Couch Sleeping

I worked here all day. I mowed the lawn, with my reel mower. I put up the roll of insulation, hanging, half completed. When I have an extra $10, I buy a roll of cheap insulation for the garage. The garage is usually scorching hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. It's a tight place with my car inside it. But I also recuperate cats in the garage, easier done in fall and spring, with weather neither too hot nor too cold.

With insulation the temp should normalize somewhat at least. But, I had a little hand stapler I could attach the edges of the insulation to the 2x4's with, and had lost the piece of it that holds in the staples. I found it today. Unfortunately, I had only a small number of staples. I had enough to tack the edges in a few places, freeing me of the space formerly taken by the insulation roll.

In my garage, space is in short supply. It's a one car garage with a little extra room on one side, since it was once a two car garage but now has some space walled off on two sides, as a room--sort of.

Remaining space must be used to store extra cat litter bags, my camping gear, which all fits inside one small plastic tote, any yard care supplies, auto supplies, like my dish pan and funnel for changing oil, extra litter boxes, newspaper to line traps with, old boards I keep and sometimes collect if see them, for building things like cat runs and cat houses, and a few tools I have.

I have a nonfunctioning bike, too. I suppose I should let it go, but I keep thinking I could get it in shape and go for a bike ride, maybe in Corvallis. It doesn't fit in my car, however, and I have no bike rack. I should let it go. I don't have much, which is a good thing. Because I need space out there also to recuperate cats after surgery.

I cleaned up around too, swept the garage out, knocked down spider webs, and mopped the whole house. I soaked to disinfect litterboxes, a weekly ritual, weeded, watered the few garden plants I have, then fell asleep on my couch.

I don't like falling asleep on my couch in my clothes. I ate dinner, while watching the news, cleared my plate to the kitchen sink, sat down again, thinking I would watch the Kyron Horman story on American's Most Wanted, and the next thing I knew it was 4:00 a.m. I woke up, like I usually do from the couch, stiff and feeling icky, from sleeping in my clothes.

The four bottle babes were screaming for food and attention. My own cats are fed up with kittens. The whirlwind has taken it's toll. Prancer and Tabitha believe all adult cats should act like their mother. None of my cats want to be their mother.

So, when I'd brought out the four orangies, to bottle feed, while I sat on the couch, they and I were greeted by hissy fits and general outrage from the adult cats here. How dare I bring in kittens and give them attention, when none of them get the attention they feel they deserve?

On the outs, I was tonight, over cute kittens. I put the orangies back in the bedroom cage, on their heating pad, then walked back out, intending to laser pointer play with the milling angry crowd of adult cats. Instead, I fell asleep. I wake now, to crying bottle babes.

The whirlwind had been free roaming the night away as I snoozed. I didn't remember not closing them back inside the bathroom. They were no worse for the wear but hungry.

Miss Daisy makes a point of slipping in, if she can, to gobble their dry kitten food. She loves kitten kibble, so tasty compared to adult kibble, she thinks. If Prancer, eager for adult approval and mothering, ventures too close, Miss Daisy slaps out with a lightning paw. Prancer is sent sliding, ears back, feelings hurt. But they know now, to move away from Miss Daisy when she's headed for their kitten kibble. She is single tracked, no interference needed.

Sam is having self esteem troubles, with the kittens here, with hairballs clogging his tightly wound guts, and with Zachary intent on being cat number one. Zach won't leave me alone. He's insecure is all, and sticks close to me, cannot be without me and if he is, he's off his balance, in enemy territory and has to be offensive, or so he thinks, in his male mind. I allowed him to be my shadow for a time, but by now, I'm forcing him to make a friend or two, branch out, untie the strings.

He has to share me here, you see, or chaos will result. He's domineering, unused to pushover cats, a.k.a., well mannered kitties who know bullying is not allowed here. They wonder, I bet, why isn't she demanding more decency of him? I am. Zach won't be allowed to monopolize me anymore.

What's in store today? Today I pick up more kittens and their mom, a calico, whom I'll have to net most likely. Then this evening, some Alsea folks with too many unfixed cats are meeting me with two adult females and a male, of theirs, plus three older kittens from one females last litter and maybe a neighbors unfixed female, who had two deformed kittens and acts like she has more inside her, she couldn't get out. If she's still alive, she'll go, too.

And I think in the morning I'll be picking up two or three Albany cats, a mom and her three younger kittens. The woman is trying to give the latest litter away. She still has two from the female's last litter she couldn't give away. Those two will be fixed later.

I was supposed to trap two other places also. I can hardly keep track anymore The rural trailer and another rural location between Albany and Lebanon where cats are being dumped off, including a kitten under two months of age very recently.

There are a dozen more at least to catch at the rural trailer. At least. Then another neighbor off Grand Prairie, where I trapped the mom and three kittens, says he has about five in his backyard, living under a shed, who need caught and fixed. Guess they too are from cats dumped off. But in better news, I was directed in that neighborhood to a man and his neighbor who feed strays. I feared the worse, more unfixed cats. Instead, both him and his neighbor have gotten any stray who shows up fixed themselves, despite the cost. Good for them. Someone in N. Albany also has requested assistance with catching some strays and getting them fixed.