You may have heard of a cat on a hot tin roof but this is our cat on a cold heating vent and he’s not thrilled.
White Christmas and a Cat
Yes, we had a gloriously White Christmas which is a rare spectacle in East Tennessee but some have wondered if our Russian Blue cat, Gunther, descended from more northern latitude felines, liked it. As he’s indoors only, he was denied the chance to frolic in the snow but we did capture one unusual reaction from the cat who notices all …
Gunther Strikes Again!
Just when we were thinking Gunther was set in his indoor ‘therapy cat’ occupation of sleeping, playing, and eating he abandoned his favorite chair sometime in the morning, likely while we were at Mass perhaps, and brought a small rodent to its demise. Later, politely waiting until Rev. Mother had had collation (monastery language for something like a coffee break) …
Gertrude Gets Her Nom De Plume
Gertrude gets her cartoon nom de plume “Sunbeam” to accompany Shadow in his monastic adventures!
Brother Gunther and Sister Gertrude
Here are a few photos of our team of cats: Brother Gunther and Sister Gertrude. As with any cats, introductions are controlled and monitored while they get used to each other. Gertrude is ‘in training’ at Mater Dei House at the top of our property while Gunther continues his duties indoors at Cor Jesu Monastery down the hill. As Gertrude …
Happy Anniversary to Gunther
This month we mark Gunther’s (a.k.a. Shadow) first anniversary of arrival. As we don’t know his birthday, we’ll consider this day the one to celebrate. The shy Russian Blue has made himself part of our religious family transitioning from his earlier life as a barn cat mouser to something of a monastic therapy cat with mousing on the side and …
Eight Legged Architects – Spider Lessons in Surprise, Smallness, and Diligence
Can we learn anything from spiders? Yes! And not just how to kill them! Our Founder joked that he understand the nuns’ tendency to welcome all creatures…unless they were in our cells. In general, unless its a danger, if its outside, we leave it be. But as Fall approaches and cool morning fogs increase in frequency, the often hidden world …
Our Guard Cat Gunther
Gunther keeps a wary eye out for all things interesting and moving outside the windows. Be it lizards, skinks, chipmunks, turtles, enemy squirrels, turkeys, deer, or bobcats he’s on watch for it. And he’s keeping up with his mouse trophies having recently added another one, although in a rather blasé manner to be found as a forgotten toy instead of …
Gunther finds his tree
Gunther, alias Shadow, is a largely calm and polite Russian Blue. While the breed is very intelligent, they tend to be reluctant to change or try new things. Their desire to keep to an unchanging routine with little deviation should suit them well for monastic living but, as Gunther is learning, life comes with change and change comes with life. …
Gunther meets a butterfly
For a religious the condition of curiositas, the wrongful pursuit of knowledge, is considered a vice. For a feline, however, it might just be the essence of a cat. The proverb is, “Curiosity killed the cat. And satisfaction brought it back!” As one can see in this short clip, Gunther was neither killed, nor particularly satisfied, in this encounter with …
Hidden Gems: Finding a Hidden Tree Frog
An early morning walk in the fog resulted in this happy find among the flowers – a frog hidden in a flower. What an amazing creature!
Gunther, our Russian Blue Social-ist
Our cat, truth be told, is a socialist. Actually, by that we mean that he is a social animal. He loves company. And hanging around his Sisters. He has lived up to many of the breed’s traits we have read about, almost to the letter. Russian Blues can exhibit almost dog like behavior (don’t tell Gunther) even following humans from …