Dad and Mom on The Bench in 2012 waiting for me to come home from work so we could go adopt Penny & Weeny.
I’m owned by cats.
I started this blog to let others who naively believed that they adopted cats and are ‘cat parents’, and later figured out that their cats, in fact, own THEM, know that they are not alone.
The cats get my food budget, my clothing budget, my free time, my dating life, and now, apparently, my outdoor patio furniture.
#catsrulehere
Let me tell you about The Bench…
When Mom retired a few years ago, she purchased this bench so she could sit outside and watch the grass grow, which is what we do here in the NJ Pine Barrens in the Summer. And the bench SAT and SAT and SAT in this box for MONTHS while she waited for my dad to assemble it.
But he never got around to it.
So I decided to take a stab at my handyman skills and I was THRILLED when I got it to together, the folks sat on it, and nobody got hurt!
The Bench has very sentimental value. My folks were sitting on this bench waiting for me to come home from work on May 2, 2012, so we could all go adopt Penny and Weeny from a rescue. My folks spent many a summer night on The Bench listening to cicadas and tree frogs in the last years of Dad’s life. The Bench served as Dad’s link to the outside world in the Summer of 2014 when he was mostly bedridden and dying from cancer.
Now, the feral cat and the neighbor’s outdoor cat have claimed it as their own…
This week, we are enjoying some May-like weather here in South Jersey with temps in the 70s. I did some yard clean-up the other day and figured I would set up the cushions so that Mom could enjoy the warm, sunny weather.
Trouble-within minutes of me setting up the cushions.
Mom has NOT had a chance to enjoy it because not ONE hour after I set up those cushions, Trouble claimed it as his napping area every morning after breakfast. He worked out a deal with Blacky, the neighbor’s cat, so that Blacky could have it in the afternoons!
Where does that leave Mom? Sitting INSIDE on this beautiful day watching HGTV.
Neighbor’s cat, Blacky, taking the ‘afternoon’ shift on The Bench.
And so it goes when you are owned by cats… Even feral cats and neighbors’ cats!
I have a lot of experiences and stories to share about my five indoor cats, my eight or so feral cats (YES THEY ARE NEUTERED AND VACCINATED), and my ‘late’ cats and others who have passed through in my life.
They have ALL been lessons and blessings! I hope to entertain you, share what I have learned from Penny’s complex medical issues, caring for feral cats and the challenge of cat behavior, and connect with you along the way!
Stay tuned!
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