Rose breasted grosbeak, in a lilac bush.
He is staring into your soul…
;-)
Critters
Kitty Cuddles, and technical difficulties
First, the cute stuff.
My husband passed the furry little bean off to me this morning, while I was at the desktop. Dave promptly curled up in a ball and fell asleep on my chest, making the most interesting nose noises.
He then abruptly stood up, clambered up my shoulder, leapt across the chasm to my bed, and snuggled up to Fenrir.
He burrowed right into her fur and went back to sleep.
She didn’t even open her eyes.
That didn’t stop him from stretching out and luxuriating.
And twisting himself into this weird shape. That’s his bottom leg curled up in front. It’s like his head is coming out from under Fenrir, rather than attached to his body. :-D
Also on my bed was this furry black mama orb.
She typically ignores our new addition, but has been getting more accommodating; even a bit playful with him.
But cuddles?
This is a pretty huge new step in their relationship! :-D
As I was finishing up on my computer this morning, before heading into town for the afternoon, my husband came over to talk.
Our conversation was interrupted by a sudden, bizarre noise. I thought, for a moment, it was actually coming from outside.
Nope.
It was coming from my computer.
Once we established that, we could figure out that it was coming from a fan.
So I shut it down, and my wonderful, darling husband opened it up for me while I was away.
It was a mighty battle, but he was able to defeat the dust bunnies that had taken up residence in there.
Both fans were cakes on pretty solidly!
By the time I got home, my desktop was once again running on silent mode. :-D
Ah, but the technical stuff didn’t end there!
My husband gifted me with his new phone. My own phone plan is done next month, and he realized that his new tablet meets his needs quite well. So we’re transferring his new phone to me, then when my contract is done, we’re going to just switch things with the provider, and drop a phone off our bundle. This will knock a substantial chunk off our mobile phone bill (which is crazy high, considering we barely get any signal where we live).
So several hours were then spent getting those switched and set up.
I’ve been using Samsung phones for many years. The new phone is an LG. The user interface is going to take some getting used to! :-D
As I did my evening rounds, however, I had opportunity to test out the camera. It’s a dual lens camera, and supposed to be one of the better cell phone cameras out there.
Looks like Guildenstern has moved Junk Pile cat out of the yard.
Or maybe they’re just visiting another junk pile.
Well… not really a junk pile. The kitten is hiding under a hood that is over a pallet that it’s attached to. It has a handle attached to it. I think it was built to be a sort of sled, to be dragged behind a snowmobile.
Guildenstern was watching me suspiciously!
I do wish they would just stay with the other cats and kittens. The kittens would play with each other, but Butterscotch and Beep Beep have both been going after and chasing away Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, lately.
Rosencrantz seems to have taken her baby some place well outside the inner yard. No sign of that one, since the one day we saw it by the junk pile.
Ah, well. Such is life with semi-feral cats!
As for the camera… well, so far, the digital zoom does seem to be better than my old camera phone.
:-)
The Re-Farmer
Share this:
Bonus critters, or “I think the kittens should stay outside longer.”
I headed outside to start rounding the kittens up and close them in the sun room for the night.
The kittens were all over the place, including in and out of the sun room.
Something, however, seemed odd.
It was getting dark, but the shadows seemed… darker, somehow.
Plus, something had the kittens’ attention.
Then they moved.
Not one, but 2!! skunks were in the sun room, eating cat kibble.
These two are smaller than the one that would visit us last year, and they have less white on them.
When I was first trying to figure out what I was seeing in the dark (I was able to lighten the photo up, so the skunks are more visible in the photo than they were in real life), there were a couple of kittens sharing the kibble with them.
All of the cats that were around showed only a mild curiousity about our visitors, and had no problem being near them. Likewise, the skunks had no real issue with the cats. They mostly ignored the cats, and only seemed to have a problem when there were too many kitties in the doorway.
We waited a while before putting the kittens away for the night! :-D
Both of the skunks went into the old kitchen. I kept watch from the side windows and saw one as it left, but where was the other? I saw it come to the window near me, go under the couch on the other side of the sun room, wander back into the old kitchen and out again, disappearing several times in the process.
After a while, I went to the old kitchen from the inside, making sure to rattle the door knob a bit and turning the light on, before opening the door. I saw no critters, so I went in and turned the light on in the sun room and started looking under things from the doorway before coming in.
Then I heard some noises on the other side of the freezer I was standing next too.
Sure enough, the skunk had gone behind the freezer, and I could just see its tail as it came out the other end and made it’s away through things to the other side of the room.
By the time we did get everything shut down for the night, I was still only about 95% sure the skunk was no longer in the old kitchen! (yes, it turned out to be gone)
They are such adorable critters. They are likely what is digging the holes I’m finding all over the yard lately. Dozens of tiny holes in groups around the yard, so I’m thinking there’s a fair few more than just these two! With the state of the lawn, I’m not too concerned about any damage they are doing, which is minimal to begin with. I rather like that they are eating grubs, which are probably worse for the lawn than their leaving little turf balls all over the place. :-)
I would really love to pet a skunk some day. :-D
The Re-Farmer
Share this:
Good Bye, Little Guy!
This evening was both exciting and sad.
The family that had come to look at the kittens a few days ago called back today. They had made a decision and asked if they could come by to pick up their new fur baby.
Zesty Nacho Blast had to be awakened from a nap by his new humans!
He is now at his new home, with his new human family, where he will have new animal companions and even a new name.
Happy to see him adopted by a good family.
But we are going to miss him, too!
The Re-Farmer
Share this:
Critter of the Day: this one’s easy
It may be hard to tell a downy from a hairy woodpecker, but there is no mistaking these guys!
It’s a fairly rare treat for a pileated woodpecker to come visit. Not only do they have a very distinctive red head, but they are much larger than our usual visitors. At one point, I could see him tearing pieces of this tree’s bark off and tossing it down to the ground! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woodpecker do that before!
Share this:
Long day and, aquarium status
Bonus Critter: hello, down there
The little hairy bean loves climbing to the top of the king size mattress.
Hello, little David. What lovely eyes you have!
Share this:
Critter(s) of the Day: jungle kitties!
The kittens are enjoying the cherry trees and lilac bushes on the East side of the house. :-D
Share this:
Critter of the Day: safe and satisfied
The little hairy bean, also known as Dave, has settled into our home quite solidly.
Safely indoors, with a full belly and cleared up eyes, and humans that let him sleep pretty much anywhere he wants.
Life is good as an indoor cat!
Share this:
Visiting Time
The kittens have finally “discovered” the east side of the house today, the junk pile in the spruce grove and…
… Junk Pile kitten.
Here, we see Keith playing with his brother and visiting his mom, Guildenstern!
Junk Pile kitten wasn’t sure what to make of the sudden invasion of other kittens; he doesn’t come around the other side of the house, and the other kittens tend not to go beyond the area where the lilacs are. The girls had gone out to watch them play, and he was growling at them (the other kittens; not my daughters *L*) at first. By the time I came out, he seemed to be okay with them, crawling all over his home!
It’s really amazing to see how much bigger he is than his brothers. Especially Dave. It shows, I think, how sick Dave and Keith must have been, before we found them. Remarkable, that he didn’t get sick, too. I makes me wonder about the 4th kitten Guildenstern had, when I first found her litter.
I hope that this little guy and the other kittens will play together more often, and that we will get the chance to socialize him at least more successfully than his mom and aunt!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 