Spring gardening

We did a little family gardening today.  Arlo dug some big holes, my mom bought pansies, and I planted them.  I saw Mother Earth planted crocuses around the yard as well.  All was good until Arlo decided to keep working.  Poor pansies didn’t stand a chance!  :/  I brought him in, replanted the flowers, and will now hope for the best

1. Arlo digs holes 2. I plant pansies 3. Arlo unplants pansies 4. Mother Earth plants crocuses

Eve decided to plant her daisies on Daisy’s grave as well. For some reason that whole part of the lawn is a soggy, muddy mess! We planted the seeds anyway, ’cause that’s how we roll.

Planting daisies in the mud.

Now we sit back and hope that the weather cooperates and doesn’t freeze our little flowers and seeds!

A rainy goodbye

We came home to find that Alan had been very busy. He is an excellent hole digger!

I can’t believe they told us to bury her in our little yard. I thought for sure that was against some rules somewhere. Alan took their advice to heart and went a full four feet down!

The rain was relentless but we went out anyway, dragging an unhappy boy and an even unhappier dog out with us. After I took this picture of Eve, Lex asked if I would please put the camera away. So I did. (until the very end, after he had left)

This about sums up the mood around here.

The sign looks very tiny in this picture.

We said our goodbyes, Alan brought a little levity to the moment, Arlo shivered in the rain, we lowered her down, and filled the hole back in. Eve, Alan, and I worked together to get the job done. Most of the credit goes to Alan, of course! Then we hung her in/out plaque on the fence as a little marker. I still find myself looking out the window for her and checking the sign (that is no longer there) to see if she’s out.

It will take us awhile, but everyone seems to be coping ok and the kids have started talking about another cat. Eve said this afternoon that she is going to start saving up for a kitten. We shall see.

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RIP Sweet Kitty

We lost our sweet Daisy tonight.  I found her on the side of the road when I was out with Arlo for his final walk of the night.  She had been hit by a car.  I stood in the street, in the dark, and cried and cried.  I called Alan who came with the car and took her to the emergency vet.  They confirmed (it was obvious) and packaged her up and sent her home with Alan for us to bury.  I didn’t think we were allowed to bury things in our little yard!  Apparently that is a-ok.  Not sure where we are going to do that, but we will deal with that tomorrow.  While he was at the vet, I was home telling the kids.  Eve was already in bed and Lex was waiting for me to get back.  They took the news pretty hard.  It is 11pm now and they are both still awake.  We already miss her dearly.

The Cat and Dog Show

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Checking out the world together.

We have been thoroughly entertained by the cat and dog show around here lately. Nuoska is so interested in Daisy, but Daisy is taking her sweet time warming up to him. She isn’t scared of him, in fact she has been inside more than usual and is staying near him and the rest of the action. Nuoska really, really wants to sniff her bottom! She’s not so sure about that. Sometimes she lets him get close, but other times she keeps him at bay. Last night she even went over and rubbed up against him, which was sweet, until he turned and started trying to sniff her butt! LOL! Dogs! Whenever they are interacting it is fascinating to watch. Eve bought Daisy a big bag of catnip in a pillow, which Diasy has been loving. That probably mellows her out a bit. Right now she’s sleeping with her head on it. They crack me up!

Nuoska was being really bold and naughty this morning! He was relentless with her! Usually when she hisses, he goes into the other room for a few seconds before trying again, but this morning he was persistent. Lex and I took him out for a walk and he was totally crazy! Naughtiest walk ever! (in the two days we’ve had him so far! :) ) Maybe it’s a sign he’s getting comfortable with us and more bold in his environment. :)

At family meeting today we are going to vote on a new name. These are the options so far. What do you think?
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Last night

I went up to check on the kids before I went to bed last night and found sweet surprises in both room.

Eve had a really hard time falling asleep and was up very late last night. This might have been partly why. I think she’s getting excited for her birthday. :)

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I’ll help translate a few:

1. Little Live Pets (official website, Amazon)
2. Mechanical dog. I think she saw one at KMart one time.
6. Non-permenant hair dye. She wants to dye her hair bright purple.
10. Surprises

I think the rest make sense without translation. :)

Lex, on the other hand, had no trouble falling asleep!

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When I showed him these pictures this morning he was surprised he’d fallen asleep that way. He said he only meant to cuddle her for a few minutes then planned to put his head back on the pillow. I guess he was pretty comfy.  ♥

Kitty wants out!

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We have created a monster! In, out, in, out, etc.  We finally closed the door at 6:30pm and wouldn’t let her out again.  So she wandered around, meowing mournfully.  I just now got her to settle down in Lex’s room when I put him to bed.  Now we see if a tired kitty really does sleep through the night or if instead she’ll be scratching at the door again soon.  :-)

Indoor outdoor kitty

We took Daisy to the vet on Friday (routine check-up) and had a long discussion with her about letting Daisy be an outdoor kitty. After some deliberation at home Eve decided that we should let Daisy explore the great outdoors. With great trepidation (on my part!) we opened the door today and let her go!

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Away she goes!

She spent awhile sniffing around our house, learning our house so she could find her way home again. That’s how Alan explained it anyway and it sounded reasonable.

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Exploring the back of the house

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Exploring the front of the house

Then she decided to explore the rest of the neighborhood! We were all outside playing and doing some spring yard work (the joys of homeownership!) and watching Daisy explore. When she left the yard Eve and I had to remind ourselves and each other that it’s ok and (hopefully) she would be back. I was happy to see that each time something loud startled her she ran right back to our house. That was a good sign.

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Away she goes, exploring the neighborhood!

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Fun with the bow and arrow. I think Eve needs some new summer clothes. Everything she puts on is too short!

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Queen of the mountain!

She wandered around the neighborhood and came back home a few times. Once Eve and I took a walk down the cul-de-sac to find her. She was three houses down, exploring their garden. She ran when we saw us. A few times she came to the mudroom door and meowed, but we wanted her to come to the front door instead. Once she came to the front door, but when Alan opened it she ran away. After about two hours she was ready to come home. Lex propped the door open a bit when she was near the front porch and she slipped right inside! Yay! She headed right for her food bowl, ate a bit, then went right back to the screen door and meowed to go out. Alan let her out and she has repeated the process three times now! Out, explore, home, eat, out again. She is training us well. Silly kitty.

It’s good to know that she will come home again, but it makes my chest a little tight when she goes out. After some deep consideration (what else is there to do when raking the lawn?!) I realized that Daisy being out is just one more thing for my mothering heart to think about. One more thing to keep track of and one more thing to add to the ongoing risk analysis that my brain is always running. But she seems happy and the kids aren’t worried, so I guess all is well.

(Now we are one of those people I always complain about, with their pets outside, pooping on other people’s lawns! Now when I find cat poop in the backyard I can no longer blame it on the neighbor cats… though I’m sure it will still be their fault. My lovely kitty is well loved and cared for and would only use her proper litter box. She’s a very polite kitty. Right?!)