My Cat Toots

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My cat Toots is not especially nice to strangers, in fact she is terrified of everything and pretty much acts feral... except with me when we are all alone.
I sleep with her every night, and I like to believe we mutually makes each other's life nicer, easier, warmer.
She was a kitten who was doomed at the shelter, the vet i had gone to when the love of my life "Kitty" was dieing, happened to pick up some kittens from the shelter who needed medical attention for a bad cold. Toots had almost died the day before and when they handed her to me she sneezed blood, then started purring in my arms.
Love at first sight is absolutely real.



Xoxoxo

Chicken Chasin' & Shovelin' Sh!t ( ft. JuJu the Donkey)

I don't really make plans anymore. I think there was a time though, many years ago that i could make plans and stick to them, that i could decide way in advance what i might be doing a particular day. Now I wake up in the morning and have no clue, i might get asked by the first person who rings my phone "what are going to do today"....
usually I have no plans, i have to make it up as i go along. I am almost living "in the moment" (maybe Eckhart Tolle would blush), but I wasnt trying to. I just fell into the abyss of no time frame (no watch, no schedule), and I can't say whether it is good or bad, only that I remember that alarm clocks are stressful evil noise makers and I think had i stuck with using one i would be mentally ill now.
I dont really know what i am doing with my life, but I know for me, life is for living.

Here is a video of today. I spent alot of hours, shoveling donkey poop that finally defrosted in JuJu's stall.


Xoxoxox

Ms. Buttersworth The Chicken Improves!

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Here is my vid of Ms. Buttersworth my sick (but less sick now) chicken over the last 3 days. She is still staying in the Luck Cabin with me, but seems to be improving - thanks to everyone for their comments, ideas and help!



PS- For those that mighta missed it... Ms Buttersworth was acting strange, not seeking out food, shivering, hiding from the other chickens, isolating herself, lacking hygiene habits, acting confused & scared. She was eating and drinking if the food & water was brought to her, she just wasn't making any effort for herself.
I put garlic, ginger and usnea in her water and am keeping her fed by the nice warm wood stove.

Xoxoxo

Ms. Buttersworth (the chicken) Moves In (temporarily)

The last few days Ms. Buttersworth the chicken has seemed to be gettin' senile. She had been a little clucky and weird a few weeks before that, I thought maybe she was going through a possible nesting phase... but then she just seemed cold, confused, and I got that nursing home vibe. The last rung on the sanity ladder. Her lil' red comb on her head turned half black and patchy, flopped over a bit. When I would pick her up she seemed to be shivering, and was hiding in the corner of JuJu the donkey's hay pile.
So now Ms. Buttersworth is in the warmth of the Luck Cabin, her own private box with food & water... and a cat 'nurse' to watch over her. Toots the cat has been making BiG EyEs since I let Ms. ButterCrazy inside.
She eats and drinks. She just doesn't roost, or hang out with her friends, or seem to know where she is going...
is this chicken old age?
XOxoxo

My Cat Is Scared Of My Dancing

My Cat Is Scared Of My Dancing from Leslie Richard on Vimeo.

My Cat Toots gets really unraveled when I turn up the music and start dancing... I don't know why? But you can watch and see. ;)

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Dancing Benefits ::::: Health, attitude, breathing, self love, feeling hawt, and the phobias of little cats. I have this idea that when people are happy they treat other people and the earth with kindness/balance. Dancing makes me happy.

Especially when I am snowed in with my very own cabin fevah.!

XOxoxox

Skinning A Chipmunk

Another case of "oh my god look what the cat dragged in" but instead of living my life "sin after sin" against nature I realized this nearly untouched but dead chipmunk would be the perfect opportunity to learn to skin an animal. It seemed like such a waste that my cat killed it without even eating it...even though I know various bugs and some other forest animal could scavenge the body.
No better school though then the school of life, alone, with no teacher to show you the right way, just silly survival books with crappy drawings on skinning small critters.

I tied the chipmunk with hemp twine to a pine stick I found on the ground. Then I hung it up for better leverage.

I won't lie, I was trying to multi-task while doing this... I was on the phone with my sister, and going back and forth with my donkey giving her ginger candies. Which is why I probably made my first mistake...

I thought I'd just cut down the belly, but it was hard to penetrate the skin and when I pushed hard enough, some organs started poppin' out like bubble gum slowly filling with air. Then blood dripped and I was totally unsure if I was doing it right...

I took it down to take some time to think, and realized having it hanging up gave the tension, pull I needed to actually cut into the skin. And that I needed to cut somewhere else.

THE SUCCESS:

I decided to cut around the feet (full circle) then a line up each inner thigh all the way across.

And PULL!

and pull HARDER... the skin pealed off.I realized that puncturing the belly was a bad mistake, because the more I had pulled the skin, the more organs were falling out, the more blood...which got on the fur. I left the rest of the chipmunk for the creatures of the forest, away from my porch.

I had to rinse the blood off the chipmunk fur in the kitchen sink, then put it out to dry.

I am really kinda amazed at how simple this is. If any of ya'll have done it before I would really love tips from a expert!

Also, any ideas on what can be made with tiny chipmunk fur? I was thinking about a bracelet, but wish I could think of something more functional.

XOXoxxoxo (dont worry I washed my hands before these hugs and kisses!)

Barnyard Relationship Building (when they discover each other)

Yesterday was the first moment that all my animals living at the Luck Cabin lined up in a perfect row and got acquainted. At the moment I have one donkey (Juju Bean), one cat (Toots) and one rooster with one hen (who need names but I am afraid if i name some animal will come and eat them!)
The donkey is being gentle with the chickens now, who are her neighbors in the mini barn - but upon their first meeting JuJu forgot about her HUGE-MUN-GUS size and was hauling ass after the squawkers trying to make friends (they ran and hid to her dismay). When Toots the cat finally came around on the outside of the fence, JuJu knew the smell was familiar, she sniffed the cat, then sniffed my clothes then the cat again - and made an acknowledgement beyond words. But when I put Toots inside the fence, Juju chased her trying to get close.
The BIG discovery though was when Toots, saw the chickens! ANd JUJU, all together. It was all she could do to keep from going crazzzzy - she tore at the ground, attacked sticks and dirt and plants, ran back and forth and showed off to her new friends. (Ya know when kitties get that wild bazzurk look in their eye and let the wind of their spirit control every movement....)
Slowly, we will evolve to all understand each other a little better, get in the groove of habits- luckily animals allow time for that sort of thing. In fact they demand it. Sometimes I wish the humans would let me just observe them from the other side of the fence, quietly before being thrown into hand shakes and introductions. But.... then everyone would think I was the weirdo stalker staring at their yard & houses. ;)

Xoxoxo

Toots At The Luck Cabin

I love my kitty Toots (pronounced like "tootsie roll")... she's my little buddy who used to sleep with me every night till she discovered the loft in the cabin. The loft is now Toot's private dark oasis. But here are some pics of me and her enjoying our time exploring, sleeping and playing together... (before the loft thing happened!)
Me and Toots in the morning pictured above and below is Toots on a rock in the creek.
And her protecting her territory, the ladder to the loft....

Xoxoxoxo

Check Out The Furry Friend I Found...

Way up in the loft of the neighbors barn is a little man hiding! He is so furry and cute, and friendly and big and luuuvvvvvs to be pet on his head.
Dis' is his special house, which he is really proud of because it's quite an awesome pad for a single guy. He even showed me his secret hiding spot under a pile of junk and plastic where he keeps warm. He makes sure to hide when he hears any noises or senses danger... but if you make sweet kissy noises and clicking sounds and talk baby talk he is like a puddle of luv mush in your hands.
Pretty sure this is the stud muffin who has been recently crying out for ladies outside in the morning, before sunrise. Which is why my tiny little kitty Toots was screaming and hauling ass back inside. She should totally be his friend though, cause I am... and we could make a cat gang together just like the old days.
XoXo

Reason # 159 Why I Belong In the Woods

Cause this is a picture of me back in 2005 when I actually did live in the woods, and as you can see from the evidence surrounding me I attract loads of cats, I let my gardens grow so wild it would violate city ordinance and I slip into a hippy look with ease. :)

xoxo

Toots Uses A Reusable Shopping Bag

My kitty Toots really enjoys this lightweight organic cotton reusable shopper sent to me by designer Meadow. :) I cut a little hole for her to peek out of, since I knew I could sew it back together later... that is if she doesn't want to travel this way everyday. She loved it and purrrred happily in her faux womb.
( Don't mind me being in pajamas/long johns ... it's snowing today and I didn't think I needed to get dressed.) Isn't Toots the cutest !??!