The birds have it.

This is a dumpster diver's feeder that I made. The top is a circle of acrylic that used to be part of a Belk's store display. The metal basket is some kind of floral bouquet holder repainted and attached to a part from my microwave that used to be a timer/turntable. The now upside down turntable is attached with screws to a bit of scrap wood. The wood is mounted on a flange that is screwed onto a threaded pipe and the whole thing set into a larger pipe driven in the ground. It's two story - except when it rains, then the seed on the lower level stays dry. The birds seem to like it! Click on photos to enlarge. It's cold and windy today and I've refilled the feeders twice already.

I learned recently that at night, bunnies come to eat the corn and or seeds too.  Imagine my surprise when the newly installed motion sensitive light went off and three rabbits were eating and cavorting under the feeders!

And because no post should considered complete without a cat photo....

Here's the beautiful Gracie.  I absolutely love her Egyptian profile.

Patterns

Like many artists I am drawn to patterns in nature. I particularly love the regular and seemingly random spots, stripes and myriad combinations of the furred and feathered.  Appaloosa horses, tabby cats, black and white spotted Jacob Sheep, giraffe splotches, leopard spots and tiger stripes - all give me a frisson of pleasure.

While browsing a local thrift shop recently, I came upon a wonderful leopard faux fur vest.  The perfect gift for the kitties!  Sure enough, as soon as it was splayed on the couch, kitties claimed it one by one - with a few hissy quarrels over possession.  Generally though, possession rules even in the cat world and nearly every feline has had a turn mushing and posing on the best $2.00 cat accessory ever.

Pattern upon pattern - Garfy on The Vest

Snoochie if full mush mode. More pattern upon pattern.

I once had a harlequin Great Dane and I once had a brindle Great Dane, so when I thought of getting another dog to keep Freda company, I wanted another Dane.  Came up a bit short though, when I spotted Carrie up for adoption.  She's a year old brindle American Bull Terrier (not a pit type) weighing about 45 lbs. nearly the same size as Freda.  I figured it was meant to be as she purportedly got along with cats (very important), other dogs and liked everyone - even toddlers.  (Geez - I don't even like toddlers...)  And she would eat less than another giant dog which was better for my budget.

I met the owner, brought Carrie home and she and Freda hit it off immediately.  By the third evening she was deathly ill.  What started as a bit of coughing the second night became obvious difficulty breathing and a temp of 106.2!  I'd just gotten home from work and saw her trembling and with her eyes all squinted up like she was in pain.  I rushed her to the Vet Saturday night where she was given fluids and meds I.V.  Several tests were done - none conclusive at that point.  I was able to pick her up on Sunday with a tentative diagnosis of pneumonia and oral antibiotics but she went downhill again and had to go back in on Monday for more intravenous treatments - and they kept her for 24 hours before sending her home with I.V.'s and three antibiotics!  (I was once a vet tech so I know how to give I.V. meds and shots.)

I was puzzled when the Vet asked me to find out whether anyone in the previous owner's household had had flu or especially strep throat recently.  He said no - but sounded unsure about recent illnesses.  The Vet said dogs can pick up strep type infections from humans and visa-verse, which was new to me.  I'll never know for sure where it came from - but get this:  I'm sick now.  Within 24 hours of Carrie's onset, I had terrible bronchitis, sore throat, headache, fever, chills and loss of appetite, rather like my new doggie.  Unlike Carrie, at the first sign I hit the Emergen-C, got out my inhaler and prepared for the worst.  I'm coughing so hard I had to buy protection.... (no I'm not explaining this...)

Sympathy illness?  Perhaps.  I could have pick it up anywhere, but a pattern is a pattern - and this looks like a pattern to me.  That frisson I spoke of?  In this case, it must have been the first onset of the chilblains.

We are both doing better - though that vet bill is likely to kill me.  Better photos when we both stop coughing.

Here's Carrie - See her shaved legs and her bandage?  Poor baby.  Apologies for the cacophony of patterns here.  She's a real sweet tiger of a dog.

I'm countin' again...!!! and Warm Weather Hap'nins

Here's Garfy... He's sacked out on one of his favorite things: a paper (what else?) sack. Garfy's rescue story was recently featured on The Animal Rescue Site. At least three of my (online) buds recognized either him or my name and I contacted me. How cool is that? Every morning I take my first cup of coffee and click over from my reminder email to help feed shelter animals. Reading the rescue stories always gives me a lift and a good start to my day. It reassures me that there really are lots of responsible animal people out there. Some folks listen do the morning news. I read the rescues.

Then I click over to Freekibble.com to check out the bow-wow and meow trivia questions and again, to donate kibble to shelters.

And what am I counting? YOU. All the "yous" who didn't mail back their census forms can expect a visit. Training started yesterday and I was over the top to learn I had several weeks of paid work for the Department of Commerce once again. This will be quite different from the canvassing and map spotting of last year, but it should be interesting to say the least. I'm hoping for friendly dogs and friendlier people as I have to ask all sorts of personal and repetitive questions. Though it's in the best interest of everyone to participate, there's a lot of paranoia out there - especially around here. So look for the 2010 Census Blogs to begin!!

And here is a sure sign that we went from cold to very, very warm really fast. Bogo is my dear elderly lady who grew an amazingly thick coat this past year in the coldest winter I've experienced in my 20 years in GA. Even with all that horsehair, a blanket on the coldest nights and lots of extra food, she lost a lot of condition. All my other horse are fat. Poor Bogo is very thin and looks rather motheaten.

I'm trying a few different diets to help fatten her up. She's 23 this year - not that old for a horse, though my Roman only lived to be 24, and I don't know what sort of care she had before she came to me two years ago. Isn't it amazing how different her summer and winter coats are?

She seems to feel fine - and all the routine medical work show her healthy, but she's not digesting hay and grain well enough. I'm open to any suggestions from the horsey folks out there. Right now she's on pasture that is adequate but not yet very lush or long, along with Strategy, a pelleted feed with a cup of corn oil added for extra fat and calories. When the Burmuda grass comes in, the pasture will be at its best.

Into September... the bonny Bunny Days

What's this? The bunnies are back - and new colors are arriving just in time for Fall.

This summer, I was delighted to see a spotted bunny and her (?) friends nibbling the grasses along the mowed edges of my quarter-mile long drive. They must be escapees from my creepy neighbor - who likely eats them - or perhaps his wife/girlfriend let a few go.

I can't be sure, but based upon past history, it's difficult to believe any sort of altruism is involved. So this past week, I toodle down my driveway and get another bunny surprise.

A lovely little buff bunny with a cottontail!

Adorable and cuddly looking - but still smart enough to allow me no closer than 25 feet. So here's a blow-up.

Sweet.

And along with Buff Bunny was this hybrid. It has the agouti fur of a wild bunny, but the more rounded plumpness of tame rabbits.

Oops! That's not a bunny! It's the mighty tyke known as Dinah. She thinks the bathroom sink is just right for a nap, especially right after she's been harassing all the other kitties. Lately, she's taken to creeping up and cuffing them quickly, before scampering back to the safety of her sink.

- from Through The Looking Glass:
"One thing was certain, that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it - it was the black kitten's fault entirely."

Ah, yes. The black kittens are always blamed. (Sometimes rightly so.)

Have a three bunny day - and may the black cat bring you luck (as they do in Britain).

Share the ride, share the road...

Most mornings I back my trusty van up to the front door of my house and load (or unload) it for the day's endeavor/s. Without fail, one or more of my kitties takes it upon themselves to help or hinder. In Madeline's case, it is definitely the hindering deal. She has determined that the indentation of the back door when raised makes a lovely bed - and observation post.
When asked to vacate, she gives me this "how can you even ask?" look, stretches - and promptly sits back down to gaze about. After a bit, and in her own good time, she turns around and ...

stretches again for effect before gauging the distance to the ground. But does she jump? No. And for a good reason. Madeline is the clumsiest of cats - being extremely cow-hocked, and having broken one leg in three places when she was four months old. The leg had to remain pinned for months - with the tip sticking out of her hip!
So I persuade her take a circuitous route, and back over the roof of the van she goes, sliding down the windshield to gaze about in her queenly manner until the next opportunity to attain the throne.
And on down the nearby macadam road, I saw what from a distance appeared to be line like a tar repair. No - it was a very large Kingsnake, Blacksnake, Chickensnake, who stopped right in front of me and refused to move even when I took his/her picture and stomped my feet. I finally gave it a nudge with my foot and off it
went into the tall weeds. It's not the largest I've seen, but it was over six feet at my estimate. These are among the good guys of the snake world, eating small rodents, eggs and such - and not poisonous or aggressive. Quite beautiful - and fascinating as it moved effortlessly away.