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| Jasmine. Meandering. |
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| Followed by her errant daughter (biggify) Alice. |
I tried to get pictures of the two semi-feral cats that I have been feeding now for over a year, but they are too twitchy. For quite a while it was Grace, a little grey tabby female with a high, tiny voice. We've gotten to the point that I can lightly pat her head. For a nanosecond. About three or four months ago, a male cat, handsome in a beat-up kind of way, so I have named him Bogey, started appearing at breakfast. He must have been someone's cat at some point in his life. I can actually stroke his head and back for a minute or two, evoking loud purrs. But Grace is in charge - there is no doubt about that. I am pretty sure that both have been spayed/neutered because there have been other male cats that have come and gone, and Grace has not presented me with kittens.
A pair of barn swallows have built a muddy nest atop wind chimes that are hanging from the porch. My morning visits are now dive-bombed by agitated parents. Can't wait until those birdlets fledge!
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I have been turning to reading before bed, to try to calm my mind. I didn't want to delve into anything in my usual genre - murder mysteries - for obvious reasons. So I have taken to reading about food and cooking. The first book I read is called "Home Cooking" by Laurie Colwin. It's a used paperback that I picked up at my favorite book source - Thriftbooks. What a great read! She has a delightful sense of humor and each chapter is short - like a mouthful! I would highly recommend this book if you can find a copy. I have now delved into something a little (lot) less light, entitled "The Potlikker Papers; a Food History of the Modern South" by John Edge. I got this through the library. It is a fascinating account of how food played a major role in the evolution of the South. I've just started it, but am enjoying it immensely.
10 comments:
Thank goodness Grace is spayed. :)
I love cows. Ayrshires are very pretty but of course nothing beats the creamy milk of a Jersey. I have a theory that swallows only nest where good people live.
"handsome in a beat-up kind of way, so I have named him Bogey" -- PERFECT!
I know! When the first 'gentleman' appeared on the scene, I would run all kinds of scenarios on trapping, spaying, releasing - I think that Grace was a barn rescue - spayed, then released at the farm as a barn cat.
Ayrshires are pretty but nuts. Jerseys are beautiful, give creamy, wonderful milk by the bucketful and are stubborn. I will agree - the dairy farmer's father, who lived all his life at the farm, was a very good person. I have inherited the windchimes and may leave the nest intact - with the hope that they follow me... :)
Yes, he's a man-cat's man-cat. But a real marshmallow underneath the scars and lumps.
I don't know what breed of cows all our neighbor Amish milk but I do know that if the doors to the milking parlor aren't open promptly at milking time, all hell breaks loose and I can hear those cows bellering from a half mile away!
Well, Jersey's are certainly the prettiest cow around. I grew up spending a lot of time on my uncle's Holstein dairy farm and I'm most familiar with them - obedient, predictable, good milkers. We get swallows building in our carport from time to time. They dive bomb our cat. -Jenn
Susan, if you have not yet read Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", do so. I think she's one of today's best writers, and this book chronicled her family's efforts to spend a year eating only local. Sounds dry, but it isn't. They'd moved to Virginia, build a garden, got poultry, did a lot of learning. I suspect you will recognize some of the obstacles they faced, but ultimately it's simply a good read, with a lot of beauty and soul-warming humor. I have similar nighttime issues as you, and a gentle, upbeat read is my best solution. Well, and Ambien...
That book looks interesting. I'll have to see if I can get it at our library. One of our barn cats killed a barn swallow, and tore it up and left it on the step. Could have been Leo, the new guy, or our rabbit eating cat. I saw them dive bombing Leo the other day, ha ha! I need to raise a cow one of these years.
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