There's a Bird in My Shoe!

I guess we are going to have to put all bird feeders in the front yard so the birds won't keep getting preyed upon by big old bad old Buddy. Yesterday I was fixing my lunch (the last of the egg salad) and usually sit at the counter in the kitchen to eat. Buddy was napping on the chair at the counter so I thought I'd be nice and not disturb him, instead eating my lunch at the table in the living room. I'm eating, hear a flapping noise, and then see Pepper jumping off of the cat perch and going over to the corner by the kitchen behind the couch.

And there, in my pink croc shoe, is a tiny little bird. I don't know how it got there, there were no feathers in the house so the bird hadn't been in the house long, and as far as I knew Buddy had been asleep. He is the usual suspect, though, so he must have snuck out and then snuck right back in with that bird.

I covered up my shoe with a towel and took the shoe and bird outside, where the bird sat there long enough for me to get a picture and then flew off.

Then Buddy and Pepper spent about 20 minutes sniffing around my shoes wondering where their new toy had gone.

Buddy The Bird Murderer

We know that Genie has caught a few birds out back, once I found one dead right by the table that her basket and food usually sit on, and then the other day Keith saw her with a half dead bird that actually made it back up in the air and over the fence, but I hadn't really expected any of the other cats to be able to catch any of them. We have lots of backyard birds because of the bird feeder and most fly away as soon as a cat rushes towards them. The cats usually just watch and wish, but yesterday afternoon Buddy got one.

He's been a little more of an a$$hole than usual, instead of being satisfied with one outing a day each morning, he has been wanting to go out in the afternoons, too, and really makes a pain out of himself, grabbing at me and hissing and doing his weird I'm mad at you meow. So, yesterday afternoon, tired of listening to him hiss and meow, out I let him and Mimi go.

I happened to look out the back door just in time to see feathers flying in the flower bed right where the bird feeder sits and see Buddy in the midst of the flying feathers, so out I go to see what's going on and here comes Buddy towards the back door with a bird in his jaws, a wing hanging out of each side of his mouth. Look what I've got for you!!

He dropped the bird right outside the door, then started batting the poor thing around. The bird played dead for a little bit and then as soon as it moved, Buddy was on it again. It managed to get itself kind of hidden in the weeds by the door (yes, our backyard is kind of shameful right now) while Mr. Peabrain looked around for it.

I went back inside, figuring I'd go pick up the dead bird after he had forgotten about it, but then later I see him back over by the bird feeder, apparently having found the bird again and carried it back over there to play with it. Ugh.

Later I got Buddy to come in and went looking for the bird but couldn't find it anywhere. I didn't think well fed Buddy had actually eaten it since he is so well fed and probably doesn't realize that he could eat that bird, to him it's just a toy, so I figured I would look around again today and if it's not there, then maybe some other bird or animal found it.

This morning, the cats all went out again as usual, they want to go out the minute they are done eating breakfast, and so out they go. In the mornings I leave the screen door open a bit so that they can come and go for a while and it's a good thing I was on the couch having my coffee, because here comes Pepper headed for the door with the dead bird in her mouth, ready to bring it inside and give me a present. Fastest I've ever gotten to that door to shut it.

I went to get a bag to put the bird in and by the time I got back outside, all the other cats were standing around it having a look, so I scooped it up with the dust pan and into a bag it went.

He doesn't look like a vicious bird killer in that picture, does he?

Pepper was laying on my bed the other day and I wanted to get a picture of her, but of course the minute I bring the camera around, she decides it's time to attempt to clean her bottom. She usually ends up licking her feet, being too fat to reach all the way to her bottom most of the time. She has been a little better at keeping herself cleaner and I haven't had to wash her butt as much lately. Neither of us like that chore all that much.
 

Buddy The Escape Artist

Ever since Keith started letting the cats explore the backyard for a few hours each day Buddy has been a big pain in the you know what when he can't go outside. We watched Life of Pi last night and I think I'll be changing his name to Richard Parker because he reminds me so much of that hungry wild tiger. Buddy roams around the house growling (which of course sounds more like a meow), pacing and rubbing on things and if he were bigger I'm sure he would think seriously about eating us.

Early this morning Keith was awakened just in time to see Buddy's tail going out the window after he discovered that he could pull on the rubber stuff that holds the screen in and make a nice opening in the bottom of the screen, an opening just big enough for a cat to jump to freedom through. Keith grabbed his tail and hauled him back in and I'm really surprised that Buddy didn't bite and scratch him, but in the process of pulling him back in the window, the screen was totally ruined.

Please disregard the sad state of our backyard and the shed door wide open in these pictures.

Anyway, Life of Pi was pretty good, Keith was getting bored up until the shipwreck, though. I had read the book recently, which of course was better than the movie because books can go into more detail and there were parts of the book that were left out of the movie, like the fact that there were bloody dead animal parts in the bottom of the boat, not to mention cat vomit and pee. I got to thinking about how messy a tiger would be, it's bad enough cleaning up little cat vomit, hairballs, and poop. Tiger hairballs must be huge.

We are having a very very hot weekend, so it is a good thing that we decided to postpone (indefinitely) the barbecue that we were going to have since everyone would have been totally miserable sitting outside in the almost 100 degrees that we had yesterday. Not to mention the drive up and back where you have to turn off your air conditioners when you are going up the sides of mountains.

I decided to clean out my kitchen cupboards this past week and got some new contact paper shelf liner stuff but it was a waste of time because the contact paper doesn't want to stick too well and is already curling up. It's this new kind that is supposed to be easily removed later and I guess that later is 2 days after you stick the stuff down. So, back to the drawing board on that and maybe I'll just lay down some butcher paper or something. I had some of that shelf liner in there that is kind of rubbery but every time you try to put something in the cupboard, like baking dishes, the rubbery stuff kind of sticks to the bottom of whatever you are putting in the cupboard and moves around. Annoying.

I'm also trying to cook more of a variety of meals and once again went to the Goodwill bookstore and got a bunch of those little cookbooks for 29c each, plus a stack of paperback novels for 99c each. Yesterday I had a whole box full of books and a bag for what didn't fit in the box for a grand total of $19.99. About the price of 1 1/2 new paperbacks. Score!

Cat Fight!

Well, this morning one bad apple (Buddy) spoiled it for the whole bunch. Our experiment in letting the cats out for an hour or so in the mornings has come to a yowling end. No more, kids, cause you can't behave yourselves.

It all started when I reached out the door to put Genie's food on the back porch for her and Harri went right past my arm and right past Genie to get to some grass. Genie was so hungry that she didn't even notice Harri at first, but then quickly went to hide behind her basket after seeing Harri out there. I went out and put Genie, her basket, and food up onto the patio table so she could feel a little safer, and then let the rest of the cats join Harri outside. Keith is making his breakfast and I'm at the computer (where else) checking my email and all of a sudden I hear cats hissing and yowling and run to the back door just in time to see Buddy chasing Genie across the yard. The rest of the cats are all panicked and trying to get back inside except for Pepper who is also hissing even though she isn't anywhere near the fight. Keith runs out to try and rescue Genie, who is now nowhere to be seen and I hope she hasn't jumped up on the fence in panic, never mind that she's never figured out that she could climb that fence if she wanted to.

Buddy has all kinds of fur hanging from his mouth, so he obviously got in a few bites and now he is in BIG TROUBLE, MISTER! and after he finally calms down a little and comes back inside and Pepper calms down a little and also finally comes back inside, we go out to check on Genie who has jumped up onto her cat condo stand and in through the window into the safety of her shed. Where I think she is probably still hiding here an hour or so later.

So, no more going outside kids, it's not fair to Genie to be attacked in  her own territory and no matter how much you whine, you're going to have to stay inside!

In other news, Keith's test and interview with BNSF yesterday up in Fresno went well. There were 54 candidates there, minus a few who didn't make it to the door before they closed it at 7 am, and if you are late, tough luck, you are done. Then after the speech about how if you do drugs might as well leave now a few other people were eliminated. It boggles my mind that druggies read the paperwork that BNSF sends to you that specifically says they do a hair test for drugs but they still show up thinking they can get away with bringing fake pee or whatever. Then there are the ones who come in shorts and flip flops for their interview. The ones that were left all took the written test and about 15 more people were eliminated when they didn't pass, and then on to interviews and waiting in line to get your hair clipped for the drug test. Keith said there were quite a few ex-military men, who of course will get preference simply because they are military men and are used to strange hours and following rules and after all they did spend a part of their lives risking that life every day in Afghanistan or wherever. I don't begrudge them getting preference at all, so many of them come home to a lack of opportunity and jobs.

Anyway, if they want an old guy like Keith, they will let him know in a few weeks, and if not, then he gave it his best shot. We're thinking that the way things have gone lately, both railroads will call him on the same day and then he'll have to decide which one to go with. Or, neither one will call. We just have to be patient and wait and see.