How my cat finally got me trained….

I have a cat. Oops, I need to turn that around, now that I have been properly trained. My cat has a human. It is me.

For a while, I thought I was the boss. And weirdly enough, I and “my” cat were both rather frustrated.

For example. I thought I was in charge of feeding time. I decided that we would have a bowl of dry food available at all times, and at 2:00 in the afternoon the “cat” would be provided with a treat of canned cat food.

But the cat decided that the “treat” at 2:00 was going to be called “my main meal” and she was going to have it when she wanted it, not at the specified 2:00 “treat time.”

Here is how it would work. I would be sitting here in the teddy bear room, working. The cat would come into the room and sit by my chair, looking at me. No meow, no scratching, no nothing… just “the look.” I would ignore her to the best of my ability, maybe give her a little pet, remind her that it was not 2:00 yet and go about my business. I knew what she wanted, but it was not 2:00 yet, and we must adhere to the schedule.

Months went by. Day by day… same thing… I would just hold out. If I got off my chair she would follow me wherever I went, rubbing against my leg, and staring at me. This also created a bit of a frustration factor, as I wanted her to stop trying to have her way.

One day I just thought, “this is ridiculous. I’ll just let her decide when it is time for the treat and end this.”

So, here is how it goes.

She comes into the teddy bear room and looks up at me.

I get up from my chair and follow her.

Through the living room.

Into the dining area….

Stopping for a bit of a chin rub.

Circling around a leg as I’m getting the treat prepared.

Patiently waiting by the “feeding area.”

And finally it arrives!

Yummy!!!

And back to where it all started, happy and contented little kitty.

It took a while, but I finally got it. The cat wins, because the cat never gave up on me. She had faith I would finally learn, and she was persistent in her training. The result: A peaceful existence for human and cat. How come it took me so long?

My Alaskan Garden

That first day of Spring seems like it was only yesterday, and here I am 5 months later just getting around to another blog post.
Oh, I have a good, actually a great excuse. We have had more sunshine here in Juneau than in any other summer I can remember.

I  moved here in 1967. Since that time we’ve had a few memorable summers. But none like this one. You see, we live in what is called “rain country” here in Southeast Alaska.
Needless to say, I have been a busy little bee. From that first snowy day dragging my pail of dirt and begonias to the greenhouse, to the middle of September, canning tomatoes grown in my greenhouse and actually setting out sunflower heads to dry out in the “sun.”




I am read to get back into full time teddy bear gear again, which means doing a little catching up here on the blog.

Thanks for the visit. Now I’m going to go find out what you have been up to!
Hugs, Vicki