CA POPPY
Santa Clarita, CA, USA
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Joined: 07/07/2003
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A relative of ours in N Fla had a cat killed by a fox. They saw it carried off, so there was no doubt. He called Fish & Game or whatever they call it down there and they came out and trapped the fox and took it away. A few months later, BIL was regretting that solution. The neighborhood (backed by thick woods) was soon overrun with rabbits and his garden was far from safe. ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/doh.gif "doh")
Judy & Bud (Judy usually the one talking here)
Darcy the Min Pin
2004 Pleasure-Way Excel TD
California poppies in the background
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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No sign of the fox since that night. Considering how we've seen zero signs of rabbits, rodents, etc. since we got here, the pickings are probably too slim for the fox to take up residence. If we do see it in our meadow again, though, WLToo plans to shoot it.
Today's a bad day for both cats. All our doors are being replaced, and no matter which room they go into, it's noisy. Meanwhile, the power cooperative is adding support trusses to the power poles from the road to the house, and that's more noise. Spot inspected the door installers' trailer, and now is hiding in the garage, where Alex took refuge a while ago.
On the up side, Spot's behavior has vastly improved. No attempts to pee in the wrong places for two days now. We do have to keep a close watch on him when work vehicles show up, because he just has to look inside each vehicle. After all, they usually smell like guys, and he does like guys... It's a guy thing.
I'm so glad his behavior is better. Now we can look forward to taking him along next time we take the RV out. 'Course, that has to wait until the water heater is fixed or replaced, and we get the new tires. Sigh. We love that RV, but it's as big a money pit as was the sailboat all those years ago.
Back to editing WLToo's fourth book. Later, y'all.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Czarny, black cat
Rainbow Bridge: Spotacus, Alexander the Grrreat, and so very many more
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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We had a very serious storm last night. The wind moved the chairs on the porch, knocked the grill over completely, opened the pool storage unit, knocked over the flag pole, and blew water into the house under the wooden north door. Luckily, the baseball sized hail that hit other areas missed us completely; we did get 1.8 inches of much needed rain.
The thunder, lightning, and wind were so intense for a while that Spot got a little stressed. He ran from window to window, looking out and making an odd noise, before finally climbing up on WLToo. Alex slept through the whole thing.
Damage wasn't terrible: the solar powered light on top of the flagpole and one pole section were destroyed, a few dents on the grill (already beaten out with a rubber mallet) and the rotisserie electrical connection was broken off.
WLToo is researching how-to videos on fixing the RV water heater. I hope he can fix it; a replacement costs over $600. That reminds me: we haven't checked the RV for any storm damage. Later, y'all.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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A second storm passed through, but this time we had no damage. Filled the pool to a couple inches below the top, and beat the heck out of the garden. I harvested one cubanelle pepper, a whole bunch of cilantro and basil, and cleared off the damage. Dried the cilantro, ate the pepper and basil with roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, onion and balsamic vinegar. The leeks, yellow onions, and carrots look fine. WLToo planted cantelope seeds this morning.
If we ever get any tomato blossoms, I'll hang red Christmas ornaments on the bushes to keep the mockingbirds away. They try to taste the ornaments, and when they realize they're inedible, stay away for good.
I was not the first to try walking through the new screen doors. WLToo did it. Luckily, his hat brim hit the screen first, so he stopped before causing damage. A couple hours later, Alex ran into another screen, bounced back, and cried piteously until I let him in. He immediately turned around and sniffed the screen thoroughly, but whether or not he'll remember is questionable at his age.
We got our new porch furniture, and Mama Doe Lassie is still a bit leery -- we keep changing things. She's not terribly interested in the corn right now, so we cut back on the portion. All the new green shoots taste so much better, I expect. Her belly is sagging, so we should see her fawn soon -- she's given birth Memorial Day weekend the last three years.
Two hummingbirds just shared the feeder, without fussing at each other. Amazing.
Another barn swallow nest is now occupied. We were getting a bit concerned that we'd not have enough birds to eat all the bugs. Nest one has three babies already covered in feathers and with the grumpy bird look. Nest two doesn't appear to have hatched any. Nest three has just been occupied. Nest four is still empty, darn it.
Sore arm, typing hurts. Later, y'all.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Two baby barn swallows have flown from the nest to the top of a wind chime. The third is still in the nest. That's early, but the pair did arrive fairly early.
Our yellow cone flowers and Mexican hat are blooming, along with some thistles. The butterflies and hummingbirds are happy about that. The usual proliferation of yellow wildflowers that I can't identify are filling the meadow. It's beautiful.
Put the big hummingbird feeder out, with the perches, now that the orioles have stopped bothering it. A really tiny black chin is resting there right now -- today's very windy and the perch is the only way for it to stay at the feeder.
We went from early spring temperatures to summer literally overnight. Air conditioner has been on almost all week, and the pool is in the 80s - absolutely perfect swimming temperature.
I had to modify swim strokes, though. Tendonitis in the left elbow. I have the strap and prednizone, and have to take it easy with that arm. So no weight lifting (unfortunately, that includes Spot) for a while.
Not that it stops Spot, when he feels the need for some love. He spent a good part of this morning piled up on my chest and stomach. He's super affectionate when we're outside, less so inside. Good thing there's room on the new porch sofa for both of us.
Something truly weird happened this morning. Mama Doe Lassie had her fawn yesterday. She kept coming up to the house and looking in the door. We thought she wanted more food, but we only feed her once a day, if that, so we didn't respond. This morning, she got her food, and when she finished, she walked back to the door and looked in. So I went outside, and she turned to walk away. My little voice said she wants me to follow her, so I did.
Every few yards, she'd stop, look back, and when she saw me following, she continued. We finally got to a stand of junipers, where I could not follow, and she stopped inside them. By then, WLToo had joined us, so we looked around as best we could for her fawn. When we didn't see it, I went around the stand to the other side, where she stared at me for a bit, then went back into the stand.
WLToo walked away, and just as I started back around the stand, a very large fawn broke out of the stand and ran. Its larger mother followed, then MDL strolled behind them, making that deer buzzing sound that she uses when she's "talking" to me.
I think she was using me to run the other doe and fawn out of her territory... She's too little to make the bigger doe leave, but a human stomping around could do that. Still haven't seen her own fawn, but it's out there.
I feel so used.....
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Dashonthedash
PA
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Joined: 06/03/2003
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I never knew deer were that smart ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/biggrin.gif "biggrin")
Gary Shapiro
Shadow - 7-year-old Greyhound (aka Shadow Ninja)
Hannah - 4-year-old GSD rescue (aka the Canine Tornado)
Max, Dash (GSDs), Willow, Dot, Allan, Lily (Greyhounds), and Molly(GSD Mix), at the Bridge and in my heart forever
2011 G'town 280DS Class A
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Neither did I, Gary.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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It's been rather lively around here the past couple weeks. Add to that the tennis elbow, and I've been unable to type much.
Spot's been a pretty good boy of late. Seems to have gotten over peeing on stuff, now that he can spend most of his time on the porch, sleeping in our new outdoor furniture. He has developed a dislike of Mama Doe Lassie, though. I believe it's because he can't intimidate her -- or else he's jealous that she interacts with HIS humans.
He's taken to sleeping on my head at night. It started when he laid his head on my cheek, which was very pleasant. Now he lays his back against the back of my head, so I wake up with a sweaty head. I keep the air conditioner around 67 at night, and it might feel a tad cool to him. Alex, meanwhile, still plants himself firmly against the nearest stomach. I frequently find myself imprisoned under the covers, anchored by two deeply sleeping felines.
WLToo had mentioned a couple weeks ago that he'd heard something crying out in a fight for its life. Yesterday, he found the remains of a fawn near our motorcycle trailer. I have to think that it was Mama Doe Lassie's. Sad that she's lost two fawns in two years. But with her maternal instinct, she'll be adopting and/or caring for a lot of fawns this year, too. What killed the fawn is still a mystery -- the only predator we've seen this year is that small gray fox, too small to have killed a fawn. The big gray fox might still be around, although we've not seen it since 2011.
I think the black chinned hummingbirds have run off the rufous and ruby throats. We only see the black chins now. And the orioles are back at the feeder, so WLToo attached the yellow feeder attachments with museum putty, so they can't pull them out and drink all the nectar. Seems to be working.
Speaking of which, I need to make more nectar. Later, y'all.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Put the boys in the kitty hoosegau for the weekend, while we attended an ROTC reunion. When we got them back home, they both made a beeline for our bed and stayed there all evening.
Alex has become very talkative, especially in the middle of the night. It's part of old cat syndrome, where he gets confused as to where he is, so he announces loudly that he's lost. I can go right back to sleep after one of his concerts, but WLToo hasn't been sleeping more than 2 hours a night for a month now, so Alex' noise was not helping.
Well, WLToo finally went to the doc to find out what's wrong, and he has pneumonia. Finally, something easily treatable. He should be back to normal in a few weeks.
Speaking of talking, Spot is also rather talkative, but he doesn't do it in the middle of the night, and is never loud. Really kind of funny how such a kitten-like meow comes from a cat so large.
Alex is seriously into bumping my face right now. Time to see what he wants. Later, y'all.
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Stephany
Brier, WA (just north of Seattle)
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Joined: 12/03/2002
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Just a note to let you know that I am a new fan!
I stumbled onto this thread last night and I just now finally made it to the 62nd (!) page. Can't believe how attached I am to MDL, Spot, Alex & the rest of your crew.
But now that I am all caught up and now free from the spell of your thread, I can actually go get something done today.
Thanks for a great read. You can be sure I will keep following.
Stephany
Stephany & Wally Schneider + 2 grown kids, a ball-obsessed beagle, and a camping cat
2004 Sunnybrook 2850SL
2002 GMC 2500HD Duramax crew cab short bed
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