That's exactly what I saw peeking out from the barn this afternoon..... five cute little baby foxes. Cute, yes. Do we want a mama fox and her babies in the barn? Of course not. But there they are..... and there's no catching them. If you call the county wildlife office, they tell you to shoot them, because they're predators. Well, easy for them to say. How can you shoot five cute little fox-faces?
This happened a couple of years ago with baby foxes, only there were three of them, not five. Makes me wonder if the same mama fox came back to her perfect hiding spot, or did one of those three babies remember the place of its birth and she came back to raise her own five babies.
The mama fox must be off hunting, because she's not around. The mama fox will leave the young ones in the hiding spot, and they'll stay there till she returns with a meal, like a fresh-killed bird or chicken. (And with the down-the-hill neighbors having at least thirty chickens, this mama fox doesn't have to travel far for lunch or dinner.)
The five babies all peeked out from under the barn at the same time a little while ago.... five little heads with pointy ears, looking very much like kittens except the ears are larger. And then there's always one brave baby fox who will come out into the grass for a look-see, and that's when I saw the large tail..... definitely not a kitten-tail..... certainly a fox tail. At that point, I opened up the screen door so it would make that farm-house-door squeaking sound, and all five fox babies hurried back underneath the barn to wait for mama.
Five baby foxes. I tell you honestly... it's always something.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
King George on the balcony...
Poor King George (the neighbor's peacock), waiting for his Juliet......
That's what he seemed to be doing here this morning.... either waiting for his mate, or just trying to keep his feathers dry during today's massive rains. I think King George spent the night on our balcony because early this morning, I distinctly heard him walking across our roof. Like a zombie, I might add.... step by slow and deliberate step, making his way across the top of our house. Then he sat on the railing of the balcony again and tried to keep his feathers tucked in underneath the curve of the eaves.
It's been raining on and off (mostly on) all day long. The cats are not quite happy, but they're safe and dry, and that's all that matters. I haven't let Mickey out of the garage today, so when he wants fresh air (fresh rainy air, actually) then he walks through the little door connecting the garage to the coop, and he can watch the rain falling from the fenced walls of the coop. When his whiskers get just one raindrop on them, he runs back into the garage. Gatsby stays in the house till he hears the rain stopping, then he meows by the back door to go out. Heaven forbid he should miss something outside.
Sweet Pea, however...... he's perfectly (purr-fectly?) content to be an inside cat. I've been reading for most of the afternoon so far and he's been in my lap, cuddled up and alternately purring and snoring. Life is good for these country cats. And no, they are not spoiled.
That's what he seemed to be doing here this morning.... either waiting for his mate, or just trying to keep his feathers dry during today's massive rains. I think King George spent the night on our balcony because early this morning, I distinctly heard him walking across our roof. Like a zombie, I might add.... step by slow and deliberate step, making his way across the top of our house. Then he sat on the railing of the balcony again and tried to keep his feathers tucked in underneath the curve of the eaves.
It's been raining on and off (mostly on) all day long. The cats are not quite happy, but they're safe and dry, and that's all that matters. I haven't let Mickey out of the garage today, so when he wants fresh air (fresh rainy air, actually) then he walks through the little door connecting the garage to the coop, and he can watch the rain falling from the fenced walls of the coop. When his whiskers get just one raindrop on them, he runs back into the garage. Gatsby stays in the house till he hears the rain stopping, then he meows by the back door to go out. Heaven forbid he should miss something outside.
Sweet Pea, however...... he's perfectly (purr-fectly?) content to be an inside cat. I've been reading for most of the afternoon so far and he's been in my lap, cuddled up and alternately purring and snoring. Life is good for these country cats. And no, they are not spoiled.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Rain.... and more rain....
... and bad timing.
The handyman was due here this morning..... not the handyman who doesn't show up when he's supposed to be here, but the handyman who does show up on the right day at the right time. Except for this morning....... I had to call him and tell him not to drive over here because it was raining. We had wanted him to do some outside painting..... we have nothing for him to do on the inside.... so with the rain, he couldn't work here.
This particular handyman always shows up when he's supposed to because he needs the work and he understands that if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid, and if he doesn't get paid, then he can't pay his bills and buy groceries. (The other handyman hasn't grasped that fact yet.... if that guy can't buy groceries, then he just goes to his parents' house to eat.)
So the handyman who would have been here if it hadn't been raining...... he called another customer who had inside work for him to do during this week of rainy weather, and he'll be working there till he's finished. Which means any work we have here for him will have to wait till it either stops raining, or till the handyman is finished with that other job.
Come on, Charlie Brown...... kick the football........
The handyman was due here this morning..... not the handyman who doesn't show up when he's supposed to be here, but the handyman who does show up on the right day at the right time. Except for this morning....... I had to call him and tell him not to drive over here because it was raining. We had wanted him to do some outside painting..... we have nothing for him to do on the inside.... so with the rain, he couldn't work here.
This particular handyman always shows up when he's supposed to because he needs the work and he understands that if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid, and if he doesn't get paid, then he can't pay his bills and buy groceries. (The other handyman hasn't grasped that fact yet.... if that guy can't buy groceries, then he just goes to his parents' house to eat.)
So the handyman who would have been here if it hadn't been raining...... he called another customer who had inside work for him to do during this week of rainy weather, and he'll be working there till he's finished. Which means any work we have here for him will have to wait till it either stops raining, or till the handyman is finished with that other job.
Come on, Charlie Brown...... kick the football........
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Saturday stuff...
The orange cat (Orange Kitty) was by the back door this morning when I walked into the kitchen. He's there every morning, quietly sitting on the door-mat, waiting for his breakfast. I've been keeping Gatsby inside the house at night, to give Orange Kitty a break from Gatsby's howling, and after the orange cat has his Meow Mix, I let Gatsby out onto the porch. I have to say that Gatsby isn't chasing Orange Kitty off the porch anymore, but he is indeed 'staring him down' and letting that cat know who owns the porch.
The barn swallows have been unusually quiet this past week, after the debacle with the snake eating those baby birds in the corner nest, and then also killing one of the adult birds. That particular nest is the biggest one on the porch, and none of the other birds are going near it, or even flying close to it. Staying away from the scene of the crime. I've often seen nests that have broken in half and fallen onto the porch or into the flowerbeds. I had thought that those nests just weren't built strong enough, but now I'm thinking that a snake crawled up into those nests and their weight collapsed the nest.
The peacock (King George) hasn't been back to the house since the hay was mowed last week. Surely, he didn't like the sound of the mowers and the hay-balers. I can still hear the peacock calling out for a mate from time to time, and friend J up the road has taken photos of King George as he crosses the road and pecks in the grass with the neighbor's chickens.
The local Farmers' Market has begun selling fruits and vegetables this weekend. The late frost destroyed a lot of the local plantings, and the torrential rains we had at the beginning of this month didn't help the farmers either. My husband usually goes to the Farmers' Market every weekend.... talks to the men there, picks out some fruits and vegetables from each of the vendors.... and talks about the weather. The fruit prices in the supermarkets are off-the-charts lately, and most of the summer fruits are just sitting there. Who wants to pay eight dollars a pound for fresh cherries? Or nearly three dollars a pound for nectarines? There is a peach farm in one of the near-by towns, and we've gone there two years in a row when it's peach-picking time. In a couple of weeks, we'll be there again to pick our own peaches, and hopefully the per-pound price of their peaches won't be anywhere close to the prices in the supermarket.
The barn swallows have been unusually quiet this past week, after the debacle with the snake eating those baby birds in the corner nest, and then also killing one of the adult birds. That particular nest is the biggest one on the porch, and none of the other birds are going near it, or even flying close to it. Staying away from the scene of the crime. I've often seen nests that have broken in half and fallen onto the porch or into the flowerbeds. I had thought that those nests just weren't built strong enough, but now I'm thinking that a snake crawled up into those nests and their weight collapsed the nest.
The peacock (King George) hasn't been back to the house since the hay was mowed last week. Surely, he didn't like the sound of the mowers and the hay-balers. I can still hear the peacock calling out for a mate from time to time, and friend J up the road has taken photos of King George as he crosses the road and pecks in the grass with the neighbor's chickens.
The local Farmers' Market has begun selling fruits and vegetables this weekend. The late frost destroyed a lot of the local plantings, and the torrential rains we had at the beginning of this month didn't help the farmers either. My husband usually goes to the Farmers' Market every weekend.... talks to the men there, picks out some fruits and vegetables from each of the vendors.... and talks about the weather. The fruit prices in the supermarkets are off-the-charts lately, and most of the summer fruits are just sitting there. Who wants to pay eight dollars a pound for fresh cherries? Or nearly three dollars a pound for nectarines? There is a peach farm in one of the near-by towns, and we've gone there two years in a row when it's peach-picking time. In a couple of weeks, we'll be there again to pick our own peaches, and hopefully the per-pound price of their peaches won't be anywhere close to the prices in the supermarket.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Baby birds......
The first thing I noticed as I opened the kitchen door this morning was the lack of movement from the barn swallows that have their nests on the back porch. On a usual morning, the birds are chirping and singing even before I get down the stairs. This morning, there was complete silence.
The largest barn swallow nest had four little baby birds in it, and they were at the point in growth that would have had them flying out of the nest by week's end. This morning, however, the baby birds were all gone, and one of the adult birds was dead on the porch, just under the nest. My guess is that a snake got to them during the night, and ate one of the adults and the four babies, and probably bit and killed the adult bird that was lifeless on the porch.
Well, damn. You would think it's impossible for a snake to get up the wall of a house and into those nests, but we've seen it happen before. On a summer morning last year, I found a snake hanging out of a nest.... he had probably fallen asleep with his body half inside the nest after he'd eaten those babies.......... my husband shot that particular snake. Not once, but twice.
I hate the thought of what could be outside at night...... and before I step one foot outside our door at night, even if I'm just going out on the porch, I put all the lights on and I carry a huge flashlight. Just in case. In case of what? I have no idea...... what would I do with a flashlight anyway? Throw it at a snake?
My husband has often asked me to sit on the porch with him at night so we can look at the millions of stars out here. --- "Are you out of your mind?"--- That's my usual answer.
The largest barn swallow nest had four little baby birds in it, and they were at the point in growth that would have had them flying out of the nest by week's end. This morning, however, the baby birds were all gone, and one of the adult birds was dead on the porch, just under the nest. My guess is that a snake got to them during the night, and ate one of the adults and the four babies, and probably bit and killed the adult bird that was lifeless on the porch.
Well, damn. You would think it's impossible for a snake to get up the wall of a house and into those nests, but we've seen it happen before. On a summer morning last year, I found a snake hanging out of a nest.... he had probably fallen asleep with his body half inside the nest after he'd eaten those babies.......... my husband shot that particular snake. Not once, but twice.
I hate the thought of what could be outside at night...... and before I step one foot outside our door at night, even if I'm just going out on the porch, I put all the lights on and I carry a huge flashlight. Just in case. In case of what? I have no idea...... what would I do with a flashlight anyway? Throw it at a snake?
My husband has often asked me to sit on the porch with him at night so we can look at the millions of stars out here. --- "Are you out of your mind?"--- That's my usual answer.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Country Rules for City Girls (17 thru 19)
17: Never, never, never pick anything up outside without first looking at it carefully from top to bottom. Being that the item has been outside, you just don't know what's crawling on it, nesting under it, or perched on top of it.
Case in point.... I had noticed that the outside cats weren't sitting on the wicker chair that's in the cat-coop (basically our old chicken coop that's been turned into a screen-porch for the cats). I have old furniture in there so the cats have something to sleep in and climb on.... and that particular broken-leg wicker chair was always one of Mickey's favorites. And if Mickey wasn't napping in it, then Gatsby was sitting in it and looking through the fence and out into his kingdom. But the chair has been mysteriously empty since we got back from our trip.
It had rained while we were gone, and I thought maybe the blanket on the chair had gotten soaked and then started to give off a stale odor as it dried, which would make the cats keep away from it. So today I did a load of laundry, filling the washer with cat blankets and pillow-beds from inside and outside. When I took Mickey's blanket back to his favorite chair in the coop, I decided to move the chair to the other side of the coop now that it's been getting warmer, to keep it out of the hot afternoon sun.
Well, stupid me. Did I look closely at that chair before picking it up? No. I just picked it up by the arms and walked towards the opposite side of the coop. And as I did, I felt a sting on my right hand....... I dropped the chair and there was a small yellow-jacket sort of bee..... which had just stung my hand and seemed to be aiming again for my arm. I screamed and ran out of the coop, into the garage, and grabbed the first can of insect spray I could find, which happened to be the wasp spray.
Back into the coop I went, looking for that bee...... but before I found the bee, my eyes found a little nest of bees right underneath the arm of that old chair. Had I grabbed that chair just three inches lower, I would have had a palm-full of bees, and most likely a palm-full of stings. I sprayed that nest with about a quarter of the can of wasp spray, and at least a dozen bees fell dead to the concrete floor. So there!
18: Once something has been outside on the porch or in the yard, don't even think of bringing it back inside. Whatever you have brought outside is now an 'outside thing' forever.
19: When you scream, no one will hear you. So learn to take care of the crawling bugs and flying insects and whatever else is creeping or slithering around outside. And if you can't deal with that sort of stuff, then just keep your sweet self inside the house as much as possible.
Case in point.... I had noticed that the outside cats weren't sitting on the wicker chair that's in the cat-coop (basically our old chicken coop that's been turned into a screen-porch for the cats). I have old furniture in there so the cats have something to sleep in and climb on.... and that particular broken-leg wicker chair was always one of Mickey's favorites. And if Mickey wasn't napping in it, then Gatsby was sitting in it and looking through the fence and out into his kingdom. But the chair has been mysteriously empty since we got back from our trip.
It had rained while we were gone, and I thought maybe the blanket on the chair had gotten soaked and then started to give off a stale odor as it dried, which would make the cats keep away from it. So today I did a load of laundry, filling the washer with cat blankets and pillow-beds from inside and outside. When I took Mickey's blanket back to his favorite chair in the coop, I decided to move the chair to the other side of the coop now that it's been getting warmer, to keep it out of the hot afternoon sun.
Well, stupid me. Did I look closely at that chair before picking it up? No. I just picked it up by the arms and walked towards the opposite side of the coop. And as I did, I felt a sting on my right hand....... I dropped the chair and there was a small yellow-jacket sort of bee..... which had just stung my hand and seemed to be aiming again for my arm. I screamed and ran out of the coop, into the garage, and grabbed the first can of insect spray I could find, which happened to be the wasp spray.
Back into the coop I went, looking for that bee...... but before I found the bee, my eyes found a little nest of bees right underneath the arm of that old chair. Had I grabbed that chair just three inches lower, I would have had a palm-full of bees, and most likely a palm-full of stings. I sprayed that nest with about a quarter of the can of wasp spray, and at least a dozen bees fell dead to the concrete floor. So there!
18: Once something has been outside on the porch or in the yard, don't even think of bringing it back inside. Whatever you have brought outside is now an 'outside thing' forever.
19: When you scream, no one will hear you. So learn to take care of the crawling bugs and flying insects and whatever else is creeping or slithering around outside. And if you can't deal with that sort of stuff, then just keep your sweet self inside the house as much as possible.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Afternoon tea.....
My heart is still across the Atlantic, in London.... and I'm sitting in "Paul," a wonderful little tea salon, sipping Twining's English Breakfast Tea and nibbling on a scone.
Sigh.
Oh well. With that in mind, I went through my books on tea, and found a nice recipe for scones, which I made this afternoon. I even figured out an easy way to make clotted cream, which I'm sure the British wouldn't approve of, but my husband liked. (I forfeit the cream, to save calories.)
Today's tea was indeed Twining's English Breakfast..... the scones were very good (but I can probably do better as I practice with the recipe), my husband said the clotted cream was delicious, and I have to get strawberry jam instead of the black cherry jam that I had in the pantry.
So there I sit in the afternoons, at the little table in our breakfast room, and think of London and all the history and tradition that we just loved..... and during that time with the tea and the scones, I don't think of fire ants and scorpions, snakes and coyotes..... I just think of London.
Sigh.
Oh well. With that in mind, I went through my books on tea, and found a nice recipe for scones, which I made this afternoon. I even figured out an easy way to make clotted cream, which I'm sure the British wouldn't approve of, but my husband liked. (I forfeit the cream, to save calories.)
Today's tea was indeed Twining's English Breakfast..... the scones were very good (but I can probably do better as I practice with the recipe), my husband said the clotted cream was delicious, and I have to get strawberry jam instead of the black cherry jam that I had in the pantry.
So there I sit in the afternoons, at the little table in our breakfast room, and think of London and all the history and tradition that we just loved..... and during that time with the tea and the scones, I don't think of fire ants and scorpions, snakes and coyotes..... I just think of London.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Mowing grass and making hay.
The peacock didn't perch on the porch railings today..... the man who cuts our hay has been here most of the day, and yesterday as well.... the hay is cut and raked, and ready for baling. With all the noise from those tractors, King George (our sometimes-resident wild peacock) must have found a more quiet place.
Ditto for Orange Kitty..... he wasn't on the porch this morning for his usual Meow Mix, and I haven't seen him all day long. I'm sure Gatsby was thrilled not to have to protect his feline kingdom. My husband and I were cutting grass today, so the noise of the mowers probably wasn't all that inviting to Orange Kitty either.
We cut the lawns around the house and the cottage just before we went out of town at the beginning of the month. With the rain that fell here while we were away, the grass kept growing and growing.... and by the time we cut it today, the lawns looked as if we hadn't touched them in three months. Now that the fields have been cut for the hay bales, there aren't any more wildflowers to look at, except for the few bunches here and there along the road. Within a couple of weeks, the County will be by with their mowers and all of those wildflowers will be history for another year.
All that time we were away in London, I never gave a thought to spiders or scorpions or snakes.... never heard a coyote in the night.... and we saw hundreds of children playing in the London parks without having to worry about fire ants. Oh well. This isn't London.
Ditto for Orange Kitty..... he wasn't on the porch this morning for his usual Meow Mix, and I haven't seen him all day long. I'm sure Gatsby was thrilled not to have to protect his feline kingdom. My husband and I were cutting grass today, so the noise of the mowers probably wasn't all that inviting to Orange Kitty either.
We cut the lawns around the house and the cottage just before we went out of town at the beginning of the month. With the rain that fell here while we were away, the grass kept growing and growing.... and by the time we cut it today, the lawns looked as if we hadn't touched them in three months. Now that the fields have been cut for the hay bales, there aren't any more wildflowers to look at, except for the few bunches here and there along the road. Within a couple of weeks, the County will be by with their mowers and all of those wildflowers will be history for another year.
All that time we were away in London, I never gave a thought to spiders or scorpions or snakes.... never heard a coyote in the night.... and we saw hundreds of children playing in the London parks without having to worry about fire ants. Oh well. This isn't London.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
About that peacock...
As I type this, the peacock is roosting on one of our second floor balconies. By the looks of that bird, he seems quite content and I've been noticing his daily pattern since we've returned from our trip. On more than one occasion, I've told my husband that the peacock's calls have sounded very close by. Well, no wonder.... the peacock has probably been sleeping up on that balcony at night.
Most of this afternoon, the peacock was perched on the porch railing by the back door. I watched him from the kitchen window as I ironed (finally all caught up with the laundry from the trip), and the peacock just sat there watching the world go by. My husband went out the front door and walked around the porch to take some photos of the bird, and Sweet Pea was watching from the TV room windows. Poor Sweet Pea probably thinks there's a dinosaur out on the porch because he didn't look too happy to see such a large bird out there.
This peacock really belongs to neighbors down the hill, and we've seen him in their yard for nearly a year now.... they originally had three very young peacocks, but they all turned out to be males, so they gave two of them away. About a month ago, there were two peacocks in our yard.... one mature male with fully-formed tail feathers, and this particular peacock who had been calling out desperately for a mate.
For now, the peacock has made our property his home away from home. Maybe he doesn't like all the hens and roosters in the neighbor's yard.... or maybe he thinks he has a better chance of finding a mate on this side of the hill. Whatever the reason, this peacock has chosen our yard, our porch railing, and our upstairs balcony. We won't feed him (not counting the Meow Mix that's on the porch for the cats) and there's always fresh water outside in the birdbaths and the fountain.
I can't keep calling him 'the peacock.' In memory of last week's trip to London, I'm going to name the peacock "King George." With his beautiful plume of head feathers, and his glorious blue/green chest of color, he's very much king-like. And he does look like a "George" to me.
So King George it is...... Long live the King.... and I hope he doesn't start leaving peacock droppings all over the porch.
Most of this afternoon, the peacock was perched on the porch railing by the back door. I watched him from the kitchen window as I ironed (finally all caught up with the laundry from the trip), and the peacock just sat there watching the world go by. My husband went out the front door and walked around the porch to take some photos of the bird, and Sweet Pea was watching from the TV room windows. Poor Sweet Pea probably thinks there's a dinosaur out on the porch because he didn't look too happy to see such a large bird out there.
This peacock really belongs to neighbors down the hill, and we've seen him in their yard for nearly a year now.... they originally had three very young peacocks, but they all turned out to be males, so they gave two of them away. About a month ago, there were two peacocks in our yard.... one mature male with fully-formed tail feathers, and this particular peacock who had been calling out desperately for a mate.
For now, the peacock has made our property his home away from home. Maybe he doesn't like all the hens and roosters in the neighbor's yard.... or maybe he thinks he has a better chance of finding a mate on this side of the hill. Whatever the reason, this peacock has chosen our yard, our porch railing, and our upstairs balcony. We won't feed him (not counting the Meow Mix that's on the porch for the cats) and there's always fresh water outside in the birdbaths and the fountain.
I can't keep calling him 'the peacock.' In memory of last week's trip to London, I'm going to name the peacock "King George." With his beautiful plume of head feathers, and his glorious blue/green chest of color, he's very much king-like. And he does look like a "George" to me.
So King George it is...... Long live the King.... and I hope he doesn't start leaving peacock droppings all over the porch.
Not exactly the NBC peacock...
Woke up this morning to another rainy day, and much cooler out there than it should be at this time of the year. Have the weather gods gone crazy once again?
When I went downstairs and looked out the back door (expecting to see Orange Kitty, who is still here), our neighbor's peacock was perched on the porch railing. It's a young peacock, glorious in color, but without his long tail feathers, which take three years to fully form and grow. Orange Kitty was waiting by the back door.... he ate his Meow Mix and then the peacock came along and finished up the bits in the bowl. Which explains why there's never anything left in that cat dish, by the way. Should I send an eMail to the people at Meow Mix and tell them of a new marketing campaign? --- "Meow Mix... preferred by two out of three wild peacocks."
My husband got photos of the bird as it sat on our porch railing (none of which will appear here because I don't know how to do that sort of thing with pictures). After the peacock's close-ups, he made his way around the lawn towards the front yard and walked up the steps as if he owned the house. While we were out of town last week, I'm sure the peacock made himself quite at home here.
Orange Kitty has also taken up permanent residence here. While we were away, friends took care of our cats for us and noticed that the 'yellow cat' (as they called him) was sitting on top of a hay bale by the barn, looking out over 'his kingdom.' Well, Orange Kitty's kingdom has to be shared with our two outside cats (Gatsby and Mickey Kitty) and I guess they've all come to the conclusion that 23 acres is big enough for three outside cats. Plus one peacock.
Since we've been home, Sweet Pea (our inside cat) has been following us closely. He sits on my lap as I eat, he sits with my husband when he watches TV, and if Sweet Pea could crawl into my pocket during the rest of the day, I think he'd be quite content. At least three times a day now, he crawls into my arms and goes to sleep and wants me to just hold him... which is hard to do because I'm still catching up with the laundry we brought home from the trip. What I need for Sweet Pea is a cat-papoose for hands-free cat-cuddling. (No, my cats are not spoiled.)
With all the dogs we saw during our trip to London last week, my doggie-loving-heart is wanting to adopt another dog. My husband says no.... he still doesn't want another dog. Gracie was his one-and-only, and there's no replacement for her that he can think of. Plus, he wants to be able to travel without giving our friends another four-legged 'child' to take care of for us.
So for the time being, we have one inside cat, two mostly-outside cats, one always-outside cat, and one wild peacock. Just another day at the zoo.
When I went downstairs and looked out the back door (expecting to see Orange Kitty, who is still here), our neighbor's peacock was perched on the porch railing. It's a young peacock, glorious in color, but without his long tail feathers, which take three years to fully form and grow. Orange Kitty was waiting by the back door.... he ate his Meow Mix and then the peacock came along and finished up the bits in the bowl. Which explains why there's never anything left in that cat dish, by the way. Should I send an eMail to the people at Meow Mix and tell them of a new marketing campaign? --- "Meow Mix... preferred by two out of three wild peacocks."
My husband got photos of the bird as it sat on our porch railing (none of which will appear here because I don't know how to do that sort of thing with pictures). After the peacock's close-ups, he made his way around the lawn towards the front yard and walked up the steps as if he owned the house. While we were out of town last week, I'm sure the peacock made himself quite at home here.
Orange Kitty has also taken up permanent residence here. While we were away, friends took care of our cats for us and noticed that the 'yellow cat' (as they called him) was sitting on top of a hay bale by the barn, looking out over 'his kingdom.' Well, Orange Kitty's kingdom has to be shared with our two outside cats (Gatsby and Mickey Kitty) and I guess they've all come to the conclusion that 23 acres is big enough for three outside cats. Plus one peacock.
Since we've been home, Sweet Pea (our inside cat) has been following us closely. He sits on my lap as I eat, he sits with my husband when he watches TV, and if Sweet Pea could crawl into my pocket during the rest of the day, I think he'd be quite content. At least three times a day now, he crawls into my arms and goes to sleep and wants me to just hold him... which is hard to do because I'm still catching up with the laundry we brought home from the trip. What I need for Sweet Pea is a cat-papoose for hands-free cat-cuddling. (No, my cats are not spoiled.)
With all the dogs we saw during our trip to London last week, my doggie-loving-heart is wanting to adopt another dog. My husband says no.... he still doesn't want another dog. Gracie was his one-and-only, and there's no replacement for her that he can think of. Plus, he wants to be able to travel without giving our friends another four-legged 'child' to take care of for us.
So for the time being, we have one inside cat, two mostly-outside cats, one always-outside cat, and one wild peacock. Just another day at the zoo.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Never a dull moment...
We've been out of town.... and on our first night back here, we had a horrible rain storm, complete with thunder and lightning.... the works. So much lightning that one of the electric poles further on down the road was hit and it knocked out power to everyone in this part of the hills....... so from just after midnight last night, till about an hour ago..... not a drop of electricity was coming through the power lines.
Oh goodie...... calling up the electric company and listening to their piped-in music and their computerized voices as they tell you that 'power will be restored shortly' isn't exactly my favorite thing to do when I'm trying to catch up with jet-lag from our plane flight.
But on the bright side.... we came home to a totally-filled-up pond (from all the rain) and new baby birds have emerged from the barn swallow nests, and the wildflowers are still popping up in the fields (the bluebonnets and paintbrushes are gone, replaced by yellow/orange daisies and purple thistles). All of the pecan trees have burst out with leaves, the grass looks like it grew at least a foot high while we were gone, and there are some new weeds in the flowerbeds. The weeds are green, and quite healthy-looking. I'm not going to pull them up. Live and let live.
Oh goodie...... calling up the electric company and listening to their piped-in music and their computerized voices as they tell you that 'power will be restored shortly' isn't exactly my favorite thing to do when I'm trying to catch up with jet-lag from our plane flight.
But on the bright side.... we came home to a totally-filled-up pond (from all the rain) and new baby birds have emerged from the barn swallow nests, and the wildflowers are still popping up in the fields (the bluebonnets and paintbrushes are gone, replaced by yellow/orange daisies and purple thistles). All of the pecan trees have burst out with leaves, the grass looks like it grew at least a foot high while we were gone, and there are some new weeds in the flowerbeds. The weeds are green, and quite healthy-looking. I'm not going to pull them up. Live and let live.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Another one bites the dust...
So much for the latest handyman, who did not show up this morning. Last word I heard from him was a text yesterday saying "I will most likely be there tomorrow morning." And to think I believed him.
This is like the "Peanuts" comic strip..... Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown and says "Come on, Charlie Brown, kick the football." And Charlie doesn't want to, because each time he runs to kick that ball, Lucy lifts up the football at the very last second and poor Charlie Brown falls flat on his back. But Lucy will promise each time not to do that, but of course she does, each and every time. And Lucy laughs while Charlie Brown is flat on his back looking up at the sky and saying "Auuggghhh!"
In the words of Charlie Brown..... to all the handymen in this town who have not shown up here when they said they would: Auugggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!
Speaking of 'biting the dust' --- the dead armadillo that was in the road yesterday...... it was being torn apart by vultures this morning when we 'girls' went for our walk. Apparently, the vultures had tossed aside the beer can (I guess Bud Lite is not their brand) and those huge birds were taking turns at the armadillo. Huge, huge birds.... as we walked by them, some of them flew up into the trees, and the others just flew up to a nearby wood fence railing. They watched us walking by, as if they thought we'd take their breakfast. Not a blessed chance of that. We did, however, pick up the beer can with the clippy-thing.
This is like the "Peanuts" comic strip..... Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown and says "Come on, Charlie Brown, kick the football." And Charlie doesn't want to, because each time he runs to kick that ball, Lucy lifts up the football at the very last second and poor Charlie Brown falls flat on his back. But Lucy will promise each time not to do that, but of course she does, each and every time. And Lucy laughs while Charlie Brown is flat on his back looking up at the sky and saying "Auuggghhh!"
In the words of Charlie Brown..... to all the handymen in this town who have not shown up here when they said they would: Auugggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!
Speaking of 'biting the dust' --- the dead armadillo that was in the road yesterday...... it was being torn apart by vultures this morning when we 'girls' went for our walk. Apparently, the vultures had tossed aside the beer can (I guess Bud Lite is not their brand) and those huge birds were taking turns at the armadillo. Huge, huge birds.... as we walked by them, some of them flew up into the trees, and the others just flew up to a nearby wood fence railing. They watched us walking by, as if they thought we'd take their breakfast. Not a blessed chance of that. We did, however, pick up the beer can with the clippy-thing.
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