Twelve Golen Eyes!

I’ve been so cautious with this new job; cautious not to make my office my own domain yet. Cautious to open up much with my co-workers with 2 exceptions, the two others who were hired at the same time I came on board. There is little justification for this little dis-ease, just feeling generally cautious. The job is good and so far I’m exactly what they needed for now, with lots of kudos from the owners. Well, a month has gone by and tonight I decided that it was time to haul my life to my office and try and establish some sense of balance. So, I’m sorting pictures, technical books, lamps and other desk/shelf paraphernalia. I’m actually glad to get the stuff out of my home space and into an office where it belongs. Tuesday morning I officially move in and that, I’m sure, will be cathartic.

Interestingly, the second general caution has proven warranted. Again, it’s only been a month and the bipedal malcontents are already mongering gossip. I forget how vicious bored tongues can be and even though it is a small firm, the bi-mals are out in force. I personally feel like they need something to do … like a project on Mars! Malevolent eyes and wicked tongues are forever watching, wagging, wreaking, wrecking …… though ……… not ruining my day … for too long!

color from the porch

... and then there are other eyes …

I had finished my initial wave of gathering “stuff” to take and decided to finally pop the cork on the Macallan that has been aging in the cabinet. Taking my little glass of liquid gold to the back porch I embarked on a different gathering – wool gathering. I had turned on the light on the porch and Buckwheat (the yearling buck) was eating the day’s leavings from beneath the bird feeder. The feeder is only 15 feet from the porch and he was completely unconcerned that I was joining him in a nocturnal scavenge – he for food and me for thoughts. Buckwheat finished his seed and with a small flick of the tail he turned to the feed and mineral block and nibbled there for a few minutes before drinking and wandering off to forage elsewhere.

More Rowdy!

I heard a small rustle in the brush and looked up to see a pair of golden eyes, then 2 pair, 3 pair, 4, 5 and 6 pair – 12 little golden reflectors of bug light. I reached in the door to grab the newly thawed bag of whole grain bread and as the plastic rattled while opening it, little gold orbs started out from the understory. I was astonished and elated as it was Simon, Saffron and their never-before-seen kits – 4 of them and I’m figuring they are somewhere between 3 and 4 months old. They were so little and all ears and interest at the giant on the porch! I tore the bread in little chunks and tossed a wuzzle of yeasty goodness before the vulpines of the manor. All the little guys were gathering their own; knocking down their brethren, jumping, butting and chasing. It was foxes amuck and I just sat back with my drink and enjoyed the show.

Gold highland nectar, golden light and golden eyes – a nice end to a day. These eyes I can abide!

Howdy Rowdy!

Rowdy is one of Samantha’s 3 kits. He/she was the only one brave enough to hang around the water trough for any length of time. Rowdy is already better than half the size of Samantha and the other 2 are a little smaller. I almost missed them since they showed up for the first time just as I was walking out the door for work Thursday. Like puppies, they are all feet and energy and it's hysterical to watch them play. They didn’t care at all that all 3 cats were out there at the same time, though Samantha drew them away after a bit. Rowdy stayed behind and was very intent on the various “water features” – thus the pics. We've yet to see Simon's and his vixen's kits, although it's obvious that she's still nursing them.

BTW, we are still at 100% effectivity regarding the "cat bibs" - no bird kills since putting them on the sweet beasties!

Speaking of birds, our efforts at attracting them to the yard have been met with overwhelming success - almost too successful! We are going through between 40-50# of seed a week and the hummers are consuming better than a quart of nectar a day! Good thing I went to work, huh? ;) It's pretty amazing to see all the birds coming and going. The hummer population is huge and they are just fearless, feeding even while I'm working on the deck. I love the sound and vibration of the hummer wings, but it can be a little unnerving when 8 or 10 are vying for space or defending the feeders and hovering about - sometimes just inches from your face.

We finally got a significant shower today and you could almost hear the flora sigh. We could have used a lot more, but there is another chance of rain tomorrow.

We’ve started a new project this weekend – the 1^st really major project on the house itself since moving in over a year ago. There was a courtyard between the house and the garage that has been in sore need for some changes and so it’s getting a deck to fill the space and will join the front porch to open up a whole lot more living space outdoors – over 500 sq. ft. of new space. Because it is closed in on 3 sides it is like a heat sink so an arbor and shade cloth will cover parts of it. It’s been fun dragging out the tools again since the renovation in Seattle. I’ll post some pics later in the week.

Hope you are all having a wonderful and safe holiday!