Living Pretty With Your Pets: Lebenslustiger
Soooooo TODAY my friends I’m sharing someone with you who I’m just such a huge fan of. I know I say stuff like that all the time but I truly mean it. And like I said I love sharing things with you I love. Anette is a fellow German who is so insanely talented that I get lost in her Instagram feed and blog all the time. She is an amazing artist, gold smith (ETSY shop owner, click HERE), photographer and animal lover.
All I can say is enjoy:
Hi there – this is Anette writing to you. So happy to be here! Thanks a lot Julia for inviting me over…what a great series!
YES – I do love pets for sure! Honestly I can’t imagine living my live without furry friends. Growing up in the country side of northern Germany my parents always had a dog who lived with us as a family member. In addition my father kept chickens and rabbits and had a large vegetable garden.
When I moved in with my boyfriend and later husband it quickly became clear that we were missing a pet. My husband grew up with cats and because I love them too we got two little abandoned baby kitten girls.
A few years later after having our first child we moved to the US to live in California and of course we took our two – then grown up cat ladies – with us. They both did well with the location and climate change and since they were used to go outside in Germany they would also go outside to hunt for California rodents.
Unfortunately we lost one of them – probably to coyotes – which is sad, but once cats get used to go outside you just cannot keep them inside only anymore. Though I do know happy cats who just stay inside as well.
In fact I know one particular cat who is free to go outside but now chooses to stay inside. It’s our red California boy Mika. We adopted him from the shelter a few years after the one girl was missing. The remaining one – we referred to her as our “first child” because she was so little when she came to us that we had to nurse her with a bottle – was very loved by us but had always been a little…uhm…let’s say: “special”. Though she lived for a healthy 18 years, she was a pretty grumpy, high maintenance cat most of the time and got mad at us when we started to have real kids and she never really forgave us for growing our little family and having a second child. The kids got older but she barely allowed them to pet her and no way that she would let them pick her up. At some point our children started to ask if we could have a second cat again. One they could play with and who would return their love.
And so Mika, the red coloured boy, came to live with us and he exceeded all our hopes because he is such a nice and friendly and truly amazing cat. He has a giant heart of gold and we couldn’t wish for a better cat. He would play and snuggle with the kids just like they had wished he would. Still after all these years he has been with us now we talk about how the $50 we had to pay for him to the shelter were the best $50 we ever ever EVER spent.
I actually wrote a little post about him (and the two new Canadian boys I will soon introduce to you) a few years ago…if you like, you can find it HERE.
So – back to California, we were all happily living in Santa Barbara for many years – at least the four of us and Mika were happy – our grumpy one was probably only a tiny little bit happy… 🙂
At some point we decided to all move back to Germany. It went well and even though grumpy was an old old Lady by then, she made it. She would live another good and grumpy as usual year with us in the german country site before she died at age 18.
A year later we went to visit my good friend Lisa in British Columbia. I knew her cat had four little babies at this time and I had already fallen in love with one grey little fur ball we called Blitzi by just seeing a picture of him via e-mail.
Two more babies of the litter were soon going to their new homes but a black one was left with nobody wanting him… he was the runt of the litter – the last born and the tiniest.
I mean – what would you have done?? You would have taken him too, right?? 🙂 We named him Piko.
And so we flew home with two little kitten boys sitting on our laps during the long flight across the ocean. They did perfectly fine and many fellow passengers stopped by our seats to marvel about them.
Back home Mika loved them from the very first minute. Ever since he takes care of them and probably taught them everything they needed to know to cope with outdoor life and hunting.
He used to be a great hunter himself but retired a few years ago. Because he came from a shelter, we don’t know exactly how old he is now – the vet says approximately twelve – thirteen years.
After another move to the city a couple years ago, he decided to only go outside sporadicly when the mood strikes but he loves to rest in the sun on the balcony.
Moving to the city was of course another big change for all of us and we were quite anxious about the situation, because some people started to tell us, that this wouldn’t work out for the cats…
If you like, you can read a post about it HERE.
But we proven them all wrong and again everything went super well and everyone adjusted to the new apartment and surroundings very well and quickly. I came to the conclusion, that cats are truly smart animals and they are way more capable of adjusting to big changes than we think.
They now (mostly Blitzi and Piko) use an amazing 16(!) feet cat zigzag ladder down from our deck to get to the garden and from there to a nearby park. We live in a very quite neighbourhood on a cul-de-sac. They go outside at night and come back home in the early morning hours. Mika would check on them and hope they would play a bit with him but usually they are too tired to play with old but fit Mika. They just eat and then fall asleep into a deep relaxing sleep and we can only imagine all the adventures of the night they have had…
If I am lucky, they sleep right in my office where they have a little bed and keep me company.
Or they show up when I shoot products for my shops. I love that! As I said: I really can’t imagine a life without a pet.
Thanks so much again and best wishes to you and your pets if you have some,
Anette
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AMAZING photos am I right?
Anette creates gorgeous jewelry and sells it in her Etsy Shop. Love this ring:
And she sells amazing things in her DaWanda shop which is the German equivalent to Etsy. Click HERE to see. Her knitting items are gorgeous.
And lets also not forget her Instagram feed because hers alone should be a reason for someone to sign up. You get glimpses of Germany (makes me homesick), her beautiful homeland lots of beautiful animals.
I love it so much:
No literally go get lost…on her website will ya? Click HERE! Bonus, it’s in English!
Tschüß and have a great weekend.
(Youleeya)
WOW! her cats and their stories are great, and her photos are stunning! so great to met, you, annette!!!
She makes me one to start knitting 😉
Oh my gosh Julia!! You are just so sweet and kind! Thanks so much for inviting me over to your fabulous blog and giving me so much space…BIG HUG XOX
I’m the one who has to thank you for taking the time to write this special post and sharing your amazing photos with us. Have a great weekend.
I am absolutely IN LOVE with all her kitties. And what stunning pictures! Oooh I just want to get lost in those furry bellies… *sigh* Anette, I wish I had spent more time chatting with you at the Callwey Awards! Missed opportunity – love you work! xx
I loved the stories behind each of the cats! Really beautiful photos, too!