A Texas City Girl In A Small New England Town
Our cats got so spoiled last Christmas. Not only have they gotten toys and catnip. Theyβve also got a new cat tree. After tossing the old tree out in Texas, this was long overdue. Benny and Ozzy climbed and played in the tree as well. However today, the older cats enjoyed the cat tree for themselves. Joshua and Chewbacca loved to groom each other and looked out of the living room window together. While it was cool and windy outside, they did bird watching in a warm and cozy house. βMEOW!β
Two years ago, Ozzy came out to join Chewbacca in the backyard in Texas. Once he was tired of pouncing to catch bugs, he enjoyed a stroll through the raised bed garden. He had a lot of fun playing βHide and Seekβ with Chewbacca. Ozzy played garden inspector next. The pumpkin leaves make nice umbrellas for shade; the potatoes and tomatoes show another set of nice leaves to hide behind them. And the bird feeder is refilled for the delicious βfoodβ to show up in the garden. Everything is perfect for a young cat to explore the yard. When Ozzy decided to sneak over into the neighborβs yard, the exploration was over. He had to go back inside. Exploration makes a cat very hungry. It was dinner and then nap time for our little βMeatballβ. Ozzy loves meatballs and he looked like one.
Who would have thought that Joshua was such a sneaky little butthead? Back in Texas, when Joshua was still a young cat, he couldn’t keep his eyes on the rotisserie chicken we got from the store. No matter how often we shooed him off the kitchen counter, he still found his way up there. So, what smart people do, we’ve covered the chicken up with the lit. But Josh was smart enough to open the lid and found his way into the container. Nothing is safe from that cat, especially chicken. Now, nine years later, he still finds a way to the covered chicken.
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Chewbacca and Ozzy have their morning routine: First breakfast and bathroom before they like to go out in the yard and do some bird watching and basking in the morning sun. When the cats see me in the greenhouse, they both pay a visit for some fresh catmint. When it is too warm, Chewbacca and Ozzy come back into the house after two hours. But in Autumn, they all will hang out on the property for most of the day.
Ozzy watched a bird for a while this afternoon. The bird must have been resting in our McIntosh apple tree. Since Ozzy climbs only smaller trees, this was the perfect opportunity to jump in the apple tree. First Ozzy tried to chat with the bird, but couldn’t see it. And eventually, it flew away.
Finley was an extraordinary cat. He listened to his name and followed us like a dog. Even, when we said to him to walk into a particular room, he just walked right into it. He was remarkable. In three days, it will be five days since he crossed the rainbow bridge.
We always wonder, where his adventures lead him now. Katelynn has a beautiful story about Finley: “Finley is traveling the Seven Seas in a small sailboat with his newspaper hat, which he uses as his Captain hat. He has so many stories to tell from his adventures in the Caribbean, sailing around South America to get to Australia. Finley loves to hang out in New Zealand in January and February, because of the beautiful Summer weather. He’s stargazing and watches the aurora australis before he gets his boat ready to sail to Japan. There he enjoys sushi and sake with his Siamese friend ι (Tao), who was born in Taiwan. Finley and Tao always talk about their personal adventures and do some business together, before it is time for Fin to sail to the Bering Sea. By that time, it’s early Summer in the Northern Hemisphere. There, he crosses the Arctic Sea to set sail to Europe. And this is why Finley doesn’t come home. He’s too busy sailing all over the world.” This story always helped her to cope with Finley’s death. I always asked her, where Finley was at that moment. “He must be in Copenhagen in Denmark. The Scandinavians have a lot of fresh fish from the Baltic Sea. You know Finley. He loves fresh fish”, she replied.
Ozzy is not a big fan of these big trees we have in our yard. They are too tall for him. And it seems he gets easily scared of heights. But we also have an apple tree, he recently started to explore. From there he can watch the birds and see what I’m doing inside the greenhouse. After he climbed the tree, he jumped into the tall grass and ended up on the English Yew branches. He was stuck for a moment and Kevin had to help him out of that cluster. Minutes later, he was back in the tree watching chipmunks on the ground. It never gets boring with Ozzy.
Joshua met a new friend named Karmo today. Karmo is an Eastern American Toad. While Karmo leaped in the yard, Joshua kept an eye on that toad. Sara was concerned that Joshua might take Karmo in the mouth. Before it could happen, she just picked up the toad and sat it on Joshua’s back. Karmo leaped up to Joshua’s head, so he could see better. And Joshua was very gentle with Karmo. The cat let the toad sit there for quite some time. Later, we sat Karmo in the greenhouse, where he could catch some bugs.
Joshua is exhausted from watching Kevin and me building the greenhouse. I believe he had a picture of a greenhouse full with fresh catnip, grass and endless chicken meat with mashed potatoes on his mind. Not forgetting the place is full of life mice, shrews, and chipmunks to hunt and catch before he takes a nap on his cat hammock. Keep dreaming, Joshua! π
Lisa has a beautiful black cat, Trixie, which likes to come to visit our yard. When Benny sees Trixie, his demeanor changes, and he becomes all silly at the front room window. He rubs his head and swirls his body on the cat tree, until he falls off of it. Trixie looks up in the window and probably laughs in her own way. Benny and Trixie need a meet-and-great at some point. She definitely has an admirer.
Chewbacca always comes running, when I call him while I work on a garden project. He has to make sure I’m doing everything right. In the meantime, he eats some grass and pukes on the ground. Lovely! When I’m fast enough, I can move him away from the greenhouse flooring, before he leaves me a present on the pavers. The joy of having cats as pets. But I wouldn’t want it any other way. I would rather have him gagging in the yard than in the house. Once he feels better, he makes sure I lay out the bricks in a square.
Ozzy loves to explore everything in our yard. He watches bumble bees, butterflies, and many other insects emerge from under dew-covered leaves. Birds catch some worms and larva for their offspring on the lawn. Chipmunks perk their little heads from their burrows. And squirrels chase each other around a tree trunk. There is so much to see and prowl on for Ozzy. Once it gets warm throughout the day, he will take a nap in the afternoon. He needs the energy to continue his adventures in the evening, again.
It took Benny a little bit to get comfortable in our new house. By nature, he’s skittish. Therefore, he had a hard time getting adjusted in the beginning. Once Benny found his favorite spot, he began to blossom again. He loves his chair in the family room, where he is elevated and not on the floor, but he has an easy escape route, when Zoey startles him. Oh, and he’s not sharing that chair with anyone. That is HIS chair.
Joshua loves to cuddle with all of us. He uses every opportunity to get our attention. When Katelynn was in middle school, he “helped” do homework with her. Joshua explained algebra in the form of chicken patties, frozen fish, and canned cat food. That made learning so much fun. π
Ozzy worships the Sun as much as he can outdoors. He’s so ready for Spring and Summer weather. The trees begin to bud, bloom and get their leaves. The oak trees need a little bit extra time, while the maples are ready for the warmer weather. Ozzy enjoys hanging out with his feline brothers, prowl and provide us shrews for “dinner”. Cat instinct is at its finest.
Chewbacca took a little hike with me down to our forest. He loves to watch squirrels, chipmunks and deer. And Chewbacca likes photo shoots.
Under The White Oak Leaves 