No, it turns out that Junior is climbing the screen because he spotted a lizard!!!

No, he doesn’t need the lizard. He has plenty of food. We even open the door when he wants to come in. But that doesn’t stop our intrepid hunter.

That screen is gonna have to go.

I went to bed and half hour later or so, BMHusband came in. We’d been in bed maybe fifteen minutes when it sounded like a soccer game started in the living room.

“What was that???” Husband asked.

“Sounds kind of like the cats playing. Where is Junior? Maybe he’s playing with the balls.” We both got out of bed.

Husband said, “Junior came in while I was brushing my teeth. But Junior never plays with the balls unless Scamper plays with the balls.”

Lights on, we both peered about nearsightedly.

Husband said, “That looks like Scamper.”

“Yup. Sure does.”

“How did she get in here? I shut the door!”

“Looks like she found a way in.”

“Junior came in while I was in the back bathroom brushing my teeth. I saw him. Figured it was a good time to shut the door and lock it.”

“Looks like maybe she came in with him,” I said.

“But where was she when I shut and locked the door???” he asked.

“Not in the garage.”

While we had this conversation, Scamp sat there in the dining room, tail curled calmly around her legs. Junior came over and gave my legs a hug. There was no panic. Maaaaybe Scamper didn’t realize that she had no way back out. I doubt it. She’s a pretty smart cat and she knows her exits–at all times. Maaaybe she’s starting to believe we aren’t trying to trap her inside for nefarious purposes.

I asked her if she’d like to go back into the garage (it was still raining and now that we had interrupted the soccer game, it wasn’t likely to restart.) I opened the door to the garage and got out of her way. Sure enough, she scampered right on out there. She was still there in the morning when we opened the door. In she popped, had a bite to eat and then back out. Several times. You know. Like a cat, but not a particularly feral one.

Yes, he really is wedged inside a cinder block.

As for Scamp, here she is under the grill:

Of course it’s hard to see her. That is the plan. She prefers it that way.

It’s been raining quite a bit these last three days–and for the first time ever, we found Scamper in the garage out of the rain! We leave the door cracked for her, but other than exploring it a time or two, she has not used it that we know of. Apparently it was soggy enough that she took shelter there last night. It’s only been two years cat…

FINE.

I let him out. Back to bed. Almost asleep.

A few minutes later–cat fight. I marched out there…nothing. No cats. Quiet. Back to bed. 10 minutes later, cat fight. I marched out there…the cats were in the yard next door, no Junior running for help. Told them to pipe down. Quietly of course–it was the middle of the night. Back to bed. At 4, cat fight. Out again. There he was all fluffed up staring at the escape route to the front yard. Picked his Mr. Fluffy butt up and plopped it inside, closed door. Got some sleep.

Cats. Need I say more???

I bought 10 pounds of the things, thinking I’d freeze most of them. Wow. We’re looking at probably 3 meals…if I stretch them. And we are talking clam linguini type meals or clam chowder–meals where you have lots of surrounding pasta to fill in the blanks. We are talking smallish meals for two people.

I thought maybe I was doing the clam shelling wrong–I read you take off the “skin” that covers the neck (and covers most of the clam from what I can tell). Well, even with that *on* the clams, we’d be lucky to get another small portion out of the ten pounds.

I guess it’s back to the canned clams for us. I thought the cans were expensive at almost two dollars a can. (I generally use a large can and a small can for one dish–so about 3 bucks worth of clams.) Using the fresh clams I’ll be using about ten dollars worth of clams for each dish. Yikes!!! Someone stop that clam!!! I think he stole my wallet!!!!

We’ve had these two kitties for almost two years now (well, we started feeding Scamper in July two years ago. We aren’t entirely certain when little Junior was part of the picture.) She’s come a long way since then. She came and sat next to me in the garden the other day. That is to say–juuust out of reach, but close enough to be company. I reached out one finger to her and she gave it a half-hearted sniff. When I put my hand on the ground near her paw, she was having none of it. No Touching! and she sauntered off in a huff.

Both kitties have been pulling guard duty in the garden–keeping the birds from pecking at my tomatoes! Of course, they aren’t too careful about where they jump when they go after birds, but they are doing their jobs.

Kitty cats!!!

The neem oil works, but its use requires constant vigilance and spraying about every 3 to 4 days. Thus far the spider mites haven’t gotten completely out of hand, but it’s the first day of May. I read that one spider mite can produce 600 offspring. SIX HUNDRED. How am I supposed to keep up with that? If I miss even one…

So on cool days, I spray neem oil. I’m running out of cool days…

Last year I tried to use soap and water on the cucumbers to kill the aphids. The aphids laughed. Sure, soapy water kills on contact, but they seemed to wait until after I sprayed to come out in ever larger numbers. I don’t like using the neem around the cucs and watermelon because the bees don’t like the smell (or something.) But this year, the cucs are going to be neemed. Actually last year I finally gave up (too late really) and started using the neem oil. It’s a mad dance, this gardening.

We didn’t get a bumper crop of snap and snow peas. Barely enough for us to eat a few times a week. The neighbors had to suffer this year (and believe me, they do ask.) Two pea plants have already died and a third is following. No idea why. The spider mites haven’t gotten out of control, but it could be early damage from the late freezes. Or some other whim of nature laughing up her sleeve.

This won’t be the year of the onion either. The plants looked poor in the store so I ordered online. They looked just as bad. I might get a few, but they will mostly be green onions. Very small bulbs on what should be giant onions. Oh well, that’s the way it goes.

The best for last: I have several tomatoes out there! None ripe yet, but a decent amount on the plants. The Juliet (a grape variety) has two clusters ready to ripen. I check every day. Sometimes twice. Or even three times if I’m feeling particularly hungry.

Onward!!!

Chica – an Italian tomato that supposedly can handle the heat. Okay, well let’s hope so because I haven’t found one that can and Chica didn’t handle cool weather at all. It’s a tiny plant making almost no progress in growth in two months and counting. A third seed I put in the pot a month ago finally came up. Soil too cold or were you just making a grand entrance???

Mama Mia Another Italian paste tomato. I found this one at a nursery. No one could tell me much about it (I hate nurseries with people who say, “can I help you find something?” and then it turns out that they know next to nothing about the plants.) Mama Mia has a great name and it looked homeless so I decided to bring it to the garden and give it a try!

Burpee’s Big Boy Most of the big boy family and any beefsteak tomato are failures here in hot Texas. At least they haven’t been good producers for me. When I do get a tomato they tend to be on the mushy side–a side effect from the heat. I’ve heard that this strain in particular is *the* one to try so…I grew some from seeds and also came across a lovely specimen in the nursery. See “homeless” reference above.

As in the past, I’m growing Juliets (large grape), Celebrities and some combo of Italian paste tomatoes from leftover seeds from two years ago (last year, I did not get any Italian tomatoes.) The Juliets are blooming and one bloom has already collapsed as though a tomato is inside!!!

The snap peas were coming along gorgeously, until 30 mile an hour winds this morning. Three branches WITH beans and blossoms have snapped against the trellis. Waaaaah. I hate when that happens. I count every bean as a victory…

Well, the signs are misleading! Thanks to regular blog-reader, Max, we decided to go visit the caverns and my! what a great surprise. The cave is very much a living cave with fabulous formations. It’s been a nice, wet winter too, so there were some great water flows, making for just a magical place. The cave costs about 18 dollars per person to tour and takes about an hour. It’s well worth it if you’re in the area. Beautiful formations, knowledgeable guides and a lot of fun.

As always, click on the thumbnails to view a larger picture.

Junior was very disappointed when strangers arrived. Luckily the weather was nice for the entire weekend. I did nab him once and brought him inside to introduce him to the two friends. Sorry to say that he was not impressed. He made a big show of trying hard to escape by climbing over my head, shedding copious amounts of hair and when finally released, ran for his life as though dire threats and actual promises had been delivered.

We were gone most of Saturday touring this and that. I thought it would give Junior plenty of time to get over the shock that we actually have friends. But nooooo. When we arrived home, he and Scamp were out on the porch. That little stinker *ran* from me. No, not Scamp. She sat there and waited for her food bowl like a polite little domestic cat, while I attempted to pet little Junior. Stinker refused to let me near him. I was *very* hurt.

Of course I brought their bowls out so they could eat without panicking. As dusk came around, Scamp left to go wherever it is she sleeps. Junior followed her, but I knew he’d be back. He isn’t allowed to go to her spots or doesn’t feel he really belongs there anymore. He checked at the door a couple of times, but wouldn’t come in.

Eventually the guests were safely in bed. He did come in, but he still eyed me suspiciously. Stinker.

We made sure he stayed in both nights; I didn’t want him running around getting into trouble. He has a shelter outside on the porch, but I was afraid he’d be too nervous of the house to use it. So BMHusband nabbed him and made sure he was safely inside at night. Once inside with no activity going on, Junior was fine. Skittish at times, but fine.

Sunday morning, Junior was content to run in and out as usual. The guests weren’t up yet and Junior has many appointments in the morning (one assumes from the going in and out). On one such trip inside, Junior had just finished a sample snacking at the food bowl when our young guest (7 years old) came trooping out of the hallway, cleverly wrapped in a pink blanket that trailed out behind her…Junior took one frozen look, jumped straight out of his fur and ran for the nearest…kitchen was the best opening he had. Young guest didn’t really notice Junior so she hopped right into the dining room, scaring him further round to the opposite side of the room. He took one last good look at the pink apparition–the look on his face was a cross between, “What in all God’s glory is that thing??!??” and “I think I swallowed my tail!” before slinking as fast as his little legs could scamper–into the safety of the bedroom. He planted himself under the bed and did not come out again until the guests had gone.

Now, really. Our guests were wonderfully behaved and nice people too. I really think he could have given them more of a chance. Hmph. He was such a naughty kitten.