book signed to me and she took some pics and notes.
There was a large audience and not enough chairs for everyone. Also it was really hot this day. It was the day before we started having a lot of rain and cold temperatures again.
When Jackson Galaxy and Gwen Cooper arrived, they were welcomed with a big warm wave of applause!
They, of course, talked cats! Gwen Cooper was playing the interviewer and Jackson Galaxy was answering. What did they talked about?
Those are some of the points that were discussed. The audience could also ask questions, but general ones, no personal questions on everyone’s kitty. The entire discussion lasted about an hour.
My human said both Jackson Galaxy and Gwen Cooper seemed very nice as humans (apparently it is important to her too – if she says so!).
Here are some pictures of the both of them. At the end of the post are links to their books!
