The Plan

People who know Jake well often describe him as the sweetest, gentlest dog in the world. Yet as Al and I know from daily life with Jake, he still has those doggy instincts that are far removed from his sweeter side. One such example is pictured above: Jake ripping the flesh off a deer leg that he found in the field and deposited on our front walk. I would not have been able to take this away from him directly. But while he was momentarily preoccupied with chasing a cat, I was able to pick the thing up and throw in the back of the truck for later disposal in a ditch down the road. Living in the country has toughened me up considerably. But still there’s something a bit disconcerting about picking up an animal leg with this much flesh and fur still intact. I guess any detached body part of these dimensions and in this sort of predecomposed state is just plain eery.

Peaches hoping to catch a bird

Peaches is second cat who has made our barn home this winter. I decided (just now) on the name Peaches because s/he? is the color of peaches and cream. We first saw Peaches last Friday evening upon returning home, darting from our porch at the speed of lightning. Peaches was spotted later that evening staring at us through our patio door.
Sure enough, Peaches found the barn, where a bowl of cat food is often replenished for Barney, the other barn cat. Unfortunately for Peaches, Barney doesn’t seem to want to share his food or the attention I give him when in the barn. This morning I was able to feed Peaches some cheese and milk as Barney wasn’t around

This is seriously disappointing. Lessons learned: binder clips are not that strong, wind sucks, better to fix something when it is a little broken – rather than waiting for morning. I suspect we need a more permanent structure… perhaps the old chicken coop could be used.