I remember a winter’s day, long ago. My mum and I had completely finished our hearth project, with its peachy-tan grout and smooth-textured, ash grey tiles. Buddha, the large, black cat with marble green eyes, instantly sprawled on those cool tiles before a freshly-built, impassioned, late-morning fire of orange ludic flame.
As early darkness swathed the little room, shadows began to swim across the pale walls and stream along the textured ceiling.
A little copper pot with patterned slats carved in its raised lid, bubbled and hummed gently atop the coal-black, wood-burning stove. Mesmerizing plumes of pale steam crawled through the air and dissipated over us.
The room smelled of wood, cranberry and cinnamon.
There was charcoal on my hands.
Wee sparrows and chickadees floated just outside the window. They underwent a final prance in the frigid air and suddenly vanished- to roost for the night in the quiet forest just beyond our little abode on the hill.
We painted together, that day, as evening descended.
Snow was flitting in coy wisps outside and an ardent wind was whirling around, sculpting sharp-edged snow statues in the yard.
Cats pranced about us as we painted on the floor. The wily felines attempted to surreptitiously dip their paws in the white and the blue, for snow and sky; the slate grey for shadow; and the hint of smoky evergreen for glisks of spruce.
The tuxedo cat, Katey Blue, managed to succeed, her white socked foot with the little black spot, coated in vibrant red, for cardinals. She deposited wee red paw-prints on the great slab of wood we were painting, quickly covered by an evening sky filled with tortuous flakes of snow, creating a pinch of flowing purple.
We finished our acrylic mural, Kate smiling as she left more prints on the floor that were quickly mopped up, the house reverberating with our chiming laughter and Kate’s haughty feline chortles.
We carried our collaborative work out back onto the snow-swathed deck to spray it with an acrid-smelling sealant. Buddha escaped onto the snow-clad surface, gliding and sliding like a child, and proceeded to make snow-balls with his giant, furry black paws, batting his creations up into the air playfully in a flurry of snow.
When we had completed our task, we opened the sliding door to recede back into the warmth of the house. The giant cat bolted back inside beneath our feet as we stumbled along and instantly flobbed before the fire in a serene and palpable peace- as if he had never left.
We continued toward the front door with our mural and soon were out in the gelid snow-scene once more, Kate looking on, with the air of a feline prophet, lime-green eyes gleaming through the glass of the side-window.
We set the mural of four gruntled, spritely carolers out front, before the silent white flowerbed cast in blue shade, illuminated in the beam of a spotlight, where flickering flakes of snow could be seen cursitating and swirling swiftly in the night.
Goodnight Greetings from the fire-side,
-Katey Blue
A Day in the Brine 
Hello- I don’t know if you get into all of the awards or not, but I nominated your blog for the “Very Inspiring Blogger Award.” More can be found here- http://fictionalmachines.com/very-inspiring-blogger-award-round-two/ Keep up the great work and Happy New Year! 🙂
Thank you very much! Most honoured indeed. A content and groovy New Year to you as well, cheers!
Autumn Jade
You are very welcome, Autumn Jade- Have a great one over there! 🙂
What a lovely cosy post AJ. I love your cats and your new Gravatar pic 😀 Ralph x *leaving your blog with red footprints*
Oh Ralph, I thank you immensely for your dashed wonderful comment! I shan’t paint away your footprints- must retain proof that a certain Spain-abiding, tawny hat-clad Englishman was here.
Oh thank you, I rather like my new Gravie as well. Nothing better than a tie in the forest- and what’s even better than that? A tie with a very shiny tie-clip in the forest (which seems to be missing in the gravie, oh dear..)
I apologise Ralph for the rambling, I fear I’m just a tad dehydrated, must tottle off for some lime-water.
Yes, it was a cozy time. Loved that wood-burning stove, and Katey Blue is still about trying to dip her paws in paint at every opportunity. Have I learned to lock her in a room or on the porch since then, to avoid this paw-dipping and printing disturbance? Or to lock myself in a room for that matter?? No, of course not. 😀
I thank you for dripping by dear matie, and do hope you’ve been enjoying a thoroughly gratifying first week of 2013. Right now I can hear the cheering sounds of children playing outside my window. I imagine they would like the rabbits to come out. So, *framing red footprints*, and then a topple outside, cheers to you,
Autumn Jade
You are so funny. I enjoy your responses immensely AJ 😀
Oh thank you dear chum. I am greatly inspired by your humour, dear friend. How could I live without it now?? Thank goodness for your blog, your comments, thank you for being our Ralph.
And I think you would suffer a wee tender smile to know that our Katie Blue is currently stationed in lap after having detected the sounds of tigers roaring from the other room. She has been avidly watching a Nature programme with me on a lone tiger called Broken Tail, who wandered far from his tiger sanctuary through densely-populated areas in India. It is very intriguing, a bold and mysterious tiger, indeed, and Katey Blue loves tigers so she’s a fan. Can you hear her purrs? I imagine with your great skill, you can, even from across the Atlantic. Cheers,
AJade
what a lovely cat~
Oh thank you. She is my hero. She and I have had so many adventures together, and she is the funniest feline I’ve ever met.
There was one evening we were in the garage. I’d just put a tarp up in the rafters and the ladder was still poised there. Kate had watched me perform the task with avid green eyes, I completely oblivious of her presense. So, when the ladder was behind us, and we were blathering away in the garage, Katey Blue decided she was going to investigate. She began to climb the metal ladder. I heard a clicking of nails, turned, and there she was, nearly at the top.
“Ope, Katey!” I bugled.
She looked down at me, winked and then chirped. Then she resumed what she was doing, which was climbing onto the beam. I knew what her next move was…she was going to attempt to go waltzing on top of the tarp, that was balancing between two beams…the flimsy thing would not afford her weight, this I knew. Oh dear…
“Oh Katey Blue, NOOOO!” I cried. I was going for the ladder. She looked at me and chirped again. You could see a smile on her black and white face, whiskers twitching happily. And then she did it. She went stomping right onto the thing with full confidence. Half of the tarp came tumbling down, and the little cat came spilling all the way down and landed in the recyclable bin in front of us. She landed on some news-papers and a few bottles. We all gasped. Kate was unperturbed. She peeked out of the recycle bin and chirped at us again, winked sheepishly, and hopped out. She was as cheerful as ever, gazing at us with a satisfied look that said, “Did you enjoy the show??” She was perfectly unharmed.
Cheers,
Autumn Jade