A sign that Spring is right around the corner

From 2009-02-24 cats kittens

Callie looking in on her 2 day old kittens. She's such a good little mother and doesn't stray far from her babies. She hasn't asked to go outside since they were born yet, but I'm sure she will want to take a walk around the yard soon.

From 2009-02-24 cats kittens

Here's a better look at the three littlest members of our cat family...Jimmy is quick to remind me that they will be members for only 8 weeks, until we can find them a good home.

* I tried loading my pictures differently in the last two posts and I don't like the results, so I think I will go back to my old way of loading pictures cause I don't like these surprises.

Not just an ordinary day

Today I got up from my rocking chair, put away the yarn, scissors, measuring tape and crochet hook, and went outside. Well actually I did that yesterday too...went outside that is.

The clumps of Daffodils are looking especially pretty this Spring. I think it's because of all the rain that we've had. I walked around the yard and admired all of them. Even my neighbors daffodils bloomed this year. She planted hers along the edge of our fence and someday they'll be crossing the fence line, I hope. We've shared many flowers that way. Half of my iris's ended up on her side of the fence and their gladiolas decided the grass was greener on my side of the fence and have completely moved over. I've planted climatis on the fence and neither of us mind sharing all the pretty flowers. My only complaint is that the sun rises from her side of the fence, and the blooms want to face her house. hehehe


Besides looking at daffodils and looking for plant sprouts, I cleared most of the dead fallen leaves away from the water garden. The cats had knocked over my little Chinese rock house and the little rabbit, so I straightened them up. My little Chinese rock house is made of two ordinary rocks that I found...a square one for the bottom and the curved pointy rock for the roof. I found them in Cynthiana while gathering limestone rocks out of my son's yard. We were gathering large rocks to put around our water garden pool.


These two cats don't like each other, but neither is giving up the picnic table for the other. So they sit as far away from each other as they can get, and still be on the table. That's Jybow & Callie. Callie (the calico) is our non-resident cat unless she's with kittens and we are the place she chooses to bear her kittens. Right now she has two sweet, born on Easter Sunday kittens, hidden in our dog house by the back door. She knows they'll be safe there because of the way we fan the door, all day long, letting cats in and out, and in and out...What tomcat is foolish enough to hang around our back door. When Callie's here we know not to put any food anywhere near the doghouse so as not to attract other animals.


Callie went back to the doghouse and Jybow is just making sure that she isn't hiding under the table....or maybe Jybow is just checking for spiders.

Are you wondering about the blog title? Well to me, no day is just an ordinary day....
They're all a gift and something to be thankful for.

Callie's back home

" What's she doing back?"

"Somebody help me...she's eating my side too!"

Help to the rescue.

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Callie is Daisy's sister and in 2004 she was banished by our other cats from the yard and went to live with another family down the road. Through the years she has occasionally stopped by to pay us a visit at least once or twice a month. She has always looked well fed and taken care of and had become a much more gentle cat than when she left. I had tried in 2004 to tame her down and make a housecat out of her, but she resisted my efforts and remained on the wildside.

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In February, barefoot & pregnant, she returned home to stay and hasn't left the yard since. She quickly made herself at home in the doghouse outside, near the back door and last week she wanted into the house. We let her in and she proceeded to check out every quiet nook & cranny for a possible nesting place. She found a suitable place under one of the beds and made herself comfortable until Jybow appeared. A little fight between girls ensued and Callie decided that the doghouse was more suitable for her purposes, so out she went.

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Last Thursday, March 15th, Callie gave birth to four beautiful kittens in the comfy doghouse. The doghouse is well insulated from the cold, has door flaps to keep out cold winds and I always keep the bedding washed up and clean. Everything was fine until yesterday afternoon when it was time to feed Callie. She came around to the front door to eat and I thought that this was an excellent opportunity for me to check on the kittens again. As I approached the doghouse a very large grey tomcat was leaving the area...he scampered away very quickly as he always does...we don't allow him in the yard because he hurts our cats, so when he sees us he runs like hell. As I moved the doghouse from it's sheltered location and peered inside, I was saddened by what I saw....two of the kittens had just been killed in the time it had taken me to walk from one end of my house to the other. I had heard of tomcats doing that, but had never witnessed it...and I don't have any other explanation for what happened to the kittens.

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I quickly gathered up the remaining kittens and brought them into the house. They are nestled in a cat carrier resting in the bathtub of our guest bathroom. I just didn't know where else to put them and this seemed like a quiet place behind closed shower doors. Callie seems to like her new home and I am wondering if she is even litter trained. We have been letting her out on demand and so far no messes. Callie did fine all night long, but at 7 a.m. she must have been wandering around in the house and when Daisy jumped off our bed, on her, a long & noisy cat fight ensued. We checked both cats for injuries, but not even a little fluff of hair was found. Just a couple of drama queens.

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After I had removed the kittens from the doghouse yesterday I went back out and guess who I found with his head in the doghouse door and his tail bristled up like a giant bottle brush...that big bad tomcat again coming back to finish what he started, I guess.