The Prodigal Cats......

We have had a kind of eventful last week or two.

We closed on the sale of part of our farm. We had a visit from a niece and her mom. I bought the first NEW riding mower in my life, and we had THREE Barn Cats disappear in one day.

As for the niece and her mom - it was a nice 2 1/2 day visit. We only get to see Kali a short time each year, so it was nice to have her come visit for a bit. This was also the first time her mother had ever been to our farm, so it was nice to have her here, too.

Since it was also Kali's 18th birthday this weekend (20th), we had to kid her about growing up. I think she is glad to be getting older but still wants to enjoy High School longer then her remaining 1 year.



She'll do fine. She's intelligent, has goals for herself, and is very pretty, besides (sorry guys, she has a boyfriend.....). She's a kind of "in between girl" - she grew up in town, but spent a lot of time on the farm. She likes John Deere. She has hopes of being a doctor someday. It will take a lot of hard work but she has the support of family to get where she wants to be.

If I could only get that "John Deere" thing cured.....

WHERE DID WE GO WRONG?

Now, for the cats....

Last Sunday afternoon, I was out in the barn. Around 3:30, I noticed that there was only one cat lounging in the sun. There SHOULD have been FOUR. One adult momma cat and two "teenagers" were nowhere to be seen. While cats do wander, this adult cat had never been out of eyesight for more then a couple hours since she has been here. The two teens weren't even her kittens.

I didn't think much about it until the next morning when they weren't there for breakfast. A good barn cat NEVER misses breakfast.

I figured that a coyote or coon or something "got" them, although it would be odd that whatever it was got all THREE at once. After a couple of days, I just forgot about them, except a breakfast. Towards the end of the week, it was even nice to only feed ONE cat - it makes the cat food stretch WAY longer.

Alas, yesterday morning - Sunday 20 July 2008 - I get to the barn and am greeted by the momma cat. I was shocked to see her back in the barn. I guess she just decided to "Go Walkabout" for a week. She looked none worse for the wear.

Then this morning, I am greeted by one of the teenagers. It was to one I liked the most of the two, so I'm glad it came back. I asked her where she'd been, but her English is a LOT rusty and I don't speak fluent cat, so it's still a mystery.

We didn't kill the "fatted calf" or anything, but Deb had some leftover "Tater-Tot Casserole" that went over REALLY well. The poor cats can hardly walk now....

We were all set to get another cat or two from Deb's dad when we visit, but now won't need to.