Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Daily Pics #282.
Good morning everyone on this beautiful sunny morning! The trees are looking rather empty and barren these days. But with that morning sun shining on their branches it brings out a new warmth and color to them. Yesterday morning I went out to feed the birds, I just got out the door and noticed Theodore sitting on the post that holds one of the hanging feeders and which is just outside the door. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long Theodore”, I said. Back in I went to get some sunflower seeds for him and spread them on the large feeder. He came over right away and starting feasting. A bird that size can eat a lot of seeds! Wild turkeys like peanuts also but they need to be broken open for them. I don’t plan on feeding him peanuts. At least not before winter. It still looks funny to see that big bird on my bird feeder. But I’m glad he comes around, he’s getting quite tame, and it will be fun having him here this winter. In the afternoon the sun was shining, but still cold. Jasper came looking for peanuts so I sat down and gave him one. He sat beside me and decided to eat the peanut right away.
You really miss those chipmunks, don’t you? He looks at me with sad eyes. Then keeps eating. You don’t like the blue jays? He looks at me and gives a little “chip”. Then keeps eating. You need to find yourself a mate, I told him. He looks at me, gives a bigger “chip”. Then keeps eating. Hmm, no females left on this side of the street? He just looks at me and keeps eating. Don’t cross the street, I said, too dangerous, you might get run over. He gives another little “chip” and keeps eating. We keep sitting there in the sun until he’s finished. Then he comes on my lap looking for more. I give him a nice big peanut, he takes it, looks up at me, then runs off. That’s twice we have been able to sit together. Maybe he just needs someone to talk with. There was a nice treat this morning. A gray jay showed up so I ran outside with some food for him. He came and got it right away and off he went. Then he was back a few minutes later, got some more food and this time flew back across the street, which is where they live. There is actually 3 of them that I have seen this fall, but they have never come to my feeder. But I haven’t been putting out food for them because I don’t want the crows coming back again. They eat the same food. Gray jays don’t eat seeds or peanuts, they want bread or meat. It was so nice having him come to the feeder again. Too bad I didn’t have my camera ready. The only pics I have of gray jays are in the winter, which is normally the only time they come to the feeder. It would be nice to get a pic without snow around.
Our featured image today is the northern bedstraw. This is a wildflower that produces loose clusters of tiny flowers and thrives for a good portion of the summer. In the pic above is the water smartweed, another wildflower that is really very beautiful and also produces tiny flowers, in this case pink. Only a few open at a time so the flowers are in bloom for quite a while mostly in July. There are a lot of them down by our river. I hope you all have a beautiful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
20/20 Investigations, Inc. Part 3. J! Chapter 17.
“What are you going to do with us?,” Karin asked angrily. “That depends on your boyfriend here”, he said firmly. “We want our merchandise back!”, he yelled. “I don’t have it”, I said calmly. “I know that!”, he yelled again, “where is it?” “I honestly don’t know”, I said. “Well, I’m going to give you a little time to think about it”, he growled, “then we start talking more seriously. If you want your girlfriend and cats to live, then you better tell me what I want to know.” “Do we at least get something to eat?”, I asked. “You’re my guests right now,” he answered more calmly, dinner will be served in half an hour.” He then left and locked the door again. “What now?, asked Karin quite calmly. “We try to think fast”, I answered, “John will likely want an answer after we eat”. “And what do you plan to tell him?”, she asked almost sarcastically. “I’m not sure yet”, I said, “I really don’t know where the merchandise is hidden.” “You expect me to believe that?”, asked Karin. “I mean, get real,” she added.
Karin’s attitude has certainly changed a lot, but then, we are in a tight spot, people get scared and things change. But right now I still don’t know what to tell John. If we tell him what he wants to know then he will kill us after we lead him to the merchandise. If we don’t tell him, he kills us anyway. Hmm, better to tell him, I guess, and maybe we can escape once we’re at the ghost town. “Hey,” said Karin, “Muffin is meowing a lot.” “Yes, she certainly is,” I said. “How come I can’t understand her?”, asked Karin, almost angry now. “I can’t understand her either,” I said, “how about you Mr. Cat? Meow.=I not understand either, must be different meow dialect I not know. Must get Muffin to teach me that one. “You really think you’ll live through this Mr. Cat?”, asks Karin. She seems quite angry now, that’s very strange. But I guess the pressure is getting to her.
Finally Muffin comes out from under the bed. Meow.=What you do under there? Meow, meow.=I nervous, do stress relief with special meow. Meow.=Oh, you must teach me that one. Meow, meow.=I show you when we get home, it work good, feel better already. Meow.=Human Karin not think we get home, she angry. Meow, meow!=Hey, we get home, you see! Right then one of John’s men came and took us downstairs for our dinner. Wow, what a feast, a fabulous steak dinner! Even the cats were allowed at the table and had their own plates of food. After we had finished desert John asks the same question. “Well,” he said, “are you going to tell me or not?” “Like I said, I really don’t know where the merchandise is hidden, but, the cats know.” “I gave the drugs to them to hide in different places so no one would find it,” I continued. “If you take us back to the ghost town I’ll make sure the cats get it all for you.”
“Including the money?”, asked John. “There wasn’t any money in Harvey’s backpack, only those drugs,” I said. “That’s true,” said Karin, “we looked through everything.” “He could have had it on him,” she added. “That would be just like Harvey, carry it with him to keep it safe,” said John. “Now it’s in the river,” added Karin. “Crazy Harvey!”, yelled John. “Okay, tomorrow we go back to that ghost town, but you better be on the level or you won’t like what will happen!”, yelled John again. We were then escorted back to our room. “Do you have some kind of great plan so we can all escape from John?”, asked Karin sarcastically. “No, I really don’t know what we can do”, I said. “John must be doing okay living in this mansion. I wonder if he needs a PI on his payroll?”, I said, just kind of thinking out loud.
The cat’s ears went straight up when I said that. Meow, meow.=Oh, oh, stress really get him now, we need plan to help him. Meow.=Yep, I agree, but not think chomp, chomp will work this time. Meow, meow.=True, need serious talk with him. We wait till later. We were all tired so decided on going to bed early. After laying there in the recliner pretending to be asleep…hmm, that’s interesting. Muffin and Mr. Cat come over to me. Meow, meow.=We wait for human Karin to sleep so we can talk. “Good thinking Muffin, we have some things to talk about, here’s the plan,” I said, “what do you think?” Meow.=Sound good to me. Meow, meow.=Sound good to me too. “Did you do it Muffin?”, I asked. Meow, meow.=Yep, when I was under bed. “Good,” I said, “then we’re all set for tomorrow.” Meow, meow.=You notice? Muffin points with her tail. Meow.=That kind of strange. “Yes, I agree,” I said.
To Be Continued.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
