New in town . . . .

The backup plan for the mouse invasion entailed acquiring two adorable new kittens.  This young lady looks so much like Dad’s old cat TuTu that we named her TuTu2.  Her mustache isn’t quite so pronounced, but her personality makes up for her lack of exotic coloration.

High hopes . . .

Take a bow, Oscar Wild!  He and TuTu2 have been together since they were babies, although they are not of the same litter.  They were in the garden with me surveying the chaos left from last year, and decided Rosie was going to be a challenge.  These adorable, gentle kittens reside in their mobile home inside the chicken house at night and have already earned their keep!  The mice are scarce for the first time in a few months.

The last snow bank . . . .

The remaining crust of snow from a huge drift that sits in the shady corner of the garden looks like a good drink for Rosie.  She has Oscar pinned on a post, so she decides to gnaw on the ice for a bit.  She is going to have to adopt these kittens and share her world. The kittens follow us everywhere–to the barn, the garage, the orchard–all the places we walk on our daily routine.  Rosie responds by tackling them, nipping at them and trying all sorts of intimidation, to no avail.  They make me nervous when they wander into Tilly’s corral as they are not afraid of a horse that could squash them flat with one misstep. Tilly isn’t at all sure she likes having them around and we hope she learns to ignore them.  For now she’s wavering between curiosity and distrust, which must be her genetic ambivalence for the cat species.

Got mail? . . . .

Fortunately there were no residents in the bird hotel.  This pair will bring a lively challenge to the scene, and we hope they are so busy chasing mice they will leave the bird population alone.