A Ghost?

 We are experiencing such lovely weather. Rumor has it that it will last through the weekend. Fairly balanced this morning I wondered out to the dog's yard to tend to some much needed poop pick-up. Instead of bending over, I used the rake and an old shower curtain and dealt with the leaves at the same time. Then mowed, maybe for the last time this season.

Bo stood watching me, as he stood in the sun. He eventually lay down to enjoy the warmth. Might even have dozed for a bit ..... until I saw that a creature had been digging in one of my raised beds!! My mind eliminated Eddie at once. 

Eddie, being short of legs and lazy, would need a big incentive to climb into the raised beds. It was either Toni Louise who loves to dig and lay in the dirt, or Bo, who very agile and curious. This is when I noticed two hollowed out areas. One was larger, like Toni sized, the other looked to be the size of Mr. BoJangles.

Like any mother, I use his full name when I am annoyed with his antics! He moved quickly to the safety of the porch and watched me put up my cold frames to keep them out of my garden. There is nothing growing there currently, but I don't want them to get into the habit of invading my raised beds.

Engrossed in my chore, I happened to look up and see a small gray cat coming up from the ravine. This cat was colored just like Martha, the boy cat and for just an instant I thought it was him! Martha's coloring was in no way distinct and I am sure there are thousands of look alikes, but how many would be coming up my ravine just as Martha had done so many times. 

I called out "kitty kitty" and the kitten stopped and looked over at me. As the cat approached, I recognized all the differences and realized she belonged to my neighbors, born from a pair of feral cats. Bo was now on the steps to the porch watching me carefully. I picked him up to see the kitten. Normally, Bo is quite vocal when animals other than his siblings are in sight. He made no sound and I could feel his little tail beating against my side.

He thought it was his old friend, Martha, too. The kitten looked at us from the other side of the fence before she scampered up the embankment on her way to who knows where. Bo was disappointed. I put him down and he just headed up the steps to the porch, I suppose he wanted to share the news with his siblings. He misses Martha as much as I do.