Work + Auggie + Auggie & Bear + the other parts of life = a full schedule!
Bear and Auggie have touched noses…freely…with me close but not too close … 5 times.
Lots of walk bys.
Good progress!
Weather is gorgeous quintessential Fall in Montana.
Midweek catch up.
Auggie has been with Bear and me for a week.
He is sweet and happy and curious and increasingly confident. It has been a week of watching him grow in all kinds of ways.
We went to our own vet on Tuesday and got a good report: negative for all of the kitten stuff they test for, booster vaccinations and a general “sound body and good disposition” report.
The paradox is that those first days and some of all of this week were also so hard. This has happened to me before, but I always forget and it catches me off guard. Getting a new pet after losing one is a strange combination of fun, distraction and joy in folding the new into the routine but the flip side is that it is also that absolute realization that the lost pet really is no longer here. A finality that I find very difficult while at the same time the new kid and new routine needs a lot of attention. There is no getting around the fact that all is very different and it is not going to be comfortable again for awhile.
Life.
Meanwhile, Fall progresses and we’ve had 2 hard freezes. But there are still pleasant temperatures in the daytime forecast so I’ve been covering the herbs at night with the lights down low and using the lights directly during the day for “helper” sunshine. So far, all looks good.
I’ve been finding yellow jacket nests, fallen out of trees, in the yard and the woods. I’m not sure if hibernating queens are in these but I’m spraying and getting them out of here just in case.
The aspens and birch are turning and the larch are lightening to chartreuse. By next weekend there should be a lot of gold in the woods.
Auggie is very interested in the outdoors, especially when Bear and I are out. By January – maybe even a little before, I’ll take him out on leash to explore if he wants to. My hope is that he would enjoy being outside with Bear and me but be, like Bob, a homebody. There is a lot of great hunting without going too far away.
And grass and sunshine and a beardog!
Inside, with a wire crate half way folded to add a kitten barrier to the gate, Bear and Auggie grow ever closer. So much fun to watch.
A week.
Last weekend’s haul from Farmer’s Market.
Contemplating one’s navel???
A colorful and scrumptious salad from the Farmer’s Market bounty.
What????
This morning.
Thunderbolt just ground beans make the morning coffee: local roaster Colter Coffee.
Roasted peppers from Farmer’s Market.
Dough rising for English Muffins.
Auggie blur…the tail up and crooked signals VERY HAPPY CAT!!
This was an early morning “explore the house” outing, while Bear was snoring on the bed.
Hey, I’ve been in here for…FIVE minutes…ALL…BY…MYSELF!!
Call me when the kid grows up.
Meanwhile, someone has to keep an eye on the place.
Laptops tend to run warm/hot and their fans exhaust warm air as well.
They are kitten magnets.
This morning, after Auggie had his way with my laptop, the keyboard was not working at all. It clicked, but no keystrokes. I had no idea how to restore it.
I rebooted and hoped.
Thankfully, that worked.
Auggie is in the sunroom during the day. Since the sunroom is also my office, I’m in the sunroom for a good part of the day also.
Auggie’s naps have been coinciding with the times Bear and I are typically outside and on a run in the Jeep for a walk off the property AND sometimes, I just leave the room and spend some time with Bear. I did the reverse when Bear was first here, i.e. left Bear and spent time with Bob.
Overnight, Auggie sleeps with me…and he is a cuddler extraordinare.
Although, I’ve tried to coax Bear into the bedroom, he has always preferred the living room chairs. Right now, I am glad. He takes to the bed and bedroom after I – and now Auggie, vacate, but for overnight, not. While I hope that the house divided is soon a house all together, for the moment everyone has their own happy space.
If you have a cat…and a laptop…and a bed…you might be able to put together the story from the photo below.
Auggie, aka Mr. Snuggly Cuddler, wanted to be in my arms.
I needed to get some work done. It IS Monday and work is what buys the kibble and toys and pays the vet, etc. but I also want to foster the bond and if I could, I would just sit and enjoy kitten days.
But.
So.
First, I tried putting the fleece cat bucket on the desk. Auggie has been playing in the bucket but so far has preferred the chair for his daytime naps.
But, I hoped that a snuggly place where he could see me…
Not.
So, I decided to make a sling thing out of a sheet so that he could be snuggled against me, but I would have use of both hands…for the typing on the computer which is how I work…
I was shaking out the sheet to make it into a roll for my sling…
Seriously, why I thought this would turn out differently, I do not know.
The sheet became a toy.
The sheet became a cat cave, cat tunnel and who knows what else Auggie imagined it to me.
Later, though…
Web cam photo so it is horrible and you can’t see the whole thing, but I was able to fashion an Auggie sling for this afternoon and he snoozed compatibly while I worked…after he got tired of watching the happenings on the monitor.
It has been 17 years since I’ve had a kitten.
I forgot how, despite their diminutive size – they can go anywhere – and “faster than a speeding bullet”!
Auggie is very smart and very aware.
When Bear and I go outside, he knows.
And he watches.
(There’s nothing wrong with Bear, I just caught him in a funny position as he was getting up and stretching.)
Things are calming between Bear and Auggie.
I’m making sure I move and speak normally and allow them to get used to each other without fanfare.
They are both curious but both unsure and one hiss from Auggie can start Bear barking or else he turns to me and voices a long beardog sentence of complaint.
Bear and I made a trip to the pet store for new toys all around as well as some scratching posts. Auggie knows “No”, but I needed something to redirect him to.
And a mouse to practice on.
A rare moment of stillness!
I’m making sure that Bear and I keep to our routine as much as possible: walks at the same time, a Jeep ride – our special times for things – just the two of us.
Transition.