No major news with the crew here, just a couple items of interest.

First off, Rocky spent his first night outside since the beginning of
the winter this week. Kind of funny, though, the weather had been
pretty nice lately. The night he decided to stay out and wasn't around
when I went to call him in it rained. A front came through and our
temperatures dropped 20 degrees. He spent the next two days inside
with only the ocassional foray out (I've still never seen him use the
box, he insists that the only proper place is outside). Maybe it was
enough to convince him to stay in at night, though I kind of doubt it.
I'd really prefer he stayed in, but as long as he keeps to his old
range and doesn't stray towards any of the busy streets I guess I'll
let him have his way. He spent's most of his time outside either
sleeping in the lawn chair under the tree, or under the pecan tree
(which of course drives the squirrels crazy, but he ignores them).
He's content to stay in when I'm here, but gets nervous when it's just
him and the girls at home. Perhaps it's all those years being on his
own - by TED's estimate 6-8 years as a feral, pretty old for that kind
of life which has a pretty short life expectancy.

Sammy and Little Bit are being their normal precious selves. This
morning I once again found the cupboard under the bathroom sink open
and a couple q-tips - one in the toilet and the other in the bathroom
sink. I'm sure was Sam showing me that I didn't find and throw away
all of them when she got into a closed drawer and found a box that had
been there since I moved here.

Big news on the current neighborhood cat population. For the longest
time I thought there was one gray tabby, probably just over a year old
now, who I called Ring-a-ding because of the rings on his/her tail. A
couple weeks back I saw Ring-a-ding and a twin on the patio at the
same time, so there's two of them. I found out that they officially
belong to the neighbor across the street (no, not the dimwits who
owned Black Tom and let him wander even when told he regularly crossed
the busy 4 lane road two blocks away). They're brother and sister, and
have been coming here to eat for quite a while. Anyway, they're pretty
skittish, but the neighbor has vetted/neutered them and they live in
his workshop (he also has a tuxedo Sammy look-alike housecat which I
already knew about). For the longest time all I saw of them was them
running away, but this morning one was in Rocky's old shelter when I
went out, and he stayed put instead of running away. When I went to
the food container and started to fill up the bowl he came over,
staying just out of reach. Who knows, maybe he/she will let me pet
them someday. Maybe not, though, since Sammy and Little Bit hate them
and they have hissy fights through the windows, which may explain why
they're so nervous when they come to visit.

The really good news is that I know that all the cats who visit my
outside eatery have owners - no ferals here, at least for now.