i gots yummy grass

Nahum loves his greens. We try to have organic wheat grass available for them to enjoy and Nahum is the one who enjoys it the most.

Nahum posing with his grass

I look good with green!

death by tummy rubs*

Aug 14, 2012 9:00am

Aug 14, 2012 9:00am

*Oliver's not really dead, he just fell asleep after having his tummy rubbed. Oliver sometimes works long hours and doesn't get much sleep. When Oliver's family comes at night to visit, he's a very gracious host. Usually his family leaves in the early morning, giving him some time off before he visits with me but yesterday morning he had to work late.

Aug 14, 2012 6:30am

Oliver's family is at ease when he's in the yard with them, they often roll around, play or just hang out in his presence. When Oliver's not around they remain on guard and stick to business of eating, drinking and being very watchful.

Aug 14, 2012 6:30am

MK and his unnamed sibling enjoy a snuggle together

 by the catnip tree, while Oliver keeps watch.

Oliver is technically still an outside cat. We have a ritual going where every morning he meets me at the front door. I let him into the enclosed front porch, pick him up and open the front door to let the inside cats come onto the enclosed front porch while I carry Oliver upstairs to the bedroom for some private inside time. We hang out and snuggle for as much time as I have that particular morning. He so loves this time, and I have to admit, I kind of love it too! He purrs and purrs as he soaks up the love. Each day he seems to get sweeter and sweeter. I can't believe he was homeless and without human loves for so long. Thankfully that chapter of his life is over and he now knows he is treasured and precious.

a dozen Roses

Even though Rose has been with us now for nearly two years, she still doesn't let us get near her. This makes getting pictures of her quite a challenge. She's either sleeping or I have to use a large telephoto lens. Rose is very anti-human!

Boxed Rose:

That's a nice box, is there a cat in that box?

I think I see an ear...

oh, now I see two ears and two eyes...

and there's a nose!

and the white chest, it's Rose!!

Sleeping Rose:

The love seat belongs to Rose. It's her personal fleece covered cat bed. She's seems to favor the left side. She also enjoys accessorizing with the little cow pillow.

Bonus Rose:

Might as well make it a baker's dozen as she's small.

Ok, one more!

Rose zonked out in her condo

nip fest

The kitties all enjoyed some nice nip over the weekend.

Notice how the boys are like cows, slowly grazing away on the nip...

It's a different story with Willow. 

The nip really goes to her head.

With her inhibitions down, Willow starts dancing with the table leg.

 The boys don't even notice.

Willow's always been comfortable being different, being special.

The perfect nip-face to end her dance.

mice??

You might think that in a house with five vivacious indoor cats that we wouldn't have to worry about mice getting into the food.

Well, you would be right, we don't have to worry about mice.

We have to worry about the cat!  THEOOO!!!!!!!!

I like Grape Nut Flakes!!! Yum yum!!

more projects

I've been busy recently working on all sorts of house projects. One interesting trend I've noticed is that projects that somehow involve the cats seem to rise on the priority list and thus get done first. Weird, must just be odd coincidence.

Here are a few of my recent projects:

The new built in feeder in the garage needed shelves under it to store extra foods.

before

As you can see, the space where the feeder went was wasted space before. Lots of crap piled high on an old wood stove that the former occupants used but I never touched. So, stove and crap go bye bye, feeder and shelves get constructed and ta-dah, space is useful!

after

Oliver's guest house was occupying the back porch as a means to keep the red cat bed from sitting on the floor. When it got moved back outside, I needed something to hold his day bed off the floor. So, I scrounged up some old shipping pallets and used the materials to build a simple sturdy piece of feral furniture. The beauty of this project was that it cost me only a few hours time, all the materials were reused scrap, even the nails!

feral approved!

Most kitty guardians work hard to keep their cats from getting on the kitchen counters, so why would I build a special folding step to assist the cats to get onto the counter?!

The shelf is for Buddy. After watching him try to jump onto the counter numerous times and fail to make it, I thought I had better figure something out before he hurt himself. So, I built him this folding shelf. It folds down so the cabinet can be accessed. Now, Buddy can go up and down from the counter without fear of injury.

One of the bigger projects I have been working on now for awhile is to wire the house and property for a secure computer network. The purpose is two-fold, a wired network will provide faster access to external hard drives which store photos and backups of my personal files and I am planning to install network cameras around the property, so you all can watch Oliver and his feral family play, eat and do whatever else ferals do! I suppose, I might watch too! :)

Future project that is in planning stages:

Oliver's family sleeps during the day somewhere on the property of the house across the street from me. They only come here during the night, where they spend the entire night hanging out with Oliver. The house across the street is a rental has recently has been undergoing a significant remodel in anticipation of a new family moving in. I fear that if a family moves in with younger children then Oliver's family may not feel safe sleeping there anymore. So, I want to be prepared for that possibility by having a suitable comfortable housing option for them here.

Behind the garage is currently wasted space, with a pile of old lumber. My plan is to clean out that space and convert the pile of lumber into feral housing. The location is hidden and relatively undisturbed, so hopefully it would be quiet and safe.

Site of new feral housing project

I'm also planning to build some holding pens in the garage for TNR cats who are either waiting for transport to the spay/neuter clinic or are recovering after visiting the clinic. So much to do, so little time!

wordless wednesday