Here’s Momcat hiding out in the hostas. Can you see her?
Momcat is our semi-feral cat. She was dumped off at the roadside, about 8 years ago, with a litter of kittens, and over a couple of months, she made her way to our barn with her family. She settled in, and over the next couple of years, she raised umpteen more litters of kittens before we were finally able to catch her and get her in to the vet’s, ending her kitten dynasty. Although she was an excellent mother, I’m sure no one was more relieved than she was over her retirement from kitten rearing.
She never became tame. We’re not allowed to touch her. But she graciously accepts our hospitality, living close to the house all summer, and when the snow flies, retiring to the basement till spring.
Now, no one can relax like a cat. But Momcat emanates something more, a deep contentment with life, the satisfaction, perhaps, of one who took on a tough task and did it well. Now she enjoys life every day.
Willow House Chronicles 
Ah – nothing better than a cat in her garden. What a story! She does indeed deserve her “retirement”. Thanks for posting!
Hi Anya! You know only too well about the stray cat strut!
You are lucky she will agree to come in for the winter. We had one poor sad pregnant female hanging around here who we couldn’t convince to come in. We already had three cats so we couldn’t keep her, but once we got her into the safe trap, we took her to the no kill shelter.
I’m glad you were able to rescue her from the cold, Karen.
We used to catsit a semi-feral cat called Nanook every Christmas.The poor thing rarely left the basement. Once however he went after a bird at the top of the Christmas tree and knocked the whole thing down.
To catch Nanook when time came to go home, his mistress would throw a blanket over him and roll it very fast.She was Dutch and eventually went back to Holland and Nanook spent the last years of his life in Utrech.
Your Dutch friend sounds like a kind lady.