Exactly How I Feel

 

My cats live here, they’re here to stay.

You don’t like pets? Be on your way.

They grace my home, my food, my space.

This is their home, this is their place.

You will find fur on every chair,

They'll greet you with a curious stare.

They might approach and sniff your shoe,

A simple 'NO' will send them through.

It baffles me when you proclaim,

How can you live in such a way?

They scratch, they purr, they climb the walls.

WHO ASKED YOU? is what my mind calls.

They love me more than words can say,

Their purrs greet me at the end of the day.

They need just a glance from me,

And come to curl up on my knee.

When I’m down, they sense my blues,

When I’m joyous, they share my cues.

Their whiskers twitch, their eyes gleam bright,

They bring me comfort day and night.

So once again, I tell you true,

‘Come visit me,’ but know this too…

My cats live here, they’re here to stay.

You don’t like pets? Be on your way.

They grace my home, my food, my space,

This is their home, this is their place.

And Then There Were Three

 We are down 2 of the tabby's.  One was hit by a car and the other was a runt and the last I saw it it did not appear to be well.  So we have 2 black one tabby.  There is a black runt and what a pistol this one is, I think it will be the easiest to tame.  There is a chunky black one and it is hesitant but will come around.  The tabby with the sweetest face will be the hardest, very skittish.

Trapping is not going well at all, my anxiety and stress and worry over all of this I am afraid is passing on to them to not cooperate, if they only knew it was for their own good.  Lila I plan on bringing in sometime this week. I have talked to some people and they feel since the kittens are weaned, they know how to get to the food source on their own will come even if Lila is inside.  They have said catch them as you can and as my dad said in a dream You can't save them all.  

My tom has been dealing with allergies this week, lots of sneezing and you can tell he does not feel good. Got some meds and is doing much better, but with me in and out all day and the front door open all day so I can see if they are on the porch I am afraid I have been bringing and letting in the allergens.  Another reason to get them in quickly.

RIP little tabby's, I am sorry I could not save you.  

She Is Driving Me Crazy

 So Lila brought one of the black kittens on Friday.  This morning she brought up the largest one that looks like her and one black runt.  I sure wish I knew where the other 3 were.  We have had a lot of hawks/owls and other critters this week and I do not want to think about what may have happened but nature is often cruel.

This little black one looks pretty small.  He hangs right beside Lila most of the time. He can barely jump up on the front porch.

This one is gonna be a pistol. Look at the face. If this is a girl her name is:  Delilah Grace.  She may be coming inside with Lila.

 

The other day the squirrel was deciding if he should be brave or not and jump on Licorice.  He must have decided it would not end well for him.

Stay cool the heat index is gonna be way over 100 the next 2 days.  So thankful I have a new air conditioner.

Lila

 So I am not sure what game Lila was playing but her and the babies are back or never left across the street from me on the side of my house.  Yesterday morning she brought 4 up, where was the 5th one, it was the runt, did something happen? I hope not, she does not always bring them all up.

I contacted the animal adoption organization in town yesterday.  They gave me the TNR website. I completed the form to have them trap the kittens and Lila.  They will be fixed and then I will keep Lila and either give away the kittens or take them to a shelter.  I do not like the release into the wild part.  I also do not like when I see people let their cats outside.  There are so many dangers for them out there.  

Anyway I hope this trapping goes well. I think Lila is ready to come in, she keeps coming to the door when I open it and looks in the house like I need to get in there but I have kittens and they need me.

I know when I get her trapped and get fixed and bring her home we may take some backward steps but I need to get her inside where she is safe.  My heart has invested too much in her to let her go. 

Did Lila Move The Kittens Again?

 This morning I opened up the front door and it was just Lila, where are the kittens?  She ate and then headed up the street.  What, why are you going that way your babies are over there.  I decided to follow her.  The house across the street on the corner has a fenced backyard and I saw her scale the fence and up and over she went.

I have so many questions:  Why did she move them?  Why did she move them to a very busy traffic area?  Will she move them further away perhaps which would be across the street?  How am I going to trap them now?  

I am at a loss and feeling pretty defeated in figuring out a plan to trap the kittens and get her in the house.  

If she would just work with me.

I know nature but....

Flowers

 I love Spring and Summer because of growing and blooming and the beds look so pretty plus I have seen some bees and I have lots of hummingbirds and of course the finch are eating the salvia seed and will soon move to the Black Eyed Susans.

The tomato gets new blooms daily and the pepper plant has really shot up this past week.  The sweet potato has a ton of new leaves.  I had to re-pot the rosemary cos I think it was staying too wet.  We shall see if this works better.

Waiting for my Rose of Sharon to start blooming.

I love this shade of purple

The pink petunias really took off this week, it has got hot and they seem to love it.

By the way Happy Father's Dad, I miss you and love you.  We would have found a place to have a picnic lunch of fried chicken at some park today. 

FIVE

 This morning I opened the front door and started counting noses.  Holy crap there are 5 kittens.  3 like Lila and 2 like their daddy Licorice all black.  2 are kind of smaller and they are so cute. I just want to pick them up and snuggle them all, but I will not.  They are not mine to love on.  They left after over 2 hours, she laid out on the front porch and they were all nursing and finally they went on home.  I love that she feels safe enough to rest on my porch.  I need to put a box with a blanket in it for them in a kind of hidden to the left bed of the front door where they can hang out.  

I have NO idea how I am gonna find some organization to trap the kittens. I am for sure taking Lila in and I may have to think about keeping one of the kittens.

 

4 out of 5, the runt is missing.

I know I need to wash my front door, that will be later today.  All nursing.  Poor Lila she is so tired.  And the kittens ate good. 

The Babies are Here

 Yesterday finally Lila brought up her babies, the day I had been waiting for.  I went out and thought there were 4 but this morning there were only 3.  2 all black, one is quite chubby and the other looks like a runt.  Then one that looks like her.  They are so cute.  This morning they came up and Chubby and Lila look-a-like ate a lot and the runt hid and mewed.  When Lila left she was followed by the 2 black ones and the look-a-like stayed eating.  All of sudden this one knew they had left.  About an hour later Lila came up and started looking for her. I hope she found her cos I never saw them leave and I never heard the little one mewing anymore.  Poor little baby.  So from what I have read they are about 5-6 weeks old. Shelters will not take them less than 8 weeks.

So end of month I need to find some help to trap them and get her fixed.  I hope to get some pictures soon cos they sure are cute.

Garden and Cats and Bunny

 How did we get to June already, where has this year gone.  I have pretty much done pot planting this year, it is much easier.  The yard is full of clover and the big bunny is back even though I have 2 ferals, he must know when they come up and wait until it is safe.

The moss rose has sort of come back this year.  The deer decided to use it for a snack last summer, so it is slowly coming around. I thought it had died, but nope.

The geraniums lived in the house over the winter, they were full of huge blooms, pale pink and coral.  I love geraniums.  My grandmother who lived in LA had red ones that always bloomed at Christmas.  The salvia is back and the gold finches have been eating the seed.

I bought a new bird feeder setup so the squirrels, snakes, and raccoons can not get to the bird seed.  

This was a hanging basket that I just put into a whiskey barrel.  When I walk out the front door it smells so good.

My sweet potato has a lot of new leaves coming on, I wonder how many I will get.

Tomato plant has blooms, the pepper shrivels up during the day when the sun is on it and then un-shrivels at night when it gets cooler and the sun goes down.  The rosemary I started hopefully to get it going again.

I love petunias and got these dark purple ones, they look like velvet.

My Vinca, either 7th or 8th summer for this 6 pack.  I see they are changing color again as is evident of the one hanging over.  She winters in the house with the geraniums.

These are very bright pink with a white tinge around the petals.  

Chubby and the misses are back, he buzzed me the other night while I was sitting on the porch with Lila, I think I saw him smirk from scaring me.

Black Eyed Susans from last years seed that was left in the pots.  

Mr Bunny has been around but then my yard is full of clover so he eats well.  I hope he knows there are 2 ferals now.

BigBoy hardly ever sleeps on his back, but last week he was a bit off and he was laying beside me snoring.  Today he has bounced back to his normal onery self.

Licorice, what a handsome cat he is.  He comes every day to eat.  This morning he was up way early and after 3 different flavors and dry food, he just would not eat.  I hope he is ok, cos he ate well last night.  

Lila Grey.  What a sweet girl she is.  She comes up in the morning and eats and runs, she has babies to feed.  Then she will show up between 2 and 5 in the afternoon and stay til 7-9.  She let me pick her up yesterday and cuddle.  She has to have her head rubbed before she will eat. I do not think she is a year old yet.  I would have her in the house but I have no idea where the kittens are, I think she may have moved them this morning.  As soon as she brings me the kittens they are all coming in the house. I am keeping her and either give the kittens away or take them to a shelter, I may keep one or two.  We shall see.  Would you all please channel Lila and tell her to bring me the kittens, she is driving me crazy worrying about all of them.  I would go look for them but I do not want her getting scared and either moving them and all be gone, or she will get scared and just leave them.  

Freedom

 Sitting on the front porch drinking my coffee this morning with Lila, she is eating and there is not a sound but all the different birds singing this morning.  I had .32" of rain last night and everything is all clean and green.  The flowers are blooming, the birds are singing and having babies and it got me to thinking about what it would be like if we all lived in those 15 minute cities.  We would lose all of this.  To all of you who gave your life so I could have this morning I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

This weekend is not about the pool opening and hot dogs and burgers on the grill but to thank those who made it possible for us to have the pools, hot dogs, and hamburgers.  May we never forget what we have and what we could lose.  

Kittens

 Last night Lila came up and she eats a lot for such a little girl. She laid down and let me do some searching.  I am pretty sure she has babies somewhere cos of all she ate, her nipples are huge and there is no fur around them and she has a floppy stomach.  I need to see if I can find where she has them and rescue all of them.  I did watch her a bit last night and saw the 2 houses she went in between.  I need to be careful and not spook her while following her so she does not move them.  I hope they are safe where they are and wish me luck in capturing all of them.  She was waiting for me when I got up and she has never been up to eat in the morning, so.....

On another note: Blue Bell now has a root beer float flavor. I do love the Dr Pepper float and Bride's Cake, so now I have 3 flavors to choose from when it goes on sale.

Lila

 During the brutal cold spell in January this little girl started showing up eating like no tomorrow.  She sure put on the winter coat.  She has been hanging around with Licorice.  This week she has finally decided to let me pet her and love on her.  The other day I picked her up for just a minute.  I plan on bringing her in and hope it is soon.  She needs a good shaving as all the winter coat is matting up.  She eats like a horse in the evenings.  I have no idea where she came from but she is very young and I need to find out if she is perhaps pregnant or had kittens.  I never did hear her make those noises like when they are heat so.....

I am not sure how BigBoy is going to take to her. He has been an only cat for 1 1/2 years now and enjoys getting me all to himself.  I often wonder if he would like a sibling and then I wonder how he will act.  I guess we will see.  I did bring Smudgey in and he pretty just ignored her.  When I found the little gray tux who was in the house for a couple of weeks he pretty much ignored him as well.  But then he had his buddy Groucho.  

She is a beautiful long hair and very small.  Stay tuned for the Lila saga.  Licorice is still around and when I bring her in he will be out there by himself, maybe someday he will come in too.  But he is going to be tough to get in. These pictures do not justice to how beautiful her coloring is.  Maybe I can get some better picture of her to show it off soon.

Yard

 My irises are starting to bloom, you can smell them when I walk out the front door. Love that smell, too bad they only bloom once.

The Rose of Sharon is starting to leaf out as well as the redbud and mock apple.  My jonquils have all bloomed, another flower I wish bloomed more than once, but alas.  My salvia and meadow sage are blooming.  

The trees are leafing out which means I can not see the neighbors as well to see what they are all up to cos I can not see through the leaves.

The hummingbird and oriole feeder are up. I saw a hummer once and the house finch are finding the grape jelly a good food.

Licorice is still around and is getting a bit closer and now feels comfortable enough to eat off the front porch. Last night he was on the deck waiting for his food.  Maybe one day he will let me pet him.

The neighbor took care of Herman my garter snake, he has now crossed the bridge, so sad cos he did not hurt anything.

Now on to Fred. Fred thinks he is a bird, but nope.  The millet I bought for the Juncos, they are gone now until Winter, but Fred thinks I put it out for him.  He will tip the bowl, spill out some seed and like a Hoover suck up all the millet and leave the safflower  Fred is getting a bit comfy in that he comes up to the kitchen window and looks in when he does not have his millet.  He also will just lay on the deck if I come out the door and do not get too close.  I worry about him cos my neighbor will make sure Fred is with Herman.  (I do NOT approve of him shooting the squirrels but if Fred gets in his yard, I can not stop him).