outside cats

Morning fur babies

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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. :-)

The Re-Farmer

Spice boy is back!

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I headed outside for a bit this afternoon, and as I was puttering around, there were – of course – kittens all over the place. Usually, they are pretty quiet, but I started to hear a plaintive little meow from over by the shrine.

Looking over, I saw an orange kitty and went over to check if there was food in the tray under the shrine, for Rosencrantz, Nosencrantz and Toesencrantz. As I came closer, Toesencrantz kept meowing, and didn’t run away, so I decided to try and come closer.

Much to my surprise, that orange kitty actually came over for pets.

Which is when I realized I was petting Nutmeg!

Nutmeg had disappeared when Potato Beetle came back.

Seeing Nutmeg again was a pleasant enough surprise, but the other surprise was how friendly he was! Between Nutmeg and Ginger, Ginger was the one that was more socialized. Which is good, because otherwise, we would have had a much harder time catching him when he was injured. Nutmeg rarely let us touch him.

Today, Nutmeg couldn’t seem to get enough attention! He let me pick him up, and cradle him, and when I sat on the steps to the storage house (which gave Ghost Baby a chance to get some food from the tray under the shrine), he was all over me. He would go on the steps behind me and hug me around the neck, climb on my shoulders and snuzzle into my braid, and just wanted pets, pets and more pets!

Unfortunately, every now and then, he would start to hiss, and I would find a kitten passing, nearby. He may be friendlier than ever with me, but wherever he’s been for the past few months, he’s become much less friendlier with other cats!

Just look at that boi!!

He is very thin, but I’m not sure it’s so much from hunger, as from him being a much slighter cat. He has a build more like Saffron and Turmeric. Very small and light, and looking very kittenish. While I was out, Toesencrantz came by, and I could compare. Toesencrantz is not quite as tall as Nutmeg, but is already looking burlier. Toesencrantz has got a build more like Ginger or Keith.

Now I’m on the lookout for Nostrildamus to return, too! :-D

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties

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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! :-)

The Re-Farmer

Counting kittens, and bonus Cabbages

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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

The Re-Farmer

Twelve??

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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.

That makes twelve kittens.

We have two extras this morning!

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties; trapped! Also… who is that?

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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.

So many fur babies!!

The Re-Farmer

Ghost Baby appears, and that’s a LOT of dill!

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There’s nothing like heading outside to do my morning rounds, and being greeted by so many kitties!

It’s going to be hard to tell those tabbies apart. :-D

Ghost Baby even made an appearance this morning. She is very shy and skittish, so I didn’t try to move any closer to get a photo. My apologies for the horrible zoom shot. She kept going from tray to tray for food, but she’s shy even of the other cats. I did eventually see her at a kibble tray by herself, so I’m happy to say she did get something to eat.

Our mild days and overnight temperatures continue, but I’m still surprised by how many squash and gourd blossoms are still opening.

So pretty!

On the down side, it looks like the lack of pollinators has lost us some Teddy squash. A couple of the smaller ones got wizened and fell off, and it looks like we’re going to lose one more. Which leaves us only 2 Teddy squash, one on each plant, that are actually growing.

I did my rounds a bit earlier and faster, as I had to drive my mother around for an appointment and some errands. There was even plans for her to stop by at the farm for a visit, but after her appointment and one other stop, she was just too tired. We’ll have to do it another day. However, my brother had visited her yesterday, and left a gift for us.

This is a bag of dill! It’s huge! The whole plants are in there, in various stages, so we’ll have dill leaves to dehydrate, crowns to use for pickling, and dried seeds to plant next year. I want to find a spot that can be a permanent dill bed, so they can reseed themselves year after year, and not be growing around other herbs or vegetables.

My mother was so tired from the trip, she practically kicked me out after I picked up the bag! :-D

I had a more welcoming response when I got home. I noticed the kibble trays were empty, so I topped them up a bit. While I was doing that, Nosencrantz came up and let me give her enthusiastic, full body pets and ear skritches!

More progress with her, at least! :-D Still no luck with the others. :-)

The Re-Farmer

Look who’s back!

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I just got back from doing my evening rounds. The kibble trays were empty, so I had a whole crowd of kitties hanging around the sun room door. Even Rosencrantz was there this time, and she let me pet her. Nosencrantz let me pet her, too.

The surprise, however, was when I saw an orange and white come running up to the kibble house, along with the kittens. It’s been so long since I’ve seen orange and white, my initial reaction was, “who is that??”

It’s Creamsicle Jr.! I haven’t seen him since shortly after Potato Beetle came back and drove him and Nutmeg away.

When I mentioned it to my husband, he told me that when he went outside to give the kitties some treats from the kitchen, he’d seen Creamsicle Jr. That was a couple of days ago.

Creamsicle Baby was looking quite hale and hearty, if a bit on the skinny side. Rolando Moon was hissing at him, without stopping eating, so he was a bit nervous. However, when I was done my rounds and about to head in, he was at the kibble house alone, so I went over – and he let me pet him! Creamsicle Jr. had not been letting us pet him before he disappeared. To me, that’s a sign that he’s glad to be back home. :-)

Potato Beetle, Rolando Moon and now Creamsicle Jr, all come back. That gives me hope that Nosy and Nutmeg will come back, too. :-)

The Re-Farmer

Kitty noses

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Would you look at this adorable face!

Yes, Nosencrantz allowed me to pet her again this morning! She still won’t let me walk up to her to pet her, but only lets me pet her at the food tray, but she doesn’t quite run away, either.

Elevator butt. :-D

Gosh, she looks so much like Nicky the Nose! There is certainly no question as to who her daddy is. :-D

I also got to touch a nose this morning. Or should I saw, a nose touched me! While putting food into the kibble house, the tuxedo had come over, started to run away, then came back. I reached out a hand and he sniffed my fingers, booping himself in the nose in the process!

Progress!!!

The Re-Farmer