Cat Capers...

This was a good day. Got up, got breakfast, got ready and got to church on time. After a good Bible class and sermon we went to Shinola's and had lunch with friends. We GOT back home somewhere between 1:00 and 1:30.

I was in one end of the house and Charlie was in the other. I heard a noise, but thought maybe the icemaker dropped some ice. Heard it again about the time Charlie came through and asked me a question. Started reading the paper again when the noise got louder!

Charlie said, "What's that noise!?"

I said, "Thought it was you!" About that time I noticed catfood scattered between the pantry and the buffet...then there was a LOUD rattling sound again! Charlie opened the pantry door and two very miffed furballs practically fell out!

The catfood sack was empty and what was left was scattered all over the pantry and out into the hall. Two overstuffed cats drug themselves into the dining room and collapsed on the ceramic tile.

Occasionally one of them gets trapped in a closet or bathroom behind a closed door, but both of them at the same time had never happened!! The only thing we can figure is they were both in there checking out the food supply and one of us came from the backside where we couldn't see in the pantry and shut the door!

By the time we returned from church tonight they were complaining about not having any food, even as their sides still bulged.

Charlie said, "They are hungry!" and I said, "Are you kidding!! Look at them!"

Then he said..."Well,, look at us! And we're hungry!" Did he really have to mention that?

Opened the pantry door. Kia looked in from a distance and Mattie took off the other way. Wonder how long the lesson will stay with them. I need to tell them the story of curiosity killing the cat...or getting one stuck in a dark closet for half a day!

The Chicken...Our Chicken...I guess...

I am NOT a chicken person, but we have one, a hen actually. We don't purposely have a chicken/hen, it just appeared. A few weeks ago I looked out the back door and saw our two newborn calves lying under a tree in the field west of the house. The cows were grazing close by. It was a nice, peaceful, pastoral scene in the early morning. As I stood there I noticed a bird walking toward the calves, only it wasn't a bird, it was a chicken! Suddenly mother cows were on "Red Alert". Heads came up and one of them charged the chicken, chasing it back under the barbed wire fence. The other cows rushed over and they all surrounded the calves, anxiously looking toward the spot where they last saw the "dangerous creature". It struck me that they had never seen a chicken before.

Later it reappeared. The cows watched it and made sure it kept its distance. They were uneasy, but left it alone. It kept showing up every few days. One morning I went out and took pictures of it. I called it...you know..."chick,chick,chick" and it came to me. Shouldn't have done that, because my compassionate side appeared and now I began to worry about the chicken. Was it lonely? Did it need some chicken feed? Where did it sleep? What did I care! I don't like chickens! Right? Right...maybe. She is kind of a pretty chicken...

It's been several weeks now and she is still here. it has rained a lot and I didn't see her for several days. I thought maybe she drowned, maybe coyotes got her, maybe...Then there she was again. Now she chases bugs while the cows graze. I watched her walking all around them yesterday. I thought surely Apache or one of the cows or surely Clyde would kick her into the next county, but they didn't even seem to notice her.

What will she eat when it gets cold and there aren't any grasshoppers or bugs. Maybe I should get some chicken scratch. Where will she sleep when it gets cold? I wonder where she lays her eggs. Probably in the poison oak...after all chickens are not very smart!