Friday afternoon Landlady texted me that she was coming up that evening. Friday night just before my bedtime I let the boys out and Ghost vanished. He usually pulls this Saturday morning, but decided not to wait. So that was the last I saw of him for a while.
Which left me and Little Bear batching it. Unfortunately for LB, I was also out and around in dogless ways quite a lot of Saturday which left him guarding the Lair all alone. LB doesn’t actually spend very much time all alone, and he doesn’t like it.
So I brought him back the ribs of an enemy as a consolation prize. He still wasn’t happy, but was mostly too busy crunching bones to complain. LB’s an uncomplicated soul.
Speaking of bones and complications: They’re kind of an issue when both dogs are around. Ghost isn’t especially enthusiastic about them while Little Bear thinks they’re one of the best things in his world. But Ghost can’t stand the sight of LB getting a treat he doesn’t also get. So I always need two, but that doesn’t help. Ghost invariably takes his off somewhere and forgets it five minutes later. But then he comes back to the Lair to find LB happily knoshing on his. This is offensive to Ghost, and it causes discord. LB is normally very good about playing second fiddle, but there are limits. He’s aware that he’s bigger and stronger than…pretty much everything except me, and he will defend his bone. But Ghost is First Dog and doesn’t think anybody should have a treat he doesn’t have. So bones normally only appear when I’m down to the one dog – it’s just simpler that way, and I like simple.
A couple of my girls also seem to have decided to go on strike Saturday. Everybody’s a critic.
But this morning we were all back together, and I got the boys’ attention in their very favorite way. While I was in town I splurged on a can of Spam, the genuine article. LB, who can be completely deaf to an angry call from ten feet behind him, can detect the sound of a Spam can’s top coming off in Iowa. No sooner did I peel it back than I heard a hundred-plus pounds of dog hitting the front steps. Ghost, not quite so uncomplicated, detected a possible trap and hung back until assaulted by the scent of frying Spam which he can no more resist than the sight of a cottontail disappearing into the brush.
When there’s Spam, I always have to fry up fifty percent more than I plan to eat. If I plan to eat in peace, that is. And just to keep them guessing, this time it wasn’t a trap. As soon as breakfast was over we all set out for Monday morning shit-shoveling and brush-hauling.
Are your birds moulting (replacing feathers ?), that is the case at our home, they’ve been on strike for the past two weeks.
Yeah, last year my chickens went completely dry for almost two months. This year most of mine are young, so I expect them to slow down over the winter but not completely stop.
I sliced up some SPAM, thin, pan fried it in a little butter and brown sugar, then placed it under the pineapple rings on a pineapple upside down cake. The dog did NOT get any of that.
Your critters look happy and healthy.