Sunday, June 30, 2013

Catnip Capers

Settling back into routine after two weeks of family visits has been a bit difficult.
Greeting friends and loved ones is always easier than the emotional experience of partings.
Friday was the first day with only the two of us here.
The sky was partially overcast, the air was cool and refreshing.
I looked at the housework that needed attention, then turned my back on all but the essentials and retreated to my flower garden.
The recent rains have encouraged fast growth of weeds and flowers alike.

A huge catnip plant had matured into a shrub with deep roots and thick stalks.
It had managed to envelope a nearby Yellow Simplicity rose.
A couple of good heaves with my shovel brought it free of the soil, and I swung it onto the concrete edge of the driveway, where it immediately became a feline attraction.
I lopped off the nicest of the branches, bundled them indoors and onto baking trays, put them into a warm oven to dry.

Nellie was first to discover the catnip 'stump' and fell over himself in appreciation of the heady scent.

Brother Bobby joined Nellie, who didn't really want to share.

Charlie was next to sample the goodies.
By this time Nellie was a bit tottery.

Bobby, higher than a kite, mixes it up with Willis in a tussle of thumps, growls and flailing paws.

Indoors, Nellie has taken over the first trays of catnip to be removed from the oven.

Breathe it in, have a nibble, wallow in the stuff!

Nellie--quite over-dosed and approaching a state of blissful lethargy!

20 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, Nellie. Warm, fresh out of the oven catnip. How decadent. ;-)

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    1. Deb; You should have seen the gathering in the kitchen as the 'fumes' wafted gently from the oven!

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  2. They do make me laugh when they've been at the Catnip! Our grey stray (Misery Guts) got so carried away with the plantlets I grew from the seed you sent that she utterly destroyed them in her bliss . . . Do Willis and Bobby normally get on, or was it the Catnip talking?!

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    1. Jennie; Growing catnip from seed sown where the plant is to remain is the only way I've been able to keep the cats away. Even then, I sometimes have to barricade the area til the clump is well rooted.
      Willis gets on well with the 'bully boys--he likes to remind them he was here first!

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  3. So funny! Scruffy is not interested in catnip or cat toys except his white shoelace. He is learning to play with it by himself, but much prefers it if we dangle it then he really goes to town. It has taken him two years to learn to play!

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    1. Chris; Scruffy sounds like a very dignified cat. Our Edward enjoys apron strings if I fling my apron with the ties dangling. J. lacing his work boots in the mornings when he used to leave early for work usually had a throng of interested cats swiping at his shoelaces.

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  4. I love Nellie's expression in the last photo.
    Lillian

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    1. Lillian; Nellie continued very owl-eyed for quite some time!

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  5. The looks on Nellie's face are oh so cute. I love the one with her pink tongue showing.

    Have a wonderful week.

    Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady

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    1. Lorraine; Nellie has one of the most expressive cat faces I've seen. "He" was named 'Nellie' by our daughter before the identifying bits were discovered lurking in his tangled dirty fur!

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  6. Laughing in my coffee here - especially at Nellie who appears to have hit the "mother lode"! ;-)

    Blessings,
    Dianne

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    1. Diane; Our cats are such entertaining companions that we forgive them for the messes they create.

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  7. OMG ...Nellie is stoned ...love the antics in the garden xx

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    1. Angie; My camera battery was failing, so I missed the 'airs above the ground' that accompanied the thumps and rolls.

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  8. Catnip is miraculous. I'll never forget the first time my old cats discovered it. I didn't believe people before I saw their reaction!

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    1. Em; I've known only a few cats that didn't react to catnip. Some become quite combative after a whiff while others merely loll in blissful paw-waving heaps.

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    1. Jill; I think they are happy--they never seem bored when I bring on the catnip.

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  10. well i know for a fact how potent your catnip is sharon! not surprised nellie partied!

    Leanne x

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    1. Leanne; I'd love to send a 'refill' of catnip for your felines--but I think it would need to be mailed in an armoured tin!

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