cats

March 2026 Photos

May 31, 2026 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Cats and garden and truck… that covers most of the photos I liked from March! This first one, though, is of the lunar eclipse that month. What a spectacular sight! Elijah had a pair of image-stabilizing binoculars here at the time that he was testing out for his Land Search and Rescue group, and they made the moon amazingly clear. We also got to see the four biggest moons of Jupiter through them. What a thrill! The last time I saw those was with my dad, probably in the 1980s when he was given a telescope.

My girls love books and cats! Little Miss has been reading to Miss Joy a lot.

Mr. Imagination and Elijah with their stack.

The garden was gorgeous at that point. (It’s mostly dead now.) Esther took this picture one day while she was harvesting chamomile. The smell of this area… wonderful!

Sometime in March, Simon bought another Land Rover. This one started out life in 1963 with a different body; this one was put on in the 1980s. It isn’t running, and he plans to junk most of it, but he got it for certain parts that are especially good in that model. Anyway, the price was so low he couldn’t not get it!

And, cats! Goofy cats that rest in odd places and positions.

Boxes are the best.

Even if the box is so small it’s difficult to fit all four feet in!

This picture requires some explanation. One morning, around 11:00, someone saw Grizzly sitting like this in the yard, looking quite unhappy. It had started to rain an hour or so before this; she had been sitting there since 8:30 or so. She was very wet, but didn’t wake up enough to move until I nudged her as I went past, shortly after the picture was taken. Then, she got up, leaving a dry spot on the grass where she had been, and went under cover.

April 2025 Photos

June 8, 2025 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I have some time this afternoon, so maybe I can catch up with posting photos! I’ll schedule posts ahead to spread them out a little.

We had fun one evening attempting to make Pippi Longstocking-style braids on Miss Joy!

One special evening, we got to attend a graduation ceremony for a number of local apprentices, including both Elijah and James. Elijah actually got signed off in September, but James was only signed off that week! The company who handled their studies invited all the new tradesmen and their families and workmates to a dinner at a local restaurant, and after the meal, presented them with their diplomas. It was quite a special occasion!

We are really enjoying these two budgies! The blue one, Reepicheep, is especially interesting–quite a character!

Mr. Imagination has a new obsession. He makes knives! These are a few of his recent creations.

I missed a couple of pictures of the cat who likes boxes! Here they are. Elijah had his bedroom door in the carport for a week or two to be painted, and Grizzly was delighted to find a piece of newspaper in one of the panels. Two of her favorite things–newspaper, in a “box!” The trailer makes a large box when she can’t find a cardboard one.

Little Miss cracked an egg one day and found a strange “egg” inside it. She decided this needed to be documented!

My Cat Sleeps in Boxes

April 27, 2025 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We have a cute picture book about cats. It describes cats around the world who are very talented… they might dance, or sing, or many other things… but every second page says, “But MY cat likes to hide in boxes.” Well, we have a cat who loves to sleep in boxes, any boxes. Grizzly was overjoyed when we were emptying boxes of jars during canning season, and putting the empties outside to be taken back to the garage. Perfect places to sleep! We’ve also found her sleeping in a child’s wheelbarrow, carefully braced so she didn’t slide out, or in the trailer (very big box!). One day, when Elijah’s bedroom door was laying on sawhorses in the carport while he was prepping it for painting, she found that someone had put a newspaper (another favorite bed) in one of the inset panels on the door. So, she had not only a box with tiny sides, but also a newspaper! Perfect!

She generally wakes up when we come to take a picture, but this time Esther found her sound asleep, laying on her back in the box!

I took this picture one day when it was drizzling. Gayle had driven the ute somewhere, so of course the engine was warm. Apparently, the heat trumped the wet. Grizzly was curled up tightly, with her paw over her nose. I said something to her as I walked past. She uncurled enough to half open one eye and sleepily say hello (she’s a very talkative cat), and immediately curled up again, fast asleep.

Goofball likes boxes, too. She’s much more dignified than her sister, though.

Cats

July 28, 2024 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We continue to enjoy watching our goofy cats, and teasing them. Of course, any new surface must be sat on–this sheet of newspaper was obviously the best place around for taking a bath!

The house the little girls made was a great place to hide out, too–especially when we were trying to catch Princess to put her outside!

One evening, James started teasing Princess, and it was so funny I grabbed my phone to get a video of it.

Mr. Sweetie was amused at Grizzly enjoying the sun on top of our ute one day.

The picture above, of Grizzly from behind, reminds me of Capyboppy in the book by that title–a capybara that was a pet for awhile. This is the picture:

A friend stayed here with our boys for a few days, and the last day he was so worn out that I found this!

Girls and Cats

August 13, 2023 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

When I looked through the photos I had from July, I noticed a lot of pictures of my little girls, and several of the cats–and some of both girls and cats.

Princess spends a lot of the winter in front of the fire. Usually she is curled up facing it, but this one day it looked like she just flopped down as she was walking!

One of the boys took this picture of Miss Joy while he was supposed to be doing school.

The girls love walking with their daddy! He often takes them around the block or down to the river.

The fad for awhile was crowns. Little Miss found a book on our shelves that showed her how to make a crown out of foil, so she made a number of them.

It’s always special to get Jo-Jo to sit on your shoulder!

One evening, Miss Joy was quite cranky. When I remembered that we had recordings of Grandma reading several picture books we have, I spent a few minutes transferring the recordings to my iPad and finding the books on the shelf. Her evening was suddenly transformed; she spent the next 45 minutes till it was time to eat totally engrossed in stories.

Goofball

A craft project we did one day was to make fans, since we had just spent a couple of days learning about Japan. The girls then packed a tea party and took it outside.

Goofball is Miss Joy’s favorite cat, because she is always gentle. We had our homeschool group meeting here one day, and while the children played outside, these two sat on our vine-covered stump and watched for quite a long time.

Our little mommy. She loves her dolls!

Kittens

December 8, 2018 by NZ Filbruns 3 Comments

We have a problem. This problem takes the shape of seven very cute little kittens—but there are seven of them!

We came home from Christchurch on the 13th of November, and when I was walking into the house Grizzly called to me. I went to see what she wanted, and she was proud to show off her brand-new kittens. She had them on an old sheet that was laying on top of an old freezer in the carport. Two were with her—and two were blindly crawling on the ground. I quickly got her a box and a towel. Those little kittens are now learning to walk around and play, and my little people are enjoying them so much! They also add drama to the day. A couple of days ago, Grizzly decided they had to move. She brought all of them into the house, to a corner of our bedroom, when we weren’t watching. We put them back out in the box. She brought them in again over and over till we shut the doors. Then, she moved them behind a pile of boards in the carport. The little boys got some practice tracking down a cat, put the kittens back in the box—and then repeated the process! Yesterday, she moved them all to a spot under the lemon tree by the door. I was afraid they would be stepped on, so after dark I put them back in their box. Today, she’s happy for them to be there!

One week old:

Two weeks old:

I let the little ones bring the kittens inside this morning. We tried hard to get a picture of all of them, but they move too fast!

I was trying to get a picture of this tabby tortoiseshell, and the ginger one pounced on her!

This little tortoiseshell seems to be the gentlest of the lot. She also looks like she might turn out to be fluffy.

Two weeks after Grizzly had her babies, Goofball’s turn came. She was desperate to have her babies in the boys’ sleepout, and woke the boys up at midnight. She managed to push her way through the window and had one on the bed before they figured out what was happening. They got up and got her a box. She had three babies in the box, but come morning she wouldn’t stay with them. She would pick a kitten up and carry it around, searching for a way into the house. Several times we laid her down with them and held her still till they started nursing, and finally by lunchtime she had accepted the box and was staying with her babies. They have just opened their eyes now, so I’m letting the little ones hold them occasionally. Here they are at two days old. The one in the middle is a female; the other two are males.

So, that’s our current problem: Finding homes for seven cuties! Anyone want a kitten for Christmas? Grizzly’s will be six weeks old then.

More Pictures From October 2018!

November 17, 2018 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Well, I should have looked at my memory card again before publishing last week’s post of pictures. There were several more good ones.

Mr. Diligence made the lions for the skit they performed at the concert. I found him a picture of a lion online, and Esther enlarged it. He glued them together, cut them out, and painted them. Then, he glued them to cardboard and made them stand up.

Simon learned to ride a backwards bike when someone loaned them one many years ago. He has wished for one ever since, so when he had a couple of days off work on a recent long weekend, he built one. When you turn the handlebars right, the wheel turns left, and when you turn the handlebars left, the wheel turns right. So far, all three of the older boys have learned to ride it.

I looked in the living room recently and saw Mr. Imagination telling Goofball to hold still. He wanted her to pose for him to draw a picture of her, but she wouldn’t cooperate. I suggested he hold her still while I took a picture, and then he could draw from that.

Here is the picture he drew and cut out.

Some of our friends from Dead Boring came to see us a few weeks ago. We met in Moana, and had a picnic together beside Lake Brunner. They had two 9-year-old girls along, and Little Miss, once she warmed up to them, had great fun helping them build a “hut.” It was basically an outline of grass, with flowers arranged artistically in it.

I wished I had taken a picture of this scene earlier. When we first arrived, the lake was calm and the mountains were mirrored in it, but then a wind came up. It was still beautiful!

This coal train came along, and stopped on the side track. Soon, we saw the passenger train come from the other direction and pass it, and then the coal train started moving again.

Around Our House

August 18, 2018 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I looked at Mr. Sweetie’s memory card recently, and found some nice pictures he took out our bay window. These first three pictures show the view from the end of our living room that faces the street we live on. There are three other houses on this short street, which has no exit; we can easily see two of them. The local school is just beyond the buildings at the end of the street, in the third picture.

This is the view out our street, across the highway. A trucking company is based there, and for a few days last month they were fixing this digger. I think they took the tracks off and fixed them, then put them back on. Of course, the activity over there is rather distracting on some school mornings!

A tall tower!

We can see the tops of some of the Paparoa’s over the neighbor’s garage. When they have snow on them, and the early morning sun hits them, the sight is stunningly beautiful!

How do you like that mischievous look on Little Miss’s face?

I found Princess sitting in the washer one evening. She was hiding from her daughter, Grizzly, in the next picture. There is all-out war between the cats a lot of the time now. During the day, Princess disappears; she spends a lot of time at the school.

Doesn’t Grizzly look scary? Princess thinks so—but Goofball is worse; she actually chases her mother.

Busted!

May 28, 2018 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Several years ago, we got a book out of the library titled Six Dinner Sid. Sid was a cat who had six homes. He had to keep up six different personalities, but he also got six different dinners, had six different beds, and had six different people who doted on him.

Our cat Princess has been away a lot of days lately. She decided about the first of April that it was time to wean her kittens, and ever since she has been very nasty to them, and sometimes to us when she’s upset at the kittens daring to exist in her presence. Some days, we wouldn’t see her until late afternoon. When we got home from our weekend trip on Tuesday evening, she was missing, and we didn’t see her again until Saturday morning. By then, I was figuring that either she had met with a sad end, or had moved in with someone else.

Saturday morning we were sitting in the living room having family worship when someone spotted Princess outside! We let her in, since she had been gone so long, even though we don’t normally pay attention to the cats during worship. A few minutes later, the neighbor who had taken care of the animals while we were gone came over. She had a newspaper clipping for us:

Now we know where Princess is spending her days! And the moral of this story is? You can’t own a cat!

December 2017 Pictures

January 23, 2018 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Simon helped me harvest the garlic on Christmas Day. We got 89 heads from an area about a meter square.

We’re having a problem with fleas on the kittens. I don’t want to spend $30 each to buy the pour-on stuff from the vet, because the mama cat would just lick it right off and I don’t think that would be good for her, so we’re dusting them with diatomaceous earth every 2-3 days. They hate it!

This cat has always loved to sit in boxes—but I think she found one almost too small for her, this time!

This hen hatched six babies right after Christmas. We were able to sell the mother and all the babies.

The positions we find the kittens in are sometimes pretty funny!