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.

Camera Critters

"Sterling Darling"

Sterling Darling is my daughter Jean's Chocolate Siamese male cat. He first came into the family at the age of only a few days, having just opened his eyes. He was found on a Friday afternoon by a construction worker under a house in western Little Rock, occupying a 'nest' with an already deceased kitten of the same age, with no mama cat in evidence. He could tell the kitten was in critical condition, and took him to the closest veterinary clinic, where my son's wife worked as a groomer. There was no way this baby could survive without constant attention, so leaving him at the clinic over the weekend with only occasional feeding visits by the vet techs was not an option, so daughter-in-law brought him home with her, "home" being at that particular moment a family gathering in celebration of my 70th birthday. The tiny kitten, which fit into the palm of her hand, would require 'round the clock care which, as an employed person, she was not able to give.

Present at the gathering was my daughter Jean's husband, himself of a very tender nature. He decided that his family, with a stay- at- home mom, would take the kitten, and he put it under his shirt next to his heart, where he carried it almost constantly, taking his turn at feeding the baby, and reluctantly leaving the kitten to the care of my daughter when he was not available.

I'm as sure as I can be that it was the loving and dedicated attention to a tiny creature that allowed Sterling Darling to survive and grow into a beautiful cat. He is devoted to my son-in-law and still rides around on his shoulders for extended periods. Sterling Darling rewards his family by catching small (and, so far, non-poisonous) snakes and lizards he finds crawling about in the wood pile and brushy areas of the property. He brings them to the back door and waits patiently for someone to praise him for his hunting prowess.

How Sterling Darling got his name, I'm not exactly sure, but he is always referred to using both names.

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

Photo Hunt #147 - Furry

The Belly of the Beast

..."The Beast" being my cat, Squeak, who lay still long enough for me to take several photos of his underside; it's really furry, and I like the variation in colors.

Photo Hunt is the brainchild of tnchick. For other interpretations of this week's theme, or to play, pay a visit here.

Camera Critters - Post 63

Hey, Mom! There's a squirrel out there!

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