Kittywampuss

Today was probably our saddest day on the farm so far. We put our beloved 14-year-old cat, Kittywampuss, to sleep. He has been gradually failing over the past year, getting extremely thin and confused.In the middle of the night last night we doubted he'd make it through the night to go to the vet this morning. The vet confirmed that he would never have a good quality of life, even if he miraculously pulled through with infusions and heating pads and antibiotics and blood tests and who know what else, and so I made the tough decision, with many tears.

At least he got to live a while on the farm, and even caught a mouse once. And, as Cadence noted, he dined like a king, with Sara hand-feeding him the finest albacore tuna and organic, free range chicken in an effort to put some weight on him.
This afternoon Cadence and I planted Wampuss's body next to the peony plant in a sunny spot in the yard. We marked his resting spot with a ceramic garden cat sculpture. Cadence thought we should mark it with a pink plastic Barbie doll gazebo--his favorite location to hang out when she and Sara were little girls.
We needed something to lift our spirits, so Cadence and I went out to the pasture to socialize with the cows. The calves were romping and leaping and kicking up their heels --that made us laugh. Lariette, the Dexter mom, touched her nose to a cow cookie I offered her, but wouldn't actually take it from my hand. It's a start in our relationship.

The Dexter calf, whom Cadence calls "hippo" (he does sort of resemble a baby hippo) really wants to frolic with the Jersey calf, but apparently his mother does not want to give him much freedom yet. She keeps him very close.

Before supper, we tackled a neglected shady flower garden bed on the east side of the garage, pullingout the dried overgrowth. It is full of crowded irises and hostas. Oh glory--I think there may be a couple of my favorite Virginia bluebells coming up there! We discovered the painful way that there were also lots of stinging nettles. Instead of pulling those, we harvested them --Cadence put them into a pesto lasagna for supper. Absolutely delicious!!