The True Story of the Cat and her Kittens from the Human Perspective

5:15 am - The neighbors dogs are barking. This sounds normal, but it's not. The neighbor's dogs are the best behaved dogs in the world (not an exaggeration). They never bark. One of them is growling.

7:06 am - The neighbors call to apologize for their dogs barking and to say that they were

barking at the fence in the general vicinity of the woodpile.

11:43 am - Two tough guys go outside to check behind the woodpile. Nothing. Hmmm....

The rest of the story isn't as set by time. It happens over the course of several days.

Since nothing was spotted, it's assumed that the cause of the barking has left and there's nothing to worry about. Until after the watering of the garden. The girl is walking back up the hill past the woodpile. She spys a black cat and a black kitten with a white tipped tail. The kitten is scurrying back behind the woodpile. The Mama starts to hiss. The girl excitedly runs inside and tells what she saw. Everyone brainstorms about the best way to rid the woodpile of the feral cat and her kittens. The neighbors are alerted.

The woman sprays the woodpile with water. The wood is drenched but no feline is seen.

The cat is seen at dusk, watching as three kittens romp in the grass. She sees the people watching and the kittens return to the woodpile.

The neighbors offer their live animal trap. Tuna is placed inside andthe trap isset strategically near the woodpile. The tuna is eaten but no cat is caught. The trap is too small to hold the cat. It's returned to the neighbors.

The high-powered water gun is used inthe hopes that the Mama will become uncomfortable and take her kittens elsewhere. But she returns.

The man buys a larger live animal trap and again places tuna inside.

A kitten takes the bait and the trap closes. The kitten is placed in a tall cardboard box. The trap is reset.

Within

the hour another kitten takes the bait. The Mama hisses and flares her tail as she

watches her kitten be carried away.

The final kitten is caught and placed with the others.

The trap is again placed, in the hopes that the Mama will want to join her babies. It takes a little longer, but she too, takes the bait.

The trap, with Mama inside, and the box with three kittens, are loaded onto the back of a truck. The man and the girl drive across the river. They find a secluded place and unload. First cage is placed on the ground, then the kittens are freed. Two stop to see their Mama, the third runs into the brush.

Mama is then freed and follows her kittens into the wild. They are together again, ready to find a new home.

Blogs Re-Visited

This is going to be a rambling post. So if you're looking for something of substance, this is not for you.

For those readers who have continued reading, I am going to re-visit the topic of "Blogs". My very first post was about this and almost two years later, I'm again pondering the topic.

I've become a "blogger". I used to check my emails in the morning (not that I ever got very many). Now I check my blogs.

I love to read blogs:

a) of family (brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts, etc). I love being able to stay up-to-date with their lives. I love being able to see pictures of families as they grow up.

b) of friends. I really like staying in touch with people and blogs allow me to know what's going on with people from my past. I like to know that other mothers my age also have crazy days. I like to know that people do fun things. I like hearing about books that friends have read. I like not having to remember to email/call/write the people, because honestly, I'd forget or procrastinate.

c) of random blogs that I've found when I've been "blogging". This includes the blogs I've found when looking at friends' blogs, clicking on their friend's blog, then their friend's blog, etc. Some of these random blogs are inspirational, others humorous, and still others educational. I love the variety.

But I still wonder about the purpose. I use it to keep people up to date with my life. I think it's kind of strange when people I don't know read it. But I do that with other people's blogs. Am I strange? My kiddos each have a private blog. Their's are to let grandparents, uncles, and aunts see their pictures and hear about their lives. I consider them online scrapbooks/baby books, because I know that I won't get real scrapbooks done past their first year, and then it's only the bare basics. I do, of course, have my photo blog for my favorite pictures. It makes me feel like a professional. Maybe someday...

My big wonderment, though, is about conventions for bloggers. Can anyone explain this to me? I understand conventions for groups of workers (education, dentistry, computers, etc). But blogging? Maybe I don't understand blogging after all...

P.S. Thanks to all who voted in my recent poll! You're all my heros/heroines!

Garden 2009: Take 2

Yes, we have moved to Colorado. Yes, the weather is nice (especially compared to LV). Yes, we left our garden behind (there wasn't room for it in the cars). Yes, we've planted a new garden. Maybe it will have time to give us some food before the frost freezes it all.

PS This was taken on July 4th. It has already grown a lot since then, I have just been a slacker about posting it. Oops!

International Space Station

courtesy of wikipedia.com

This past week the International Space Station was flying over Earth. Okay, I know that it always does that, but this was close. We watched it on Monday night and it was brighter than a lot of the stars in they sky. It moved across the sky, taking +/- 3 minutes to cross over us. It wasn't close enough to see the panels, but it was cool to see it.

I know this picture isn't at all clear, but it's the best that I took. It at least shows the brightness, using my telephoto lens.

Wii Fit

Just a quick plug before the actual reason for this post:  Do you see this poll? Please vote.  It will make me happy.  And you do want me to be happy, right?

Since moving to Colorado, I've been playing this game regularly and I LOVE IT!!!  I know that it doesn't sound like a game, but for me it really is just that.  It's fun to do the exercises and try to beat not only the other people that have played, but also myself.  The yoga portion is great, because the little yellow circle shows me where I should be, which is always the hard part for me in using videos for yoga, because I never know how I'm doing.  The games for balance are incredibly fun, and the aerobics are fun to do!  I have a hard time getting into the weight training, but I still do some.  

Funny story:  Yesterday I woke up and was still tired.  I decided it wouldn't hurt to skip a day, as I'm sitting in the chair wishing I could go back to bed.  Then my toddler says, "Do the hula hoop?".  The hula hoop is her favorite part of Wii Fit - it's pretty high up on my list also :).  So we did the hula hoop, along with a few other exercises.