Friday, August 19, 2005, 18:08
Pretty in Pink -- Finished!
I finished tying the pink marker flags on our fence this morning so the filly will have an easier time knowing there the fence boundaries are.
And I must say, my dogs weren't any help at all. Pixie and Charlie laid up by the house the whole time. They didn't help one little bit.
By contrast, I had three kitty cats go all the way around the pasture with me to make sure I was doing a good job. Juliette (black kitten from last year), Gilligan (red tom) and Bobby-Cat (small brown tabby) accompanied me every step of the way, either getting underfoot, sitting on fenceposts or wandering off into the brush on the other side of the fence and then crying pitifully because they couldn't see anyone else and thought we had vanished. (Gilligan, for whatever it's worth, was particularly good at getting lost -- or at thinking the rest of us were lost, however you want to look at it.) (Juliette was lost a few times, too, but not nearly as much as Gilligan.)
When I finished tying on the flags, I walked across the pasture back toward the house, calling kitty cats as I went. They all came tearing along after me, leaping through the tall, wet grass to help themselves stay dry. Didn't work. The grass was soaked this morning. We didn't get hardly any rain yesterday, but it was foggy this morning and the grass was drenched. I wore knee-high rubber boots out in the pasture to try to keep my feet and lower legs dry. Good thing it was somewhat cooler this morning than it has been, otherwise I think my feet would have melted before I got finished.
Now all we have to do is finish the shelter. We started cutting poles Thursday night after supper. Five down -- 35 to go.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Thursday, August 18, 2005, 19:43
Thank You, Nightshade!
All right -- in order to tell this story I am going to have to admit that my cats jump up on the kitchen counter. Which is why we keep disinfectant spray in the kitchen and disinfect the counter three or four times a day.
I haven't felt quite as squeamish about admitting that, though, ever since a former neighbor of ours invited us over to dinner and was horrified when her cat hopped up on her beautifully set table. Her house was one of those that you might easily expect to see featured in "Better Homes and Gardens." "Get down, Yin!" our neighbor said. "We have company!" "Oh," I said. "Don't worry about it. My cats are always jumping up on things like that, too." Our neighbor smiled. "You can always count on a cat to do something they do all the time but that they're not supposed to do when you have guests." Since then, I figure that everybody who has cats has had that experience of kitties jumping up various places where you might not necessarily want them to jump. They're cats, after all. And that's one of the things cats do best is jump.
Anyway, this afternoon, Sophie woke up from her nap and wanted something to eat. The kitten has taken to napping in the closet during the day, and when she's ready to eat something, she comes and climbs up on my lap.
I took her out to the kitchen, got out a can of kitty food and put some on a plate for her and set her and the plate on the counter. (In my own defense, I can't set it on the floor because Pixie would make short work of the cat food.)
As soon as I started scooping out cat food, our black cat Nightshade came flying into the kitchen and hopped up on the counter. Nightshade likes "kitty food soup" as a treat -- a little bit of kitty food mixed with a little water. And I knew, since she came on the run, that she was looking for a treat.
Unfortunately, Nightshade's presence completely distracted Sophie from eating.
"Thanks a lot, Nightshade," I said, glowering at the black cat.
I made up some kitty food soup for Nightshade and then tried to get Sophie back on track with eating. Nope. Nothing doing. Not interested.
"Thanks a *whole* lot, Nightshade," I said.
Sophie watched Nightshade for a minute, then she toddled over to the dish and -- started drinking right along with Nightshade!
Sophie has never drank on her own before! Not that I've ever seen.
Nightshade and Sophie finished the "soup" part of the treat, then Nightshade came to sit on my lap while Sophie ate the kitty food.
"Good kitty, Nightshade! THANK YOU, Nightshade," I said. "You taught Sophie how to drink!"
I've been trying to get Sophie interested in drinking on her own for the past week. She hasn't been a bit interested. Watching another kitty apparently convinced her to try it for herself.
ROCKY UPDATE: My cat Rocky is feeling somewhat better today. His breathing is not as rapid and shallow, and he's moving around more. I watched him get a couple of drinks of water this morning. Drinking is a "good thing" and will keep him from becoming dehydrated. I can always administer subcutaneous fluid if I have to, but I would rather not. The medicine I am giving him (Clindamycin) makes him choke and gag and gasp. But the medicine seems to be helping, so we'll just have to make the best of it.
LeAnn R. Ralph