Here Kitty Kitty

I was never a lover of animals. Sure the baby ones were cute. Who doesn't like little puppies or a box full of little kittens. Or what about, the new chicks under the warming lights. Yup, my heart would melt and I'd cup them into my hands and nuzzle and play and soak up their adorable-ness. But as soon as they grew and started smelling and shedding and requiring more attention, I'd lost interest. Good thing - not viewing chickens as pets - because those adorable new chicks under the warming lights inevitably make it to my freezer and then onto my dinner table.

And pets in the house? BLEH. Cats shed and rip apart furniture and curtains. Dogs just smell and rub their stink all over everything. I NEVER thought I'd have anything more than an outside dog.

But here I am, with alpacas in the barn, roosting boxes being made for chickens this spring, plans for arrival of a few goats, a very large dog will be added to our farm before the summer, and in June we are picking up a prego alpaca with a baby due next spring. This "farm" will be in full spring before too long. It is exciting.

And, we have cats. Two of them. In the house. And I love them. EEKK!!!! What has happened to me?!!!!
The cat venture took place last fall. Hayden got up in the middle of the night to go potty and I was in the kitchen getting a drink when I heard him say, "Mom....I see a rat." WHAT?! NO. Not a rat in the house! I freaked. He pointed to the corner where the garbage can was and sure enough there was a tiny little mouse peeking around the back of it. Phew. No rat - thank goodness! But a mouse. Yuck. We'd heard them in the ceiling and trapped quite a few in the mudroom and basement. But we never really saw any sign of them in the house. John knew they were there but they never set off any traps and we never saw them. I was okay with our peaceful coexistence under this roof so long as I didn't see them, they didn't eat our laundry/clothes, they didn't ransack the pantry, and they didn't leave little trails of pellets all over. I was okay with all that.....for the first 2 years we were here. But then one of them decided to show it's face. And I freaked. The next day we had 2 band new kittens here.
The kids were thrilled. John was slightly annoyed that I had gotten 2 instead of just 1. But they were cute and I just couldn't get one for Yvette and not let Hayden have his own. So, Simon and Tabitha live happily in the house. They never go outside. They've cost us an arm and a leg to get fixed. And we wavered on whether or not to keep them. Neither of them had caught anything, they tore up my curtains, and they wreaked havoc during the night (when they were first here...now they are fine). Then the spring started coming. The fields filled with water. The mice come in from the fields in packs. It's really gross actually. So what did we do? (sneaky smile) We moved the cats to the mudroom and left the basement door open. Last week I went to let the cats in the house and both of them pranced in like they were royalty. I looked at them thinking, "you little snots." One glance back to the porch - two little balled up, still wet, and slightly mauled mice corpses were sitting right in the middle of the steps in the mudroom. Oh.I.Was.Excited. I closed the door because I wasn't about to pick those nasty little blobs up....I left them for John. ;-) I was so happy! My cats had finally begun to fulfill their destiny. The next day I found another mouse. And yesterday there were two more. Funny thing is, the cats leave them right out in the open. Like trophies. One of the mice was laying on a hat that was on the floor. EEWWW. Said hat has been washed a couple times since.

The animal loving thing is a big step for me. I think perhaps its because I see their value whether it be as pets/companions, protectors, food, or simply grass eaters (so we don't have mow all 9 acres). It's a chain....a circle of life so to speak. And it's a beautiful thing.

Isn't funny how we change? Life changes and we adapt.