Greeting

It is always nice to be greeted by your pets after a long day of work. They are all used to Jimmy being here and so me opening the door is their excitement for the afternoon. Maxine even pokes out (usually!).

But Lulu . . . she is too busy watching birds to greet me! She has been in this spot all day every day, eyes heavy, unable to sleep knowing all the bird activity right outside the window.


Once I settle in and start to work on my computer, I have a new companion. Felix actually gave up his computer spot since we moved the desk into the other room! Very funny.




Instead of bugging me and walking all over the computer he sits on the counter or sprawls out on the floor.

Double Clam Melt

Lulu loves to be covered up completely. She loves to be in that window, on that bed watching birds. And she loves the sunshine.

She couldn't have asked for a better spot today watching the world from her double clam!

Annie Oakley Cat

The day after we got back from vacation, we finally got our boxes of ammo for our shooting class. The class is this coming Monday. The class is a safety and maintenance class, not necessarily shooting. But we need to take it before we can go on the range.

We are having a really hard time convincing Lulu that she can't attend!

They don't let gato's shoot guns in Texas, imagine that!

The 2007 Champion Greyhounds of Bourne

While at Hondo's Thursday night we met a guy who was from Bourne whose High School mascot was the greyhound. In fact, the school had a gray greyhound! On our way back from Fredericksburg we decided to try and find this high school.



So as we were passing through we thought we would see if we could find the high school. It wasn't as easy as we thought it would be but once we found the elementary and the Jr. High Jimmy saw a sign for to the Stadium. We followed that sign and found the Bourne city Greyhounds.

One Eared Cat

I did forget something that I don't have a picture of from Fredericksburg. When we went to the wineries we ended up stopping at this place called Wild Seed - a huge flower growing and selling operation. It was so big, with various interesting aspects to it, you could spend half a day there in the spring. They had a lot of interesting flowers, succulents, and trees. They had a whole host of interesting garden art.

They also housed a little orange cat with only one ear! It was quietly chilling in a shade/sun spot in the middle of the grounds. Very interesting!

I guess in more rural areas it is very common for people to just drop unwanted pets in the middle of nowhere, which leaves someone else a problem to take care of! It is really very cruel and usually leaves the animal dead or injured.

At least little Orangy made it and now gets to sleep in the shade and wander among beautiful flowers.

Fredericksburg Day 3 - Hondo's

Our last night in Fredericksburg we went back to Hondo's to hear some legendary good music and be able to enjoy our evening with Maxine. Apparently she was the BOMB at Hondo's. She got so many free pets, "my, you are beautiful," and attention from the people of Fredericksburg it was quite a trip! She was definitely a hit.

We had some very lively converstaions with some locals and visitors, all native Texans. Most of them were dog lovers and started talking to us by complimenting the beautiful Maxine. She loved the attention but got bored at the end and just wanted to go home. I am not sure country music is Maxine's favorite! Or maybe she was just exhasted from the days events.

When we got back to the ranch, we had an additional gato coming to hang out with us on the patio. Appartently word of our delicious turkey had spread accross the land. These two "feral" cats hung out with us all night enjoying the food, water and attention.



And of course we did not disappoint!

Fredericksburg Day 3 - The Broken WIndow

Another beautiful morning, cool (well only 85 degrees) and clear. It was the most pleasant time to just sit on the porch, drink a cup of coffee and plan our day. We had some wineries we wanted to see, a few museum's, there was a farmer's market later that day in the town square and a few other places we wanted to trip around.

These were the trees just to the left of where we were staying. I love them. Jimmy says they are mesquite trees. I don't think we have these in California and I really enjoyed them.




I give you a few guesses to try to match our potential plans with this cement terrain. Come on? Make a guess!

Well, this is the Ford dealership in Kerrville, about 25 miles outside of Fredericksburg! On our way out that morning Jimmy's window wouldn't open. In some circumstances this may be bearable, but not in 103 degree Texas heat! We were thinking more about the drive ahead the next day than for today.

So we headed out and found a dealership. The one in Fredericksburg said they had two Ford F-150's that day with the SAME problem so he was out of supplies. So we trucked on down the road to Kerrville. It only took an hour or two and we had some good conversations with the locals.

We got an itch to head out to the next town called Bandera, which means FLAG in Spanish. We explored a little bit, had some lunch and headed back to Fredericksburg. Not exactly what we had planned but a good time just the same!

We even had time for the Pacific War Museum (after dropping an exhausted Maxine back at the ranch), two Texas wineries and the Farmer's Market, the last on with Maxine in tow. This is her by the big ole smoker they brought out for the Farmer's Market event!

Fredericksburg Day 2 - Exploring

If you thought Max was tired out after Hondo's and our long morning walk, you should have seen her after walking through downtown, driving to nearby Llano and coming back in the middle of the 103 degree afternoon. She zonked out and slept for a long time!



And on numerous surfaces.

Later that night she perked up around dinner time. Eight o'clochk at night and it was still hotter than Hades. But we ate out on the porch and enjoyed some simple turkey and avocado sandwiches.



Guess who paid us a visit? The cat hereafter known as Turkey!






She enjoyed our sandwich scraps and spent some time with us. She is a very cute and people friendly cat. It was still very hot outside as we ate and of course as soon as the sun went down, the mosquitos came out in droves!



Does it sound like the "romantic getaway" yet?

Fredericksburg Day 2 - Hondo's

Hondo's is a great little spot in Fredericksburg. I am including the link here because you should read for yourself the history about the guy behind the Bar & Grill. He was an eccentric, Texas proud, larger than life character. Apart from owning his own place he ended up buying a piece of property, turning it into a city called Luchenback and then naming himself Mayor for years to come.

You might recognize Luchenback, TX if you have ever read anything about Willie Nelson! It is a great live music spot, which we found out later. Today, we went there for lunch and I was very surprised at the quality of the food. I had a salad and it was delicious, hard to do in your average bar and grill!

Maxine was HOT! It was over 100 degrees every day we were there. They were a dog friendly establishment so she got her own bowl of water but it was still hot. This is not like Maxine to lay down in a pile of dirt!

http://www.hondosonmain.com/index.html

Fredericksburg Day 2 - A Morning Walk

We woke up early and this is what we found on our patio! A little meowing gato!

Getting up early was the best thing to do. The hours from 6 - 11 are the coolest while the rest of the day is unbearable at a 101 degrees in the middle of a drought. We got up, got some coffee and then explored the property.

This is Max by the old stage coach they had out in the property. This kind of grass had a lot of stickers in them they kept getting in Maxine's paw!






The next picture is of Maxine in front of their artificial river (real water!) and the only one we saw full anywhere in hill country! Even bank advertisements were saying "Pray for rain."







The duck featured in this picture is called Pucky, I think. It is another pet that lives on the property. They call him the friendliest duck, although we did not witness that!




We ended up taking a long walk through the riverbed which would normally be, it was really neat to see the water worn rocks and the red riverbed sides with tree roots hanging down. It was wild to think that normally there would be water flowing through there and yet right then we had the unique experience of being there instead of the water!

Fredericksburg

We left Houston at around 5:00 and drove pretty much straight to Fredericksburg, TX. Fredericksburg is in the hill country out past Austin. The terrain reminds me of California, with a little more cactus and mesquite trees. It is an area that German's settled in and the town still keeps the German flavor with beer gardens and schnitzel.

It was a great, fun drive with lots of dips and curves. Maxine was excited to leave but not too thrilled about how long the drive was, it took us about five hours.

One animal related event happened on our drive. It was at night when we were within 40 minutes of Fredericksburg. I turned a corner and suddenly there was a deer right in front of the car. I quickly swerved out of its way and avoided it completely. Fortunately there were no other cars around or I may not have been able to do that.

Once we arrived, it was very dark. We got out of the car, Jimmy was getting Max out and out of nowhere this little white dog came up wagging its tail to play. With Max on a leash she can sometimes get a little defensive with other dogs and little white dogs are a trigger for her so Jimmy just picked her up and carried her into the car!

After that we unloaded and in one of my visits out to the car I saw this little grey cat with white paws and white on the tip of her nose. Very cute. She obviously lived on the property as a feral cat but was so used to people she was very friendly. It was the start of a great vacation!

Sunday Morning

Koof Cereal

Got milk?

Crossing into a Cat's Personal Space

Taken from my book blog http://readonlymode.blogspot.com/

Page's premise is that cats are "obligate loners" and in some situations when forced they can learn to tolerate socialization. All other domestic animals were social in the wild, living in packs or herds. "Cat's are the only domestic animals that derive from loners in the wild. The notion of herding cats is a colorful way of describing anarchy." Page 148

As loners, their day to day experience is not about dominance like a dog who is used to a pack structure but instead about territory. Each cat has a series of boundaries around them which are related to safety and comfort. Home range is the whole space the cat considers its area, the widest boundary around a cat. Within that is a territory, which is "the area the cat will defend against encroachment by feline strangers." Within the territory is an area called "social distance and inside that is personal distance." Males have a wider territory and are considerably more territorial (more aggressive over a wider area).

Review of Do Cats Hear With Their Feet?
By Jake Page

Hot Dog

Jimmy keeps saying, "Somebody needs to put some mustard on that hot dog!!!!!"


Record temps here, no rain!

Felix's Follow-up

Felix had his follow-up appointment to his crystals, he will have another in six weeks. The doctor said his urine is healthy but we are not sure why he is still in pain. He is on a daily anti-inflammatory drug so we are hoping that helps.



Felix HATES the vet office. He loathes everything about it. He gets low in the crate and refuses to come out. When he is out he grasps onto the side of the table and gives a low, mean, guttural growl when anyone approaches. When he was at the ER he was put on "caution."


And he hated the little gatolinos waiting for homes in the vet office!!!! Poor little gatolinos, he hissed at them as we passed.

Somebody is grouchy pants!

Record Heat

We have had weeks of record heat here in Houston with practically no rain. We are running our air constantly, watering the entire yard every day and trying to keep everything alive and cool as much as possible. We put water out for the birds as well as birdseed so they can cool down. Macrib gets her water changed twice a day because it evaporates!

Meanwhile, we have one room in the house that is not insulated and does not get air: our walk-in closet. The single hottest place in the house - morning, noon and night.

But that is where little Koof decided to spend her day . . . can you even FIND her in this first picture? And she has a fur coat on!!!