So I thought I was clever buying a squirrel baffle to keep Mr. Relentless away from the bird feeder. I guess he showed me.
I bought a taller Shepard’s hook today. We’ll see who has the last laugh…
Category: Animals
Not a dull moment
We attended a volunteer event sponsored by Joe’s employer at the Northern Illinois Food Bank yesterday. The volunteers helped with a variety of duties including packing boxes of food/supplies, labeling meats, and sterilizing packaging. It was tiring work and I really wanted to take a nap once we got home but couldn’t because it was Brother #1’s birthday party at my parents’. As usual, we stayed far too late playing board games and didn’t crawl into bed until 1:30 am.
It was with great reluctance with which we dragged out butts out of bed this morning, but it had to be done. We hit Lowes for a few supplies for Joe to finish tiling the foyer and guest bath, which he’s working on right now while I slowly starve to death thinking about all the yummy leftovers from the party sitting in our fridge that I can’t eat until he’s done.
We also purchased a squirrel baffle so that I will never again have to deal with the pesky squirrels messing with our bird feeder. Enjoy the video I took on Wednesday when I was working from home.
Cute & Cuddly
Yesterday we visited a local animal shelter where I fell in love with a cute kitten named Evelyn. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), she was already pending adoption. She was such a calm and affectionate 4-month-old kitten; a perfect companion in my eyes. I was petting her for a long time, unable to tear myself away.
Joe and I have been talking about just getting a kitten to see what happens with all of us, including his son. I hate the idea of any of us suffering, but there’s really no other way to know if one will bother us unless we take that leap. The interesting thing is, once we left the shelter, both our noses were really itchy and Joe’s breathing was bothering him. It could be from the massive amounts of animals in the building, however, and won’t necessarily be the same with just one cat. We’re really not sure, but that didn’t stop us from heading over to Petsmart to look at the animals available for adoption there. I even pet some dogs, which I never do, but I think they are starting to grow on me a bit, although I still can’t get used to that dog smell.
At both the shelter and Petsmart there was a solid gray kitten with green eyes. I adore that coloring. Any cat with gray in their fur seems to appeal to me. I’m not a big fan of all black or white cats though, or the orange ones.
The gray kitten at the shelter was very feisty. I’m not sure I want a kitten who is that rambunctious, but her brother was even worse! Talk about rough play. That kitten would tear someone’s house to shreds for sure. That’s why I liked Evelyn so much: she was so calm and sweet. A total lap cat, no doubt.
This one black kitten at the shelter, Panther, was aptly named as he launched himself at us at every opportunity. He also tried sharpening his claws on my jeans, as did a striped tabby named Tigger. They were both fun to play with. I could have spent hours there with them.
*Sigh* I just want a real pet. My hamster is not cutting it.
Pratt’s Wayne Woods
Visited a new forest preserve today – Pratt’s Wayne Woods. I got more photos of dragonflies today that I’ve gotten in many years combined but I had to post this frog photo because he’s so cute. You can check out all the photos I took today, including my favorite dragonfly, at Flickr.
Another weekend gone by
Yesterday we took the kids shopping to get a few things to keep at our place. I was getting a bit tired of Joe’s son wearing these terrible knit shorts that don’t even match the shirts he brings. We bought him shirts but he took most of them home and the ones left at our place were getting too small. He does have some nice shorts at home but never seems to bring them over. I can’t trust that he or his sister will remember everything they need (they’re only kids, after all) each weekend, and since their mother lets them pack their own bags without overseeing what they’re bringing, she’s useless.
Anyway, the boy got a pair of shorts, 3 shirts, boxers, and flip-flops. The girl only got a shirt, a pair of shorts, and flip flops. She wasn’t as interested in getting stuff and I wasn’t going to push it since I don’t have a problem with what she wears. I just felt bad since the boy got more but she didn’t seem to care. She’s not very materialistic. In fact, when she got checks for her graduation she asked us to put the money in her savings account.
Joe took the boy to a school event in the afternoon so I made lunch for the girl and we hung out til the boys got back. We wanted to go to the park but wouldn’t you know it, the second the boys pulled into the garage it started raining so that was out. We ended up playing board games and the Wii instead. My arms were sore this morning which is a true testament to a) how out of shape I am, b) how infrequently I play on the Wii, or c) a & b. I think you know the answer to that.
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It was a beautiful day out today but now it’s cool and rainy out. Other than not being able to fit a bike ride in before the rain came, I’m satisfied with how the day went. We got a little shopping in after dropping off the kids and then headed to St. James Farm Forest Preserve. We’ve been wanting to visit ever since Joe and the girl put in some volunteer time cleaning up the grounds in early May. When we arrived a bit before 10 am we ate the sandwiches I had made and then explored the area.
We had the place to ourselves for over an hour which was nice but by 11:30 there were more and more people walking around so we decided to check out Danada Equestrian Center where there were not one, but two young foals. One was born a month ago and the other was just born last night. Talk about great timing! I can’t say I’ve ever seen foals before so it was a real treat to watch them walk around. Yes, even the 12 hour old foal was on her legs in the barn. Imagine a 12 hour old baby being able to walk!
I posted videos of the two foals on my YouTube account and I’ll be slowly adding photos to Flickr in the coming week. Check back here for links.
— UPDATE —