BIRTHDAY PARTY REMINDER #2 - IT'S HARLEY'S BD, TOO!

Sleeper reminded me that I should run her notice here in my diary, too - so here it is! And I'll add the part that she forgot the first time - come celebrate Harley's BD, too! (it's actually today. But then ours is actually Weds, so we're none of us having our parties on the actual days...actually.)


Tomorrow is our Birthday Party folks, at Sleeper's diary! We hope you will have a moment to stop by and say hi, and have a piece of birthday cake and maybe some curry and trout! And there's always the possibility that we can all see Tink dancing with a lampshade on her head again. That's got to be a good reason to come!

Anyway, the festivities will start around 5PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. And for those of you reading the story, we WILL be ending it TODAY - finally! Whew! Another runaway story out of control...Then we're packing our bags for India. The party is at the Maharaj's Palace - woo hoo!

PARTY TIME!

Check out the party at Sleeper’s Diary! The kitchen and the bar are open!

BIRTHDAY THANKS #2

Oh, ah – what?! I was sleeping, Sleeper – do ya’ mind? Oh! (ahem), I’m not too good at public speaking…but here goes!

Thanks, first for all the assorted birthday wishes and the mice creem and fishes – hehehe… thanks for coming to the party, guys – that was fun!

And thanks Angels Wally & Alfie, the Bearzman, Milo, Kit Kat and family for the cool Forever Crown.

And those great birthday cards that you guys made and that Manytoes & Tundra and clan made – loved ‘em as always!

Tink and Snow, you sweethearts – how’d you know I’d be wanting a plain ol’ American hamburger after eating all that curry and dal?! Thanks!

And Tasty Tate – you make the bestest chocolate cupcakes!!!

And lovely party hat from the Angel Skids Kitty, booboo, Calie, littleboy and family – notice I didn’t lose MINE – I watch that Kringle like a hawk (oh, ‘cuse the stooped burd reference, Tabbies)

Samsara, Colette and the angels AND
Skyler, Mrs Murphy, Rusty DB, Skittles and family AND
Morticia ---- all left me hearts!

Luke, Tully Sammy & Natasha AND
Tony, Anna, Greystone, Sammy & family AND
Finney, Lacey and Angel Alex AND
Jez -----gave me ice cream – yum!!! Oh, and Jez also left me some cute little dancing smiley faces…I ate THEM, too!!! (hehe)

Nadia and Gump AND
Frankie, Grace, Casey and Leo AND
Zach and Zoe ---- sent me some watermelon (Hey – there’s BITES OUT OF ALL OF THEM!!!! Who DID that?!)

Tessa, Percy, Sawyer and Murphy gave me lemonade – ah, refreshing. Helps wash those little smiley stick legs out of my teeth!

There, I think I’m done. Sleeper says “Finally!” What – like SHE’S not long-winded…

SLEEPER AND SAMHAIN TAKE A WALK

So, the Mama and Papa decided it was so nice out that maybe they should get the harnesses and leashes out and let us walk around a bit. Both yesterday and today we were out and it was GREAT!!! The weather has been purr-fect the last few days - sunny, not too hot, not too cool and the trees are changing colors and losing their leaves. Lots of stuff to chase after, including grasshoppers. Lots of smells that we don't get in the cattery.

We walked down paths and through the grasses and wildflowers. Smelled where the feral cats hang out, and the deer and other creatures that we aren't even sure what they are. No cars or big trucks were racing down the dirt road for a change, so it was real quiet - just bugs and creatures (I'm sparing your ears, Tabbies, and not sayin' the other "b" word), and the wind through the trees.

We were both extra special good, though for some reason the pawrents don't trust me as much and they had me wearing Sleep's harness (mine is too small now), PLUS another leash! Sleep just had her pink collar and leash. They should probably get me a new harness just for me, 'cause I look better in red than pink!

Anyway, we didn't want to come in even though we were panting and thirsty. The Mama said, "that's enough for now" and they brought us back to the cattery. Sleep proceeded to meow like a baby then, walking around and around the house. It WAS fun, but maybe they'll let us go out again soon. I'm going to keep being good so they do.

IT'S RAINING

It's raining here tonight after several days of dry. And the moon is full behind those clouds; I can feel it. Tonight I have caught three frogs and brought them in from the cattery, and - can you believe it? - the Mama has taken every one of them away from me! She says this is better than the three little snakes from last week, though. For some reason, I kill the snakes, but not the frogs.

Sleeper and I have a serious case of the zoomies, too! We keep running in and out of the catdoor at top speed. The Mama says she'd better not wake up in the middle of the night with frogs in the bed or we will be REALLY sorry!

FERAL UPDATE

Well, our little "porch family" has gained some members! As the Tabbies would say: EEEEEEGGGAAAGGHHHHH!!! Anyway, at last count there was Mama Cat, Aunt Bobbie (don't know whether she's had kittens or not, but we're thinking yes), ANOTHER black feral that looks almost EXACTLY like Aunt Bobbie, 3 black kittens that are apparently an older litter of Aunt Bobbie's (they all still try to nurse on her), and then Mama C.'s 4 kittens: the two greys and the solid black and the black with blaze. Most of the kittens appear to be between 2 and 3 mos. Of the Papa Cat (who we named Shadow in our stories) there has been no sign since the spaying. Good luck, Father, where ever you are!

They all had eye discharge, and the Mama did catch the lighter grey a couple of times and put medicine in her eyes. Still very skittish, though, and no one else will allow themselves to be touched. Happily, they all seem to be healing anyway. Looking much better this morning. Will also add that we know they are getting fed both at our house and at our neighbors, though they appear to like it pretty well over here these days - too well! :)

Oh, and Sleeper is posting her scary story today starring the ferals and Novi, Snow and Griswold. Check it out!

Happy Halloween, everyfur!

FERAL TRAP AND RELEASE UPDATE

Tonight the pawrents have caught 6 of the kittens and one adult. One of the kittens is the little male we caught before, so we have already released him, but not before he got in a good bite on the Papa. Feisty little guy; the Mama remembers he fought like a banshee the first time around. Fortunately, the Papa had heavy gloves on, so the wound was not deep. They put hydrogen peroxide on it immediately. The Mama's hands were shaking so much, she could hardly pour it out of the bottle!

They will spend a hopefully quiet night in their covered carrying cases which we borrowed from their friends who are very active in the TNR programs around here. Then in the morning, a quick ride to the spay clinic for treatment. We wish them well, and a quick return to health.

By present calculations, this still leaves at least 2 more kittens: one black, one grey, and the other black adult that looks so much like Aunt Bobbie that we aren't sure even now which one we have in the cage. And possible a ninth kitten that we both thought we saw, but are not completely sure about.

Of course, this is not all the cats loose in the neighborhood, but these are the ones who have made our porch their preferred restaurant and hangout. It will be interesting to see how long and which ones return to us after this major coup.

RETURN OF THE FERALS

The ferals apparently have all survived the initial ordeal, thank the Ceiling Cat! The pawrents were up before dawn getting ready for the release. First the Papa brought out the cat carriers and lined them up. Then the Mama prepared the food to set out. She’d already seen action from 4 kittens who were anticipating breakfast (one must be the little male that’s already been done).

Finally she set down the food and the Papa started to release the kittens one by one. They all had to run past the food first to get away off the porch. Three of them did this immediately, but the last two lingered at the food dishes! Hurray!!!

Lastly, the Papa opened Aunt Bobbie’s cage. She didn’t seem to want to leave while we were standing there, but once we’d both come back in the house, we noticed she’d come out. Plus all the other kittens had returned to eat!

It was a little hard to see, because not only was it still before sunrise, but the weather is just horrible – rainy, cold and windy, affecting visibility through the windows. It does look like everyone has been back to eat now, including Mama Cat, who understandably took off the night before last when the trapping first began. (Been there, done that!)

Just now our Mama went out to put down some more food (she’s going to keep up the extra rations for a few days to make sure everyone is eating enough in order to aid rapid healing.) Kittens came out of the shelter – yea! – another triumph – she was afraid maybe they’d go somewhere else and hide, and like I said: the weather is abysmal out there. Here on the porch they can stay warm and dry and only a few steps from the food.

The Mama has been worried sick about all this, since instead of a one day event this turned into closer to two. But she’s glad that she and the Papa followed the advice of their friends and kept the kittens in last night while they were still woozy, rather than send them out in the storm. She remembers, after all, that Sleeper and I weren’t all that eager to eat either that first day after we’d been spayed, so the food issue probably wasn’t a problem.

Oh, and of those 6 cats caught this time, 5 were females - so, this will help quite a bit in restricting the feral colony growth. That puts the count up to 3 males and 6 females. Oh, and if you want to count us (assuming by some miracle we had managed to survive infancy – and I tell you the odds certainly didn’t look good!), that would have been a total of 11. The Mama says: “Can we stop now? This is making me nervous as a cat!!!” :)

HAIKU FEST

OK, folks! Here’s a little idea inspired by Spooky’s poem to the Tabbies: a Haiku festival! I’ve taken some stuff from the Net about how to write Haiku poems and whittled it down to 9 rules. There’s like a 101 others, I think, but this is just for fun, so we want it simple. If anyone has any other suggestions, they can feel free to throw them in. Oh, and if the muse strikes you and you want to write something longer, that’s OK, too. And multiple offerings are great!
So – here’s the rules for haiku, and at the bottom I’ve added my own little “image poem”.

1. Seventeen syllables in three lines with the first line and last line having fewer syllables than the middle line, such as 5 syllables in first and last lines and 7 in the middle line.
2. Use of a seasonal reference: fall, winter, falling leaves, snow, etc.
3. Always write in the present tense, here and now.
4. Limit the use of articles like “a”, “the”, etc…
5. Capitalize the first word of every line - or use no caps.
6. Avoid rhymes - or rhyme last words in the first and last lines.
7. Puns and word plays are good.
8. Just write about ordinary things in an ordinary way using ordinary language – or write of the impossible in an ordinary way.
9. Avoid all reference to yourself or refer to yourself in a second-hand way as “this cat” or “the poet”, “the writer”, etc.
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The Dark is rising
Winter follows close behind
Black cat plays in snow.

WE ARE NOT ALONE

Dang - why do I always get the dirty jobs? OK, it is with heavy heart on my part, and especially on Sleeper's - she is really not happy and never let's the moment pass to growl and hiss about it - to announce that we have a new...cough, spit, hiss, growl...member of the family! Fearless is her name, and to give her credit, it fits her. No matter how much I try to make her back down, she doesn't - she just sits calmly, staring at me. Then she chases ME, and trills at me to come play with her! It's embarrassing...

So, I've done my duty and told you all. OK then.