Growing up we had cats.
Sam was ginger and white and I don't remember us not having him.
Posh Paws came to us when we lived in Telford, Shropshire. One winter morning my dad.opened the door to head to work and there was a cat asleep, and prerty much frozen, on the step.
He got mum to bring the cat in, but said it wasn't allowed to remain. Mum put the cat in the airing cupboard to thaw out and revive. It slept for two days straight.
As the black and white cat eased into the household it was noticable how he liked to have clean paws, using the water dish to dip them in before fastidiously cleaning them. Thus the name, Posh Paws.
Sam died of old age when I was 19, and Posh Paws was run down by a speeding motorist a year or so later (I have a poem about it somewhere).
My folks have continued to have cats. The current one is Miss Bingley, seen below using me as a sleeping mat.
But it's only since we moved into our new house that we have had cats. The picture at the top is just after we brought them to the house, and before we named them.
They are Beth Albia and Fingers McGraw.
Albia (above) is the darker one with just a patch of white on her throat, and on her toes. She is named for a character in Lindsey Davis wonderful Falco series, who then has a whole series of her own!.
Albia (the Beth is my addition and calls to my wife, Elizabeth) was the runt of the litter and fought to survive. Now she is an independant little tank of a kitten who knows her own mind. The 'little' and 'independant' are definitely qualities she shares with Liz.
Fingers (above) gets her name from our daughter, Cassie. When she was little (well, now too) she got into everything. About that time the animated film The Wrong Trousers was out. The criminal in it was Feathers McGraw. It was not a huge jump to change the name for Cassie.
Like her namesake, Fingers gets into everything! Boxes, cupboards, drawers, shoes, bags, the tumble dryer! As the picture shows, she's happy squeezing into little spaces.
The funniest thing about having Fingers and Albia is the absolute mush it has turned Liz into.
While I refuse to be referred to as 'dad', she absolutely refers to herself as 'mom' while speaking to them or about them.
I did not have this down as something I'd learn about my wife after 25 years of marriage!
text and pictures by stuartcturnbull