Sunday, December 22, 2013

Walking with Ming II

As I covered in an earlier post, I've been taking regular walks with Ming, the elder of my 2 cats.  He's come to expect these daily jaunts and cries (as only a cat bred from Siamese stock can) when I'm tardy about getting to it.  Most times, he just circles the house once to twice, then heads back to his screened porch, apparently hoping that another dish of food will have miraculously appeared.  However, yesterday, he took some time to check out elements in the garden.

The fountain was of major interest.








While he was taking a drink, I noticed that my Erysimum linifolium is starting to bloom.





Ming checked out the Correa pulchella 'Pink Eyre' currently in full bloom in the dry garden.





While I noticed that a more recently planted Correa appears to be suddenly dying off.





Climbing up on the fountain wasn't Ming's only feat on this walk.  He also jumped up on the birdbath in the vegetable garden, currently full of glass pebbles.





And then he hopped over into one of the vegetable beds, where I'm currently growing poppies, snapdragons and sweet peas.







He was oblivious to the house finches staring down at him from atop the Yucca elephantipes.





But he got quite excited when a small flock of birds flew out of the bushes in the vegetable garden upon his approach.  I didn't get a picture but, while he didn't actually run, he moved faster than I've seen him do in many months.

As he headed toward the driveway at the front of the house, I noticed that my Camellia japonica 'Taylor's Perfection' is starting to bloom.






And that the ornamental pear (Pyrus calleryana) is showing a bit of colorful foliage.





When we got back to the side yard, Ming investigated a bucket.






Then he finally headed back to the screened porch where, after taking a closer look at a Agave 'Blue Glow', he checked his bowl.





Food did magically appear about 5 minutes later.  I think the walks are doing him some good.


12 comments:

  1. Good on Ming and he looks so sweet :)

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    1. He's always happy and on his best behavior on our walks. I can only wish he was like that the rest of the time.

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  2. Good kitty doing the garden up right with a little investigating! Your blooms are looking quite lovely as well.

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    1. He's quite industrious about sniffing around. I keep wondering what he detects that I can't (but then maybe I don't want to know).

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  3. Ming is as handsome as your garden! No garden is complete without a kitty or two! Fortunately, I have a friendly neighbor cat who keeps me company and amuses me when I'm outside.

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    1. My husband would be happy to ship Ming off to be your garden cat, complete with a lifetime supply of food and meds ;) - but he's a California cat and probably couldn't adapt to your winters, especially given how bony he's gotten.

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  4. I'm so glad to see Ming is still well enough for an energetic jaunt around the yard, and showing interest in birds and food. He is giving you a bit of an old-fashioned look there, in that shot where he is perched on the corner of the raised bed.

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    1. King of the vegetable garden and all he surveys! He actually put on a a little bit of weight based on his last weigh-in but he's still 1/2 his former weight. He eats continuously but, sadly, most of that isn't absorbed.

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  5. Nyfiken liten katt!!
    Önskar dej en riktigt God Jul!
    Mariana

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    1. Not so little, Mariana - he once weighed 18 pounds (about 8.2 kg) but he's now 1/2 of that and just bone covered with fur. Thanks for the Christmas wish!

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  6. Ming makes the perfect garden tour guide. Enjoy the time you have left with him and may it be longer than you expect. My dog, Nick, will be 14 in May and although he is in relatively good health I find myself looking at him differently these days often wondering how much more time I have left.

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    1. Thanks, Sue. I'm frankly trying not to get my hopes up as the trend seems to be one step forward followed by 2 steps back. The walks and food are the center of his life now but as long as he can walk and wants to eat, it's good.

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