Picture Day

 Yesterday, the outside temp got to about 100.   I decided, in the end, to catch up on my sleep during the day.  

Today the temperature will only reach about 89 or 90, relatively cool!  Comparitively.

Once up yesterday afternoon I took some photos of the only bright flowers in my yard--hydrangeas.

The Hydrangea bush was here when I moved in, over 16 years ago.  It still thrives.

This is my little flower patch out front, but so far, the sunflowers have not bloomed.

The front yard Golden Delicious apple tree is in its overloaded year, which is every other year.  I keep removing apples to prevent branch breakage but this year it was intent on breeding like crazy.

Now for some cats.

I lost my Shaulin.  Something happened to her while I was out camping.  Whether she became ill or fell, I'll never know, but she probably laid somewhere unable to get to food or water awhile.  I tried to revive her, with fluids, all sorts of measures but she was in pain, could barely walk, couldn't raise her head without it violently shaking, making me believe she had ruptured something in her neck, maybe with a fall.  I don't know.  I rushed her to the vet, where she was euthanized.

Shaulin was close to 15 years old.  She came from a hoarder property.  Horrible place in that the guy, completely physically capable of catching the cats himself, was such a psycho, to put it mildly and wouldn't lift a finger to help.  He worked as an engineer at the energy department, womanized while I was outside trapping his cats and while his teen son and neighbor teens harrassed me, trying to spring traps, threw things at me and at my car and made my life a living hell while I was trying to help out them and their neighborhood.  Anyhow, Shaulin never got a home, although she was adopted once or twice, always returned.  That was when she was a very shy teen.  She remained wild her entire life, but did love to play, clear up until just before I went camping.  Then came whatever happened, while I was gone.  So long my little sweetie.

You can see the age spots in Slinko's eyes now too.

Here's my youngest kitty by a long shot, at 1 1/2.  Smudge, who likes to play, from the Blue Ox colony.

Hawkeye was the last cat I caught years and years ago at that huge Olson Lane colony, where lady was leaving 60 cats and kittens behind.   Although I've lost several of the Olson Lane cats who ended up here permanently, Hawkeye is still alive and well a very thoughtful kind cat, to the other kitties.  The other day Rogue who is my disabled boy, from vertigo with resultant nerve damage, was trying to go out to the cat yard through the cat window.  Echo, being sometimes (often) a bitch, blocked his path and gave him menacing looks.  Hawkeye quickly moved to insert herself between Echo and Rogue so that Rogue could safely pass.   It was endearing.

Hawkeye remains completely feral to me.  Which matters not to me at all.

Lastly how about Meadow, from Cascadia.   Her age is unknown, likely older.  She's from Cascadia, was fed scraps there, so is always wanting my dinner, rather than cat food, is shy but not completely feral, investigative, playful and has a sense of humor.  I'm not kidding, she could be a comedian if she was a human and be successful.

I'm very happy today will only be about 90 degrees here, as opposed to say Phoenix, where its been 110 degrees or warmer for the last 10 or more days.   

Tomorrow it may only get to high 70's!!!  

Yet another neighbor cat wandering through my yard.  He is owned by the people in the house behind me, along with others.  When their adult son came to live with them a couple years ago or whenever it was, he and his then wife or girlfriend (now gone) immediately lost him to outside.  They wanted me to trap him, but I had not seen him yet.  Then twice they wanted to borrow a trap but never showed to pick it up when they said they would.  They also wanted me once to trap him, although they were gone on vacation.  I declined.  By this time, I was fed up.   So now he's just another outside cat and I wonder if they'll say one of these days, like they did with Gigi, oh he's a community cat now, which is another way to say, we've abandoned him or her.