Happy Halloween!

I don't think she wanted to.

Well, she's 18 years old, she can do what she wants.

She love's it when I talk to her in my special "cat voice".

It's A Jungle Out There!

I've been MIA from the Blogosphere for a couple weeks or so and I really missed you guys. I think the Requip I started to take was causing me to be depressed and lonely without my noticing until I stopped taking it. I stopped because it wasn't doing the job it was supposed to, which was to help me sleep. Instead it was taking me more time to fall asleep, then I was sleeping lighter and waking up more often, if that's possible.

It's really no wonder that I have trouble sleeping around here. My sleep schedule is unusual to begin with being that I work second shift. On an average night I am awakened several times from various noises. I am awakened even with my sleeping pill and while wearing ear plugs. T, my 6yo son and E, my 11yo daughter both talk in their sleep. They also occasionally walk in their sleep. E more than T.

The cat's also wake me up several times during the night. Summer, the youngest, if not outside all night, will just walk up and down the hall meowing at each bedroom door. Cokee, our lovely 17yo Siamese cat will come and go from our bed as she pleases and feels the need to loudly announce herself each time she climbs onto the bed and insists she sleep UNDER the covers with ME! Arthur, our middle boy will decide it's time to torture the other cats,usually around 3AM.

The Hus gets up at 5AM which wakes me up, again. Not great because I would have most likely gone to bed at 2 if I didn't work and 3 if I did.

Then I have to get up out of bed for 7AM to help the kids get on the bus. I go back to bed at 8 and sleep, no wonder, until I barely have time to do anything before the kids get home or I go to work.

My morning sleep is, for the most part, my best sleep. Lately however, this sleep time has been unkindly interrupted too. And it always seems to happen at around 9AM, when I am in a deep sleep.

First I was awakened by a "CAW CAW CAW!!!". I opened the shade and of course saw a crow which I yelled at to shut up and go away.



A few days later, I opened the shade again because I heard what I thought was my cat on the screen. AAHWHWHWHWHGG! (this is not the actual squirrel, as I don't sleep with a camera)

Then a few days later, I heard a loud "HeeQUACK HEEQUACK HEEQUACK!" and I thought "What the FUCK, is there a G-DAMN duck out there now?!!". I opened the shade and found a Guinea Hen, much like the one in this picture, staring up at me and yelling. He/she(?) had traveled from my neighbors, about a tenth of a mile, across the road and through a small wooded area to get to my house and to my bedroom window. FUCKER! I'm going to have to report this trespass to my neighbor.

Hope you all get a good night sleep.

Summer's Ready For Winter, But I'm Not

It was minus 2 degrees outside this morning when I walked the kids to the bus stop. T complained when I made him wear a sweatshirt under his jacket because he couldn't move his arms!

I told you all about the latest addition to our family, Summer, a few months ago. He continues to be a loving a sweet kitty. You just have to look at him and he starts purring.

Here he is when he first found us. His coat is thin and dull brownish black in color. He was also really bony under his fur.

And here he is today with his magnificent shiny fluffy black winter coat.

I seriously didn't know he was going to be so furry once he became healthy and the weather changed. Don't you want to scratch that belly? It's really soft.

He also gained a lot of weight since being neutered. That's not all fur around his waist.(Ignore the carelessly tossed Ugg boot(Hanukka gift from Grandma),my daughter has left in the middle of the kitchen floor. Really taking care of them, she is.)

Summer spends a lot of time here, on my bed and has his own favorite corner on the couch.

I wish I had a fur coat like his. BURRRRRRRR!!!

I added a "follow me on Twitter" button to my side-bar if any of you Tweet. I can't figure out how to put a Facebook link there yet.

Stay warm.

Don't Make Eye Contact

We have been adopted.

A few months ago we started receiving daily visits from a little black kitty. Not a newborn, but probably less than a year old. Every time we stepped out the door onto the porch we would hear her meowing to us from the woods. Slowly she started getting closer and closer to the house until she was living under and on our porch. She always talked to us and would try to rub up against us and purr. She also, it seemed, thought that our house was her house. I mean if these other felines could go inside, why couldn't she? She would actually sit down in front of the front door effectively blocking our other cat's from entering until we shooed her away. Normally stray cat's come and go and are too scared to come close to the house so this was very unusual.

I asked my farming neighbors if they were missing any barn cats, which they denied. So possibly some butt hole dropped Summer off nearby, it wouldn't be the first time.

Hus warned us not to acknowledge her, talk to her or especially not to feed her. So much for my sweet Cat Whisperer. You could tell that "Summer", named by my daughter, was starving. She was matted fur and bones and when I looked close I noticed she had bits of tapeworm on her. Another disturbing thing she had was a sneeze that produced green snot. Yuck.

Some other things Hus ,The Cat Whisperer said to us...

"You can't save them all, she's a stray."

"Cokee will be jealous and might run away."

"We don't want our cat's catching anything."

"He's not a handsome cat."

"I don't want to be crazy cat people."

One evening during dinner, Summer stood outside the window looking in while we ate. She meowed and meowed; She was pathetic.

Hus said "Don't make eye contact. Pretend she isn't their."

Well of course the next day I fed her. She loved the food and purred the whole time she was eating. I also combed out her matted hair and wiped her nose.

That evening, Hus and I were on the porch and Summer was lying next to our male cat Arthur when she suddenly jumped up and walked over to Hus and started yelling at him.

I looked at Hus and said "So how long have you been feeding her?"

"Couple weeks."

So that night I gave Summer tapeworm medicine, combed her matted hair again, wiped her nose and made an appointment for her at the vets.

We took her for her shots and well, surprise, Summer is a boy!

It's been a couple of weeks since the visit to the vet and Summer is now part of the family. He is worm free and hasn't sneezed in weeks. Cokee still hisses and swats at him if he gets too close. Arthur is always looking over his shoulder with a look on his face like "Why is this crazy cat following me around." I think Summer likes Arthur.

Before food, love and attention. Note the dull hair and bloated belly.

After, resting on the couch in his new home. Note the bright eyes and shiny coat.

We still don't understand how such a lovable gentle cat made it for so long on his own. We have Coyotes and Foxes around who love to eat cat's. What makes me really sad is how lonely he must have been all by himself.

Poor worms.

Cat Whisperer

Recently I discovered that my husband has a talent I didn't know about. We have 2 cats, Cokee, a 16 year old Siamese cat who never had a problem being around humans and Arthur who we rescued as a small kitten from a life on the street. Cokee has always enjoyed the company of humans and demands much attention from us. Arthur would let us pet him and occasionally but rarely would sit on a lap.
For a while Art was spending most of his time up in the loft all by himself. I just thought he didn't want to be around people, so I mostly left him alone, petting him the few times during the day I went up to the loft. Hus told me he was worried about Art,that he didn't think it was good he spent so much time alone. One night last week when I came home from work, I found my kitchen looking like a Petco exploded in it. There were cat toys and treats all over the floor! Hus told me he bought the toys in hopes of luring Arthur downstairs. Art did seem to like the toys but was still spending most days and nights alone.
Hus had a talk with the family. He asked the kids and I to pay more attention to Arthur. He encouraged us to pet Arty when near, call him down from the loft, offer him treats etc. We did what he asked because we do really love Arthur. I was skeptical thinking that he was just the type of cat that liked being a loner (Like me) but I was wrong.
Art started hanging around downstairs more and more. Now he even takes his morning nap with Cokee and I. Rarely we'll find him up in the loft and just by calling his name and petting him he stays with us. Now our whole family is together in the evenings.
Hus said to us one night." You people were going to leave poor Arthur all alone, forever."
"I just thought he liked it that way" I replied.
"He just didn't' know how to relate to people."
How sweet is that?

Before intense therapy...I'm not coming downstairs because you people are crazy!

After...Well, I guess these humans can be nice and this big bed is comfy.

Birds Out to Lunch

It was a fairly decent day out today so the kids and I went for a walk. T had to do some bird watching for homework over this school break. We always see hundreds of birds everyday in our yard and around the neighborhood. How many did we see today? Ten. How many different kinds? Six. Maybe this sounds like a lot for you city folk, but for us, not so much. Weird. Perhaps it was because the kids were too noisy. Or the fact that Arthur and Cokee, our cats, followed T around the yard while he tried to search with binoculars for birds. Arthur also tried to disguise himself as a big pile of dirt, but those birds are clever.
What did we see on our walk?

First signs of green...

Neighbors horses...

Other neighbors original family home...

Kids running...

Big pile o poop...

The birds we spotted were Chickadees, House Wrens, Blue Jays, Woodpeckers, Juncos and Catbirds.

The abandoned house is one of my favorites. You can't tell from the picture, but you can see inside it like a doll house. The upstairs room on the right still has wallpaper with little pink flowers on it.

The pile o poop is where Hus gets manure for all of his gardens. EWEY!

Hey...Your Ass Smells Like an Island Paradise!

I can joke about it now because she is okay, but when it first happened I was terrified.

Two weeks ago we accidentally poisoned our cat and by we, I mean, my husband.

On that fateful night, my daughter mentioned to me that Cokee had a wet leg. I said "Well, she probably just got into some water somewhere" No big. The next day, Hus mentioned to me that Cokee wasn't acting like herself, spending the entire day in my rocking chair. I said "Well, she's old and always does that" No big.

I went to work, came home at the usual time 1AM, kissed everyone and fell asleep reading on the couch. The next morning I woke up and it occurred to me that I couldn't remember if I had seen Cokee in bed with Hus the night before. She always sleeps with, or on top of Hus. I called to her, because she also always sleeps under the covers with me in the morning after Hus leaves for work. She didn't come. I thought perhaps she spent the night outside? I called for her outside, but she didn't come. I still wasn't' worried because cats can vary in their routines occasionally. I went back to sleep.

It wasn't until I tried to find her later that I began to worry. I looked everywhere. No Cokee! Mind you, I have known Cokee for 15 years, longer than I have even known my husband! I love her almost like a first child.

After about an hour of searching, I found her hiding behind an old dresser up in the loft. I picked her up and noticed that her butt was wet. I also noticed that she wasn't talking. Cokee talks all the time. Something was wrong.

I called Hus and left a message. I dried Cokee's bottom and in the back of my mind also wondered where a sweet smell was coming from. I told Hus that I thought Cokee was dying, she was incontinent, hiding and not talking. I couldn't breath. I was having a panic attack.

I am a nurse, I should know what to do. I needed to sort things out in my head. I did a physical exam on Cokee, checking skin, eyes, teeth, breath sounds and belly. Everything seemed fine. I was worried she had an abscessed tooth which she had before, or Leukemia which is what her husband died from.

A few minutes later Hus called back. It had occurred to him that Cokee might have gotten into something that she shouldn't' have.

Let this be a warning to all those of you considered to have a "sensitive nose". If you buy a refill bottle of Airwick for $6.99, and it doesn't' fit the dispenser you have at home, RETURN IT! Don't decide to use it in a way that the label probably warns against. For example, don't pour a little into a tin meant for a votive candle. While your cat or dog may be smart enough not to drink it, they might not be smart enough to not SIT IN IT! Which is exactly what Cokee did. She apparently sat on the window sill where my Hus had put the tin, inadvertently getting it on her bum. Of course then she must have cleaned it off, ingesting some of the air freshener refill.

Once we figured out what happened, I smelled her butt then smelled the remaining Airwick. Sure enough, they both smelled like an Island Paradise. I immediately gave Cokee a bath, towel dried her off and put her back on my bed. She still wasn't talking. I got her a glass of water, Cokee loves water from human glasses, and she drank some.

I was still panicking. I knew I had to take her to the vet but I had to leave right then to pick up one of T's friends for a play date. I thought, well, he will just have to come to the vet with us. When we got home, Cokee was still on the bed, which I considered a good sign. Hiding would have meant she still felt like she was dying. I then realized that I had to pick up E from summer rec in an hour so I decided to wait to take Cokee until after that. When we got home with E, Cokee was out of bed walking around the kitchen, eating cat food, like nothing was wrong! I was so relieved I think I started crying. My baby was better! Of course I still worried about liver damage, kidney damage or brain damage. But now, 2 weeks later, she still seems to be perfectly fine. I guess the air freshener must have made her feel sick and probably burned her throat. Now she won't stop talking, and she is still the best smelling cat EVER!

Cokee

Fawn Hollow in the Spring

I have received a few requests to share pictures of my house and gardens. I drafted a post just about my house, that I will share at a later date. Today just a few words and many pictures.

The Fawn Hollow sign was here when we bought the house. The land was just weeds and grass. In the beginning I did help with the gardening, then I had a baby, and had to admit that I really didn't like to garden. Of course I love that my husband does, even if it can be an escape from us at times!

View from the driveway.

Purple, pink, white and yellow Iris's

The Fawn Hollow Hillbillies?

(I have drunk much alcohol while sitting on that porch)

That is Cokee, our 15 year old cat.

Light and dark yellow Iris's

Close up of my favorite Iris.

View from the path that leads to the pool.(Cokee loves to follow us)

Lonely white Lupin.
Wild yellow Iris and purple Lupins.

View from the porch. Lupins were the first flowers we planted. White Birch tree hus planted 2 years ago.

We also have wild purple Iris which naturally grow near the stream at the bottom of our property. Hus transplanted many of our flowers from his parents house and or friends houses. Later in the Spring, I will show you our Wild Roses, Pin Cushions, Poppies and whatever else I can find. In the summer we have Lily's and other flowers, I'll share, some of which I have no idea of their names.

The white pots on the porch were all bought from garage sales. Some are old pee pots.

Dogs and Cats

A favorite co-worker of mine showed this to me and I found it extremely funny. I hope you enjoy.

**Excerpts from a Dog's Diary**

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

**Excerpts from a Cat's Diary**

Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards! There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage. Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now....

That's my Cokee, she certainly doesn't look like a prisoner to me!