Powerful Motivation

Several hours puttering in my office passed before I realized that I hadn't heard from Bart, except for the recent frantic bark reserved for "Let me in the house!" Once a stray dog, he has abandonment issues.

He wasn't outside the front door.

Or, on his bed in the loggia, or on his rug by the kitchen. BUT, I could hear his distress whistle clearly so I knew he was somewhere in the house.

He wasn't in either downstairs bedroom.

Finally I remembered his charge upstairs to watch me through the window. I'd refused to let him barge through the door and the crowd of cats waiting for supper on the front porch.

Sure enough, I found him on the landing. He was cowering. For some reason, he'd lost his nerve to go down the spiral staircase.

I turned on the light, sat down and calmed him. I coaxed him. I showed him to go on the outside of the steps where it is wider. He tried but was still afraid to step down.

Rollo and Miss Fern came to help. They soothed him. They showed him. No go.

Finally I gave up and went down the stairs followed by 4 cats who came to help.

Voila' that did it! Bart the Dog followed us.

Powerful motivation: A lot of love and attention, and friends to confidently show you the way; or, the need to not be left behind?

Cat Walk Legacy

Bart has a new companion on his walks. Ambercrombie (so named when I called him Amber because his eyes matched his coat, and Bond objected because that was a girl's name and added the crombie) greets us at our house next door. When he sees that we are not headed home to eat he comes all the way around the cemetery with us. So far, Underfoot has been inside and stayed behind. One of these days we'll see if we can have a 2 cats dog walk.

Puffed Up

I would never have noticed the tiny toad frog next to the handle at the bottom of the house water shut off if it hadn't puffed up to look scary. If I'd been a cat there would've been hours (perhaps) of entertainment with only a sad ending. Instead I placed a piece of wood in the tube in case it couldn't jump out on it's own - before I replaced the loose cap that keeps out rain (and cats.)

Goes to show you that, sometimes, posturing pays off, just not in the way intended.

Sunday Stroller

Apparently "Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!..... "Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! ... is not applied ONLY to snakes.

Pieface the dog spotted this beauty out for a Sunday stroll.

As usual, I hollered for Bond to come to my office and hold the dog inside while I identified the intruder. To our relief we didn't need the shotgun, nor did we have to keep the dog inside since turtles are easy to move to the quieter side of the house.

Get Ready 1,2,3.

If Pieface sniffs out another poisonous snake, we won't be wasting any time looking for the weapons of destruction. I only hope that our preparation will jinx the deal and these will not be needed.

But I don't expect for the bb gun to stay put. We have to pump that one to shut Pieface up if he starts nagging me for breakfast before dawn. OR the fly swatter. It's the only thing that keeps him from biting the vacuum wand/leaf blower. You know, because it moves. He can shout all he wants to then.

You can take the country girl to the big city but she'll STILL be in the country.

I'm staying in Colorado Springs (pop. 380,307 in a county just under 600K).

On our way from the airport shuttle, three blocks from my sister's house, we were making our way down an alley as Eve pointed out the yard on the right saying how she especially loved the cute little deer sculptures.

I told her I didn't think the sculpture of the reclining buck with a rack too big to fit in the car could be called little.

No, she was talking about the logs with stick antlers.

The buck I was talking about turned his head.

He was up and about when I went back later.

The next night Leo was late coming in. We were relieved when he finally showed up until we got a good whiff: he'd been SKUNKED!

The remedy off the internet (1 pt hydrogen peroxide (unopened), 1/8 cup baking soda, 1/2 tsp dish soap) worked but next time I'll try it without the detergent because CATS REALLY HATE GETTING RINSED! I must admit Leo was really kind to me and kept his claws in as he clung to me. But then I would expect nothing else from one of MamaKitty's children.

I don't believe my eyes.

Ten minutes ago (10 :43 pm) Pieface the dog was shouting "snake snakesnake!" outside my office.

I went to check it out. I heard a tiny vibrating noise where he said there was a danger. Forget the TV/movie rattle snake rattle; they sound like an insect, only a constant buzz.

I brought Pieface in to the house and told Bond to get his shotgun before grabbing my seven bulbs hands free headlight. I looked out the downstairs bedroom window and spotted a coiled rattle snake on the bare ground, about the size and shape of a pile of medium sized dog poo. I did NOT take my eyes (or the light) off it. But before Bond could get off a shot, it slowly unwound to no more than 10 inches long, s l o w l y moved and literally DISAPPEARED!

Was it a conspiracy to get Pieface in to the house to eat the cat's food?