Fur

I washed the cat blanket the other day. Before tossing it in the machine, I first picked the major tufts of fur off, outside the back door. Later, a wren (I think) stopped by to pick up some tufts. Funny, to think of feathering your nest with the fur of your arch enemy.

Turtle in the Road

I am so happy to be back home. The weather the weeks since we've been back has been so beautiful. The whole place just seems absolutely idyllic.

I took Athena for a "num-num walk" this evening. I fed her grapes, as we walked along the gravel road. There was gentle, late-day sunlight in the long grass tops and a background chorus of birdsong. No human sounds at all, not even any neighbor mowing grass. Just perfect. Athena stopped to kiss or smell (I'm not sure) various wildflowers and toss gravel in the puddles we passed. Our tabby cat, Ekati, followed along, weaving in and out of the brush along the road.

On the way back, we saw a large turtle, whose shell was covered with algae, in the road. Athena made to run at it, but I told her to "make room," and she listened and held up. In an act of unusual bravery, Ekati approached it, cautiously, head-on, to about two feet away, then sniffed. The turtle was bigger than she. After a short time, I told her, "OK, let's go," and she backed slowly away and then gave the turtle a wide berth.

Odie and the Neighbor Dogs

Yesterday evening, during our after-dinner walk, Athena met half our neighbors' dogs, for the first time as a toddler. Marley the golden retriever, Mo the chocolate lab, a small dark pitbull, Odie the basset hound, a small gray terrier. They all came racing down toward us as we started past the yard. Marley is a sweet, submissive dog, and Odie was especially adorable with Athena. He sat himself down in front of her to greet her, wagging his tail and pointing his nose gently toward her face. Not rough and fast, like the rest.

Though we told them to "Go home!" several of the dogs followed us all on our walk and all the way home to our house. Our cat spent half the night up a tree, because Odie laid himself across our front doorway, and wouldn't budge, even after we'd gone to bed.

House Arrest

Cat trotting through the house,
trailing dust bunnies from her whiskers

Ekati has been under house arrest the last two days, after we narrowly saved a chirping sparrow nest from her plunder. Petros has gone to buy sheet metal to make a baffle. You fix a few feet of sheet metal around the tree trunk, and Ekati supposedly should not be able to scale it.

... Like and old man fording a breeze

Ladybug Spring

The snow has melted, and the ladybugs are coming out by the half-dozens. Plus a couple wasps and a housefly or two.

Ekati finds houseflies make good eatin'. Ladybugs do not. Not sure yet about wasps.

Belly Better

Kitten now decidedly prefers my belly to my lap. Whenever she finds me sitting still long enough, she will approach the wonky beach ball that is now my belly, knead it to her liking, and curl up happily upon it.

Kitten Mittens

'Ekati' doesn't exactly roll off an English-speaking tongue (eh-KAH-tee). So little Ekati has acquired a few monikers. Sugar Plum. Sugar Puss. L'il Sugar. Big Sugar. Sug'-sug'. Have you detected a sugar theme, perchance?

Petros calls her Girl, usually in context of, "Hey, girl." Which reminds me of the Ryan Gosling "Hey Girl" meme every time.

When Ekati is being repeatedly naughty, I tell her we are just fattening her up for her fur and that I am looking forward to my kitten mittens.

Tiny Massacre

Ekati, the kitten, and I are still working out our sleeping arrangements. She thinks it's great fun when I've wound down and, finally, slip into bed for some peaceful Zs. Perfect time to play-hunt all around and upon the horizontal human, pouncing on every rustle of the blanket, real and imagined, and upon her person's very face. She can entertain herself in this fashion for at least 40 minutes straight and return to the game repeatedly throughout the night.

I shut her in the bathroom last night. As it's the only room with a door so far! And I keep it a little heated for the pipes. And suspected it may be an entry point for our adorable little gray mice friends seeking warmth in this premature cold snap.

I woke this morning to a dead little gray mouse on the bathroom floor. Good kitten, I told Ekati. Took me a minute or two to see all the scuffs around the floor I'd washed by hand just yesterday were not just the usual debris of this ol' place - but the bloody smears of a tiny massacre.

My forensic analysis suggests the mice are entering through the basin drain, popping up beneath the pop-up stopper.

Gift

First overnight in the new cabin and with the new kitten. Temp outside down to 32 degrees Farenheit, wind and light snow. Power out several hours. Which means, here, in addition to no hot water, no well water at all, and no electronics - also no heat. Had prepped, piling all the blankets I own onto the bed, and was warm enough.

By mid-morning, the electricity and heat had been restored, and we were toasty. I petted the kitten a while, then sat up and slid out of bed. Turned around to arrange the blankets, and found a little gray mouse smushed in my pillow, where my head and neck had lain.