Helen Pullen -Local Artist on cats!

You can view Helens Work at http://helenpullen.blogspot.com

I LOVE CATS

I grew up on a farm where we had seven cats, yes seven! They were all working cats and my father would not let us make pets of them because he thought that it would dull their killing instinct. They regularly caught not just mice but huge rats. I remember one day watching this small tabby dragging along a very big dead rat to lay at my father’s feet.

Years later when I moved into my own home we adopted a cat (or rather the cat adopted us). He was a much loved marmalade tabby called Rusty and had a great personality. He loved travelling in the car and water. He regularly fell into the toilet!

One day I was washing our clothes in one of those old fashioned machines – the kind that you have to stand over that agitates the clothes. I left it for a few moments and when I came back saw amongst the clothes this orange furry thing. Panic stations – I started to throw the clothes out all over the floor and eventually managed to grab Rusty. I will never forget the sight of this bedraggled thing sneezing and shaking in my arms, I could not stop laughing with relief.

Along the way we have been adopted by other cats, the last one called Hobbes who was very special and stole everybody’s heart and we were heartbroken when he died suddenly.

Anyway, as I said I love cats BUT when they are big, white and VERY HAIRY I really have to grit my teeth. My eldest son has two big, hairy white cats who rule his household. They sit where they like (everywhere) and when I leave my chair for an instant I come back and find one or both of them sitting there with what I can only describe as a smug expression on their face. When I go to stay with him I am always covered in white hairs and spend days washing and brushing my clothes when I come back home.

He loves them of course but as he wears mostly dark clothes for his job he does have a few problems trying to look respectable when he goes out!

Local Artist Helen Pullens Corner

Last winter was awful and like most people we expected another very cold winter again and had prepared for it.

After years of saying we would do it, we finally insulated our house and of course stocked up on heating fuel. I bought those shoe grips that stop you slipping in the snow and ice and invested in some warm wool clothes – all set for a harsh winter!

We also stocked up on bird feed for our feathered friends.

Winter came – no snow – no ice – thank goodness – breath a sigh of relief – relax!

But there is something strange.

Our little garden is full of birds of all varieties with HUGH appetites. There are blackbirds, starlings, tree sparrows, blue tits, robins and wrens, to name a few. We choose a large shrub in the corner of the garden and hung a large feeder and lots of fat balls on it. There are lots of branches for the birds to perch on and at the back of the shrub hidey holes for the little birds to hide until they feel brave enough to venture out and feed. Every day the shrub is full of noisy bouncing birds, feeding and quarrelling. We fill the bird feeder in the morning and afternoon and when it is filled most of it is gone within hours, something that never happened any other winter. We have gone through more bird feed this winter than any other year.

My question is – do the birds know something that we don’t know or are they just as unsure of what the weather has in store for us as we are and are “stocking up” just like their human companions?

Taking a Moment with Wicklow Artist Helen Pullen

What is this life if, full of care
We have no time to stand and stare

Early one morning last week I went down to the harbour.  It was one of those lovely bright sun shiny days.  The water was like a mirror and inky blue with very little wind
I sat down where I could get a good view and relaxed and watched.

Down in the harbour a red trawler slipped its mooring and floated down and settled nearer the harbour opening, obviously not quite ready to go to sea.  Two small motor boats put putted out of the harbour and then went full throttle out to sea leaving a V of foam behind them.  Overhead swallows dipped and sang and flitted around where I was sitting.  In the distance I could hear a curlew crying.

In the sailing club area children were getting ready to start their sailing lessons with their instructors who were checking their life jackets and making sure  their crafts were sea worthy. Mums were sitting on the seats in front of the sailing club having cups of coffee waiting to see their children set sail. The noise of the children’s chatter floated up.  Its funny how clear sound travels near water.

I watched while one little yacht after another slipped into the water with their instructors buzzing around each craft in small motor boats. One yacht had two girls in it and I could hear them squealing and laughing, the sound carrying clearly over the water.  I noticed a yacht listing dangerously over, nearly on its side with its occupants sitting on one side of the yacht, as it floated away from the slipway the instructor shouted “move over to port” “MOVE OVER TO PORT” and then “LEFT LEFT” – disaster averted, just in time!

I love to see the children sailing, especially the yachts with the red sails and I took a lot of photographs but then looking around the harbour I saw three white motor boats tied in a row against the harbour wall.  The hulls were bright white with a line of dark blue along the water line and the reflections in the water were beautiful. When I got home and downloaded the photographs, the picture I had taken of the three little motor boats made a lovely scene.

~ Helen Pullen

To view helens work visit her blog: http://www.helenpullen.blogspot.com/

Helen Pullens BlogSpot:

SPRING!
Spring is well and truly here.  Our garden has come to life and the sound of the lawn mower can be heard at the weekend.
We have planted our little garden mostly with shrubs and plants that will attract the birds and the bees. It is not the tidiest of gardens or the most beautiful but the wildlife seem to like it and this give us so much pleasure watching and learning as they visit us.

My husband recently cut back the shrubs in the garden at the back of the house but had not got around to cutting back the side and front garden.  As it well into April we wanted to check that no birds had started nesting in any of the uncut bushes so had been keeping a watch to see where our feathered friends went to and fro.

Yesterday, we were as usual watching through the patio doors at the garden and noticed Mr. Robin perched on our garden seat with his mouth stuffed full of moss and twigs.

He spent some time watching all around him and then flew around the side of the house towards the front garden – oh oh – better check this out.  When we checked we found that Mr. and Mrs. Robin had started to build a nest in the ivy growing on the wall in the front garden.

Now, when our neighbours go by our house and see how overgrown this part is – and that part of the garden is like a jungle! – we will have to explain that we are not lazy, just bird conservators!