If Willow chooses not to sleep in my room, I have to go looking for her at bedtime, to kiss her goodnight.
Crazy, I know.
The point is, I find myself meandering around in the dark with a flashlight, because putting lights on would wake all the other cats…bad idea.
Anyway, I like to look out into the night to see if there is anything happening. You never know what might be out there.
And two nights ago, I saw something I was not expecting.
Lights. Flashing lights! First I thought it was reflections of various inside lights, the microwave, stove, etc. No, I eliminated them. So then I thought it was traffic on SR 372. Nope. Stars? Well hardly, leaping around the way they were.
So I considered…what does that….fireflies. I had another look. Well, maybe, but they were here and they were there, way up there at the top of trees or beyond and way down there in the field. I thought of waking Grant, but he’s not usually interested in getting out of bed to look at things. As I said too, waking cats, nah. Besides, I thought he would believe me .
I’m not sure he did.
But we’ll let that pass.
In the meantime, I looked up fireflies (Lampyridae) and it turns out that Upstate NY is one of the places where fireflies are apt to be seen at this time of year. So.
Last night I made a point of getting up to check and there they were again. Perhaps less numerous, but definitely still flashing. Now, I’d worked out what they were, so should I go poke Grant, to prove to him I wasn’t hallucinating or imagining things? I decided to let sleeping chaps lie. Otherwise the 12 cats …..
Getting 12 cats settled for the night…12 spoiled cats. I think I’ll leave that for now.
Meanwhile, our dry spell continues. The clouds still threaten, the wind chimes play us a merry tune, but rain she does not come. Eventually, we will get a big thunderstorm with lots of noise and drama and cats diving under beds…
Grant must have been feeling guilty this morning, because he went off to find a washer for the hosepipe, finally.
It was leaking like a punctured fire hydrant, and attempting to water using empty juice bottles is something of a task.
I can’t carry anything heavier.
My flower beds are in sunlight all day and one thing I remember being told a lifetime ago, is that it’s not good to water flowers when they are in the sun. I think it causes the leaves to burn. Maybe that’s not why at all, but it seems to make sense.
However this old body is only good for X number of hours a day. By 5pm I am good for nothing. I can manage dinner and perhaps tap on my keyboard, but anything energetic (laugh) has to be done early in the day. So my method is to apply water directly to the ground, at root level, as it were.
The empty juice bottle system works well, for a single plant or two, but the house is surrounded on three sides by flowers and this represents rather a lot of up and down, never mind trips back to the tap for re-fill.
And then there are the water bowls that must be topped up for our wild friends.
When they haven’t been stolen.
We believe a skunk is hoarding them.
But we can’t figure out why.
We have 5 water bowls, including one that is way in the corner, at the top of the hill.
It may not look far, or steep, way up there in the corner.
When I told Grant this morning that I found it a challenge, he looked at me rather incredulous.
Then afterwards he went off to get the washers for the hosepipe.
Those two thoughts may not seem connected, but if you can get a guy to help, you accept whichever way that is with gratitude. My psychology.
Grant doesn’t do gardening.
In case you didn’t guess.
He has been cooking lately and he mentioned that he wants to use some of the apples this year for us.
The deer ate them all last year.
As far as I’m concerned, they are welcome, but the trees are very full this year, so there’s a chance we may actually need to use some ourselves.
I wish I could find something to offer the little groundhog in lieu of my wallflowers…
When Grant went for the washers, I asked him to see if he could find me some wallflower and sunflower seeds.
He came back with 2 kinds of sunflowers, marigolds and some portulaca. No wallflowers. Oh well.
So now I have 2 semi-leaking hoses to work with, (other problems having been detected) and 4 packets of seeds to plant.
I guess I’d better get on with it.
Hello.
I have never seen Lampyridae’s. In Finland we have only (Lampyris noctiluca) and (Phosphaenus hemipterus).
I love your cat photos. Our intention is to get a cat in fall. Of course, we have had dogs and cats earlier, but we think that now it is the correct time.
Have a nice day!
All animals are good but if you are ready for a cat I am sure you will enjoy it. I shall look forward to pictures. Will you get a young cat or a mature one?
Well, maybe a mature one, but let’s see later in fall. Thank you.
Thanks for posting all 12 of those sweet kitties together. It’s easier to figure them out when they are pictured all at once. Is Willow the one with the white whiskers or the black ones?
I see you are using the same large metal bowls that I have resorted to also. You remember when I had such an issue with the raccoons carrying every bowl off that I put out until I found those. I have only lost one of the big ones since, so I’m glad I have foiled their little game. I have never figured out where they stashed the dozens of smaller bowls or why they did that.
I have to water my flowers when I feel up to it, so sometimes I do give them their drinks during the sunny part of the day. I do have a water hose that works fine. Good luck with getting your leaks taken care of.
I saw a skunk slinking off the other day and later on discovered the bowl had gone missing. She wasn’t carrying it when I saw her, but we did see one once before and Grant found that bowl on the slope but this time there is no sign of it. The amusing thing is that they took the rubber ring off the bottom and left it behind for us.
Willow if the little grey girl. Penny has white whiskers and Blackie is…black with a tiny bit of white on her chest.