In Memory of Bentley

Bentley died in February. I think of him often, especially when I explore our yard. When he was healthy, Bentley would go outside with me and scout out all "points of interest".

I his honor, today I went on a tour of our yard and took photos of the critters Bentley might have discovered.

He loved to hunt lizards. . .



. . and he spent lots of time on the back porch checking out the visitors to our pond.


I found this beautiful black snake . . .



when I walked over to look at this tree because I saw insects flying around it.



Upon closer examination, I discovered it is a honey tree - look at the bees!



And finally, I convinced this butterfly to stop long enough for a photo op.



I thought that was a fitting end to today's exploration since it is Easter Day and the butterfly is a symbol of rebirth and resurrection.

Although it seems far too short, I'm grateful for the time Bentley was in my life and the pleasant memories I have of him.

Goodbye, little buddy. You are missed and fondly remembered.

How to amuse a cat

There are shelves on our back porch. We use them to store . . . cats. Our cats love to run and climb and nap on the shelves.

Since TK is much younger and more active than the other cats, we got a special set of shelves with toys for him.

He helped assemble them . . .



tested them for sturdiness. . .



sat in them for a while . . .

and then decided to play with the empty kitty litter bags.



Next time we'll just give him a pile of bags.



How do you amuse a cat? Buy an expensive toy so they can play with the trash.

Double the fun

Several weeks ago while QB was taking me for a walk, I stopped to look at the horsemint in the flower bed. When I looked up, QB was gazing intently at a spot on the other side of the fence. We had to investigate, of course.

As we approached, I saw a small gray and white cat who was looking at us while alternating between meowing and hissing. It seemed to want to get to know us, but was too frightened to come over. QB and I showed the cat to Craig and he issued an invitation to visit us if it was hungry.

A couple of days later I was taking out stuff to the recycling bin when I heard a now familiar combination of meowing and hissing. Our new little buddy was ready for breakfast.

A can of cat food was consumed in record time.



After several days, we knew we had a new cat. Since I hadn't checked to see if it was male or female, I called it TK (The Kat). We later learned he was a male, so TK now stands for, among other things, Tom Kat.

TK visited the vet to make sure he was healthy. Everything checked out and he moved in with us. He explored every nook and cranny of the house. I found him here one afternoon.



He got a little more comfortable with his surroundings . . .



and finally settled in, knowing that he'd found a safe new home. . .

thanks to QB.

Thoughts of Spring

Spring is definitely here.

Tomatoes are planted . . .



butterflies are in the yard . . .



and Bentley is adamant that it is time to go outside - NOW!



I hate to deprive him of time outside, but he's been sick lately - so sick that he had to stay at the vet's. He can see the yard from our front window and the screened porch, but it just isn't the same.

Today I picked up a couple of catnip plants and I'll replenish the containers of wheat grass so there'll be a little more green stuff inside. It's not "outside", but it will have to do.

In the midst of Bentley's illness, Luigi got sick, too. Luigi didn't make it. Now he and Muffin and Gordon are gone. It's one of the disadvantages when litters are adopted - everyone is old at the same time.
(Luigi is gray, Muffin is the tabby and Gordon is the "blonde".)



A walking iris was blooming the day we brought Luigi home.



Now I think of him and the other cats who are no longer with us whenever I see one.

Walking the cat

All of our cats live in the house, but Bentley, the tuxedo cat, likes to venture outside at least once a day. He joins me on my morning walk, and I usually accompany him on an evening walk.



In general he is very fastidious, but he can't seem to resist a roll in the dirt. When the ground is soft and powdery, he makes "sand angels" for me. :-)



When he is inside, he can often be found near (or in) the latest box that has arrived.



He doesn't mind sharing his bed with us . . .



. . . but his favorite spot to spend the night is in the office chair beside the computer hutch -- he tucks himself in after we've gone to bed.

. . . and then there were eight

Two of our cats, Cleo and Obie, had been staying at the vet's off and on for the past month. Yesterday we brought them home.

Obie was doing much better and ready to come home and keep her brothers in line. The first thing she did when she got home was to run to the back porch for "lizard patrol". The lizards have their own version of "X Games" - they scoot under the screen porch door and see if they can survive being on the porch with the cats before scooting out again.

Cleo had been frail and failing. The vet called us on Saturday afternoon and said she was gone. She is now buried in our back yard.

Cleo found us in Orlando in 1987 when we were staying with my parents and waiting for our house in Virginia to sell. When we moved to Brevard County, she moved with us. The vet estimated her age between 3 and 5 when we took her for her first visit. Since we had been married for 4 years by then, we decided to go with 4.

Our first major adventure with Cleo came one Saturday morning, shortly after we moved into the house. We are far enough off the road that I felt she'd be safe from traffic, so I let her outside. (I know better now!)

After a while I heard her calling for us and I went to the back porch to see what she was doing. I could still hear her, but I couldn't see her - until I looked up. She was clinging to the top of a sapling as it waved with the breeze.

Of course, we had to rescue her. And "we" meant my husband dragging out a ladder and climbing through blackberry brambles while I offered helpful suggestions. After that, we decided it would be best if she stayed in the house.

Over the years we got used to being bossed around by a 5 pound tyrant. She had no problem telling us exactly what she wanted and when. She was a dictator, but a benevolent, furry one. She fussed so much we'd call her a "grouchy old pooh". Pooh became her nickname. We knew she was nearing the end when she stopped fussing at us and spent most of her time asleep on her favorite beach towel.

Even though we knew it was time, it was still hard to say, "Goodbye."

'bye Pooh, we'll miss you.

Another musical cat

While looking up the names of the people who wrote the hymn "My Faith Looks Up to Thee", I found this video of a feline who appreciates acoustic guitar music (or maybe it's the 15 seconds of fame).

This musical cat is not to be confused with Cats, the musical or Cat's Music.

There is music specifically for cats and music videos that remind us to "stop littering".

And there are numerous blogs about cats.

But my favorite online "kitty treats" have to be The Daily Kitten and I can has cheezburger.

Goodbye, Blackjack

When I came home from work on Monday, I noticed that our neighbor's fence was gone. Not a good sign.

The fence had weathered many a storm, including hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne, one of which dropped a palm tree on it. In spite of being battered, the fence stood.

Now it was gone. That meant one thing -- Blackjack was gone.

Blackjack was our neighbor's dog. He was a sweet-natured pound puppy of medium height and weight and unknown parentage. His name came from his coloring. He was solid black except for a triangular shaped white patch at his throat. I guess you could say he was the dog equivalent of a tuxedo cat.

Although he was our neighbors' dog, Blackjack was part of our lives, too. He would greet us as we passed his yard on our way up and down our driveway, and when he was outside of his fence, he would come back to our yard to "patrol the perimeter". We always felt safer with Blackjack on guard.

I like to think that right now Blackjack is patrolling Rainbow Bridge.

Goodbye, Blackjack, we'll miss you.

The cat who loved baths

When we moved into our house in 1987, I soon discovered that it came with a cat.

She came up from the woods one day as I was looking at the back yard. Since she was orange, I chose to call her "OJ". (Not very original, but she didn't seem to mind.)

As she became less wary of me, she would allow me to approach more closely. What I saw was a scruffy stray cat with cataract clouded eyes. I didn't think she'd be around very long. Luckily, I was proved wrong.

She had several litters in our flower beds and while I made sure all of the kittens were "fixed", I could never get close enough to put her in a carrier.

Her last two kittens were born just before Hurricane Erin. She and the kittens rode out the storm in our garage. After that she allowed me to put her in the carrier and take her to the vet. When she came home, she decided staying in the garage instead of outside wasn't such a bad thing.

One winter morning I opened the garage door and she was just sitting there. Her back legs didn't seem to work. She didn't fuss when we brought her in the house. As she warmed up, her legs began to work again and we decided she was staying in the house.

The longer she stayed in the house the more she loved to interact with us. She would talk and dance when she heard the cat food, and she thought being brushed was terrific. It was a joy to have her with us.

When she could no longer bathe herself, I decided to risk life and limb and give her a bath in our shower stall. The warm water must have felt wonderful to her, because she never struggled or protested.

One day I decided to try bathing her in the bathroom sink. She was a tiny cat and easliy fit in a sink full of warm, soapy water. She loved being in her own little hot tub! This is what she looked like:



While OJ is no longer with us, she lives on in our memories and through the offspring* she left in our care.


*George (see my 1st post) was one of OJ's boys.

PS: I just learned of a "big" cat who loves the water: Odin , a Bengal tiger, lives in California.

Self-taught musicians

Today I discovered two very different self-taught musicians on YouTube videos.

The first is "Nora, the Piano Playing Cat". Some of the "licks" (pun intended) she plays actually sound quite modern. According to the person she lives with, she began playing on her own. She does seem to enjoy playing, preferring the mid-range notes. Her performance has encouraged many other cats to post their videos.

The second musician is twelve-year-old Conrad Oberg. Born in the summer of 1994, he taught himself to play piano (at age 2) and guitar (at age 10) and has been playing live concerts since he was 4. Quite an accomplishment on its own; all the more so since Conrad was born prematurely (3 1/2 months early) and has no eyesight in his left eye and only 15% of the vision in his right.

What in the world do these two have in common? Music, practice, and following their bliss.

What can I learn from this? Don't be hesitant to pursue the activities that utilize my talents and abilities. I may never be famous, but I'll enjoy my life a lot more!

What I learned from George

Saturday morning we said a tearful goodbye to one of our cats.

His name was George. (He's the one in the middle.)

While we still have several cats, our house is strangely quiet.

George was a talker. The other cats don't seem to be quite as vocal, maybe because they couldn't get a "meow" in edgewise with George around.

He also seemed to know exactly where we were going to step, and made sure he checked the spot so it would be "safe" for us to move there. This, of course, meant that he was usually underfoot, especially in the kitchen.

As I've considered "life with George", I find it comforting to think about the things I learned from him.

George taught me:

* When you want something, ask for it. Continue talking to people until they understand what you want and give it to you, or show you where to get it.

* Know where the things you like are located so you can point them out, if necessary.

* Savor every meal and welcome the company of fellow diners.

* Hugging is a good and necessary part of every day.

* Avoid confrontation if at all possible.

* Spend time in the fresh air every day.

* If you get lost, stop and listen. The information is there, if you are still and quiet.

Farewell, Georgie. You'll always live on in our hearts.