Feeling rich...

Female handler has this thing about clean windows, especially in the summer. I was sitting at my usual spot on the kitchen rug as she was maneuvering a stool around me to access the window above the sink. She wanted to bring in the new year with clean windows. She had one last window to attend to. I wasn't making it any easier for her... She says that looking out clean windows makes her feel like a million bucks (face it, she is a strange one...or "unique" as one family member might say).

This was her 7th clean window. She must feel like 7 million bucks. Ummm, I could use some more cans of sardines...

Now she can clearly see the geese on the front pond levee...through the kitchen window. She can also see them meander to the freshly cut flax field next door...

Almonds ready...

Say what?

No, really, some of the almonds are ready for harvest.

Checking the date...we are not at the end of January or well into February, but rather this is December 22, 2016, and some of the almonds are ready to be harvested.

Just say it. Go ahead ...say it....

Surreal.

Summer Solstice

14 hours, 24 minutes and 43 seconds of sun today.

My thought is ...best to stay indoors.

The main reason is because I was out prowling last night...and I'm tired.

Mochi, on the runway

Mochi is our semi-feral Billy goat. He's a big boy. Suffice to say, that's a big tire he's on (the pallet beside the tire is a standard size pallet). He seemed particularly keen on getting his picture taken and shifted into this pose...

Hard to say what he's thinking most of the time. Perhaps he fancies himself a model.

Cracks

The cracks in the orchard are wide, and really, who knows how deep.

Help me, something has my hand!!

Princess Bed

Nostra has a new bed next to the wood pile.

This is her attempt to not look so sheepish about it.

Messing with my 'Goodness'...

I've been struggling to get over an upper respiratory infection for a couple of months. It has taken a toll on my vocal abilities. My meows are not so loud. Most of the time I just open my mouth in an attempt, but no meow comes out. But the Handlers know. Sometimes they like to pull my paw and say..."what's that Ricky?" We do this back and forth a lot.

I've got them trained though... I can sound pretty pathetic when I want to. I am basically in perma-park on the kitchen rug when there is any activity in the kitchen. A year ago, this would have been out of the question and I would have been tossed out of the kitchen. This rug is conveniently at the foot of the sink in what the Handlers call a very small kitchen. I think the kitchen is plenty big enough; I really don't need a bigger rug.

They have gotten used to not being able to use that rug much because I monopolize it. They have also gotten used to stepping over me. Sometimes I watch them from a distance straddling the rug when I'm not even close to it!

My patheticness has given me an added indulgence of a daily dose of "Goodness", along with my regular food. This could be chicken, or my new favorite, sardines. "Goodness" doesn't get any better than that!

Unless....the Handlers sneak in garlic and ginger per Jim Duke's recommendations. I'm pretty sure that when Dr. Duke wrote The Green Pharmacy, he wrote it with humans in mind, not cats.  But that hasn't stopped the Handlers; they slip this crap stuff in each and every time! I no longer put in the effort to separate that out. I know the Handlers mean well. Maybe one day they'll stop. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the royal kitchen treatment.

Really??!!

We are in a bit of a drought. Surprisingly the goats like going through "the dust bowl" which was once the front pond to nibble on whatever green growth might be trying to emerge from the clay soil. But just 'meandering through' and getting 'staked in' the area are different things.

The back pond still has a fair bit of water in it, although that too has dropped in level. The native ducks enjoy it. The geese are challenged to get there. It's nearly a 1/2 a kilometer away through the almond orchard, with no water in between. And it has been hot. On those days, the geese don't venture too far from the house which has water buckets  strategically placed around it. And plenty of shade.

They particularly like to make themselves at home on the south-facing front porch.

Really? You must be here? It's a bit of a landmine the moment you step out the front door....