Kitty Littering

Our cats live a fairly comfortable life in the garage. They have 350 square feet to call their own, a constant supply of food and water, and padded physiques to show for it. But for the last couple of months their food supply has been compromised by the marauding activities of a feral feline.

This new kid on the block was all black, and therefore not easily distinguishable from our very own Pitch. The easiest way to tell them apart was to open the back door - if it ran away, it wasn't Pitch. Unfortunately, by then the food was usually gone and it was too late to do anything about it. The amount of food that animal could consume in such a little time was as amazing as the speed at which he could move with what must have been a very full stomach! So many times we'd be half a step out the back door, only to see his tail disappearing around the far corner of the garage, and would find not a trace of the food that should have fed our cats for two days! And each time our frustration and irritation and resentment grew.

I discovered that one of his hide-outs was under our front porch, so I closed that hole. I stalked him in the grass, I hunted him in the shed, and I threw rocks at him whenever I could get a clear shot (but when I did I had to be quick). All of our attention was focused on persuading him that he shouldn't come around here any more. However, when the object of your persuasive efforts is a cat, it's very hard to compete with a full dish of cat food. The key, we found, was to become smarter than the cat.

And we also changed our strategy. Instead of convincing him to leave, we would force him to stay. This is commonly called a trap. A hook on the garage entry door (slightly ajar), 25 feet of small rope routed through two wire loops to the back door of the house, and we were ready.

After a couple missed attempts and false alarms we had our big chance. At lunch time on a Saturday, as we were eating at the table (and yes, by now we were frequently checking out the door for signs of The Cat), I caught a glimpse of black slinking for the garage. Our cat Pitch was sitting idly on the sidewalk, so we knew the other black one was The Cat. I bounded quietly for the door, waited until I knew He was in the garage, then quickly opened the door and YANKED on the rope. The garage door slammed! We had our man ... er, cat!

The next problem, of course (now that we 'had' him, so to speak), was to corner and contain him. For anyone who has never faced a truly 'wild' kitty cat ... let me tell you, it could possibly qualify as an extreme sport, what with the adrenalin and so forth. I think the words 'feline projectile' most nearly describe the phenomenon. When he went streaking for his usual exit point and realized it was no longer an option, he launched himself about 6 feet in the air, bouncing off two walls before re-entering the atmosphere and retreating behind some storage boxes in the corner. Suffice it to say that there was considerable shuffling, scuffling, lunging and footwork before I finally trapped him in a Rubbermaid bin against a wall and slid the lid on between him and the wall. Another great application for Duct Tape. Lots of it.

Three phone calls later, I had learned that there are no local services or facilities provided for the humane disposal of wild kitties. I was on my own. Having neither the arsenal nor the desire to shoot the specimen, I contemplated a few alternative solutions before deciding on the Maritime Method. Not wishing to waste a good Rubbermaid bin, I attempted to transfer its occupant to a cardboard potato box. Unfortunately, it ... I didn't quite ... well you see it ... well, he got away. Fortunately we were still in the garage and I had had the foresight to close the door. So after another, briefer, variation of the previous adventure the captive kitty was once again secured ... this time in a potato box with a couple bricks to keep him company. And more Duct Tape. Lots of it.

That evening we went for a drive, just Kitty and me, along the river looking for a convenient and inconspicuous place to 'put in' as it were. We finally found one just after dark and, after a bit of a rocky climb, were down at the river's edge. I was afraid things might be just a little stuffy inside that box, and I just happened to have a large 12-inch nail with me. So I poked a bunch of holes in several sides of the box to improve his view and his overall quality of life. Then before you could say 'cat-a-maran', that kitty was floating silently downstream in the moonlight ... just him and his bricks. And his Duct Tape. Lots of it.

Summer Daze

Ok, now where were we? Oh yes ... well, we're still here. Life continues much the same in many ways as it has in months past. Still pretty close to 24 hours every day, though noticeably fewer of those hours are what we would call 'daylight' any more. We enjoyed having a good bit of company for most of September (thanks all for coming!), and the kids have now got a start on school for the year. A bunch of canning is done (apricot jam, pears, peaches, pickles, green beans, apple sauce, grape juice, tomatoes ... I might have forgot something), we've pressed apple cider with some friends, and last weekend we went to an apple festival at a local family orchard. Fun!

This post will be mostly pictures from the last couple months, and we'll just kinda not try to relate (remember) all the detailed events. We have some real good memories ... but unfortunately mine isn't one of them!


4-wheeler train ride at the apple festival.


Molly motoring.

Stuff of Childhood

I think perhaps there are few things as fun and rewarding as watching your child begin to get the hang of walking and balancing. And once they get it, it's amazing to see how their skill and confidence grow daily and exponentially! Molly has been experimenting with the concept of walking for a few weeks now, but was obviously not truly committed to the process. The army crawl was her proven modus motatus, and why ruin a good thing? However, this past Monday someone flipped a switch in her and she decided that this biped stuff was the thing of the future and she'd better get on the wagon or get left in the dust. There's no going back.




But kids and dirt! One somehow does not feel the same warm fuzzy feeling of parental pride and joy as they watch their child shove fistfuls of dirt into an already-dirt-caked oral cavity as though it were mother's homemade mulberry pie. (Have I told you about that pie...?) But whereas one may leap to the rescue of their first child and frantically rinse the germ-laden soil from the mouth of The Baby(!), things tend to be somewhat different with subsequent siblings. In fact, there have been documented cases of parents with ... say, four children (or thereabouts) ... who actually videotape their fourth child (or so) while they consume a section of the back yard, then merely rinse all four teeth off with an extra swig of apple juice from the sippy cup. I suppose it must all come down to one's perspective on things.

The Marvelous Little Toy

This is a new 'toy' I received for my birthday this year, and I think we're going to have a lot of fun together! It's a portable digital multi-track recorder. (Read about it here if you're interested.) This means that you can record voice, instrumentals, or any other noise on any of four separate 'tracks', one or two tracks at a time. You can then play it back while recording something else on a separate track, then mix it all down to a master track for playback on any computer or other audio device. Homemade music. Is this cool, or what?!

You can hear my first-ever attempt at simple multi-track recording by clicking here. It's a pretty bare-bones experiment this first go-round, involving only a direct guitar line in, the two internal microphones shown on the front of the machine, and a couch. There are also external mic inputs which I have not yet used, and features (no doubt) which I have not yet explored. So "stay tuned".

New Project

Recently we cut down this tree beside our house because it was being crowded by two adjacent trees.  As an afterthought, with chainsaw in hand, I decided to leave a 12' stump for Future Development.  It then occurred to me that this would be the perfect spot for a treehouse for some little kids.  Plans are a-preparing...

Happy Birthday(s)!

First it was Daddy's. It started with a pancake breakfast in the morning with the 'opening' ceremonies (gifts, that is). There are no pictures available for this part of the event because, although the gifts were very presentable indeed, Daddy himself is somewhat less photogenic at that hour.

Shown here is the lunch segment of the agenda, specifically the cake kindly donated by 'Grandma G' and labelled and lit by Mommy. During the afternoon intermission Daddy was able to metabolize a portion of this cake by cutting the lawn (or, as Nathan says, 'lawning the grass'). But by early evening the gastronomic theme was resumed as supper was served, another of GG's donated dishes followed by Mommy's homemade mulberry pie straight from the tree in our back yard. I could go on and on about this pie, but alas! I cannot show you a picture because we accidentally ate it all too quickly. All in all a very good day.



And just when you think the party's over ... a yardful of good friends mysteriously appear for an evening hymnsing and dessert two days later. Surprise!! Some wives are very good at organizing things with just the right touch, and I am blessed with one of them.


Then, four days after Daddy's birthday ...

Our little Molly Dolly turned one!!


There's nothing like the baking of a birthday cake to inspire a little Chef Wannabe (who apparently prefers to remain unidentified).


Yet another tasteful offering from the kitchen of The Cake Lady
(see May 23 post)...


The dining hall, bedecked and festooned withal, awaits the commencement of the birthday banquet and festivities.


"Happy Birthday dear Molly ... Happy Birthday to you!"


The birthday girl seemed to be pretty excited about the proceedings...


but not quite sure what to do with the cake. However, having been apparently satisfied with the results of her preliminary fingertip test, ...


she soon engaged first one hand ...


and then the other to shove fistfuls of it into her mouth.


After which there was no stopping her, and before long she was covered in the stuff ...


and carrying on like someone who was having a Very Good Time.


"That's ok, Molly, have at it! It's all about the cake!"