This month will go down for me as the month, where I tried to understand the comings and goings of four cats: all living in the wild, one (Stop Sign) being quite comfortable mixing and mingling with us here, at the farmette, two being her offspring, and finally the fourth -- the newcomer, rather transient still, but appearing to rely now on some food from us.
I can't say that I feel any more confident about predicting their movements now than I was a month ago.
And so this morning, I am no longer surprised by who is in the garage and who is not. I am not surprised that one hour later, that configuration changes. And I wont be surprised if everything changes, several times, or not at all as the day progresses.
I can only hope that the cats, all four, know how to keep themselves safe. We can help them with food and discouraging predators. But the rest -- well, they move according to their own compass.
This morning (a cold one!)...
... at first there were none, then, for a long time, there was only one (Dance)...
... then there was another (Stop Sign)...
... then, by late afternoon, there were none once more. Jacket did not appear. Neither did Whiskers. Footprints in fresh snow tell us that no sure footed predator came around in the day or night.
I'm out, I'm in, I'm out again. I shovel, I scrape, I feed. Ed says (over breakfast)...
... I can't keep up with them in the way you do. They're going to have to manage on less oversight when you're gone!
But of course, my spring travel is a couple of weeks away. Who knows what we will have here then! And the cheepers! What are we going to do with the cheepers once the snow melts and they demand a release?
The mind spins as we cycle through our animal quandaries.
And so it's really great to put it all aside and focus on my afternoon with Snowdrop.
(leaving school...)
(dancing up a storm...)
(if it's Wednesday...)
(an Olivia book at Storybook Ballet? Well that's good news for this little Olivia fan...)
(cant quite remember where in the story Olivia sports an umbrella, but Snowdrop is mighty pleased to have this prop...)
And afterwards? Several more trips to the garage, keeping an eye out, even as all is quiet and the temps keep on falling. Is March here yet??
I can't say that I feel any more confident about predicting their movements now than I was a month ago.
And so this morning, I am no longer surprised by who is in the garage and who is not. I am not surprised that one hour later, that configuration changes. And I wont be surprised if everything changes, several times, or not at all as the day progresses.
I can only hope that the cats, all four, know how to keep themselves safe. We can help them with food and discouraging predators. But the rest -- well, they move according to their own compass.
This morning (a cold one!)...
... at first there were none, then, for a long time, there was only one (Dance)...
... then there was another (Stop Sign)...
... then, by late afternoon, there were none once more. Jacket did not appear. Neither did Whiskers. Footprints in fresh snow tell us that no sure footed predator came around in the day or night.
I'm out, I'm in, I'm out again. I shovel, I scrape, I feed. Ed says (over breakfast)...
... I can't keep up with them in the way you do. They're going to have to manage on less oversight when you're gone!
But of course, my spring travel is a couple of weeks away. Who knows what we will have here then! And the cheepers! What are we going to do with the cheepers once the snow melts and they demand a release?
The mind spins as we cycle through our animal quandaries.
And so it's really great to put it all aside and focus on my afternoon with Snowdrop.
(leaving school...)
(dancing up a storm...)
(if it's Wednesday...)
(an Olivia book at Storybook Ballet? Well that's good news for this little Olivia fan...)
(cant quite remember where in the story Olivia sports an umbrella, but Snowdrop is mighty pleased to have this prop...)
And afterwards? Several more trips to the garage, keeping an eye out, even as all is quiet and the temps keep on falling. Is March here yet??
