Itty Bitty

In loving memory, I dedicate this post to my cat. Itty was the sweetest cat, and my best friend. We adopted Itty when I was around 11 years-old. Itty witnessed me grow, and I witnessed him turn from a tiny kitten to an average sized adult. Itty grew up as an outdoor cat and having been raised with dry food, he preferred to drink from the water faucet. He preferred chicken more than anything, and didn't really prefer ocean flavor foods. Itty had four distinct fur patterns as I called white 'boots' and a white 'muzzle'. He was many colors of brown with the beautiful black stripes and spots on his fur.
Itty has had many cat-friends in his life including, White Cat, Gray Cat, and the others I didn't get to meet. He had met a lot of my friends as well, whom he liked a lot. He traveled with me as I moved from five houses, from the house I was raised in to the house I now live in as an adult. Itty made me strong through my school years and was there to comfort me whenever I had a trouble. He was the happiest when he got to explore the night outside and catch for me many colorful presents in my sleep.

Here is his the end of his story explained-

Itty only became more restricted from freedom and the outdoors as I got my own apartment. Itty only had a perch on the window to look out of. I felt a lot of remorse for him, knowing what he was used to and the stark contrast of the life style he had to adapt to.
Itty had a very gradual decline over the course of a year in his weight and appetite. It wasn't until my mom remarked at how skinny he's gotten, we gave him up to the vet. We had x-rays, blood and urine tests done, which was very basic protocol. We could only guess what was wrong with him, but quickly got him on wet food instead of dry food as prescribed. He loved the change of food at first, but the same process that happened with his dry food happened with his wet food.
As stubborn as I am, I thought that with more variety I could find that perfect irresistible food and he could become healthily plump and love eating again. What was happening in Itty's body was that he couldn't intake food because of an inflammation of his intestines, also he couldn't retain nutrients from what small amounts of food and water he was eating. There's other medical conditions that came from his anorexia, but are also is common in older cats.

Itty had a strong majority of his life dedicated to food, hunting, affection, and friends. I had an amazing time with him,  I can remember he was there with me in the hardest times of my life, purring. He was so strong and independent, able to fight off any cat despite his size and adapt to change so readily.
There was certain ways he enjoyed his head being rubbed which he made really obvious with his gestures. I was lucky enough to make sure to do that in our last moments. I could only hope that if I'm right in reading him, he really appreciated me as much as I did him. His last moments were spent under a heat lamp, wrapped in a blanket and under very professional care. Itty passed naturally with one final deep breath.

June 1999 - August 2013

Monarch Caterpillars

Butterfly Weed attracts Monarch Butterfly's which in turn lay eggs and hatch these caterpillars that eat the Butterfly Weed. They then turn into a cocoon and then into a Monarch butterfly to repeat the process.

Below are images and video:

Since Moving

Since moving who knows what the previous garden is like, now that it has been so long.
Here is what we have to work with now.

red moth

a red moth on a hand-built brown fence

no insects

there are definitely no insects located within this picture, at all.

creepy spider

this image has a spoiler warning on it, because some spiders are very creepy! if you'd like to see the spider click on the button. i'll probably be doing this for all spiders in the future.

spider

it isn't that big, as you can compare the size to the droplet of water next to it. this one isn't very fast, and doesn't hide very well. it's like a mini-tarantula

hunting spider

this spider set up its web near trash cans in the alley and catches a lot of flies. i think it's a good hunting spider, i'm not sure of its name though. it will fall quickly in panic if disturbed!

insects

a dead wasp and an unclassified insect?

dry/wet

a before and after. this plant makes watering it more noticeable. those flowers have already bloomed, they need to be pruned!

nastershum

time to cut back these plants, because the dead parts of it were trapped under the live parts, getting soggy. unhealthy? they have already started growing back. a before and after.

Roses

They bloom and die so fast. There are a lot of them currently.

New Spider

It looks like a bunch of tiny kiwi's. Flat face, didn't seem too harmful...

Flowers #4

Flowers #3

There are a lot!

Flowers #2

Flowers #1

Some in the garden bed.

Loooong

This plant never stops amazing me!
Neither does this cat.

spring

i think things are defrosting

brick moss

old bricks that surround little and large areas around my house

Bee Flowers

The plant in front of my windows attracts bees. It blooms during spring!