The stray cat, which, in looking back at some texts, I realize has been around since February, is still visiting our front porch. I managed to shoot him with my phone on Monday.

He, or she, as the case may be, was watching for a chance to eat. Chloe, on the left, didn’t know the stray was there. Dusty was sound asleep.

Here’s an enlarged image.

Cute little kitty, right? But mean little kitty, too. It jumped on Mollie Tuesday afternoon. I saved Mollie by shouting at the cat, which does not stay around if a human appears. Mollie did not seem grateful, or at least any more grateful than any other cat has ever been.

One of our neighbors said the cat has been eating her cats’ food. It certainly looks well fed. Leah had been worried that someone dumped the cat because it was pregnant. We haven’t been able to get a close enough look to tell its sex, but it has been around long enough that if it had been pregnant, it would have already had its litter. So far the stray has not brought a tiny kitten around for us to admire, and we sincerely hope that does not happen.

Speaking of Mollie, which I was doing earlier, she has found a new place to sleep.

This is typical cat behavior; if a cat sees a horizontal surface, it will sleep on it. It’s better if it’s a soft surface, but that’s not necessary.

Mollie has been pulling the curtain around herself so she can pretend that no one knows where she is. Sam pays Mollie no attention.

This is the dogs’ bed. Sam sleeps there, but Zoe does not. Zoe sleeps at the foot of our bed, which does not please Leah.

On the human side of the household, I had my fourth session of physical therapy on Tuesday. I think I’m making reasonable progress with my knee and my shoulder. The real news, though, is that I rode home from PT in the front seat of our car.

For the last five or six weeks I have had to sit sideways in the back seat with my right leg extended across the seat. I had to approach the door backwards, then slide across the seat because I couldn’t bend my right knee far enough to get into the the front. At first I had to let Leah pick up my leg so I could slide into the car. I had reached the point that I could lift my leg all by myself, and pull myself across the seat using the grab handle on the opposite side of the car. I was feeling pretty good about my new skill at entering a car, but I decided to try the front seat on Tuesday. I managed to get my right leg bent far enough to get into the car, and there was plenty of room to stretch my legs out almost fully. I’ll never ride in the back seat again.

The surgeon had let me have 30 degrees of motion on my knee brace last week. That and some new but limited flexibility made the difference in getting into the front seat. I am scheduled to see the surgeon again Wednesday of next week, when he has promised to give me 70 degrees of motion. I can’t actually bend my knee that much right now, but maybe with enough PT I will be able to by then. And that will make getting into the car even easier.

And soon after that, I hope, I will be able to drive again.