neighbourhood cats

July 23 2021

Smoky

Mountain tops above the shed visible after Photoshop enhancement

Several fires burning in the nearby forest have created very smoky air. Yesterday I woke up and felt the smoke in my eyes and throat. I looked out the windows. The mountains had disappeared. I started closing windows and reviewing my emergency plan.

So far I had the big cat carrier assembled, with a mini litter box and an untried cat harness and leash ready in the spare room.

I fretted and made breakfast. Rosalee wanted out and I reluctantly opened the door for her.

Later I learned that a home workshop across the lake had caught on fire and the wind was blowing our way. Eventually the mountains reappeared. Today again I have the windows and doors shut. The smoke is not as bad as yesterday but worse than every day excepting yesterday.

I have added a small packsack to the emergency pile which I will keep in the van once I fill it with some clothes. There won’t be time to pick and choose if we get a an eviction order. Today I am procrastinating again. Sometimes it is hard to face reality. Reality just keeps getting more and more demanding.

Yesterday I put this year’s dried catnip in a tin. I am not bit sure whether to harvest more or let the big plants carry on going to seed.

Rosalee rolled on my dried catnip while I was putting it in the tin. I took a sample over to Carly the calico cat across the lane. Carly enjoyed the catnip very much. She rolled on a bee. I tried to shoo her up. She moved a bit and the bee flew away. Close call!

I expect to be changing domain registers for this site soon. And possibly servers too, as my plan is coming to an end at wordpress.com. I’ll leave a forwarding address if/when I go! I have posted 12 times since I got this plan. That’s $10 a post. I do love WordPress.com but it seems an extravagance at the moment.

October 20 2020

Cat Neighbours

Anna gardening, neighbourhood cats 0

Oh so many cat neighbours here. At least four across the lane. One new one right next door. One to south, one to the southeast, one to the northeast too. Rosalee does not go out of the yard since Muffin died. And she doesn’t welcome cat visitors.

Little Jethro, who lives next door, was on his shed top this morning eyeing my garden. I do not want him in there, but he is brave little orange kitten who is very adept at wriggling his way in. I can see where I need to do some refencing.

The other day Rosalee sent him running for the gate. He is so cute and so friendly but his presence upsets Rosalee. Plus I do not want cat excrement in my vegetables.

I have a lot of catnip plants in there too which I suppose is tempting to cats. I tried planting some in the backlane but they all got eaten. Next year I’ll make another attempt.