Dear Diary, Something has happened that has never happened before. A cat that was gone from here has come back. Morgan has returned. Cats go all the time but they never come back once they are gone. Morgan must be very, very special to have done this unusual thing. She is the same as she was before. Whenever she sees me, she pulls back her lips, shows her teeth, and makes a hissing sound. When my lady is around and hears this, she always says, "No Lucky, just let it go." Which means I am not supposed to chase the crazy black cat. I usually walk away. My lady has this affect on me--she speaks and I listen. Well, most of the time I listen. A couple of times I did chase her into the potty room and up onto the high floor near the water bowl. It's just not as fun as it used to be though.

Our number in the house is back to six--me, Mellow, SaraSue, Wild Winkie Babbette, Osiris, and Morgan. Osiris spends more time outside than any of us. Sometimes I go out, but it's not so warm outside now and I don't like to be cold. The warm air is blowing in the house again, so I spend a lot of my time sitting on the metal pieces where the warm air comes from.

Dear Diary, I am truly tired of this mama cat named Dreamer. Everywhere I look, there she is. The other day I was thinking about going outside for a bit and decided to scope out the situation first. And there's this mama guarding the door with her squirts. Not only her, but Calimom and her brood too. So, going outside was out. Next best thing was to sit on my perch by the big window. But even in a place that is supposed to be my private domain was invaded by that mama. What a pain.

Dear Diary, It's getting slightly less dangerous for me to go outside as the squirts get bigger. There's nothing more ferocious than a lady cat with squirts to keep track of. I still need to be careful around Calimom as her minis are the smallest and sometimes she turns into a cyclone with claws for no apparent reason. Her ferocity is selective though. She has no problem with Spock hanging out with the little squirt my lady has been calling Teacup. Heck, Spock has been using Teacup to keep himself warm and it's all fine with Calimom. She has no such fine feelings for me. If I look at one of her minis she comes at me screaming and clawing. Don't know what makes Spock so much better than me. Guess I'll still hang around the house with my lady for a while longer.

Dear Diary, Be afraid. Be very afraid. There may be no end to the mini invasion. Best I spend my days in the house.

Dear diary, we've had an invasion of minis. It started with Bessie showing up with three of them. Then that darned Dreamer squirted out six. Well, good news there--4 of them went cold and wouldn't warm up again. But that left two. And my stupid, stupid lady brought Dreamer and the two warm ones into the house. Not into my living quarters, but into the room I have to go through to get outside. I've adjusted though sometimes it means my lady has to carry me outside so I don't get clawed to pieces by that insane Dreamer. Not too many days ago the notoriously unfriendly J Bond showed up at the deck with three minis in tow. She's got a rather wicked attitude about any of us getting too close to her crew. In my opinion, that was more than enough minis to deal with. But no. Last night Calimom takes it into her head to show up with six. When the squealing started outside the window I knew the voices were too small to be from the minis already here. Sure enough, Calimom has carried a mess of minis from somewhere and they are scattered all over the place, a couple on the deck, a couple in the grass under the window, and one way out in the big yard. My lady heard it too. She went out with her circle of light and got the one out in the yard, then sat on the deck messing with them for a while. Course, she had to give Calimom some milk in a bowl. I'm pretty sure that's why Calimom showed up with all these critters, so she could get extra rations. She's a sly one, she is. Then, my lady got even stupider and brought one of Calimom's minis in to the Dreamer. Like we need another one of those things inside. It's chaos, pure chaos. I don't like it one bit.

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Now playing: Habib Koité and Bamada - I Ka Barra (Your Work)
via FoxyTunes

Dear Diary, My mind is such a jumble of things to chat about. It's been so long since I wrote that I'm exploding with thoughts. There are squirts coming out of every shadowed and overgrown spot on this place. While all of Calimom and Angel's squirts were going missing, Bessie had three stashed in the overgrowth between the barn and the creek. Two white with caramel spots and one white with black. The white with black is the boldest. It regularly comes up to feed with the outside cats now and doesn't run away when the humans walk by. The caramel spotted ones are not so brave. The one with the most caramel spots sometimes will stay when a human goes by, but the mostly white one darts away as soon as there is a hint of an imagined danger. I have not been able to get close enough to sniff them out yet.
And then there is Dreamer. My lady gave her that name when she was sick and had squirts and they all disappeared and it seemed as if Dreamer would disappear too. But she didn't disappear--she got well and fat and squirted out six mini-cats.
J-Bond and Calimom both smell as if they've squirted out mini-cats too, but I haven't seen their broods if they have. They've been secretive of late, sneaking off to the barn as soon as they finish eating. I don't like to spend time in the barn, so unless they bring them out to eat some day, I may never know about their squirts.
I like to spend time near the duck pond. The pond isn't much of a pond anymore. Mostly just goo with some wetness on top. I was sitting out there minding my own business one day not so long ago, when water started squirting out of the long green snake that was quietly resting beside me. There was nothing for me to do except jump into the muck and scramble through it as fast as I could. I did not like the smell that arose as I scampered across to the grass on the other side and when I got there, the smell and the muck was stuck to me. Wasn't long before I found my way back up to the deck where my lady found me. She picked me up by the scruff of my neck and immediately put me in the litter room sink. I put up enough protest to let her know that I didn't think this was a fun thing, but when she was done, most of the smell and muck was gone.

Dear Diary, odd night last night. We'd all settled down for a good sleep when suddenly my lady began screeching and screaming at the big dog. Lights were suddenly turned on and my lady was on the floor looking under her bed. I could hear Lovey Bud under there, making some odd noises. My lady kept screaming "He popped her eye out--he popped her eye out," as she worked to get Lovey out from under the bed. When I saw Lovey there was something horribly wrong with her eye and wet red stuff was coming from her nose and mouth. My lady clung to Lovey while Mellow, SaraSue & I put our noses to the wet red stuff that was dripping on the floor. The big dog was put out of the house by my lady's man. Soon the man child was talking on the thing with the fun curly cord. My lady continued to make odd sounds I'd never heard before as she clung to Lovey, who ws now wrapped in some kind of towel. Soon, they all left, taking Lovey with them. SaraSue, Mellow, Babbette, Osiris and I found our sleeping places and went back to our rest. When my lady came back she did not have Lovey with her. I haven't seen Lovey since my lady left with her wrapped up in the towel.

This morning I was outside when the man child helped my lady get the big dog out of the barn and put him into my lady's car. Later in the day when my lady returned she did not have the big dog with her. I was happy she was back as I'd exhausted my outside adventurousness and wanted to go into the house for a nap. My lady moved rather stiffly and her face was droopy, but she held the door for me, so I guess it doesn't matter that her behavior was otherwise odd. She gave me food in the dish I share with the others. After I ate I didn't take a nap right away. Had to chase SaraSue around the house for a while. That was good for a few minutes and then the rocking chair beckoned me to curl up and take my nap. Had to rest up so I can go back outside later and see about a bird.

Dear Diary, Hey, something way cool happened last night--the tree branches moved so that we can get up on Dustin's house roof and my lady's house roof. Nice little paths for us, just up the tree and over. I didn't know the trees moved, but hey, new things happen all the time.

All those little squirts I was worried about are gone now. Calimom and Angel's last one vanished when the raccoon started hanging out under the deck. Calimon started swiping at anything that moved for a while after that. Once I was just standing around on the deck, minding my own business and she started slapping me in the face. I like to take more naps in the house now and stay away from that crazy squirter. Had to go out today though to check out the trees that moved.

Calimom's & Angel's Kitten

Dear Diary, Ok, I don't get it. My lady is ooooing and ahhhing over Calimom & Angel's little spotted squirt. There's only one squirt now. Don't know what happened to the ones the sick Dreamer squirted out. Well, she's not sick any more cause she got medicine and is now back outside. But the two-mom squirt is now looking like a miniature cat. Cali & Angel moved the thing out of the cat house and are now mothering under a piece of tin near the deck. I guess that's cause the little squirt is out and about and they needed more space. Well, whatever. My lady took some pictures so you could see what the little thing looks like. Go figure. It's got two moms looking out for it. When I was that size my mom was done with me and I had to go looking for a human to take care of me. Guess there's all kinds of situations in life.

Dear Diary, The other day was a perfect cat-in-the-tree day. I think they were having a gathering to discuss the loud, blue birds that we have flying about. Cat Balou was up there, and Orange Julius, Iggy, Baby Biscuit, Comfort, and even limping Butch. I was not invited. Thought about going up anyway, but instead I caught one of the loud, blue birds. In a flash I was encircled by Iggy, Orange Julius, and Lovey Bud. They followed me to the chicken fence, back to the small tin building, and around the big oak while I tried to protect my catch. Finally deciding my catch might be safer on the deck, I came up around the long walkway, looking over my right shoulder constantly to watch for the pack. Big mistake. My lady saw me when I passed in front of the big window. I froze in position when she came outside and started hollering at me. But she saw me even though I wasn't moving. It was the dang blue bird's fault that I was spotted. It wouldn't keep it's foot still, but slapped my face repeatedly with it's skinny little claws. She should have taken a picture of my moment of glory, but all she cared about was getting the fidgety feathered thing out of my mouth. My lady pried my mouth open, and off flew the bird into a nearby bush. Cat Balou and I both made a dash for it, but it was gone. My lady doesn't understand what an achievement it was for me to catch that bird. I was a cat to be envied, king of the world, a one-eyed god, at least for a brief, flickering moment in time.

Dear Diary, Sometimes in life ya just gotta love the one you're with. And it looks like I'm with Lovey Bud. Funny to see pics of myself when I'm sleeping. Most cats don't get that perk in life.
Well, suppose I should update you on the mini-cats and their birth mom Dreamer. Dreamer is in a cat travel box in my potty room. She's got to have medicine put in her mouth every day. Cause she's wild and will run away if my lady lets her out of the cage, she has to stay penned up for a while. Dreamer's not pleased with her situation, but oh well, she is after all an outside cat that gets to stay inside for a week or so. Her minis are doing okay. I peeked in on them and Calimom and Angel today. The three new minis and Cali's mini are all still warm and movin.'
Best of all, I still have my basket inside to sleep in, even if I have to share it with Lovey.

Dear Diary, Here's the deal. Today I'm gonna talk about money, something I know nothin' about. It's all my lady's fault. She's fretting cause another one of those darn girls outside squirted out three new mini-cats and the girl that did the squirting is sick with pneumonia. My lady put her in a cage to take her to the doctor place sometime later today. The mini-cats have been moved to where the other two girl cats are playing mom to a black and white mini-cat that is crawling around now and can see. The two playing mom are Angel and Calimom. They both did their mini-cat squirting on the same night and only one of theirs stayed warm and moving. All the others got cold and didn't move, so my lady put them on the fire to warm them up. I'm kinda confused about that fire thing, cause I never do see the ones again that get put on it. It's too deep for me. I'm sure my lady knows what she is doing. Angel says she'll take the new mini-cats, but the one mini of theirs that is still moving gets its food from Cali. Angel doesn't have any food to give these new minis. Calimom has food to give, but doesn't want to give it to the new minis. I'm very tired from thinking about all this. My lady is worried there is not enough money to give to the doctor place when she takes the sick cat in. The sick cat got a name today so she could go to the doctor place. My lady says her name is Dreamer, cause here she is, almost to where she will turn cold and stop moving, and yet she is dreaming of having a family. Anyway, maybe if you'd like to shop in my lady's store she could get some more money to pay for this stupid girl cat. Makes no difference to me. Too many cats around here anyway in my opinion. Dang boy cats are always fighting, and my dad's the worst one of the boys. Dang girl cats are always squirting out more mini-cats. Doesn't matter to me what happens to the outside ones. All I care about is that my lady keeps giving us six that live in the house plenty of food to eat and baskets to sleep in. I'm done thinkin' about this stuff. It's a bright sky day and I'm gonna go lay in a bright spot and sleep.

Fishing

Dear Diary, Sure do like that there are more sunny days now. Warmth is my friend. And when the air is warm, with the bright sky heating my black back, I am content. The fish seem to like the bright sky also, as they swim closer to the top of their pond. Which then allows me to partake in one of my favorite activities -- fishing. Don't know what's with the outside cats, as all they use the fish pond for is drinking. Me, I like to fish. How can a cat resist putting his paw in when one of those bright, sleek bodies comes close? I've never actually caught a fish. They move quickly, darting away before my paw touches the water. But I like trying. And I think the fish like me trying. What else do they have to do all day? When it is cold and gray outside, they don't come to the top of the water. I hadn't seen them since before the ice came. I'm glad they came back. There are so many more of them than there were before. More chance for me to catch one. Life is good when the sky is bright and fish swim near the top of the water.

Dear Diary, I sure do like that the days have more light now and sometimes they have sun. When there is sun, I like to sit out near this stack of barrels and watch the birds. Lots of birds come to these barrels. I think my lady's man puts food on top to bring the birds to the barrels. I don't understand why he does that cause he never hangs out here to catch the birds, which is what I'd like to do. Sometimes a bird flies down to where I am, but I haven't caught one in a long time. The man child somehow always knows when I catch a bird and he makes me let it go. Humans simply don't know how to have fun.

The picture of Calimom was taken several days ago. She was very fat then but now she is not fat. She has moved into the blue cat house outside my house door and she has a very small thing in there with her that kind of looks like a cat. There used to be more small things, but they stopped moving and I think the humans took them away.

I visit with several of the outside cats when I leave the house. Of course, there's my dad. He's got marks all over his nose from fighting with the other big boys. I'm not too familiar with the yellow cat behind him in the picture. That guy just showed up one day and my lady calls him Fourman. The gray and white cat also behind my dad is Butch. He's got a bad hip and limps. He's not a friend to anyone except maybe Baby Biscuit. He bites her neck all the time and gets on top of her.

That white cat in the front of the next picture has been sneaking into the house. Her name is Charlie. When the humans come and go they don't always pay attention to a possible sneaky cat. Even though Babbette hisses and slaps at Charlie, Charlie keeps coming back in. It's the food she's after. Don't know why she is so skinny. She's always hungry. None of the other cats are a skinny as she is. Most of the outside cats are afraid to come into the house. They gather at the door, but don't try to get in. Don't know what made Charlie decide to break the taboo and cross the threshold. My lady lets her eat a little and then puts her back outside. Which is a very good thing. There is not room in this house for another cat to move in.

Dear Diary, No more birds in the house. My lady's man took them outside and put them, cage and all, inside the big cage with the other doves. Said they made too much noise. Said they made too much mess. So now when I want to see the doves I have to sit outside with the poor cats. Speaking of the poor cats, Golden Boy has been gone for a while now. Yesterday the man child said he found him under the bridge. Said he was just laying there and that it looked as if he had been there for some time. Well, I'm not going to visit him there. Under the bridge is where the water runs and bad things happen and I don't know why Golden Boy would want to stay there. He should come back and stay with us behind the house. Maybe he's just feeling put out because he used to be the only golden cat and now there are lots of other golden cats around. Oh well, he can stay there if he wants.

The sun is shining today and I may just take a stroll outside later. I like warm, sunny days.

Dear Diary, This is Babbette, the newest addition to the house. Her full name is Wild Winken Babbette. She's probably about as old as I am. She's a really confused cat. Lived most of her life outside the house and hated every minute of it. There were 3 in her litter, Winken, Blinken and Nod and their mom was Babs. Babs went missing when the three were kits but my lady made sure they had food and were cared for. Over the next few years, Nod and then Blinken left us. This is the only Babbette left. When she was outside, she was very angry. Hated every cat that crossed her path. She's nice to us in the house, though. Doesn't hiss or hit like she did outside. A couple of nights ago she found my lady's bed. Well, she knew where it was and that we all slept there, but she was afraid of it. When I say she found it, I mean she decided to claim a spot on it. She's fun to play with. Mostly she plays with Sara Sue, but sometimes I join in.

Dear Diary, Well, it's official now. My lady's man came back without Morgan. He's been back days now and no Morgan. I didn't think I would miss her, but I do. No little black face hissing at me, taunting me to chase her. I've been pestering my human, hoping that she'll get the hint and get Morgan back here. But she just goes through the usual routine -- checks my food, checks my water, makes sure my potty box is clean, then she throws up her hands in frustration, not knowing that it's Morgan I want. Whatever Alabama is, it should give Morgan back. There's no one in the house for me to play with or torment. Mellow would slap me silly if I tried to go after her. Lovey Bud would simply rub up against me, butting me with her head. Sara Sue thinks it's funny if I try to challenge her. Her solution is to pounce on me. Babbette has some wicked claws and doesn't mind using them. And Osiris, well, one can't attack a hero, now can one? I find myself eating more. Can't seem to get enough food. It's the only comfort I have right now.

Dear Diary, We insiders are all rather subdued. There are only six of us now. It's fairly obvious to us that Morgan Child is not coming back. The humans put her in a travel box several days ago and then my lady's man took Morgan out with him. He has not returned nor has Morgan. Mellow spent two days searching the house for her friend as she was sleeping when Morgan was put in the box. Don't understand the subdued atmosphere around here now. I mean she was a real bother. Always hissing at everyone. And for several weeks she had been hogging my night time sleeping spot next to my lady. I say good riddance. Whatever Alabama is, it can't be that bad. My lady would not have let her man go there, nor would she have let Morgan go, if it were a bad thing. My lady liked Morgan, but then she's a human and there's no accounting for a human's taste.

The photo is of me at the blogging machine. My lady left it vacant, which she's been doing more often lately. With any luck, I should be able to sneak more time writing my journals now. Somehow I've got to get her to turn that screen a bit though. It's too far away from my good eye. Well, I'm off to see what kind of trouble I can get into today. Have to locate a new cat to chase now that Morgan's out of the picture. That's the only thing about her that I'm going to miss.

Dear Diary, Oh so much has been going on since last I wrote. Maybe I should start off with Babbette having her trip to the doctor. After she moved into the house, she just lay around, not doing anything. Stayed mainly on the back porch sleeping. My lady's man was terribly worried about her and finally took her to the doctor. She had medicine to take. Got it shot down her throat a couple times a day. She was none too happy about it. But after several days, she began behaving differently. She started to explore the house and prance around in a perky way. But then Sara Sue started sneezing. And she started sleeping a lot. Then she began to look like the cats outside do just before they stop moving and turn cold. My lady put her in the car and took her to the doctor. When she came home, she didn't have medicine that was squirted down her throat. My lady shoved a thin sharp thing into her twice a day. I never saw medicine like that before, but I suppose it must have been medicine because Sara Sue began to start moving around again and she didn't look like she was going to stop moving and turn cold. And soon my lady stopped sticking her with the thin sharp thing.

I truly am Lucky as none of these busy things happened to me. Mellow was the next to have something strange happen. One day she was just gone. My lady said Mellow must have gone outside and strayed off into the creek. I know what that means. The creek is where frightening things happen. Mellow was gone for many days. And then one day, she reappeared in the kitchen. No one was in the house except my lady. She did not open the door to let Mellow in. Mellow was just in the kitchen. Something magic must have happened to her. How could she be gone and then just reappear out of nowhere? Something must have taken her away and then put her back. Mellow was weird after that. Acted as if she didn't know any of us. My lady put her in the car and took her to the doctor. When she came back, there was no medicine for her. She slept a lot for a few days and then started acting almost normal again. But she has been much pushier since then. She doesn't lay by herself on the bed at night like she used to. Now she comes and lays on top of my lady, and on top of me, because I always sleep next to my lady. Sometimes she squeezes in between me and my lady. She acts as if she owns my lady now. I don't like how she is now. She gets in my way when I want to cuddle with my lady.

Then there is Morgan. She seemed just fine to me, but my lady and her man put her in the car and took her to the doctor. She was gone for quite some time with them. There was no medicine for her either when she came home. Don't know what that was all about. My lady keeps telling Morgan now that she is going to Alabama soon. I wonder what Alabama is. My lady has been holding Morgan more since she had her trip to the doctor.

It's a good thing it is warming up outside so I can get away from all these others. They take up way too much of my lady's time. At least outside I can watch birds and have some quiet time. Well, sort of quiet, considering there are a ton of other cats running around outside. Mostly they don't bother me though. I smell them on my way back into the house, but otherwise they don't mean much to me.

Dear Diary, Ugly is back and it had the nerve to show up during the daylight. This one is definitely not some starving critter who wandered in because of starvation or the inability to find food. This ugly is fat, well-fed, and a thief. Looks like the big dog is going to have to go to work again. Boris doesn't hurt the big rats he goes after. He's like a big stun gun -- as soon as Boris is unleashed at the critter, he shoots out like a bullet that whizzes over the back of ugly. Ugly rolls a bit, curling up in a ball as it goes. Then my lady's man takes the critter & puts it in a barrel. Eventually, the barrel goes on a truck and is driven away. When the truck comes back the barrel is empty and ugly is gone. It never fails, though, another ugly will soon show it's face. Ugly never leaves forever.

Dear Diary, A cat can't get any peace in this house. Here I am, minding my own business, studying up on how to cook a turkey, and my lady comes into the kitchen with the camera, laughing like a crazed hen. Really, if she'd cook decent meals around here, I wouldn't have to bother with learning how to do this. That canned food she feeds us lacks the proper texture of real meat. I know the humans eat real meat. A turkey would be just the right thing to fix for the seven of us felines. We out number them. Why should they be in charge. If she'd leave me alone long enough I get this task mastered so we can have a feast.

Dear Diary, The weather outside had better turn warm soon as I'm quite tired of being the Cinderfella cat. It's just not right that I'm stuck getting the dishwasher going while Morgan hides out in the construction zone and primps. Don't humans have laws against cat labor? If they don't, they very well should have. And you wonder why I chase Morgan so much. Well, wouldn't you? She sits around acting like some little prissy while I do all the work. And then she has the nerve to growl at me. She deserves every chasing I give her. Matter of fact, as soon as I get done with the dishwasher, I think I'll give her another chasing. That is, if she ever gets out of that corner.

Dear Diary, My human has been hogging my blogging machine lately. All the while, she's been mumbling stuff about numbers and how she hates them. Whatever numbers are, I hope she doesn't give them to me. Having fleas a few months back was bad enough.

Strange things happen when one is cooped up in the house for a long period of time. Since the big dog Boris has been without a mate, he's been becoming more friendly with Osiris. Osiris consoles him when he is feeling down and they nap together. This is part of why Osiris is my hero. Of the seven of us cats that live in the house, he is the only one who can, or dares to, hug the dog. The rest of us keep our distance. He has big teeth and just looks like something a cat should stay away from.