Recollections of a Farm Woman for June 25th, 2008

Dusty, my barn cat, made his first appearance in the barn one winter morning when I entered to chore. He was scared at first and was quite hungry, so food soon brought him around. By and by, he let me touch him. I call him Dusty because he has a faded orange tiger color; he looks dusty.
I used to have a couple of rabbits who played around the barn lot, but no more, as he soon took care of that. They were the same size as him, so he must be quite a hunter. He comes to the house now for his feedings. I guess he got used to it when he followed Sassy the goat.
My back porch door is in need of some repairs, so every once in a while, a mouse gets in and every once in a while, Dusty leaves the evidence they had been there. So, he does earn his keep now and again.
Dusty is friendly and loving with me, lets me pick him up once in a while, but soon gets nervous and wants down.
My house cat Popcorn, as my niece calls her, is a talker. You talk to her and she meows back. The first time she saw her, she talked to her and Popcorn meowed back. She then said she’s a talker. My niece is also a cat lover. Anyway, once in a while, I will talk to Popcorn in Cat. I will meow to her, she just looks at me and does nothing. But if you meow at Dusty, he just gets nervous and wants out.
He is also a one-person cat; I found this out when my older son and grandchildren showed up early one Saturday morning while Dusty was still eating his breakfast on the back porch. He immediately started running around helter skelter and hitting the windows like a wild bird that had gotten in by mistake. As soon as they got inside the kitchen, I went out and halfway calmed him down where I could get the door open and let him zip out. He keeps a low profile when friends and relatives are around. But when they disappear, he reappears.
In case you have wondered who does my proofreading -- I mess up every now and again and Jesse does it. My proof readers is Popcorn, because most of the time, she is sitting on my lap when I am typing up my stories.