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I just wanted to make note of Squirrel’s passing… she was a large part of the extended family.

After cleaning up the yard this morning, I decided to check on this funky tree I have growing near the back of the property outside the dog area. I think it is a prickly pear ash which looks nothing like a pear or an ash. On my way, I found Squirrel laying dead on the ground. Looks like she (she, I think) has been there a while… hard to tell with the cold weather we have had, but I remember noticing a few days ago that the dogs have not been giving Squirrel chase in a while.

Squirrel would methodically make her way across the yard on one of various routes she has. Some of them seemed none too direct as she zigged-zagged to her destination. I read once that squirrels have regular routes that they follow and, sure enough, I found that to be true. Even the dogs noted this. They knew where the squirrels were heading as they embarked on a route and would often run ahead to the next tree on the route.

Sometimes I envision creating little rope bridges in the tree tops for a more direct route. Wouldn’t that be cool? The current route seems especially inefficient near the nest, but maybe there is reason for that.

I saw a squirrel yesterday with a mouth full of leaves. It made sense because we have had some extremely cold temperatures. It did not get out of the thirties temperaturewise yesterday. The night before was really cold.

I am not sure what happened to the squirrel I found this morning. There were no obvious signs of trauma and it was outside the fenced area where the dogs run. But I can’t rule out the dogs except it seems that if the dog were involved, they would have barked a lot at the fence-line closest to the squirrel trying to get to it. I work from home. My office overlooks the backyard and I saw or heard no unusual behavior from the dogs. They didn’t seem to note what I was doing this morning when I buried Squirrel.

This has to be the same squirrel that ate small nuts from the tree beside the dog house. The dogs would gather below — a couple would jump on the doghouse to get closer — and in unison bark for the duration of Squirrel’s meal. I often marvelled that the noise did not deter Squirrel nor did it seem to irritate her. I worried it would throw off her concetration as she made one of those daring leaps from one tree to another, quietly praying everytime that she not miss the next branch. I swear the dogs were chanting, “Fall, fall.”

Several years ago, a squirrel was being chased across the yard by some of the dogs. It made it to the wire fence and got part way through when it just collapsed. I took it out of the fence and set it on the outside, but it never revived. The dogs never touched it, so I think it must have had a heart attack. I buried this squirrel several feet beyond the fence in the woods. Five or six years later, the marker is now part of the new extended backyard. Somehow it has remained in place… amazing when you think of all the things these kids get into these days.

We shall miss Squirrel. There were many days I thought I might buy a gun just to shoot Squirrel so the dogs would quit barking at her. Fall and winter, when there are no leaves on the trees, were the worst. Squirrel or her movement was easier to spot leaping from tree-to-tree.

And there were times where, after an hour, I had to call a quit to the noise. Though I do not miss the excessive/compulsive barking, I shall miss Squirrel’s part in this menagerie — especially the way she would walk among them on the ground unnoticed when they were deep asleep in their naps.

Sweet dreams, Squirrel.

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If you want to heat something on the stove, don’t forget to lift the burner covers and remove the toy cat balls Diego has hidden underneath. They really stink when they burn.

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It has been said and written many times over the years that man is superior to animals because of his/her ability to reason. But I am here to say that that ability in and of itself is NOT enough. Just as a weaker opponent can overcome his stronger foe by concentrating on the opponents weaknesses, I believe critters with lesser trained reasoning can conquer their human counterparts. I am a case in point for this argument.

I have two young cats named Frankie and Diego. They should have been named Piss and Vinegar. They are brothers born out in the woods, but found when they were just about 10 days old. They were in good health, but there was no mother to be seen. At about the same time, a gray cat was found dead in the area, so it was assumed this cat was the mother.

Frankie and Diego were raised in the house where they were bottled-fed and played with quite frequently. As soon as they decided they were ready, they integrated themselves into the family pack.

They have evolved into being the brat pack here in the house. Frankie seems to prefer dogs to cats and Diego loves the female cats. However, in a heartbeat, they both can become an irritation to all cats in the house as you see cats scurrying to get away from them.

Along with this bullish attitude comes their curiousity about all things kept hidden from them. In cat language, that translates into, “Hey, what’s behind THAT door?” They are fed in a bedroom by themselves so the others can enjoy their food. I keep a small container in their bedroom with food for the convenience of it. The food container is kept in a cat carrier with the door securely closed. Guess that how evolved? I can’t tell you how many times I have walked into the bedroom to see the cat carrier knocked over and moved several feet in an attempt to get to the food container inside.

Recently, their attention has turned to the bathroom vanity with its two sets of double doors. The trash can inside seems to be quite an attention getter. On a good day, there might be some dirty q-tips in there which for some reason are the creme-de-la-creme of bathroom trash can treasures.

So using my sense of reason, I tied two of the doors together with a string from one door knob to the other one. The doors opening slightly, but not enough for a cat to get it. In front of the other door, I placed a lidded container that has enough weight that they cannot easily move it.

Well, sometimes the lidded container is not as heavy as other times making it a target for frequent checking by Diego, the wildest of the two. He is a skinny boy but quite athletic — a “go for broke” type of guy. You can often hear him attempting the vanity doors.

So I decided to fix the problem once and for all. I am tired of pulling q-tips out of the mouths of dogs or finding them in odd places throughout the house — in water bowls, in pans beside the sink, under the bed, in closets. I tied the second set of doors closed. Again, they open slightly, but not enough for a cat to get in… nor can my hand get in to put a used q-tip in the trash.

And at that moment, I realize that my ability to reason has been no match for my “inferior” cat.

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I went to dinner last Friday night with “the gang.” Karen’s husband, John, brought roses for all the girls. Beautiful and they smelled so good! As I was leaving the restaurant, I started thinking about what I would do with this rose — my cats will tear it apart, spill the water and then the dogs will eat the pieces — and someone will likely throw up rose parts (of course).

One I got home, I trimmed the stem down to better fit the height of the sturdiest vase. Then, a brainfart! Unconventional, but an idea none the less. I will put my rose in the refrigerator!

And so there it is… on the top shelf of the fridge where I can enjoy it each time I open the door. And each time, it is a surprise because out of sight really is out of mind.

Bet mine lasted longer than anyone else’s.

Happy Valentine’s Day, all.

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The pondering of the day is actually left over from yesterday and seems to be a recurring one: HOW do dogs have the uncanny ability to get restless in the last minutes of a movie or a project you are working on? Yesterday, I had invested almost 2 hours into watching a movie on tv. Actually, I was watching two movies on two different channels. When one went to commercial, I switched to the other. One movie I started watching from the beginning. So I stayed closest to this one. The second, I picked up after it was on for a while — caught it when I was channel surfing during a commercial break from the first one. But no matter. I was quietly coming along fine with them both pleased as punch that they generally broke for commercials at different times. Then 10 minutes before the end — both were to end at the same time — it happened. The dogs started getting restless. DAMN!

Restless starts with one dog — a yawn, a stretch or maybe a dog at the other end of the house jumps off the bed and the sound ripples through the house like a stone ripples water when tossed into it.

Because this so often happens, I was very conscious to NOT give off any indicators that things were wrapping up. I did not stretch, I did not yawn, I did not even get up to go to the bathroom even though I wanted to. It was not even the usual time for “afternoon recess” or “pre-dinner recess.”

UGH! That drives me crazy.

I do not watch much tv, so it usually happens just as I am about to complete something I am developing on my computer. In that case, I have wondered if I am giving off some sense of elation that they pick up.

Either way, I just hate them dictating my little world. This logic tends to maintain a self-purpetuating craziness. The world of a pack is akin to a democracy where the most popular idea wins. I am usually the sole descenting vote for staying in and finishing whatever (cat votes don’t count in these situations and once the dogs get restless, the cats are more than happy to see the dogs go out anyway). For my own sanity, their way is the path of least resistance — give them what they want now and finish my stuff later.

This is certainly not a “me first” house in the sense that I am the “me” being first.

As Betty often said, “it’s a great life if you don’t weaken.”

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Just want to add this info a friend emailed to me so I know where it is when the time comes. What does this have to do with the pack? Alternate source of food for me and yet another project I am pondering.

Peggy M. Mills tells us how she grows her…

EDITOR’S NOTE: You can order certified seed potatoes from Park’s Seeds, Dept. TMEN, Greenwood, South Carolina 29647 (Red McClure and Russet Burbank varieties, $2.95 plus 65d handling for enough to plant a 25-foot row). . . Jung’s Seeds, Dept. TMEN, Randolph, Wisconsin 53956 ($3.95plus 75d service charge for approximately 50 potato “sets “of Kennebec, Norland, and Superior … and $4.75 for a like quantity of the new BelRus cultivar) . . . Gurney Seeds, Dept. TMEN, Yankton, South Dakota 57079 ($3.98 plus 70d handling for sets of Norland, Kennebec, Norchip, Irish Cobbler, Red Pontiac, and Norgold Russet … and $4.25 plus handling for Bake King). And, for organic growers, there’s the spudmelster of Aspen: Wilton’s Organic Potatoes, Dept. TMEN, Box 28, Aspen, Colorado 81811 ($5.00-plus $2.50 shipping-for five pounds of Norland, Norgoid, or a mixture of the two).

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Well, it’s February and we are flirting with spring-like humidity and temperatures — the windows are open, so my mind turns to once again having a wonderfully thick, green lawn… something I lost when “the pack” invaded my little corner of the world. Combined with lots of rain, they quickly reduced my yard to a muddy, slimy mess with a few couple small spots of green. I developed the mentality that “green is green.” I am so happy to have green that I do not care WHAT it is — weeds or grass. Of course, this being winter, I have some larger areas of winter rye. But as I sit back admiring those areas, a voice in the back of my head tells me it is just a matter of time and temperature before that “green” is gone. So I am trying to guess what to plan to try this year.

I placed some sqaures of grass/sod in the yard last year just to see what would happen. Just as I envisioned, the dogs quickly tore those up. Okay, that’s not the way to go. Good thing they were free.

I have tried putting down some soil, mixing in some grass seed and laying fencing wire on top. That seems to work pretty well. But with 1 1/2 acres in their running area, I don’t think that is a feasible idea. Maybe I can fence off areas and do it piecemeal (sounds like that might take a few years).

The biggest problem is that with no green on the ground and a very rainy year, any good soil I had has all eroded to some other area. It’s not so much a problem that we have had a lot of rain as it is that when it rained, the rainfall was fierce and excessive — like an inch or two in an hour. Or 4-6 inches in an afternoon. It rained so hard sometimes that the rain built up backwards on my roof and found places to leak into the house that it would not have found otherwise.

However, I do not want to complain too much. For 6 years, we experienced drought. I worried so much for the trees during that time(I live in a rural woodsy area).

I want to look at that straw-like stuff you roll out to hold seed. If I can make that work, I can maybe recycle the hay from the dog houses to the yard and maybe gain a grassy yard in the process. Maybe spread some new dirt down mixed with the hay and grass seed.

Sprinklers are out. The dogs think those things are GREAT FUN! Their favorite is the one that sprays around in a circle, then once it completes one circle, goes quickly backwards to the start of the circle. All these are good for is making a very muddy circle of paw prints. Realkly screws up the yard.

I also need to find some scent that dogs hate. I could mix that in or spray it on so the dogs would leave the area alone.

I know there has to be way…

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Have you seen this video of the cat flushing the toilet?

Another good reason to close the lid… Waterbill MovieWater Bill

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Ever notice how hypnotic a sunny day is in the winter after weeks of rain to a bunch of critters? Pretty sweet. The dogs pile up in a couple places around the yard and soak up as much of it as possible. Several can be seen sleeping on their backs letting their stomach soak up the sun’s warmth. I love it…

Inside the house, the cats follow the sun as it passes over the house, moving from sunny spot to sunny spot. It’s afternoon now and there are three cats on the corner of my desk — the sun is moving across it, one on the chair where the sun just left and two on the window sill.

All is good in their little worlds.

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A friend emailed me a link this morning to a video about a horse rescue in the Netherlands. Seems 100 horses got stranded on a very small high spot of land by a fast moving storm. Several horses died from drowning or exhaustion before four women on horseback were able to ride out to them and lead them to higher land. It just brought tears to my eyes to watch.

More tears came from reading that Barbaro was put to sleep this morning. Seems the latest round of setbacks were just too much this time. I was so pulling for his success. Especially after seeing the movie “Seabiscuit” again last weekend. You were something special, Barbaro — wonderful to watch run.

Netherland horse rescue video

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