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There was a major eruption of purring upon Solly's return to her private indoor accommodations. Same me. Same house. Same bed fit for a queen. This French poodle do she woke up with was just a blip, not another unexpected twist in her previous bad hair life. This was going to be home.

I would be fine with her living in the cozy rabbit hutch on the front porch. Her living next door is a bit of an inconvenience. Button getting pushy and a possum that had started checking in for vittles too often made that life more difficult. I did not have the heart to let her hide in the forest between snacks in thirty five degree rain, snow and fog.

The warm and dry private indoor accommodations will suffice for now. At least until her bad hair day poodle do grows out. Pride structure can wait for warmer days.

Spayed

When Solly was put under, they found a tattoo. She was already spayed. I have a number of questions about that. How has this cat come to be?

The witch hazels are looking incredible.

The tattoo is the thread I am going to give a good hard tug.

How has this come to be, this spayed solstice kitty in the middle of nowhere?

In a garden full of mystery where the witch hazels bloom.

Does this mean Solly's extended private indoor accommodations will be cancelled? The cold wet slop isn't over and I really don't want Button jumping on her head.

Tattoo or not, she is my cat now. That's all I got to say about that. But, I do have a number of questions. One would think the vets would have a pretty good notion about the source of that tattoo.

Inside

There is every indication Solly Kitty is quite enchanted with her private indoor accommodations. She marched right upstairs and parked herself in the queen's bed. There she will remain for a spell after her baby making parts get removed tomorrow.

But nothing last forever, not even the inside.

Solly has shown good hunting skills and they will be put to use, outside. Button, as surely as the sun rises, will jump on her head. All in due time.

Trouble Sticking

The cold wet slop has been alternating between rain and snow. Life hovers at my minimum operating temperature looking over a garden in full plan view.

I do have to give Button some credit for allowing Solly five weeks of R+R. Me bringing her inside might have been what flipped his switch. He's acting like he wants to apologize or looking for a grudge match. I can't tell which with that sweet face. The perimeter is being closely monitored.

Solly has effectively run away from home. The good news is she comes for dinner when I call, but she is back to inhaling her food and doing a big time dine and dash for the forest. Her back was a bit wet with snowing, but otherwise she was plenty dry.

We have an appointment Thursday morning the current situation could complicate. I think after another trauma so soon after being body slammed by Button, she is going to be moving next door and indoors for a spell. Might as well acclimate her to her main new home.

The snow was melting as fast as it was falling.

Then it turned back to rain.

Solly has given up her cozy rabbit hutch on the front porch and returned to the wild.

Then it turned back to snow.

Pride

Sometimes Button's slap is a full on body slam with claws extended. He and Solly got into a scrap the other night. I had to go down to the bottom of the garden in the dark to rescue her.

At least Button held off on the full body slam until Solly's cat self had fully reanimated. He got three nice puncture wounds in his nose and cheek for his efforts. Dummy.

Solly's reanimation to cat moved quickly to the wild side of things. That had to have helped keep her alive all those months she was living out there alone. She spent the entire day after the scrap in the tall meadow below the garden hunting. Her hiding/playing dead skills are very well developed and her color blends beautifully with the leaf litter this time of year.

She has been keeping her distance from Button and her cozy rabbit hutch on the front porch ever since. Button is four times her size.

Pride. It is a tricky thing to overcome.

It's starting to rain/snow again. Poor Solly is out there alone in the cold and dark. The other three porkers are lounging comfortably inside. I feel confident she has a couple other well hidden nests out there. The wild reservoir of cat has not been comforted out of her just yet.

She will probably enjoy moving next door with Miss Dinah in the spring. It's further away from Button.

Solly With Snowdrops

The rain stopped before dark. It helps that dark starts later each day. Rain, snow, whatever, it's all wet and cold and slop.

Rain is enough warm for the cold blooming things. We have snowdrops.

A fifteen foot diameter ring of snowdrops. It's just a matter of the right conditions, bloom stage and lighting and I can see them from the front porch now.

Solly Kitty went for a walk with me to have a closer look at the snowdrops. Training is going well.

A perky inquisitive cat has reanimated from a sack of bones. Pride structure is the next big order of business.

Look close for the snowdrops around Hawaiian Waters.

I saw a pig below the garden walk up the mountain and cross the road. It was black, a size medium in bear. It was a big, 200lb pig. I have pigs.

In the land where witch hazels bloom.

Witch Hazels In The Snow

I sort of remember eleven and thirteen. I think it went that low. I know there was a sixteen.

There was definitely an evil wind. At least it was before the cold cold.

Cold cold without wind is doable.

Now it is back to forty and the witch hazels get right back to business. Last year they set an impressive seed crop, something I was not expecting from a hybrid, Hamamelis x intermedia. That can only mean that there are active pollinating insects up here in in the dead of winter. With viable seed, they could turn wild.

Solly Kitty has slept in her insulated rabbit hutch on the front porch in those lows of eleven and thirteen. She seems quite content. During a short indoor visit yesterday I saw the first hint of normal kitten play. She even comes when I call, when a cat is willing to come anyway.

Button has other ideas. He's the boss and Solly needs to know it. That comes in the form of a good slap with a couple out stretched fur grabbing claws. It's like watching Wild Kingdom. Solly's reaction to the slap is far more interesting to Button than Dinah's and Collar's these days.

Button knows who the real boss is and that a decision has been made. I still have to keep an eye on him. Solly Kitty isn't big enough yet for a fair slap fight. But if she wants to live here, it comes with the accommodations. Button will see to that.

Unexpected Snow

The NW flow was completely ignored in the diagnosis. I was pleasantly surprised to wake up to an insulating blanket of snow. It was 13 degrees afterall. With half the degrees and 100% more snow, I went for a walk. The evil wind was gone. The NW flow that got missed dropped fluffy kind snow all day long. There was an earthquake this afternoon too.

Come on along. I need to go next door and disconnect the furnace exhaust to drain inside. The outside drain line freezes closed in 13 degrees. The furnace is set to 45. It will need to be running for the next few days.

Snow Day.