Taking Forever.

Fourteen days into life in the cat house.

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Fourteen.

And Flora and Fauna are about half-grown.

Well, maybe bigger than that, but still far from pupation plumpness. That's what I get for raising cats from eggs to butterflies rather than plucking a mature cat off the vine as a house guest.

The past weeks and days-to-come consist of daily shakes of the paper towel lining to remove the pepper-like frass, fresh vine clippings now and again, and wonderment at the cats daily increase in size. Though I complain of taking forever, it truly is a visible day-by-day growth, an awesome measure of short time and quick maturation in a creature that lives a span of months from egg to death.

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Once they pupate into chrysalises, they may take forever to emerge. They are fall season cats, and unless this warmish South Florida weather soothes them into a wintertime emergence, these two may wait 'til spring before showing off their gold-rimmed swallowtail butterfly selves.

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So, this Sunday afternoon, whether you are doing chores or watching the game, 'round here, it's time to check on the cats again, maybe lounge on the back porch in this cool, part-sun, part-cloud weather - it won't last forever!

Pint-Sized Mess.

I confess it's been since May since I used the cat house.

Which means it went all summer without a cleaning.

There truly is a sober reason for the pint glass in the cat house, though I've no recollection of the variety of dried-up sprigs. I suspect it's maypop vine or sunflowers that sprung up in the lawn (PLEASE let it be sunflowers - if it's maypop, that means I never tucked the stray sprigs into the large vine in the garden.)

And that pale shell of a sulphur chrysalis dangling from the stick - Absalom from the previous round of Confessions, um, last MAY. Shedded skin of a gulf fritillary caterpillar in the jelly jar, frass-y paper towel, and a seashell come un-glued round out the mess.

Shedded skin...wha..? I didn't raise a cat past Absalom.

Uh-oh.

Guess it was maypop in the glass. And I failed at egg-leaf inspection, then never bothered to clean out the glass.

RIP, little frit fella.

All this house drama called for bleach (and a pint.)

The cat house litter was first to go, then the house moved to the lawn for a hose-down and a spray-bleach bath.

It dried within the hour. I glued shells back into place and arranged the stick. The clean scene just begged for cats.

So, I tracked down my husband somewhere in his house-work (that's house WORK, not housework), and put it to him to choose the next cat house guest.

"Honey, pick black, yellow, or orange."

Reticently, he said, "uh...black...?"

And black it is - a cluster of pipevine swallowtail eggs that will grow and emerge into lovely black butterflies.

They won't all live in the cat house. Most will repair to the garden pipevine.

Two will stay, their future monikers being Flora and Fauna.

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For you Addams Family fans, you might recognize the names Flora and Fauna (the movie aired this cat house cleaning day - October is Chiller Month on cable.)

Which brings about the choice of pint. Shipyard Pumpkinhead ale would be an ideal pint this time of year. But Stone IPA will do nicely (it's logo being a charming gargoyle, so very...October.)

Cats Ready. House Not.

Rain and sun. Rain and sun. Sometimes all in the same day. 'Cept for tropical storm Nicole on this past last day of September; she grayed out the sky for a couple days, drenching the garden better than any hose watering.

As of this morning, the garden is lush green and its inhabitants lounge in full sun.

These guys are the swallowtail and sulphur varieties. The green and yellow sulphurs are near ready for pupation, but until the caterpillar house gets a cleaning, they are free to roam the yard for their own hanging spots.

The cat house, ugh. Loose shells, bits of hair from my husband's back porch haircut, and old clear wrap on dusty jelly jars. Somehow the cat house missed out on garden prep in time for the first day of fall.

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After yoga class this morning, strolling to our cars on this sunny fall day, we pondered the rest of our Sunday. "House cleaning," one friend said, "I'm opening up my windows and cleaning." Me, too. 'Cept I'll be opening a little hinged screen door.

Did the 'butterfly' and the 'cat curl' in this morning's class.

Now for the 'clean the cat house' pose!