altivo

We have a lot of chipmunks and squirrels. In general, I don't mind that, but at times they are downright destructive. The squirrels want to bury stuff in my container gardens, and the chipmunks want to dig them up. The chippies also tunnel under our wooden walks and decks, and chew up the surface wood even though it is treated with whatever lumber suppliers use now to prevent rot. This spring there have been so many tunnels and entrances that I begin to wonder if the whole house could collapse into one giant sinkhole.

Anyway, we have two barn cats left. Both of them are eager chipmunk hunters, and when the chipmunks get too fat and slow from eating seeds dropped from the bird feeders, they even catch one now and then. This morning when we went out to feed horses, The cats were feasting on a lerge, very much dead chipmunk. I let it go, but apparently Gary took it away a bit later.

I went out an hour later to turn Asher and Archie out after they'd finished their morning food, and heard a strange, cat-like "mrrph, mumph" kind of whining. On inspection, there was Emma, the smaller of the two cats, with another large chipmunk in her mouth. She was carrying it around and calling for her pal Delta, who is much larger and usually the more successful hunter. He was nowhere to be seen. I took a couple of steps toward her, and she dropped the rodent and backed up. Unfortunately for the chipmunk, though, he was seriously broken in some way (probably his back) and he could only twitch and jerk. Emma grabbed him again and ran off. I left it to her to settle her affairs.

Had the critter been able to run away, I'd have let him go. Cats can be cruel, I know, but we do need some reduction in the population this year and that's nature's way of taking care of it I think.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: Home in the Oak Grove
Current Music: Birds singing

Dead tree falls on the horse yard gate. Asher and Archie hardly looked up from eating their hay, but barn cat Delta rushed in to take credit for the "kill." We were eating breakfast (pumpkin pancakes, in fact) when it all happened right before our very eyes. Window in dining room faces the horse barns.

Fallen tree on fence, with cat

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: At home in the oak grove
Current Music: Trees dripping

Highlight photos of the spinning show are now online.

To see all 16 photos, click on the thumbnail above, and then use the "newer" button at the top right corner of each image.

I changed the water on the flax I started soaking yesterday. My instructions say to replace all the water after 24 hours, then half of it each 24 hours following until the retting process is complete. Telling when the process is complete seems to be tricky.

Another experimenter reported that her flax (soaking in a rain barrel) smelled very bad today. This surprises me a bit, as I could detect no odor as I poured off the old water. It was the color of strong green tea, but had no odor at all. The flax is certainly wet now, but not ready to shed its bark. We shall see what happens.

Gary got bitten by the cat this morning. Now he has a red and swollen fingertip. He went off to the urgent care center in Woodstock after dinner but they had already closed. Hospital emergency room is just too expensive to even consider, so he's waiting until tomorrow morning.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Home in the oak grove

Here is the new snow leopard I've mentioned. He is a 15-inch sitting snow leopard from Wild Republic, but not a "Cuddlekins."

Very dignified, don't you think? Much above cuddling and all that, but handsome nonetheless. I'm going to take him to work and let him serve a shift as my windowsill plush, giving the two okapi that have been there much of the summer some time off.

Here's a detail shot of his face, showing the nice detail they put into it.

Sunset is suddenly coming very early, by around 6:30, and it gets dark quickly, even though we're still on [ridiculous] daylight saving time until November. I hope to get some sleep tonight. No more deadlines for a while, so no need to be up late at night.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Home in the oak grove

...were the weekend.

Saturday was pleasant. Sunday started to get too steamy for comfort, so in the end we closed the windows and turned on the air. That will make it easier to sleep tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be downright nasty, probably with an excessive heat alert and maybe an air quality warning too.

Tess was out in the pasture for the longest she has been this year, about four hours. Even though I had sprayed and anointed her with fly stuff, the flies were after her by then and she was eager to come in. We've been over two weeks without any rain now, so the grass is getting tough and dry. Not as tasty and nice I suppose, but a lot safer for her since it now starts to resemble hay. She's still eating it with apparent relish, but I'm not worried about grass founder now until we get enough rain to start some new growth.

Gary's starting to talk about a second dog, as I predicted. He's looking at older golden retrievers, which should be fine. I told him it was up to him, since he will be primary caregiver anyway, but probably we don't want a puppy with teething and chewing issues. Just about any dog over two years old should be fine, and dogs over about six often go begging for new homes, so I'm encouraging him to look in that direction.

As for me, I'm still looking for Simon in all the places he isn't any more. Not seeing ghosts, just not seeing him. This morning in the spot where I would have to be careful to step over him I found instead a dead meadow vole brought in by one of the cats. It was not a suitable substitute, though I did in fact step over it.

DECnet workarounds seem to be stable now, but I still have to fix the last few steps so that they happen automatically at boot time rather than requiring manual intervention on my part. I know how to do that, and Ubuntu's "upstart" system be damned. Since they can't be bothered to adequately map it out and explain it, I can't be bothered to use it. Ubuntu gets dumped next time I upgrade. They had promise, but they're heading off a cliff as far as I'm concerned rather than building a usable future.

Current Location: Home in the oak grove

A couple of years ago, our large volunteer barn cat moved into the house through the dog door and decided he liked it better in here. On the whole, he's a very nice and friendly animal and we don't object much except when he occasionally brings a vole or mouse in from outdoors (usually they are still very much alive.)

Well, this spring three other apparently unattached cats from the area have taken up occupancy in our barns. We assumed they were after mice, and since we have too many, that's ok, too. One of them used to stalk birds in the yard until I harassed him a bit with a slingshot and dried beans. Now he stays away from the bird feeders and waits for mice in and around the barn. Until today, I'd seen no evidence that any of the three were actually catching mice. However, this particular one was eating a mouse just outside the barn door when I walked past him this afternoon. Ick. But he seemed quite satisfied with it.

In contrast to the rain, rain, rain we had in May and June, now we have daily forecasts of rain that never falls. Everything is drying out. Even the mosquito population is starting to shrink noticeably. Oddly enough, though, we still have no hay deliveries. Despite repeated messages left for our customary supplier, who has sold us all our hay for the last ten years, no response and no hay. If he doesn't respond by tomorrow, we will be forced to start calling other suppliers in order to get what we need before the season's over. This seems very strange, but we have no way of telling what's going on. Switching suppliers probably means a higher price, but within ten days we will be dead out of hay here.

August is shaping up to be the month with no weekends. All of them are eaten up by one thing or another, most of which are commitments that can't be broken or rearranged. I don't like that, but I know some people thrive on it. I generally prefer weekends to be unplanned, quiet, and lazy whenever possible.

The cold is still here. Today is the seventh day since I noticed the first symptoms. Yuck.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Home in the oak grove

Well, we knew it would happen eventually. RikkiToo, the author of this year's holiday letter, decided on New Year's Eve that he had earned the right to enter the house. After sitting outside the glass sliding doors to the yard for about an hour, he popped in through the dog door and explored the house. As usual, a perfect gentleman, even when the original Rikki had a hissy fit at his presence. Neither dog objected to him, nor did little Tikki, the other house cat. Gary made a point of showing him where the litter box is, and where the food dishes are, though he took little interest it seems.

When it came time for evening chores he churred and followed us out to the barn, where he stayed the night. We wondered if he'd come back in later, but he did not... Not until late afternoon the next day, anyway. After chores were done, everyone fed, as it was getting dark, in through the dog door again. This time he found my sleigh blanket folded on a rocking chair and immediately adopted it, going to sleep on it. He was still there when we went to bed. Evidently he stayed in all night, because this morning I found him sleeping in Sarah's favorite chair while she was asleep on the carpet in front of it. I guess he's moved in.

He let us trim his claws and go over him with a flea comb (no fleas, thank goodness) without any complaint. I wonder if he'll keep patrolling the barn or if he has decided to retire to the fireside now. He's a very bright and friendly cat, and has been here for more than two years. I'm really surprised that it took this long for him to figure out the dog door.