Kitty Drama in the Backyard

And so the saga continues....

The tree guys came back and took down the rest of the evil creeky tree

(if you haven't read about it, the beginning of this tale is here)

After they got all the branches cut, they cut the trunk, and it fell into our yard. I had thought it would have fallen into my neighbor's yard since it's on their side of the fence. But no.... and the tree guys were chain sawing that thing into manageable pieces 

right in front of the kitties' nest.

When they finally finished with the trunk, 

the mamas moved the babies..... to under the shed.

Mama Patio

Mama Cali Mae

And they moved them about an hour before Noli came over, 

so she didn't get to see them. 

I, of course, had plenty of pictures -- 

but I had wanted to surprise her with new kitties to see.

So, fast forward to yesterday

We got a call from our neighbor on the other side 

who said he thought a cat had had kittens next to the fence....

Oh no! Not again!

We rushed out....

and it turned out that the mamas had moved those kittens AGAIN!!

Under the cast iron plant that grows along our fence.

(Cali in a sun-puddle at an earlier, pre-kitten, time)

I have not cleared and thinned the area they were in and the leaves afforded them what they surely thought was a safe haven.

Enter Trail

who was trying her best to GET OVER THE FENCE.

After a bit, our neighbor subdued Trail.  

He filled an area with bricks where she had tried to dig under the fence.

We went back inside but I kept my eye on Trail.

She tried to jump over the fence again.....

she's a Lab for crying out loud

and she was practically perched on the top of our chain-link fence

about to go over.

I saw Cali Mae rush her....

much shaking of leaves and hissing

I ran out screaming at Trail...

which brought my hubby and our neighbor out.

(and Cali scooting back to the shed)

So hubby made the command decision to move the kittens yet again.

It was wet under those leaves

What were those mamas thinking?!

He put them in a towel-lined box that we had on the patio that the mamas had slept in from time to time

and put it against the back fence and near the shed.

As we thought, the mamas moved those kittens, pronto!

Zip,zip

back under the shed.

Which makes me sad because now I can't see them....

but they are safe from Trail the fence climber.

♥♥

Kittens and Trees, Oh My!

It's been an exciting week.

We had kittens born to two moms, one of which I didn't even know was "with kitten," 

and a tree almost take out our roof. 

Patio is the white/tan one -- she didn't look a bit pregnant!
Cali Mae is the calico in front.
They are both feral cats that have been living in our yard.

The tree belongs to our next-door neighbors, but a couple of huge limbs are over our house. This tree has had a split in its trunk for years but had recently begun making creaking sounds. Not often, just sometime.

and it's got this yuck sticky looking stuff on it.

Sap? Fungus? 

I don't know, but it's YUCK!!

So Wednesday the weather turned colder and there were predictions of storms that night. The wind was breezy to heavier-than-breezy all day long. The tree was creaking. Creeeeeeking. Spooky creeking of a door in a horror movie. Just before the monster comes to get you. I began to get nervous.

I noticed a couple of guys in neon green vests talking to my neighbor right outside my office window. Then they were looking at the spooky tree.

So I go out to see what's what since it impacts my roof. My neighbor hires them and they say they will come back after they finish another job in town.

Enter the kittens. The kittens whose nest is against the corner of our house directly across from the tree. The kittens who might be hurt by falling limbs; mama cats who might be hurt.

And then, both mama cats happened to get hungry at the same time and appeared on the patio to eat. I took the opportunity to move the five kittens into a big dog cage that my neighbor let me use. Took it to the patio. Cali Mae and Patio run under the shed. Got the kittens settled on towels in the cage and covered it on all sides with towels. Anchored the towels so they wouldn't blow away. Aimed the opening toward the house so it was more protected from the wind.

And did those mamas appreciate my efforts? No, no and double no.

But in the meantime....

After about two excruciating hours of listening to the wind pick up and the creeeeeking to get louder and almost constant, the tree guys return. Climb on my roof. Chainsaws start. They cut the limbs and lower them with ropes, throw them into the front yard. Limbs fall into the back yard.

But the kitties are safe. And smaller cut limbs were leaning against the house, right over their little nest. 

The tree guys were looking out for them!

And this monster was right in front.

And did those mamas appreciate my efforts? No, no and double no.

After the tree guys left for the evening, Cali Mae sneaked two of the kittens. I thought she went under the shed. We saw her later on on the roof of the shed, eyes on the cage with the kittens.

Patio was watching too from the steps to the shed.

Nervous Nellie Cali down from the shed roof.

 By the time I went to bed, those bad mamas had left the three remaining kittens in the cage.  ALL NIGHT. Alone. Those kittens were all bunched up in the farthest corner of the cage.

And it rained and the wind blew. And the tree held -- the tree guys had shored it up with ropes and a ladder.

So Thursday morning the moms come to the patio to get breakfast. Looked in the cage. Cali Mae snags a kitten and heads off -- not to the shed as I thought, but to the original nest. The one right by that creeky tree. One by one she got them while Patio was babysitting in the nest.

I still can't believe they took the babies back to what is now a compromised nest (at least in my opinion, but apparently not in theirs). The trouble is, the tree guys will be back to finish taking down the tree. The limbs on my neighbor's side have to be cut, and then they will cut the trunk level with the fence.

And those cats will be right there while they are doing it.

sharing at:

Friendship Friday at Create with Joy (kitties will lift your spirits)

Happy Friday at Blog-She

Caterday at A Cat-Like Curiosity

♥♥♥  For Caterday, I am sharing the new kitties, and the fact that I am grateful for the tree guys who saved my roof from the evil creeky tree and watched out for the kittens and mamas in their nearby nest. Even though I know those cats were completely freaked out.....


♥♥

Village People

Long before Gangnam style....

long before the boy bands....

there was Village People!

The group was formed during the 70s disco era and was well known for their costumes "depicting American cultural stereotypes" (from Wikipedia). After the first album was a hit, an advertisement was put out in a music trade magazine which read "Macho types wanted: must dance and  have a moustache." Ha!

and thus was formed the first disco boy band!!

"Macho Man" 1978

"YMCA" from a concert at Coney Island 2012

and if you don't know how to do the YMCA dance and want to learn....

and for fun....

Village People wannabe's!

A Jawa, Greedo, Chewbacca and a Storm Trooper

make some great Village People!!

2007 Disney Weekends #3 Dance Off

linking over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter V.

♥♥

New Kittens! ~ Wordless Wednesday

Two Mommies

Five Babies

They share the childcare!

Linking with:
Aquariann
BlogShe
Create With Joy
In Him We Live and Move


♥♥

U2 and The Union Gap

The Irish rock band U2

left to right: Adam Clayton, The Edge, Bono, and Larry Mullen

Bono, of course is the lead singer

Bono: rock singer, activist, humanitarian, Christian

Here is an excellent biography if you'd like to read more about Bono and his various humanitarian efforts

"With or Without You"

Glastonbury, 2011

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

concert in Milan

and now for a little look back in time....

Do you remember Gary Puckett and the Union Gap?

Though I wasn't really a great follower, I certainly knew their songs

"Lady Willpower"

1968 promo clip

Can you believe those outfits! 

"This Girl is a Woman Now"
(I know this looks weird, but it plays fine....)

from 1969


"Woman Woman"

From an appearance on a show called Nashville Now in 1984.
You have to live through a bit of yada-yada from the Nashville Now guys
but it's a fun watch!

Those shoulder pads and the pants tucked into the boots --
so 80s fashion!

I discovered something while listening to Gary Puckett sing -- his songs (at least his well-known ones) were all about girls "becoming women" (if you know what I mean...),  loving girls who are too young for him, young girls who shouldn't be around, much less in his head.... hmmm, I don't think my parents would have approved of his songs! They do sound a little creepy now, but back then not so much! Of course, compared to a lot of today's songs, they are pretty tame. I dunno, I guess I was just listening to the lyrics a bit closer now than I did back then -- and from a parent's perspective!! 

linking over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter U.

♥♥

A mancat must rest his toes....

after a rousing rendition of "Chopsticks"

Linking here for Wordless Wednesday:
Create With Joy
Aquariann
In Him We Live and Move
Pictimilitude
BlogShe


♥♥

The Tenors

I love classical music. Sung by a tenor. Particularly sung by certain tenors.

One would be Andrea Bocelli

 I happened to catch him on PBS at a rather intimate concert in Portofino Italy, which is a picturesque fishing village on the Italian Riviera. 

The concert was held right on the harbor and people were even listening from their boats and from the windows in the surrounding shops, restaurants and apartments.

How totally cool is that?!!

"Con te Partiro"  ("Time to Say Goodbye")

from a concert in Denmark in 2007

Just beautiful. 

 

Before Andrea Bocelli, there was Luciano Pavarotti. 

He was the one who drew me into classical music -- his voice was amazing. 

When he teamed up with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras and they began touring as the Three Tenors, I was in heaven! Such wonderful voices, and they made the concerts fun with their poking jokes at one another.

"New York, New York"

a fun and rousing rendition -- especially when Placido Domingo goofs up!!

And so we come to Il Volo who are called Italian operatic pop singers. They are tenors Piero Barone and Ignazio Boschetto, and baritone Gianluca Ginoble and the group was formed to compete in an Italian version of American Idol -- and they won.

The first time I saw them was in a performance on American Idol in 2011. (No, they weren't in the competition!!) I was instantly hooked. What beautiful and mature voices coming out of these teenagers! They still have their baby teeth for crying out loud!

"O Sole Mio"

I can't help it -- these guys are adorable!

♥♥♥  Linking my favorite tenors over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter T.

♥♥

Hope it's not an April Fool joke.....

Yesterday, our son came over for Easter lunch (he's always up for a home cooked meal!) and surprise, surprise -- he finally moved all most of the way out!!!

His moving out process has lasted about eight or so years.....

(I'm sure some of you can identify with this!)

He really surprised me -- after we ate, he jumped up and said that he was going to get all the book boxes -- he had bought a number of bookshelves and now had a place for them. 

I was giddy!

I counted twenty (TWENTY) boxes!!

Full of books

books and CDs that couldn't be housed in the shed.

The boxes had been in two closets....

spilling over into a corner in my hubby's office

CDs, DVDs, 35mm film reels,

even empty DVD cases for crying out loud!

and then he got the metal wire shelving unit that used to be in his room,

and some more stuff that had been in the shed.

His SUV was filled to the brim!

Hope this wasn't an April Fool's joke 

and he brings it all back.....

Does this innocent face look like he'd play a joke on his mama?!!

sharing at Smiling Sally's for Blue Monday  

♥♥