Solstice

Solly has been preening herself and then reposing on white cushion all afternoon - she didn't take kindly as usual to the camera but I couldnt resist. She is such an old lady but still concerned about her appearance bless her.

As superstitions go, fear of a black cat crossing one's path is of relatively recent origin. It is also entirely antithetical to the revered place held by the cat when it was first domesticated in Egypt around 3000 BC.

A black cat crossing one's path by moonlight means death in an epidemic. ~Irish superstition

All cats, including black ones, were held in high esteem among the ancient Egyptians and protected by law from injury and death. So strong was cat idolatry that a pet's death was mourned by the entire family; and both rich and poor embalmed the bodies of their cats in exquisite fashion, wrapping them in fine linen and placing them in mummy cases made of precious materials such as bronze and even wood - a scarcity in timber-poor Egypt. Entire cat cemeteries have been unearthed by archaeologists, with mummified black cats commonplace.

The superstition seems senseless but while we will mourn her loss at some point I think the practice of the ancient Egyptians is a bit extreme too - unless Irish Linen I hear Diarmuid saying!