Cats
Our cats are an important part of our life here. They are the rodent patrol team for the gardens , tool shed and small barn. They are also an endless source of amusement and affection. They snuggle with us on the Kitchen daybed most cool mornings and seem to spend most of the winter competing for the cute pose award.
If you spoke with them I believe they'd tell you that they are responsible for contributing to our protein intake. Why do I think this? I guess it's because of the array of small rodent carcasses they leave on our doorsteps.
Our Cast of Cat Characters
Cleo aka Cleobella is our eldest, born around 2005. She's a hunter extraordinaire and is always ready for a tummy rub when she's off duty. Her fur is like silk and she walks with a bit of a swagger. She was adopted from an animal shelter. Cleo is not sure that she loves being the leader because she's rather a loner. Adulation is hard for her when it comes from the other cats. She revels in it when it comes from us!
Felix is our only male and was adopted as a stray from a vet's office. (he had been named "Richard" and so we had to rescue him!) His long hair gets matted so he's sometimes sporting a haircut that he's proud of but that might be viewed as ridiculous at worst and avant garde at best. We tell him it's lovely to have such a style trendsetter on our backwoods farm. He's probably more interested in engines and tools than mousing but he does follow Cleo and hope to learn from her. She rather dislikes being followed so he keeps about 20 paces behind her and looks away, pretending to watch the sky, whenever she turns around.
Isa aka Isabella came to us at the same time as Felix. She's our Princess kitty who has been lobbying for silk pillows and spends all winter draped over an ottoman near the wood stove. Although she works hard to maintain her image as a kitty of leisure, she is ruthless when she decides to hunt. Her purr is the loudest and has a chirp in it when she is particularly happy with how we're patting her.