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| J. J. Kitty (1994-2011) |
J. J. Kitty, cat extraordinaire, left us on Tuesday, March 22. We had her for 17 years, and loved her very much, but her quality of life had declined significantly, and we could no longer ask her to suffer. Her death was tranquil and easy, and we buried her in a pretty spot near our garden, so we can always be reminded of how much we loved her.
She came to us as 1/4 of a quartet of little black kittens. Adam found them at the Cullowhee airport, took them to the Jackson County pound where we bailed them out for $35 a clip; and brought them home where they wrecked havoc until I banished them to the outside. We gave away 3 of them, but Kitty had the best personality and we were successful in keeping her out of the clutches of interested persons until we decided that she was OUR cat. She was always a good pet. When we bought our place in the mountains we brought her with us back and forth. The house was very rustic and mice were frequent visitors, but Kitty kept their population down easily. When we would be gone, she would catch a mouse and "save" it for us. She would deposit it on the floor on one or the other side of the bed, indicating that the "gift" was for the person who slept on that side. Not only that, but she would not allow the other one of us to clean up the little critter. She would do this by herding us away from it. We got the message. She will be missed.
Last week, the Texas Riggsbees came to town for a short visit. They had been in the state for several days trying to see all friends and family. Shanna's mother came also and we had a good time. JR took the girls for a ride on the John Deere. They declared that it was the most favorite thing they did while they were here. After they left, JR and I hauled ourselves to Charlotte where we kept all five of them while the boys and their wives went to the first round of the NCAA tournament which was being held there. It was fun, too. Each of them has such different personalities, and it's entertaining to watch how each of them reacts to his/her environment. Below are some pics of the girls while they were here. They'll be back this summer and I hope to have all the family up for a few days.
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| Avery Ana (almost 3) |
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| Gracen Elyse (almost 5) |
JR and I are going to do some spring planting today (cabbage, spinach, lettuce, onions, etc) and I will start some seeds for the summer garden. Yesterday I planted some crocosmia and an Amethyst Falls wisteria. I'll probably have to move it next year. It is bigger than I thought and JR is going to have to build me an arbor for it. I also need to get my dahlias and peonys in the ground. I plan to do some canning and freezing this summer so the summer garden will be bigger than it was last year. I'm ready! Around here it is risky to plant summer crops before Mother's Day. I didn't listen to the natives last year, and lost nearly all my stuff to freeze and frost! This year, I'm going to be smarter!
Enjoy the spring time! We love you.
