Suzy Says

The uninspiring view from my porch

It’s not even 9:00, and I’ve already had a lousy day.

Audrey woke me up around 5:30, growling at the kittens and bashing at the balcony door. I reached for my glasses on the bedside table, but couldn’t feel them anywhere. I turned on the light and “looked” as best as a girl can who is practically legally blind can do in the early morning darkness.

No go.

I felt around in my slippers before putting them on and feeling my way down the stairs, clutching the banister. I thought this had Calamity Suzy written all over it, but I made it safely to the bathroom, where I located my second pair of glasses. Thanks, Dad, for training me to put things away in the same place!

I let Audrey out into the howling storm, amazed that she actually preferred being out in the cold, rain, and wind than staying inside the (relatively) cozy house.

With visions of power outages dancing in my head, I grabbed a few buckets to fill with water, getting immediately soaked in the process. Someone had unplugged the hose, so water spewed out of the side of the house instead of the end of the hose. I squelched into the bathroom from the back deck door, and realized that the shower would never fill one of the buckets. I grabbed a pitcher and started filling it in the sink, emptying it into the buckets while the kittens got in the way and got wet.

After that, I decided to do the dishes, and discovered that the flash heater was out. No hot water for dishes or a shower. Rob should be coming by any time to work on the heater, so hopefully I can prevail upon him to help me.

I heard dripping. The tap wasn’t dripping. It was the roof, right in front of the couch. I got a pot and put it under the drip. I felt a drip on my head. Another drip, another pot. Then I noticed a huge wet spot right next to the TV. Yay!

I was running out of pots and patience. I called Mark, but got no answer and left a message. I can’t imagine where they could be at 8:30 on a Sunday morning. Kids and old people (as I learned in Florida) never sleep in.

While making the bed, the kittens clawed me so hard that I got blood on the sheets.

Add in a severe attack of the Evil Allergies, with sneezing, nose blowing, and itchy eyes and nose, plus the fact that Audrey hasn’t come home yet, and you have the perfect recipe for a rotten day.

[Later] She finally showed up, refused to eat, and bit me.

You have to see it to believe it!

Audrey was sleeping on one side of the bed, and Clyde was on the other. I was putting laundry away when I saw Audrey get up and walk over to Clyde. Instead of the hissing and cuffing I expected, she sat down right next to him:

And started giving him a bath:

At this point, I ran to get the camera, hoping that they wouldn’t, in the perverse manner of cats, stop being cute before I captured said cuteness for posterity.

They didn’t:

In fact, they stayed like this for hours:

Of course, all bets were off once they woke up. Audrey went back to her usual growling and Clyde ran away as usual. But maybe, just maybe, it was a breakthrough in their relationship. After all, Audrey approached him first.

A year ago today, I moved to Hooterville.

Last year, it was warm and sunny. This year, it’s cold and rainy*.

Last year, I had my beautiful June Bug and my sweet little Henry Etta. Now they are gone, and I have the two rambunctious kittens to make me laugh, drive me crazy, and ease the aching of my heart. My precious Audrey is the same as ever, thankfully.

Last year, I had the moving-related knee injury and the gravity-related full body injury. This year, I’ve managed to remain major injury free (touch wood), though of course there have been the occasional Calamity Suzy incidents. It just wouldn’t be me otherwise.

Last year, I was too injured to go trick-or-treating with Jessica. This year, try and stop me. Erica asked Jessica if she’d rather go with her friends this year. Jessica said, “But Mom! I need my entourage!”

Last year, there was a lot to do in the house and garden. This year, there’s just the bathroom floor to paint, the new heater to install, and plans for the garden for next year. I’d like to have a table and chairs in the garden, and some lounging chairs on the balcony, as suggested by Jessica**.

Over the past year, I have come to appreciate and love my little family even more than I already did. Last night, I thought about how many things that make my house more comfortable and livable were brought to me by Rob. The Suzy proofed loft; the curtain rods; the CD shelves; the cat doors; the towel bars and shower curtain rod in the bathroom, to name a few. Looking around, I am surrounded by love.

*Everyone is blaming me for bringing down some kind of bad weather curse on Hooterville. Maybe Christine O’Donnell can help.

**While doing her homework the other day, she asked her mother if she had spelled “manifest destiny” correctly.

A Roscoe original. Price upon request.

Sometimes, it’s great that my house has so many doors. Other times, not so much…

Yesterday, Rob came by to put the first coat of paint on the foyer floor. He carefully blocked the painting area from curious cats with a big piece of plywood, and put a big tape “X” over the front door to stop any unwitting visitors from stepping on the fresh paint. People who visit generally just walk in, and there are no keys or locks to any of the doors.

But he reckoned without Calamity Suzy.

I went through the door on the back deck to the bathroom, where Rob was just painting himself from the foyer into the bathroom. He said he’d be a few minutes, so I left him to it. I also left the door to the deck open.

You can see where I’m going with this.

In a few minutes, Rob was yelling and I saw Roscoe racing into the woods in horror. Peering over the plywood, I saw the above.

Rob was not happy. And I was reminded of my Dad’s saying, “However foolproof you make a thing, you’ll always find a bigger fool”. That would be me.

Rob taped the paintbrush to a stick to paint over Roscoe’s masterpiece while I apologized, which I think kind of annoyed Rob further.

In the evening, he came back to check on its progress, and decided it was dry enough to apply the second coat. Needless to say, he pointed out flaws which were non-existent to my eye, but blatantly obvious to Rob’s. It’s an education going into a building with him. He sees things I’d never see, but when he points them out, I can’t believe I missed them.

He set up an industrial heater to help dry it out. I later learned the hard way that you can’t use the microwave while the industrial heater is on. Also that all the breakers in the box on the side of my house are unlabeled, and all the breakers for four houses are in there. Fun! So I didn’t dare to make fresh coffee this morning. I just reheated yesterday’s on the gas stove. I think I’ve annoyed Rob enough this week.

It was a chilly 44 outside and 54 inside when I got up this morning. I sneezed myself awake. I’d rate that as slightly better than being woken up by the alarm clock. Or a cat claw on my lip.

Guy might have something about cats and their healing powers, because they all slept with me last night, and I feel (touch wood) better today. At least the thought of feeding the cats and doing the dishes isn’t as overwhelming as it seemed yesterday. Though I’m still doing my best to keep the folks who make Kleenex in business.

It was a sunny morning after a starry night, and the kittens were happy to run outside and play in the sunshine. They were joined by one of Mark’s kittens, and spent some time playing together:

Chucho (above) and Roscoe (below). I think Chucho is older and bigger.

From left: Clyde, Roscoe, and Chucho on the hot tub.

Roscoe (top) and Chucho.

I hope the kittens will play together more as time goes on. They seemed to have fun together. Needless to say, Audrey took one look and stalked away in disgust.

Study in curves

Well, I have a cold and a half.

It’s hard to diagnose accurately, since I now have year-round allergies. It’s all this Nature, I’m telling you. I never had allergies when surrounded by nice, healthy concrete and skyscrapers.

But yesterday, I realized that the headache, body ache and sore throat, along with all the sneezing, coughing, and nose blowing, meant that I was sick. And then there was that stoned feeling, and not in a good way.

So I spent the day in bed, surrounded by kitties. For the first time I can remember, all three were on the bed, with only the occasional hiss from Audrey. I was amazed that Audrey spent nearly five hours curled up on the bed. It may have had something to do with the fact that it was cold and foggy yesterday (whereas today is all blue skies and open doors), but I like to think they knew I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to keep me company as I sneezed and watched “The OC” all day.

The most strenuous things I have done today were heat up chicken noodle soup (while wishing it was the much more fun chicken and stars) and pour ginger ale. I’m still wearing my kitty PJs at 3:00.

Maybe I’ll feel better tomorrow.

Audrey actually being in the house, in the daytime, and hanging out, no less, was cause for me to grab the camera.

I let her out each morning sometime after 5:00 am, hoping that anyone who would consider her a nice, light snack has packed it in for the night. She slinks home sometime after 8:00. The boys are always glad to see her, since they have noticed that Audrey’s arrival heralds the madness that is known as feeding time around here.

After breakfast, they all go out.

Audrey stops by once or twice a day, but she doesn’t spend as much time here as she used to. It’s kind of like having a kid in college who comes home to eat, do their laundry, and sometimes sleep. So I’m always happy to see her and fuss over her when she does appear, so she knows it’s not all about the kittens, who she still hates as far as I can tell. Maybe she’ll like them more when they’re less rambunctious all the time.

Everyone knows it. Even four month old kittens.

Audrey led the way, making the truck look cool by just being there. That’s what It Girls do.

Then the boys got interested. That’s Roscoe in front. I’m finally getting better at telling them apart.

A historic moment: all three cats in the same place at the same time, with no hissing or growling!

While Roscoe explored the front:

Clyde kept an eye out in the back:

*Inspired by The Free Design’s song Kites Are Fun, which has been stuck in my head lately.

I’ve been thinking about getting a vine-y plant to twine charmingly around the new-ish rustic window. Of course, I never have any idea what to get, and my plant dreams are about as realistic as my day dreams.

I wanted to grow a Kaffir lime tree and a Meyer lemon (after all, the mean old lady next door had a lemon tree when I lived in Oakland, and if a mean old lady can have one, I should, too) but apparently it’s too cold here in the winter. So I’d have to pot it, which would eventually kill it if I didn’t plant it outside, and keep it inside in the winter. That didn’t seem like an option. Same went for the fantasy of bougainvillea, preferably orange. I’ve loved it ever since I first saw it on the French Riviera thirty years ago, but alas, my life is fated to be non-Riviera in every possible aspect.

Megan brought me down to earth and helped me select a plant that may actually work.

It’s a purple honeysuckle. Rob came by and repotted it for me:

Clyde found this fascinating, even after Rob started watering it:

It took a long time before he realized that he was getting wet. Then he was out of there.

Roscoe was completely uninterested, and climbed a tree instead:

Later, Megan came by and said that the honeysuckle needed something trellis-like to climb on. She also doubts that it will drape picturesquely over the window, but we’ll see about that.

Rob found some tree branches and made a really cool trellis, which looks great with the window*:

While he was at it, he brought over a clipping from the passion flower vine which covers the back of their house. He also cut down a couple of trees which had partly fallen over from last winter’s storms (you can see some of that in the background of the picture) to give the vine more light:

Because more light = more flowers. And the flowers are fabulously outer space looking:

Bonus: they make that delicious orange passionfruit!

Now that I’ve got the house more or less in order (there’s still the hideous lime-green floor to deal with), I’m hoping that next year I can focus on the garden. I’ve mostly cleared out the garden of its weirdness and would like to get a table and chairs, as well as more plants. Right now, it’s mostly rhododendrons and huckleberries. I’d like to have a more inviting outdoor space.

*If you’re wondering what that corrugated panel is, it’s a heavy duty plastic-like thing which lets light into the sleeping loft. It’s behind my bed. You can see a little of it here, behind the sleeping Henry Etta. Those were the days.

Sunset through the trees

I’m definitely getting better at using the new camera!

Yesterday, I stopped by Megan’s house before she went to work. I had barely reached her front porch when we heard a strange sound.

We looked around, but didn’t see anything. I followed the sound back down Megan’s driveway, and there was Clyde.

He’d followed me, but then got lost and scared partway there, so he stopped and cried for mama at the top of his considerable voice. I scooped him up and he purred happily. When I brought him into Megan’s house, he wasted no time in exploring. Then he merrily ate Star’s food until I stopped him. Trauma forgotten!

I carried him partway home, until he wiggled so much that I had to put him down. He promptly vanished into the woods, then reappeared, climbing a tree and annoying a squirrel, who swore at him loudly. Roscoe came to see what all the fuss was about, and the squirrel hopped onto the next tree, still telling the boys what he thought of them.

When I gave them dinner, the boys managed to knock over the water bowl (while stepping in it), pouring water all over the cement floor and making me glad that there’s a drain nearby. Then they overturned one of the food bowls. Audrey watched in disgust, then went outside. She dined al fresco and in peace.

Anything fun under there?

I had to get up early this morning for work, and you know what that means.

I set the alarm and went to bed around 11:00. As usual, when I know I have to get up early, I had a hard time getting to sleep.

As soon as I turned off the light, the boys decided it was play time. Play time is more fun when it takes place all over the bed with a person in it. Extra credit for bouncing off her face!

I pushed them off me over and over, but they were like furry boomerangs, coming back again and again. Eventually, they got bored of me, and started to play under the bed, banging into the box spring as often as possible, racing around the room, and repeatedly knocking over my birthday lamp, which may be the nicest thing in the room. Given the amount of clawing at the carpet, it’s a good thing it’s being replaced soon.

Audrey looked at them in disgust from her throne and then went to sleep.

At 2:00, Audrey took over, waking me up by howling and clawing at the balcony door. I yelled at her to knock it off, and she simply moved her base of operations downstairs, where she clawed and howled at the front door instead.

This woke up the kittens, who decided to annoy Audrey for a change, chasing her all over the house to a chorus of growls and howls. Needless to say, Audrey renewed her assault on the doors, but there was no way I was letting her out at prime predator time.

I tried pretending to be asleep so she’d give up. I also tried yelling at her. Nothing worked.

Clyde thought this was a good time for his patented smother snuggle, and Roscoe helped by biting my nose and hands. Then they started chasing each other all over me again, clawing any exposed body part in the process.

Oh, it was fun.

I finally fell asleep in the midst of the mayhem. When I woke up, Audrey was sleeping peacefully on her throne and the kittens were doing the same on the bed.

No-one got up with me at 6:00 am.

Uh…you may be a little too young to ride that bike.

When Audrey asks/demands/insists that I let her out in the morning, I let her out the balcony door, then go downstairs to turn on the outside lights. A few minutes after I settle back in bed, Clyde comes running up the stairs.

He jumps into bed with me, already purring, and proceeds to drape himself over my neck. Sometimes, he curls up in front of my face so I can hardly breathe. Or he lies on my shoulder with his head on my ear. It’s all fun and games until he starts biting my hand or nose.

Roscoe joins us from time to time, but Clyde takes his Cuddler nickname seriously.

As I write, Roscoe is sitting on my knee and I’m holding Clyde with my left hand, typing one-handed. But it’s still easier than typing with them awake, pawing at my hands or trying to bite them, or climbing up my legs. It’s getting harder to hold them both at once as they get bigger. They’ll be four months old in less than a week!

Star (left) and Schatzi take a break at Big River

Yesterday, Roscoe decided it would be fun to kill a bird and play with its mangled corpse all over the house, tossing it gleefully into the air, catching it again, and running around with it in his mouth. He was utterly unconcerned by my screams of horror. Eventually, I managed to sweep it into a dustpan and toss the poor thing into the woods with an apology. To the bird, I mean, not Roscoe.

I was unable to determine what kind of bird it was from the shredded remains – it would take far more skilled forensic eyes than mine – but I was surprised by how big it was. I’d say it was more robin sized than sparrow sized – pretty impressive for a three month old kitten.

I took a break from the drama to walk the dogs with Megan at Big River. It was a beautiful day, and the dogs trotted along happily together. Star has come a long way since we first rescued her back in April, thanks to Megan’s hard work and dedication. We’re hoping to find a permanent home for her, but it’s no easy task. It’s a small community here, so there’s a limited pool to draw from. Then there’s the economy – people are more likely to be surrendering dogs to shelters than adopting them.

Finally, the fact that she’s a black pit bull. Apparently black animals are less likely to be adopted, which makes me feel all the better about adopting Roscoe and Clyde. But it doesn’t help our chances of finding a family for Star. Megan and I talked about it as we walked in the late summer sunshine, and she and Rob would be happy to keep Star if it comes to that. The down side, though, is that they will be unable to foster any more dogs unless they move to a bigger place. Fortunately, Star and Schatzi get along well, even sleeping together.

A post-adventure nap

What’s worse than letting Audrey out at 4:30 in the morning? Bringing her in at 4:30 in the morning.

Last night, our Princess came by at about 7:30 for the second sitting of dinner. She dislikes eating as unfashionably early as those ill-mannered kittens, and tends to nibble part of her dinner then, and come back later for a little more. This delicacy of appetite combined with near-constant exercise outside must be the secret to her sylph-like figure, which certainly rivals her namesake’s.

Usually, when I head up to the sleeping loft to read at night, I call her. She turns up, though not always right away, just to make sure I know who’s really in charge around here. Last night, there was no sign of her, though I called her repeatedly and tried to lure her in with treats.

I thought about leaving the Cat Flap of Death open for her, but now the boys not only know how to run through it, but can skitter down the roof, it seemed unwise to resist a snack pack of kittens being alone in the wilderness as opposed to the full-grown winner of “Survivor: Hooterville”. Also I knew she’d claw on the glass from the outside if she wanted in, just as she claws from in the inside if she wants to go out.

I finally went to sleep, but it was the kind of sleep I used to have when Megan lived with me for the last few years of high school and was out on a date. I never really slept until I heard her come in, at which point I pretended to have been asleep all along, unless she had some really good gossip to tell me.

As you know, my brother, sister, and I are not good sleepers at the best of times. We can generally get to sleep, but fail to stay there, waking up several times a night, not to mention being plagued by bizarre dreams which occasionally make us question our collective sanity.

Every time I woke up last night, I went out into the bright moonlight and called Audrey. I had all the outside lights on, so it was pretty bright out there, and Mark had a party last night, so I reasoned that bobcats, mountain lions, and their buddies were unlikely to crash it looking for some hors d’oeuvres.

At 4:30, I got up and called her for the fifth time. I was just passing by the front door when I saw her standing there, peering in at me as if to ask what all the fuss was about. She tolerated, but did not enjoy, my picking her up and kissing her, and then it was treats all around.

I feel that I’ve made some improvements in my family worrier status. For one thing, I went to sleep (sort of). For another, I didn’t have the insta-doom feeling I had when June went missing (though that ended up being fully justified – for once, I did not enjoy being right). I am trying to believe that lightning has struck once already and is unlikely to do an encore. Surely losing two cats in two months is enough for any girl. Are you listening, family curse? It’s me, Suzy.

So Audrey woke me up around 4:30 this morning. As I let her out onto the balcony, I noticed that it was flooded with moonlight.

I put on all the outdoor lights as usual, my talisman against predators, and went back to bed. The kittens took this opportunity to start climbing all over me like I was their personal jungle gym. I kept moving them away, and they kept bouncing back, like furry boomerangs. I finally gave up, and after a while I got up.

Amazingly, they stayed upstairs and are presumably enjoying the sleep I didn’t get. Sometimes I wish I had a bedroom door. Or walls.

On the bright side, I’ve been able to make coffee, and more importantly, drink coffee unmolested this morning, a truly enjoyable novelty.

Yes, world: I’m grinchy enough to be annoyed by kittens.

But you knew that.

Yesterday, I (temporarily) dumped the kittens in favor of dogs. Megan was meeting a friend in the village to help socialize Star. While they worked, Schatzi and I played, walking around and taking pictures:

You are here.

Shadowy gate.

The secret garden.

Wild rose trellis.

Naked Ladies beside a white picket fence.

Looking at these photos again, it occurs to me how timeless the village looks. It could be any late summer day in the past hundred years or more.

Morning light on my staircase

You know how they say mothers forget the pain of labor, and that allows them to have more children? I think the same rule applies to kittens.

I find myself saying (or thinking) “I don’t remember June and Audrey doing that” multiple times during the day. It probably took me five minutes to type these sentences, because of the kittens blocking my view, clawing at my hands, or climbing up my legs with their razor-sharp claws. If they’d just settle down when they sit on me in the morning, it would be fine.

But they don’t.

They mill around, sticking their butts and tails in my face, jockeying each other for position, kneading my bare skin with their needle claws, biting my nose, chewing my glasses and earrings, clawing at my hands as I type, walking back and forth to obscure my laptop, having fights all over me, jumping on and off me with the most possible emphasis on tender body parts and inflicting damage.

All while purring.

I have even found myself using my parents’ tried and true method of coping with too many rambunctious kids too early in the day: putting them outside while I drink coffee and achieve the necessary acceptance of being up at that hour. However, this strategy is complicated by the fact that whenever I stand up, they race into the studio, thinking it’s feeding time*, making it hard to capture and eject both of them. If I’m successful, they often sit by the sliding glass doors, mewing pitifully, so I feel guilty and mean. As usual in life, there are no good answers.

But sometimes, they just curl up on my shoulders, purring, and are incredibly adorable.

*I filmed their feeding frenzy and posted it on Facebook, but can’t figure out how to post it here.

Hanging out

As usual, the kittens woke me up earlier than I would have really enjoyed this morning. They leaped joyfully on me, kneading, purring, and occasionally biting. It reminded me of being woken up by Olivier and Thierry those long-ago summer mornings in Nice. It’s weird to think that those little kids are fully grown-up by now. I wonder what their lives are like*.

Clyde wasted no time in spilling coffee all over my sweater before I could drink it. This resulted in him and the innocent (at least of this) Roscoe being summarily ejected into the sunny morning while I replenished my coffee thimble and dealt with my many emails. Doesn’t it seem like the more emails you answer, the more you get?

The boys have been growing fast. A couple of days ago, Megan and I were talking outside by the stairs and saw Roscoe climb from the balcony, skitter down the curved roof, and jump onto the top of the window. He went back and forth, clearly unsure of whether he could jump from such a height. I was about to help him down when he made the leap, landing safely and running off to climb a tree. Later, I measured it, and he jumped nearly eight feet!

Clyde took an alternate route, climbing from the balcony right down the roof. Or racing out of control and falling the last couple of feet, depending on how you look at it. He was fine, and happily pranced off to join his brother in looking for mischief. They are very successful hunters in that regard.

Audrey, in the meantime, still takes a dim view of these low-rent losers. Here you see her atop Mt. Crumpet, hating the Whos:

*A quick Googling reveals that Thierry followed in his parents’ footsteps and became a scientist, still living in the south of France, whereas Olivier became a photographer and is based in New York.

Since you asked, yes. I’m still trying to figure out my “simple” new camera. I may need to borrow a teenager.

So no visual aids today.

You should all be glad that I also don’t have access to Smell-O-Vision. On the way to the vet, the boys expressed their dismay in their traditional manner. The always-cheerful technician helped clean it up and even supplied a new towel.

Apparently I made a mistake when I made the appointment, since the technician said it was too early for the boys to get their second set of shots. I found this confusing, since my schedule had changed and I had to change the appointment from Monday to Friday. So this appointment was later than the original one. I was pretty sure they’d said come back in two weeks, but they said it should have been three weeks. Since it would have been three weeks on Monday, I still don’t see what the problem is, but what do I know?

So no shots for the rowdies and no bill for me. At least this week.

This morning, when I was ready to trap the unsuspecting kittens in the cat carrier of doom, I couldn’t find Clyde. Even shaking the treats around didn’t produce any results. I put Roscoe in the carrier and started looking around for Clyde. I found him in the building Mark put up a few months ago to store things in, but which has become a sort of playhouse for his kids. Clyde was walking around in there like he owned the place.

The playhouse is between my place and Mark’s, so I’m kind of surprised that Clyde ventured that far. It would be a lot easier if he actually responded to his name.

Today I got an email from Amazon, saying they couldn’t deliver the package that was delivered yesterday.

Maybe I can ask them for a refund.

Today I also received my new, undesirably-colored camera. So far, I have figured out how to put in the batteries and the memory card, and set the date and time. The rest is too confusing after a long day’s work, so I think I’ll pour a drink and worry about that tomorrow, in Scarlett O’Hara approved style.

While I was on one of today’s many conference calls, I heard a crinkling noise. Putting my phone on mute, I went to investigate. I discovered Clyde on the pantry floor, eating pasta out of a bag, and Roscoe on the shelf eating egg noodles out of a bag he’d torn open. They had jumped on the washer, then edged their way onto the shelf, and then managed to tear the bags open. It was two hours after they’d eaten breakfast.

Unbelievable.

I shooed them away and salvaged what I could while trying to talk intelligently about the world economy. All in a day’s work.

As I write, Roscoe is perched on my shoulder, purring and chewing on my diamond earring. The kittens have very exclusive taste in chew toys, preferring diamond earrings and the edge of my iMac to more mundane toys.

I’ve been letting them out at will during the day, though I keep them in after dinner. They are rarely out of sight, and like to run in and out of the house, stopping in for cuddling or napping on Henry’s old bed. I’m really glad that I didn’t give it away after Henry Etta died. I washed it and put it where I wouldn’t have to see it, intending one day to bring it to the shelter. I hope she would be glad to have the kittens enjoy it.

I have never seen kittens so crazed for food. Megan was laughing when she saw them the other day, eating so quickly and intently. “They’re like wind-up toys!” she said. Just a week after I told you my concerns about the boys jumping on the washer to eat Audrey’s food, it happened.

I put the boys outside and closed the door while Audrey nibbled. When she was finished, I let her out a different door, and put the remaining food on a high shelf in the pantry. I let the boys back in, and went to start dinner. I heard a strange sound, and went to investigate.

It was Roscoe the Rascal, eating Audrey’s food.

I took it away and shut it in a cupboard. I almost expected him to go to Mark’s and borrow some power tools to get the cupboard open.

Maybe next week.