Martha's Magic Garden

 

Martha, the boy cat has healed up since his encounter with a feral cat in the neighborhood. His wound was hard to care for, because he is a cat. Cat's like to lick. I was applying Neosporin, but you can't really bandage a cat without a cone around his neck. Wouldn't have prevented the wound from being licked, at any rate. Mr. BoJangles fancied himself to be Martha's caretaker and was eager to clean the wound. I ended up with that stuff you spray on that is an invisible Bandaid. It must taste pretty nasty because the licking ceased.

I would think that one of the animals would have a hairball after licking all that fur away. The initial wound was 4 times larger, but it wasn't deep enough to see his ribs. Could have been stitched, I suppose. My opinion was to leave it open in case some nasty bacteria from the other cat was in there. I poured peroxide in it and cleaned it daily. Well almost daily, if Martha could be caught unaware. Looks good, no signs of infection.

Completely closed and the fur is growing back. The emotional scars must have also healed. For a while there, Martha was sure to get inside with the dogs before bedtime. He is now spending more time outside within the confines of his territory. Before the fight, we had to be sure to put the cat food inside every night, lest some intruder decide it was for their pleasure. Haven't seen much of the feral cats lately, though. They would slither in and out of the trees on the embankment and around the She Shed. Martha did not like this. I wonder what the other cat looked like after the fight, because they have steered clear lately.

Martha has been my faithful follower as I busy myself cleaning up my woods. When I started this project, I had no idea just how hard it would be. I quickly lowered my daily goals. I must be becoming accustomed to hiking up the drive and climbing up the embankment, as I am no longer winded when I reach the top.

My efforts from last week. Rumor has it that the lattice will be going up soon on the back of the She Shed. Only time will tell.

Since the petunias have been planted, I have cleared to the big oak ..... and beyond!

The slope looks gentle here. Looks can be deceiving. I am raking years of dead leaves and limbs down into the ditch to be burned. I am thinning out trees as I go and limbing them up to grow taller. Just so I can walk under them without getting ticks in my hair!

I replanted some wildflowers that look like daisies by the oak tree. They don't show up well in the photo but driving down the driveway you can see them as little bursts of white under the trees. I never thought I would make it beyond the oak tree this season. There is something almost magical as I stand in the middle watering my plants. It is so peaceful and quiet. Just me and Martha, the boy cat listening to the birdsong on the breeze.