Blackie showed up at our house in rural SW Washington in the winter of 2010. She was very skittish at first but would eat cat food if you left it for her and then gave her some privacy. She was a petite little cat and we worried that she would have trouble surviving the winter without some shelter so we opened a bag of cedar chips and placed it under our deck in our fenced backyard for her to make a bed. Fortunately, she figured it out and that was where she spent the winter sleeping and taking her meals. Over time she transitioned from the cedar chips to going in and out of our unfinished basement to eventually spending part, then all, of her time inside our home. She picked out a chair that became "hers" and was very content in the warmer months going outside onto our upstairs deck and lounging on the patio furniture or laying in the sun. She became the most loving animal we ever had as part of our large pet family and remained that way until the day she passed. We were so fortunate to have her in our lives and feel blessed that she wandered onto our property so many years ago.