coming along

may was quite cool and often overcast but things are warming up now and the gardens are starting to look like they'll give it a go...

more pictures

don't have many words these days but still taking snapshots of things that catch my eye...

easter sunday

no family gathering this year but the ducks made sure i still got to hunt some eggs...

may you be safe, may you be well, may you be happy.

saturday morning stroll

some recent photos

march is roaring

there was a point in february when i thought it may never rain again but march is proving me wrong.  we've been getting some good rains this month.  we had a mix of rain and snow all day yesterday and into the night last night.  woke to a clear, blue sky this morning and sunshine melting off yesterday's snowfall.  

took a few pictures while out on the morning walk with zane and benji...

february's warm, dry weather convinced the fruit trees to break dormancy and many of them started blooming just before this storm rolled in.  it's been good to have the precipitation but not sure how the trees will fare with the rain, snowfall, and sudden drop in temperature.

garlic seems happy enough to stand in the snow

'indian free' peach blossom...hope there's some hardiness hidden in that delicate beauty

a day or two of some sunny to partly sunny weather and then some more rain and cold as march roars on.

doppelgangers

there have been a couple of interesting new faces in our feral cat community.  a couple weeks ago i saw a little black cat come into the kitchen garden and just sort of hang out and hunt a little bit.  he (only assuming it is male) seemed perfectly comfortable out there.  i watched him and took pictures through the window.  he's very similar in appearance to jack (not all black cats look alike).  jack had very sleek and refined features.  this wild guy looks just like him but with a coarser/rougher appearance.
here are the pictures i took looking out through the window...

zane and benji were quite interested too

even has the same yellow-green eyes and reddish highlights in the fur

the profile is eerily similar to jack...

if jack was still alive and going out on his own and i saw this i would not have thought twice about it being him

he's been eartipped so at some point someone ran him through the tnr program (trap, neuter, release) to help keep the feral population stable and healthy.  eartipping (removal of the tip of one ear) is a visual sign that a feral cat has been altered.

he's much too wild to let me get close but i've been putting food out for him and i still see him around now and then.  he reminds me of jack and that has been nice.

on to doppelganger number two...
yesterday i was across the street loading some wood chips into my truck for some mulching i'm doing in the fig orchard over here.  i had been at it a little while and out of the corner of my eye i saw a little, pale orange tabby walking along the edge of the road.  for a split second i thought benji had somehow gotten out of the house and made his way across the road.  i stopped what i was doing and looked at the cat and could tell it wasn't benji.  i heard a car coming and started calling "kitty, kitty..." because i was worried it might get hit.  the cat wasn't paying me any attention but was still coming away from the road and in my general direction.  i walked toward it and kept calling but it wasn't interested.  it wasn't afraid though either.  it seemed to know exactly where i feed migo and the creature behind the woodshed and was on a mission to get some grub.

offered my hand for inspection but kitty was not interested in me

same eye color and pale orange coat as benji but with a different pattern and a little more white on the face and neck

i followed the little one over to the food.  migo came out of the woodshed to say hello.  migo is fortunately the least confrontational cat in the world and just came over to sniff a little and hang out with me for some petting while the newcomer got some lunch. 

something desperate in those eyes

she (?) seemed like she'd gone a while without getting enough to eat---not starved looking but a bit skinnier than a well-fed cat.  i hope she'll hang around and get herself fed and up to a healthy weight.

now i'm half waiting for a gray tabby who looks just like billy to show up next.