The peacock.... 'Mr. Carson' is still here, waiting by the back door on most mornings (along with the orange cat). When I open the door, Carson gets up from his resting spot and walks a few feet away from the door. He watches me put down a bowl of cat food for him and a separate one for the orange cat, and then after Orange Cat starts eating, Carson begins. (That peacock is so polite, just like Mr. Carson of 'Downton Abbey.') I can hear the bird's beak hitting the bowl each time he pulls up a piece of the Meow Mix. I've tried giving the peacock bits of fruits and vegetables, but he prefers the cat food. Maybe that's what they feed him down the hill at his 'real' home.
The orange cat.... still here. Of course he's still here... he likes the company of our two outside cats (Mickey and Gatsby) and now he has his very own peacock (Mr. Carson). What more could a stray cat possibly want? Orange Cat isn't as aggressive as he used to be, but every once in a while, he forgets his manners and either myself or my husband gets a scratch on our wrists as we put the food down on the porch. We happened to catch a program called "My Cat From Hell" on the Animal Planet channel, and there was a similar situation with a cat who became aggressive at feeding time. The cat expert on that show says that cats who are born outside and spend most of their younger lives as strays, they most likely have to fight for their food. That must be the problem with Orange Cat, who found his way here as an adult, not a kitten. After all this time (over a year) he still hasn't learned that no one on our porch is going to steal his Meow Mix, and when he finishes what's in the bowl, there's an entire bag of cat food in the house for him. (That cat still wears down my patience.)
The sunflowers.... they're growing taller and taller each day, and forming hundreds, if not thousands, of seeds in the center of the blooms. Gorgeous... and I can hardly believe how thick their stalks are... indeed a very sturdy plant. And to think we have them in the flowerbeds because the birds were dropping seeds from the feeders. I've told my husband that next time we want to be surprised with flowers, we should just take a handful of birdseed and toss it into the flowerbeds.
The handyman.... our 'old' handyman is no longer here.... not living in the apartment above the barn and not working here. (Too remote out here, and he didn't have a car.) Back to square one. We found a gem of a handyman, who happens to work for the plumbing company that was here to replace our water heaters a few months back. Problem is, he works all day as a plumber, so he can only be here in the evenings, and Saturdays or Sundays. When he's here, he works quickly and very well, so we have no complaints. So far, so good. Only problem we had was all the recent rain.... of course he couldn't do outside work on those days, but we've had three days now without a raindrop, so he's back here working whenever he can.
The goats.... still getting out of the neighbor's fence.... still coming onto our property and munching on the wildflowers and the grass, and if we didn't chase them back down the hill (with an air-horn) those goats would probably be up on the porch eating the cat food along with Orange Cat and Carson.
The wasps.... zillions of them. We're buying wasp spray by the case. My husband says that every time I kill one wasp, it's costing him between three and five dollars. (I tend to just about empty out an entire can... to make sure the wasp is deader than dead because I'm allergic to their sting.)
I eMailed a friend of mine some photos of the peacock... she lives in North Carolina, and she told me she has "peacock-envy for Mr. Carson" because they only get "run-of-the-mill wildlife" where she lives. Well, I sent an eMail right back to her, listing all the extraordinary wildlife we get out here.... and told her that I'd gladly give up that glorious peacock for some 'run-of-the-mill-anything' out here. My husband told me that I need to quit telling people about all the outdoor surprises that we see here on a daily basis..... he said possibly no one visits us because I have scared the living daylights out of them.
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