The Midnight Express

We thought he was gone.  No such luck.  Pee-yew.

The black cat I had mentioned in previous blogs that I named Midnight was indeed adopted by the neighbors.  This means he's not around as much.  That is a good thing, as he was beating up on my kitty, Buzz.  I had hoped with said adoption, and food coming from someone else, he might be more oriented to stay OVER THERE...

Not so much.  He'd been gone from our place for about a week.  I told Husband, I don't want him dead, but am glad he's not around.  My hope was he'd decided that our non-friendly attitude was off-putting enough he'd chosen to stay at his new home.

I went out early, and fed Buzz.  I had noticed the unmistakable aroma of cat pee.  Great, another one?  Why, oh why, do we luck out, we have fixed our kitties, but we always get El Macho Dude Cat that wants to show how much liquid he can release... ICK! 

Didn't think anything more about it...

Opened the door to leave, and there he was, in all his black fuzzy glory, Midnight, eating Buzz's leftovers, and by the look of the feed can, (and smell), he was claiming territory for King and Country.  I know the folks around are going to think I am loonier than I already am, but I have found only one thing that scares him off. 

I opened the door with a bang, and started barking.  Like a wild dog. BARK, WOOOF, BARK, BARK, BARK, WOOOOOF!  That got him off the porch, and away from the cat food.  I don't like doing anything that will hurt him, but I do want him to leave.

So, the continuing battle of Stinky Porch continues.  Anyone know of a good cleaner for de-stinking cat pee?? 

Panic attack!

Poor Buzz.  She comes to the side door to get her dinner.  We have a cat, formerly a stray, now the neighbors have adopted, that is an extreme jerk.  He will run up and pound on her with no warning, and tries continually to corner her.  I am not a big one for hurting animals, but I ended up having to hit him with a rock to get him to lay off her and leave.  I had no gloves, or I would have grabbed him bodily... Sigh.

 But we don't leave the food out now, we feed her, when she leaves, we put the food away.  It's a pain in the butt, but it works, we rarely see the other cat. (The one I called Midnight, by the way...)

So, she has become used to calling for us at the side door, and we come out and feed her.  This works well for all involved.  Ding even comes to the door, and Buzz will come over, they touch noses, and all seems well in the land of Kittycat. 

Until about 2 days ago.  Buzz decided Ding was being friendly, and for whatever unknown reason, Buzz just walked in the house.  I decided not to close the door, as she is NOT a house cat.

I was spot on with that thought.  She rubbed up against Ding, who looked very confused, and then Buzz actually registered.  Hey, I am in the house.  THIS IS TERRIFYING!!!  LET ME OUT YESTERDAY! 

Launch!

She yowled, then scorched out of the house like her tail was on fire, Ding ran to the door, looking even MORE confused, why did my new friend leave?  She just got here!

I managed to keep Ding from running out the door, Buzz was long gone, and I quickly closed the door. Ah.  All is back to "normal"... 

Except now Buzz stays WAY back from the door when it opens.  Guess you can't be too careful when you are near the doorway of...

Whatever she thinks it is... 

Unholy Mole-y.

My new patio has been invaded.  There is a mole, vole, rodent digger, that has undermined the bricks, leaving big dirt piles, AND making the bricks unstable, as there is no dirt/sand under. 

To say I am not happy is an major understatement.  I want to let that rodent know that my Husband put that in, knock it off!

Husband was out trying to delete said rodent.  We thought he had, until I went out to water that evening.  A large lump 'o dirt, proving the little monster had managed to elude.

Buzz has been busy, but hasn't caught it either...  Snarl.

One of those things, I suppose.  I have had trouble with these things before, in my garden.  Stupid rodents are fond of worms and roots, and gee, what's in a garden? Pbbt.

I am not sure why they are invading the patio, unless it's because it's fresh dirt, and they are looking for lazy worms, or something...

So, here's hoping that said rodent finds out how good of a hunter Buzz is...  Or leaves.  Either one...

Princess and the pauper pusses.

(I suspect it would be hazardous to say that title three times fast... At least for anyone close by!)

Ding and Buzz have worked out an agreement, I think.  She of the fine and fancy (Ding) who still, I suspect, thinks she is a dog, has decided that Buzz is not a threat, and will even peek through the door and touch noses with Buzz. 

She of the rough and ready (Buzz), seems to consider her a goofy aside.  She will mew at Ding, give her a quick sniff, then walk to the food bowl, and ignore her.  Ding, thankfully, has no interest in Buzz's food, so that hasn't been an issue. 

We haven't been taking Ding outside as much, she has been acting spooked, and has become an Ace at getting loose from her lead.  I really think she needs a chip, she bolts, and I might as well have her tied with one strand of spider silk.  She will just slip the lead, and run.  So... No outside at the moment.  We do put a place for her to sit by an open, screened window, so she gets to see out, and she gets to 'say hi' to Buzz, but that's it.  Ding is terrified of the chickens, Buzz, she is cautious around them, but not scared.  I think she is more making sure they don't mistake her tail for a snack...

I tried, when it was very cold here, to bring Buzz in.  BIG mistake.  She cried, and ran straight to the door, and then flew outside, then turned and glared at me for the horrid thing I'd done... eep.  So, they will probably never be roommates.

So, the two of them seem to enjoy the specific niche that each is in, and I guess, that's the way it will be.  I really never thought I would have an indoor cat, (Husband has allergies, but he takes meds, and it is fine, so far, knock wood), but moreover, having two cats that are as soooo different from each other.  One is a cat's kitty, the other is a queen fluff of all she surveys.

And,  I love 'em both.  Leave it to me to get the yin and yang of the cat world, though...

The Princess and the Pawper.

(Yes, pun, I know..)

Ding caught a mouse in our house the other day...  This actually amazed me a bit.  I hate to say it, she is not a hunter type kitty.  I have mentioned that she was raised by dogs, as well as being taken from her mom way too early... Well, her "cat" finally must have kicked in.  She kept checking around our fireplace, and since bugs tend to fly down the chimney, and flutter around the glass in the front, I didn't pay too much attention. 

Until she pounced on the back of the wood box.  Odd.  I still didn't get too excited, she does occasionally bat around bugs.   Poor thing managed to get a mouth full of stink bug, and hasn't quite been as excited about that since...

Anywho, I glanced over, and she had something in her mouth.  NOT a bug.  OH!! DING HAS A MOUSE*!!!  Husband trots over, and she sits up pretty, gurgling a meow.  Then she drops said mouse, which promptly tries to make the Great Escape.  Ding is purring, and then realizes the mouse is rapidly leaving.  She runs over, grabs it again, then repeats, gurgle mew, drop, and mouse run...  Finally, after my yelling at husband to grab something to catch said rodent, he does, and we get it outside. 

Ding seemed eminently satisfied with herself, and washed up, then looked around, well, where is my chin rub?  Uh.  Mighty rodent killer, no.

Then there is Buzz.  I have seen her sit and watch a hole for HOURS.  She doesn't move, barely twitches an ear.  Then WHAM, she darts in and grabs a mouse.  Generally, unlike some cats I have seen, she doesn't "play" with them much, she dispatches them, and has a meal.  And she will let me know if she's caught something, but until it has stopped moving, (usually with various disconcerting puncture wounds and things looking like they aren't bending the right way anymore), she growls and shakes, and impales with toenails.  She was around her mom for a bit, so I think she had a little more "cat training".  We feed her well, but she is most happy being outside, doing her hunting thing. 

So, I have one kitty that loves to play and find a nice spot to curl up in, and be the ambassador of goodwill for the house, and enjoys it a lot, another that is the pest patrol, and most excellent at her job. 

Guess it works out for both of them!  But, I sincerely don't think they should trade places like in the story...







*(Husband informed me it was a shrew, not a mouse.  However, she still caught it, fair and square...) 

New Garden Store.

Our community has a new garden store.  My Mom and I went to the grand opening, and wow, oh, boy were there a lot of folks!  I think that when you mention free food, there is a huge turnout.  Especially since it was a nice, warm day, and they had free ice cream, churned by tractor.  No joke, the guy churns the stuff from the PTO on the back of the tractor in a large ice cream maker.  He makes ice cream at one of the local farmer's markets, and it is very good.  However, he was going through so much of it, it was a bit more "soft serve" than usual!

I suppose that I am a garden geek, (among other geekdoms), but I have been looking for 2 different fertilizers.  Yep, specialized poo, so to speak.  I have found one at a local store, but the other thus far was more than an hour drive away, and I just didn't see the value in that... BUT, this store has the second type I wanted.  So, I have been trying it with the new plants I have, (some watermelon, acorn squash, and tomatoes, along with columbine, and a couple wave petunias), and it is working quite well...

However, the one I used has an... unintended side effect.  It's a fish fertilizer.  I put a dab in the ground, and went to get the hose to dilute it.  I come back, and Buzz is twitterpated, making sure she is front and center of stinky fish smell.  I almost had to spray her with the hose to get her to leave it alone!  But everything that is planted so far is doing well, except the potatoes.  I am going to start over with those.  The carrots aren't really taking off yet, but I did notice a nice side effect of  bird netting.  The evil, nasty, no good, rotten slugs haven't gotten in yet.  I don't hold out hope that they will stay out, but at the moment, the slug trails remain on the OUTSIDE of the netting. 

And for any keeping score, I honestly only bought 4 tomatoes.  I want to buy/grow some red and yellow pear tomatoes for myself, but I am trying to keep it under 10 this year.  I have had as many as 16, and harvest tends to get a bit overwrought.  So, just enough for family, and a couple friends that would want any, and the others for me, for soup.

I will be getting some other seed in the ground soon.  Farmer Cat and her garden strike again!

Midnight in the garden of...

Potatoes.

So remember recently when I said the bugs and slugs had decimated my potato starts?  Well, maybe not so much.

Husband and I had both seen this black kitty, and it would just sneak over for a snack, and then leave.  I decided it was Midnight.  (Was going to name it Toothless, but it has yellow, not green, eyes.  Yes, I am weird. And a nerd. And picky, too.)

I was watering the garden, and looked up, to see Midnight staring at me.  Which stunned me slightly, as I was using a water hose.  Most cats do not like them.  He didn't seem to mind, but just kept quietly watching me. (Yeah, he.  I can tell, because he keeps letting everyone know with a nose know that he was there, by relieving himself on the canister we feed cat food from... And the wall by the door.  YEEESH, even.)

So, I try talking softly, and not moving to him.  I do sit down.  He opens his eyes, just a bit, then relaxes again.  I watch, as he stretches out, and rolls.

On my potato bed.  The ones that are the biggest.  That were trying to come back some.  He then pushed at a potato start with his nose, and pushed it around, like a kid playing toy cars.  Yay.

I watched, and between the flopping on of, wiggling around on, and pushing to and fro, the potatoes were looking heavily bedraggled. Then Buzz showed up, just as I'd gotten within 6 or so feet of Midnight.

Turns out, Buzz doesn't care for Midnight.  Oddly, Midnight is a little spooky guy with her.  She growled, and he decided that it was time to leave.  I had to distract her, or she looked like she was going to do the cat version of punching his lights out.  Her place, her rules, HE GOES!

Huh. Okay.

So, the bugs and slugs aren't helping, but they might just be a side effect of being mangled by a cat.

I have planted carrots on two of the bales now.  I have them covered with bird netting.

Cat netting?

We shall see what transpires in the near future...

The garden... and an inspection.

Ah, so what do we have out here? Hmm, a box...

Ah, a BIG box. Solar collection? Litter? Hunting? 

The possibilities are endless!

Oh, Hi! What?  Don't poop here?  Well, of course not,

I will wait until I have some privacy.

Besides, it's nice and warm, I will just relax for now.

Oooh, wazzat?  There's a tractor coming in!

Time to go!

And my crop of little orange flags are growing well!

For any that call Irises flags, this is probably a joke photo, but I didn't mean it that way... I have some cold weather crops, peas, spinach, carrots, and then the lone flag is salad greens.  LOTS of salad greens. 

I like salad.  

But Husband has all the raised beds in, we put the wood chips down (freebie from the crews doing tree maintenance on our road, Yay!) and the deer fence up, so I am pretty well good to go!

L is for Lazy day.

During the summer, my animals seem to luxuriate in the weather.  This is Buzz, my outdoor kitty, enjoying the sun.  The llamas, and even the chickens will lie down, spread out and enjoy the warmth of a good sunny day.

We just had some 80 degree weather, and the animals were turning into organic solar collectors, trying to cover as much area as possible.  Since this kind of weather normally doesn't happen this time of year, I think they enjoyed it even more.  

Then, there is my dog, Rudee, who will lay on his back, feet in the air, snoring.  If someone didn't know what had happened, I wouldn't be surprised that the mistake would be made he was having some severe problem, or had crash landed somehow...