Helping paint the toolshed

Yesterday on my main blog I posted about painting my toolshed.    https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2024/12/tool-shed-painted-for-now.html

Rascal helped me when I painted the east side of the toolshed.   He did management to make sure I was doing it correctly.   Then he came up close to check the paint job.   I don't have photos of him after I painted the side.  But in the photos below he did the same thing after I painted the side.  Over the next few days I had to brush and/or use scissors to clip his fur to get the paint off from his tail and his back.

From where he sat in the previous photos he can stand up and jump onto the building's roof.  He was looking over the edge to watch me.  By the time I got my camera out he walked away.

Sitting in the sunshine

Now that Fall is arriving and the temperature is below freezing in the morning, in the morning after Rascal and I get up Rascal goes and looks out the window and sits in the sunshine for a little while.

Much of this afternoon while I painted the barn Rascal initially laid on the ground near me in the corral.  I wish I had my camera with me, but I didn't.  After a bit he went into the barn and climbed up upon a large stack of hay bales and spent hours there until I was done painting and it was getting dark.  Then we went into the house together to eat our suppers.

Once again on the fence

Rascal was once again on the fence looking for mice in the hayfield.

Looking and listening for mice

First off in the morning Rascal likes to sit on the concrete patio area outside the south door and look and listen for mice in the grass.  Earlier I found two dead shrews on the sidewalk in front of the house.

I took off the window screen to get a better view of Rascal.

Yesterday in the hayfield as I walked back from checking on the pocket gopher traps Rascal came out a long way in the growing grass and alfalfa and then guided me back to the house.  He looks out for me.

Mouse in the house

I got back to leaving one door partially open early morning so Rascal can go in-and-out without me having to get up to open the door for him over and over.   But this morning I then heard Rascal running around, something he doesn't usually do.  I got up and found him 'playing' with a mouse in the hall near my woodstove.   The mouse ended up dead.  I went back to bed.

The battered box is what I use to place a few extra logs when I use my woodstove in the wintertime so the logs don't make a mess on my carpet.

Looking for a mouse in the grass

Yesterday afternoon Rascal was looking for a mouse in the yard grass.   The irrigation line reached this part of the yard so that is why the grass looks good and is tall.

Here is a 16 second video of Rascal:  https://youtu.be/aF5MJmF-nW8

Then last night I left the door partially open as I was too tired to get up-and-down to let Rascal in-and-out during the night.  This morning I found the remnants of an eaten mouse in the hall outside my bedroom.

On the fence looking for mice

This morning Rascal wanted outside.  A short time later I seen him laying on a fence rail.   My hayfield's alfalfa is growing tall so it must be harder for him to sit in the grass looking and listening for mice, like I have seen him doing in the past.  Plus it rained overnight.  So this may have been a drier place to lay.

Fat or furry?

I haven't posted any photos of Rascal for a long time now.  Here are a couple of them.

While he is not a lightweight cat, the answer is that he is more furry than fat.

Sitting by the window

This afternoon Rascal wasn't interested in coming outside with me.   He preferred to sit on the couch and watch me out the window.

Window break-in

Today when I went for a two-hour bicycle ride Rascal wanted to come outside when I did.  Usually when I come back home after a bicycle ride I call for him and he comes.   Today he didn't.   When I went into the house, there he was on the floor welcoming me.  Then I saw the window screen on the kitchen floor.   That was how he got inside the house.  Today it was warm enough to leave the windows open.  He jumped up and pushed the screen down.  Rascal often gets what he wants.

It's a jump to the window.  A small opening.  And a narrow windowsill.  But he did it.

I took the screen outside for the photo.  Then put it back in the window from the inside.

Rascal after welcoming me back home.

Bat

This morning I found a dead bat in the hallway.  I'm sure Rascal killed it.   Hmmm... since it has been warm this past month, and Rascal goes in and out at night, I leave a nearby door slightly open so he isn't waking me up over and over.  I bet that was how the bat got into the house.  I doubt Rascal brought inside.  He seldom brings mice he "plays with" / kills back to the house.

Here is the bat after I tossed it back outside.

Sleeping on a warm afternoon

Rascal sleeps during the day and goes outside in the evening when it is cooler.  Usually when I try to take a photo when he is sleeping he wakes up and moves.  He must have been tired this day as he didn't wake up.

Hanging around with me on a warm day

Rascal wanted to hang out with me on the porch on a warm day a few days ago.

A few mornings ago after 6 am I was woken up by a loud low growl.  I looked outside and saw Rascal growling at a new neighbor cat near my backdoor.  No fights.  The neighbor cat was low and laid or slowly moved away.  Rascal followed and told the other cat to leave, this is Rascal's place.  I went outside to help and the other cat then left and headed for the road.   Rascal wanted to follow to the road but a loud pickup driving by convinced Rascal to turn around.  He came back home with me and we went back to sleep.

Waiting to be by me

This afternoon I had work to do.  But Rascal wanted me to stand here while he laid near me and watched and listened to the cows and also the vehicles drive by down the road.

Sleeping on a warm afternoon

Rascal doesn't usually lay on his back when he sleeps, but this afternoon he did.

Eating grass in the rain

We have had over an inch of rain the past few days.  This morning Rascal jumped off my bed as I was somewhat sleeping in order to throw up on the floor.  Later he went outside for a little bit in order to eat some grass.  It was raining lightly.  Rascal is now stretched out across my lap with his head on one arm.  So I am typing this with one hand.

Valentine's Day gift

Rascal (Donna) gave me a mug on Valentine's Day when I took Donna to her doctor appointment this morning since Donna's car was still in the repair shop.  When I was getting dressed this morning Rascal grabbed onto my pants with his claws and tried to pull them off of me before I could fasten the pants' belt.  Why are you getting up so early? Come back to bed to spend more time with me.  It took some effort for me to get dressed this morning.   The mug is so appropriate.

The cat on the mug looks like Rascal.

Helping on a warm Winter day

Rascal is getting outside a little more lately.  He is more used to living here and is starting to realize this is his place.  He even spends time in the barn.  Sometimes all afternoon.  Now that the barn is not packed full of small hay bales he can jump up and lay on some, and also walk around looking for mice.  I only leave the barn door open during the day.  I don't want the neighbor's cat to come and mark the inside of the barn as his territory.  Even though I built up a good part of the north fence to keep him away, occasionally I find his footprints in the fresh snow and going into the hayshed building.  So the neighbor's cat does come around once in a while.

Today it was wet outside.  Rascal is not fond of wet ground, and after a short time outside he walked to the house door.  So I carried him to the corral so he could then walk to the barn.  Rascal doesn't like to be held.  He is also pretty "chunky".  So it was a struggle for me to carry him to the corral.  He then walked to the barn.

Earlier this week Rascal came out to help me outside.

Peek-a-boo

I hope you all are having a nice Thanksgiving, and a good meal.

Lately Rascal has taken to laying partially under a blanket.   I had put a blanket on the couch earlier this year and recently I found Rascal laying under it a number of times.  He had pushed the blanket out so he could lay under it.  Here I can see him. Sometimes he is in so far I have to get down and look to see him.

Yesterday while I was cleaning the wood stove Rascal walked around and around the house.  The last I seen him he had walked into my bedroom.  After I finished the wood stove work I looked for Rascal.  I ended up looking under the bed and then I found Rascal at the foot of the bed under a blanket looking at me.  This extra blanket is partially on the bed and partially over the bed and on the floor. Its purpose is to provide extra warmth for my feet and legs in the Winter when I sleep.  Rascal pushed the blanket on the floor and then made a tunnel in which he could lay and look out at the world.

This is a new behavior by Rascal.   I 'm fine with it.

Still here

I had a very eventful past seven days, but I'm still here.   I work as an election judge so tomorrow will be a long and busy day.  I got to get up very early for me, so now it's time for bed.