In the Blink of an Eye

Karen Chapman, Le jardinet (www.lejardinetdesigns.com), sent in this handsome cat's photo.

"He is one of four barn cats that we adopted earlier this year from a rescue center. They had been found in eastern Washington state and transported to the Seattle area for re-homing The plan was that they would tackle the exploding vole population in our 5-acre rural garden. Ha!

"When he arrived he looked really forlorn having just been given a highly embarrassing �lions mane� haircut due to excessive matting. The fur has finally grown back although still rather ragged looking.

"We don�t name our barn cats generally, but we nicknamed this one 'Blink' as he seems to be constantly blinking at us! Of the four, he is the friendliest and will now approach us to within about 4�. He also follows us around the garden, perching nearby to see what is going on, but he still won�t let us touch him. All four are essentially feral, but I think Blink may eventually become more relaxed.

"Actually relaxation seems to be his �thing.� He can usually be seen stretched out in a sunbeam, perched atop the pergola (as seen in the photo), or standing guard in the barn doorway. As for Chief Vole Catcher? Not so much. I swear all four are pacifists and vegetarian. In fairness, I have seen him playing with a dead mole � but I suspected it died laughing."

One-eyed Jack

This one-eyed black cat greeted a bus-full of garden writers at the recent GWA meeting in Atlanta, GA. We took a side trip to Athens, GA, to visit the world-famous plantsman, Michael Dirr, and this cat was ready to show of "his" garden.

The cat actually belongs to a neighbor, but is quite gregarious and likes to hang out. He let the many cat-sick garden writers pet and paw him as many of us missed our pet felines left at home. This kitty reveled in the attention and had more photos taken of him than Mr. Dirr himself did!

If you look closely in the photo below, you can see that the very tip of his tale is missing, It was snipped off in a pruning accident. No one knows how he lost the eye.

It's a Southern Thing...

Regular contributor Marie Mims Butler shared this photo of one of Pam Beck's cats, RC, relaxing on the porch.

Pam of Pam Beck Gardens's said: "RC is the twin brother of a fluffy tuxedo sister we named Moonpie. They are named for a traditional marshmallow-filled chocolate cookie and Royal Crown cola treat that goes well together - it's a Southern thing."

   "They were born to a young feral mother in the wall of a house under construction. The workers found the litter when they were only days old, scooped up the momma and her kittens, and took them to a local Raleigh, NC, veterinarian's office. The vet's office then raised the litter until they were old enough to be adopted.

   "We heard about the litter from our son's girlfriend at the time, who had already picked out a yellow tabby for herself from the kittens. I went to visit and immediately fell in love with the runt, which was also the only female, and asked the vet's office to hold her for us. When I saw the others, I was really drawn to RC, but had promised my husband to only choose one, because we already had 3 adult cats at home. I did visit Moonpie again several times before she was old enough to be released.

   On the happy day that I went to pick up Moonpie, I was informed that all of the others, including their calico momma, had been adopted, except one male with a black face mask, and that he was now alone since his family had all gone to their forever homes. This really tugged at my heart, so as we got Moonpie acclimated to her new surroundings that evening, I talked with Mike about it, and he agreed to at least go by the vet's office on his way home from work the next day to see if the kitten was still there.

   I waited excitedly the next afternoon when I heard the sound of Mike's car turning into our drive. He walked into our kitchen empty-handed, and my heart sank.

   Then a tiny Batman-faced kitten trotted into the room following Mike. Moonpie, who had been sitting in my lap, raced over to him, wrapped her front feet around his neck, and wouldn't let go! They tumbled and played as if they had never been separated."

Pam also shared the following photos of: "Moonpie in the garden and in our kitchen windowbox, which is her favorite sunny spot."