During a recent walk with the husband, Lord Dudley Mountcatten spotted my arch enemy.
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Brazen as could be, Momma Red wasn’t disturbed by his presence and stayed in the feeder happily munching seed.
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His Highness stalked and crept closer.
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But she knew he was inexperienced and bided her time.
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Until he was literally right underneath her and she dove over him to reach the safety of the woodshed… where she sat on a high log and chattered at him.
The bitch was laughing, I know it.
Needless to say I was extremely disappointed with His Lordship’s technique …. and purchased a training tool forthwith.
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Okay, technically it’s a flying squirrel. But the size and color are close enough to stand in for that furry red demon for some close quarter combat drills.
Lord Dudley Mountcatten is a delicate flower. He doesn’t do rain, snow. loud noises, dogs or strange people entering his house. He’s scared of the UPS driver, the vacuum and the ironing board. Drop a book on the floor and you won’t see him for hours.
Wind? Yeah, he doesn’t like that either.
Which is why I had to share this clip of him exiting the house for his walk in 40 mph gusts.
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Where did he run?
Up on the deck where he cried to be let in the back door.
We didn’t have much snow this winter so our spring isn’t as wet as it usually is. No snow means no melt which means no big backyard puddles for our annual visiting pair of ducks to splash.
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But here they are.
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Mr and Mrs Mallard checking out the fallen bird seed under the feeders.
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No water meant they didn’t stay long, but it was nice to see them again.
I used to have various pots of succulents scattered around the Barn Mahal/man cave. Mainly because no room I inhabit can be plantless but also due to their relatively carefree nature. Sadly I’m not out there as often as I used to be and though the husband still has friends in to play pool, he never thinks to water them… so with the heat pump sucking every drop of moisture out of the air all winter? A lot of them died.
After retrieving their carcasses, I did something I thought I’d never do.
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Yup.
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I bought a bunch of fakes.
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And I have to say, I’m rather impressed.
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While it goes against my gardening grain to resort to artificial, we have to close the blinds in the summer to avoid drying out and cracking the leather chairs as well as trying to prevent the a/c from running non stop so the real ones spent most of their time in the dark.
Enter the fake succulents.
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And though I really hate to admit it? Fake succulents don’t actually suck.
Who knew?
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I did manage to keep my jade plant alive and healthy so thankfully it’s not all plastic fantastic in there.
And speaking of dead things? I did a little recon in the beer fridge and found some dip that expired the beginning of March and creamer that died in January.
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Old junk isn’t the only thing my husband refuses to throw out.
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.