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Sue went back to S.L.C. [Salt Lake City] yesterday after 11 days here.
She and her family will be back July 7th to stay until after the Danville Fair. She did a lot of planting around her place. Also cleaned up some of mine. Is completely free of any cancer cells and feels super great! Homer
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Some of you know we have a cat, Woodpile, that we took in a little over a year ago, thinking he was a stray - he wasn't, but that's another story. What's im
portant is that we got to keep him and think the world of him. Woody is a hunter, and after being on his own the whole summer before we took him in one cold November night, he's very good at it. He indicated right away he wanted to be outside when the nights are warm enough, and having brought up three sons, the last thing I wanted was to wait up and worry about him until the wee hours, so we installed a "kitty door" for him. That works very well except for one thing. Now Woody can bring home to us all sorts of trophies and pals. Tuesday morning it was a young squirrel, carried gently by the nape of his neck and released with pride in our kitchen.
Fred hollered to me from where he was working in the basement when he realized the cat had something in his mouth, and both of us rushed to head him off. We arrived in time to see the cat drop the squirrel and walk away, unconcerned. The squirrel frantically criss-crossed the kitchen, searching for a hiding place. Woody meowed loudly, expecting praise. Before we had a chance to corner the squirrel, it went under the refrigerator. To make a very long story short, we spent the next three hours trying to capture him. All we accomplished was that instead of being under the refrigerator, he went into it, and although we took an access panel off in back, we still couldn't reach him - but with a flashlight and by lying flat out on the floor, we could peer through the grates on the bottom of the fridge and see him from time to time. We finally gave up around noon. What's the worst that could happen, we wondered? He'd die in there.
I was resigned - we'd never get the body out and we'd have to get a new refrigerator. I had closed the cat in our bedroom while we were searching for the squirrel, and when I went in after we'd given up, Woody was comfortably sound asleep at the foot of the bed. He needs lots of rest so he can hunt all night . . . and whoever said we needed a cat, anyway, I grumbled.
That evening, while watching the news, we heard a clatter on one of the window screens in the living room. All our screens are on the inside - and sure enough, the squirrel was behind the curtains on the screen, and then ran along the curtain rod, across the fireplace mantle, through the dining area towards the bedrooms, and disappeared. The chase was on. Woody knew exactly where he was every minute, and with his help, Fred was able to corner the frightened squirrel in the bathroom, and after a short struggle with the squirrel running up Fred's arm and across his shoulders, Fred caught him. Fortunately, Fred had grabbed his fireplace gloves right away, so although the squirrel chattered angrily and tried repeatedly to bite him, he came away unscathed. We deposited the youngster in the woodpile in back of the house and hoped Woody couldn't get at him again, and we congratulated ourselves that he was out of the house, unharmed, and we wouldn't need to order a new refrigerator - at least, not this time.
Woody continues to be out all night, last night he brought in a mole for us, but it was dead . . . We're rethinking the kitty door. Although it is convenient for him (and for us), and it's nice that he wants to bring his little playmates home to meet us, we'd really rather he left the baby bunnies, field mice and young squirrels outside. Also, if he can get through that little kitty door, we wonder what else might navigate through it - a curious skunk? the clever raccoon that peered in the window at me a few minutes ago from the railing of the back deck? I don't want to think about it.
portant is that we got to keep him and think the world of him. Woody is a hunter, and after being on his own the whole summer before we took him in one cold November night, he's very good at it. He indicated right away he wanted to be outside when the nights are warm enough, and having brought up three sons, the last thing I wanted was to wait up and worry about him until the wee hours, so we installed a "kitty door" for him. That works very well except for one thing. Now Woody can bring home to us all sorts of trophies and pals. Tuesday morning it was a young squirrel, carried gently by the nape of his neck and released with pride in our kitchen.Fred hollered to me from where he was working in the basement when he realized the cat had something in his mouth, and both of us rushed to head him off. We arrived in time to see the cat drop the squirrel and walk away, unconcerned. The squirrel frantically criss-crossed the kitchen, searching for a hiding place. Woody meowed loudly, expecting praise. Before we had a chance to corner the squirrel, it went under the refrigerator. To make a very long story short, we spent the next three hours trying to capture him. All we accomplished was that instead of being under the refrigerator, he went into it, and although we took an access panel off in back, we still couldn't reach him - but with a flashlight and by lying flat out on the floor, we could peer through the grates on the bottom of the fridge and see him from time to time. We finally gave up around noon. What's the worst that could happen, we wondered? He'd die in there.
I was resigned - we'd never get the body out and we'd have to get a new refrigerator. I had closed the cat in our bedroom while we were searching for the squirrel, and when I went in after we'd given up, Woody was comfortably sound asleep at the foot of the bed. He needs lots of rest so he can hunt all night . . . and whoever said we needed a cat, anyway, I grumbled.
That evening, while watching the news, we heard a clatter on one of the window screens in the living room. All our screens are on the inside - and sure enough, the squirrel was behind the curtains on the screen, and then ran along the curtain rod, across the fireplace mantle, through the dining area towards the bedrooms, and disappeared. The chase was on. Woody knew exactly where he was every minute, and with his help, Fred was able to corner the frightened squirrel in the bathroom, and after a short struggle with the squirrel running up Fred's arm and across his shoulders, Fred caught him. Fortunately, Fred had grabbed his fireplace gloves right away, so although the squirrel chattered angrily and tried repeatedly to bite him, he came away unscathed. We deposited the youngster in the woodpile in back of the house and hoped Woody couldn't get at him again, and we congratulated ourselves that he was out of the house, unharmed, and we wouldn't need to order a new refrigerator - at least, not this time.
Woody continues to be out all night, last night he brought in a mole for us, but it was dead . . . We're rethinking the kitty door. Although it is convenient for him (and for us), and it's nice that he wants to bring his little playmates home to meet us, we'd really rather he left the baby bunnies, field mice and young squirrels outside. Also, if he can get through that little kitty door, we wonder what else might navigate through it - a curious skunk? the clever raccoon that peered in the window at me a few minutes ago from the railing of the back deck? I don't want to think about it.
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