Always with the new bag

 "Look what came home! A crinkly bag! I love it, Lynn."

Precious loves a new large and crisp sounding plastic bag.

Why else go shopping?  I certainly wouldn't want to shop

for myself if I couldn't get the bag. And why did I waste

the money on a pretty velveteen crinkle bag from the pet

store a year ago?  Precious never even investigated it. But

this thing, we play frog on it in the evening.

 And now  while I drink my tea trying

to look out into the yard for wildlife, Precious loves to lay

on the bag. I have a laser beam to use to get her playing, 

but honestly, she prefers I wad up bits of paper and throw

them onto the bag for her to bat about and chase, momentarily.

Of course, when play time is over as it brightens up outside, I

then have to collect the paper wads and off she goes to sleep

off all that play time.

I always put the bag away at night and when I am going

to leave the house. I would never trust her with it alone.

Plastic is dangerous for her to get inside without my

supervision. And she does open it and go in and then

it is licky-licky-licky and chewy crunch-chewy crunch

on the bag. 

"Thanks, Lynn, you knew I'd love it. The bag is

the cat's meow."

By the way, I have removed all other of her bags

off the floor for now. She has way too many to 

keep her interest.

Her new bed is now just a large toy box.  We will

see what winter brings.

This is Butterfly Weed. An Ohio native plant in the milkweed

family.  The Monarch butterflies eat this to the ground, but thankfully,

the 4 or 5 I have come back every year. I've only recently seen

the arriving Monarchs back in the yard.

"I'm glad too, Lynn.  I love watching out front for the 

butterflies in the sunshine."

Not sure when we can expect the trees across the road to be clear cut.

The owner found me working in my garden last week and introduced

himself.  He said the builder can start in 2 months if the lot is cleared

by then.  The builder suggests a "clean slate" to work with. In my

opinion, that makes it easier for him to store his equipment and building

supplies.  The owner said he'd like to keep a few trees.  So for now,

Precious and I enjoy having windows open but listen for the sound

of heavy equipment constantly.

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One big sand box

 "Lynn, is that a giant cat box, for private kitty stuff?"

I ride by this sand quarry on 90% of my bike rides.

The family owned business has been here for 30 years,

digging up sand and river gravel. 

The picture does not do justice for the size of the dredge.

When I first started riding here 15 years ago, the pit and lake

it created, were 1/2 mile away.  In the past 5 years, they

have moved into a farm field and  the corn and soy have

been replaced by water from the underground aquifer. 

And the mountains of sand are growing by leaps and bounds.

This had been 1,000 acre crop field.  But I know that

the sand and gravel is needed and used for all types

of construction.  

It can be very dusty when I bike past. As the large earth

moving trucks run the private road next to the Rail-Trail

right of way, the cloud of sandy dust is really bad.

"See why I prefer to stay home and get my sunshine

without the yuck of getting dirty?  By the way,

have you cleaned my potty box?"

And lastly, this yard ornament was waiting for me when I

returned from my bike ride, at my garage.  It is a yearling

and they do have a bit of a stressful time now, as their mothers

are now nursing the new fawns. So these girls and boys feel

left out.  As soon as the does bring out the new fawns, they all

finally spend time together. However, the yearlings have not

forgotten how good mother's milk is and try to get a sip occasionally.

Mom takes care of them in a way that would put me in the hospital

with cracked ribs or skull.  But the young take it well and are

soon obedient.

These lilies grow where my sweet Seney has now

rested for 8 1/2 years. Never ever forgotten.

Her last day with me.

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Holy cow!

 "Lynn, what are those black and white creatures?  Large cats?"

I really enjoy the pastures and farms I bike past. 

These young Holstein heifers are out to pasture for

the summer.  I expect they will soon be old enough

to breed and then go into the milk house with their 

mothers.

I was doing a 60 mile ride on this day.  I only am able

to do this a couple times a year.  Too much work and then

I'm too tired for the next day to do much of anything.

But I do like the challenge of it.

" I have my own challenges, Lynn. Like getting you to feed

me anytime I ask and giving me a comb and a lap."

Dames' Rocket is a phlox plant that is not native

here, but in all areas around road sides and the

bike path.  So beautiful and fragrant in the late

Spring and early Summer.

You just can see great expanses of these flowers in

every direction.

"Yeah, yeah, only they are not a pretty or sweet smelling

as me, Lynn."

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In Crisis Mode

"Lynn, please make them stop. I can't take to noise. And what

about all my birdies?"

Oh, my gosh.  The 2 acres of woods directly across

the road from us is being clear cut. There will then

be a new house built.

I am devastated about wildlife. Especially the birds.

Right now the migratory birds are just feeding their 

young who have not fledged from the nest.  They will

be instantly killed.  And it is too late for the birds to try

for a second nest.  With thousands of miles to fly away for

the winter, they have no time left.

They start work at 7 am or sooner and don't stop until

6 pm.  So Precious no longer feels safe in the top of  the

clothes closet. And now she is under the bed.  I don't know

how she will make out with months of noise.

And I can no longer have open windows after they arrive

to let in bird song and cool air. No sitting on the front or 

back porch due to noise and dirt.

I understand a new home, but it is not good news for a 

lot of us.

This 100 year old tall oak loaded with a million-million acorns, which

fed the herd of deer and dozens of squirrel will soon be just a piece

of lumber.

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Playing with Food

 "I want to help myself.  I just need your thumb for opening

the jar."

Actually, I am playing with Precious' food myself.  She

never takes food out of my hand and she much prefers

not to use a bowl.  

So I am teasing her by putting one crunchie at a time

on the lid of her food jar.  

She's quiet receptive to sniff test and then wait impatiently 

for me to place it on the lid.

"Ok already, Lynn.  you've had your fun at my

expense.  More photos of me that I don't want

shown.  It is embarrassing for a cat to have to beg

for morsels of chickie.  Just dump the handful on

the floor and move out of the way."

This funny looking creature is actually 2 moths mating on the

pavement of the bike path. There can be dozens of them at the

same time. I hate to hit them with the wheels so I dip around

as best I can.

I've been adding the miles to my bicycle this year

already.  It is such a relief from the winter blahs.

And I'm the proud mama of the first Black Swallowtail Butterfly

caterpillar this year. I found the egg 3 weeks ago. That's a 

popcycle stick for comparison.

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Consolation Prize

 "Wow, Lynn.  I love this new bed."

I decided that Precious deserved a consolation prize for all that has

happened here with stranger and puppy for company. And I also

thought as she gets older, especially in the winter, that an orthopedic

bed might be just the ticket.

You may have noticed the Chewy box in the last post.

This one was not exactly expensive, but at $42 I guess that

is the most I have spent on any one thing for her at a time.

It is 4 inch memory foam with a removable washable cover.

And it truly is quality foam, as I sleep on 8 inch memory

foam and know just what it should feel like.  I could use this

bed for a chair cushion if no kitty ever sleeps in it.

Peepers was always happy with a soft fluffy blanket to knead her

paws in.  And Seney was the coldest cat on earth.  She wanted

heat nearly year round.  But as the skinniest Maine Coon ever,

it is no wonder she was never warm.  So she had a couple

fleecy thermal cat pads and her own heated fleece pad and they

were used almost year round.

Precious has always been Miss Goldilocks and slept here, there, 

and anywhere she feels like.  And of course, in the evenings I 

prefer she be on my legs instead of on the floor in front of me.

"Lynn, mostly I do want to be on your legs in the evening.

It makes it easier for me to see the TV."

Iris in my flower bed this Spring. Thank goodness

they are not deer food as they are one of my favorite flowers

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The Dog Days

 "Lynn, don't ever do that again."

Well, I have to say, once I spent 2 days cleaning,

grocery shopping and cooking, it all went well on the

3rd day.  Folks arrived about 1 am Wed. morn and 

left by 1 pm Wed afternoon.

This is 10 week old, 15 pound Mora.  She was as quiet as a

mouse the short time she was here. And the ride to and 

from the vet, she took it on the lap of her new mom quite

well.  The truck does not accommodate a dog crate, so

Emily had to lap hold her 20 minutes each way. 

We did stop at the local family owned small pet store

and Mora was carried in and out nicely.  I would not

have let my new pet walk on filthy parking lot either.

And the puppy was so sleepy and worn out, she really

didn't have her heart into shopping.  She's got to learn

the girl thing about the fun of shopping sooner or later.

 I understand Mora only threw up once in the van on the way here.

  Then Emily gave her motion sickness med and it did not occur again.

I did wash the doggie bed so it was ready for the trip 250 east to

meet her new dad and spend the week camping with a group of

around 40 slingshot folks.  Mora has a lot of noise and late

nights ahead of her.

Precious spent the Wednesday night from 1 am until Wed. 

afternoon under the bed.  She finally ate her breakfast there,

about 10 am out of desperation.  She usually starts breakfast at

5:30 am.

I am thankful, by the time she knew I was doing up the guest

laundry and opening windows to air out smells, Precious crawled

out from under the bed. About 3 pm.  And when she inspected

all points of the house to be sure we were completely alone,

she was back to normal.

We had hair brushing at 5:30 pm and legs by 6.

We have just girl time from Wed. afternoon until late

Sunday afternoon. Time for me to right the house back

to normal and for Precious to stop jumping at every sound.

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