The Cat's Meow

 

The newest residents of The County Line are the cat's meow. Literally.

On November 3, Randy added two new kitties to our farmstead. While we've sometimes been overrun with cats, the population had been severely depleted. Randy spent some time on area humane society websites, looking for new feline friends.

Randy has a particular affinity for yellow kitties. You might remember Big Cat, who was a favorite around here for a long time. 

Big Cat - May he rest in peace.

Randy's newest yellow kitties were adopted from the Golden Belt Humane Society in Great Bend on November 3.

 

 They are Carat ...

 

And A Boy Named Sue. As you might suspect, there's a story behind Sue's name. Susan and Brent gave Randy money to adopt a kitty for his 70th birthday. Hence - A Boy Named Sue.

The girls got to meet them during Christmas.

They are fitting right in ... at least, in Randy's estimation.

Sue

 Most days, they are good for some evening TV viewing ... at least, for awhile.

Carat & Randy

Randy was glad to welcome them to the menagerie, but one of the older cats was less welcoming. 

That cat decided that there was no vacancy in the Igloo Inn.

As the weather got colder, the kitties discovered the area between the back steps and the house.

 

They certainly aren't the first ones to find that cozy sleeping spot. Randy even purchased a cozy rug for the space. 

Kitties from the past - Salt and Pepper

We had done some looking in pet stores and farm stores for another igloo or small cat abode, but they were more expensive than Randy wanted to spend.

But I decided that I'd buy one for a Christmas gift for Randy. Unfortunately, the box that arrived on the back porch was clearly marked "Cat House." So I skipped the wrapping paper, and Randy put it together before Christmas.

 

 We texted the kids with our new cat apartment complex.

 Little did I know at the time that Brent and Susan had the same gift idea for Randy. 

 

As the kids say, we now have a cat compound.  

Word on the street must have spread among the cat community that the County Line now has deluxe apartments. On Friday, January 2, one of our long-lost cats showed back up. 

We're not sure whether it's Will or Avery. Since it was the day that the NCAA portal opened up again, Eric said we should say it's Avery, in hopes that K-State's quarterback Avery Johnson would stay put. (He did!) However, Randy's pretty sure it's Will.

Will seemed to be in great shape. We can't believe how big he's gotten. Randy says he either found another family to mooch from or he's an excellent hunter.  

 

Will definitely remembered the routine. Randy would let him in the back door and he'd immediately go to the loveseat in the living room, where he'd curl up with his favorite human to do things like watch Jeopardy!

The text thread with the kids gave us lots of laughs. Brent said:

"Would pay for a ticket to a documentary that tracked Will's actions for the months he's been away and what made him do a Homeward Bound." 

 It came complete with a snippet of Homeward Bound, one of Brent's favorite childhood movies.

But, Will was gone again on Sunday. As Randy said:

"I guess Will hit the transfer portal."

Well ... the saga continues. On Monday, Will returned. 

I need a scorecard ... kind of like college sports these days.

Newest Residents on the County Line

 

Taking photos of baby kittens is kind of like taking photos of multiple toddlers. It's next to impossible to get everyone looking in the same direction. I think I was as exhausted by my efforts as this kitty appeared to be.

One of our mama cats had five babies. They now have their eyes open and are getting cuter - and bigger - every day. We haven't had a surviving crop of kittens for awhile. This time, the mama had her babies in the Igloo near the house. The Cat Whisperer thought that required a change of bedding material. I concurred. I probably wouldn't have chosen white, but I wasn't the shopper. 

Then, after Randy had invested in a new pad, the mama moved them to the window well. 

I would have thought the accommodations in the Igloo were better, but I'm not a mama cat. Maybe she was trying to avoid the Big Man. She wasn't too wild about his attention at first. She'd hiss and claw. Randy may have had a battle wound or two. But, as I reminded him, a protective mama is better than one who moves them away - never to be seen again.

So far, she's kept them closer to the house, so Randy has been doing his part to tame them - even though we don't have a date that the girls (or Susan) will be here to play with them.

We try not to play favorites around here, BUT ... these are Randy's favorites.

But he does give them equal time. 

Yikes! We almost had an escapee!

They are pretty cute - favorites ... or not.

Meet Will and Avery!

Meet Will and Avery! They're "purr-fect," don't you think?

Since Randy lost Big Cat, he'd been in search of a new yellow kitten. What could be better than one yellow kitten? Evidently, it's two yellow kittens. The Hutchinson Animal Shelter had a 2-for-1 price special. (Genius marketing, don't you think?) So these two brothers came home to The County Line - appropriately, on Randy's birthday at the end of October.

The Animal Shelter had named them Mac and Cheese. But they were just going to have to get used to new monikers. We started a family text regarding names for our new friends. Kinley and Brooke suggested Milo and Charlie. Pumpkin and Spice were other suggestions. But Eric's suggestion of Will and Avery won out.

For the uninformed, those are the names of the two K-State quarterbacks - Will Howard, the veteran, and Avery Johnson, the true freshman. 

Brent, who is always good for some humor, texted: "Just hope it doesn't end up like the OU guy I know who named his kid after Lincoln Riley." (For you non-football fans, Lincoln Riley was the coach at OU and abruptly departed for what he thought were greener pastures at USC.)

Also from Brent: "Shouldn't Will be an existing cat that everybody loves, but isn't as exciting to play with now that we've got the quickest kitten in the world to play with?"

I must admit: I laughed out loud at that one. But, then Avery looked a little more like a true freshman quarterback during his appearances at the October 28 game vs. Houston and again against Texas last Saturday. And Will had another great game. So Will and Avery it is!

The whole family at the October 28 K-State football game!

There is a long-standing tradition of using K-State football player names for animals around here. Brent's bucket calf and steer names can provide a retrospective of prominent K-State football players of the 1990s.

Getting new kitties doesn't mean we forget about Big Cat. He was a fixture around here for a long time. In fact, my birthday gifts for Randy reflected his love for our old friend. As I wrote in October, Randy buried Big Cat under the lilac bushes. I got him a memorial marker to add there. 

I also got him a Christmas ornament to hang on the tree featuring a photo of our friend. 

 Will and Avery have already begun their jobs as County Line models.

Of course, they can't replace Randy, the County Line Super Model. But they are nice accessories, don't you think?

Maybe they don't need to be models. They can be neck warmers instead.

Operation Tame the Kitties

 

Operation Tame the Kitties was underway at the Fritzemeier residence.

The head Cat Whisperer had his work cut out for him. He was determined to have tame kittens to share with Kinley, Brooke and Susan when they were here for our farm sale.

Two of our farm cats cooperated in supplying a bevy of kitties. Two young moms had litters at about the same time in mid-July.

Maybe the co-parenting deal they've worked out led to the kittens' health. There were a total of nine kittens between the two of them. Only one didn't make it.

At the beginning, Randy was transporting the kittens from the window well to his lap in a small Tupperware box.

By the time the girls got here for the farm sale, the kittens were used to that mode of transportation. And the girls could wrangle the kittens themselves if Grandpa was busy doing something else.

It wasn't too long after that weekend that the kitties could escape the window wells all by themselves. Now, they have the run of the backyard.

Randy's mission is still underway. He goes out on the back steps and chats with them most days.