Birds Of A Feather

 Wow .... we've had three days in a row of actual spring weather.  I guess the old saying there's a time for everything is right.  Lucky for me, it's NOT been time for those skunks again.  I haven't seen or smelled one since that last video and I've double checked the fence line every day just to be sure.

As I mentioned, I did set up the trap, keeping the door locked open and tossing a morsel of tuna inside.  This is my problem.  Obviously I would LOVE to catch and relocate the skunk, but I really don't want to catch one of these guys.  No doubt that's how the "tail problem" came about, getting caught in a door.

And so we wait.  Maybe the skunk won't come back, because at least for the time being, the foxes are here to stay.

It's funny how things ebb and flow in nature.  The name of this place is Buzzards Roost ... and for good reason.  The first five years I lived here, buzzards would fly in by the dozens, hanging out on the big trees out back for the winter.  

It was a pretty messy proposition, as you KNOW what buzzards eat.  Well what goes in, comes right back out all over my corrals.  On mornings when it was cold, they would line up along my fence and spread their wings, soaking up all the warm they could from the sun.

For whatever reason, they have found other places to hang out, thank goodness, but were replaced by crows this year.  SO MANY CROWS!!  Not quite as nasty these guys, but more destructive.  Their favorite pastime is finding pecan nuts, picking them up and flying directly over my patio.  That's where they drop them, breaking open the hard shells to get to the nuts inside.  Pretty smart those guys, but then I'm sweeping up nut shells.

NOW ... another pesty type critter has arrived.  Mockingbirds have swooped in to eat the bugs and worms in the yard.  I suppose that's not a bad thing, but they are noisy and VERY aggressive.  Poor Cooper has been attacked more than once.

He hates them.  If one lands in HIS yard where he can see it, he barks and barks until I make it fly away.

That all means going for a walk can be a crap shoot ... literally.  We didn't get nailed on this day, but came VERY close.  Note to self ... better wear a hat from now on.

We didn't get far before the screeching began.  Peacocks are the best of watchdogs.  If one starts yelling, they ALL yell.  It's seriously loud enough to wake the dead, or at least half the neighborhood since I'm out pretty early.  

This is the escapee from a couple days ago who is STILL wandering the neighborhood.  He strutted so slowly and regally across the road, I was afraid he was going to get run over.  Cooper and I shooed him back into the neighbors yard, with even MORE screeching.

I think this property owner has about 5 males, all of whom reside OUTSIDE the pens.  I'm not sure why that is, since all the pea hens are INSIDE.  Maybe he's controlling the population, who knows.  

Back at the house, Cooper promptly took a nap while I worked on this monster.  Remember that brilliant idea I had to quilt a blanket to the back of a quilt top for the foster kids?  Oh yeah .... worst idea I've had in AGES!!

Never EVER will I do this again.  As soon as I cut the edges, fluff the likes of cattails went everywhere.  That black binding showed it right nicely as it covered every inch.  I had the quickest of thoughts about hand sewing on the blanket side ... that might be a little difficult.  

I was SO wrong .... it was IMPOSSIBLE.  If you are going to stitch it by machine, you need to sew it on the BACK first.  I had already sewn it on the FRONT ... and so the trial began.  When you turn it under, you have no idea if the edge is under the needle as you sew.  

Good grief ... I struggled with this thing for an entire EIGHT HOURS!!  It's finally done, and I'm sure the kids won't notice the badly sewn edge or the wavy border because the blanket stretched.  I even had to use an entire lint roller to clean up the black material.  This is a first ... and the LAST!!

By the time I was done, I wasn't the least bit motivated to even ENTER the sewing room.  Cooper and I spent the rest of the night watching rodeo, after which I moved my bedroom to the far side of the house.  Who has a party on a MONDAY night?  The guy behind me, two doors down.  

What better way to get primed for tonight's BINGO!!