I saw them for the first time on September 17th, the morning after having to put Buddy to sleep. There were four of them and their ingenious mother had placed them in a hollowed out stump for protection. There were four of them, a Toupee type, tuxedo type and two black one with dabs of white fur on their chests. They played in and out of the stump and under a few of the larger rose bushes. Punky, as always, close by the kittens when they are so very young. She saw me watching them from the kitchen window and she left her observing and resting spot to take inventory of her bunch. I didn't even notice that she was pregnant nor her three or four week past birth body as I was so distracted this summer. Four kittens the day after Buddy left this world. Saw them for another day or so and then they were gone. Punky has never forgotten how the neighbor and I rescued a litter and they are living good lives either as house or barn cats. So, she is overprotective. Her litter with Toupee, Tupac, Dean and Cutie were so much older when she finally let them come into the backyard. This newest litter, I had no clue where she had moved them or if and when they would return. Several weeks later, I noticed something moving under the ornamental cherry tree. One of them bends over and the limbs protect anything under the tree and there they were, four kittens. Punky had moved her family to under the front porch. Brilliant move! Lots of protected cover, room to play, and shrubs to climb through. Sometimes when returning home, I would see them scamper from the deck to under the deck and always under Punky's watchful eye making sure I did not come close to them. As they got a little older she let them venture out on the driveway. Punky surprisingly has been a good mother to her litters but she falls a bit once they are older. She has lost more kittens to hawks. Last week I noticed she was down two kittens and only the black kitties remained. Yesterday, I told Roy she must have lost another kitten because the inseparable black kittens, well only one has been coming into the garage to eat. Punky has looked exhausted the past few weeks. Being a little bit over three years old is really old in cat life when they are feral and as independent as she has been. When we lost Strawyer last October, her liveliness and energy decreased significantly except for those growling spats she and Mama Cat have. She was very late for breakfast yesterday and so far, but the day is early, she hasn't shown up for breakfast, but her remaining little one came in by itself to forage among the bigger cats and bowls. It makes me wonder. Thank goodness for security cameras because I've been scanning the area but don't see Punky. I'll be going out in a bit to see if she is under the front porch. Hopefully, I am being dramatic but the light and life of her penetrating eyes has dulled. She has just been so weary. Unlike Mama Cat, other than food, she doesn't take part of the amenities offered her here. Mama Cat has set up residence in the garage. One more cold night and a warm up will be here next week.
Good news, while eating breakfast a flash of kitten came from the gravel road and close behind was a red hot mama, Punky. She had that look of, make me get out in the cold to find you. Punky kept on moving, kitten had hidden in a flowerbed but headed toward Punky after a few minutes. Now, I don't have to go out and look for a sick or dying or dead Punky. Whew! She needs to tell me when when she's sleeping in. The end of Daylight Savings Time is going to through a wrench into breakfast times the next couple of days.
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I ended up driving around the countryside yesterday. It has been a while since going over toward Canton and The Pigeon Mercantile had done a cute FB video on a new sweatshirt they have. It says Mill Town on it and the design of the sweatshirt is the design that sweatshirts should have, not that band at the bottom that bunches up on the waistline. It was a beautiful drive and I made a few stops coming and going to take a few pics. After shopping I drove out toward Lake Logan. The remains of the devastation from the floods a few months ago are reminders along the road of that event and the area is still in recovery. I didn't go as far as Cruso but still a lot of work being done out there. The road trip did not disappoint. Some of the brightest reds I've seen against the yellow and gold backdrop, simply gorgeous! On the way home, I pulled into a Methodist Church parking lot and the narrow road up to their cemetery was covered with red oak leaves. Knew I wanted a picture of that and with the wind not blowing too much, the leaves were still there. Cane home, grabbed some lunch and headed out to do the Wolf Laurel photo loop. There is an observation point that has great trees and a beautiful view of the mountains around Asheville. After that the next exit if Wolf, so you do the turn around and can stop at the NC Welcome Center which is also a great place for tree photos and distant mountain pictures. On the way I stopped in at Ingles in Mars Hill. The VFW was collecting and the men had their full uniforms complete with medals on. I was dropping a donation in the bucket and I started crying. Thanked them for their service and when they handed me a poppy, the tag says Buddy poppy...I started crying again. I was a mess at the grocery store. I have a few tears when I think about it and talking to Roy about the unusual crying. I am not too much of a crier.
28 degrees and it was a full house this morning for breakfast, including Biggio and Junior. Takes longer to feed them on cold mornings because everyone is impatient. While not all let me pet them, they are getting closer to me, although it is not a consistent thing. Mainly involves food.
LSU lost but they fought hard against Alabama. I didn't stay up for the whole thing but all the chatter about revenge, kind of faded away during the game. Baylor lost as well.
Today begins the warm climb of temps for the next few days.
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