Junior varsity modeling squad

Teammates Cleo, Hugo and Ida practice their kitty bed modeling moves. Pro coach Cosmo gives tips from the sidelines.

4 out of 5 kittens are back

I awoke today to a Christmas-morning like joy -- three kittens had returned! Feral mom Pegeen then showed up with a fourth kitten following at her heels. Now I'm anxiously waiting for Pegeen to come back with the last kitten, Heather. I have no idea what's up with all this coming and going. I'm just so happy they're home.Above, kitten Madge is fascinated by Cosmo, who's trying to play down his own frisky fascination with the kittens.

Still life with tomatoes

The kitties love our tomato "forest" -- tall metal cages overflowing with tomato plants. What the cats don't get is my obsession with this sticky, sweet, tangy colorful fruit.

Puppy poses with Celebrity tomatoes. Jesse is in the background.Alvin does a prim white-glove pose, with Juliet tomatoes (a paste/roma variety) in the background.Cosmo complements the cream of the crop, a Green Zebra heirloom tomato.

Cosmo's modeling mishap

He's not even tame yet, but feral Cosmo is already a kitty bed model. After pulling off a daring lean-back pose, he took this scary spill.But with the help of a Jake & Micah catnip fortune cookie, he quickly recovered his happy-go-lucky poise.

Belly up

As summer heat goes up, so do the cat bellies.
Above is Betty; below are Daisy (orange tabby), Homer (grey tabby), and Cosmo (black).

Boy Scouts

This meeting of the Boy Scout cats will now come to order. Scoutmaster Homer presides, as he appears to be awake. Puppy and Cosmo are in attendance, but nodding off.For today's troop activity we will be using this tarp, rope, and wood to build a clubhouse that the Girl Scout cats will be so jealous of.

Here's Cosmo

We have a new feral houseboy: Cosmo. He's a Puppy lookalike, black but with long hair. He's delightfully silly, constantly playing with kitty toys, getting especially rambunctious around 3 a.m. He licks my fingers but so far lets me touch only his paws.I made up this goofy rhyme about Cosmo, and my neighbor kids Taylor and Hope sing-song it every time they see him:

Cozzy Wozzy wuz a bear
Cozzy Wozzy had long hair
Cozzy could and Cozzy would
Coz he live in da neighborhood!