Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Today, the last baby barn swallow on the north porch took flight. Meanwhile, on the south porch, the five babies are feathering up, and a new nest has been built near the laundry room.
It's hot, in the 90s during the day, so Spot and Bobbi are pretty much inside cats now. Of course, that means zooming though the house for play time, and for some reason, Bobbi seems to think my belly makes a great springboard to launch an assault on Spot.
We may have crossed the Rubicon on the litter box. We took the small manual box outside for cleaning, then had to go someplace and forgot to put it back. When we returned, no sign of anyone doing it anywhere except in the Litter Robot, so we left the manual box outside for the night. We should know in the morning if Alex has finally decided to use the Litter Robot.
WLToo stepped outside a few minutes ago. As he was looking around, he was startled by Mama Doe appearing right beside him. She's very close to dropping a fawn/fawns. I saw one of her last year's fawns in the meadow. Could be that it's a doe and she's allowing it to stay with her, while driving off the buck (haven't seen that one inside our meadow, although it's with Mama Doe and twin when they're outside our property).
Well, I'm finally sleepy. Will go see if Alex and WLToo have left me any room...
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Czarny, black cat
Rainbow Bridge: Spotacus, Alexander the Grrreat, and so very many more
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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phxmtngirl wrote:Hi Wander ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile") We are finally here in Texas, have internet finally, and came to check on your family. Sounds like all the babies, mom & dad are settled in from your trip .
Our trip from AZ to TX was eventful with the 3 babies, but we all made it safe & sound.
Take care and we need updated pics of the babies please....
Glad you made it safely. Hope the change in heat and humidity doesn't make you ill. I just visit Houston occasionally, and that combo kills my sinuses. Thank goodness the Hill Country doesn't get that kind of humidity.
As for photos:
I can probably get the baby barn swallows on the south porch, but the north porch babies are flying now, so catching them all in/near the nest may be a real challenge.
No newborn fawns yet, but I see Mama Doe let the other yearling twin into the meadow this morning, so I might be able to get the three.
Cats wise, will look for some typical poses.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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We lost one of the baby barn swallows this morning. The ones on the south porch are not quite ready to fly, yet one was sitting on the porch when I came outside.
Before I could go over and shoo it, to see if it could fly, Alex appeared and went straight for it. It did try to fly, but got only a couple feet off the ground; Alex was way too fast. So now he has a taste of barn swallow meat. I hope we don't lose any others, as there is an increase in flying insects now, and we need all the barn swallows.
The third nest is being used, but we still don't know if the builders will mate for the second breeding, or if they're siblings just building a place near mom and dad, or what.
On the good news side, the transition to Litter Robot is now complete. No more manual litter boxes, no more LitterMaid. It's been worth the struggle.
All three cats are napping inside. It's just too hot for them outside. Too hot for us, too, but thank goodness for that swimming pool.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Another hot day in the Hill Country, made a bit more so because I'm baking a chocolate cobbler for tomorrow's cook out.
Spot took advantage of the open pantry door and went exploring, so now I have to put a couple of shelves back to rights. Funny guy, just has to go see. This was immediately after he used the Litter Robot, then sat next to it until it emptied itself. He's now standing on the step, even when he doesn't need to go, just so it will work and he can watch.
Cats and automatic litter boxes are like people and bread machines. They just have to stand there and watch it go. :-)
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Oops, spoke too soon. Spot developed the runs earlier today and made a mess of the Litter Robot. Bobbi is so picky about litter boxes that she will not use a messy one, and left a gift in our shower, so we brought a manual one back so he can just jump in and let loose. Then we cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned...
Everyone's outside now, playing with the yearling twin fawns. No sign that Spot needed the emergency litter box, so maybe whatever had him has already passed through.
I think we overfed the kitty treats, which have wheat, corn, or soy in them, and cats can't process those grains. Even though they love those threats, just one too many makes for a messy situation, so we won't be buying any more.
Alex will be happy with beef jerky or cheese. Not sure what kind of treat the other two will accept, since they don't eat "people" food. We'll just have to experiment.
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phxmtngirl
arizona
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Chocolate cobbler ! ! ! and spot forgot to invite calente????
enjoy your holiday weekend
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Code2High
One hour past Nowhere, CA
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Joined: 12/21/2004
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Sometimes a different brand of cat food will do as a treat.
What goes into your chocolate cobbler? I used to make a chocolate raspberry cobbler, but haven't in a while.
susan
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a wabbit, Fuzzy Wuzzy had a dandelion habit! RIP little Wuz... don't go far.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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It's the chocolate cobbler recipe over in Camp Cooks and Connosseurs.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Spot's over his runny poo, so we'll remove the manual box now. Nobody wants outside today, too hot and windy.
Even the barn swallows are perching more often than not, since it's too windy for the bugs to fly.
And still no rain in the forecast...
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Rattle, rattle, RATTLE, RATTLE, WHAM!
Say, whu? OOF! Dang it, Cat!
And so began this morning, at 0400. Bobbi and Spot woke up and decided it was play time. The window blinds by the cat tree made a great toy, then the chase was on, until Bobbi scattered things off the cocktail table, and a heavy book hit the floor. Naturally, she scrammed, right back into the bedroom and onto my stomach.
Been so long since we've had a kitten (fifteen years), that I'd forgotten their need to bounce off of everything. Since she and Spot are staying inside due to the very high and hot winds, they're expending more energy inside than normal.
I have bruises from where one or the other has landed on or bounced off of me. At least my doctor just said, "Ah, gotcha," when he noticed the bruises, and I simply said, "Young cats."
Thank goodness Alex prefers to stretch out between us, or curl up on the corner of the bed.
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