The Queen!

The Bayou has one resident that reigns as queen.  Ms. Put, the cat, has been officially named as Queen of the Bayou for several reasons with the main one being that...she rules.  I must admit that she rules with an iron hand...errr...paw over all of her minions.  Those minions include several humans that just happen to be here as well.  We are her slaves.  When Queen Put wants something, we are to snap to it and get it for her.  Queen Put, also, has as her palace, the entire Little Bayou House.  Not many places are off limits to her.  This has little to do with her reign but rather that she has come to fully deserve the right.  If ever a pet can "pull their own weight", she can and does.  There is not a day that goes by that she neglects to bring us a rat, mouse or vole body.  (Yes, just the body.  She kindly removes the head after catching the critter.)  This rodent catching is something that we could never do without.  Living near the marsh, there are all sorts of critters that are just waiting to make quick work of anything growing in the garden.  The Queen (Ms. Put) takes her job seriously as a cat should!  She makes short work of any intrusive rodents.  It is no wonder that I love this cat!

Today started off as a cloudy mess but late in the afternoon, the sun popped out and made things downright beautiful!  With the temperature hovering in the mid-fifties, it was the perfect day to get outside.  The dog, Ms. Ez, enjoyed her time romping after the ball but Ms. Put was quite content to lounge in the sunshine. I am sure that her age has something to do with her lack of playtime. This is one old cat!  We found her when she was but a tiny kitten.  Some cruel folks threw her and her brother out in the road just beyond our house.  The pair somehow made their way through the creek and up the hill to the Little Bayou House.  There they found a home and we obtained wonderful friends.  The kids named her "Put" and him "Tup".  The kittens were mirror images of each other hence the names being reversed or mirrored.  Tup roamed as male cats are prone to do and eventually never came home.  Put stayed, endeared herself to us and soon became queen.  That was seventeen years ago.  Her aging body does not take to well to the bitter cold that we have had this past week so I can only imagine how divine the warmth of the sun felt.  She soaked up as much of that sunshine as she possibly could!

Now the queen has settled in for the night.  After a nice bowl of food, she has cozied herself on the stairs to guard Michael's room.  We tease him about having a "watchcat" on duty but the truth be known, she just loves the stairs.  From that perch, she can see everything that goes on in the dining room. She can watch what goes on in her realm and can be ready to step in if her rule is needed.  Yep, I love this old cat even though she is fickle, dominant and is always ready to take a swipe at anyone!