Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Wandering Through Wednesday. #12
Good morning to everyone on this fine day! It is actually quite nice with a temp of 32F (0C) which means the snow is still soft and melting a bit. That will change. It is going to get cold this weekend which will freeze our snow solid. At this rate it will be the end of April before the snow is gone. And those cold temps could make it very icy walking down to the river. Oh well. Theodora was here this morning so I got a new picture of her sitting on my bird feeder. I still think it is fantastic having such a big bird on my feeder, looks funny to see it.
So I had a talk with her and asked how the winter went. Gerbil, gerbil. “Yes, there was a lot of snow and cold this year.” Thwip, thwip. “Yes, it would be hard to keep those long legs warm.” Thwip? “No, I’m not saying your legs are too long, they are very nice.” Gerbil, gerbil. “Oh, you like being able to get out and walk around more, I can understand that. By the way, there is a hawk around now, so be careful.” Thwip, thwip. “Yes, it might go after you, it is a big hawk and it might be hungry after migrating back from the south.”
Gerbil, gerbil. “Yes, you are big too, but don’t try to fight that hawk.” Thwip, thwip. “You are welcome, come back anytime.” And off she flies. Yesterday afternoon all the birds suddenly disappeared, except the chickadees and nuthatches, they remained motionless in the bushes. So I started looking for a hawk. I knew it could not be the shrike now, it would have gone north already. I finally spotted the hawk near the top of a tall black ash. It was a red-tailed hawk.
It flew right after I spotted it so no time to get a picture. Hmm, too bad. Only the chickadees and nuthatches are here right now, not sure where all the other birds went. When I put seeds on the main feeder this morning, which was quite early but getting daylight, a female pine grosbeak came down to the feeder before I left, so I talked to her for a bit. She certainly is not afraid. She comes early and stays longer than the evening grosbeaks so she can get some food.
Evening grosbeaks are more aggressive than the pine so they keep chasing her off the feeder. But she has learned, and this way she gets to eat in peace. All the other pine grosbeaks have gone north already. Not a bird out there now, just when I was going to try for some pictures. Oh well, maybe I will try for some more coffee instead. Thank you for stopping by, have a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin. (Praying for the people of Ukraine)
©2022 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Castle Mystery. Chapter 19.
As they were nearing their destination Ken noticed blood on his leg. “Mike, take over here,” he said. “Sure thing Ken,” he answered. Ken got up and went back to Muffin, gently picking her up and cuddling her close so he could feel around that leg. There was blood, but not a lot, however it felt like broken ribs so he did not feel around anymore. He sat with Muffin, she looked at him and purred a bit. “I wish you could have told me you were hurt so bad little lady,” he said quietly to her.
Then he called Baldwin and told him about Muffin. “What!?”, he yelled, “don’t you dare let her die, or you’re fired!” “I am sure trying boss,” said Ken, “I will keep holding her until we get there.” “Tell her that there is a big surprise waiting for her,” said Baldwin, “and tell her to keep fighting!” “Um, yeah, I will do that,” replied Ken. So he told Muffin what Baldwin said and she purred weakly again. Fortunately there was a place for helicopters to land at the hospital.
Ken brought Muffin out and gave her to a man standing there waiting. “Hey my little kitten,” I said gently to her, “I’m here with you now.” Meow,meow=My human here with me, she said very weak. “And someone else too,” I said. Meow!=It me Muffin, MC, I here too! Meow,meow=My MC here too. She was unable to open her eyes so we rushed her inside to the local vet that was waiting impatiently in a room. Two of Baldwin’s men followed and guarded the door.
“About time you got that cat in here,” he grumbled, “I have not got all day.” He felt around and must have hurt Muffin when he did so. She yowled and managed to scratch him. The vet had raised his hand to hit her, but I stopped him and broke his arm when I did. He started yelling something about suing me for that. The guards then came in. “This guy wants to leave,” I said, pointing to the vet. They quickly escorted the vet out.
Chung was just coming then to see how Muffin was doing and he took over looking after her. We had all flown over after hearing that Baldwin had not heard from them for 2 hours, we figured there must be a serious problem, though we never expected this. Apparently a bullet had ricocheted off a stone and hit Muffin and it was still in her. Chung removed it and fixed her broken ribs. He said she would be fine, but would need lots of rest. “What about the others?”, I asked him out in the hall. He shook his head, “it is not so good, maybe some live, not all though.” Baldwin had a large jet waiting to bring us all back once the others could travel.
Moving ahead… Well, it has been a month since all that castle case finished and everyone is doing good. Muffin is playing with MC on their play structure again but MC is still making sure Muffin does not overdo it. He has been waiting on her day and night for the past month. Kat is doing fine now, so is Carine. Kara was really the first one back to normal and was able to look after the rest of us. She is an excellent nurse. Annelie is doing great after her hip surgery.
Rock is back to his exercising, complaining about all the weight he gained lying in bed for so long. Jennifer is fine now, though she had been shot 3 times. We almost lost Angel, she had a bullet close to her heart, but she has recovered very well. Kristina bounced back very quickly as well. Candace seemed to get it worst, 3 bullets like Jenny.
She lost part of her stomach and her left arm was hit bad so she still has trouble moving it. Harris lived as well, but he will have a permanent limp. He went back to Scotland, seems he has a girlfriend there. Baldwin and Shirley are now engaged and are getting married in a few days. Work is progressing fast on the addition to our clinic, Baldwin knows how to get things done.
And we have a new addition to our team possibly, a friend of Kara’s joined us a couple weeks ago, her name is Kira. I think she will make a great addition to our team. Ken will also be available to help us any time we need him, but he will keep his regular job with Baldwin too. There was no treasure found at the castle, likely it had been found a long time ago. What we all need now is a vacation. Rock and Annelie need to finish their honeymoon as well. So that is next for us, some nice relaxation far from people.
The End.
Another story of The investigators, Inc. will be coming soon!
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 