No Butterflies For Me

At least, not this summer.

My garden is dying a slow and painful death. It looks like root rot and I really don't think there's anything I can do for them. I think the soil is just too hard packed, and water isn't draining properly. I've lost five of my glads and two of my dahlias. I don't know if my dahlia tubers will be ok for next year or not.

I might also inherit a couple motherless kittens. Their mom was a first-timer and she didn't know what to do with them; she hasn't been seen since they were born. Only two have survived and Mom's trying to take care of them. None of the other cats around, even the ones who tend to "pool" their babies and raise them village-style, want the babies. Mom thinks it's because the other kittens are older and the milk is drying up.

So we're going to do an experiment.

I have a female cat who is obsessed with mothering things. She's never had kittens but she's not fixed--our male cat is fixed and Kitty is a strictly indoor cat with no interest in the outdoors. We suspect she might have had a false pregnancy recently and she might be open to the idea of being a surrogate mom to the kittens. They'd still need us to feed them but otherwise, I think she'd be a good mom.

So that's what's going on right now. I'm bummed out about my garden, but hopefully I can contribute in some way to helping the babies.