Midweek Coffee! #31

Good morning to all of you on this very cold Wednesday! It was -40 this morning, a temperature which is the same for degrees F and C. That is just too cold for me. I was out there getting the new snow cleared off the deck, only half an inch (1.25cm), but I like to keep it cleared off so it does not build up and get slippery. Plus I cleaned the snow off the bird feeders and made sure everything was ready for the little birds.

Those poor birds in this weather. They hop onto the suet feeder and pound away trying to get some of it off that very solidly frozen chunk of suet. Then they jump down onto the railing to sit down over their feet to warm them for a while, then back to the suet. Those are the red-breasted nuthatches. They spend most of their time on the suet in this cold weather. But they still eat some sunflower seeds too.

Male pine grosbeak from last winter.

The chickadees spend most of their time eating sunflower seeds, but will also go to the suet for some quick energy. They also sit down over their feet. But they do not take much of a break, they have to keep eating all day in this weather. This is day 3 of our coldest weather so far this winter. And there are a few more days coming up before it warms up a bit next week. Good thing it is cloudy, or it might really get cold. In the winter, clouds help to keep it milder. Usually.

A squirrel actually came by yesterday afternoon. Quite late really. It was not Jasper, or any of the other normal squirrels, this one was someone new. He looked rather cold too. I gave him some peanuts and he ate 3 of them before leaving. The other day a shrike came along and grabbed one of my chickadees and took it over to a bush to eat it. The blue jays did not like that too much so they sent out a call to the other blue jays in the area until there was 12 of them out here.

Female pine grosbeak from last winter.

Then the top male blue jay went after the shrike, but he would not leave. So the second male blue jay joined in. Still the shrike did not leave. Then the third male blue jay went after it. Still nothing. Then the fourth male blue jay joined the group. That was too much for the shrike so he flew off with those 4 blue jays chasing him. They must have chased him a long distance, it was a while before they came back.

I tossed an extra cup of peanuts out for the blue jays which they hauled away quickly. Only 4 of the blue jays stay around when it gets this cold and they are gone by 2pm. The shrike has learned this too, so he likes to show up after that time. Junior showed up yesterday. He has not been around for a few days. He stomps on the wood platform at the bottom of the stairs to let me know he is here.

I think it was a bit windy when I took this picture of the chickadee.

So I go out to say “hi” to him. He always enjoys “taking” things from me too. A deer that steals. Imagine that. But he is nice and friendly though. I hope he comes back today so I can get more pictures of him. Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2022 Steve McLeod.

The Investigators, Inc. The Lost Puppy Case. Chapter 17. The Puppy!

Well, after looking at that video, we have definite proof that will help put Sofie in prison for a very long time, if she ever gets out. Now that the little device is no longer in my ear, I was allowed to leave the clinic and get back to working on the case. I am convinced now that this is also linked to our case somehow, kind of a case within a case, and I have an idea who might be helping Cherise with her plan to kill Sky and put me in prison for killing her.

But I want proof for that too before I tackle that one. I called Annelie and asked her to check a couple of things for me. Then I sent Crystal, Angel Carine and Benson over to retrieve that box with the jewels in it. I also called the police to come back again in the morning. It was starting to get late, Sofie had already gone to bed and the rest of us decided that would be a good idea too. Sigurbjorn came to our room to give me my massage, something I really needed.

I was very tense from this problem of being controlled by someone else. Sky, Crystal, Muffin and MC were with us too. We began talking about the case and that lost puppy, which is not really lost at all, it has obviously been hidden, likely by Denise to make sure Sofie did not get at them. They would certainly make Sofie quite wealthy considering their value, even if she had to share them with her son Thomas. We did learn that the note we found where Ben said he took the knowledge of the whereabouts of the jewels to the grave with him was actually fake.

We matched the hand writing with that of Denise. I guess she was hoping this would convince Sofie that she did not know where the jewels were located because Ben did not tell anyone before he died. I am still hoping that if we find that stuffed puppy toy we will find out where those jewels are hidden. Annelie called while I was getting my massage and she had some interesting news for us. I had the phone on speaker so everyone could here this news too.

“Tell Rock to get in touch with Mr. B and get permission for tomorrow afternoon,” I said. “Are you really sure about that Steve?” she asked, “it just seems like a terrible thing to do.” “Yes,” I said, “but we will only do it if we cannot find the toy puppy before then.” Kristina came into our bedroom to spend the night with us as a guard. Mainly to guard Sky in case I still dream about killing her, though that is unlikely now that the device has been removed from my ear.

The cats will be staying with us too. The night passed with no problems, which was certainly nice. We all felt nicely rested too, even Kristina got her 3 hours of sleep while the cats kept watch. I still find it amazing that she only needs 3 hours of sleep each night, though she can sleep longer at times, just not very often. We had breakfast, then went back down to the basement to look around that little room some more. Meow,meow.=Me think there is door behind shelves with books.

I went over to look but could not move that bookcase. We all began moving books off the shelves until I spotted a small round knob behind some books. I turned it and heard a click. I was then able to swing the bookcase out of the way like a door. But all it revealed was a wooden door. Rock came down right then and I asked him to check and see if he could break open the door, though Sky was not happy about the idea. Rock pounded on the door a few times in different spots.

“It seems to be solid behind this door,” he said. “Hmm, that is odd,” I said, “unless, perhaps there is a safe behind there. There must be a way to open that door, it probably slides into the wall.” We looked all around but found no way to open that door. “Maybe the door goes up,” said Sky. Rock and I look at each other. Neither of us thought about that possibility. Rock then tried it and sure enough, the door slid easily upward about half way, revealing a large old safe.

“Muffin, go get MC,” I said, “we need his help for this one.” It was an old combination lock and MC has good ears. Muffin does too, but she does not know what to listen for like MC does. They both came running back into the room. Sky held MC in place while I turned the dial. MC would say stop when I hit the right number. He could hear the click inside. After the last number I was able to open the door. Among the items in the safe was the long lost, or actually hidden, puppy…

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.