Cassie's Expanded Domain

While my beloved Sweeti was living, I had to keep her and my feral kitty, Cassie, separated. Cassie spent most of the time in the garage (it has HVAC, carpet and all the comforts of home) and would come into the house once in the morning and again in the evening. Since I lost Sweeti, Cassie now has free rein of the house all day. At first she was a little hesitant about it, would stay glued to the sofa, and constantly alert.

Last night was the first time she seemed to relax. I took this photo below (sorry, it's a bit fuzzy) while she was sleeping, although she might have been peeking.
My next assignment is to get her to let me pick her up. I've been working on it the past week and I can carry her from one end of the couch to the other, or pick her up and put her on the floor. But once I put her down, she immediately turns around and gives me a sharp 'meow' as if to say, 'Don't do that!' We'll keep working on it:)