Mama's away on her annual pilgrimage to Alaska, so that leaves just me and the boys (Smokey and Junior) to mind the store. Since it has been so hot of late, I've spent most of my time at home inside, and they are both rather needy. In fact, right now Smokey's warming up his vocal chords and is ready to try out for Feline Idol…he's such an attention hog!
And while Smokey's making enough noise for three cats, Junior is sleeping on the couch in the other room. Every now and then, he'll shoot a look towards his little brother as if to say, "Would you put a lid on it already?"
In other news, living out in the country has pluses and minuses. One of the minuses was emphasized this morning–we live on a gravel road. There's a bit of a downgrade before you get to our driveway, which has a grade of its own. Where the two meet is usually in good shape, but lately the culvert has been blocked with pine straw and dirt. Every time they plow the road, more dirt gets pushed into the ditch on the side of the road, and when it rains–we've had some torrential storms of late–more of this dirt gets washed into the culvert. Well, now it is totally blocked and the water (which has had to find a way downhill and seeks the path of least resistance) has eroded a fairly large trench at the foot of the driveway. And, as luck would have it, guess who got his truck stuck this morning? You got it. About a half-hour of blue language followed, but I managed to get un-stuck after a few tries at different remedies. This afternoon, when I got home, though, I had to do something. There was a wind fallen tree on the side of the road, so I put that in the truck and hauled it to the house. Into the ditch it went, and then, in this ungodly heat, I shoveled dirt on top. So, I have a temporary fix–but Newberry County, you need to send out a crew to plow the road *and* clean out my culvert which you have succeeded in blocking on more than one occasion…
With me being sole caregiver to both Feline Units, nothing has changed on the model bench. I wish I could eke out some time, but the older one misses mom (he thinks he's a tough guy, but he is most certainly a mama's cat) and the little one is simply an attention hog…can't leave him for more than a minute before he starts howling like he's lost his best friend.
The other critters I look after are the hummingbirds–and we have quite a few of them out here. We started out with one feeder that we'd fill every other day or so, but over the years we've gone to two feeders that get filled daily–and sometimes twice daily. So, as soon as I get home I feed the Feline Units, put them into a bedroom temporarily, feed the hummingbirds, then let the Felines roam the house while I make supper. They hang out in the living room while I eat, then the little guy will start his vocal gymnastics. Out comes the laser pointer. Want to have fun with a cat? Get a laser pointer and watch them chase the dot (be careful, of course, to not point it in their eyes). Even the older cat gets in on the fun from time to time, and it settles both of them down a bit…
Once I get on the computer, though, all bets are off–sometimes the little guy will calm down and snooze on the futon. Other times, like tonight, he decides he wants to wail and see if ol' Dad will play with him. He spent the better part of the time it took to type this post cuddled in my lap, purring away. Then he got interested in the computer–the keyboard first, then the mouse. After a while, he decided that all that purring was making him hungry, so he took a meal break…
Once again, both of them are snoozing. Peace and quiet–I should enjoy it while it lasts…
Tomorrow is another (hot) day…and next week sees us with another airplane with a lot to do in a short time. Those are the makings of some fun, there…
Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace…