Once again, we have nine kittens and three adults in there. Junk Pile cat is even there, tucked into the corner on the right. Potato Beetle is barely visible at the tray on the ground, and Nutmeg is in the middle of all the kittens. Rosencrantz, Toesencrantz and Nosencrantz were at the tray under the shrine, with Ghost Baby nervously prowling back and forth, wanting to go to the food, but nervous with so many other cats. I had to chase off Potato Beetle, because he decided he wanted to eat at the tray under the shrine, too, but when he saw Rosencrantz and Ghost Baby, he went into hunting mode.
Nasty boy!
Rolando Moon was also around, but she preferred to wait well away from the other cats before she went to eat.
Little Nosencrantz has taken to following me around at a distance, as I work around the yard. This morning, she came over while I was picking tomatoes. I was able to step over to her and pet her, without her running away! Perhaps she was more distracted by Rolando Moon on the other side of me, growling a warning for her to stay back. :-D
The outside cats were out in full force, eager for breakfast, but first I wanted to share some indoor adorableness!
Cabbages and Cheddar, all snuggled together for a nap!
The size difference just blows me away. Cabbages is more than a year old now, so she is pretty much her full adult size. Cheddar… he’s just huge.
Yesterday evening, I decided to use our Roku device and watch some TV. We’ve got the Great Courses on Amazon Prime, and I’m watching Cooking Through the Ages right now. Cheddar decided to join me and trap my hand under his head as a pillow!
He eventually got driven out, though, when Tissue came over and started bugging him. After he left…
… she took his spot!
She would not stop squirming, though, and when I brought my phone over to take pictures…
… she went for it, and tried to eat it!
Gosh, she has the strangest facial structure! Like a little alien.
Meanwhile, her younger siblings outside were joining the breakfast buffet.
While I was pouring the kibble out, Broccoli jumped into the kibble house, and I actually got to pet her! She was torn between startled and wanting to go at the food. The confused expression she gave me as I pet her back was hilarious. She seemed to like the pets, though, and tolerated them for a little while.
There are nine kittens in the above photo. Potato Beetle is one of the adults, and he’s at the tray on the ground. Butterscotch is inside the kibble house. Nutmeg was around, too, but on the other side of the kibble house, out of view.
Rosencrantz, Nosencrantz and Toesencrantz, enjoying breakfast together!
More progress; while walking back from pouring kibble onto the tray under the shrine, Nosencrantz came running right up to me, and let me pet her, before continuing on to the food!
I really, really like Nosencrantz.
I guess this is a good time to promote our Ko-fi page. If you are interested in helping with the feeding and care for the kitties, you can click here, or on the donation button on the side bar. All donations go towards the cats, either for their food, to get them fixed, or for any needed vet care, and are gratefully appreciated.
I got to pet Nosencrantz this morning, but had to move away before Toesencrantz would come to eat.
I am NOT happy with Potato Beetle. He attacked Rosencrantz this morning. Again. Drove her off. She did get a chance to come by and eat with her babies, later, but he is really nasty towards her!
We had nine kittens in the kibble house again (the two orange cats are the adults). I was looking at the photos with my daughter and talking about the five grey tabbies. There’s Bradicous, Chadicous, Sadicous and Tadicous. What would number five be called? Why not Gaticous? (a play on the movie title, Gattaca)
Gaticous, it is! :-D
Ghost Baby made an appearance, too, dashing by in the background. :-)
You know what else made an appearance?
Toe pints. Itty, bitty kittie toe prints!
Dirty little toe prints!
At least the paint was dry before it got walked on. :-D
Odd that the camera in my phone turned the mint green paint into white!
This was waiting for me, when I came into the sun room to start my morning rounds.
They know which door the food comes from! :-D
There are nine kittens and four adults in this photo, plus two more kittens at the food tray under the shrine. I can see five grey striped tabbies. So we have Bradicous, Chadicous, Tadicous and Sadicous… plus the spare! :-D The girls will have to come up with another -icous. :-D
Gosh, it feels like such a long day today. It always does when we do our city shopping!
I am so glad we only do this once or twice a month!
But first… Kitties!
I just have to share some adorable photos with you. :-) <3
I got my morning Ginger cuddles!
He does not want me to pet him. If I try, he violently kicks my hand away with his back legs, rolls half onto his back and sticks the back of his head onto my hand for ear skritches. Not from above his head, but from below! Of course, once the skritches starts, a back leg starts to kick uncontrollably. :-D
Gosh, he’s adorable.
Before my daughter and I headed out to the city, I of course had to check the basement.
That is SUCH an improvement! By the time I checked it again after we got back from the city, this side was mostly dry. I think, by tomorrow, I’ll be able to move the blower fan to face the other side of the basement, as it had flooded enough to reach the other side of the furnaces. A couple more days, and we should be able to start the final clean up.
I even remembered to pick up more heavier duty latex gloves for the job, as the pair I was using while working on the drain pipe sprang leaks! :-D
Of the four places we typically try to hit during our monthly city shop, my younger daughter and I managed three. :-D Our first stop was at Canadian Tire, were we picked up more wood pellets. We still have some unopened bags to use as litter, but now that I’ve found how well they work to amend the soil in our garden beds, I have no problem stocking up even more! While there, we also found a heavy duty, high traffic, scrubbable paint for the inside of the outhouse. My older daughter was thinking a pale robin’s egg blue, but once we started looking at the colour samples, there were not a lot of options, so my younger daughter chose a light mint. Not a colour I would have chosen, but they have better taste than I do, so I trust them. ;-) As long as it’s a like colour and not white, I don’t really care all that much. :-D So now we just need to get all those tacks out of the walls, give it one last cleaning to get rid of any new dust or spider webs, and then we can paint! At some point, we’ll pick up more exterior paint to do the outside, but that can wait until next spring, really. Getting the roof fixed is more of a priority when it comes to the outside.
After Canadian Tire, we went to the international grocery store for those little things we can’t find at Costco, with Costco being our final stop. We didn’t get everything in the quantities we will need for our goal of stocking up extra for the winter, in case the weather has us stuck at home for a couple of months, again. Partly because, even using a flat cart, it would be just too much. The largest and heaviest items being the bags of dry cat food. Even so, it’s been a long time since we packed the van this full!
One thing we didn’t get a lot of was meat. Partly because we still had some in the freezer, but partly because we are planning on getting a quarter beef from the local supplier we found. They are taking orders now, then start butchering in November, and the meat will be ready in December. They are charging $6 per pound this year, and a quarter beef averages about 150-200 pounds in finished weight. So, at most, we can expect to be paying $1200. That’s the equivalent of our entire grocery budget, including cat supplies, toiletries, household cleaners and the like, for the entire month! Which means we have to make sure to set some of our grocery budget aside, along with the unallocated funds in our budget. Most of the unallocated funds for this month just went to pay for the plumber, though. We’ll have to juggle the budget a bit, so we can still set aside for the beef, while also not touching our contingency fund that is slated for something else.
After we got home and everything got put away, it was time for supper, and then I headed outside to water the garden beds. We hit 25C/77F today. Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter, and things have been pretty dry for the past little while. We still have the soaker hose set up under the squash trellis, and the sprinkler hose set up with the summer squash, so we got those going first. While I was at it, I topped up the empty kibble trays outside.
We may have got all of the outside cats when I did!
I counted 11 kittens in total, including Nosencrantz and Toesencrantz in their usual private dining area under the shrine. Nutmeg, Rosencrantz and Ghost Baby joined them, too! I also saw Potato Beetle, Rolando Moon and Butterscotch at the kibble house. They were all moving around so much that, if the 12th kitten was there, too, I could easily have missed it. Especially since they sometimes hide under the cat house.
There are nine kittens and three adults visible in the above photo. What a crowd! Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more of the kittens outside the sunroom door, waiting for me to come out with the kibble, and fewer of them run away completely when I come outside. Some of them are almost underfoot when I put the food out, even though they back right off if it seems like I’m about to stop near them. They are such an adorable bunch. I just love those stripes on the ‘icouses!
When I came back out later to switch the hose from the soaker hose to the sprinkler hose, I was very entertained by the sight of a Rolando Moon roast! She loves to climb right into the old roaster (which became a kibble tray after one of the handles broke off). I missed getting a photo of her looking all trussed up, before she gave me her famous death glare. :-D
Later on, I even saw Junk Pile cat! She has been coming out to eat after all the other cats and kittens are gone.
I’m just looking at the long range forecast right now, and it’s looking like we are going to have some absolutely glorious weather, well into October! That should go a long way to giving us a chance to get some outside projects worked on, and for our garden to continue producing. While watering today, I was noticing quite a lot of pea pods developing, and yes, I have even found some mature enough to taste! Just a couple of pods so far, but my goodness, fresh peas are the best! One of the sweet corn blocks is even looking like it might have cobs worth harvesting soon, too! I honestly thought that one was a lost cause, too. We shall see! Meanwhile, tomorrow I will be picking tomatoes, and probably more beans, too.
Whenever I head out to feed the yard cats these days, I do a head count! :-D
There are “only” eight kittens in the photo, with Nosencrantz and Toesencrantz eating at the kibble tray under the shrine. I was happy to see Nutmeg still around. He’s the one Rolando Moon is hissing at. :-D There are four adult cats in the above photo, including Butterscotch running by, just visible in the gap between kibble house and cat house. I even saw Ghost Baby this morning! That made five adult cats I saw this morning, though I think I saw Rosencrantz later on.
I do wonder what has happened with Junk Pile Cat.. Her babies are all hanging around the yard, but I haven’t seen mama in quite a while. Which is unusual with the female cats. Particularly while their kittens are still around.
Last night turned out to be a very calm evening, so my younger daughter and I got the fire pit going and were finally able to clean up and burn the remains of the diseased crab apple tree we’d recently cut down. Nutmeg joined us and stayed the entire time, getting in the way while we were cutting the branches smaller, and even going right on top of them as I was setting them up the fire pit. Once the fire was going, I spent much of the evening trapped in a camp chair with Nutmeg in my arms, cuddling for all he was worth, and even going for a nap!
I was telling my daughter how unusual I found this, considering he barely let me pet him before he disappeared for the summer, and that Ginger was the one that was more friendly. It turns out that, for her, it was the other way around! Nutmeg would let her pick him up and carry her around, while Ginger was the one who was more skittish. Funny how they can behave so differently with other people. I’m rather glad Nutmeg is now okay with me giving him cuddles. :-)
Look who was willing to come an eat, while I was still close by!
Little Toesencrantz normally won’t come to the food until I’ve moved away. Nosencrantz was letting me pet her and was purring, so that might be helping.
This evening, my daughter was thrilled to let me know that when the topped up the kibble trays, Nosencrantz was willing to be picked up and held for several minutes!!! So awesome!
On a another note, I am working on something different that I hope to post tonight, though more likely tomorrow, and it’s taking quite a bit of time, hence the lack of posting today. I’m hoping to get feedback on what you all think, when it’s up, to know if it’s worth doing again! :-)
When I start my morning rounds by putting kibble out for the outside cats is when we see the most cats and kittens all at once. I made a point of trying to count all the kittens this morning. Yesterday, I counted twelve. This morning, I counted eleven.
I caught a baby, over on the far right, in mid meow! :-D
They are a bit easier to see in this photo. Over on the left, beside Potato Beetle, Broccoli, with Caramel next to her. The orange tabby is Toesencrantz, and on the right of the kibble house is Tuxedo Mask and Bradicous, with his distinctive white tail tip. Outside the kibble house is the Junk Pile Jr., the grey and white that looks so much like her mom.
Sharing a bowl with Caramel is another of Junk Pile’s kittens. I believe that one has been dubbed Sadicous. LOL Of the two other greys inside the kibble house, I believe the one looking at the camera is Chadicous, and the one standing up in the back, with the white legs, is Junk Pile’s fourth baby, tentatively named Tadicous.
That leaves the grey kitten with the white chest, outside the kibble house, as the mystery kitten. Either that, or that one is Chadicous, and the one inside the kibble house, looking at the camera, is the mystery kitten.
The mystery kitten that made number 12, yesterday, did not have any distinctive colours or markings, either. It had to be one of the grey tabbies, or the more muted calico types, like Caramel. It’s really hard to tell, when they run around so much.
Nosencrantz, at least, is nice and easy to spot! :-D
This morning, not only did Nosencrantz let me pet her after taking this photo, I was able to pick her up and hold her for a few moments! This makes her officially more socialized than her mother, who will sometimes let us pet her, but that’s about it.
Nosencrantz has such very, very soft fur!!
So does this bonus baby.
Cabbages is so adorable!
It is still somewhat startling to go outside and see what I at first think is Cabbages, only to remember that I’m looking at Broccoli. :-D
After realizing we had an extra kitten yesterday, I made a point of doing a head count this morning. I had to be careful not to move too much, or I’d scare them away, so I only got this one photo.
I have an arrow pointing to all the kittens in the photo, plus the two at the kibble tray on the ground on the far side. The adults in here are Butterscotch and Rolando Moon.
At the kibble tray under the shrine were Rosencrantz’s two kittens, plus Potato Beetle and Ghost Baby.
Sometimes, when I am awakened by cats using me as a bed, the only way I can tell which cat has trapped me is by taking a picture!
Especially when I’ve got one or two more of the on my chest. :-D
Apparently, Tissue finds my legs make a perfect hammock. :-D
While I was pouring out the kibble, the tuxedo and the grey and white kittens were brave enough to jump into the kibble house at the same time. The grey and white was so interested in the food, I was able to give her a couple of full body pets before she realized I was touching her, gave me that most shocked expression, and ran off. :-D As you can tell, she didn’t stay away for long!
Hmmm. Looking at this photo, I’m seeing four almost identical tabbies! There’s Bradicous and Chadicous, Butterscotch’s two. Then there is one of Junk Pile’s kittens, which the girls have been calling Thadicous, but it looks like her fourth kitten, that we have been seeing as mostly flashes of grey as it runs off, looks just like the other three.
Hold on.
Butterscotch’s four kittens are all in the kibble house, along with Butterscotch and Potato Beetle.
Junk Pile has the tuxedo, the grey and white, Thadicous and another tabby looking kitten. Three are in the kibble house, one is at the tray on the ground.
I see an extra kitten!!
Nosencrantz and Toesencrantz much preferred their private dining area! With these two, plus the kittens I can see in the previous photo, that makes a total of 11 kittens, instead of 10! Could the stranger be Ghost Baby’s? We have never been able to confirm if Ghost Baby is male or female, but if we go on the assumption that she is female, she would have had a litter at about the same time as the other three. And if she did, her litter would be old enough to start coming out to the kibble house.
Could this be a Ghost Baby baby?? Awesome!!
While I was doing my rounds this morning, Rolando Moon followed me around. Even Potato Beetle joined me for a bit, but we’ve been discouraging him more, since he has been attacking Rolando. Last night, while I was picking tomatoes, he chased her up a tree and they were fighting in the branches. I was very concerned one would fall out, as at the height they were at, that would have resulted in serious injury. I got the hose and tried spraying Potato out of the tree, but he doesn’t seem to actually mind getting sprayed with water! He was very wet, when he finally came down. So when he joined me this morning, I made a point of carrying him until I could no longer see Rolando, then put him down.
As you can imagine, that leaves Rolando Moon always on the defensive, so she is hissing a lot more than her usual mean self, even when there are no cats visible. This morning, while tending the garden, I heard her hissing, but this time I found that Nosencrantz had come to see what I was doing. Rolando ended up driving her off with her hissing. Which sucks, because Nosencrantz is becoming the most socialized of the kittens, and if she starts following me around in the mornings, that improves our chances of getting her friendly and used to humans.
The Re-Farmer 