Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Daily Pics #272.
Good morning everyone on this very chilly Saturday! It was such a nice day yesterday, sun shining most of the day and a high of 59F (15C). Then that north wind hit. And the temp dropped. So this morning it is 33F (.7C). That’s fall. Time to bring out that warmer jacket again. I was outside on the deck yesterday working on a little project and I heard the chirping of evening grosbeaks. I wonder if I can attract them to the feeder? So I got some sunflower seeds and put them on the main feeder. It was only a couple minutes and a female grosbeak was there. In about 15 minutes there was 24 of these birds on the feeder chomping away at those sunflower seeds, which they finished off rather quickly. So I put a larger amount of seeds on the second time and that feeder was so full of birds they could barely move. Fantastic! I like having these birds around and it would be great if they would stay all winter like normal. Of course, that would mean buying a lot more sunflower seeds. Oh well. They are a fun and interesting bird that can get quite friendly. Other years I have had them sitting on my hand feasting on the seeds.
Speaking of turkeys. I went out with food first thing this morning, I guess I wasn’t really paying attention, I closed the door and there in front of me was Theodore sitting on the railing. Theodore is the name I have given to that wild turkey that is around here. It looked kind of funny seeing that big bird sitting on the railing like the smaller birds. He started “talking” to me. He has gotten very friendly and will come to me when I call him, but he still won’t take seeds from my hand. He likes sunflower seeds too. What bird doesn’t? So I spread some out for him and he jumped down and started eating. Hmm, take a lot of sunflower seeds for a bird that size. I told him he should go and hide out back in the trees by the river for a couple more days yet. Monday is Thanksgiving Day here. That means turkey dinners. Muffin was in the window watching Theodore and I, with her little notebook trying to figure out how many meals we could get from a bird that size. Forget it Muffin. Meow, meow.=He not make good cat.😾 Probably true.
Anyway, some more fall colors for the featured image above. And in the pic above is some of the female evening grosbeaks as they enjoyed themselves yesterday dining on sunflower seeds. Well, we hope you have a wonderful Saturday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
20/20 Investigations, Inc. Part 3. J! Chapter 13.
The cats ears go straight up! Meow, meow?!=What you mean, enough for 2 people? What about 2 cats? We not stay here! Meow!=Yes, we not want to be left behind! “Don’t worry you 2,” I said, “there’s plenty of room for 2 cats as well.” Meow, meow.=Good, we get nice river ride, no walking. “Just make sure you don’t use those claws of yours,” said Karin nervously. Meow?=What wrong with our claws, they nice and clean, and come in handy too. Meow, meow.=Yeah, we always have claws with us, can’t take them off like shoes you know. “I think Karin is just worried you might put a hole in the raft which means we would sink and end up in the river,” I explained.
Both cats ears went straight up again! Meow, meow?=You mean raft not made good? We poke hole and it sink easy? Then we end up all wet in river? Meow?!=We get wet? No, not like getting big bath in river! I say no to boat! Meow, meow!=I with Mr. Cat, say no to flimsy boat! “I’m with the cats on this one,” said Karin, still nervous. “So that’s 3-1, we win,” she said firmly. With a little jogging we reached that spot by the river quite quickly. Meow.=I thought 3-1 mean we win vote. Meow, meow.=We did win vote, but my human have different way to count, it kind of complicated. Meow?=So even when he lose, he win? Meow, meow.=Yep, that how it work. Unless we at home, then I always win vote. Meow?=Why you always win? Meow, meow.=If I not win, I bite feet, then I win. Meow.=Oh, that good way to do it.
“Okay you 2, quit talking and watch the road and let us know if anyone comes,” I said. Off they went to watch while Karin and I got the rubber raft out and unfolded it. I was just about to inflate the raft when the cats came running back. Meow, meow!=Car coming fast! Great, how did they know? We ran up the hill beside us dragging our raft and hid among the pine trees. I went back a little closer to try and hear what they said. They have a boat with them too I see. “Hurry up”, hollered Dave, “get that boat in the water!” “I still think this is crazy,” said another man. “Ma said to patrol the river, so you patrol the river, after all, K said they had a rubber raft, so they must have one,” added Dave. “K?” She’s the one that told Ma, I thought to myself. And here I thought she was so nice, wanted to help us. How could I be so stupid? Sometimes I think my skills as a PI are below 0.
Now what to do? I go back to others after they have the boat in the water and Dave, with a couple other men, left in the van and headed further down the highway. “Well,” said Karin, what do we do now?” “First Muffin and Mr. Cat will check us again for listening or tracking devices,” I answered. Karin looked puzzled again but didn’t get angry this time. However, after a thorough check the cats didn’t find anything. “They knew about our raft,” I said, “I just wanted to make sure they weren’t still tracking us somehow.” “But I guess it was K”, I added. Meanwhile…”Good morning Ma”, said Dan, one of the trustees. Ma almost died when she heard his voice. “But, but, you’re not supposed to be here until 12, it’s only 10:30”, she said, obviously scared. “We finished our other business early so we thought we would come and get things done here so we could be back home early as well”, said Dan.
“Is there anything wrong Ma?”, asked ‘J’. “No, no, nothing wrong”, she said nervously. “Good, then bring out the merchandise so we can get going”, said ‘J’, “I don’t like being in this out of the way place, makes me nervous.” “Um, would you like some coffee?”, she asked, trying to stall things a bit. “No,” said Dan, “we want to get things concluded.” “Well, that’s fine”, said Ma, “but I’ll have to see if I can find Dave or Earl to get the merchandise. We weren’t expecting you so early so it might be hard to find them”, she said, figuring this tactic might stall things perfectly. “You mean you don’t know where the merchandise is?”, asked ‘J’. “You always know Ma”, added Dan, “what’s going on here anyway?” “And where is K?”, asked another trustee. “I, I, don’t know, she just ran off the other day”, said Ma very nervously. ‘J’ turned red with anger, pounded the table with his fist and yelled, “what’s going on Ma, out with it NOW!”
To Be Continued.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
