Curiosity and the Cat

Good morning, my friends. Well. I have quite a tale to tell you this morning. Before I get started, however, let me just say that Sadie is fine. As you read this story, know that it has a happy ending.

In preparation for our trip, we always put some Advantage on the kitties. We don't want an infestation of fleas in the RV. We don't use Advantage more than about twice per year, and it's usually just prior to a trip. For whatever reason, we've never had a serious problem with fleas on our kitties...probably because of the Advantage. But that's beside the point. The point is that we let them out after applying it so they can take good dust baths and get that nasty residual Advantage off their fur.

They were in and out for the next couple of hours. Mike was busy working on the ATV's outside. I was in the sewing room finishing off my mini. I gave it some simple dot-to-dot quilting, just in the setting triangles. I didn't want to cover all those little quilt blocks with a lot of thread, and so I kept the quilting light.

Smitty came in briefly to help me square it up for binding.

Then, I sewed on the binding and took it upstairs to finish off the hand-sewing.

In less than an hour, I had myself a finished mini quilt. It ends up at 12-1/2 inches square.

Here's how it looks from the back.

While I was doing the hand-sewing, Sadie came to the door a few times and looked inside. I got up to let her in the first time, but she just walked on by. After that, I stayed in my seat, waiting for her to indicate she really wanted to come in. Eventually, Smitty joined me, but Sadie stayed out. Shortly after I finished the binding, Mike came inside. We both took naps. When we awakened, we were kind of surprised Sadie wasn't at the door. It was time for her to come in, and so Mike rode around on the ATV (also known as the "Critter Getter"). She doesn't like the noise, and so that generally brings her out of hiding and to the door to be let in. This time...nothing. Well. That was worrisome. 

She likes to hide under the large rhododendrons outside, and so we figured she was hiding somewhere. Then, he fired up the leaf blower...think of it as the emergency back up Critter Getter...and walked around blowing air under all the bushes. Still nothing. Whoa. Now, we really were getting worried. We walked the perimeter of the property looking up in the trees and listening. We checked the garage and both RV's. We didn't see hide nor hair of her. This was really starting to look bad.

In our wanderings, I noticed the dahlia had opened to its full beauty.

Here's a close-in shot. Isn't it amazing? It has two sets of petals.

Also, for good measure, I captured the echinacea. I expect it will be bloomed out by the time we return from our trip.

We were still on the hunt and every bit of wildlife movement caught our attention, including this rat bastard eating the leave on my poppies. GET OUT OF THERE!

Dinner time came and went. Mike grilled a chicken breast for Chicken Caesar Salad. Neither of us felt much like eating. We were hungry, but sick with worry about our kitty. We started talking about how difficult it was going to be to leave if she didn't come back by Wednesday. Still, after that much time, it was unlikely we'd see her again. We strategized about leaving the catio open and a bed in the laundry room. She'd have access to food and the litter box. She was formerly feral, and so she could probably survive...if she was still alive and around. Sigh. 

It got dark, and we were checking the door every 15 minutes or so. When we finally got into bed, we still hadn't found her. It was going to be a worrisome night trying to sleep. We were reading, and I asked Mike if there was any chance she was locked in our shop. No, he hadn't been in the shop that day. But then he remembered he'd had the pull-down ladder that gives us access to the garage attic down for most of the afternoon. 

Could she have climbed the ladder and gotten into the attic? He'd raised the ladder and closed up the attic, then locked the garage door hours earlier. So, he got up to check. He said he pulled down the ladder, climbed far enough to look around inside, and called her name. He heard a terrified-sounding "Mew" from the far corner. I've never been so relieved when he called me from downstairs, "I found her! I'm going to need some help getting her down."

Sheesh. Well, he didn't have to ask twice. I was up and putting on my shoes. It took us about 45 minutes to capture her. When we had hands on her, we loaded her into a picnic basket...the kind with doors on either side that close toward the middle. 

It worked perfectly as a temporary crate. Mike carried her down the ladder and then opened it back up when we had her inside the house. She looked out and did a kitty's version of a double-take, and we were all relieved to have her safely back in the house. I think the only other time I've felt so relieved was when we captured her after she escaped in Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

Needless to say, the kitties are confined to the indoors now, probably until we get back from our trip. Smitty will, no doubt, get out for a few walks while we're traveling, but not this little imp. She's too unpredictable.

Okay...so a story with a happy ending. It was late by the time we got to sleep. We'll probably want naps today. We've been invited to our new neighbor's house for a housewarming party this evening. I'm probably finished with machine sewing until after we get back. From here on, it will be all slow-stitching for a while. Today I'll probably make some frozen breakfast burritos. They're great when we're traveling for a quick breakfast on driving days. Also, I want to try a new recipe for some Breakfast Carrot-Cake Oatmeal Cakes. They sound good, and they'll let me use the two (exactly two, and not a single carrot more) carrots I grew in the garden this year. Between now and next Wednesday, trip preparations will be in the forefront of our daily activities. 

We're both just so glad to have found our kitty. This morning's post would have been quite different if he hadn't thought of the attic. Okay...time to get going. I hope you've enjoyed the ongoing saga of the kitty round up here at the Three Cats Ranch.