Blues and Jazz Stories

By Tatsiana Shtykava Rostved

Hello and welcome to my world and life... In Blues and Jazz Stories you will get closely acquainted with the two unique and amazing cats who are the only cats in the world called Blues and Jazz. You will discover why and how they were given these beautiful musical names, you will share their adventures and enjoy my observations of and about them. You will understand why and how Cats (and other Pets) are on a Mission, what this mission is and how this is all connected. But it is not "just" a cat(s) story. Neither is it "just" another book (about cats). You will also meet me, my Danish husband's Russian princess, learn our love story and some funny challenges we have been "enduring", coming from different countries, carrying different cultures and having different tastes. You will learn and fall in love with the concept of a summerhouse - in Denmark and in Sweden. And you will be overwhelmed with and by my love for Nature and its magic. What I hope for with my Stories is to find and reach those who will like to listen (read), will be touched and will feel joy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Feb 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504997560

Book preview

About the Book

Hello and welcome to my world and life...

In my book you will get closely acquainted with the two unique and amazing cats who are the only cats in the world called Blues and Jazz. You will discover why and how they were given these beautiful musical names, you will share their adventures and enjoy my observations of and about them. You will understand why and how Cats (and other Pets) are on a Mission, what this mission is and how this is all connected.

But it is not just a cat(s) story. Neither is it just another book (about cats).

You will also meet me, my Danish husband's Russian princess, learn our love story and some funny challenges we have been enduring, coming from different countries, carrying different cultures and having different tastes.

You will learn and fall in love with the concept of a summerhouse - in Denmark and in Sweden.

And you will be overwhelmed with and by my love for Nature and its magic.

What I hope for with my Stories is to find and reach those who will like to listen (read), will be touched and will feel joy.

BLUES and JAZZ STORIES

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TATSIANA SHTYKAVA ROSTVED

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AuthorHouse™ UK

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403 USA

www.authorhouse.co.uk

Phone: [phone]

© 2016 Tatsiana Shtykava Rostved. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/12/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5049-9755-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-9754-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-9756-0 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Prologue or some background story on the names

Part 1 In Copenhagen

How we got Blues and Jazz

Jazz and Blues are home Growing (up) ...

We are different... Blues - observing aesthete

We are different... Jazz's story in his own words:

Our cats and Christian or Christian and our cats Side Story (first)

Christian and the cats - now for real...

Blues and Jazz - good to be brothers Any hierarchy?..

Living on the ground floor... Its advantages and disadvantages...

Travelling - going on vacations

Jazz's mysterious condition...

Cats' role in our lives...

And just a few examples below to illustrate the above.

* Laps and Granny *

* Olyusha and Sylvester *

* Mom and Dad and Max *

* Blues and Jazz and us and family *

* Mr. Darling *

* Stuart and Marisa and Johannes *

* Sif, her own person *

* Conclusion *

* Just a little more on the cats' mission and not only *

Part 2 In the summerhouse

The concept of the summerhouse

The Old Family Summerhouse or/and start of my life in Denmark

New Family Summerhouse(s)

Landscapes ....

What's (with)in and what's (with)out ...

Cats in the summerhouse - getting there

On the road ...

Cats in the summerhouse

So many things to tell you about....

Cats in the summerhouse - outdoors

... A sad enough sidestory...

... And we continue our narration about Blues and Jazz in the summerhouse...

... A look into the past or close nature encounters ...

Mogens and Mikkel

Mysterious sounds in the night

Interesting sounds again

Next sound

... sounds of birds continued ...

And one more...

Old English Pub

Skåne Dyrepark

Pasque-Flower trip

... the magic continues...

... Back to Our Cats...

A rabbit experience

...The cats and the mice...

...Jazz's Christmas adventure...

Part 3 And a little about Copenhagen and

Now run with me, will you?

Link - the sweet parrot

Vestamager

Freelandsmuseet and more

Where we are now... ... and why...

I have to warn you here, so you won't blame me afterwards, for pulling your leg: this is (probably) not a book to base a movie on... But it is definitely the one which will inspire you to meditate and to contemplate... And to love Nature... It is a book for meditation. So, it has to be read slowly... and very welcomely - reread....

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And another warning and disclaimer at the same time: English is not my mother tongue but writing in English feels most natural for me. You will most likely find my sentences, punctuation and choice of words not proper and far from being perfect. Please, forgive me for that. And, please, look away from those imperfections - rather focus and concentrate on the contents and on my message - and you will never regret that you've given my book a chance and made it your true friend...

Prologue

or some background story on the names

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You would wonder about the origin of these names for the two wonderful cute cats of ours - Blues and Jazz...

I guess, when you gazed at this book for the first time (at least at the words of its title, whether you saw or heard it actually), you didn't exactly think about any animals. As this wouldn't be the first association that comes into mind when you see or hear Blues and Jazz...

You probably thought about Louis Armstrong and his What a Wonderful World or you might have caught yourself humming Aretha Franklin's I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You or some song of Amy Winehouse or Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton, Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston... Their music was and is indeed amazing, strong and full of nerve and emotion, sad and soothing, beautiful and never leaving you indifferent and untouched...

Chritstian's father, Mads (or Mads Rudolf as he was often called), loved this music. Jazz and Blues were his favourite genres. He was still in this world with us when we got our cats. And when one day Christian and I went for a walk in the forest around our Swedish summerhouse, we were brainstorming for the good names for our two new lovely family members. Blues and Jazz was the result. And these were (and are) per-r-r-fect names for them.

As you can imagine, we wanted the whole family - and we have a big one - to love them. So we thought Blues and Jazz would give the sweetest associations, especially to Christian's father who meant a great deal to Christian, and to me. And to give you the whole background picture I have to mention the following:

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I am Russian. Christian is Danish. And we found each other in the cyberspace of the Internet. Our love is pure and we have been happy together now for more than ten years. But, when Christian came to meet me for the first time in real physical world, when we had to find out if our chemistry was in order and if we were really meant for each other and our love was meant to be, he had to cancel an important agreement, appointment with his father. Instead of going together with him to New Orleans, the heart and soul of blues and jazz, he chose to go to St. Petersburg in order to meet the love of his life, his Russian princess, me. Mads had to forgive me for stealing his son's heart and being the reason for the violation of their deal. He could see that Christian was happy and we were the Right ones for each other, from the beginning. When we visited Christian's parents in their enchanting house in idyllic Gillelei and they saw me for the first time, Mads was the one who opened the door and welcomed us with the words From Russia with love... with a big broad smile showing his sparkling golden teeth. He gave me a heartfelt strong warm hug. I was accepted into the family.

So, in order to mark this big gesture from Mads's side, and to show how much we appreciated that - we found these names for our beautiful cats.

Remember, everything has a meaning in this world! And it's always important to feel and show sincere gratitude for all the blessings we are lucky and happy to receive, understand and enjoy in this life; and to acknowledge the good things others do for us, without sometimes even knowing and realizing it themselves.

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Part 1

In Copenhagen

How we got Blues and Jazz

I believe this was a deal. And my beloved Christian must have thought thoroughly and well about it. At some point, he announced to me that he didn't want to have children.... And no argument and reaction from my side could change his mind. I tried different tactics: sadness, tears; trying to show how much joy, beauty and even more happiness our child/children could bring to us and our families. I tried screaming and shouting, being furious and angry and attacking him; explaining how unfair this was to me, how much it deprived me of, how much I would miss as a woman if I never experienced being a mother... - nothing would work.

So I chose to accept. And I consciously chose to be happy with my choice. I must have had children in some previous life(s), so I could and still can accept having no children and still being happy in this one. I have a wonderful partner who adores and loves me dearly and who I love and care about with all my heart - so, life IS beautiful! It is full of other miracles and full of other meaning and meanings and gifts for me. I would be a wonderful, loving and caring mother and Christian would be a fantastic father, I know that, and I send all the love in my heart to the children of the world and to those yet to be born. This book is for you, my dears... and for myself.

So, the deal was that instead of kids we would have cats! Christian knew my passion for animals and my love for cats. The one (cat) I had when I was teenager and still living with my parents, lived a happy healthy joyful life with my family until he turned twenty - quite an age for a cat, ha? So we decided to get a cat, or two ; and I was extremely happy for this idea! And Christian has always been fond of cats too! So we decided this was the way to go...

* * *

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It was love at first sight... When I saw that bluish-grey little fur ball with a short tail and attentive greenish eyes, looking directly at me from the internet photo, I told Christian - that's HIM, our kitty! And there were photos of the other three: of lighter and darker shades of cream, champagne and sand - two very fluffy, very cute furry balls

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and the third, a funny one, not as fluffy and a bit long and not as harmoniously proportioned as the other three. At the same time, this kitty number four (if you include the bluish-grey into the total count) somehow also caught my attention, maybe exactly because he was so different from the other three kittens and maybe, or rather because of his very lively eyes and intense gaze, as if asking, What is this world? Is there something good and interesting here for me? It looks like fun! Shall we play?

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* * *

But before we found that advertisement with those photos on the Internet, Christian and I decided to visit several cat(s) owners and see if we could find the right one for us. That meant one who was, of course, cute and lively and with whom we could get eye contact and in general some kind of connection. As you know, it is one thing to see the picture and read what the owners write about their pets, but another thing is when you meet them in reality - the kind of response you get from both sides is the most important.

I have to say that I wanted a big cat, a kitty who would grow to be an impressive big cat, beautiful and proud and admired by everybody. So, from the beginning, we were looking for kittens of specific breeds, who are known to be of a certain size. And our main attention was going to Norwegian Forest Cat and American Maine Coon. These are apparently the two biggest breeds. Both breeds are normally long haired and can be up to seven - nine kilos (Maine Coon can be even up to eleven kilos). And they both have stable, friendly, loving nature. They are even-tempered and playful, energetic, active and healthy. And of course very beautiful.

The history of both breeds charmed us as well. What we read and heard about them from different media can be perfectly summed up in the following sentences. Norwegian Forest Cats used to accompany the Vikings in their travels throughout Europe. They were adapted to the cold climate of Norway, tough weather and challenging life on ships. And this they have in common with Maine Coon, who are also known to travel aboard ships, serving as excellent mouse and rat hunters, used to awkward positions and fascinated with water. Maine Coons are known as gentle giants and possess above-average intelligence. And they love to chat and talk back to their owners. Isn't that a great characteristic?!

So we looked at a cutest Norwegian Forest kitten - one of the very few cats we actually went out to meet in person (their families living in a below hundred kilometers' distance from Copenhagen, normal city apartments or private houses) before we met our loves. The kitty was so nice! Adorable! But I was not sure. I couldn't feel that there was a connection, I didn't get any eye contact either. He was just playing by himself, even not really with his other brothers and sisters. Self-sufficient personality is nothing wrong with - but I wanted to find a kitty who would want to be with me and with us as much as we would want to be with him! And this was not the case.

But when we met our future Blues, we knew we were looking at the right kitty. They were four brothers of around five - six weeks old. Maine Coon, but only eighty percent, living with Carsten in a private house in Fakse, a city around fifty kilometers from Copenhagen. Their mother - blue-grey tabby pure Maine Coone - we saw only a little glimpse of her, their father - a red-cream half Maine Coon - we never had a chance to meet him.

He (Blues) seemed to be very relaxed and self confident... I got the desired eye contact with him and he started purring when he at some point jumped on their cat tree and made himself comfortable in one of the hanging holes. There I got a chance and his permission to cuddle and study him. We were in fact studying each other and both thought good and well about what and who we were looking at, the one each of us was facing.

So Christian and I confirmed first to each other, and then also to the owner of the four kittens, that we would like to take the little charmer. But we thought we also needed a company for him, as we both worked and for the little one to stay home alone for many hours wouldn't be so fair. Our attention went to the other brothers.

All the three were of a similar colour and pattern. Two brothers were long-haired cream-champagne tabbies. One of them had already been promised to somebody. His name was Pølse (Sausage, not a very fine name for such a fine kitty, but Carsten obviously had a good sense of humour). He was by far the most social one. You could see he had an easygoing happy personality in addition to his gorgeous looks. The other one was probably the most beautiful of all four, but it was impossible to get in contact with him. His name was Mivert. He was so reserved and shy, running away and hiding from us, that the owner had to lift him up so that we could see him better. When I tried to cuddle him, he huddled together and started shaking as if he believed I was going to hit or harm him somehow. I was so sorry for him! He had no reason whatsoever to be afraid. Nobody including his owner would ever harm him, he had never experienced anything but love, care and attention (in this life at least), but still he was like that. We expressed our hope that this behaviour would change with time, as we thought we would take him together with his blue brother.

Third kitty, cream-sandy tabby, had some white in the same places as blue-grey one - on his neck and stomach, he had white socks as well and some white around his little light pink nose. Like the blue one he was not as long-haired as the other two brothers. He was funny, this one. He seemed thinner than the others, as he was not as fluffy, and looked longer than them. His name at that moment was Simva, while our future Blues' name was Lilleskid, that is Little Poo/Shit in Danish. Simva seemed like a nice fellow - happy-go-lucky and as playful as the one who had already found his future family. He didn't seem shy and it felt like he had a lot of joyful energy and was eager to explore this world. But it was not him we were thinking about during that first visit as about our future kitty.

We agreed with the cats' owner to come back in a couple of weeks, when the brothers would be around twelve weeks old - then we could take them according to the Danish Law about Pets. It is considered that, by that time, they would have got the necessary love and care and some experience from their mother, and they will be psychically more mature and robust and ready to be taken away from her and the familiar conditions.

* * *

We were really looking forward to the next visit, the day when our family would be joined by two, we were hoping for two, new furry members. I was very excited about the whole thing. And we had prepared well: we bought the food for them - special food for Maine Coon kittens, two toilettes and special sand for them, and some cat toys. We also knew that all the cats would by that time have got the necessary vaccination and worm cure.

This time we saw only three brothers. One had already been picked up by his new family, so we noticed some new alliances, or rather one alliance. The first time the most social kitty who now had been taken away, was all the time together with Simva, the funny one. Lilleskid was also playing with them - they were chasing each other and jumping around - though Lilleskid seemed more independent and sometimes just watching the other two, while they were being silly. And their shy (fourth) brother was mostly by himself, sitting some place safe.

Well, what we saw this time was that Lilleskid and Simva were really enjoying each other's company, they seemed to be inseparable. They were all the time together, so when I cuddled them, they would purr in choir or rather in duet - which was very pleasant and cute. Their shy brother was even more shy than during our first visit, and we had no chance of making some kind of contact, not saying bond, with him. It was a bit sad, such a beautiful, gentle, lovely kitty was so fragile, shy and reserved by nature, that we had to doubt if he would ever overcome these tendencies. We had to make up our minds. So our