Sad Mamma Kitty, Happy Us

Our five kittens are gone. The two male kittens left today for a country home, they will be the only two that will be outside kitties and their new owner is hoping that they will be good hunters like their mamma. The three females went before Christmas and were to be inside cats.  We think that our favorite of the five, a female, is now living in Fort Worth, her new owner was just visiting here in Brownwood. That one is going to be spoiled and has a little Yorkie to play with.

The question of the day is how do you tell a mamma kitty that her babies are no longer here but they are OK? Though she is currently quiet, Patches has been walking around the house and calling them. She has done this after every departure but this is the first time that no kittens at all responded. She is sad because she can't find them. We are happy because they have all gone to good homes. We think she will adjust soon and my logical mind says that she does still have Coal and Toki, though I don't think she is thinking of them as her babies anymore.

We've got to say that God answered our prayers. We had gotten attached to these kittens and asked God to provide good homes for them, and He did. We were disappointed when only three went before Christmas, but if they had all gone before Christmas then this family who just lost their male cat wouldn't have been able to take these last two. God's perfect timing, even with distribution of kittens. We had some that needed a new home, and God made sure that people who had a home and wanted a kitten saw our ad. Isn't it great that we can trust God with every aspect of our lives no matter how big or small?  Even with providing homes for cats. With that in mind, whatever your need might be right now, don't hesitate to tell God about it and ask Him to provide.

Hallelujah, God be praised

This morning we attended a special Christmas service at our church. Scripture was read, readings shared, and songs were sung. Among the songs were many traditional Christmas hymns, but one of a different variety touched my heart today. Searching the internet for the words we sang this morning was a challenge. I discovered that the song itself has many different versions with most of them being nothing I would sing. But the version this morning was about Christ's birth and His reason for coming.

I had heard the song before and knew the somewhat haunting tune, so singing along was easily done with the words before me on the screen . . . until we reached the last verse. I could only stand there awed by the truth of the words "I know you came to rescue me. This baby boy would grow to be a man and one day die for me and you. My sins would drive the nails in You, that rugged cross was my cross too, still every breath You drew was Hallelujah".

Hallelujah means "God be praised, an expression of worship and rejoicing". I looked it up to be certain of the meaning. I know the truth that Christ came to this earth to rescue me from sin, and I often think of Christ suffering for me on the cross, the cross that I so much deserve, but to think that maybe while He was suffering He was whispering the word Hallelujah, praising God, worshiping and rejoicing that my redemption would soon be completed . . .  how could this be? How could Jesus possibly be praising and worshiping God while my sins were in the process of covering Him?

You won't find it in the scripture where His last words are recorded, but I know Him personally, and whether He said the word verbally or not I'm convinced that His heart surely shouted Hallelujah, God be praised. I can only sit here with tears in my eyes doing some worshiping and praising of my own. With a thankful heart I repeat Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.


Lyrics can be viewed at:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/cloverton/ahallelujahchristmas.html

Or listen to a beautiful recording:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuNAknMZlqo

Who's on your ladder?

The week of Thanksgiving I had a couple extra days off.  The bedroom needed a new coat of paint so out came the paint, brushes, plastics to protect stuff, and that all important ladder to help reach the top of the walls. It didn't take long for Toki and Coal to come find out what was going on. Coal got bored quickly but Toki wanted to be there, just to keep an eye on things. Based on the blog title, you have probably guessed that the best place from which to watch was high up on the ladder.

Except for those times when I needed to use the ladder, it was a great place for her to be because I knew she wasn't underfoot or leaning her little body against the wet paint. Granted, those times when I made her get off she kept an eye on the ladder for an opening to get back on, but she patiently waited and didn't leave the room. She didn't say anything, she was just there keeping me company and listening when I talked to her. She didn't help with the painting, and in fact got in the way a few times, but her presence did make a tiresome job a little bit brighter. 

As I pondered her "assistance" I thought about the many people who have been there for me. Not sitting on a ladder staring at my every move of course, but just being there. Many times when I have had to do something I didn't really want to do, or I was going through a difficult time in my life, there was a friend or two willing to just hang around with me. Step in with the work if that is what I needed, sit and chat for awhile, or just lend me their ear so I could talk it out myself.

I'm reminded that when I know someone is struggling a bit with life, I just need to be there for them. They probably don't need my mouth as much as they need my ears so I don't need to be concerned that I don't know what to say, and if I can help with whatever is going on that's great, but if I can't just my presence may be encouraging. I think I'm going to try and keep an eye out for those God given opportunities to help someone else along the way, whether it's by jumping in to help get a job done or just quietly staying by their side. I hope you'll look for those opportunities as well.

Kittens @ 1 month

Here are some pictures of the new kittens at 1 Month old. They are starting to drink milk and come out in the open more. We have started socializing them and are trying to get them to use the litter box although that is hard with them outside. They should be ready for new homes at Christmas. 

A Cutie

A lot like her mother

All five

Four of them

Don't let their innocent looks fool you

Sometimes these cats drive me nuts.  I make my wishes known that they don’t stick their claws in my leg, don’t eat the plants, sharpen their claws on the cat tree not the furniture, stay off the table, etc. Yet when I turn my back what are they doing?  Exactly the things that they know I don’t want them to do.  When I make eye contact or raise my voice they are on the run because they know that they are in trouble.

We’re just like that sometimes aren’t we?  It all started with Adam and Eve. God told them what they could do, and what they could not do. What happened?  Even though they spent a lot of time with God, and they knew that He loved them, they did exactly what He told them not to do and then they hid because they knew they were in big trouble.

I carry those same traits.  Though I want to do what is right, holy and true to my Lord, my sinful nature jumps out there and I do or say something I should not.  I’m in good company because Paul wrote that he had the same problem (Roman 7:15) “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (ESV).

When I mess up God is there waiting for me to recognize my sin and confess, His arms are open to welcome me back.  I’m glad that when I honestly say “I’m sorry” God responds “You’re forgiven my child, I love you”.

Kittens! Again...

Well, we fully intended to get Patches fixed so there would be no more kittens but alas it didn't happen for one reason or another. Either it was too soon or she was still nursing or we just could not catch her and get her delivered to the Vet. Maybe this time we will be successful.

We went on the camping trip knowing that she was close to having them and sure enough when we came home she was skinnier. She would eat and then disappear. When we finally found where she had them they were right in the yard by the shed.

 The top picture is where they were when we found them. They were all cuddled up in the grass next to the shed. We put some towels in a box and after Patches went inside and checked it out, she moved them and the bottom picture is her moving one of the kittens. I figure they were born on October 23rd and that puts less than 5 months between litters. We may be trying to give them away by Christmas so if you want one let us know.

Anniversary camping trip

We haven't been camping in a while so we decided that our 29th anniversary was a good reason to go. We loaded up the cats and put stuff in the 5th wheel and we were off to Lake Proctor. The only park open right now is Sowell Creek and it is one of our favorites. Above is our campsite. This lake is an Army Corps of Engineers  lake with a  primary purpose of flood control. The floods of 2015 and 2016 took their toll and there is a lot of damage at all 3 parks. We enjoyed it anyway and they are hoping for budget money to repair the damage and get all 3 parks open again.

Sunsets were beautiful and the stars are brilliant on dark nights. We really enjoyed the colors and we had beautiful weather for the whole trip.

Deer were numerous, especially in the evening when they were moving and feeding. These are just a few.

This birdhouse on a tree may have been damaged by the flooding but Martha thought it was photo worthy

This is an American white pelican

I had not ever seen the white pelican but at our creek house on the Texas coast we have many Brown Pelicans. We have since sold that place but will get to visit it again next year.

   

Anyone recognize this bug?

And here is a final sunset picture. This is a great park with reasonable prices and especially so if you have a National Park pass. Hopefully the other parks will be open next year. 

Winning a prize

On September 1 the Chamber of Commerce had a business showcase event where 65 or so businesses come together in the coliseum to make a pitch for their goods or services, This is always a fun event as we go from booth to booth, talking with the representatives and filling out 'tickets' that enable us to win a door prize. We use small labels that make our writing more legible and are much quicker to stick on instead of writing our information. This year the 'big' door prize was a 50 inch TV but we didn't win that one. We did however win a prize from one of the booths and it is pictured above. We have won small prizes at several of these events and I guess it 'keeps us coming back'.

The end of an era

It was 13 years ago that we took possession of the house where my parents had lived for almost 25 years. The first thing we had to do was put a roof on it and a few weeks later it survived a small tropical storm. Since then we have cleaned, repaired, painted and replaced to bring it to where it is today. A week ago today we signed the closing papers to transfer ownership to someone else. They signed on Friday and the deal was done. Martha asked me later that evening if I had regrets now that it was over and I said no, and I meant it. The house accomplished what it was supposed to do and I enjoyed every moment there even if it was work. I am satisfied that I did my best to restore it to what it once was.

The new owners are great people and they have offered us the privilege of using it 4 weeks a year as long as they own it and I am alive. That was totally unsolicited and unexpected. We surely won't use it that often but maybe once or twice a year.  They have many plans for modifying the house and we look forward to seeing what they are going to do.

In the meantime we will find other outlets for our time and energy. The 5th wheel needs to get out and camp and stuff needs to  be done around the home front, We need to spend more time spoiling the grand kids, etc.This will be my last post about the creek and the house but there are lots of other topics. Martha may want to chime in with her thoughts and I hope she will. She did a major portion of the work and I could not have done any of it without her.

Kittens - learning to travel

The kittens have grown and I haven't kept up the blog very well but we did take 2 of them on a trip and they did very well. We had to take 2 of them to the animal shelter which we didn't want to do but there was no way we could have taken 4 with us or kept up with them at the creek house. The yellow one we named Toki which is short for tiny orange kitten and the solid black one is coal because he is solid black like coal.

Surprising enough they rode very well for a seven hour ride and only a couple of times did they threaten to be a problem by getting around my feet. They used their litter box on the way like big cats and adapted to it being moved at the creek house. They are well potty trained and rapidly becoming spoiled house kittens. Their mother is also getting spoiled. We had a great week with both of the kittens getting adapted to new surroundings.

Kittens - almost 8 weeks

The kittens are continuing their growth and are very active. We will keep the black one and one of the female yellows. The one in front with the white feet is a male that I call Tiger. The other two yellows are both female  and either would make a great pet. We are advertising them and would like to place them in good homes because we can't keep them all. Here are a few other pictures.

They really like to climb my leg and fight each other in my lap.

This is our home made cat tree and they love it. We have had one more incident of a bird in the house, (see the last post). Sunday morning the mother cat went out and returned to the door with a dead sparrow. She wants to train the kittens about birds but we will not let the kittens out yet so she insists on coming in. We let her but the kittens refused to eat the bird so we took it out and she settled for it but was not a happy camper

Bird in the house - Teaching the kittens

Yesterday evening we left Patches out while we went to eat. When we returned we let her back in but almost immediately she wanted to go back out. So we let her out and she went to get a bird that she had killed and stashed for the occasion. Then she wanted back in, with the bird of course. We were a bit hesitant but we also realized that this was her way of teaching the kittens about wild game hunting and how to fend for themselves. Patches was wild until she came to live in the big house, and she survived by hunting and killing her food. That instinct is in her and she wants to pass it on to the kittens. So in she came, bird and all.

The kittens loved it, at least 3 did. The fourth was asleep but we helped her wake up and after a bit there were all 4 of them feasting on their first bird. Patches was nearby mumbling something like "I hope you appreciate all I am doing for you".

When they were done there was only a few feathers and some bones. Those were promptly dispatched and life was back to normal. So ends this lesson in the upbringing of kittens

Kittens at 5 and a half weeks

They are growing so rapidly and are very active. 3 of them will eat from a bowl but the 4th one will not. We have tried everything we can to get her to eat but nothing doing. I suppose the mother will have to cut her off to make her eat from the bowl. They can climb up a cat tree and can climb up on the couch. There are two boys and two girls. The black one is a boy and is the biggest of the litter. They were born on June 1st.We can no longer keep them in the bathroom where we have had them so they pretty much have the run of the house. They can climb out in an instant. All four of them are using the litter box, but their mother does not. we will be starting to look for homes for at least 2 of them and maybe 3, I guess we have to get the last one eating first. We want to keep 1 at least.

Kittens - 3 weeks old

The kittens turned 3 weeks old today so here is an update and pictures. The kittens have grown at warp speed. The black one is over a pound and 2 of the yellows are just under 16 oz. One of the yellows is about 13 oz. Their motor skills are improving and they play and attack one another. We moved them to a new box that is much larger and so far mom has left them there. The other night about 2 in the morning Martha was awakened by a kitten cry and discovered Patches moving the black one into our bedroom. She stopped her and moved the kitten back to the original box, all the time explaining to Patches that she could not bring them to the bedroom. All was well for a few minutes and then she tried again with the same result. Once again Martha intercepted. This time she left them where they were. So Martha made her a new box that has more room and we are trying that to see if it helps. Here are some pictures.

Injured Bird

Anyone recognize this bird. This one has a severely damaged right wing. We cannot recall seeing this bird before so it is new to the neighborhood. It's mate was in a tree nearby and was bigger than this one 

Kittens - Day 15 plus a pretty flower

Martha suggested last night that we get the kittens out of the box and let them play, so I tried it for a while and they liked it a lot I think. I got them all out and Patches scrambled around to protect them but once she saw that they were just outside the box she was fine and she laid down so they could nurse and she could bathe them. I left them out for almost a half hour and they were quite playful. I will do it more than once a day. Here are some pictures at 2 weeks plus a day.

Above - all 4 of them fresh out of the box. Where are we, they say, I've never been here before! Below - Isn't that a cute face, I couldn't resist it.

Below - giving a bear hug and a bath

Below - all of them explored their surroundings while out of the box. I will probably regret that when they get a few days older and discover that they can get out of the box by themselves.

More to come

and

Our first Canna Lily this year 

Kittens - Day 5

They are growing and are now 7 ounces +-. The black one is the biggest, weight wise. Here are some other pictures.

Who's in Control Here Anyway?

Luke 8:25  He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

I found myself in one of those moments a couple evenings ago, marveling at God’s power over nature.  Clarence has talked about the kittens on this blog and posted photos for all of you to see, so if you are reading this you probably know we have a cat and her family staying in our house.  The biggest downside of this adventure is that this particular cat is not litter box trained, and she has no interest whatsoever of using it no matter what we put in it.  I even bought a bag of top soil and “planted” tufts of grass in it so that it would make her think of the great outdoors and maybe, just maybe, prompt her to use it.  Nothing doing.

Now, I must say that except for a couple times a day or two before giving birth, she has always done very good at holding it all in until she could get outside, and not disposing things where she should not.  Since the kittens were born though, she has hardly gone at all and that of course is cause for concern.  She doesn’t want to leave the kittens (though that is changing), doesn’t want to go outside (the rain hasn’t helped that), and one would think she would be just about to burst. When we do get her to go outside she generally won’t venture far from the door and, consequently, continues to contain it all. 

Well, the other night I had carried her outside and was practically begging her to “let it go”.  We had been out for a few minutes and I decided to sit on the landscape timbers we have around our garden.  My hope was that Patches would follow and use one of her favorite areas (our garden).  I sat alone for quite some time.  Suddenly I realized that it was lightly raining, but I wasn’t getting wet. I could see the rain, and it was right there, but I didn’t feel anything. Granted there was a tree nearby but the rain was coming from a direction that the tree wouldn’t have blocked it.  Hmmmm, God must be holding an umbrella over me or something.  Even though I decided it had to be the tree, the thought of God protecting me from those raindrops reminded me that God controls nature, all of it, and wasn’t Patches a part of that?

I decided it was high time that I talked with God about Patches.  Since it was semi-dark and everything was wet, and no one else in their right mind would be out there, I might as well just talk out loud to make sure He heard me.  After a minute or two of talking to God (OK, maybe I did do a little whining and begging), telling Him I remembered His power over nature and that Patches was part of the nature He created, and indicating what we needed Patches to do, she got up, strolled by me, and started to take care of it.  I did a quick switch from asking to praising.  If our neighbors had been out and about they probably would have thought me nuts, but I couldn’t help myself.

Now some might say that all of that was coincidence.  It could be I guess, but I choose to believe that God found a way to remind me that He was in control, He did something that got me thinking about His great power, which brought me to the point of asking for His help, and then He helped us and I had the opportunity to praise Him for what He did.  We really do have an amazing God don’t we?  Who then is this, that he commands even the raindrops and the cat, and they obey him?

Kittens Day 2

The kittens were weighed this morning and 2 were 4 ounces each while the other 2 were 5 ounces each. That seems large for newborns but that was the weight. I dare say they are more now after a day of feeding.

As you can see from the pictures, they are big. A while ago they had decided that Mom had only one source of food and they all wanted the same spot. There was quite a cat fight over that one spot but they finally sorted it out.