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Project Cat – Outdoors
Do you think Junior misses the outdoors???? He found my plants yesterday and about caved in his ribs sniffing away at the dirt. We decided on a short jaunt outside to see how he handled the stress…
All morning, we wondered if Scamp had been by. The food had been picked at, but it was hard to say whether it was Scamp or birds. Junior headed right for the food bowl when we opened the back door. With a few sniffs, he knew whether Scamp had been by. He didn’t tell US whether Scamp was there, but you just know he knows. It’s amazing really that cats and dogs can discern so much. For us, it’s just a bowl of food, no matter how hard I look–or sniff. For Junior–I’d be willing to bet he knows whether blue jays, starlings or mom was by–or all three.
Junior did try to find mom Scamp, but we got just enough rain that the below ground drainage had too much water for a little guy like him. We actually would not have let him out had we checked the drainage system first–we know all the cats use the tunnels as their personal highway system, but we didn’t really want to lose Junior to drowning in the first 15 minutes of freedom!
He tried several ways around the standing water and even went in up to his knees, but eventually, he gave up and came back into the yard. We were pretty relieved. The whole experience was a bit like watching a toddler try to ride a tricycle…with us overworried and the kitten supremely confident.
You’ll also notice he now is the proud owner of a collar. He’s taking to it quite well actually because anything beats the satellite dish that was around his head. He’ll be having more outdoor adventures soon. He loves it out there, and I can always use the help chasing birds out of the garden.
As you can see from this bonus picture, he is not having any trouble relaxing. This seems an odd position for a cat, but apparently no one told him, so he just lounges about sleeping and watching football with us.
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He’s such a cutie! Always love pictures. Glad to hear he’s doing well. I like the smell of dirt, too. And grass. Tora always smells like grass (because she likes to roll around on her back in the yard.)
It’s 70 degrees and sunny here. Oh, and windy as hell. Crazy.
Comment by Trina — January 7, 2009 @ 9:10 am
Yeah, I’m a big dirt person too. We took him out to the garden and I was hoeing–Junior wanted to know why he couldn’t dig the dirt inside. I told him to go ahead and dig and so he did! He dug around and rolled and got his feet all wet and dirty. He didn’t mind when we wiped him down before letting him run loose in the house, which was a surprise. He had a big–Healthy day–and I think we all enjoyed it!!!!
It’s going to be 70 here today! I’m doing laundry and I already picked some snap peas. There’s a handful. Not enough for a salad. I don’t know what I will put them in…
Comment by Maria — January 7, 2009 @ 9:13 am
Yunior sounds like a strange, fun, but a bit strange kitty. Must be the parental influence.
My daylilies are already pushing up. Haven’t noticed if the daffodils are coming up yet, though. I’ll have to make a point to look for those in the morning.
Comment by Trina — January 7, 2009 @ 1:56 pm
I’ll assume you’re referring to Scamp when you mention parental influence! I haven’t see the daffodils here, but we need more rain to get them going. We got a tenth, maybe two and that isn’t enough. The Fresias are up, but that’s it so far for the flowers.
I planted more onions today! I did NOT expand. I just…reshaped. Moved a couple of rocks further out. To make room. The starters looked really awesome this year. Really great. I put in another row and a half (20 onions maybe?) to go with the 20 I have. They are loving this weather and so am I. Junior stayed with us the whole time, rolling around, digging and generally trying to figure out what was going on. He had another pretty good day so far!
Comment by Maria — January 7, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
Ha, ha, you know what they say about assumptions!
I forgot to check on the daffodils, but I do notice they’re already about 6″ out of the ground here at the office.
I forgot to check on the daffodils because we had some CRAZY winds last night. I swear, I think a mini-twister went through our backyard. One shrub was uprooted (I kept telling Bobby it was planted too shallow) and our city trash can was rolled across the courtyard. But that’s the least of it…
I heard this loud boom-like noise and looked at Bobby. He said he saw something fly by the windows (it was after 7:00pm & dark.) Well, our WROUGHT IRON patio set was blown across the patio into the yard (it takes two hands just to pick up one chair.) The table flew into the grill putting a nice dent in the cover (luckily the glass top didn’t shatter.) The boom? My Rubbermaid storage chest (about 3′ tall by 5′ wide) was PICKED UP and unceremoniously DROPPED about 15′ away and just EXPLODED! Well, the pieces only snap together anyway, but what a shock when I walked over to the side yard and saw it flat as a pancake and the stuff that was inside just laying all around it.
This morning, in the light of day, I go out back and see one of our Leyland Cypress trees nearly uprooted. Now, we planted three of these trees about 7 or 8 years ago, and they’re about 10′+ tall and 4-5′ around. They’re established trees.
Like I said, CRAZY winds.
Comment by Trina — January 8, 2009 @ 8:01 am
Wow, you must have had a wind shear or something! We had a sheer drop into our neighborhood–and did kind of what you said. A tree or two were uprooted by one house and stuff blown all over on that one street. Everywhere else had some limbs down and leaves and trash cans…but nothing like two houses that got the worst of it. I’m glad you guys are okay. That wind can be scary. You’re sitting inside and feel like the roof is going to come off.
I think there will be more gardening in my future today. It’s supposed to be 75. You just know there is something out there to be watered and babied!!!
Comment by Maria — January 8, 2009 @ 8:38 am
Never heard of “wind shear” before but after googling, I think that’s exactly what it may have been. Freaky.
Comment by Trina — January 8, 2009 @ 1:00 pm
It happens a lot in tornado counties from what I hear. It doesn’t get much press, but boy when one is near you, it sounds like a train and does some contained damage. Glad y’all are okay–get that yard cleaned up! While you’re planting, or replanting, make note of where you might have room for a blueberry bush…my Lowes had them and of course I picked up another one!!! The two from last year went in so late, I don’t know if they will ever grow right.
Comment by Maria — January 8, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
Ah, yes, the blueberry bushes. I think I can stick a couple in the back corner behind the Granny Smith tree. Right now there is a relative of the butterfly bush back there, but for some reason, Bobby has always hated it. It’s a deciduous shrub that grows mostly upright about 8-10′ with purple, spikey flowers. The bees love it. If I can keep the dogs from trampling them, they should do okay back there…the blueberry bushes, that is.
Comment by Trina — January 8, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
Some blueberry bushes get quite tall. I have 3 of the tall ones (6 ft) and three short ones (2 to 3 feet). The short ones have done better, but I bought them “live” whereas the taller ones were bought packaged in sawdust — Dormant. We’ll see. The short ones are already blossoming! It’s been a gorgeous day here for gardening!!!!!
Comment by Maria — January 8, 2009 @ 3:02 pm