Darling

I have mentioned Darling in two previous posts and so I thought you might like to see a photo of him.

Here he is with Little Kitty.

Like a lot of guys Darling has very firm ideas about what is manly and what is not. He will not wear pink and he will not drink fruity little cocktails. He likes dogs and horses. Manly animals, those are.

So who would have guessed that he would LOVE this cat? When I was a kid growing up in the south real men did not eat quiche and they most certainly did not like cats.

I have known Darling for eight years now. I never knew until this year that he liked cats. He likes this one so much that when our daughter moved out with the Labrador he said that he didn't want another dog because it might make Little Kitty nervous.

And the feeling is mutual. Little Kitty loves him. We are talking about a cat that is so shy that I worry if she ever gets outside I won't be able to retrieve her. She is so timid our pet sitter has only laid eyes on her once. She is so elusive that I have to trap her in the laundry room to put her flea preventive on her. But here she is with her "hands" all over Darling.

And one more weird thing. Darling cooks very spicy food. Little Kitty loves his cooking.

You Lookin' at Me Lookin' at You

Recently I rented a macro lens.

Kitty loved it.

Not because Kitty enjoys macro photography. Kitty enjoys walking slowly around the yard looking at small things. And if this lens gave me a new appreciation for this activity then Kitty was all for it.

Kitty walked with me and weaved back and forth against my legs. When I stopped moving he threw himself on the ground and rolled onto his back begging to be scratched. He peeked into the weeds helping me (he thought) search for tiny living creatures.

Imagine my excitement when I found a Praying Mantis. I looked through my camera's viewfinder. She appeared a bit too small. I needed to move closer. I eased the tripod forward inch by inch. Mustn't frighten the Mantis, right? Carefully, cautiously..........OOPS! Kitty chose this moment to head bump me. The tripod crashed against the green plant, the mantis scooted over to a more protected area, and this is the resulting photo.

She's a Natural Beauty

Last summer a toad set up house in our garage. She was welcome to all the mosquitoes, flies and spiders she could eat. I thought she was amusing.

Toads need an outside source of moisture for their skin. Many mornings I would find her in Kitty's water bowl. It was just the right size for her and she could rest comfortably on the bottom of the bowl with her nose and eyes just above the surface of the water.

Kitty was not amused. He knew from experience that toads secrete a toxin that makes them taste very bad! Sure that his water was made to taste the same way, I changed it daily.

"Outdoor toads" spend the hot summer days in holes where they can stay cool and moist. When the sun came up in the mornings our garage toad would hop under furniture stored in our garage to hide and rest until night.

Toads also hibernate in the ground in winter. As fall approached and the days grew shorter I became concerned about Garage Toad. The area underneath the furniture was not sufficient for the long winter and she sure wasn't going to be digging a hole in the cement floor.

So each day I moved Kitty's water bowl closer to the garage door. And each morning I left the garage door cracked a few inches for her.

Eventually her instincts took over and she hopped off to find her winter home.

If you look closely at this toad's picture you can see the sand on her face. I took her picture just a few minutes after she hopped out of her hole that is just next to our home's foundation. I like to think this is Garage Toad.

I Have to Get in There Right Now!

Little Kitty is athletic and agile. She loves cheese, milk, and yogurt. She is very feminine and keeps her fur impeccably clean.

Little Kitty is also so shy we can't get our hands on her.

So why is it that whenever we use the guest bath she has to come in too?