RATS ..... RATS!!!

There couldn't be more perfect days in Arizona in October.  There are a few more monsoon showers on the horizon, but the days are down to the mid 80's.  Winter time is finally coming to the desert.  I hope that means I just fished out the last moth from my cup of fake coffee on the patio.  It's pretty bad when you enter a store and the nice lady says ... oh wait ... you have a bug in your hair.  

Here's my tip of the day.  ALWAYS put the top back on your water bottle, and even if you do, ALWAYS look before you sip.  Same with coffee ... keep your cup covered.

The eyes are always on me in the morning.  He sleeps until about 2:00 pm, when they are upon me again to play the ball game.  That pile of rug on the floor is his favorite.  Never leave any clothes on the floor around here, because they instantly become the latest hiding spot before they become part of the treasure hunt.

It's been a little weird around here animal wise.  I haven't picked up on single critter on the camera for two days, nor are the hummingbirds hanging out.  It's exceedingly quiet, so I took the opportunity to finish up this quilt.  You can't see the quilting, but it's longhorn cattle heads ... one of my favorite patterns.

Three nights ago ... or maybe more, as I lose track ... LOOKY HERE!  My buddies came back for a visit.  I was sure they had disappeared for good.  I'm so happy to see them back.  Of course I haven't seen them since, but at least they are around.

My next adventure just got waylaid ... caput ... it's not happening.  I discovered a game refuge south of me which appears to be full of critters.   Just as I was checking on the timing (do I go in the dark or not), I discovered they are draining the entire region and cleaning up the area to allow for regrowth next year.  RATS ... I'll make a note to go earlier next time.

Speaking of rats .... it seems there is always something going on with them.  I haven't caught a single one under the house ... a good thing.  HOWEVER ... I discovered they had eaten a nice hole in the facia around the house.  That may be because I destroyed their new entrance on the far side of the house.  

I dug out my can of spray foam and went to plugging it up.  Today I'll take a slow walk around the entire place and make sure there are no other new entrances.

I have always been told ... bird feed brings rats.  Rats bring snakes.  Never feed the birds if you don't want rats.  Big sigh ... they were right.  I love watching the finch and quail eat the bird seed I placed on this board, but now I see RAT TRACKS.  

Just for kicks, I put the game camera out here last night to see if I could discover just who was eating all the seed at night.  Of course I knew the answer to that question.  This morning I'll check it out and see who stopped by for a midnight snack.

I spent the rest of the evening finishing up this quilt top.  Oh darn ... I have to go to the quilt shop for backing material.

In the meantime, you may wonder why I'm not working the Pumpkin Patch this year.  It seems they wanted to hire kids from the University of Merced to run the place.  I'm not sure if they will be much better than high school kids, but no doubt they can use the money.  

I was offered the back breaking job of moving pumpkins from the bins to these displays and to the sales bins up front, then selling them two days a week.  That's bending over all day, carrying pumpkins.  No thank you, I'll pass.  There's a little more to it, but I won't go into the details.  

I'll miss driving the tractors, feeding the critters and seeing the kids smiling faces.  The good news is it frees me up for an entire month of preparation for HALLOWEEN!!!!  Not only that, but Bingo will be ever so happy I'm back to work!!!

So I'm off to see if I captured any RATS on video.  I have a feeling the answer is no, but we shall see.