Meeeee yowl yowl yowl!
Huh?
It’s time to FEED me, mommy sweets.
What the …!
Feed me Feed me Feed me.
It’s only six-twenty in the morning!
Right! Twenty minutes
late.
ME OWOWOW!
NOOOOO!!!
?????
Me…
…ow
?
Meow
Meow meow
Meow meow meow
YOWL YOWL YOWL!!!!!!!
All right, all ready! Give me fifteen minutes to wake up and
get out of bed.
One minute…
Two minutes…
Three minutes…
…fifteen minutes!
BZZZZZ BZZZZZ BZZZZZ BZZZZZ BZZZZZ
Huh!!! What the… Why is this #$%#! alarm going off?
I'm blessed with dexterous paws, sleepyhead.
You little devil.
I’m starving, mommy, starving!
It’s almost fifteen hours since I last ate.
Maybe if you stuck to the schedule, your tummy would still be
satisfied.
Silly mommy. Schedule smedule, what is that to a cat. We eat, then repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.
OKAY! Okay. I get the drift.
What a headache.
I wouldn’t be that hard on myself, mommy dearest. Just feed me!
You were so angelical last night, then this morning a little
monster.
Just multi-tasking, mommy slow butt.
Okay, you little demon, I’m going back to sleep, and you can
starve until dinner.
?
ZZZzzzzzzz… ZZZzzzzzzz… ZZZzzzzzzz…
Me...
...ow
?
Meow.
MEOW!
ME OWOWOW!!
?
MEOW MEOW
MEOW MEOW!!
MEOW MEOW
MEOW MEOW!!
MEOW MEOW
MEOW MEOW!!
YOWL!!! YOWL!!! YOWL!!!
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Oh, good grief, I'M GETTING UP!
Late Morning~
My cats are in sleep mode,
as they usually are this time of day.
Austin is my yowler. He can be
heard a block away when tucked into his carrier on a trip to the veterinarian. When Austin makes an entrance through their
doors, everyone knows the king has arrived.
Charlotte is demurer with her higher pitched voice that demands little
attention, poor soul.
I’m in shelter mode today,
trying to calm down a headache. All my
spicebushes have died or are dying from neglect, and more sun than shade from
an aging ash tree that has become lopsided in its shade cover. Much work and loving care kept them beautiful
the past twenty years, and I am heartbroken.
How unlucky in life to be
blessed with a giant ash tree that once supported so many insects, and now,
after its biennial treatment of systemic poison to stave off the
Emerald Ash Borer seems to support nothing.
It’s a standing death tree, and it covers most of my back yard.
If I had visualized all
the other forces that would enter my life, perhaps I would have kept my garden
smaller, but it was like all things delicious in the beginning; I just kept
coming back for more. It still gives me pleasure
when I can escape working in it.
In the beginning it was
all about native plants. Years later it
was narrowed down to no cultivars or nativars.
More years later it was narrowed further down to regional natives. I feel like a quack these days for leaving my
old certification signs up. Sometimes progress leaves us behind in the
dust, and we must settle for what we already have.
Late Evening ~
While this morning was
filled with the cooing of mourning doves looking for mates, it was also filled
with wave after wave of birds bathing.
The six bird baths were refilled three times before the rain came late
afternoon.
A few photos only, as most
days have been insufferably hot and humid, and I’m in melting mode within five
minutes outside. The heavens have been generous
with rain resulting in a whole lot of leaves and a little pinch of
flowers. It’s a bit disappointing.
Spring started quite early
and the synchronization between flora and fauna seems a bit off. Today the ground is covered with bunches of Blackhaw
Viburnum flower stems that were never pollinated. That’s bad news for the birds who rely on the
berries for food.
The croaking of tree frogs
is my favorite sound in nature on a warm spring night. I’m listening to them now. And with that, I’m out of here and off to bed. Sleep tight.
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Bumblebee on Butterflyweed
Swamp Rose
Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red'
Megisto cymela, the Little Wood Satyr Butterfly
Not the nicest name,
if you know what a satyr is in Greek mythology.
The female lays her eggs on grass.
a.jpg)
Hiding in the grassy weed patch near the prairie area.
Polish Spirit Clematis
If you want a clematis that can live through anything,
this is your plant.
'Minnie Pearl' Phlox carolina, Thickleaf Phlox
Needs constant moisture.
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A slight touch of lavender in the throat.
Hexastylis arifolis, Little Brown Jug, native ginger plant.
Looking huge after three years
Monarda bradburiana, Beebalm
Seed Chambers after flower petals have fallen off.
Old Winterthur Viburnum flowers beginning to wither.
A native leather-leaf clematis
that apparently grew from a seed.
The flower is much darker than on the parent plant,
and is growing in dappled shade.
This Post is Linked To:
Your butterfly weed blooms much earlier than it does here, but it is spectacular when it does. Contrary to expectation, however, it appears not to attract significant numbers of pollinators.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a lesser attractor. We do see bees, and of course, the milkweed larva and bugs. It has its purpose, but it is not a keystone species.
Delete...thanks for the garden tour, many of these are still a ways off for us.
ReplyDeleteSome of them used to be a long way off for us also, but the climate has shifted to earlier warming here. The butterfly weed is blooming way too early, but it is what it is.
DeleteAren't cats delightful? I love your story and the illustrations you chose for it!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the compliment. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteIt is hard to say no to kitties. Thankfully they don't wake me up for food and I have learned to sleep through their morning playtime. I hope your headache is gone by now. Garden is such a living breathing thing and it does have its own mind. We do our best to listen to the plants and let them grow as they please.
ReplyDelete-Soma
Hello,
ReplyDeleteSweet kitty photo. It is hard to say no to any furbaby. I enjoyed your cat story, feed me. . I hope your headache is gone. It is sad about the Ash tree and scary to have a near dead tall tree too close to your home. I love all your pretty plants, especially the butterflyweed. The clematis is a favorite too. Thank you for linking up and sharing your critter post. Take care, have a great day and happy weekend. PS, thanks so much for leaving me a comment.
Thank you for your comment. I'm glad you enjoy the cat chat. My tree isn't dying, sorry, I wasn't very clear. It is poisonious with the treatments, and anything that eats the leaves or under the bark will die. It is so sad.
DeleteWe don’t have a cat but the crows wake us up each morning wanting to be fed, so we dutifully get up and set out food for them. They are very appreciative!
ReplyDeleteYour flowers are lovely. It's so neat when you get a bee or butterfly in a photo too! Take care!
ReplyDeleteI love this post, especially about cats. I love dogs but I am a cat person.
ReplyDeleteI laughed when I read this (the cat part). I thought "Lizzie must be visiting Yvonne because it sure sounds like her daily routine!" And then the photo after -- looks just like her without the moustache! It threw me (in a good way!) (She never wakes me to eat but once my feet hit the floor, all bets are off and it's yowl tll she's fed!) As always, I love every photo and I got lots of smiles. Hope you beat that headache. Thanks for stopping by the other day.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved your post!
ReplyDeleteThere’s nothing like being woken up by a hungry cat demanding breakfast!
Your garden sounds beautiful, despite the challenges with your spicebushes and ash tree.
The photos, especially of the Little Wood Satyr Butterfly and Beebalm seed chambers, are stunning!
Hugs and blessings, Yvonne
haha so true about cats. Loved it! Beautiful photos of your garden too!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful nature photos and Cats 'rule' for sure ~ lol ~ hugs,
ReplyDeleteWishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Never to fast for services
ReplyDeleteWonderful post
ReplyDeleteHi Yvonne, After enjoying this post I read all the comments and, honestly, I can’t do better than Soma. Please reread her comment on my behalf. :-) And thank you for your recent kind comments on my blog. John
ReplyDeleteI think you nailed perfection. Beautiful shots.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. ♥
Cats certainly take over ones life and they all think they are the only ones in this world. Sadly my husband is allergic to them, so I had to give all mine to my parents many years ago now.
ReplyDeleteAs for plants they also seem to have minds of their own. Some survive where you least expect them to and others, despite lots of care, just give up. Such is life. Sad that your Ash had had borer problem but hopefully it will survive with all the treatment even if not in full glory. As for Clematis, mine still lives but it is not exactly a happy plant!
Take care, Diane
Hi Yvonne
ReplyDeleteThe pictures are beautiful and blog was cat speak well.
Ha! If we don't get up and feed our cats they start fighting, rolling, bumping, and causing a cat-motion downstairs.
ReplyDeleteKing Austin is awesome. 😍💗
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about the tree you remember. My soul hurts when I see a tree dying. The wild garden is very beautiful even if you can no longer take care of it like before.
I wish you good health! Harmony! Hugs 💗🌹