Caged or Not, that's the question

 "Lynn, I'm so glad you have this back up for me. I really

haven't understood a puppy spent the night in here."

When the French Poodle, Mora was here for a very brief

12 hours, we put the cat condo in the spare room for the

puppy to sleep in.  This saved them dragging the dog cage

in out of the van at 1 in the morning while Precious and I

were sleeping.  The shelves meant for cats were removed

as Mora only needed to bed down on the bottom.

This cage was bought decades ago and the shelves

made much bigger than what it came with.  Seney lived

in this non-stop.  It was hers to sleep in and sit in and

ponder life in.

Then along comes Precious, and her interest is not the

same.

It has been folded down and in the basement for the past

couple years.  Precious had stopped climbing into it no

matter what window I had rolled it to for her to see outside.

You know how cats are, never doing what you think they might.

"Really, Lynn, I do what I want, not what you expect."

So now the condo has been up and in front of the spare

room window for a few months.  And Precious sometimes 

sleeps in it during the night. And she likes the window to 

be open to smell and hear the outside.  Who knows when

she'll finally tire of it again.

Above is a Bald Eagle eating a fish it caught out of the river. There are

2 active nests I bike by, and they are only about 3 miles apart. Our

rural county has 17 active nests. In 1972, after we just about killed them 

off, we had 2 nesting pair.  Now our state has more than 700 pair.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment.

It is much appreciated.

Wild Flowers

                                       "Lynn, I betcha ya got swarmed by skeeters

                            taking these pictures."

Goldenrod

Virgins Bower with Monarch

Native Sunflower

Wild Sweet Potato Vine

Joe Pye Weed

Iron Weed

Bee Balm

                                        

                                                                            Jewel weed

And my most prized jewel, Precious.

"Thanks, Lynn."

And a Happy Birthday to one of my readers, Willie,

September 21, I have seen.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit and a comment.

It is much appreciated.

 

What a Party

 "Lynn, look who's here for a visit. Jo Jo of the Great Pacific North

West!  Her mom made all the plans for us."

You can not imagine my surprise to walk into the living room and 

find that Jo Jo of  cats-astrophic-events.blogspot.com  here for

a party.  Evidently the girls had arranged for a catnip tea party

with tuna cake frosted in cream for lunch.

"I used my best Goldfish China for this."

The girls ducked into the play house and I heard lots of laughing

and meowing.  I turned my back for just a minute and then I guess

that is when they ducked out the back door of the play house and

flew off to Jo Jo's.  I didn't know Precious had a passport. 

I don't even have one!

"Oh Lynn, I'm having so much fun. Jo Jo showed me her

mom's wonderful bed for a nap. Then Kozmo shared his

butterfly collection.  Cinnamon gave me a sweet lick and

then Marv had me in stitches with his crazy jokes."

The next thing I knew, Precious was in her bed-tent, tuckered

out and sleeping off jet lag.

I can't thank Jo Jo's family enough for inviting her, unbeknownst to me,

to visit and have a great time in the Great Pacific Northwest.

Thank you for stopping in for a visit and a comment.

It is much appreciated.

Share the Trail

"What are you saying, Lynn! You visit with cats besides me?" 

I thought I'd share some photos of a few cats I have

shared the Rail Trail with this year.

The one above was on a path I accessed by driving about

40 miles to get to the parking area.  A trail that only goes

from one village to another one, no interconnecting with

long paths.  I did 35 miles round trip that day.

I thought this fellow had quite lovely grey markings and he

or she, was very friendly.  I don't think a feral cat, as I

was at a tiny village in the middle  of the trail and close

to a Christmas tree farm.

This ginger boy is still gainfully employed at the grain elevator.

I met him one time only last year and once again this year.

I believe he gets very little time off work to visit with

bikers. But is he ever a talker!  I think he was complaining

about lack of pay and an overload of work.

This young cat was acting as crossing guard for me

to bike through the intersection.. Once again, close

to a farm and I stopped to recommend it find a more

suitable job.

And this kitty lives at a hobby farm. Not exclusive kind, just ordinary folks

with full size horse, mini horse, llama, 3 or 4 cows, goofy looking geese

and ducks, a couple dogs and a few cats.  I only ever see this one sitting at

the door waiting for someone or something to happen.  It reminds me

totally of Precious, you know you see it too.  Pudgy and all grey.

"Lynn, we grey kitties have a reputation to maintain.  And a body

to go with the rep!"

And the tree destruction is underway.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment. 

It is much appreciated.

Fountain of Dog Youth

 "Lynn, I thought we were all done with puppies by now."

I did take a picture last summer of the dog fountain in my

big little city.  But I also wanted to share an artists' painting

of the same on the local small town pet store.

Who ever their artist painter is, I do believe them to be very

talented.  I have seen other art on the store windows, but

this one is special as it is modeled after downtown fountain.

Of course, it is not complete as they left off the cat and the

blue birds at the top.  So I guess the artist is canine breed.

"A picture of me ought to fix that problem, Lynn.

Don't just show off my ear."

And here's Precious' ear as she watches a 

yellow Tiger Swallowtail on a spindly

zinnia on the patio. The butterfly is just below

the orange flower on the right of the photo.

Sadly Hurricane Ida was devastating.  I live 1200 miles north of

Gulf of Mexico, and the storm was so huge we received 1 1/2 inches

of rain from it up here.

 

For me, it has brought in a cool spell, for the deep South, it

has ruined lives and homes. 

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It is much appreciated.

The starting point of the ride

 "Is that train just my size?  I could go AmTrack, you know."

I like to ride a few Rail-Trails that are not part of the

larger Ohio to Erie 320 miles.  These trails only go from

one village to another, maybe 20 to 40 miles with no

connection to others.  I only ride the ones in Ohio that

are within 1 hour car drive. Can't waste ride time with

drive time, you know.

This one starts in a college town and goes 13 miles north to

a farming town. Or it used to be farming. Now is it is turning

into overflow for Columbus, Ohio, 40 miles south west.

But the rail trail is scenic and seldom used by any others than

the locals.  I like this as traffic is light to non-existent.  I see lots 

of wild life and trees in a deeply shadowed area. Some farm land

and Christmas tree farm along the way.

"Let me know when you are coming home.  I'll get in a good nap

and be ready for my snack and early dinner.  I think I'll pass

on the train ride after all." 

I did this ride a few weeks ago.  Currently it is extremely hot

and humid and I've been doing early morning rides and getting

home by 9:30 am, bushed and over heated. Going to be like

this another week at least.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment.

It is much appreciated.

Bits and Pieces, Bits and Pieces

 "Eee gads, Lynn, stop caterwalling. You can't carry a tune

and you don't know all the words."

I just wanted to share a few things about life around here,

Precious. Nothing earth shattering like my singing.

About our very own Eastern Blue bird family. Boy, did they

have a hard summer.  Mom ended up with 4 clutches of eggs.

In total, she laid 17 eggs in the 2 bird houses we have up.

And she unfortunately only raised one clutch of 4.

Marauding immature blue bird interfered with one,

European House Sparrow destroyed a nest, and last

a four legged animal managed to breech the hard plastic

tree covering we had in place to stop climbing critters.

Here's Precious doing what she enjoys, butterfly watching.

Yellow Swallowtail on my deer resistant zinnias. And I do

believe it has been a great butterfly year.  I've had lots of kinds

here, with an army of Monarch caterpillars consuming my milkweed.

I did not get a lot of blacks to hand raise, which I missed, but 

plenty flying about.

Now on to the Gold Miner Camp.

Above is one of the gold miners 40 foot long  class A motorhome.

They dig in the river for wet "dust".  They 

haven't had a lot of dry weather this year 

so the river has been to high to pan for gold. 

And the above is new installment of art work at mile post zero

on our wonderful Rail Trail.  We are so proud the Kokosing

Gap Trail was paved 25 years ago for the first 14 miles. It was

a leading instrument for the rest of the state to begin building

on the 320 mile long Ohio to Erie trail.  We only have about 

20 miles in the state that is off  trail and on the road.

And there is some progress every year for more paved trail.

"I'm sorry that Lynn has been so long winded. 

If I had let her keep singing, she wouldn't have 

had time to bore you all. "

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment.  It is much appreciated.