Category: Cats & Animals

My 2018 cat shelter (Part I)

Cats & Animals, My Place, Nature, photos, This and That, Writing and Blogging

Time to update the outside cat shelter.  Lots of straw, tarps, assorted crates and wood…and a big table… plus more to come.

Barbara, for faithful followers’ information, is the wild Calico Cat that lives outside and was rarely seen…until the greenhouse where she hung out for years was torn down last spring, leaving poor Barbara rather confused and homeless.    But now she has apparently decided to move into the shelter on my back deck.  She is not afraid of me, and comes out when I call her name.  All of the cats locally defer to and respect “crazy Barbara” as she is sometimes called…they make room at the food dish and water pan, and apparently tolerate the tough old lady.

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Barbara, an old soldier, three feet, feral, numerous kittens. Bad foot is from being hit by a car, we didn’t know until later.

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This guy doesn’t really live here, but is a frequent visitor who apparently likes the food..

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Fluffy staked out this nest early on.

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An early arrangement, under temporary cover.

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This big grey tarp from “mail away” covers the entire deck and stays up year round. There will be at least one more heavy tarp draped over the umbrella. The temps could get down to Zero degrees Fahrenheit later in the winter…or not. This is Ohio, we try to be prepared for whatever comes our way.

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early rain protection, the plants have moved into the house.

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under construction

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This is the house the APL Lady, Joyce, made a few years ago. It was Peggy’s house but now two or three cats call it home. It’s a big tub like for Christmas trees. I put new straw inside this year, and checked out the inside…very impressive, built with ledges and windows to allow light, fully lined with insulation.

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Fluffy

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View from the kitchen, the shelter will include the swing, several tarps and assorted boxes. It was still green outside when I took this shot.

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a view inside, the light in back of the tarps is coming from heavy plastic “windows” in the back of the right side, so it isn’t just a dark hole.

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The (R) edge of the tarp will come down to anchor the main part of the shelter.

 

Cat Decisions

Cats & Animals, Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge, My Place, photos, Sometimes, This and That, Writing and Blogging

 

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Now what?

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Pearl isn’t sure.

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Bob considers the situation.

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say what?

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Closer, so we don’t have to shout

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Time for a nap.

(photos ©Sometimes,2018)  The colors in these shots are overwhelmed by the bright sunlight coming in the windows…except for Pearl, who is completely black and requires different camera settings to see her face.   The green paint is prettier than it appears, but could use a fresh coat of paint.   (The very thought of painting scares me!    and yes, I know we should have painted before we put the flooring down.   yikes!)

No more kittens…but here’s a possibility

Cats & Animals, My Place, Nature, Photographs, This and That, Writing and Blogging

 

The latest kittens from next door.   Barbara has been featured in this blog before…she is a rough and tumble lady that appeared from thin air long ago; she lived in the now defunct greenhouse across the road.   Not sure where she lives now, she is very illusive.

[all photos ©Sometimes, 2018}

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going next door

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Barbara, an old soldier, three feet, feral, numerous kittens. Bad foot is from being hit by a car, we didn’t know until later.   Approach at yer own risk!

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Little Sister kitten

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Barbara & Son

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Here he is: Little Grey

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Little Grey posing

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beautiful markings

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hmmm…what’s over here?

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Nosy Little Grey

Cat shelter version 2018

Cats & Animals, My Place, Photographs, This and That, Welcome to the Neighborhood, Writing and Blogging

Here are some shots of my current cat shelter.   It has been very cold this year so far, and my walk-in contraption works great.   The outside cats enter from the top of the storage-box shelter roof.   Two cats live in this structure, Peggy and Cat Henry.

(photos ©Sometimes, 2018.)

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Visitor heard the food clatter

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Dottie and Cat Henry

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shelter from storage bin, igloo-like entrance; the back wall is clear plastic; straw walls

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behind couch cushion is a big packing crate/box from the pallet place.    

 

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The red umbrella is the basic frame for this contraption…with support for tarps from overhead beams on deck. Reflection of glass doors from clear plastic at aback.

 

Spider Days…. warning to those who don’t love spiders…

Cats & Animals, My Place, Nature, Photographs, photography, This and That

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a work of art worthy of Arachne herself… (©Sometimes, 2017)

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This spider is not happy with me because I ran pell-mell into her web this morning, unintentionally… and yesterday rescued a little flying thing from the web.    Have ya ever seen a spider stomp her little feet?

 

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A nursery web by a different spider.   The string of little beads are baby spider eggs.

 

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Fortunately the spider posing for these photos is not anywhere near as she appears, she is in fact holding onto a big “stink bug” as we call them.  

[Please Note:   all photos are copyright by © Sometimes, 2017.    In the event that someone wants to republish any of my photos they are welcome….but please be sure to give credit mention to Sometimes as a courtesy.]

The Hundredth Monkey (Re-blogged from Ellie’s Blog)

Cats & Animals, education, inspiration, Other Bloggers' Work (re-posted here), re-blogged posts, This and That

This blog just came to my attention this morning, and its my favorite blog today. Thanks SO much for the re-blog Ellie Haretuko…and for following my blog.

Ellie's Blog

I recently read a study conducted in 1952. Reliability and the actual occurrence of the study even taking place was called into question, that it may just be a myth. Regardless the study enthralled me and mythical or not I enjoyed it. Here’s the gist of it.

Scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropping them in the sand for the monkeys to collect. The monkeys loved the potatoes but hated the sand. One of the monkeys realised that she could rectify the problem by washing the sand off in the nearby stream, she taught the other monkeys. Through imitation they were able to learn. Now this in itself isn’t an anomaly, these creatures are intelligent and able to learn. What was surprising was that colonies of monkeys on other islands began doing the exact same thing without any ability to imitate through observation, as they were on neighbouring islands…

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