Hmmm, Spring?? Maybe?

This has been a very, very long Spring! I keep finding myself stuck in the back shed for the night since I do not care for all the cold rain we've been having every evening. I would have to walk thru that rain in order to park myself on the porch so Mom would see me and let me inside.
Since Dijon has now joined me in the great outdoors, at least I have some company. And, the good news, he discovered how to climb between the fence and the shed wall, then skinny down thru a hole and end up on the kitchen porch. I followed him, so now at least I have TWO places to wait for Momsie to let me inside.
However, I do not care to sleep inside at night. Did you know all the exciting animals come out at night, NOT in the bright light of day. So, I have made a deal with Mom... I will come in every morning, first thing, and I will sleep inside all day long so she will know I am still alive and well, BUT, as soon as she gets home from work I will help her feed the chickies, (I might find a broken egg), then I am out for the evening.
If she is lucky enough to capture me at dusk I will stay inside, if not, I will see her in the morning! That shed is pretty nice...it is warm and dry, and there are some crates in there with blankies for us to sleep in. And, it faces to the East so the bright sun wakes me every single morning in time to be sitting outside the kitchen door when Mom lets the dogs out.
As for the road, I am still scared of it!!! Fortunately, my girlfriend is just a short jaunt thru the woods. I don't even have to go near the road to visit her.
Did I forget to tell you I have a girlfriend??? Yup, she is BEAUTIFUL, a shaded silver Persian. Her house is thru the woods from my shed, and as soon as I show up at her house she sees me and tells her Mom or Dad to put her on her leash and bring her out to visit with me. She is sooo pretty and I think she really loves me!!! Her Mom told my Mom that she thought I was handsome.
Mom said she is the absolute worst cat they have come for nail trims. Even the vets won't trim her nails! I sure like them feisty, though, so that doesn't bother me, MOL!
Finally, Mom and Tonya figured out that they could cover her head with a thick towel and reach in and do her nails, and now she is okay as long as they don't touch her anywhere else. I told her my Mom wouldn't hurt her and I prefer to play with her IF her nails are trimmed!!

I am a snow bunny....

Today Mom took the dogs down into the lab pen for a run in the snow. I decided to head along down and see what the big attraction was. In fact, I also noticed Dijon came along, too.
First of all, I was following Toto and it wasn't too bad. My coat is long and silky so that snow just falls right off it. Suddenly, Toto took off in a burst of snow and left me standing in the middle of the field...now, this isn't so nice, let me tell you!
As soon as I could get myself out of the pile of snow, I bolted over to my favorite tree and zoomed up it. Ya know, there is a problem with climbing trees in the Wintertime... as soon as you shake the tree a tiny bit ALL that snow falls down onto your head!!! So, down I came, and back to following their paths.
Meanwhile, Dijon discovered that if you walk along the fence the snow isn't as deep there. I dunno, I found it quite deep and COLD near the fence, maybe I was on the wrong side???
After playing with my dogs for a bit I headed into the chicken house to see if they left any broken eggs for me. Nope, not a one, and that silly rooster chased me right out of there. Too bad, it was warm in their house!
There was one problem, I came in the shed door with Mom and she didn't see me so she left me in the little entry way out there. I meowed and meowed and meowed but she didn't hear me.
Finally, she came out into the Summer kitchen to put some clothes in the dryer so I threw myself at the door with a huge bang. Whew, she heard that and let me back in the house. Now I am warming up!!!

Life is Good...

So, it's been a while since I wrote a diary. Decided it was time so Mom is helping me. I had to come inside early tonight cuz it is very, very dark and looks like rain. I decided to come in with the dogs so I wouldn't stand any chance of getting left all alone out here.
A few weeks ago Momsie captured the gray kitty and brought her over to the kennel for the Winter. She is NINETEEN now, and the Winters would be too hard on her outside. While she is totally feral, she does start standing in front of the kennel door when it starts getting cold, sort of a hint, I think?
This year she was easy to catch. Mom left a crate on her porch, then when she fed her she put the food in the crate. Gray kitty ran right into the crate and Mom shut the door, hehehe! Now she is all settled in her cage at work.
Mom says she is really funny...she has been here for TWELVE YEARS and she still won't let anyone touch her. Every morning when the girls clean her cage she hisses and snarls at them and tries to scratch them. If they aren't fast enough, she WILL nail them, MOL!
Nuff about her... I have been getting plenty of exercise playing with my buds down in the lab pen. Those dogs LOVE me, hehehe! I sneak out of the bushes and chase them and boy do they run! Afterall, I am bigger than most of them.
This morning, though, I made a major mistake which might have been serious. I followed Momsie into the dog room when she was feeding the dogs. She opened the gate to feed Jones, the cat hating Frenchie, and he spied me and he GRABBED ME!!! Worse, Hilda saw that he had me and she raced in to help him eat me!
Fortunately, Mom rescued me and put me out in the kitchen. Fortunately, I have VERY thick furr and VERY thick skin so I wasn't injured, well, Mom says my pride might have suffered a blow, MOL, but I will survive.

Less cats?????

Well, Mom took those two orange tiger cats back to work to be adopted by someone else.
Not that they were a problem...they were REALLY nice and friendly and we all liked them pretty much. And, THEY used the litter box, unlike Jimmy!
But, our house IS small and we have a ton of dogs in our house. It seems that both Toto and Beanie are the cat police and neither one of them wanted Ginger and Ace to live with us. Every time one of them moved, either Beanie (usually) or Toto OR both of them would race over barking their fool heads off.
Mom decided it wasn't too fair for the poor cats and we agreed with her cuz we didn't think we needed anymore cats anyway!!! So, back to work for adoption they went but now Mom KNOWS how nice they are and that they don't mind dogs or other cats, and they will be clean for their new home.
Hey, the other night Momsie was sitting on the porch, taking photos of the chickies and the Guineas down in their field. Later, she was looking at the photos and she spied ME sitting with the Guineas, MOL!!! I like those birds... they run around and chase up a bunch of grasshoppers and I can then leap around and catch them. Lots of fun!!!
I do have this outdoor cat life figured out now. Every morning when Mom lets the dogs out I race out with them. I climb up the dog fence, walk along the top railing of the chicken pen, go over the chichen house via the roof and then slide down the other side. Next, I climb over the end dog fence, race around the house and get to the front porch just as Mom is feeding Joey and the gray kitty. I invite myself to breakfast with them, then spend the whole day messing around with them outside!!!!
Once it starts to get dark I sit under Mom's car until she finally opens the door and invites me in, usually just in time for dinner with Paisley and Dijon! Then, I go to bed with Mom and lie on my lion bed (on the foot of HER bed) all night until it gets light enough for me to jump on her chest and wake her up and start my day over again.
Sound like fun??? It IS fun!!!

MORE cats????

Yesterday Mom came home from work with TWO cat carriers. I rushed over to see what she brought me, and out popped TWO HUGE orange tiger cats!!!! They are a brother and sister and Momsie decided they were cute and friendly and nice so she brought them to OUR house.
I didn't know WE needed anymore cats in OUR house. She did take Jimmy back to work cuz he kept using the bed or the futon for a litter box, silly boy!! We all told him what was gonna happen but, alas, he didn't listen. Mom says he will be fine as an only cat with someone.
Of course these two new cats hopped right in the box and used it instantly. They are really brown nosing Momsie so they can stay here.
They do look pretty funny... MOm shaved lots of hair off them because they were covered with tight matts AND about a million fleas. NONE of us have any fleas so Mom had to wait until she was sure they were all dead before she brought them home.
Mom says they must have some persian cuz they both have HUGE, square heads and very short noses with lots of stop. I will say, they are both very, very friendly towards the dogs AND us other cats. I hope they start getting some of the mice cuz they are quickly overtaking the silverware box again and Mom is getting mad. Dijon did catch a few, I taught him well, but I think Paisley thinks they are too dirty!!!
Mother has finally totally accepted the fact that I WILL go outside if I want to. She doesn't fight it any longer...she just waits until I am ready to come back inside, then she lets me in. One night I was busy when she called me and I had to stay out ALL night. That wasn't too much fun so now I climb over the dog fence and come in with them when Mom lets them out after their dinner. So far, so good.
I have been enjoying following the chickies around down in the big field. I catch the bugs they miss, MOL!!!

Diary pick for me!!!

Yes, I did notice this morning that I had been picked as one of the Diary favorites for today, but it was Sunday, and I had places to go and things to do!!!
Since it is now getting dark I just knocked on the window to let Mom know it was time to come inside and write this entry!!!
That big fox stole another one of Mom's chickens last night so she and Julia were fixing the pen all day long today. I snuck out and climbed over into the lab pen and hid in the grass and watched them.
FINALLY, they came down into the pen with Beanie and Toto. I guess they were trying to find the chickie cuz Mom was thinking since they JUST laid their first eggs today that maybe she had a nest in the bushes and wasn't gone but was just hiding.
Nope, Momsie, I would have found her, trust me!!! But, I did dutifully follow along and go into the heaviest bush areas to see if we could chase her out. I did find some nice black raspberrys that they all enjoyed eating, and I also found some of their toys that had gotten pushed into the bushes, but, alas, no chickie. She is white so it would be hard for her to hide!!!
After my walk with Mom and Julia and the dogs I headed over to the fishie pond for a bit. I met up with the wild gray kitty (her name IS Gray Kitty!) and we visited for a while. Next, I went along into the shed and had a visit with Joey. He was trying to catch hummingbirds that are feeding on the bee balm. I wished him luck, MOL... no way is he fast enough for a hummingbird!!!!
Anyway, now I am here, thanking EVERY PURR PAL for your gifts and well wishes. Thanks for all visits, too... I LOVE to have people see my "outdoor" shots with those dogs. BTW...Momsie didn't have her camera when we were searching for the chickie...too bad, I had some really GOOD moves!!!

Another outing with my pals!

As you can probably tell by my new photos, today Mom and Julia took me on another outing to the lab pen with all my dog pals. I had sooo much fun down there with them all!!!
We ran and ran and I chased them a bit and they chased me a bit. For some reason, Riley wasn't too playful today, and, when we got home, Mom noticed he had apparently gotten something in his eye cuz he had it squeezed shut. Mom put some medicine in it and after a tiny nap, he was fine again!
Finally, we were all too hot and worn out so Mom took us home. Julia carried me so I didn't have to fight my way thru the dogs, hehehe!
Right after I got home I did manage to escape again, and stayed outside long enough to watch the fireworks.
They were pretty far away from our house so it mostly sounded like thunder and looked like lightening. When it started pouring, I realized I wasn't watching fireworks at all, MOL!!!
Hope everyone else had a fun fourth, too! The very last Summer holiday, darn it all!

Ahh, the life of a country cat...

Life here is GREAT now that I have convinced Momsie to not keep me in all the time! She still doesn't like it when I go out and she is ALWAYS checking to see where I am, BUT...the Smokey cat rules and I go out!
I finally realized that it is MUCH easier to just get under the dogs when they all run outside in the morning. It is pretty hard to tell a black cat from a black toy poodle when we are all heading out the door, so I almost always get away with it.
Besides, I DID feel bad when I tricked some poor guest OR one of the girls from work into letting me escape when they opened the porch door... heading out with the dogs is MUCH EASIER!
As for getting back inside... I also figured out how to get into the cellar. Mom has no idea how us cats do that, but do it we do! Something about a hole under the porch. Problem is, I can't seem to get back outside after I jump down into the cellar so I have to rely on Jimmy to tell Mom I am down there.
It works okay, once Mom realized what he was trying to tell her. The first night, everytime she went into the kitchen Jimmy would follow her and race over to the cellar door. The oven AND the cat food container are both over there so Mom was sure he wanted to eat. She filled the dish, but he kept racing over there and finally, he even started meowing at the door.
Mom opened the door and VOILA, I came into the kitchen, MOL!!! Since then, I have had to employ Jimmy several more times to get Mom's attention. Guess I will have to be nicer to him???
Mom says she is happy I know how to get down there cuz she worries about something chasing me and me having no where to go.
Today was a great day... I stayed outside ALL NIGHT long, came in for a nap this morning, and went right back out. It is raining a bit right now and besides, I am pretty tired now so I just jumped into the window so Mom would know it was time to let me in.
So far, I still only go down in the back AWAY from that road cuz those motorcycles are TOO LOUD!! They scare me!

Lovely day for a stroll with the doggies...

Yup, sure enough, Mom invited me down into the lab pen with ALL the dogs this morning. First she was going to leave some of them home, like Ajax cuz she didn't know how he would act with me OUTSIDE. He is fine with me in the house, but you never know what happens outside!
She was also going to leave Riley home, but fortunately she decided he was fine. It was fortunate cuz he played with me more than anyone else!!
I have TWENTY new photos, so suffice it to say, I had a GREAT time out there!!! Actually, I have MORE than 20, but Mom decided they were becoming overkill a bit, hehehe! It was a little warm so I didn't get to run and jump as much as usual, and Chryssie was playing with a toy so she was ignoring me, but, all in all, I had a good run for my money.
Mom said it was sooo good not having to worry about me climbing over the fence down there and her having to go round me up. As a result, she was stress free so I was also stress free and didn't even think about climbing the fence, except for that time those birds were dive bombing me and I tried to catch them!
I was sooo well behaved that I waited at the gate while Mom brought all the dogs inside, then came out to get me. Frankly, I waited cuz I was tired and didn't want to have to struggle getting thru the bottleneck of dogs at the front door. Good things come to those who wait, MOL!
I sure hope this outing will become a more frequent event now that Mom knows I knows about being outside by myself!!!

I WON!!!!

Great news.... I FINALLY won the outdoor battle! Mom has finally given up stressing out all the time about me getting out... she still doesn't LIKE it, but she now can go about her business without following me around the whole time I am out there.
It is GREAT... most every morning I sneak out when she lets the dogs out. There is a slight issue in that I usually end up in the pen with the chickens, but...they leave me alone as long as I leave them alone! After I go out their little gate and go down thru the lab pen, then climb over the gate at the back I am home free in the big yard down back of the house.
Usually Joey and/or the Wild kitty are waiting for me and we spend some quality time exploring down there. There is a pond, a garden and some woods, all safe from cars and dogs chasing us! We run and jump and chase each other and have a grand old time.
Eventually, I work my way up to the front of the house and hang out up there until Mom notices me and invites me in. She acts SOO happy to invite me in...I oblige and rush in and purr and rub all around her, MOL, making her think I missed her.
Like I said, Mom doesn't like it one bit, but she has decided that her chasing me is more likely to force me to head over to the road, AND, if I sneak out with the dogs at least I am on the non-road side of the house.
Now she is worrying about the three kittens following me out there. So far Dijon has snuck out the dog door a few times but it was either snowing OR raining so he hustled right back inside. Paisley is too much in love with Momsie to EVER leave her side and venture outside.
And, Jimmy...Jimmy is just Jimmy and probably doesn't even know there IS a world outside the door. He is a bit dense, that one!
Mom says she is now looking forward to taking me down in the lab pen with the dogs tomorrow. She says it shouldn't be an issue since I now know where to go from there. Maybe I will have some NICE photos again???