Bits and Pieces

This fuzzy photo is the best I could get in the circumstances under which I was working.  A young female Cardinal (if you look closely you can see her head/beak on the right and tail on the left) has taken up housekeeping in a small hanging basket left out in the freezing cold over the winter. In the carefully constructed nest just below the top of the container are three small eggs, the first cardinal eggs I have ever seen.

The circumstances I mentioned above are (1) that the basket is hanging within four feet of my back door, and (2) opening the door widely spooks her off the nest.  I just opened the door a crack, stuck out my cell phone/camera and snapped without really looking or trying to focus.

It makes my heart glad to see her there, and my heart needed a gladdening.  I discovered her nest this past Saturday morning, when my grandson and I went to the back yard to dig a grave for my sweet Missy cat, who went to play with her baby Sweetie Pie last Friday afternoon.

I now have four cats buried in my back yard: Bubble (the sweetest kitty I have ever had) died in July 2000; her brother Squeak died in May, 2012;  Sweetie Pie went to be with the kitty angels just over a year ago, and now, Sweetie Pie's mama, Missy.  They are all buried in their favorite sunning places.

I think that's the end of my having cats; it's just too hard to let them go, even when it's inevitable.

Tomorrow is also a day.

Bits and Pieces

   John F. Kennedy Rose                           

For the past four or five days I've been plagued by vicious upper respiratory symptoms, made worse, I'm sure, by the dust I raised in the whirlwind attack on my craft room, about which I so cheerfully reported in my last post.  Since I subscribe to the "germ theory" of disease, I assume I picked up the responsible virus/bacteria a few days before I started the cleaning frenzy. Whatever/whenever/however acquired, the resulting symptoms caused an immediate cessation of my cleaning activities.  Although I've not felt ill enough to confine myself to bed, I have dozed, a lot, in my recliner, consumed quarts and quarts of various hot and cold liquids, sneezed and coughed until my ribs are sore, and kept the "Puffs" folks in business.

Missy cat stayed by my side most of the time, not demanding to be outside -- which was a good thing, since the weather was not conducive to outside activities, even for a feline.   Our area, like much of the country, experienced a sharp drop in temperatures from those earlier last week, and on again-off again precipitation.  Just rain here, thank you. Nebraska daughter reported another 2"-4" of snow on her acreage.

A cat has only so much sympathy and patience, and yesterday afternoon being sunny and temperate (in the high 50's) she demanded to be outside.   Having spied a few white roses from my kitchen window, I ventured out with her and found not only a bush full of roses but that my 'wet foot' Iris had bloomed.  (I'm sure this variety has a real name, but Gardening Daughter, who gave it to me, described it only as needing to be in a moist place, unlike many other irises. Adjacent to the back yard water tap seemed to be as good a place as any.) The iris is in a bed next to the wall and immediately under my kitchen window and thus not visible from it.  I'm happy that I ventured out; I would hate to have missed its blooming.

"Wet Foot" Iris

The new leaf growth on my JFK roses has me somewhat puzzled.  The leaves are at least twice the size of last year's leaves and, if my eyes don't deceive me, the rose blooms are at least half again larger.  (See rose photo; that's my not very small hand behind the bloom.) Also, the iris seems to have grown quite a bit taller since last year; perhaps the Christmas snow contained a tonic. 

Tomorrow is also a day.

Cat Tales

"Missy"

Today was the day set for the cats' annual visit to the veterinarian. Taking all three of them on one day sets my budget back a goodly chunk, but when it's over, it's over. They are well behaved cats when away from home, like most children, and Dr. B. has no troubles with them. He calls them "compliant."


Since I am not physically able to tote all three cats at once, and since I have only one cat carrier, I have to take turns ferrying them between my house and the veterinary clinic, a distance of only a little over one mile. The folks at the clinic are used to this procedure, which I've followed for the past few years.


The first one to go was Sweetie Pie, the youngest (although she's not a kitten; it doesn't seem possible that I've had her for almost 7 years). I learned several years ago that if I don't take her first, she "hides out" when she gets a sniff of vet's office on the one I bring home, and goes into deep hiding, and I had just as well give up trying to get her to come to me voluntarily. Sweetie Pie didn't mind being inside the carrier; it was getting into the car that set off her vocal protestations. Thank goodness I had to listen to this caterwauling for only a mile! Once we got to the clinic, she was as good as gold and offered not another sound. Oddly, she didn't vocalize as much on the way back home.


Sweetie's mother, Missy, was next. She didn't like the carrier -- at all! Plum hardly! She and I both became contortionists before she was safely inside. Unlike her offspring, she did not protest the car trip and, like Sweetie, was a real pussy cat while at the clinic. She was greatly admired by the vet and the assistant for her chinchilla-soft fur and beautiful green eyes.


Squeak, the big boy, was the final one to make the trip. Ususally, he is waiting for my return and I have no trouble getting him into the carrier. Not today!! He went underground while I was gone with Missy and I spent the better part of ten minutes looking in his usual hiding places. I finally found him under my bed in a place that I could not reach from either side. Clever (and wicked) kitty! I went about my business as though I was home to stay, and in about 5 minutes his curiosity got the better of him. I was in the kitchen making a cup of coffee when he came strolling in with a "whatcha doing, Mom?" attitude. I snatched him up quickly and stuffed him into the carrier, and off we went. Whew!


All the cats are in good health, as I expected they would be. I was advised to put all of them on a diet of 'senior' cat food, although none are overweight. Guess middle-aged cats need to watch their diets, too.

Camera Critters #29 - Post 94

What'cha doing outside, Mom? Huh? Huh? Huh?

From the left: Squeak, Sweetie Pie, and (hiding in the shadows) Missy.

Camera Critters is the creation of Misty Dawn. Check out this week's other critters here.