Tabitha is irritated with me this morning and I think it has to do with her food. She even took a swipe at me, lashing out without provocation! I thought she had lost her mind! Perhaps she knows winter is coming! I responded to her with some outrage myself. I do my best! Even the best of room mates can sometimes get angry. Unfortunately we do not speak each other's language and neither of us are mind readers. I had not changed out her cat food yet, I think was the problem. After all, she has paws and no thumbs. Daily, I give her fresh food twice a day, but this morning she had barely touched her food from last night. (She often will finish up the next day). She was eating her dry food and had drank quite a bit of the water in her bowl which I did refresh both dry food and water this morning. Or maybe it was the computer in my lap with no room for her...not sure. I fixed the food problem a minute ago, and she is happily lapping up the gravy in the kibbles. I put less of the Urinary Gold in it, thinking it might have been the problem. Or maybe she's just stir crazy. We'll see how she is after she has eaten. She is not that old in my book, compared to kitties in my life. She is about 13 and seems very healthy. She was making her Pretty Litter blue which very much concerned me. I have corrected her food and she is no longer leaving the wrong color in the litter box. The cat food is not so great. The solutions are difficult too. I keep a variety of cat food on hand, as like any normal creature, one can get bored..or need something different in one's diet. If she's been catching mice, I haven't seen evidence of them lately.
Yesterday, Mike came by to move the cows. I usually invite him to have some pie, cookies or bread pudding which I think he looks forward to some. But mostly we chat about farming and life for a short bit. We watched Tabitha gallop down to the big red barn from the kitchen window under which is the kitchen table. The barn is closed up now, having successfully removed the pigeons. Tabitha was most upset. She first checked it out down low, and then hopped up on the stone fence leading up to the barn to see if it was just as closed up higher. When this was discovered to also be shut up tightly, she wandered to another part of the yard. Her specialty spots are mainly the stone walls, and the gardens. Now the gardens are cleaned up and all that is left are the bushes. One big flowering one is down by the barn, that is huge with some old stones thrown up under it. It is a great place to stalk little critters. I've never seen her catch a bird, thank goodness. She is intent on them, but seems to not have luck with this. She excels with mice and an occasional rat. She is now asleep on a large pillow at the end of the sofa, with a full belly and having visited the litter box as well. She meowed at me after this and greeted me before settling down. Perhaps all is well.
Today might be the day I start the move to the ell. The ice on the pickup is what got my attention. I hate the idea of this whole big place being heated. And with the wood stove back up and burning, the t.v. room is very cozy. It's dark and dreary, which leaves little desire to go to the studio in such low light. I'll start with the kitchen and then move on to the bathroom change. It will take good deal of energy to do, and it will have some side benefits of some cleaning and refreshment of a new start. It's a change of scenery! And it will need to take care of my needs for the next five or six months before I move back to the big house for the milder months. As I've said before, I can open up the big house any time I want for the holidays or guests. Some people go to Florida..I move to the ell. Lots cheaper. It turns out, what I'm doing is very common for old Vermonters. It makes a lot of sense.
It won't be long before the ground is covered in snow. We are expecting less than an inch on Friday night. The first October I lived here, the same thing happened. A tree branch knocked out the neutral line on the power into the house so I had a devestating surge of power, that burned up most of the electric and electronics in the house. I cut down the offending tree, and the power company put new lines to my house. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
It's time to get going in my day. Love your life. Appreciate what you have. It's the key to satisfaction and happiness. Listen to your heart and not your fears.