A cat and her Mini Farthing...

 

I am far from a genuis, but somehow a few days ago, I stumbled onto the Einstein Inspiration Challenge Blog.

where the inspiration #14 photo shows  a cat circling a bike.    The focal points are the bike and the cat, now what you do with that, oh well, let's see..   I ran across a set of acrylic bike stamps and sentiment at Hobby Lobby by Bo Bunny (on sale) and I borrowed an SU Cat stamp set complete with punch from my SU Demonstrator/Friend.   I chose a bicycle with a super huge wheel and a tiny wheel and proceeded to do research finding some interesting facts.  Also known as a high wheeler, the penny-farthing was the first machine to be called a "bicycle." Popular in the 1870s and 1880s, it had a large front wheel, where the rider sat, and a much smaller back wheel. It got its name from the British penny and farthing coins, with the former being much larger than the latter.   I needed to come up with a cover story for why the cat I'm using is only slightly smaller than the Bicycle,  So I put the card together using some fall colors, because my niece April was our family's sweet sweet  September baby.  OOPs I will need to use a belated birthday wish in the inside of the card.   But now the back story....A reliable British source states that there is cat Phoebe living in London with an interesting lineage.   It seems that about 25-50 greats back (even though they have 9 lives - their mostly short ones and there are other circumstances of demise) back to the story,  she had a grandmother who's owner made her a mini penny farthing bicycle and she performed in circuses all over Europe, becoming quite famous and the bike was handed down from mother to daughter until becoming Phoebe's prized possession.   Sadly dear Phoebe's Circus Riding was short lived after she tore her ACL attempting a death defying jump over the clown car  After surgery and weeks of therapy she only rides for pleasure and  will never see the bright lights of the big show again. I think my niece who not only enjoys biking but also loves cats, will find her card amusing and fun.. Her  card is going in the mail today!   One more point of interest.   It was AFTER I had the card completely made that I decided to a search on cats riding a Penny Farthing and that's when I discovered the bottom Photo....so just maybe,  Phoebe's story is not so far fetched after all!