I was outside earlier today, enjoying the beautiful weather. We still have quite a few leaves left on the trees and the way the sun filtered down through them made for a very beautiful dappled effect on Mark. So I whipped out my camera.
You know what’s coming, right? The dappled poem, of course.
PIED BEAUTY
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough; 5
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: 10
Praise him.
Such beautiful photos, Ann, love these. What artful shots of dear Mark. And you have KITTENS! We have two new felines too, unexpectedly.
And thank you for the Hopkins poem. I’ve always loved this one, found it stirring. It takes me back.
Enjoy this gorgeous weekend! xoxo
That is one handsome horse so beautiful.
that mark is one beautiful beast! and the kitties are adorable. how are they settling in? any names yet?
Love, love, love the kittens! Now your house is..complete? Don´t know if you can say that, it´s what we say down here in Brazil…uma casa cheia..(a full house)
My two cats, Mia and Meg, work nonstop, no cockroaches goes into the apartment unpunished! They are so cute!
And your horses are gorgeous!
That is one of the first poems I connected with as a teenager. And it reminds me of my dad, who introduced me to it. “All things counter, original, spare, strange” is a great line about our tendency to be judgemental of anything we don’t know. Thanks, Ann, for reminding me of it!
Your kitties are beautiful. So is Mark, as always. Thanks for the photos.
Love Mark, love the kittens, and love the poem. So nice to have your blog again, Ann! I really missed you.
“Pictures of horses?”
“Check.”
“Pictures of kittens?”
“Check.”
“Pictures of dogs?”
[insert sound of crickets chirping here]
We killed all the boring old dogs and are using their pelts to keep the adorable kittens warm.
Too funny, Ann! (Actually, the photos of your dogs are my favorites….)
Ha!
All so lovely.
Adazzle. Such a word.
I know, I wonder if it’s allowable in Scramble?
It was a GORGEOUS day here in CT yesterday and today promises to be just as nice! Don’t know how many more fall days will be left on Mother Nature’s calendar like these but I hope Mark and all the critters at your house enjoy them.
Mark really is beautiful. You should have named him Casanova!
Does anyone know what the color of the shorthaired female is called? I know the male is a tiger. Is she a tabby?
Hi Ann,
Both of those beautiful babes are tabby cats. Tabby is a coloration and marking term, most distinguishable by the classic “M” that the darker color forms on the cats’ forehead. Tabby shows up in many breeds. Some of my siamese kittens have the tabby M and it’s called a lynx point in relation to siamese and related breeds, like balinese, javanese and oriental shorthairs.
Under the larger umbrella of “tabby” come the distinctions of ticked, spotted, mackerel and classic, then patched – like you find in calico and tortoiseshell cats.
Since you’re a word person like me, you might enjoy the etymology of the word tabby, which comes from the French word for a very fine silk taffeta, “tabis,” which was made only in a striped pattern in order to camouflage the lines that ran through the early versions of the material that was crafted from a much less compliant raw silk.
Thanks for posting the photos – so gorgeous.
All I know is she looks like a cricket to me.
Cricket is a great name, Candy
I have a man kun sort, at least that is what they told us. We found our cat on the street in a coast town where I used to spend my summers. We took her in and had no idea she was s man kun. At one cat show they told us she was a man kun since she is longhaired and had that M. But I noticed a lot of cats have that M so it’s not typical just for one breed. Anyhow, the male in that second photo looks just like my cat when she was little. So cute!
Wow, Denise, thanks. I had no knowledge of any of this. Very interesting.
But, I’m not really seeing the M
Okay, I just googled. Would you say that I have two brown mackerel tabbies?
I see the M so clearly! But then I’m used to looking for it. When you do cat & dog rescue you get in the habit of paying attention to the details that may matter when folks are looking to adopt. A lot of people just go for the cat or dog they feel a connection with or like the cute photo of, others attach certain breeds and markings to personality traits and/or a cat or dog they used to have who looked similarly.
Yep, I’d call them mackerel tabbies. The shorter haired kitten I’d further describe as a snowshoe w/tuxedo markings (white front paws & white chest). I can’t really tell – is that a little bit of apricot on her face and throughout her coat? If so, she’d be called a tri-color snowshoe tabby. The longer haired kitten also looks as if it has apricot fur going on – but that could just be the picture – if so it’d be called an apricot tabby with a light flecking of tuxedo on the chest. The white flecking is light enough that it might actually change as the kitten grows, either disappear or grow into a fully white chest.
It’s possible I know *too* much about descriptors for cats and dogs; hope I didn’t bore you w/more details than you wanted
Yes, she does have a little apricot. A try-color snowshoe tabby with light flecking and her brother, the brown mackerel! I had no idea cats had such poetic names. Now, these are just markings, right? Not breeds? And you said there are certain characteristics associated with the markings? I really am more of a dog person but now I’m fascinated with cats.
Correct, these are terms that describe coloration & markings regardless of breed. The terms can become a little trickier when discussing purebred cats because particular markings & color can determine the “value” of a cat, as in how close to the ideal the cat is or isn’t. But that only really matters for showing and breeding purposes; I’m sure you’re a bit a familiar, Ann, since same principals hold for horses (and dogs). In siamese and related breeds, tabby markings are traditionally called “lynx” points, and cats who are tri-color are often called “torti” points. Tabbies/lynx points are thought to be very loyal, a bit more bonded to their humans – whereas tri-color/torti points are considered to be a little wonky & eccentric, even fiery (the way we think about redheads). I don’t really put much stock into the colors & markings having a bearing on personality but they can actually tell us information regarding health issues because coloration comes from our genes.
For example, animals with light eyes and/or pink/liver noses are more sensitive to sun & heat, more likely to have environmental, food and medicinal allergies – as holds true for people with lighter eyes and fair skin. Red hair – including anything in the “orange” range – is due to a recessive gene & is often accompanied by a freckling of skin. In a torti point cat or a chow dog – or a golden retriever like my service dog Luke – it’s not uncommon to find spots (aka freckles) on their nose or paw leathers & gums. We all know that redheads are more likely to burn in the sun & more predisposed to skin cancers, but we often forget this applies to our domesticated animals.
Research shows that redheads have different sensitivities to pain and medications also. A higher tolerance of pain, except for pain generated thermally (burns), to which they have a greater sensitivity/lower tolerance. Redheads usually require more anesthesia during surgeries. Many redheads, like me, have adverse reactions to narcotic opiates (aka, all the good stuff): demerol, morphine, codeine & valium. Research was done for the first time in earnest when data accumulated from Vietnam showed a large number of morphine-related deaths occurring in servicemen who were described as having red hair and/or freckles. These soldiers died not of their wounds but from anaphylaxis, usually induced when morphine was injected in the field, where other lifesaving methods couldn’t be taken to counter their body’s allergy to the drug.
OK, my Aspergers’ too-much-information-citing has kicked into overdrive. There’s a lot more I could share but I’ll exercise restraint now, understanding that I probably should’ve done so a few dozen facts & a history lesson ago
p
Did that other horse you posted a picture of on twitter break free because he was hamming for the pictures?
No, that was Zidane. He had been posing and .. well, he got tired of posing and decided to trot down the driveway, then, when he was almost out of sight of the other horses, he got spooked, as I knew he would, and he came galloping back and I think would have leapt into my arms had I not moved. Chicken.
Well now, thanks to Denise, I have names for the kitties. The boy is Mackerel “Mack” the girl “Tabby”
Ann,
That’s so cute!!! What great names….so clever!
And WOW Denise! Pretty interesting info.
Tabby (Short for Tabitha) was my last cat’s name. Great name!
so great to see Mark again! have you been riding him? he looks fabulous! and the kitties are adorable
When I looked at the first two pictures of Mark, I thought they were foal pictures! He looks so sweet and young. Nice to see Mark again. You can tell he is cared for. Great pictures Ann. Love the kitty pictures too.
I thought the same thing Stephanie,, Mark looks so young in these pictures.. and the kitties are adorable.
Mark is almost 18! I’ve had him since he was 3.
I’m with Alan – Dog photos are long overdue.