Etsy front page

Tabby Olga and her stripey bed were on Etsy's front page last night:

Dirty is as dirty does

Cats are obsessed with rolling in dirt. Seen in the late afternoon sun are (clockwise from top left) Homer, Betty, Amy, Buzz, Betty, Olga.

This ritual is followed by going inside and shedding the accumulated dirt onto clean bedding and upholstery.

Seeing a pattern

When I lay out fabric and patterns, kitties can't wait to participate.Shown here are pattern weights Hooch and Olga. The tricky part for me is to dodge swishing tails while cutting.

Left, right, together

Tabby Olga is still in sync with her grown son, Jesse (tabby/white).Jesse is obsessively in love with Olga; Olga is obsessively in love with me. I complete the triangle by being obsessively in love with Jesse.

In vs. out

It's a law of physics: the inside cat wants out, and the outside cat wants in.This conundrum is not resolved by opening the door. That only creates confusion, inertia, and the changing of minds.

Son-mama pajama party

Long-time couple Olga and son Jesse (in back) are joined by Homer and his newly tame mom Suzy.Suzy was spayed while Homer was still a kitten, but she has remained feral until recently, when she suddenly wanted me to pet her. Now she's a total cuddler. She's actually more my buddy than Homer's.Below are Homer and Suzy a year ago, when they were both feral and living in a closet.

Fall rummage

I emptied the garage (something that hasn't been done to that musty shed in 60 years) to build shelves for my scrap lumber collection.The temporary junk piles in the back yard make fine kitty entertainment. Roger, Betty and Olga check it out.The new garage shelves, to be made of these wood scraps, will be feral-oriented, with a series of cat steps to the rafters and even a sort of spiral kitty staircase.

Group portrait with benches

I made these 14 benches from old discarded wood left over after I rebuilt my fence. The benches are perfectly proportioned for me and the cats. I rearrange them all the time, all over the yard.The kitties-in-the-round are, clockwise from center bottom: Natalie, Linus, Olga (face and paw only), Gidget, Daisy (back only), Alvin, and Betty.Gidget (left) and Betty prefer the top bench.

Too many models

Betty had lots of company while she modeled this kitty bed. Gidget hammed it up in front while Olga stalked from behind.Betty's poses are fabulous, but I wound up using a photo of Olga on the bed. (Betty's spots are just too much for this floral pattern!)

Gruesome twosome

To former ferals Olga and son Jesse, every day is Mother's Day. Jesse (the white-and-tabby one) slavishly follows his mama even to the food bowl, and Olga continues to defend her full-grown baby boy against intruders.

Olga weighs only 6.5 pounds, and when she sleeps on me it feels like a delicate little bird is perching there. But Olga rules the roost -- even the biggest toughest cats are scared of this tiny spitfire.

Spring-a-ling

The kitties and I are in hyperactive spring mode. Our current projects include tomato plants, metal roofing, and a new rescue kitty.From top:
- Olga assists with tomato planting. The cats adore playing in freshly dug soil, dirt holes, compost, and mulch -- even more so if there's water involved.

- Note the absence of cats on this hot tin roof. While I was installing metal roof panels on this detached garage, Betty Bob climbed up to join me. But neither of us was prepared for the slippery metal surface. I heard a sliding sound behind me and turned around to see a blur of black-and-white spots as Betty slid down and over the edge of the roof! She landed safely on the ground and was not hurt.

- Roger is our newest kitty, a big sweet older neutered fella. I believe he was dumped at my house -- he was found in my garage curled up in a box for the ferals. He's adapting well to his new home, though our bustling kitty population and indoor-outdoor lifestyle seem exotic to him.

Queen Olga is displeased

The dreaded Elizabethan collar! Olga has an abscess on her side (a common ailment with us, the result of cat bites) which hasn't healed due to her constant licking, so we had to resort to extreme measures.It's unusually cruel for Olga to have to go through this, because she has worked so hard in the last year to transform herself from feral to darling love cat. Her determination and progress have been amazing. She has forced herself to overcome fear and pursue the human attention she craves. She rubs uninhibitedly on the legs of every person who visits. She prances into my lap and chats and purrs ebulliently. She sometimes sleeps with me, cuddling by my shoulder.Olga has tried to cut the apron strings from her grown son Jesse (above), but he's devoted to his mama and still follows her around. I think Jesse is gorgeous, but he has little interest in my affection.

Tandem sleeping open call

Pierre and Francine have joined the tandem sleeping performance circuit.They aspire to challenge the reigning tandem sleeping champs, Olga and Jesse, who in the past year have turned professional and taken their show on the road. They recently appeared in the backyard shed's winter bedding I've set up for feral kitties.Today I caught Olga and Jesse rehearsing their new act: "Chopsticks" and "That's my hiney, dude."

A boy's best friend is his mother

That's Jesse's motto. It doesn't bother him that Norman Bates said the same thing in Psycho.

Brought to you by the letter X

Olga and Jesse are still all wrapped up in each other. Jesse is now bigger than his teen mommy.

They're in the last stages of being feral -- they want me to rub their backs and scratch their heads as long as they can't see my hand. When they turn their heads and see me touching them, they freak and run -- but not very far.

Gus the lady's man

When Gus finally asks Olga for a date, she'll probably be busy washing her hair.Gidget wonders if Gus gets results with that slouchy stalking technique.

Olga Hepburn

Did you ever see a kitty look so much like Audrey Hepburn?

Dastardly duo strikes again

Formerly feral mother and son Olga and Jesse are still in cahoots. This photo shows Olga's gamine beauty. She is so tiny and exquisitely fine-boned.I'm constantly amazed at the remarkable Olga and her determination to overcome her feral fears and become a tame lovecat. She comes running when she sees me, lets me rub her head now, and chats like a bubbly teen. Jesse, on the other hand, can take or leave me. He just tolerates my affection.

Olga & Jesse in action

Warning: This video contains explicit images of Jesse's unneutered backside. He's overdue for that veterinary rite of passage. (Olga, though, has been spayed.)

More Olga & Jesse

Here Olga models how they're wearing mother-fixated sons this year.
As headgear:Draped to the side:As a chic choker (not so chic if worn too tight):