A Follow-up on Several Fronts

First, the pears. I’m rather amazed at how reluctant these pears are to ripen. This picture was taken in early September, and you can see how green they remain:

We’ve had tomatoes go from flower to green fruit to ripe red and the table with little noticeable change in these freaking pears.

So far, it seems to be more a squirrel lunch program than anything that’s going to grace our table. On a brighter note, the tall bushy plants under our ash tree (head high), which I always want to call lilies of the Nile and my wife reminds me are Natal lilies, are blooming.

I really should have placed something next to these blossoms so you could see how big they are. Finally, I’m still trying to get a good shot of our Molly-girl.

But she’s a reluctant subject–note the hooded look. Here she is on her favorite bed, off in a darkened part of our garage:

And here she is on the new shelf by a window Mrs. O put up for her, so she can enjoy the afternoon sun.

She comes up the stairs on her own more often now, to visit us. She will walk right past the dogs, and has stopped hissing every time they are close–but the fur still rises, at times.

She’s been to the vet now, to address some of the lingering pre-adoption issues. Ferrinstance, when Mrs. O clipped her nails one of them had grown full circle back toward her paw–so the vet cut that one. They’re also puzzled by the scab on her shoulder; the vet suspected it might be a burn wound. Molly got her shots, and they took some of her blood for testing. Mrs. O said she spent most of her time with her head tucked into Mom-cat’s armpit as they pulled, poked, and prodded her. Poor thing. She came home and went staright to bed–the sensible thing to do.

I had the side door to our garage open this morning, so the dogs can get in and out, and after breakfast Molly-cat went for a little walk. I kind of monitor her when she does this, and followed her out to the walkway toward our front gate. She was curious about the gate, and I felt that odd protective pang, both wanting her to be able to go explore yet ready to pull her back inside, where it is safe.

Suddenly a large bird flew down the open fenceline, from the backyard toward the large incense cedar (see old photo, below) covering our front steps. Molly crouched, and the size of the shadow registered for me as the bird flew into the tree, fanning its tail feathers to brake and alight on a branch. I recognized the tailfeather pattern: sharp-shinned hawk. Not big enough to attack a cat, but they like to hunt small birds by swooping along either side of our house and surprising prey.

I went through the house to the front porch, hoping to see it up in the tree, but it was gone.

A few minutes later I went back down to the garage, and Molly had curled up again in her favorite spot, in the dark, not far from a window, on some old fabric. Much as I am glad to see her exploring our yard, I was glad she was back inside.

I hope her bloodwork comes out okay.