cats – New England's Narrow Road

What Springtime Meant and Means to Me

Springtime in Florida is barely noticed. Possibly it means the return of heat more than anything. Spring breakers and bikers (Bike Week) have gone, and so have the Easter visitors, but I’m sure there are some tourists somewhere, or should I say….everywhere.

Springtime in New Hampshire was impossible NOT to notice. Everything became suddenly GREEN!

Before the snow was gone, or the temps rose much, people would be running and walking wearing t-shirts and shorts. It was surprising to me how much people liked to pretend it was Spring, even when the temperatures were still in the 40’s!

Tulips and other bulbs would brighten the drab landscape and oh, the forsythia! I wonder how tall my forsythia has grown. I’m searching for photos, but can only find tulips. This one was especially pretty.

yellow frilly tulip — Yellow frilly tulip

At my house in New Hampshire the garden hoses would be brought up and re-attached to the house ready to water the flower beds and vegetable gardens. Freezing weather was gone… these were exciting times.

May meant planting season was coming and seedlings could be purchased at Tenney Farms and elsewhere. I would haul out my little greenhouse (which I sold for next to nothing when I moved) and set it up on the porch where my little plants could stay warm until the end of May.

The cats would love going outdoors again – Skittle likes it warm

The cats would begin to spend some real time outdoors. There was grass to chew and things to chase, but mostly there were warm sunny spots.

Haul the lawn chairs outside – so Fontana will have a spot to sleep!

My plastic “Adirondack” chairs would be brought up from the basement and placed in the front yard. I so enjoyed sitting beneath the big oak and beech trees that lined the front yard. It’s one of my favorite memories of the home I lived in for five years.

And oh yes, the hummingbirds! I kept a feeder hanging for them and replaced the “food” every other day or so. That was fun.

May means feeding hummingbirds! I’d almost forgotten….

The house I bought had a bunch of cement blocks lying around so I dragged them out to my front yard (that is where the sun was) and made an ugly raised bed. This thing was kinda small, but I did manage to grow eggplant and other things there.

While searching for photos of Spring for this post, I realized that I didn’t take all that many pictures of Spring in New England. Maybe I was too busy, or maybe it was mostly work, with little beauty to share. My photos are mostly of the months to come when the gardens were thriving and the flowers were blooming.

Maybe it was because of the Black Flies, which used to give me big welts when they bit. May weather was so lovely, and those bugs could ruin it! I was glad to see them go in June.

Think about planting in my makeshift raised bed

The people who bought my house removed this eyesore (can’t say I blame them) – but it worked for me.

Spring at my New Hampshire home meant no more shoveling snow, lugging wood, or dealing with the snowblower (ugh – a man’s job which I hated). It was almost time to shovel dirt – my favorite thing (sort of).

Ahhhh… the memories.

Now I live in Florida. Here is my backyard at the end of April (photo below). The weather is very warm, and hot in the sun. I have summer squash, green peppers and tomatoes already growing, and some are ready to eat. Imagine that… in the North the gardens won’t be supplying fresh vegetables for months yet.

Still, I like gardening in the North much better. My Florida garden gives me something to do, but it doesn’t compare to having a yard full of wonderful flowers and vegetables. My photo shows my entire garden area.

Dig in the dirt in New Hampshire and you have worms and good stuff for growing. Here I have to “build” my own dirt.

Ah well… no sense in complaining. I will simply take trips down memory lane to be reminded of what I had. With all the photos I’ve taken over the years I still have many to share.

There is a saying I like to remember which goes, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

Screen Shot 2018-04-30 at 2.44.35 PM — Reality… Spring in Florida means heat and that’s about it.

A Fake Christmas Tree is Good Enough

cat in the christmas tree — My Cat Loves Christmas!

It is December 8th and we don’t have the fake tree up yet. I’m sure the cat is looking forward to the commotion of setting up the tree. As you can see from the picture, Skittle was such a help while we put the tree together in 2011. It’s an indoor jungle gym for her. I don’t think we will even add decorations this year as she knocked them off one by one last year. Maybe we’ll add just a few unbreakable ones.

This rainy, cold, Saturday would be a good time to do the deed, but my desire is lacking. My teenage son doesn’t want to do much to help, but he likes the atmosphere of Christmas, of course. He says we should have a real tree, but he wants it to magically appear in the house all ready for the presents – those of which will also magically appear Christmas morning. In other words, he gets no joy out of picking out a tree or cutting a tree. Like most kids, he wants the gifts. So I say fake is the way we’ll go, as we have for the past few years.

All the years we lived in Florida we set up real, costly Christmas trees that were mostly dried out from the time we bought them. Continue reading “A Fake Christmas Tree is Good Enough”

Remembering Richie at Christmas

Last year Richie was with us for Christmas and he was a pest. He tore the ribbons off the packages and wanted to be right in the middle of all the festivities. That was his personality. He seemed fearless and he was very demanding. He’d look at me with half closed eyes as if to say, “ya, so what?”

He came to us with a chunk of fur cut out – we never knew why, but he most likely always got himself into trouble. He was very scruffy looking and his curly fur under his neck was all matted and clumpy, but after a while his black fur was smooth and shiny, and the missing fur grew back. Even though he never really enjoyed being brushed, I had to check him for ticks all summer and he brought lots of them in on him. As soon as he’d come in we’d go into the bathroom and I’d brush him and knock the ticks out of the brush into the toilet.

He always wanted to be outside. He was a hunter and killed mice, squirrels and (unfortunately) birds. Chipmunks were his favorite prey. They were fun to play with and kept him amused. Many times they also got away from him and would scurry off into the woods. He loved the chase.

He also loved to go for walks with us. In winter and summer he’d follow my son and I out through the woods at our rental house and run up trees along the way.

He woke me up each night as morning approached by digging at my bed or sitting next to my face. He wanted out. One morning about a month after we had moved I let him and Fontana out like always and then I heard a scuffle and noise in the woods and I knew that something (no doubt a fisher cat) had got a hold of one of the cats. I waited to see which one came back. Richie never did.

We miss him, but for the time he was with us he gave us lots of smiles and we’ll never forget our Richie.

What A Way To Begin The Day

I was up at 4am which is not unusual. The cat gets antsy at that time of day and wants to go out. I get up, make my coffee and begin checking my e-mail while the cats go in and out.

This morning it is pouring rain but Richie HAS to go out. First I open the slider and he just looks, so I shut the door. A few minutes later he is back at the door and when I open it this time he dashes out into the rain. I know he won’t stay out long, but those hunting instincts are very strong in him and I swear he just has to kill something! This time of year the chipmunks are hibernating and he really misses torturing them, so he has turned his attention to the birds, but they aren’t out this early. In fact, the cats catch a lot less this time of year.

Richie has a bad habit of throwing himself against the screen door, paws up, to get my attention when he wants to come in and if I don’t see him right away he’ll climb up the screen. He refuses to be ignored.

So, sure enough, after a few minutes he is at the door and I know he is soaking wet, so I let him in and go to get a towel to dry him. That is when I notice that something is not right. I find to my horror, that he is holding a little gray mouse in his mouth. I immediately pick him up and throw him out the door before he can drop the thing, which is probably only half dead, and as soon as his feet hit the outside deck he turns in a flash and runs back inside. This time he won’t let me near him and heads for my bedroom. Sure enough he drops the mouse – I was right, it can still run – and as I close my bedroom door on him, I see the mouse scoot under my bed.

So I waited until he began meowing at the closed door and then went to see what was up. I opened the door and the cat came out. No sign of the mouse. Now I must go search for the half dead thing that is probably hiding some place in my room.

This has not been a good day so far and it’s only 5:15am.

Update:
At 6:00am my son got up and helped me flush the mouse out of the bedroom. That is not what I intended, but while the cat was looking the other way, my son started yelling, “there he goes!” and I saw the little thing waddling off toward the kitchen, so I grabbed the cat and threw him out the door towards it and a chase ensued which ended up with the mouse and cat in the basement. Okay, that’s good.

At 7:05am Richie comes walking through the kitchen with – yup, you guessed it – the mouse in his mouth, and he is heading to my bedroom again! (I leave the basement door open because the litter box is down there.) So, he dropped the mouse and began playing with it. He chased it around under my bed and out into the hall and finally picked it up in his mouth, so I picked him up and ran to the door and threw him out – way out – so he couldn’t quickly pop back in.
At last I can relax and not think about that mouse any more.

Read about my Adopted Shelter Cats here.