quinn // a portrait series

Why I Love Sunday

Early morning light tangling with fossicked treasures
The mellow, chocolatey notes of a Toby's Estate coffee whilst people watching
Greetings from fury friends upon our arrival home from the farmers market
Spending a quiet afternoon tucked up in bed alongside my love, with good book or knitting project

I love Sunday...& then Monday rolls around.
What do you get up to on Sunday? - Do you spend the day with family? Attend church or prayer? Cook, bake & play 1950's housewife? or are you like me, & spend the day pottering about the house after a morning market run, before retiring to the boudoir at 5pm with icecream & the evening news?

The One With The Bravery Award

This week, our youngest had a date with the vet - time for 'the snip'. She was an absolute trooper.
Sam & I on the other hand, well, one word:
pathetic.


We were nervous wrecks throughout the day; pottering around the house & keeping our hands busy to distract from our nervousness, constantly checking our phones for calls from the vet, & doting on Appa & Tig as much as possible, for we knew much of our attention would be focused upon Quinn in the evening.

By the time that call came, we were beyond ready for our (fur)baby to come home. Our house felt empty without that boisterous ginger cat.
We jumped in the car, & made the short drive to the vet centre. Naturally, we were ecstatic when they brought her out - still groggy & tired from the days events, she looked so small & fragile, in need of much tender loving care. She was even gifted her own 'Bravery Award' for being such a good patient (naturally, as a proud mama, I was beaming) . We listened to the vet's recommendations, "plenty of rest" & "don't let her race around/climb things/play rough", & booked her for a check-up in 10 days time. We were farewelled with smiles & well-wishes, then home we went.

The caring, restful & healing world of the vet centre was a stark difference to what we were met with as we entered our home - & it all started with Appa.
Quinn obviously smelt different, even we noticed the 'sterile' scent, yet to Appa, her 'little sister' was a completely different cat. There was hissing, yowling & scratching. Sam & I soon clued in, & separated the two for a while.
We just weren't as prepared for the next heart-breaking instalment. (Although, thinking back to it all now, I should have trusted my instincts. Oh, retrospect!) 

We had a siesta in the late afternoon so we could keep Quinn company as she slept off the anaesthetic. I hadn't long dozed off when I realised Sam had climbed into the bed, hugging me from behind, & I felt warm tears rolling down my neck. I groggily asked if she was okay, with a soft, shaky reply, "No...I think Quinn hates me."
After several minutes of uncontrollable tears, Sam regaled to me how she had tried to stroke Quinn, but she would walk away - for my girl & her cat this was incredibly unusual, in fact the absolute opposite of their relationship (seriously, these two are almost inseparable!*). I could see the pain in her eyes, & it broke my heart. 
I put my 'grown-up/show no fear' pants on, & explained that Quinn didn't couldn't hate her, & to give it time - meanwhile I was worried it might be true. I thought for sure Quinn would find comfort in Sam. I feared we had made a huge mistake, & it brought me to tears too. We settled back into the bed; I sat, stroking Sam's hair as she slept, before falling asleep myself.

Fast forward several hours, & we were teary again, as Quinn greeted us with nose rubs & loud purrs. She sat atop Sam's chest for an hour, switching between licking her nose & 'padding' her stomach.
Obviously all she needed was time & space. No longer moody, she played with Appa - who had finally realised it was her beloved - & let Tig groom her. We were back to playing happy family!


Now if you've been reading here for a while (...or even a week) you'd know that our animals mean the world to Sam & I. I mean, seriously they are our babies, & we're unashamed to admit it.
I'm overwhelmed by the love I have for each of these quirky creatures, & the affection I receive in return. I can hardly imagine the love I could have for a child - hundredfold?!
Quite honestly, it baffles me.


 As I write, Sam & Quinn are snuggled up beside me, both breathing heavily & deep in slumber.
All is well in our home again.


 * Sam raised Quinn from a tiny 3-week old kitten found outside the old theatre; obviously abandoned by her mother, she was cold, damp & barely able to walk - I doubt she would have survived alone.
Sam would get up every two hours to feed & clean the kitten - needless to say they have an incredibly strong bond.

Este Momento...

I will never grow tired of watching these two - a bond unbreakable.

Saying "goodbye"

Goodbye's are weird. Well, I  find goodbye's to be weird. I become weird, and awkward, and at times sad, or awkwardly sad when it's not really sad, and then there's the times when I should be sad but I can't muster any emotion, or the times when I'm even happy to say goodbye, which becomes weird and awkward again because it's not the happy kind of goodbye. You get it, right? 

In short, I'm not good at the "goodbye". 

On Sunday, we had a sad/awkward/happy/sad again/relieved-that-it's-finally-over kind of goodbye.

It was hard, but it was always going to happen. 

We said goodbye to the kittens. 

These rumbley-tumbley, soft and cuddly, blue-eyed, little kittens that have been a part of our lives for the past 11 weeks. From two tiny kittens, completely dependant upon their mama (Appa) to these boisterous, meowing, stalking and pouncing, getting in/on/under everything creatures that never ceased to make our day incredibly entertaining/frustrating/expensive/exhausting, but most of all, loved.

They became such a part of our household, that it was hard to remember how things were before...and we always knew this day would come, we'd just hoped it wouldn't come so fast. 

It was a rough day. It started with an argument and finished with Pancake Manor.

Neither of us had talked much about how we were feeling about giving the kittens away, rather busying ourselves with buying toys, blankets and food for them, and planing the long trip up the coast to their new home. We were snippy at each other all morning, until it all erupted in an emotion filled yelling match, which led to me storming off in a huff and Sam finding me bare-bummed and crying on the toilet. We couldn't help but laugh at ourselves. We finally chatted about our sadness of the impending goodbye, then dressed, packed the car, plugged in the iPod and set off. 

The trip was filled with sing alongs, kitten cries and beautiful scenery. When we finally reached the coast, the salty air was welcoming and the sunshine made my heart happy. It made our parting a little easier. We played a little and said our goodbyes. We were happy. They were in a loving home. 

On the way up the mountain to home, we stopped at the Pancake Manor in Ipswich. 

Dessert for dinner :)

 *all photos by Sam

We were exhausted, emotionally and physically, as we pulled into the drive at 10pm. We were greeted at the door by a very happy dog and two meowing cats, and we realised that this is our family, in our home. 

 //"Man's feelings are always purest and most glowing in the hour of meeting and of farewell."// Jean Paul Richter//

PS. I have to apologise for breaking my promise to write on Monday...it's now 1am on Thursday :( Note to self: Must be more present!

PPS. The routine is going okay. We've been walking Tig regularly (she even sits at the back door at 5pm, patiently waiting.) I haven't been getting up much earlier than usual (maybe because I'm still awake at 1am?) or drinking much tea, but being more active is a step in the right direction. 

I've just got to change my routine a little at a time.

AND! If you happen to stumble across here this month, head over here to enter the Sole Society/The Beetle Shack giveaway! Good Luck! x

Procrastination Nation Population: Me.

Why is it that as soon as end of semester exams roll around I can find a-hundred-and-one things to distract me from study? I'm always suddenly hungry, for anything that's not in the cupboard,  I seem to find house cleaning  imperative, even working out is tempting!

This weekend's procrastinating ended in Sam and I travelling across town to buy not one, not two, but 9 new sprouts for our kitchen windowsill. I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon and a couple hours this morning painting terracotta pots and planting herbs. We bought a little punnet of the basic Italian herbs - thyme, parsley, chives and oregano and some mint. Sam picked out some tea herbs - lemon balm, pineapple sage, chamomile, peppermint - all of which smell amazing! I also picked up some pet grass (which looks much like the un-mown grass in our yard) and Quinn has already made herself at home munching away at it. 

* I'm feeling peckish all of sudden, and I think pancakes with chocolate sauce & fresh strawberries is the only thing to fix it. 

Winter Nights

Every year I say it; "I swear it's colder this winter than last!", and although it may not be true, I believe it with all my being. Ask my friends, and they will tell you without a doubt, I am not a fan of winter. 

I am grumpy and mopey, I spend the days frump-ily rugging up track pants and jumpers, my skin begins to resemble that of the one-ply toilet tissue you find in school restrooms - in both colour and texture - and I struggle to step out onto the freezing tiles that cover almost every floor of our little abode each morning to make coffee, before climbing back into the warm bed. I often feel that the only reason I put up with this time of year is because I get to share in sooo many birthdays with friends and family, Sam's and mine included. Winter is dreary to me, and I dread it's coming each year. 

 But recently I've felt different. 

There's something about the crisp, quiet evenings of late that has begun to twist my feelings of this season. I have found the strangest peace and reflection during the coolest of night hours, snuggled up in bed with the electric blanket on, surrounded by the dog and cats. Much of the time I am scouring the web for new inspiring blogs or browsing images from my favourite photogrpahers or just procrastinating from study. I will often make it to 2am before I succumb to drooping eyelids, but in those hours I can find the magic of this chilly season. The stillness of the world around me is comforting and relaxes my racing mind. Although I dread the coming dawn and its deceiving light hours, I now know I have something to look forward at the end of it all.

 ~ We often find these two hidden in the warm nooks of the closet, snuggled amongst the jumbles of clothes.