Burgess Photography Blog

Last Friday we met up with Kirsty & Steve for their pre-wedding meeting. They are getting married at Trentham Church right next to Trentham Gardens so we headed out for a few photos in the area before sunset. Kirsty and Steve relaxed really quickly in front of the camera. They were a great couple to photograph and we are really looking forward to their wedding day in May.

Smudge, and his brother Scamp, were my parent’s cats – well techincally they were mine and my brother’s cats but they have always lived with my mum and dad and became surrogate children for my mum after my brother and I left home. They arrived in our house as a surprise one weekend, two little bundles of black and white fur called Tom and Jerry. Mum had just gone to have a look at them but, of course, they ended up coming home with her. We quickly decided we wanted to rename them because I was worried that Jerry would have an identity crisis (am I a cat or a mouse!!). Smudge’s name was easy to pick due to the smudge of black on the white of his face. Scamp was harder to decide on but totally suited his name as he was always the more mischievous of the two. Scamp was sleek and fast – he was the one who brought in ‘presents’ caught in the garden. Meanwhile Smudge was always the big softie – a huge cat, in length as well as belly size, who loved his food. My brother and I always joked that the only way he would catch birds would be by jumping from above and squashing them flat!

Sadly, Scamp was run over by a car when he was still in his prime despite the vet’s best efforts to save him. Smudge couldn’t understand that he was gone and spent the first couple of months walking around the house at night crying and trying to find his brother. We decided he was lonely and needed company so it was off to the cat shelter to find him a friend. Mum came home bearing another bundle of black and white fur, a very fluffy one this time. Great debates were had in our household over a name – the kitten had a white tip to his all black tail and Dad and I wanted to call him Tippex! Mum was adamant that she would not be seen dead calling out Tippex (or our other suggestion, ‘Dipstick’) in the garden to get him to come in at night! So eventually we settled on Milo.

Milo has always idolised Smudge, hanging around waiting for Smudge and rollling submissively on his back to try to tempt Smudge to play. Smudge, on the other hand viewed the new kitten with mild distain. He would pretend to ignore him and walk off with his nose in the air. But he never really scolded Milo for being overly boisterous and over time it because clear that Smudge secretly liked having him around. Not the same as a brother but a companion nevertheless.

Last week, after several months of ill health due to a heart condition, Smudge had to be put down. He had a good innings at 13 years old and will be sorely missed. We were home last weekend so thought we would get some photos of the remaining ball of fur – Milo. We didn’t really take any good photos of Smudge when he was alive so are determined not to miss out again. Milo is quite a little cat but with lots of fur that make him look much bigger than he is. He is a lot like Scamp in many ways as he is equally, if not more, mischievous – where Scamp only managed to run part way up the curtains as a kitten Milo made it to the top to sit on the curtain pole!

The wispy clump of tall grass the Milo is sitting in the middle of in the next pixture is right under the bird table. For some reason Milo seems to think this grass is a suitable disguise and that the birds won’t see him!

Thinking of his friend……