Warming, sort of

[altivo]

At least compared to yesterday. The wind chill was gone with the wind, and the snow we had on the ground since Thanksgiving has completely disappeared. We're down to frozen earth here.

Red struck again. He hasn't stolen any food for nearly two weeks, but that seems to have been due to our increased vigilance rather than his acquiescence to "the rules." I was involved in preparing dinner and pulled a good sized chunk of Swiss cheese from the fridge to use in a sauce for some kohlrabi. I left the cheese on a plate on the counter, and went to check on the wood stove. Due to our open house floor plan, sight lines from the wood stove to the kitchen are open, but the distance is too far to cover quickly. While I had my back turned on the kitchen and the stove door open, I heard the clink of a dish on the counter. I turned back just in time to see Red make off with that chunk of Swiss. I yelled and took off after him, fireplace bellows in one hand. Perhaps this inspired him to move quicker. In any case, he dashed through the living room and back into the dining room and by the time I caught up with him the cheese was gone. He must have swallowed it entire, a notion I find extremely discomforting as it was quite a large piece.

I scolded him and gave him a ten minute time out in his crate. He knew that was coming and went in there without being told, though. Too smart for his own good.

Other than chores and sleeping, I don't think I got much accomplished today. I think I needed the rest. But I'm still sleepy. so even that was not an accomplishment so to speak.

Comments

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that's a picture I relish! XD You chasing Red and the stolen Swiss through the house, brandishing the bellows from the fireplace!

[altivo]

I'm sure it looked pretty silly. He's like a bad two year old, though. He knows he isn't supposed to do something, and he does it anyway. Afterwards he's all contrite and sorrowful, but of course he got the goody. His portion at dinner was reduced accordingly, but that only deals partly with the health issues. By then he didn't even remember what he had done or know why he got a short ration.

While it occurred to me that I could swat him with the bellows, I never intended to do so. For one thing, the brass air nozzle was probably pretty hot just then...

[shadow_stallion]

*snickers* Quite the picture you painted there. :P

Kind of reminds me of my stint in KC and wondering how slices of pizza were mysteriously disappearing off the stove. The dog was the culprit but it took a while for me to realize who was nipping the slices.

[altivo]

Red's really fast when he wants to be. Most of the time he seems lazy and sleepy, very laid back. So far this has been his only vice, and his foster mom warned us about it. She said he had made two sticks of butter disappear for her, waxed paper wrapping and all. He hasn't tried to explore the tops of higher places, like the refrigerator or the microwave, but he has repeatedly raided the kitchen counters. Until now it always happened when we were both outside the house. This was the first time he did it while one of us was right in the room.

Since we do a lot of baking, it poses a problem. Things have to be allowed to cool before you can hide them in a cake carrier or bread box...

[shadow_stallion]

*nods* Yes this does present a problem. Good luck on breaking him of that.

Welcome Winter!

[(Anonymous)]

Hey there you handsome horse,

Happy New Year!

Have I mentioned how similar Red is to our dearly departed Max? It's a little startling looking at his face. Max had a particular penchant for pinching food as well, and though we trained him out of the worst of it even in his last couple of years he found a couple of opportunities to help himself to some particularly choice treats.

I hope your whole household (and yardhold?) continue to do well and that 2011 is an excellent year for all. Drop me a line some time if you don't mind :)

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

Re: Welcome Winter!

[altivo]

Best wishes to you and yours for the new year as well. I'll try to e-mail you a longer update soon. Life is restricting my time severely at the moment.