Country Living

One of the joys of living rural is the wildlife that shares our space.  Yesterday morning a flock of "prairie chickens" appeared at the edge of the driveway.  Plump birds pecked around through the snow, finding bits of this and that to eat.  Such attractive birds, beautifully coloured and seemingly fat and flourishing.  I took a few pictures to share.



Dickens was fascinated by this flock.  He stared out the window, twitching, pleading plaintively to be let out.  After a few hours the birds had left and I opened the back door to see if he still wanted to go.  He stuck his nose out the door and changed his mind.  Too cold and no enticing birds to chase.  Does he know that they would have just flown out of his reach?

This is Dickens favourite place to rest and survey his "domain."  He has gained 2 pounds over winter and now weighs 12 pounds.  That's enough to make a hefty dent in the couch cushion!

When Sam our previous cat lived with us I forbade him to rest on top of the cushion--just because it will make a permanent dent.  But Dickens is a very different cat from Sam, with much more chutzpah. I decided to choose my battles and ceded the cushion to Dickens.  On the other hand, Dickens is a much more affectionate cat than Sam, totally the most "relational" cat we've ever had.  He still wants to sit on my lap every morning for a cuddle time.  Interesting how animals have their individual characters just as people do.