When I headed out to do my rounds this morning, I found the sun room door open, and a bag of kibble on the floor, a couple of corners chewed open and kibble all over the floor.

Given the size of the raccoon I saw on the garden cam, I find myself thinking they’ve figured out how to open the door.

After I modified the row cover, I finished up the watering, then headed inside. It wasn’t until much later that I saw I’d forgotten the sun room door open after getting a utility knife, which I’d also forgotten out by the garden. So I headed outside, got the knife, then went to put it away in the sun room.

I was just reaching the door when I startled a cat, leaving the sun room.

An adult grey tabby.

What the heck???

The cat started to run off but quickly stopped and meowed at me. When I called to him, he came right over and before I knew it, I was being happily snuggled by a Potato Beetle. I didn’t have my phone with me, so it wasn’t until he went to get a drink of water that I was able to dash in to get it and get photos.

I haven’t seen Potato Beetle in months! I even checked my photos, and the last ones I have of him were taken in February. That’s when we found him with a big bite in his hip. We got him to the vet, then had him isolated in the sun room for a few days. Shortly after he had access to the outdoors again, he disappeared. The next month, Nostrildamus disappeared, then Creamsicle, and then Ginger showed up with his leg dangling and had his amputation.

It was a very rough winter for the male yard cats.

Usually, if they don’t come back for a while, it means something got them, and we don’t expect to see them again. So it was a very happy surprise to see Potato Beetle again, after all this time!

I think I spent about two hours sitting on a camp chair under the gazebo tent with him in draped across my body, sometimes in very odd angles, napping. Or cuddling. Or nuzzling my face. He was so incredibly calm and loving!

When he did finally jump down to the ground, he lay there for a while until something caught his attention in the distance.

It was Junk Pile cat and her kittens, slowly coming closer. In the above photo, she and three of her kittens are almost at the kibble house.

The fourth one had been drinking water from a container by the grape vine before joining its siblings.

This is the closest they’ve been willing to come to a human, yet! They were watching me closely, but still came to the kibble house.

It may have been a disappointing start to the day, but seeing Potato Beetle again, getting to cuddle him, and having Junk Pile and her kittens come over, has made this a very good day! 🙂

The Re-Farmer