Predators in our midst

Who says a house cat can't bring a deer home to the pride?

Another update on Oscar and other things

Relations have improved immensely among the feline residents here at Casa Nana. Oscar no longer hangs in the library, but has become an integral part of the pride, although somewhat low in the pecking order. Willow and Lily still have no use for him, but then Lily really doesn't care much for any of the other cats, sometimes even her own offspring. Longshanks and Oscar are pretty tight, and are often found sleeping in close proximity on couches, chairs and beds. Those two share a common history of living rough, so really not surprising that they bonded after all. Group grooming sessions are not rare. Peace reigns at feeding time, litter box visits are respected as the private moments they are, and toys are (for the most part) shared. All the cats have a bad case of Spring Fever, though, and the sound of a window opening brings most of them galloping faster than you can say, "SQUIRREL!" Soon it will be too hot for them to do much more than lie around like half-baked rolls of cookie dough, so we'll enjoy their antics while we can. Good kitties.

We're off in a couple days to sunny San Antonio to make the acquaintance of our little grandson. We met him over the Holidays, but he was pretty fresh off the showroom floor, so to speak, and not much of a person yet. He's got an actual personality now, so much fun will be had.

Looks like we picked a good week to get out of the Ozarks. Chilly nights and gloomy days predicted until next weekend. I really must get the gardens dressed and the raised vegetable beds started very soon, or I'll miss the boat. The growing season is long here, but I'd like to get the kitchen garden established before the heat of late Spring comes on. So far I'm planning tomatoes, cilantro, salad greens, bell peppers both green and red, jalapenos, poblanos, marigolds for insect control, and basil. I can't wait!

Update on Oscar the Yardcat

Since his surgery a couple of weeks ago, Oscar the Yardcat has become Oscar the Library Closetcat. We started keeping him in the library because it was warm and secure, we could keep him away from the stairs in his immediate postop period, and the other cats could be prevented from picking on him. Once he got stronger, we allowed some feline interaction, but it has not gone well. Oscar is all of 10 pounds, despite having been an unaltered tom, and our big bruiser Longshanks is at least 15 pounds. And he's pissed off, so Oscar has been keeping to himself, holed up in the back of the library closet behind a heavy-duty camera case my husband keeps in there. Every once in a while, Longshanks gets a whisker bent and goes in there to pick a fight. I'm not sure this is ever going to get better.

Abby and the Yard Cat

We recently were delighted to host our daughter and grandaughter for a two week "plus change" visit while our son-in-law was touring Korea and China with the Vancouver Symphony. Abby was enthralled by our half-dozen strong pride of housecats, but they would have nothing to do with her. Oscar, the cat who has chosen to live in our yard, was more than happy to entertain her from the safety of the far side of the door glass. That reminds me, I have to clean those windows, as well as the glass doors on the media cabinet.

Fingerprints and noseprints notwithstanding, we miss them terribly since they returned to Canada a few days ago. I really miss Abby's little toothless smile that greeted me when I came home from work in the late afternoons. It never failed to make the day just fall away. See you at Christmas, my darlings.

Pharmagoths

As of tomorrow, September 1, each department in the hospital where I am employed must enforce a uniform scrub color policy. All nurses wear whatever shade of blue their particular floor or unit chose. All respiratory therapists must wear grey scrubs. And all pharmacy technicians and any pharmacist working in the clean room/IV room or compounding must wear black scrubs. Just like that, we're all about the goth.
Do you know how hard it is to get from my bedroom to the car of a morning without getting the hair of one of my six house cats (plus the white yard cat) all over at least one leg of my new black scrubs? They do look kind of classy, though.

I can haz desk, plz?

This is supposed to be my new workspace. The local chapter of the Feline Audubon Society thinks otherwise. They utilize a somewhat different system of avian taxonomy, based on size, situational awareness, speed of flight and flavor. It's more like "taxo-nom-omy."

I should note, the kitties are all confined to the indoors, so the only thing they kill now is time. And the occasional bug. Nom, nom, nom.

K thnx, bai.

The fog comes on little cat feet

But sometimes it's just dust.

"No more cats, Mom"

That's the posting my beautiful, and catless, younger daughter left on my facebook wall.

Like I have any say in it.

The little calico cat that has been hanging around, looking in the windows and eating my catfood is one of the rarer of the rare, a male tricolor. This is exceptionally good news, as male calicos and tortoiseshells are almost universally sterile, so I do not have to trap this fellow and get him neutered.

Last night he was back, looking in the patio door, just like Longshanks did last winter. Goose was desperately trying to get his attention, grey paws insistently pummelling the door glass, the panhandler dozing, sprawled on the warm brick terrace with his back turned toward the door, oblivious to kitten overtures and curiosity. He is wary, this one, and will not have commerce with the two-legs, preferring to skulk through the tangled beautyberry and appear again at a time of his choosing. Where did he come from, how have I not seen him before this summer? So thin, so thin.....

Mad gardening skills

I cannot believe it's late July in the Missouri Ozarks and our little garden bed tucked in at the corner of the house looks like this.
Our summer has been so much cooler and rainier than usual, up until the last two weeks or so. The past several days have been absolute steambaths, with temperatures well into the nineties and high humidity. Today we had a significant rainstorm and the air feels clean and cool again. If this is climate change, bring it on. I'm very glad I got the beds mulched three weeks ago, so they were able to withstand the heat wave and still look wonderful. I usually have a yard full of crispy critters by late July.

Another kind of critter is on my radar, though. There's a little calico cat hanging around the house. I thought perhaps she lived up the street, but she's looking gaunt and acts more like a feral than a stray. She's very hungry and seems to be looking for a quiet, safe place to rest when she's over here. I think she may be related to our big tom, Longshanks. They have similar coat coloration and the same haunting, pale turquoise eye color. We currently have six cats: Longshanks, Lily, and their four offspring, Rooster, Goose, Willow and Rowan. Rowan has a different daddy, a feral fellow we call Scrapiron. We haven't seen Scrap for over four months now. I'm a little worried about him.

And Parker has moved on to other spider adventures. She bailed on me sometime last Thursday, and is probably living in the parking garage at the hospital.