Sterling

So I walked into the kitchen today and saw this....

Sterling, the allusive man about town, now lets

himself in through the cat door.  He lounges on

furniture and hangs out with the gang.

He eats while he's here occasionally but doesn't

come because he's starving like some others have.

Still not neutered.  Still sweet, very charming

and full of personality.  I think he may just

be lonely and thinks our house of cats is fun.

If you live in Cedarville and this is your kitty, you better

 let us know.  Or let him know....he seems to be adopting us! 

♥

Hey, Stranger!

Sterling

Look who's been coming around lately!

Haven't seen him since last June!

He has shown up when the snow was very deep

or when it was extremely cold or raining.

He's been bold enough to let himself in

through the cat flap, come in to the living room and 

roll around on the floor, trying to be cute and charming.

Hilarious!  Our cats know him, obviously, and are fine

with his intrusion.  He gets a belly rub, some food

and disappears.  Still a little scroungy and not neutered.

Don't know if he has a home or just knows where to

go to eat and survive.  His biggest need seems to be

water when everything is frozen outside.

Seems like he doesn't have shelter and comes

 to us when the weather is terrible.

Sure wish he'd adopt us as his forever home.

♥

Around Here, Lately. The Feline Edition.

Thursday, The Mister came home and said he had made

arrangements to bring a kitten home the next day.

I had to laugh.  See....it's not just me!

He works at our local hospital and a surgeon's wife happened

to be there and was talking about a kitten that showed up at her

house.  She had been feeding it but couldn't keep it because they travel

months at a time and she was afraid their big dog would eat it.

The Mister offered to take it and made arrangements for the next day.

I have to say I was pretty excited!

We haven't had a kitten in a long time!

But this kitty that came here was pretty much grown up....

and he has some issues.  My heart sank when I saw him.
I immediately noticed his eyes.

Cloudy, one is infected.  Blind....or nearly.

He seemed off his balance and didn't meow.

I've made a call to the vet for an appointment, so we're waiting on  

 that.  I was fortunate enough to have Vetropolycin to put in his infected eye.  
And of course food and water were inhaled. :)

I spent Friday helping the poor thing walk around.

He was banging into everything.  So sad.  I had to take him

back to the litter box and make sure he could find the food bowls.

He's made great improvements every day!

His eyes still look awful, but he has good balance now, walks pretty

fast through the house for not having much eyesight,

and he purrs incredibly loud!

I've put a post up on our area's Lost Pet Page on Facebook, just

 in case someone is looking for him.  He's belonged to someone at

 one time....probably fairly recently.  He's neutered and domesticated.

So, we shall see what happens....if he's claimed...

and what the vet says.

In case anyone is wondering about Sterling....

he seems to be avoiding fully adopting us!  He's a man about

town and very independent. haha.   I only see him once every couple

of weeks.  Sometimes he lounges on our back porch with the others.

He loves a scratch on the head and is quite charming, but

hasn't shown interest in staying.  A few weeks ago I got up in the

middle of the night and he was in the kitchen eating!

He obviously knows how to use the pet door!

I told The Mister that this winter will be the true test.

He might just decide that living in our warm home is better than

shivering in the snow.  But then he will have to abide by house

rules!  Such big decisions for a little man. hahaha.

Still, look at that face!

Swoon.

If any of you local people know of someone that lost a black

cat in the Centerville (not Cedarville) area, have them get

in touch with me.  We've named him Pepper while he's here. 

♥

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a really nice trip to Pennsylvania to visit Taylor

and Lauren!  We took the boys on a train ride,

the two men went golfing and the girls went wine tasting!

Lauren's parents, who live in a nearby city came over one

evening so we could go out to dinner with our big kids, which

was extremely nice and much appreciated!

And there was lots of racing for our race car loving family

with Formula 1, Indy 500, and Nascar all in one day.

The train ride was in Millertown, a beautiful little town that was

decked out in lovely banners that paid tribute to their hometown

military heroes, hanging baskets of flowers and American flags.

The best part of driving home was the sky!

We started out with fog in the mountains and then it broke

into sun, blue sky and tons of big puffy clouds. 

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is a beautiful route to take and

the boys loved the tunnels cutting through the mountains. 

It made a 7 hour drive very tolerable!

The kitties held down the fort while we were gone!

I didn't have anyone check on them...we just put out

plenty of food and water.  They can come and go as they

please with their cat flap, of course.

They sure were excited to see us when we got home!

Most were out lounging on the back porch and when I stepped

out there it was hilarious to see them all come running!

They chatted, wrapped around my legs and rolled over my feet.

The Mister stepped out and said, "Oh my gosh, you really do look

like a crazy cat lady!" haha.  All 13 were here, healthy and fine.

Oh, and Sterling appeared a little later....let himself in and stayed

long enough for some food, fresh flea control and a little attention.

So, I hope you had a good weekend.

Did you do anything special?

♥  

This and That

I got my herbs all moved outside for the warm seasons!

11 herbs in all.  Some from seed and some are plantings from

the garden center.  My rosemary is big and in it's own pot

and has thrived over the winter in my garden window

so it might stay there for the time being.

This old planter is holding thyme, basil, dill, parsley, 

cilantro, sage, chocolate mint, sweet mint, oregano and chives.

Some of these are new to my little garden, so it will be fun to

experiment with a nice big variety!

The Easter decor has been replaced with what's not exactly

 spring-ish but definitely eclectic.  The jelly beans are in an

 antique humidor I found at an estate sale recently.  

Similar ones are selling on ebay for $150 and I paid $5!

 It just belongs on this table with it's black lid with tiny red 

 and gold flowers.  The little hornet's nest under the dome was 

found in our yard with the boys were young.  I think they

took it to school for show-n-tell one time.

I got a wonderful surprise box in the mail from Dianna on Saturday!

How very sweet and totally unexpected!  I was touched with her 

attention to detail and how she picked up on things that I like

and gathered them up to make a very nice gift.

We're new to each other here in blog land but she's

a keeper for sure! If you've been a reader here very long 

you know how much I believe in little acts of kindness!

Thanks, friend!  I've been nibbling on yummy things

ever since I opened it! haha. 

Look who has been back a few times!

What kitty can resist rotisserie chicken, right?

He will come into the kitchen and eat cat food and get

a drink of water, too!  But....he did a little exploring around

the house and I caught him 'marking' our laundry hamper.

I raised my voice and clapped my hands and that cat tore through

the house and out the door and clear out of the yard in 5 seconds flat!

haha...He hasn't been back but when he does come back eventually,

I'm going to have to add to that the original list of rules about

behaving oneself and that means being a gentlemen at all times!

But look at that face!  He has a regal look about him!  He's sooo dirty

and his fur feels awful...lots of burs and scratches.

We're still enjoying some beautiful spring weather.....

warm sun, balmy breezes, sleeping with the windows open....

and some thunderstorms scattered here and there.

If only spring would last until fall....  

♥

Sterling

Look who I found out on the back porch again today.

Thought I better name him since I've been calling

him "that cat". haha.  I gave him rotisserie chicken

and he let me pet him.  A fair trade, I think!

I told him he was welcome to stay, but he had to

abide by the house rules...

1.  play nice with the tribe

2.  I was in charge (haha)

3.  flea control every month

4. vet check up and vaccines

5. you have to be neutered. (sorry, buddy)

And wouldn't you know he promptly jumped off that

stool and sauntered out of the yard!

hahaha.....#5 must have been too much to handle.

♥

The Prince and the Pauper

It's like a mirror image, almost!

I did finally put a little dish of food out for this guy after he was here

 three days in a row.  He looks a little leary of me, doesn't he?

Last time I did this was with Peaches, who I fell in love with.

It took me months of befriending him before I tricked him into

 a trap and got him some vet care, a bad tooth pulled, shots, flea

control and neutered.  He disappeared and never came back and

he broke my heart. And it's only been 2 months since Tiger died...

so, I'm a little hesitant to do this again.  Still the poor guy has chosen

to camp out by our back door...mostly to get out of the rain,

I'm guessing.  So, we'll see how this goes!

About 6 of our cats were out there with him,

all obvious friends. ha.  I think I need to name this kitty

so I can give him a 'label' for his posts here. :)

♥

A Visitor

This boy has been seen a few times in our yard this week.

He's obviously homeless....not neutered, thin, scraggly, etc.

He could pass for Slate and Smoke's brother, couldn't he?

Funny thing, we saw Slate outside doing this funny

playful dance at him, like he was so excited to see him

and was trying to be friendly and charming.  Hilarious!

I'm not really looking to take in another kitty but I'd 

certainly not hesitate to trap him and get him neutered.

Everyone seems friendly to him and they have the instincts

to know.  There have been male feral cats come into the 

yard and ours just freak out.  They are not welcome at all!

I just assume they know who is friendly and who is trouble.

They befriended Slate this same way!  So, I don't make the

adoption choices...they do!  I'm going to refrain from

feeding him just yet....or naming him. haha.

The Mister seems more excited than me, believe it or

 not.  He's been out there calling to him and being friendly.

I've just been watching from the window. Kind of amusing. :)

♥