Morning view

I'll be watching you

Little Moose watches Old Rudy.
Peach watches Little Moose.
I watch them all.

Little Moose on the loose: First kiss

Who better for a little fellow to have a first kiss with than Peach?

Cat nap

Miss Peach finds a new use for an old wreath I was going to toss.

Beauties in the garden

The Euphorbia are exceptional this year - I suppose I might say that each year. As a former Minnesotan, I still am in awe like a Dorothy landing in OZ at the many plants we can grow here. Each spring these yellow giants emerge and you forget how big they get, how they watch you with their multiple eyes, sway in wind and create theatrical backdrops for the living.

And Huck continues on at age 8.5 to make me melt. His soft buttery ears and soulful gaze - always soaked in to my heart first, and then I feel I must capture it on film. I hope he never leaves, but he will, so each moment like this is relished. Miss Peach has added weight since I rescued her a year ago and she continues to be a one person cat. She tolerates the other cats, and seems to be warming up to BW, who constantly sticks his neck out to befriend her. In time, she has begun to allow him to sit with me while she is on my lap.

Morning yoga with a Peach

She charges nothing for her lessons. Their are no words exchanged. Nor do we stuff ourselves in a room of high temperature with yoga panted people. Our yoga room is the open big top of Apifera and the instructor always ends the class with her uniquely mastered prayer pose.

Walk with Professor Otis Littleberry

Much attention has been spent, out of necessity, on helping Aunt Bea, but little Professor Otis Littleberry can not be forgotten.

Miss Peach pointed her tail this a way

Miss Peach and I spent all morning arranging names on a white wall. I wrote each name in a different color of chalk. Then When Miss Peach pointed at a name with her tail, it would be marked in a a specific chalk color. I got this idea from the marking harness for a ram during breeding season. It worked swimmingly.

Miss Peach has been delayed

Miss Peach appreciates all the nice thoughts and notes from people on her arrival to Apifera. She will be pointing her tail at a name and sending off a "Love Floats" book to one person. We intended this tail pointing to occur this week, but so as not to be rushed, we will be doing this next week, we promise. So you can still participate in Miss Peach's tail pointing exercise by visiting this blog post.

Thank you to all her current supporters. Stay tuned until next week.

Miss Elberta Peach is here

Note: Miss Peach pointed her tail on 9/27/11. She's sending "Love Floats" to....well, read more at this post.

Miss Elberta Peach has arrived at Apifera. She wants one of you to get a copy of Love Floats. If you don't know the story, it goes like this:

One day, I was minding my own business, and a cat fell out of the sky...via a casual trip to the vet to pick up dog wormer. I entered the clinic and chatted with the staff at the front desk who know me well after eight years. Just then, a very grumpy woman came in the door and sternly announced she had a stray cat in a trap, in her car, and "was not taking it home no matter what." The staff politely told her they were full up [they already have many cats dumped that they care for until homes are found], and the woman repeated several times she was "NOT bringing that cat back home". We all looked at each other instinctively knowing that cat's fate cat would be a roadside dumping.

"I'll take her, " I said, not knowing what the cat was or what shape it was in.

The clinic was kind enough to take the cat in on the spot and look her over. She was a lovely, tame orange female tabby - quite rare. And she was spayed. She liked to be held too. When the woman trapped her, it was in the middle of a two week heat spell of 95+ degrees, and we think she left the poor cat in the live trap for a couple days - she was panting heavily and was dehydrated.

Since the woman who brought her in was no help in giving us more info about who might own the cat, if anyone, we decided to keep the cat at the clinic to make sure she was okay after her long, hot entrapment, and to see if anyone would claim her. The woman had trapped her just a couple blocks away, and everyone in the small town knows of the only vet clinic so would go there if they lost a cat.

But no one claimed her. So she has been reborn as Miss Elberta Peach.

The vet graciously gave her free room and board for 7 days, and a free exam. But her meds, tests and vaccines cost $98. So, I will send a copy of "Love Floats". to one of you. Just pay your $5 and Miss Peach will point her tail at one of your names later next week. Of course you can pay more, but this makes it easy for everyone to play along with Miss Peach.