Five Acres with a View

December 22, 2007 - Click on image for higher resolution version.

Sheila is visiting again. One of her nicest traits is that when she rolls over on her back, she actually wants her chest rubbed, and is not trying to sucker you into getting your hand lacerated.

This morning, I was taking a bath when Sheila pushed open the door. She likes to watch me take baths, so I didn’t think too much of it until I looked over and saw that she had a mouse dangling from her mouth. I was tactless enough to scream, and she left in a hurry, fortunately taking the mouse with her.

In principal, I approve of cats catching mice, but in practice, I hate dealing with the results.

August 22, 2007 - Click on image for higher resolution version.

August 25, 2007 - Click on image for higher resolution version.

Sheila enjoys this spot on the work table in my office.

Dear Sheila:

Any resemblance between my back side and a rock climbing wall is purely coincidental.  

Love, Elaine

In the two decades since I last lived with kittens, I had forgotten what it is like. Very early this morning, I looked up and saw a big fat bug clinging to the outside of the screen in my office window.  A small slender cat was clinging to the inside of the screen. Since the screen is old and presumably fragile, I carefully detached the cat rather than finding my camera to take her photo.

And then there is the box of (biodegradable) packing peanuts which is now all over the storage room floor, also courtesy of Sheila. Picking them up is on my to do list this morning.   I should have done it last night, but the electricity went out during thunderstorms for the third or fourth time this week, and I didn’t feel like doing it by flashlight.

August 14, 2007 - Click on image for higher resolution version.

We are kitten sitting for the next two weeks. I am used to the “bring cat to new place and not see it for a week” variety of cat. Sheila (pronounced “Shayla”) is of the “get into everything and be apparently fearless” model. Mia, the Dalmatian, is fascinated by her. Lody, the Collie, wants to know where we put her food and litter box. Both dogs have obviously been nailed by a cat during a formative stage. It was hysterical to watch two dogs, the smaller of which is forty pounds, ooze out of the way of a three pound adolescent cat.

Petsmart has a good press release on canned pet foods that have caused renal failure in some pets. Check the list if you feed canned food.

March 06, 2007 - Click on image for higher resolution version.

Smokie is my mother’s cat: a very friendly Manx.