Meow, meow

We went for a little drive today, and was gone 6 hours or so. When we came home and I got out of the Rav, I heard this meow, meow. Which is not really all that uncommon. Puss Puss usually comes to greet us giving those quick little meows. But I did not see her anywhere, till I looked up and there she was on our roof.

She started getting up there last summer....the first time or two we got the ladder and got her down. But we didn't get her soon enough the next time and she got down by herself. It took us a while to figure it out...she goes up and down the trellis at the end of the porch.

Then here in the past month or two, Bubbie wanted in but I ignored him for a few minutes. By the time I opened the door, he was no where to be seen....but I heard him on the awning over the porch. I didn't know it was him till he came down the trellis/wisteria vine!

And do you want to know what they are after? Well, we could never figure it out....till just a couple weeks ago. I was sitting out on the porch talking on the phone and a tree frog croaked...I think it was Puss Puss first there and boy did she zone in on it. She jumped up in a chair under the sound and put her feet on the back of it... Then in a little bit, Bubbie was there, and when it croaked again he did the same thing...only instead of jumping on the chair he was reaching up the post...so there is not much doubt when they hear the tree frog over at the other end of the porch, they probably run up the trellis to try to get to them.

I think we have the craziest cats....I have had cats all my life and have not had any to surpass these.

On top of Puss Puss's greeting today....Cougar was acting kind of strange. Roger went to his shop shortly after we got home. I passed by the bathroom and Cougar was just laying in there. He never lays in there. (Bubbie goes in there and pulls towels down, then crawls under them...but Cougar never goes in there unless we are in there.) In a little bit, I was in the living room and heard this pitiful meowing..I went and looked down in the basement....only to realize he was still in the bathroom. He was in the tub....so I went in and petted him a few seconds and gave offered him a fresh drink of water. Still this meowing...but he followed me out and went to the door as if he wanted out.

I let him out, and he went outside and immediately turned around, sat in front of the door and meowed as if he wanted back in. I opened the door, he came over and meowed and turned away without coming in.

So I continued on with the housework I was doing, stopping every little bit to open the door to see if he wanted to come on in. He didn't....so when I came to a good place to take a break, I picked up my book, a glass of iced tea and some cheese and crackers and went out there. Of course he got a couple bites of cheese, and I petted him and talked to him some more. That was all he wanted...just a little bit of companionship. He got up on top of the grill, and that was the last I heard from him.

Sharp-dressed man

Top coat, Top Hat.....I don't worry cause my wallets fat......just a little ZZ Top in case you didn't know.....and this post title is due to THIS post over at The Run 'A' Round Ranch.....I saw her post and immediately thought of the cardinal and how perfect the title would be....
However I had to resort to the snow photo above because the one I had taken the other day does not shot his 'top hat' to perfection.
Plus if you enlarge it, you will see that he is losing some of his feathers. But he is still a gorgeous bird, no matter what.
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Before I left home, in the winter we always fed the birds. No, we didn't buy birdseed. I am not even sure if I had ever seen birdseed to buy. And I for sure didn't know anyone that did.

We took a milk jug and cut windows in the sides, leaving the bottom at least two or three inches deep, and would use a string to tie the handle to this trellis mom had at the end of the porch....plus someone, not me, would make some kind of flat 'tray' to nail to the top of a fence post.

We would crumble up leftover cornbread as the main food, and I know we used other stuff but I cannot remember what else unless it was corn. And the birds would just flock to both....there would be cardinals in abundance. I can remember seeing 9 or 10 male cardinals at the same time. Plus there would be different sparrows, chickadees, tufted titmice, and probably wrens, though in all honesty I can't think for sure. But being that they were there all the other time, they just about had to be there then. Mom would also save leftover fats and make a suet for them...

Then come spring/early summer, when we were no longer feeding them...the cardinal would suddenly appear on the fence post, flitting his tail and almost like he was scolding us. We took that as a sign he wanted food for babies...so I would crumble a little cornbread on the post. Here he would come, grab a piece and take off back to the cedar thicket. We never tried to follow, so did not know for sure if they did have babies, but always felt like they did.

My choice

I came home with this gourd...that one in the back with a sunflower painted on it. It was only $10...not bad for a work of art.

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It is getting ready to pour down here...looks like a real storm rolling in. But it has been sounding/looking like that for an hour or two now. Hopefully, it will not be anything like what happened down home yesterday.