Churches in Venice

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Lick."

The first PhotoHunt of 2010 - best wishes for a Happy New Year to everyone!

These fine fellows both live at the cat sanctuary where I volunteer (this sanctuary is home to 300 cats). You can't make a cat pose for a "lick" photo so I was lucky to get these right before this theme came up!

And I'd like to ask all my blog friends to support your local no-kill animal shelters. Even if you can't adopt a furry friend, please think about donating time or money. There are way too many homeless animals out there.

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This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Bulky."

A statue of Hercules in the NC Museum of Art. He looks like a bulky guy. :)

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Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend.

I've realized that blogging is like exercising or healthy eating or any other good habit; when your routine falls by the wayside, it's not that easy to get back on track. Excuses, excuses, I know, but honestly I've been so busy lately and all of my free time has been going to other things (mainly the cat sanctuary). I do hope to resume regular blogging soon!

So for now, a couple of recent photos of the Dynamic Duo. They weathered the recent bizarro cold weather just fine (even though they are indoor cats, it does get a little chilly in my old house and a few times, I found LuLu laying right on the heating vent!). Cats are heat lovers, and I know they are happy that we've returned to more normal winter weather now. LuLu continues to be the quintessential lapcat, and Maria is still the Class Clown (almost everyday, she does something that makes me laugh!).

Like many people, my heart has been in Haiti this past week. I was happy to read this morning that a number of organizations have joined together to form ARCH (Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti). I remember when there were similar efforts after Hurricane Katrina, and a number of Katrina cats and dogs were rescued and brought to NC to be adopted by people here. I plan to make donations for both the people and the animals of that devasted country.

Several years ago, my cousin went to Haiti and brought me a beaded Haitian prayer flag. I'd seen these in folk art galleries and really liked them a lot. Mine is hanging in my hallway and I've been looking at it every day for years now, so I feel connected to that country and its art. It's hard to get my head around the level of suffering happening there now.

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Balanced."

A sculpture of a family with the little kids balanced on the big people's arms and heads.

This sculpture is in a park next to the Farmer's Market where I shop on Saturdays, and I've taken a bunch of photos of it. Here's another view on a cold winter day.

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Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend.

I'm determined to finish my Torcello series sooner rather than later...so here's the second cat story. This one isn't quite as dramatic as the cat who got on my lap in the cathedral, but still, It was such a strangely feline day, especially since after I left Torcello and went to Burano, I ran into another colony of cats that included a little orange kitten who tried to climb my leg.

Anyway, I stopped to pet and photograph all the many cats lounging along the canal leading down to the Piazza where the churches are. Because it was such a gray day and it wasn't raining at the time, I decided to walk around the island for a while before I went into the churches. So I was moseying along and all of a sudden, I glanced over and realized I had a companion. One of the Torcello cats had left his/her compatriots and decided to join me on my walk.

I was happy for the company and we walked together for about 20 minutes or so. Every once in a while, I'd stop and get the camera out, and the cat would stop and pose.

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Spotted."

A spotted cat that I spotted in the wood pile~

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Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend.