I bought a new house yesterday...

After much hemming and hawing, indecision and hand-wringing, I broke down and bought a new house. Well, not exactly new -- it does need a bit of fixing up (as all homes do), but it might be a better fit for a certain member of the family -- if and only if she chooses to use it as a refuge from the rains that are going to come sometime, even in drought-stricken SoCal. That's right, you guessed it, the house is for Ninja. 

Her behavior of late has been a bit concerning. She's not scratching as she has, her appetite is diminished, and she's molting more than seems necessary. I did call a vet -- well several vets -- and the first thing on their list was we have to catch her. If it were that easy, she'd be back home with her original flock! Of course I also went to Dr. Google to find out potential problems for what might be ailing her. One of the first items on the list is she might be egg bound. Who knew that was even a thing? If that is indeed the case, it's a fairly easy fix. But like all fixes, it requires the patient to actually be available for treatment. So far, no luck. I do confess I've not tried rounding up a posse to chase her down, partly because of COVID and partly because I'm so afraid we'll still not catch her and we'll end up freaking her out so much she will move on to far more dangerous territory.

Now back to the house. I cleaned it out and I'm thinking of taking off the door altogether so it might be more tempting for her (giving her a sense of freedom or escape depending on how she feels at the moment). And though I genuinely feel this will be all for naught as she has very definite opinions on anything that appears to be a prison, we have to give it the old college try. After all, she had a choice of so many yards and neighbors, and decided we were it. We cannot break that trust.

 

 

Smoke and heat make for lazy days

Though the major SoCal fires near us are reaching acceptable containment levels -- meaning they are not in imminent danger of burning down more towns and destroying acres of wildlife habitats (not to mention wildlife) -- they are continuing to smolder and burn. Plumes of smoke rise above the hills, smoke awakens us from restless slumber, and the heatwave continues to add to the misery. Projects that should take one day outside are put off in hopes of better air and cooler temps. Always lazy, my go to excuse now is heat and unhealthy air quality which is confirmed by TV meteorologists only to happy to be complicit in my goofing off. 

I should be doing indoor projects at the very least, and I have managed to start the very tedious task of backing up photos and actually labeling them (for a change). This was partially inspired by the very fires that are making it impossible to be motivated to go outdoors. With evacuation warnings in place, suddenly saving things seemed to be important. So yes, putting together a bug out kit made me think of all the things that should go in it. Important documents, check. Clothes for a week, check. Dog items/food, check. Electronics, check. But did I REALLY want to lug around a huge desktop in addition to other devices. Probably not. Hence the backing up. Not to mention the desktop is very old and probably going to die soon anyway. 

Now backing up and labeling photos isn't all bad. Going through the pictures of my month long trip to Japan was a real treat. Reminded me of all the fun I had getting hopelessly lost going down intriguing alleys or the wonder I felt at the magnificent art and architecture. A sample:

 

Then there are the photos of the garden that prove how much work has gone into it after every disaster (wind storm damage/tree removals) or change of heart about the direction of the plan. It's rather fun and encouraging to realize that, though the work will never be done, so much has gone into the look of it so far. 

The devastation of 2011:

The replacements:

 

And if you're wondering, most of my non-garden photos are of cute dogs and (now) a chicken.

When not pretending to being faithfully backing up photos, fortunately my library cards allow me to enjoy digital copies of books and I'm back on the mystery books kick. I prefer English type mysteries with a wry tone, though I'm also partial to almost any mystery where helpful dogs or cats are involved. 

Reading has made me even more conscious of words and how they affect thinking. For instance, authors who are true animal lovers often refer to a dog or cat as "it." People are referred to as "owners" even though "guardian" would be more apropos. And before you go there, I am aware that animals are property under the law. It makes me wonder, though, how much of our language shapes our thinking about how things work in our society and how they should work. 

See what being trapped indoors and reading too much does to one? It hurts your brain!

Pixies DO exist

After the cork theft incident (colored corks on the points of agave) along my side garden strip, I've been planning things that are much harder to disrupt. As I was doing some clearing out and cleaning up of plants that have seen better days, I noticed something odd. Thinking it was yet more trash (we get a lot being just down from a market), I leaned down to pick it up and then started back in surprise and delight. Some thoughtful Pixie left not one, but two, little dragonflies on stakes to brighten things up. Thankfully they are hard to spot or they might be gone in a day:

Ninja doesn't feel like cooperating today (or ever)

So I finally had to break down and buy a new phone. I LOVED my old one. It was small and light and worked just fine -- until it didn't anymore. Sigh. So off to get another one and I was assured that the camera would be superior to my 6 year old model. I had my doubts (and that turned out to be correct), but ever game, I decided to try it out on Ninja being cute. Only the day before she was doing something that seemed video worthy and today would be no different, right?

So, settling in to wait for an opportunity to film and test the zoom feature, the following is the scintillating video of Ninja being Ninja:

Stuffy house, stuffy brain. AND a dog in need.

The last few days have been torture. Now I know what everyone was complaining about during the actual lockdown portions of our current pandemic. 

When we first got stay at home orders, I wasn't upset by that at all. I hate shopping and having to dress in something other than sweats to go anywhere seems like more trouble than it's worth. Who doesn't love puttering around the house doing projects, reading good books, perusing Pinterest, or getting out in the garden to get all dirty? Talking to passersby on their daily dog/fitness walks is enough socializing for anyone. Or it was until the big stink.

The big stink is the result of all the fires that are raging mostly out of control nearby and up north in California, Oregon and Washington. The smoke has been so thick and noxious, it's all I can do to step outside and quickly feed my critters -- and that's with two masks on. It's painful to watch Ninja in the yard acting like she's so stoned she can hardly move. And without her consent to being caught and brought into the cooler, less smokey house, there's nothing to be done about it. Kuma, he of minimal brains, doesn't seem to notice the air being toxic and has to be reined in from his normal long walks to protect him mostly from himself. At least when he gets home there are two air purifiers going non-stop and an air-conditioned room when it gets too hot and stuffy.

After only one week of this self-imposed lockdown, dealing with a stuffy house that no fan can adequately air out, I'm feeling an ennui that discourages me from doing much of anything other than reading. Projects that involve lifting, sanding, painting or anything else remotely outdoorsy and physical are off the table. So I've turned my attention to trying to find the perfect home for Princess. She's a little Miniature Pinscher who is cuddly, only barks when people are at the door, chill with cats (at least those in her backyard) and other dogs, and is 7 years old -- no health issues. And without further ado, Princess:

The sky is falling!

The smoke from multiple fires is so thick the sun is either a rusty orange or almost invisible. Evacuation warnings are in place for multiple towns. Even with two air purifiers working overtime, the air is stuffy and hard to breathe. So what am I worried about? Why Ninja, of course. 

Unlike my beautiful bear who stays with us in the house and is protected from the fetid air except for those times when he must go out for important business, Ninja is on her own outside. Two nights ago the worry was the potential for very fierce Santa Ana winds. For those who are not Californians, think hurricanes. I was fearful that she might be blown off her perch in her favorite nighttime roost. I needn't have worried -- but for a very odd reason. 

Yup. She's broody again and hiding out all day except for about a 20 minute break to gulp down some food and run back to her nest. And the other good news -- the winds never reached us. So double good fortune.

But back to the broody bit. I'm now an old hand at figuring out where she hunkers down, and sure enough, by patiently waiting out of sight, I watched as she dove into the Bromeliads (again). So for the fifth time, I have to disappoint her motherly instincts and raid her nest. Easy peasy. Today I would simply watch for her mealtime excursion, quickly/stealthily raid her eggs and wait for her meltdown. Nope. Somehow missed mealtime. Dang! Frankly, in all this smoke, I'm not that anxious to roust her out because it means she'd spend more active time in the yard. At least her nest is somewhat protected. With the sky falling at the moment, there are no easy choices. We'll have to wait for tomorrow's set of catastrophes to pick out options.

And now for GOOD NEWS...

One satisfying moment out of all this though -- Ninja finally deigned to take her dust bath in the very ritzy tire bath I made for her. You may recall the two days of sifting dirt and two types of sand along with diatomaceous earth carefully placed near her hangout. She utterly ignored that spa treatment until yesterday. Actually, that was the tip off that something had changed. And sure enough, apparently it was the precursor to her nesting for the long haul. It's good to know that hens have high hygiene standards. Not to mention all that work was worth it. Small victories are victories nonetheless.

It's an attack of the B-52s

With the new bird feeder and bird bath mentioned in an earlier post, I was a little worried there would be no customers. I should've known better.

By having an official bird feeder off the ground (the idea was to discourage predators), I thought it would also be good for keeping squirrels away from the sunflower seeds to give other critters a chance at getting some. Within 5 minutes of setting it up and filling it with mixed seeds, the squirrels figured out a way to raid the stash. So much for outwitting them. 

Band-tailed Pigeons have been coming to the critter station for years now. They are very large and I've nicknamed them the B-52s because they swoop in like bombers. They are so much fun to watch and there is a group of nearly 30 birds that come regularly. They know what time to arrive and if I'm late, they express their displeasure more politely than the blue jays and crows, but they let me know their disappointment. Interestingly, when I am on time, they don't bother to leave a tip. But then, neither do the blue jays, crows, doves, squirrels, assorted warblers and sparrows, and any other species dropping by. Let's just say my restaurant is a non-profit operation.

Well I needn't have worried about them not figuring out there is a second feeding area. On Tuesday I was able to catch this wonderful sight: