Friday Funhouse Update

The funhouse is working out okay. When it is zippered open I go in there by myself, because my table and towel are in there. They are in the same corner of the deck as before, so it is almost as if there is no funhouse there. Usually they zip it up, but it is open here so you can see my furry face better. Mom and dad don't leave me all alone in it, but it means they can turn their back on me and use the laptop, or water plants, or fill hummingbird feeders, without me taking advantage and hopping over the netting that blocks the stairs while they are not looking my way. I still think they may make me something larger and more substantial some time. Mom envisages an entire section of the deck cordoned off for me only. I don't think dad has quite so large a structure planned! (it is MY deck after al, isn't it?)

Speaking of hummingbirds, we finally have a regular visitor to our feeders**, which has made Dad so happy. Mom too, but Dad is especially delighted by watching the little hummers.

Have a good, restful weekend, furries and humans.

**Breaking update: at least two female hummingbirds are visiting the feeders because Mom just saw two at the same time!

Versatile Blogger

Raymond and Busy have given me this award, the Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you so much, Raymond and Busby.

I am supposed to tell you 7 things about myself. I thought it was very interesting that Raymond and Busby told 7 things about their Moms, so I am going to tell you 7 things about the cats that have been in my family. Really, it is more than 7, but I have organized them into 7 items.

1. Mom and Dad have had a total of 5 cats, with me being #5.

2. Their first kitty, Smudgie, was white with a small black smudge on his head. He was a Manx cat with a short tail and long back legs.

3. When they got Smudge, they had only been married about 6 months and their apartment complex had a “No Pets” rule. The neighbors under them heard the kitty running on the wooden floors and reported them to the management. They had to have Smudge go and live with Mom’s parents for a while.

4. The next apartment they had, they made sure cats were allowed. Smudge used to go for walks with Dad around the garden apartment complex, without a leash or harness. Dad would just snap his fingers for him to follow. Smudge lived with them in both apartments and both houses they have lived in.

5. Of the 5 cats, three have been male and two female. The first female was Kimi, an Abyssinian. Kimi had one accidental litter of kittens, when she got out of the house by mistake. (Mom says she was gone for 2 days but returned with a smile on her face). They were awful cute. After that she was spayed. The kittens were born when my human sister was a baby and she loved to watch them. The kittens all got forever homes as Christmas presents when they were 8 weeks old.

6. It was only after both Smudge and Kimi had lived their lives and died that they got another kitten. Belle was white and grey stripey, and small. After a few years they added kitten Rusty, who was ginger like me, but not floofy like me. He was born in a bodega in Bridgeport, Connecticut and my Dad drove all the way by himself on a snowy February day in 1993 to choose him and pick him up.

7. I am the only cat my folks got as an adult, rather than as a kitten. My first Mom was getting a divorce and moving in with relatives who had a child who was allergic to cats. Somebody who knew her sent out an email at Mom’s work, asking for somebody to give me a home. My first Mom cried when she had to give me up. I was about 1 ½ years old, and am now 8 ½. I don’t know my real birthday so my folks decided it was January 1^st, 2002. It was me and Rusty together for several years, now just me.

Since quite a lot of cats have already received this award, I am just going to say that you are ALL versatile bloggers, and so please, anybody who has not yet had it. please go ahead and tell us 7 things about yourself or your family.

Feline Not-so-Funhouse: Wordy Wednesday

I have taken to escaping from the deck with such regularity that Mom decided I needed some sort of enclosure. She and Dad discussed him building one with pvc pipe and connectors and plastic netting and they even went to Home Depot to check out supplies for it, but HD didn't have all the right types of connectors that would be needed. Although that project is not completely dead, in the meantime, Mom ordered a Feline Funhouse for me from amazon.com. I am quite happy to go in it, by myself, and they even have put my table canopy and (of course) a towel in there for my comfort.

But I don't like it when they close the zippered flap and I get left by myself in it for a while. So we will have to see how much of a success it is going to be.

I was thinking maybe it would make a good butterfly enclosure for when those chrysalis things emerge as butterflies. This is how they looked yesterday morning: darker and a lot more woody. Audrey's comment on my last post was probably spot-on: crispy with a creamy center.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Mom went to take a look at the caterpillars at about 8 AM this morning and this is what she saw:The caterpillar known as #1 had changed overnight to a light green pupa/chrysalis (lower center), whereas #2 was still a caterpillar (upper right), although #2 had a distinct curved shape on its twig. Mom decided to come back a little later and try to get photos of #2 in the process of changing. Well, by the time she returned about 2 hours later she saw she was almost too late: #1 looked like this (darker):
and #2 looked like this:
She took lots more pictures as the day went by, but of course today would be the day when it was very cloudy out, and not too good for natural light photos. Anyway, this evening, both of them are brownish, look like the twigs they are attached to - #1 has the following appearance:

So we don't expect much more to happen over the next 10-12 days, and don't even know if these two are planning to stay dormant all winter, or will be emerging as butterflies in about 12-15 days' time. But we will be sure to let you know!

Caterpillar Update

So Mom and Dad decided to let the caterpillars continue to eat the parsley as long as they wanted. This was an easy decision because they knew it would not be much longer. Yesterday afternoon one of them disappeared (later to be found to have gone all the way under the deck to the foundation of the house where it was preparing to turn into a chrysalis), and they watched as the other one cleverly swung its way onto the deck via a strand of dill - walking along it until the weight of the caterpillar caused the dill to bend down to the deck boards.

Dad set up a little environment for them within a terrarium, complete with a transplanted parsley, and a bunch of twigs. They are not eating and have settled into a spot on a twig each, and are starting to attach themselves to the twigs with some fine strands of silky stuff (see the lower one in this picture - it looks like a string around its neck).

From what Mom has read, it will be about 3 weeks till the butterfly stage, OR maybe they will become dormant and go all the way till next spring. They will take some pictures and keep you posted.

Dad has been calling one of the caterpillars "him" and the other "her": it will be interesting to see the colors to the butterflies to see whether he is right.

Photo Hunt - Orange

I guess I could post any picture of myself for the theme "orange", or some of our ripening cherry tomatoes. Sometimes when Mom or Dad take a picture of me inside, the color of my furs is especially orange. So I chose this picture for today's Photo Hunt theme.

Gardening Supplement - Sharing of the Parsley

I just had to show you a couple of pictures of the critters that are quietly consuming our parsley - we got to see them out yesterday for the first time because it was cooler, cloudy and a bit rainy. I think they are a special parsley caterpillar.


Mom doesn't know what to do: she doesn't want all her parsley gone, but they are quite cute. What is your opinion: ded them, or let them be? She doesn't use much parsley. And she thinks they will turn into Black Swallowtail butterflies (picture from Wikipedia).

I think I know what she will do.

Update: Mom did a little Googleresearch and it seems by their color that these guys are close to turning into pupae so won't be eating much longer, so they definitely get to stay.

Thursday in the Garden with Simba

Lots of hot weather and good watering and fertilizer from Dad means that we have giant cherry tomato plants and Mom and Dad have already eaten quite a few cherry tomatoes, although the yield of them compared to the size of the plant is rather mingy. The clusters of little cherry tomatoes are pretty cute, though!



The basil is going great guns too - like Cory, I think I better get onto Mom to make a big batch of pesto (though it gives her indigestion to eat basil in such large quantities). I am explaining to the plant here that it is about to lose a lot of leaves:


Gardening is lots of work, and in this heat, a guy needs to rest and nap a lot.


But in the end, it is time to let them know I need to go inside, where the air conditioning is comfortable, and where I can drop hints for another refill of my food bowl. Happy Gardening All!

Wordless Wednesday - Seem to Have Lost Something