Introducing Timmy

As you all know both Diane and I feed a colony of feral cats.  The Spring and early Summer is a horrible time as that is when all the mommas are having kittens.  One of the mommas for whatever reason, abandoned this poor little kitty.  For days, we could hear a kitten crying coming from far out in a neighbor's back yard.  Then, one day, we saw this tiny, tiny kitten, all by itself.  It wanted to come to the food we put out, but it was pushed away by the other bigger kittens and all the mothers.  For 3 days, we watched, wanting to catch this tiny kitten.  Finally, on the 3rd day Diane was able to walk right up to it and pick it up.  The kitten was near death.  She nursed it back to health, which really only took 2 days.  This kitten must have been the tiny runt, as it did have its back molars coming in.  This happens around 8 weeks of age.  The kitten knew how to eat and as small as he was, he would eat the hard crunchy food.  He has been inside now for about 10 days, is gaining weight (he weighed 1 pound, 7 oz. when he was weighed at day 2 of us having him).  He is healthy, eating, playing and gaining weight now.  She is going to foster him till he is big enough to get neutered, then he will go to a shelted for adoption.  Here are a few pictures.  His eyes flashed in all the pictures, but you can see how little he is:

Mister Lucky - FFO

OK, so if there is one sentimental favorite in the garden, it has to be this one, called Mister Lucky.  It is a Fiery red bloom with darker red eyezone. Yellow throat.  As I told all of you last year, we had an old cat we rescued from the streets at an older age, had no idea how old he was at the time, but probably 11 or 12.  We called him Lucky or Mr. Photogenic.  Here is a picture of him that is my favorite.  Look at those eyes, I'm sure there is a lot of stories in those eyes.  He was already neutered, had had dental work and at some point had surgery to fix his tail, it was bobbed.  He was loved by us very much:

He died on August 5, 2010 and in his honor, my daughter purchased this daylily based solely on the name: Mister Lucky.  To all our surpirse, this daylily is also very pretty and I was able to collect seeds from it last year.  Still have them in my freezer.  So, here are the pictures of the flower Mister Lucky:

This is Groucho

This is one of the feral cats we feed.  We call him Groucho.  He is sure of himself and does not scare easily.  He won't come close to us to be patted, but he also does not run away in terror either.  From time to time I am able to get pictures of our cats from the feral colony.

Good By Mr. Photogenic (aka "Lucky")

We lost our Lucky yesterday due to old age.  He was pathic looking to the end, but in spite of him being thin, he still enjoyed his life.  His demise came quickly, he refused an evening meal, by the next morning Diane could tell he was in a rapid decline.  Diane called and vet, and together with sister and dad, they took him for his last car ride.  We (and the vet) guessed his age at somewhere in the 18+ years of age.  He came to us back in 2004 off the streets.  Little did we know then how old he really was.  He was loved.  Whoever threw him away missed out on a lot of love.

Mr. Lucky daylily

Can you say hello to Mr. Lucky?   Diane bought this variety because she has a cat she rescued off the street about 5 years ago and she called him Lucky.  And lucky he was to find this family.  He has needed to go on thryoid medicine, has had all of his teeth (except for a couple) pulled due to dental disease.  He needs to see the vet every 4 months for regular checkups.  The vet has estimated his age at at least 18 years old.  He is on his last leg of life as of now.  Diane gave him the best life he possibly could have had.  He is pictured below at around the time he was rescued from the street.

Where I've Been?

No new pictures for a few days.  It has been so hot here for over a week, it has been just too hot to go to the garden.  Temps have been in the 90's with high humidity every single day!  No air conditioning at the house either!!!!!!!!!  So, until this weather breaks, no new pictures.  I do share a picture from a few weeks ago of little miss Ivy that never made it to the blog.  Stay cool whereever you are.

Say hello to Ivy

This is Ivy, who belongs to my daughter.  It was sooooooo hot here yesterday, you could hardly get out of your own way.  Ivy love to lay with her belly exposed to either the fan or the wind.  She was a rescue kitty from a hoarder situation.  Ivy has made herself very welcome.  She has the softest fur, when you pat her, it feels like cashmere.

Introducing - Autumn

This is a picture of one of the kittens my daughter kept from the litter of kittens we raised. Isn't she pretty. She has the reverse of a white blaze and feet. Instead of white, she has a black blaze on her face, black lower legs (like a Siamese) and her ear tips are black. She looks like she has mascara around her eyes. She is 12 weeks old now.

New kitten pictures

Here are some new pictures of our 4 1/2 week old litter of rescue kittens. They are almost impossible to get a picture of as they are constantly moving around. They are going to be going to a no-kill shelter for adoption along with their mom. We have adopted all our cats from them and the people who work there are fantastic. I feel very fortunate we have been able to get on the waiting list with the kittens.