Little Girl

So, we have kind of a small yard, and we live pretty much in the center of our town (Chelmsford has about 30,000 people in it - a lot bigger than where I grew up, but not exactly huge, either), but I have a small garden, helped hugely by my mother (who has a crazy gorgeous garden), and there is a surprising amount of critters around here. Last year a wild mother turkey and her babies trekked across our yard and across the road to a small wetlands - Carlos (hubby) actually hopped out in the road to stop traffic so they could get across, wish I had taken pictures! A tiny little bunny rabbit has taken up residence in the brush pile and under my day lilies.

This year, the chipmunks are crazy, must have been a good year for them baby-wise. Iko the cat spends his days glued to the big french door that looks onto our backyard, watching them run across the deck and pouncing the screen ferociously. He used to be joined by Little Girl...

There she is, sweet kitty. She passed away this past Sunday, of renal failure (her kidneys just shut down, the vet said - for anyone out there with an older cat, this is quite common, and can be treated if caught early enough, one of the few warning signs is large urination in the littler box, wish we had known!).

She was quite an old cat, we adopted her when she was already grown up and she lived with us for ten years. She was one of those cats that likes to ride around on your shoulders... And, although the shelter we adopted her from had labeled her as a problem child with behavior problems, with lots of love and patience, she wound up being one of the sweetest cats I've ever owned. Definitely a two person cat, though, she never really got along with Bella. Poor little thing was pretty sick at the end, but it's never easy to say goodbye to a very loved pet.