In the fall of 1999 I was feeding a stray calico cat. She was pregnant and had her five kittens on a shelf at our back door. Dad found them in October. Mama cat carried all the babies away a few days later but continued to show up for supper. A month later, she brought me all five kittens.
I kept them all in the barn for a while and played with them and eventually got them all adopted. But Dad wanted to keep the little calico who I named Nutmeg. Oh her first night in the house, without her brothers and sisters, she took solace in my teddy bear basket. I couldn't find her at first...and then suddenly I noticed that face.
She took an immediate liking to Cinnamon. They snuggled together most days.
She loved sharing Dad's ice cream! She charmed us all, that sweet cat.
Her markings and that sweet face made her so photogenic that I followed her around with a camera a lot.
And I drew her countless times. Her markings were so interesting and she'd hold her pose for hours so I was able go capture all the amazing shapes and colours of her fur.
She kept that sweet baby face until she was nearly 18 years old. But I called her my old lady cat because she never climbed on the table or counter, never broke anything (like all the rest of my clan have done) and was generally an angel from the day she came into the house.
She especially loved chasing the sun. She was an indoor cat who loved the indoors. She was the first cat who I let sleep in bed and she usually lay beside me, under the covers purring.
Richard snapped this of us together just before Nut's decline. In her healthier days, she never would have let me hold long enough to take such a calm photo.
Nutmeg was the sweetest cat, with a shy nature. But she loved me. Sadly, on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, at the age of 17 and a half, Nutmeg crossed the rainbow bridge. I hope Dad is sharing his ice cream with her. I miss that little kitty so.
