:::Fiddler, Was on the Roof:::

This is Fiddler-Who used to live on the Roof- Of the Garage at the end of my driveway....He is a Semi-Feral Boy. Will come when you call him... (I call him Fiddy, Fidelia, Fidderboy)...
But has been known to turn at a moments notice... And Damn Near amputate a finger... or Two...

Last spring He chomped my fingers and hand so badly My Doctor was worried... Thru arduous soaking and expressing of pus.. and high powered antibiotics... all my appendages are intact. Although my ring finger has increased a full ring-size because of scar tissue.

Fiddy doesn't necessarily mean to be hateful... I think he just doesn't have an "If I Bite The Hand That Feeds Me" who will feed me next switch..

So he lives outside... Has my garage with beddy places to sleep in...doesn't venture far. And you can pet him, just not more than 2-3 times and there better be canned dinner coming... And when He is done... Not a look back...

I'm still working with him... not given' up yet...
We just both know where our boundaries are.... Him gets dinnies... And I keep My fingers !

---Osgood Snozgood ---

Osgood, Snozgood, Ozgoodnia... All names I call this pale creamsicle Boy...

I first noticed him about this time 3 years ago. I would have the patio door open and out of the corner of my eye there would be this Fleeting wraith, sliding away from the bowl filled with dog food for the Coons and Possums... You would hear crunching, but as you turned your head, It was Gone... Not Really sure what was Glimpsed at all...

After a few weeks of this I began putting a lil' bowl of kittheh food nearer the open door. I would perch in the small alcove and wait until He would materialise... Thin, Gaunt, Uncombed, Terrified. Tattered ears and barely audible raspy voice. Every bone showing thru grubby fur. Over the days he worked his way closer to the food. He would try and eat but the crunchies would fall out of his mouth or he would gag... So He would just scarf them whole. As my voice wheedled and soothed and made promises, he finally ate at the doorway. I used an old comb to ruffle his fur. Just a breath of touch.

This went on for a week or so. He would eat, and just barely contain himself and allow the touch. He grew Bolder... And so did I...

Finally one day My mind set, I picked him up... Much Growling and Snarling and Hissing ensued. Glaring straight into my eyes with Fear and Terror and Uncertainty. Holding him to me I petted and smoothed and kept promising.

I guess he believed me. He has been an Indoor Kittheh for almost two years now... Sleeps where he wants.. When He wants... Right now its not on His blankie folded on top of the bookcase... Or the pillow in the bedroom. Or in the Kittheh Cottage... Its in an enamel food crisper drawer, with a wadded up shopping bag, sitting on the dining room table... Sigh...

He has all the squishy canned food he wants. Loves temptashuns (even tho they are crunchy)... Actually he hasn't really met any food he doesn't like...He was hungry for So Long, He has to eat... At least Sample what is offered.

Somewhere-Sometime he was someones lap baby. He wears a flea collar like He is "A Big Boy Now". Loves to be brushed and combed and fiddled with. His claws trimmed with a minium of fuss...Doesn't care for his monthly baths tho- I've got the shred marks to prove it.

And the reason the crunchy food would fall out of his mouth ?

His poor mouth is almost toothless... He had lived a Hard Mean Cold Loveless Life in there somewhere...

But now His name is Osgood... And He is a Very Good Boy...

Not just sure what He Is Good For Yet...

Maybe just Being a Second Chance...

Him Is A Very Good Boy... At Sleeping !

:::Kuchi is a Coochie:::

Kuchi... Third sister to Babylon and Alice...When she was just a lil' ball of fluffy soft, her Eyes were SO Blue !!!

I remember Years ago there was a beautiful child on the cover of "National Geographic". She had a veil or dupatta or scarf around her face and shoulders... This girls eyes were Mesmerizing... the Blue of deep waters, so enduring you could Fall into them and be made pure... Glittering and Gleaming..... I read that the Girl was from a Nomadic Tribe in Northern Afghanistan. Wandering across the land, always waking to a new Horizon. She was of the Kuchi Tribe...

So thats where this baby pooter got her name. Her eyes have matured into a deep shade of khaki green... Sloe eyed and just a bit of a skeptic is my Kuchi... She loves milkies.. especially out of my over-sized mug (yes it has a really wide mouth, They cant get their lil' heads stuck when drinking after Momma can they ?)...

She will lay across your arm and get her furs smoothed and whiskers tested. She likes to wash your fingers after you have thoroughly groomed her and "picked fleas" to her satisfaction. She will growl like a she-wolf if she doesn't want kissys.

Spoiled ? Oh Yes Ma'am !! To a certain stinky degree if I might say so... She Might answer to Houte', Koochay, Mommas lil hoochychoochie...

Or give you Her Thousand Mile Stare... She is watching something different and maybe faraway there are voices and sounds you can't hear... Smells and colors of a Distant place. I have to go answer the door, so please excuse me... Her most Gracious Majesty is ringing the bells hanging off the doorknob... And Must be let in Immediately !!!