Another year with Matcha

 Our youngest cat Matcha is a big success story in our family. Adopted from Operation Catnip in March of 2022, rehabilitated from a traumatic early life-- he loves his life with us and we love him. The only time he has to eat on the porch is at breakfast, when my attention is divided by fixing our own food after I put down the plates for the cats. Daisy eats so slowly that Matcha and Mack will push her off her plate if we don't monitor them closely. 

Matcha gets two or three hours of outdoor time on most mornings, along with the other cats. He loves napping on the cat towers. He snuggles with us during TV time in the evening and sleeps with us at night. He plays with toys and gets treats. He is rarely aggressive and gets along with the other two cats. 

Matcha is protective when it comes to the two neighbor cats that come into our yard. One of them is aggressive and has fought Matcha several times, and Mack too. The other cat, a grey cat with a clipped ear like Matcha, is just curious and looking to connect with other cats, since he was rescued from a cat colony. He doesn't fight but Matcha has cornered him around the outside of the house a couple of times. Maybe some day Matcha will tolerate the grey cat. The other one is not welcome in our yard because he comes over here to kill birds. 

I am so proud of Matcha and we feel rewarded for improving the life of a cat who is in every way deserving of a second chance at happiness.

Tomatoes and friends

 I planted tomatoes this spring, for the first time in years. I stopped because I felt defeated by the deer and the patterns of dry and wet weather here in north central Florida. 

The first time I went to my favorite locally-owned nursery, they had nothing. They were cleaned out. Then I kept going back until they had some good tomatoes. Sun Gold, my go-to cherry tomato. And a variety new to the workers at the nursery and to me also. A new feature of going to the nursery is the young workers taking out their phones to look up the varieties. Indeterminate. Determinate. I decided to take a chance on Principe Bhorgese. So I have two Sun Gold cherries with Principe Bhorgese in the middle. 

Everything was going great until it wasn't. I was harvesting a half dozen or more ripe tomatoes every day. And then there were none. Not even green tomatoes on the vine. Nothing. So I realized, along with everything else that has been happening, that the increased number of deer going through the woods and our yard means that they are trying new things that they have never eaten before. My dogwood leaves. The daylily buds. Not the agapanthus yet, but perhaps the deer in the northwestern part of the county will tell them that the agapanthus are pretty good. These days I spray everything floral with Liquid Fence, except for things I want to eat, like the tomatoes. 

So I did some research and here is what I found. Planting rosemary, sage, and hot chili peppers near the tomatoes--these aromatic herbs will keep the deer away. As soon as I learned this, I went to my favorite locally-owned nursery and bought two rosemary, two garden sage, and two Serrano chili pepper plants. That Saturday night I just placed the herbs in their four inch pots on the ground around the tomatoes. The next morning, nothing had been disturbed. Then I planted them in place around the tomatoes. It has been more than a week since I have gone out to find no ripe tomatoes, or no tomatoes at all, on the vines. 

So far, it seems, the herbal deterrents work to keep the deer from eating everything. 

"The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last!" To quote Cecily from The Importance of Being Earnest.

Patience

 Today I sold my 2009 Buell Lightning XB12scg. It feels like the end of an era. I was ready to sell her when we went into lockdown three years ago, right before bike week, but Covid 19 happened instead. I wasn't riding her, mainly because of dry eye. It wasn't so bad while I was riding, but then my eyes would hurt for hours after the ride. 

The second time I rode the Buell after I bought her, she informed me that her name is Patience. First time a motorcycle had spoken to me so clearly. She said her name is Patience because it took me so long to figure out that she is the right bike for me. 

First there was a Triumph Bonneville, a nostalgic choice but top heavy. Then a Buell Blast, which was super easy to ride to work. Then a Suzuki SV650, a stylish yellow bike, a bit tall for me, svelte in appearance and very fast. Then a Lightning Long, which was huge but nice for touring. Then Patience. Just my size. 

When I bought my 2002 Blast, Bob got himself a Lightning XB9scg, which is the size they came in back then. I finally got up the nerve to ride it after a few months, and it terrified me. So much torque in the low gears. But so easy to handle. Gradually as I became a better and more confident rider, and was looking around at BMW's and Motoguzzi's, I realized the right bike had been there all along. 

Her new owner knows Buells and already has three. He will ride her and take care of her. After Patience was loaded and strapped in, he said, "I hope you get another bike." I couldn't think of anything to say except, after a long pause... "Enjoy her."