RE: Homeless Cat -- Now Spot the Christmas Cat
We spend most of our summers on fire watch, Gary. The humidity here is unusual, but since it brought some rain, we're not complaining.
Stay safe. The long summer may well go into a long, dry autumn.
RE: Homeless Cat -- Now Spot the Christmas Cat
Spot has a big ding on his jowl and a rear foot. Both are clean and healing nicely, so whatever happened won't require another vet visit. He looks a bit funny, though, with two big clumps of hair sticking up from where they're stuck in the scabs.
He decided that since Alex has a safe spot up high, he should have one, too. Spot really has a very strong sense of what's fair. So he decided to hang out on the built-in buffet, next to the printer. Well, we don't use it for food or dishes, just the printer and some tchotchkes, so we'll let him lay there -- when he's not laying in a sink. He doesn't do hot and humid, and it's both, so anywhere cool is his favorite spot.
Tennis elbow's acting up again, so I'll keep this short. Later, y'all.
RE: Homeless Cat -- Now Spot the Christmas Cat
Welcome, Stephany, and thank you for your interest.
Gary, Alex started his "concerts" some time before WLToo got sick. It's just old kitty syndrome.
We started this morning with a straight down rain, while the sun shone until the clouds got over there. It was gorgeous. We sat on the north porch and watched as the rain completely hid the lake from view, then sat over us long enough for the rainfall to measure. Spot laid on a chair and Alex sat on the sofa with us, until the rain began to splatter closer to us all, then they went inside. The humans ate breakfast al fresco/al raino. It was lovely. Still doesn't end the drought, but every little bit helps. We won't have to water the garden, anyway.
WLToo harvested all of the potatoes, about 2.3 pounds, and we enjoyed a potato evening and breakfast. The basil is going so strong that I filled the dehydrater and need to do it again. The cilantro/coriander has seeded out, but I'm not sure when to harvest the seeds. The last broccoli harvest will likely be this week. WLToo planted cantelope, and they seem to be coming up ok. The carrots are a major failure, not even little finger sized. Ah, well, it's our first garden in this climate, and we knew it would be a bit of an experiment.
Mama Doe Lassie has some kind of bugs tormenting her, so she's particularly jumpy now. Nothing we can do for her, poor thing. At least we don't have horse flies this year (knock on wood).
The robber fly is prolific this year. Creepy looking little buggers, and I hate it when they try to use my hair as camouflage. They're carnivores of other insects, not really aggressive toward humans, but if annoyed will inflict a painful bite. Unfortunately, several have decided our presence in the swimming pool is annoying, and WLToo got bit. So any robber fly around the house and pool is not welcome -- the flip flop o'doom comes out quickly.
Cleaned a drowned giant red-headed centipede out of the pool. Since they kill scorpions, they're welcome in the meadow, but not around the house, and definitely not in the swimming pool. Shudder...
The orioles tried again to get the hummingbird nectar, and figured out how to tilt it so the other bird can drink. So WLToo changed to the flat feeder, and they're stumped. Now the black chinned hummers can actually get the nectar. Black chins are all we have now -- they've completely run off the rufous and ruby throats -- and they're the tiniest of the three types. Amazing.
We lived for years in Virginia, under the East Coast flyway, yet we see more cardinals here, under the Central flyway, than we ever did there. Even though they're local birds, yesterday was the first time I've seen a painted bunting in our meadow. Absolutely beautiful bird.
Time to get busy. Later, y'all.
RE: Homeless Cat -- Now Spot the Christmas Cat
Put the boys in the kitty hoosegau for the weekend, while we attended an ROTC reunion. When we got them back home, they both made a beeline for our bed and stayed there all evening.
Alex has become very talkative, especially in the middle of the night. It's part of old cat syndrome, where he gets confused as to where he is, so he announces loudly that he's lost. I can go right back to sleep after one of his concerts, but WLToo hasn't been sleeping more than 2 hours a night for a month now, so Alex' noise was not helping.
Well, WLToo finally went to the doc to find out what's wrong, and he has pneumonia. Finally, something easily treatable. He should be back to normal in a few weeks.
Speaking of talking, Spot is also rather talkative, but he doesn't do it in the middle of the night, and is never loud. Really kind of funny how such a kitten-like meow comes from a cat so large.
Alex is seriously into bumping my face right now. Time to see what he wants. Later, y'all.
RE: Homeless Cat -- Now Spot the Christmas Cat
It's been rather lively around here the past couple weeks. Add to that the tennis elbow, and I've been unable to type much.
Spot's been a pretty good boy of late. Seems to have gotten over peeing on stuff, now that he can spend most of his time on the porch, sleeping in our new outdoor furniture. He has developed a dislike of Mama Doe Lassie, though. I believe it's because he can't intimidate her -- or else he's jealous that she interacts with HIS humans.
He's taken to sleeping on my head at night. It started when he laid his head on my cheek, which was very pleasant. Now he lays his back against the back of my head, so I wake up with a sweaty head. I keep the air conditioner around 67 at night, and it might feel a tad cool to him. Alex, meanwhile, still plants himself firmly against the nearest stomach. I frequently find myself imprisoned under the covers, anchored by two deeply sleeping felines.
WLToo had mentioned a couple weeks ago that he'd heard something crying out in a fight for its life. Yesterday, he found the remains of a fawn near our motorcycle trailer. I have to think that it was Mama Doe Lassie's. Sad that she's lost two fawns in two years. But with her maternal instinct, she'll be adopting and/or caring for a lot of fawns this year, too. What killed the fawn is still a mystery -- the only predator we've seen this year is that small gray fox, too small to have killed a fawn. The big gray fox might still be around, although we've not seen it since 2011.
I think the black chinned hummingbirds have run off the rufous and ruby throats. We only see the black chins now. And the orioles are back at the feeder, so WLToo attached the yellow feeder attachments with museum putty, so they can't pull them out and drink all the nectar. Seems to be working.
Speaking of which, I need to make more nectar. Later, y'all.
RE: Does stress itch??
Question on the Wee Cleaner. Can you get it at Perco or PetSmart or do you have to order it? It sure sounds like something I could use right now for dogs and other things.
It's only available online.
Wee Cleaner
I order it by the gallon, since I have an elderly cat with a leakage problem. As much as he leaks, there is zero urine odor in this house, thanks to this stuff.
RE: Homemade Liquors
Pepper vodka:
Wash and de-stem one pepper (jalapeno, habanero, cubanelle, whatever will fit into the bottle). Make slits in the pepper all around. Stuff pepper into bottle of vodka.
Store in pantry, occasionally shaking the bottle to distribute the pepper flavor, for three weeks before using.
Serve in a frozen shot glass. Best way to drink it is to toss it back like a shot of tequila. Slow sipping is also possible, but wowser!
Best substitute for German pepper schnapps I can find, since the pepper schnapps apparently is not imported here.
RE: Homeless Cat -- Now Spot the Christmas Cat
Two baby barn swallows have flown from the nest to the top of a wind chime. The third is still in the nest. That's early, but the pair did arrive fairly early.
Our yellow cone flowers and Mexican hat are blooming, along with some thistles. The butterflies and hummingbirds are happy about that. The usual proliferation of yellow wildflowers that I can't identify are filling the meadow. It's beautiful.
Put the big hummingbird feeder out, with the perches, now that the orioles have stopped bothering it. A really tiny black chin is resting there right now -- today's very windy and the perch is the only way for it to stay at the feeder.
We went from early spring temperatures to summer literally overnight. Air conditioner has been on almost all week, and the pool is in the 80s - absolutely perfect swimming temperature.
I had to modify swim strokes, though. Tendonitis in the left elbow. I have the strap and prednizone, and have to take it easy with that arm. So no weight lifting (unfortunately, that includes Spot) for a while.
Not that it stops Spot, when he feels the need for some love. He spent a good part of this morning piled up on my chest and stomach. He's super affectionate when we're outside, less so inside. Good thing there's room on the new porch sofa for both of us.
Something truly weird happened this morning. Mama Doe Lassie had her fawn yesterday. She kept coming up to the house and looking in the door. We thought she wanted more food, but we only feed her once a day, if that, so we didn't respond. This morning, she got her food, and when she finished, she walked back to the door and looked in. So I went outside, and she turned to walk away. My little voice said she wants me to follow her, so I did.
Every few yards, she'd stop, look back, and when she saw me following, she continued. We finally got to a stand of junipers, where I could not follow, and she stopped inside them. By then, WLToo had joined us, so we looked around as best we could for her fawn. When we didn't see it, I went around the stand to the other side, where she stared at me for a bit, then went back into the stand.
WLToo walked away, and just as I started back around the stand, a very large fawn broke out of the stand and ran. Its larger mother followed, then MDL strolled behind them, making that deer buzzing sound that she uses when she's "talking" to me.
I think she was using me to run the other doe and fawn out of her territory... She's too little to make the bigger doe leave, but a human stomping around could do that. Still haven't seen her own fawn, but it's out there.
I feel so used.....
RE: Does stress itch??
Use Wee Cleaner on all the spots where he peed. It will completely neutralize the odors we can't smell, but the dogs can, and ensure no one else thinks that spot is the potty location.
RE: Homeless Cat -- Now Spot the Christmas Cat
A second storm passed through, but this time we had no damage. Filled the pool to a couple inches below the top, and beat the heck out of the garden. I harvested one cubanelle pepper, a whole bunch of cilantro and basil, and cleared off the damage. Dried the cilantro, ate the pepper and basil with roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, onion and balsamic vinegar. The leeks, yellow onions, and carrots look fine. WLToo planted cantelope seeds this morning.
If we ever get any tomato blossoms, I'll hang red Christmas ornaments on the bushes to keep the mockingbirds away. They try to taste the ornaments, and when they realize they're inedible, stay away for good.
I was not the first to try walking through the new screen doors. WLToo did it. Luckily, his hat brim hit the screen first, so he stopped before causing damage. A couple hours later, Alex ran into another screen, bounced back, and cried piteously until I let him in. He immediately turned around and sniffed the screen thoroughly, but whether or not he'll remember is questionable at his age.
We got our new porch furniture, and Mama Doe Lassie is still a bit leery -- we keep changing things. She's not terribly interested in the corn right now, so we cut back on the portion. All the new green shoots taste so much better, I expect. Her belly is sagging, so we should see her fawn soon -- she's given birth Memorial Day weekend the last three years.
Two hummingbirds just shared the feeder, without fussing at each other. Amazing.
Another barn swallow nest is now occupied. We were getting a bit concerned that we'd not have enough birds to eat all the bugs. Nest one has three babies already covered in feathers and with the grumpy bird look. Nest two doesn't appear to have hatched any. Nest three has just been occupied. Nest four is still empty, darn it.
Sore arm, typing hurts. Later, y'all.
