Leaves and Smoke

This one caught my attention the other day.

And this is/was the last clinging leaf on Dad's Japanese Maple.

Smoke is growing so fast. We took him back to the vet this week and he now weighs 2 whole pounds - almost twice as much as a month ago. He has a cough/irritation in his throat and wheezes a couple times a day. The vet gave us more antibiotic for him that does not taste as good as the first one did but he still takes it willingly. Momma cat, Stormy, has a bed in the basement along with a litter box and food and water. She willingly (actually, she demandingly) comes in a few times a day and checks everything out then goes to the back door and waits to be let out. She spent a long time on my lap the other night while we were watching TV. DH had Smoke on his lap and I just picked Stormy up and she settled right down. We had a scare last night before I got home from work. Smoke had been outside and was nowhere to be seen. DH as well as Mom, Dad, and sister Beth were out looking for him with flashlights when I got home. I walked thru the house and out onto the back porch and there he sat at the top of the steps leading to the outside basement entrance. DH was not happy but cheered up after I fed him. Smoke now is wearing a tiny little red collar that will help us locate him in the dark.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the US. I have both Thursday and Friday off - the result of being a quasi-state worker - whatever holidays the governor or legislature decrees our office gets also. We have been invited to Jen's again. She and her husband do the cooking and we do the eating. Thanksgiving.

Golden Glory

This is in the yard of the neighbor behind Mom and Dad's house.

There are still some gorgeous trees around town. I see them in the morning sun on my way to work and the evening sun on my way home. There was a beautiful multi-color display across the street from the courthouse that included a still mostly green, a mostly yellow, a red and an orange tree for a few days. Looking with eyes only you can tune out the power and telephone lines but I could not find a good vantage point for a photograph.

The weather has warmed again so that we have 50's and 60's daytime and nights are in the low 50's or 40's. Good for the heating bills. We have had some rain recently - enough that my dogs looked like drowned rats (at least skinny Sassy did) after going under the bushes searching for the cats.

I replaced the plastic sheeting on the north end of the porch this past weekend to cut the winter winds. At least this year I did it in reasonably warm weather instead of waiting for freezing temperatures. I hate heights and replacing the plastic involves ladders and walking on the banister and the cement block wall. I was okay going up, it is always coming down that is the problem for me. It takes enormous effort to let go of whatever I am holding on to and move my foot off the surface I am standing on. But I got it done and it should last the winter. I still have the south end to replace, though, and that is a whole different set of problems. I'll think about it later.

Cheshire Cat Proof...

I always knew cats could turn invisible ...

My posting has been lax since Halloween as I have had a kitten with me most mornings and I can't type one-handed. Mouse-clicking I can do with only one hand so I have been visiting other blogs.

Both cats are doing fine. Momma cat is now being called Storm at my DH's request. He just could not call her Bibs. In the picture above she is sitting in front of her cold weather shelter which is lined with a survival blanket that reflects 90% of body heat. The shelter also contains a large wicker basket filled with straw that she snuggles down into. We have hopes of getting her into the basement when the weather gets really cold as she has actually walked into the house and down a few steps into the basement on her own.

Smoke is eating and growing and purring ... oh, can he purr. He snuggles with me in the evenings before going into his shelter in the kitchen as the nights are too cold for a little kitten to be outdoors. He has had two weeks of antibiotics and vitamins and seems to be doing fine.

Sassy still chases Storm and would like to chase Smoke but she is beginning to believe they are here to stay. This morning she was nose to nose with momma cat with no problem. Myste is fascinated with both of them and they let her walk right up to them and sniff and whine at them.

I have to get more dry and moist cat food today. They have eaten a 4 lb bag of kitten food in the last two weeks (well, some of it got dumped on the ground and the dogs were in heaven for a while nosing it out and chowing down). I cook for my dogs but cats have different requirements. And even Smoke is picky about some things - he and Storm love tuna but won't eat whitefish.

I have lost my mind and did not even realize it until this week ... I am feeding this kitten on my kitchen counter. It started when I had to give the kitten his medicine and vitamins and it was just so much easier to do it on my level rather than his. Now he sits on the towel on the counter and just waits for me to squirt the stuff down his throat then turns to the water and food dishes and calmly eats his meal on my kitchen counter ...

Meowlloween

I love this picture and saved it for a few days just for Halloween.

As I am sure nearly everyone already knew, Smoke and Momma cat are already home. My DH rather casually said to me last night "I guess you'll have to think of a name for Momma cat, too." So this morning while I was petting and scratching her I called her Bibs because of her white chest. Anyone have any other suggestions?

DH goes back to the doctor today for an update on his foot. We expect he will be off work at least another two weeks. Dad goes to his foot doctor tomorrow about his heel spur. Sister Beth is doing so much better after her knee replacement surgery. She is walking with a cane instead of the walker now. Jen continues to suffer from migraine. How she functions as the mother of 4 (2 teenagers and 2 under 10's) is a mystery to me. Dana has been ill with strep throat. My back continues to ache and spasm at times so that I am afraid the fibro is returning.

But the weather is beautiful if chilly in the mornings and tonight all the little ghoulies and ghosties will be Trick or Treating. We have too many steps up to the front of the house for costumed children to navigate so I usually go over to Mom and Dad's for the fun as the kids have no problem with their paved driveway. I plan on keeping Smoke inside or with me and considering how cautious Momma cat ... Bibs ... is, I think she will make herself scarce.

Leaves are still hanging on ...

in spite of the wind and rain we have had. The maple in Mom and Dad's yard has lost about half of its volume but still takes a nice picture in the setting sun.

Midnight Smoke has discovered the joys of tiny little claws and styrofoam shelter insulation. This is after he was cleaned up enough to go in the house. Looking at this picture I can see how much he is growing. He spent part of the evening on my chest again with Sassy on my lap then he settled quite nicely into his kitchen shelter and spent the night indoors without protest. Momma cat has condescended to sleep in a wicker basket packed with straw inside a box turned on its side and also packed with straw and insulation sheets. I draped a folded sheet over the top of the box and partly down the front to cut the breeze also. Her fur felt cool but not cold this morning when I checked on her. The thermometer was just above freezing.

Today is my husband's 58th birthday. This is our time of year. His birthday, our wedding anniversary and my birthday all take place within the next month. He is still off work right now with his foot in the Boot. He goes to see the doctor tomorrow and we expect he will be off another two weeks at least.

Sunday Morning Reflections

The sun was shining and the air was crisp so, of course, I went shooting. I was in the driveway over at Mom and Dad's when Jen pulled in to pick up sister Beth to take her to her churches in Cameron. Being just as addicted as I am, Jen joined me in taking photos of the leaves, the trees, the water droplets ... I found the above shot after Jen and Beth left. It is the birdbath (in need of cleaning) beside the driveway. I got several wonderful shots of reflections in the water.

Midnight Smoke spent the night in the house last night. Temperatures dropped to freezing overnight and I could not leave the little fella outside. He is not big enough to generate much heat on his own to warm the shelter and Momma cat still will not go inside the shelter. So Smoke came in and spent the night in an uninsulated shelter in the kitchen. It took him some time to settle down and Sassy could hardly stand having that THING in her house. She kept creeping into the kitchen and putting her nose up to the grating to see just what was making that noise in her house. When I went to bed, though, she left Smoke alone and came with me. He is a very quiet kitten so far. Only a few meows that I heard all night and most of those were when someone was in the kitchen where he could see them. His appetite continues to be good and he actually likes taking his medicine and the liquid vitamins. He almost voluntarily opens his mouth for the dropper. I have been bringing him in for extended contact sessions and he sleeps quite peacefully on my chest with Sassy unbeliveably sleeping on my lap below him. She does not like it but she is accepting it for now.

Peach Splendor and Smoke

The maple in Mom and Dad's yard was a radiant peachy-red in the few times of sunlight we had yesterday. Thankfully, some of those times happened after I got home so I was able to capture some nice pics of the scene. With more rain and some wind predicted, this is probably the beginning of the end of the colorful trees. You can see a close-up of this tree on Jen's blog.

Midnight Smoke and Momma cat have found a comfortable high resting place that leaves them feeling secure enough that they hardly even acknowledge the dogs coming out of the house. I am storing some items on the porch protected by plastic sheeting and the cats have climbed to the top of a stack but are still sheltered by a higher box and nestled into the top of a box of craft supplies (I don't remember anything breakable or crushable in that particular box). Smoke climbs up and down all by himself. He is eating, drinking, and doing business and takes his medicine and vitamins with little protest. I took him over to Mom and Dad's last night and he fell asleep against Dad's stomach and dreamed and purred. He was sorry to leave that warm safe haven when we had to go home. I read in the information the vet gave us that kittens should be handled by at least 4 people a day for a minimum of 40 minutes to socialize them. Dad is happy to do his part.

Mary may be right about the other two succumbing to respiratory infections. The vet said and I have read that weaning is a very dangerous time for kittens and many die during that period for various reasons. The symptoms of Callie and Maude did not appear the same to me but that does not really mean anything. What matters now is Smoke and he seems to be doing fine for something that only weighed 1.2 pounds at the vet's office.