So today was the day to kill the household fleas (the cats' onboard fleas get poisoned tomorrow afternoon).
Cover food and utensils; close windows; don't worry about pilot burners with this particular type of fogger. Set up chairs on the patio. Move the cats' food and water bowls out. Move Tinga out. Coax the cats out (they're starting to suspect that Something Is Up). Set the flea bombs: garage, hallway among bedrooms, dining area. Exit via the front door, and return to the patio.
The cats are worried, and make it abundantly clear that they know where home is, and that indoors is where safety is. At one point, Huckleberry and Southmoon manage to get into the front yard - and make a beeline for the front door, hoping to get in that way.
Then, just as we seem to have everyone settled, Autumn Weather Event Adrienne arrives, bringing sprinkles and a slight breeze. Hmmm. Put a little rain shelter atop Tinga's cage. For everyone else? I think I saw a beach umbrella in the shed.
Yup, beach umbrella. At one point I had a stand for it, but I may have discarded that. Oh, well: hammer it into the dirt, using a field-expedient hammer. Now the cats are worried about the umbrella: is it a jellyfish? Is it going to sting us? Southmoon and Huckleberry eventually decide it's kinda-sorta-almost safe, but Top Hat runs off to the side yard to hide, eventually ending up wedged between the shed and the fence for the remainder of the adventure.
It doesn't help that Joy is sheltering from the cold with a weird shirt with a sort of hood thing. The cats seem even more worried about that than about the beach umbrella.
On various occasions, Southmoon starts crying and scratching at the garage door. She knows where home is!
Eventually, the appointed time comes around, and I go around via the front door (cats carefully kept on the patio, except for Top Hat, who's still hiding) and go around opening windows, turning on the blower over the stove, and so on.
After a bit of airing-out time, I open the door from patio to garage. Zoom! Southmoon, who had been out of sight for a while and presumed hiding in the side yard with the others, dashes in. Huckleberry follows.
With two cats, their bowls, and Tinga all indoors, I take the treat jar to the side yard and eventually coax Top Hat out of her hiding place. Meanwhile, Huckleberry has gotten bored with all this, and has gone back out to patrol the blackberry thicket, so now he needs coaxing.
The day did get to be quite an adventure. And now my ankles itch (probably minor scratches from blackberries and such).
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