Don’t mind my Mom today. She gets these odd ideas from time to time. Like today, she announced I needed to sit still so she could get a mugshot of me. Yeah, she actually said, “Mugshot.” Ha! I think I may be offended! A mugshot for what? I never do anything wrong!
Once upon a time; a phrase all good and perfectly true stories begin with, there was a devastatingly gorgeous ginger kitten named Boo who later was renamed Pia. Now, how confusing do you think that was? There I was, just getting used to being called one thing, only then to be called something completely different.
Soon after, the nicknames began. Wee one, floof button, poofy girl are the ones that stand out the most. To be honest, I lost count of what I was supposed to answer to pretty early on and tuned most of them out. To be doubly honest, all that cutesy name-called made me want to go anywhere else but there.
But, darn it, the accommodations were topnotch! Why, the food bowl was as big as I was back then. How could I pass that up? So, I put up with all the daily kissing and snuggling and new nicknames.
Quickly, I came to realize two things: 1) Someone had to put up with all that extra attention, and 2) Someone had to save those crazy name-calling people, my new humans, from themselves.
So, all these years later, Mom, when you wake up and just happen to realize I’ve been laying on your head all night with what some might call a “strongly fragrant behind,” it warms my heart to know you can still find new names to call me.
Welcome to November at Colehaus! We’re fans of November here and grateful we have changing seasons to marvel at. Oh, and rain. Rain, rain, rain. Thankfully, we’ve had a lot of rain lately and after multiple years of dry autumns, daily rain is so very welcome.
Neighborhood wanderer Rusty probably isn’t that enthused about the rain, but he gets around and surely has plenty of dry places with his name on them. Here, he watches Mom from the side garage doorway. He won’t eat at the feeding station until she goes inside and will wait as long at it takes for her to close and lock the door. Rusty is very, very smart and Mom has lots and lots of patience. Someday, maybe, he’ll trust her.
One place he might hang out at is in one of our feral shelters. Mom’s got the warming mats hooked up and working, and fresh straw’s been added inside. She knows someone’s been in them already this fall because the straw has been flattened down and around to make comfy beds. Rusty, was that you?
Or maybe it’s Mr. MewMew. Doubtful. He has a good home just two doors down and piles of bedding nestled on a cute bench in his protected front porch. Still comes over to eat our food, though.
As the daylight grows shorter, the last of our cherry tomatoes were harvested and frozen, and the potted plants cut down for the yard debris bin. We really weren’t as fond of this kind of tomato this year as in the past, but we’re looking forward to the marinara sauce these will be used for in January. Next year, we’ll give bigger tomatoes a try.
But not until this little bird gets their fill of flowers. Don’t know exactly what this little one was doing, other than picking off flowers. Maybe there’s tiny bugs in them or sweet nectar, or maybe she’s collecting flowers for her spring 2022 wardrobe collection!
Mom’s cyclamen is doing exceptionally well. Those hazelnut shells really have kept the slugs at bay and the plant happy! We’ll check back in with it next February or March.
You know we’re beginning to hunker down for winter when Mom decorates the fireplace mantel and brings in her garden bunnies. They’ll spend the cold months tucked away in a garage cabinet, reminiscing over the high and lowlights of the long, hot summer, and discussing next year’s gardening strategy.
Finally, someone needs to tell this squirrel that despite his entertaining acrobatics, Mom ain’t putting any bird food outside for him to raid. Nope. Not going to happen. Okay, maybe next month.
