Happy Wednesday everyone! Because today’s letter is “V” Toby called me up and asked if I would mind hosting today’s post. Of course, I said “Yes!” So today “V” is for Vashka.
There’s not a lot of information on Vashka. She was supposedly a Russian Blue who belonged to Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. That’s it. That’s all I have!
Russian blues were first called the Archangel cat because tradition holds that sailors first brought the cats to Western Europe in the 1860s from the Russian port of Archangelsk on the White Sea. “Many believe the Russian Blue is a natural breed originating from the Archangel Isles in northern Russia, where the long winters developed a cat with a dense, plush coat. Rumors also abound that the Russian Blue breed descended from the cats kept by the Russian Czars. Assuming the Russian Blue did migrate from northern Russia, it was likely via ship to Great Britain and northern Europe in the mid 1860s.” (The Cat Fanciers’ Association. 11 October 2013.)
The cat icon Nyan was named after a Russian blue owned by the artist.
Two Lumps comic strip has cats that are Russian Blues.
Of course, you can figure out why Toby asked me to host today – I’m not a Russian Blue, but I can pretend!! Tomorrow is “W” day and Toby will be back. Maybe I’ll see you again sometime!
Love and Archangel kisses, Jack
Toby In Charge 