Cedar Kitteh Fortress

 Or I could have called this Doggo can't keep his nose out of stuff that is not his.  Harley is an eating machine.  That includes raw food directly in the garden, Turkey Gibblets on the cutting board, and now anything that is for the Kitteh.  Well, anyway the next version of the Kitteh Fortress is a Cedar Chest.  We have had it around the house a long time as a decorative piece.  Time to make it functional.

 Hungry Hungry Doggos...  So the Cedar Chest was maybe a rustic storage piece for bedding.  We have had Eucalyptus branches in it while it sat in the corner.  So, we're going to convert it into a Kitteh Fortress.  First we need completely covert access for the Kitteh.  I don't want Doggo to see into it, or stick his nose into it.

 So I made a strategic opening in the back of the chest.  Kitteh like to be around, or under the couch in the living room.  The back of the chest will be toward the back of the couch.  A feature on this chest is that it has a hinged top which is relatively heavy, and flush with the sides.  If the top was to overhang the sides, then Doggo would be able to open the top with his nose.

 

The chest is made from Cedar Planks, and it is frameless, so I needed to add a couple support pieces inside where I cut the access port.  I did this cut with the oscillating saw so it is a nice cut.  This piece is a good example of clean aged Cedar.  It is a lot nicer looking than the salvage Cedar which comes from old fence panels.
 

Then we'll need to stock the Kitteh Fortress with provisions that Harley doesn't get.  But he wants.

You can see by what he did to the Cardboard Kitteh Fort.  I knew that one wouldn't last long...

 He crushed the top inward, not even needing to climb into the box because he can just bend over and get the wet Cat food.  I was suspicious of him getting in there when the top was pushed in a little.  A bigger clue was that the wet food was completely gone.  Kitteh never eats all of it at once, LOL!

 

A rare look at Kitteh.  She is plotting Harley's demise as she stares off into the distance...

Nunion Cluster

 I've had a little cluster of Onions growing in my garden over the last few years.  I let grow and die back naturally to see what the cluster would do on its own.  I think I like it.  Not as edible food, but just a plant to be in the garden.  It kind of looks like Mondo Grass, but smells like Onions...

 

Prairie-Cane

 Otherwise possibly known as The Wrath of the Plains have become a thing in Texas.  I have noticed this phenomena over the past four years or so.  In the Springtime we have exceptionally high velocity, straight line winds that break large trees mainly.  The smaller trees are more flexible, and bend with the wind.  But those crusty, old, large trees don't move as good, and snap.  This years causality  is the last Bradfod Pear Tree.  It was usually stunning in the Springtime.

 

For a week or ten days it was covered with perfect white blossoms that looked like Popcorn.  We had two of these in front until 2021.  This one was budding, and fixing to Pop when the Prairie-Cane got it, and snapped it off at the trunk.  The wind was reportedly 85 mph.
 

The wind was extremely loud that morning so there was noise coming from every direction.  The doggy door was blown horizontal, and the wind coming in the doggy door blew leaves all the way across the living room.  It was also dark, maybe about 5:30 AM, so I couldn't really see what was outside until sunrise.  We went out the front door for our walk a little later, and found this (above).

 The new roof fared well.  The wind was directly from the west and pushed the tree due east.  So the tree fell almost completely in the yard (above).  It didn't hit the house, and its also not on the sidewalk, or in the street.  That is a pretty lucky shot for a Prairie-Cane, this is usually much more messy.  If I was to compare this to what happened to my Oak Tree in back last year.  It was like the Oak Tree exploded, and there were little bits of Oak Tree everywhere.

OK, well, maybe no more Bradford Pears.  This could have been a serious liability if it happened in the daytime.  I should make a Chile Garden in that spot because it has light all day long.  Ooo... Tomatoes...