...Hootenanny at the Watering Hole

One of the most popular elements of my bird-friendly yard is the bird bath, especially when it is below freezing. On cold days like today visitors to the watering hole come in a steady stream from dawn to dusk. Sometimes, though, things get a little testy, as you can see here. Inevitably, after a "fearsome" show of wings, I'll discover that someone got over wrought and pooped in the bird bath. Which results in a massive pointing of fingers wings and strongly worded blame directed at everyone else. It's really disgraceful!

Featured in today's blip: Mourning doves (zenaida macroura) and a blue jay (cyanocitta cristata).

Carpet installation continues - should be done by the end of the day. It already looks SO much better! Last night when we liberated the cats from their "safe room" in the basement, they were both in a tizzy. Rocket didn't want to walk on any of the carpet so tried to levitate himself across the entire room. When that didn't work, he tried to walk right up next to the wall to avoid getting too much contact with the evil new carpet. And, of course, Phoebe had to do whatever Rocket did. Good grief.

Update on the mice: They are gone! I put a humane trap out last night, but then Hubs reminded me about the unfortunate incident of the frozen mouse last year (yep, it froze to death in the damned trap before morning). So, I retrieved the trap and instead left the lid of the grill open (having removed all the grates and other stuff, leaving the nest exposed to the elements. By morning, there were no mice in the nest, so I assume they found a new home last night. I armed myself with rubber gloves and a haz-mat suit cholorox and set about cleaning the entire grill, inside and out. Now, I've got it turned on at 500 F for 20 minutes, which should effectively destroy any remaining mouse cooties.

Thanks for sending the little fuzzy rodent to the Spotlight - that was rather unexpected! Just goes to show what a wonderfully inclusive group you are!

Tomorrow morning is my date with the Tunnel of Terror. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon I'll have a diagnosis for my neck/back. Yay!

See you later, blippers.

xxoo