Friday, March 28, 2008

Spring Fling



This is quite the sight to have outside your back door. The four women have been coming round for hand outs for a couple of weeks now but then this dude showed up waving his tail and poofing out his feathers. He makes me think of the Blue Meany in Yellow Submarine. When I throw out some food the women run right for it (there are few things funnier than a running turkey). Some days when the snow is frozen the grils have slid on their butts down the hill.

Hey, turkeys have to eat too. I have heard that these wild birds aren't much good for eating so I hope I am not fattening them up just so they can get shot next fall. With a winter like the one we are STILL HAVING, we need all the entertainment we can get.

Oh yeah, we also got four more inches of snow this morning. At least the skiing is still fantastic. Cross country. This is going to end up being a major record breaker snow year here. We only have two more years to beat to be the all time since the 1800's champion snow year.

But everyone is tired of it and anyone who can is heading south for a break. Three hours south of here the flowers are blooming.

And someone is really tired of it...



"Me no likey this white stuff!! What's going on here!! Where's my garden!! Why can;t you fix it!! I want out now!!"

Harper is very Speakative.

"And get rid of those big birds!! No bird should be that big!! Me no likey!!"

Friday, March 14, 2008

In Search of Home



This momma cat and her kits were rescued from a hoarder and are now living in the family room at the shelter. Two kittens are already spoken for and that leaves three and Momma. Momma Kylie is still very shy and will need a patient and loving person to let her take her time coming out of her fear. She is a lovely Lady Cat with wonderful green eyes.



Little Sasha is, I think, already adopted.



And here is Simba, of course. If you need a House Lion.



That leaves Jack, who is the orange short haired fellow,



Kaylee,



Lilac,



and shy, beautiful Momma.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Ramona Plays a Game



Ramona has a basket full of lovely kitty toys. Balls, fuzzy things, a tunnel and all sorts of stuff a kitty should adore. But what does she choose for her favorite game?



A little plastic top off some bottle.



I realized she was fond of this so I put it where I could find it instead of throwing it out and this morning she found it herself on the kitchen counter. Soon she was rolling it around the floor and chasing it and just being so darn cute I had to grab the camera.



Now that Ramona has been with us for almost two years (April something was their gotcha day), we see what a lovely feline being we had been lucky to find on the internet. She is sweet, gracious to her brother even when he is being an idiot, loving and as these photos show, beautiful in her every gesture. And those sweet green eyes we were so fortunate to be able to save!



I love the way so many things she does reminds me of Fergus. Rolling the toy across the floor, the way her chin juts out when she is asleep, the way her ears go back and she looks like a little owl when she is listening to something behind her, the way her eyes look like a wise old oriental sage when she makes faces. She is far more agile than her brother, who is, as we know, a bit of a Pork Chop. It makes me feel like Fergie's playful, wild thing spirit is not far from me. I find that comforting.



Squirrel Street has just started on the Fur and Feather Channel. Ramona is entralled. Harper is asleep in his rocking chair by the woodstove.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Ramona Goes to the Vet....

and is grateful afterwards. I didn''t know that she had fallen (probably from one of her leaps off the second tier of the cat tree), and had hurt her back. Ramona flies down the stairs here like a bird every morning and dashes up and down the cat trees. I think she enjoys doing things her heavier brother can't.

Our vet is also a chiropracter and acupuncturist and the reason we had come in was to attempt to heal Ramona's gums. They are still red from her kittenhood illness. When Dr. Kramer ran her hands along Miss R's back our girl hissed with pain. Acupuncture hurt her too, and then she relaxed.

I don't know how we had missed the signs of trouble. Cats hide pain very well, their instincts tell them they have to be strong and appear strong. But we're always petting Ramona and when she sits on my lap I run my hands along her back. But I guess it is a good idea to check out your cat's back with a harder massage.

Once we got home (I brought both cats after last time's excitement), Ramona walked around happy just to be back and then told me she was hungry. And then she stretched out her left leg in that beautiful ballet stretch. And then the other leg. I suddenly realized that for quite a while I had only seen her stretch out one side. Duh. Then she started kissing my legs and purring and purring.

I really think she understood what had happened. We went to vet, got needles stuck in, bones moved around and the pain was gone.

Ramona is a very smart little girl.

I had taken Harper too and he got a big hug from the vet and a check up (his gums are slightly red too). It was mostly so we could avoid having Ramona come home and smell different. Harper needs to smell her to know she''s his sister. Last time he thought we had brought a strange kitty girl home and lost his sister.

Then there was some serious washing up to do.





In time for their favorite show..



Turkey World.



as we all wait for three feet of ice to melt. Hey, the tomatoes are up in their flats, spring must be coming someday.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

The Fur and Feather Channel



With five feet of snow on the ground now there isn't much for the felines to do but wrassle, climb the cat trees and watch TV. Luckily a new show started on the F and F channel this morning. Turkey World is an in depth look at the lives of American Turkeys and it is now playing in a forest near you.





We woke to the sounds of Thunder Paws running up and down the stairs and then suddenly, slience. The TV show was on and the kits were glued to the screen. Means we get a little morning peace around here while everyone has cabin fever. Works for me.



I think Harper looks more like a Squillon every day, or is he just a real Pork Chop? We just got our Squillon and I will try to put him up. And if you don't believe me about the snow, looky here. I have the latest Warrior book and I am trying to read it very slowly so it will last. That way I can dream about being in the forest in greenleaf with Firestar and the rest of Thunder Clan while the world is white outside our windows.






Here's my new Squillon. Now I will see if I can get him in the sidebar without ruining my CSS.

I adopted a virtual Squillion from the Cat Blogosphere!