Success! and musings

In the girls, anyhow. I've been getting them used to the idea of eating indoors by putting the plate down inside the door a few feet in the morning, and coaxing them in to get at least a few bites. Today, both finally got brave and came indoors, so I slowly closed the door behind them. They noticed it then and got scared, and are currently huddling together in the window by the couch. Both are used to being petted, so I stroked them quite a bit to help them settle down, which isn't doing a lot of good at the moment. We figure if they want back out when one of us leaves the house for something, or when we go to work, we'll put the plate or some kibble outside for them as well at that point. Mainly to ensure they get a good feed, because Bouncer decided their food smelled better than the plate I put down for the boys.That's probably because it has a bit of gravy from last night's dinner (chicken and mashed potatoes) on it, but the boys always have ready water and free-choice kibble, so if the girls decide to stay in, there will be plenty for them to eat and drink.

The only problem we're likely to have is litter training Raffles, as she's been an outdoors kitty her whole life. She's pretty scared right now, Tink not so much as she's been indoors before. It's just neither are used to it, so I petted to calm them, and sweet-talked a lot. Bouncer was calmly eating, so I talked to them about that, and how if they stay in, they'll not have to worry about weather or shelter or being hungry or anything again while they are with us. We do fur-ever homes for our furkids. You can't do anything less. You take on the responsibility of a pet, you absolutely HAVE to be willing to put that pet first, just like a human child. The girls may have been thrust upon us by someone who wasn't willing to do that, for whatever reason (I have to guess because Tink was pregnant), but we took on the responsibility of caring for them. That means getting them indoors if possible and out of the weather. It's getting chilly now, and it's only going to get colder.

But so far, no screaming and hollering from Bouncer or the girls. Smudge is too lazy to care today; he's still curled up on the end of the bed, half-snoozing. Woops, spoke too soon. Someone got irritated, and there was a small RAWR and a hiss, but other than a few mews from Raffles, that's all that I'm hearing. So I'm off to do my normal morning, and we'll see what happens later.

Addendum: The girls have apparently decided to eat while I was in the bedroom, and are now hiding under the couch if not in the underside of it. At least they are staying IN, even if they are scared. Better they are in and safe than out and scared, homeless, cold and hungry. It's pretty rough on a domestic cat to eat once a day, horking it down, because they don't know if or when they'll get another good meal. The difference in eating habits between them and the boys is drastic, because the boys will piece all day long. "Oh, I want a nibble, so I'll crunch a bit of kibble." The girls see their food in the morning and they eat the whole thing in just a few minutes. Once they settle in, they'll nosh more and choke it down ASAP much less.

And I've been thinking. Homesteading is about simplifying your life. How much more fun I've found it to be to hang out the clothes to dry rather than using a dryer, as an example. While it takes time to hang stuff up and take it down, at least while it's drying, I can hang out here and do other chores or whatever. How is a dryer a time-saving and labor-saving device, if I can't really do much else while it's going, because we have to go to the laundromat to use it? That takes at least three hours total between drive time, washing, and drying. I do laundry at home, I can do other things while it's drying. Washing's another story, as I don't have a washing machine, but use washtubs and wringers. But that still doesn't take as long as a washer. I can do a load (wash, wring, rinse, wring, rinse, wring) in ten minutes. Another ten to hang it up to dry. In the time it takes to do ONE load at the laundromat, I can wash and hang up at least EIGHTEEN loads. I only need to do two loads at home. So there's a lot of wasted time I can spend doing other chores, or relaxing, or whatever. Tell me again how laundry day is saving me time with automated machines? (Never mind the extra wear and tear on the clothes by using a machine.)

*****