Friday, October 26, 2007

Feline Friday - Dolly

Today it's Dolly's birthday. Ten years ago Dolly was born together with her 4 sisters, Jolly, Molly, Polly and Holly and her brother called Ollie. Unfortunately after a few days poor Ollie died from a lung infection. So we were left with a litter of 5 cute little Maine Coon girls. Maine Coon cats are known for their gentle disposition but our Dolly stood out from the rest because of her extreme sweetness of character. She is such a gentle soul.
When the kittens were 12 weeks old they all went to live in their new homes. Dolly went to live with a dear friend of mine. My friend already had another cat and thought that Dolly and her Muisje would become great friends but it was not to be. Muis did not accept sweet little Dolly and refused to eat for days on end. So, with great sorrow in their hearts my friend and her hubby returned Dolly to us after one week.

Dolly was very welcome of course and after her return we quickly decided to keep her on as she was so very sweet and we felt we couldn't live without her anymore. It's a decision we have never regretted, Dolly is such a great companion and lots of fun too because, although she is very sweet and gentle, she can be very naughty from time to time and she amuses us with her funny antics.
Dolly has several nicknames among which is Giant Squirrel for obvious reasons.
Have you ever seen a cat with such a long and fluffy tail? And Dolly lives up to her nickname in more ways than one, see for yourself.
Of all our cats Dolly is the one who likes the outdoors the most. She loves playing in the garden, running around in it chasing butterflies and leaves and overseeing the head gardener and under-gardener.
Dolly is great friends with all the other cats at Bliss and they like to have lunch together in the conservatory.
Anti clock-wise: Dolly, Merlijn, Surprise, Dolly's mother Vita and Kadootje. Surprise and Kadootje are also mother and daughter. It's very difficult to take a pic of all the 8 cats together as some finish their lunch quite quickly.
The conservatory is one of Dolly's favorite places to be, especially when the sun is shining! Here she is with her mum Vita on the left and Ruskie friend Bebop on the right.
My Russian Blue boy Merlijn is totally in love with Dolly, he always wants to snuggle up close to her but his love and devotion is not returned, Dolly merely tolerates him. She always boxes his ears first before he is allowed to snuggle up close. Well, we always knew that redheads were temperamental. ;-)
As a kitten Dolly loved to climb trees and she still does now that she's 10 years old. Here she is climbing down the walnut tree and jumping on the tree bench. The first time she climbed the walnut tree I had to get a ladder to get her out. She was so high up I almost couldn't reach her. She has this great trust in me because when I grabbed her with one arm (with the other I hung on for dear life to the ladder, I'm afraid of depths, remember?) Dolly put both her front paws on my shoulder and allowed me to lift her from the tree. And with Dolly clinging on to me while I held her with one arm, we safely reached terra firma. Never a dull moment with Dolly around!

Happy birthday my darling Dolly Daisy long may you live to enrich my life with your presence!
copyright 2007 : Y.E.W. Heuzen

When I play with my cat, who knows whether she is not amusing herself with me more than I with her?
Michel de Montaigne 1533-1592

26 comments:

Kylee Baumle said...

Why yes I HAVE seen a cat with such a long and fluffy tail! I happen to have Simon right here, also a Maine Coon! ;-)

We have similar stories about two of our cats. Jack, part of a litter born here last year, and Jilly, who was given with the rest of their siblings and the mama to a friend of ours, but by turns of events, was left by herself and crying. So we took her back and she is quite happy here and we are happy to have her, too.

Dolly is such a pretty girl!

Unknown said...

What a lovely tribute to a beautiful kitty! I hope she delights you--and your faithful readers--for many more years.
We had a lovely cat that was probably part Maine Coone for several years, and she was so, so smart! She taught the others who went outside how to paddle at the glass double doors with their front paws to come in. Sadly, she was claimed by a speeding driver--the first of three cats we have lost to the road in the eight years we've been here--and we miss her loving presence still.

Carol Michel said...

Happy Birthday to Dolly!
I don't have any cats, so I'll just enjoy yours from afar.

Carol at May Dreams Gardens

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What fun to have a house full of cats. It was nice to meet them all. Happy Birthday to Dolly Daisy.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday, Dolly! Hope she's having a lovely day. I adore cats, so it's wonderful to see all your many cat babies there. Happy weekend to you all--all creatures great and small1 ((HUGS))

Priscilla George said...

She's such a beauty. Dolly has such a long beautiful tail. I'm glad that she is doing well at age 10! Cats are entertaining and all your are so cute.

Lis vom Lindenhof said...

Happy Birthday Dolly, du hast dir ja auch einen netten Dosenöffner ausgesucht! :-))

Brimstone said...

Leuk verjaardagslog voor Molly!
Zij is echt een schoonheid.

SchneiderHein said...

Wunderschöne Bilder und Berichte aus 10 Jahren mit Dolly. Sie hat wirklich einen beachtlich langen & schönen buschigen Schwanz. Auch scheint sie ja für ihr Alter noch sehr temperamentvoll zu sein - Alter, eigentlich ist das ja noch kein Alter für Katzen. Also wünschen wir Euch noch viele schöne gemeinsame Jahre.
Liebe Grüße Silke & Wolfgang

Anonymous said...

So cute! I love cats but husband is allergic, so we may not be able to have another one. Sigh! But if I do, I now know that I want a Maine Coon! ~A :-)

Anonymous said...

Oooohhhh- wat een heerlijk poezebeest...geen wonder dat er een musical van gemaakt is!
Een mooie verjaardag gewenst Dol, met veel kadootjes eeehh geschenken...:-)

Poppins said...

It was fun to learn a bit about Dolly. She seems to be a real sweety!

Kerri said...

Happy birthday to your little beauty, Dolly! Our long-haired calico, Jasmine, sounds very much like your Dolly...sweet, but sassy. She's naughty sometimes too, but also amuses us with her crazy antics. Cats are such a pleasure to have around :)

Anonymous said...

nog van harte proficiat ...dacht moet eens even kijken wat niet gakt , hahahahahahahaha, mooi spul heb je daar lopen en héle leuke foto's ervan gemaakt , kunnen zo in een poeziealbum , ken je die plaatjes nog van vroeger ??
fijn weekend verder ;)

Anita said...

Beste Dolly!

Hartelijk gefeliciteert met je verjaardag en groetjes aan Yolanda!

Hoe graat het me je? I've not been here for quite a while so I really enjoyed looking at your pictures again!

By the way, did I already tell you that I am planig to plant a border with old roses this November. My tast for this week-end: Chose the favourite roses from the long list that I wrote over the past few weeks and order them! Oh, I am so excited!

Have a great week-end and I would be so pleased to welcome you again soon on my blog!

XoX, Anita

Gardenmomma Chris said...

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!! Happy Birthday, dear Dollllllyyyyyyyy,,,,Happy Birthday to YOUUUUUUUUUUUU!

Robin's Nesting Place said...

I love the kitty in the box picture, so cute. I've never seen a cat with as big and fluffy a tail as Dolly.

Anonymous said...

A late happy birthday to your Dolly! You write about your cats in such a warm way. And I totally understand why! Dolly is so cute and a sweetheart. Have a nice new week!

Boxwood Cottage said...

Oh my oh my your Dolly is just the sweetest thing! What a cute and lovely cat! Belated happy Birthday whishes to her for a long and healthy life! And a good start into the new week to you! Carol xox

Anonymous said...

She is just purrr...fect!

Cindy Garber Iverson said...

Happy Birthday to your dear Dolly! Your homage to her was just wonderful. I'm going to email it on to Hubby so he can coo over the lovely photos of your sweet kitty. Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage

LostRoses said...

I love all those fluffy cats in your house, and how smart Dolly is to love the garden best!

kate said...

Of course Dolly is adorable since Vita is her mum. She has such an intelligent and playful look ... and I love that she creates mischief too.

May Dolly continue to have many more happy years!

Jazevox said...

very nice cat photography as well, thank you for sharing such cute pics!

Anonymous said...

Happy Belated Birthday to Dolly!
I always enjoy reading about your cats & your garden at Bliss!
Vicki

Anonymous said...

Hi Yolanda,
Very nice birthday story for Dolly.
She's a lovely cat with a lot of nice catfriends.
Hope she enjoyed her bithday.

Bye,

Bert