Could I BE more cute?

Here is our sweet little Minnie Mao, just waking up from her nap. She has three favorite spots to be: we have a pillow and her favorite blankie fixed up in the middle of the couch between us. That's where she is in this picture. Another favorite spot is on the bed in the spare room--on top of my fleece PJ's and her most favorite spot is on top of the treadle of an old sewing machine table--which just happens to be right over the floor vent to the furnace---toasty! I have a little corn pillow there for her to sleep on and her beany baby mouse and teddy bear to keep her company. Kitty Heaven!

Fall Colors at Home

I don't remember the fall colors ever having been so vibrant right here at home in the four years since we have lived here. These are the sugar maples that line the driveway next to the house.

I am very anxious to get some new trees planted for an even greater variety of fall colors in the future. These maples are the real motivator...quite beautiful this year, but they are also nearing the end. Some have already been lost to disease or storms. The majority of the shade trees on the property are maples that were presumably planted at the same time. Another reason that I am anxious to get more trees planted is that there is the risk of a sudden loss of most of the old trees in a very short time.

Our deciduous trees.

More on Asparagus

I had been asking around about companion plants for asparagus. It doesn't seem to me that the idea of companion planting gains alot of attention around here. Maybe I just haven't asked the right people. I finally googled it and came up with a good start. One that I had read about long ago was feverfew, I think. I didn't see it on any of the recent sites I had looked at, but more than one mentioned Chrysanthemum and any of the same family. Parsley is also said to work as a companion to Asparagus to repel Asparagus Beetles. So while I don't have feverfew or parsley on hand, I do have hardy chrysanthemums that were still in pots and needing a more permanent place in the garden. So there you have it! This afternoon I took the post hole digger and punched some tidy holes in the mulch in front of my asparagus bed. There are now twelve nice mums looking very happy there all in a row. I am expecting to see great things happening next spring.

A Pocket Full of Minnie Mao

Minnie Mao is our little sweetie. She is still thriving and has become our source of sweet little kitty kisses! She has also done a great job of entertaining us (and sometimes annoying us! She regularly wakes me up in the middle of the night by pouncing on my face and biting my chin and cheeks! OW-- tiny little kitty teeth are SHARP!)

We were not planning on having another kitty any time soon. I guess we got one anyway, didn't we?

Mom sent lilies....

It happened a few days ago.
DH brought the mail in, "You have a box."
"I do?", surprized, because I wasn't expecting anything.
Michigan Bulb Company. Yes! Now I remember Mom mentioning something about it maybe a month or so ago. She was sending lilies to brother and I. They were shipped out at the appropriate time for planting here, of course.

I have the perfect place. Recently we had to fell an old maple tree near the house that finally gave up the ghost. It had been on its way out for a couple of years. We've still had to mow around that ugly stump and the chickens have taken to scratching basins around its base for their dust baths. Not that I would want to deprive the chickies of a good spot, but I decided that this would be an ideal place for a new flower bed. Right now I am working on making the yard as easy to mow as possible. Circles and curves are nice to zip around in the mower. Any trouble spot for mowing gets a flower bed around it. This seems the most logical way to proceed as I MUST have more flower beds anyway! We can work on removing the entire lawn in the future...
So on a cool autumn morning week before last, I dropped a nail in the center ring of that old tree stump. With a string and my handy can of neon orange marker paint I drew a perfect circle; large enough to be comfortable for the mower to go around. The new Bad Boy mower is a breeze with its zero turn radius alright, but that doesn't mean zero turn radius without the tires tearing up the lawn!

The bulbs that I had on hand are white daffodils that came from the dear lady in Paris. These have been sitting in a nursery pot in the shade since we dug them in June. There were a few blue hyacinth bulbs as well. Also, a few of the single tone yellow daffodils from the potager that were beyond the boundaries of the wood edging that we are working on.



These had to be moved along with some small unknown narcissus (or would that be narcissi?)
maybe N. poeticus 'pheasant's eye' that were in there as well.
All of these will go in the tree stump bed with Mom's lilies.

She sent Corina Lily


Rising Star Tree Lily


and the Sterling Star Lily
was exausted, so Michigan Bulbs substituted

Snow Princess Stargazer Lilies. .

Looking forward to Spring. I can't wait to see the new lilies! I don't expect much out of the daffodils the first spring, but the following year should be fantastic. The finishing touch will be a fine carpet of Johnny-Jump-Ups...the happy little guys!

Mama Kitty and Minnie Mao

Teeny Tiny Minnie Mao has survived and thrived up to this point on formula.

Lately Mama Kitty has noticed Minnie Mao mewing when we open the back door. She is still uncomfortable, since she has never really been indoors, but we finally managed to get her inside. After nervously darting around for awhile she finally settled down under the dining room table. Minnie Mao quickly went to Mama and found comfort at her mother's teat. As you can see, both are looking very contended at this point. Soon after though, Mama Kitty decided that it was time to bring the little runt back out to the barn with her brothers and sisters. She is still way too tiny to compete with the others for food! As much as I would like to see her back with her mother, we know she would not survive. The mother would likely hide them all again and there is no way that we could get supplemental formula to her.

So sadly, after a little battle of the wills, we managed to get the mama back outside sans baby. Hopefully, she will become a regular visitor and more comfortable with the idea of leaving the baby here.

Teeny Tiny Minnie Mao

Teeny Tiny Minnie Mao

This little bit stole her way into our hearts just yesterday. One of the feral cats "Precious" had decided to stick around earlier in the year along with her sweetheart, Rocky. The two have been practically inseparable, coming around to the back porch to share their dinner bowl each evening. After some months of this we noticed that she was getting awfully wide around the middle!

They faithfully returned every day, hardly missing a beat. We were even able to gain their trust enough to allow an occasional petting. Sometimes Precious would show up first, however; and she would never permit us to touch her until Rocky came. He is the more assertive and I think she just felt safer with him there.

Finally, Mama Kitty (as we sometimes now call her) disappeared for three days. She was gone from the 21st of August and we did not see her again until the 24th. I knew that she must be off having her babies!

Sure enough, Mama Kitty showed up on the 24th minus the bulging belly. Wonder where those babies are? Three days later she led me right to them. They were up in the hay loft. She had found a little "cave" between some bales of hay and there they were.

I eventually found out that there were seven in all... everyone one of them so tiny and sweet. Eyes not open yet, but full of spunk and personality. Mama Kitty was so very protective of them, certainly--not even allowing her beloved Rocky anywhere near.

Over the next few weeks, she moved them around to various places. I guess to keep the predators (and peoples) guessing. Well, we didn't see them for about a week in the end of September and we wondered sadly if they had become some coyote's dinner...

One day DH went to pull the mower out of the barn and "Lo and behold", they were back in the barn again, this time downstairs by the barn door. The kitties were now about four and half weeks old and becoming very brave as they romped and played around all the junk in there...

...all except one. We found this little runt sitting quietly next to a bag of sawdust. Not playing. Not really moving at all. Just sitting there. I picked her up and she was just lethargic...not much more than a furry bag of bones. It was no exageration to say I could almost feel her spine where her belly should be. Husband said, "We've got to bring her in". I nodded in agreement. Poor thing could not compete with her six hardier brothers and sisters at the milk bar!

All we had was cow's milk to give her. I knew this wasn't the best, but I would make a trip to town the next day. Her tiny body just fits in our hands. I had a little dropper and I filled it with warm milk. She couldn't even really take it. I just gave it to her a little drop at a time.

By her second feeding, she was already beginning to perk up. I sure hope the little one makes it...