I'Z GOT YARN!

Yesterday, NoNa/Habu/Zorro discovered the joys of playing with a ball of yarn!

Two Cats Lounging

The bad news on the CH cat front is that we lost a couple more during the summer--Pablo and Rusty have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. We are now down to three official (neutered/spayed) CH cats--Heidi, Buttons and Beau. We also have a couple of unofficial cats who hang around but whom we consider too nasty to try to capture and take to ACE (Animal Care in Egypt). Buttons and Beau have been found lounging, sometimes in strange places (Beau was roosting in a storage cabinet in the Photo Archives yesterday). Here are a couple of photos of them at their loungiest!

Beau takes a selfie!

Buttons keeping cool

No. 4! But Who's Keeping Score?

I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this post-a-day pace up, but I'm doing my best! These first few posts have to deal with within-the-walls matters, as I will not have an opportunity to venture out until the weekend. Today I can show you the view from my office...

...and some of the bikes which our workers use, both to get around the campus quickly and to commute between their homes and CH...

...and a few of the majestic Washington Palms to be found on the grounds...

...and two more of our coterie of cats, Dusty and Beau...

Dusty the Hierakonpolis Cat

Sitting Pretty

Beau the Wonder Cat

So-named because of his resemblance to Buttons

You'll be pleased to learn, I'm sure, that any cat who decides he or she would like to take up residence here is required to be neutered or spayed. We are lucky to have access to the services of Animal Care in Egypt for these operations.

And finally, a beautifully enameled vintage lamp from the courtyard...

Not Egypt: Cats can be jerks...

Had to share this! It's not Egypt-related, but the behaviors have been known to be practiced by CH cats!

Testing...Testing...

I am the proud owner of a new Canon PowerShot S100 (Thanks to KV and CG for their help in making the decision to purchase this particular camera and thanks to ES for transporting the camera and SL for bringing the great retro camera case to Luxor!). What follows are some of the first shots I have taken with this lovely camera. These are all "Automatic" or "Scene Selection". I haven't had a chance yet to explore the semi- and fully manual options available to me. I'm going to have to "re-learn" manual photography as I haven't had to use those skills in years!

Flora:

Poinsettia

Red Flame (Clerodendron splendens)

Persian Acacia (Albizia julibrissin)

Fauna:

Look closely for the kite in the palm tree!

Kite near their nest

Kite again

Bee-eater just before take-off!

Buttons blending in

Beau doing his third favorite thing (after eating and playing)

Landscape, Waterscape, Moon:

Gurn with clouds

Felucca at sunset

Handheld moon

 Sunsets:

Sunset and felucca from the roof

Sunset and felucca from the Winter Palace

Sunset from MY roof 

End of that same sunset

Architecture--"Old":

Luxor Temple - Colonnade Hall

Luxor Temple - Layers of history

Architecture--"New":

Winter Palace with a golden glow at sunset

Luxor door

New "Kit" on the Block

Look who just moved in today! This little one is a street cat who's decided to opt for the cushy life at CH. Real laid back and sweet as can be. He's been hanging out with the guys at the front gate all afternoon.

And while we're talking CH cats, I got some good ones of Rusty of the beautiful green eyes yesterday. She's very skittish and I had to be sneaky but the results are worth it:

Belated Happy Easter!

Sorry for the delay, but now I have two great photos taken by Tina with which to pass on my greetings. Buttons was obviously working very hard to get the decorations ready!!