Some people are really lucky.

DTY got to meet the author of one of our favorite geek comics over the Fourth of July Weekend. Well, actually, not just meet him, but have dinner with him and take care of his pet snake for a day or two. (She is spending her summer doing a math research REU out East.)
In other Fourth of July news, Hubband and DTE went fishing/camping, and I stayed home and bought a dishwasher.

Well now,

that was interesting. Not as nice as it used to be, or as cool as it could be, but better than it was.

We have a shed in our yard.

A nice, basic shed for stuff. You know, stuff like lawnmowers, lawn and garden tools, pots and potting soil, stuff like that. Well, after a couple years of "First shed opening in the spring," we decided we needed to do something about the fact that we were not the only ones using it for storage purposes. Of course we don't get into it much during the winter, mostly due to the door getting frozen shut and snow to tromp through, but the other users seem to pretty much concentrate on winter storage/use. There is just something about the knee-deep pine cones that we were cleaning out every spring that made us decide to cut off the external squirrel access. So, DTY attached a good covering of chicken wire to the underside of all the eves (it seemed like the most likely spot of entry, considering the amount of visible space between the walls and roof), and that seemed to solve the problem for several years. We have found a few small piles of pine cones the last year or two, but we think there is an access point from the second story, but haven't pursued it very closely. (Something about a small pile that is only ankle-deep vs the knee-deep, three foot wide, all around the edges tends to put perspective on the situation.)
Now (as you can see above) we also happen to own a cat (as much as a cat, especially this one, can be "owned"); this cat happens to really like the out-of-doors, be very curious, and think that climbing is one of her very best skills/life goals (I think it has something to do with being able to see more stuff the higher up one is).
Well, while Hubband and I were away on our trip (yes, I know I am very behind on trip reports, but having fun vacating was a higher priority for me than reports on the vacation; I will get back to the reports) and the D's were taking care of the home/animal front, we received an email from home with a link to this picture. (Sorry it is so big, but that is how I can get it). It came with the message of "We don't know how she got there so don't ask."

 

 

Well, Hubband and I have figured out how she got there since we got home; of course the fact that she has gotten there again helps a lot. She hides out in the shed when you have the door open so of course you don't realize she is in there when it comes time to close up for the day. Apparently once the door is closed and she is done investigating/hiding/napping she climbs up the shed wall to the roof line and out into the chicken wire designed to keep squirrels from getting into the shed; apparently it keeps cats from getting all the way out as well.

 

 

It also turns out, being the weird creature she is, she likes being in the chicken wire hammock and is rather content to stay there.

 

 

We finally had to just pull her out, which couldn't have been all bad, since she was purring the whole time, just like she had been during the videos of her trying to pet me (or maybe get me to join her?)
Obviously we will need to reattach the chicken wire before winter-storage season starts.

Conversation at

Alice's Shop today, between the proprietor and an Italian customer, "Well, at one time the shop was run by a sheep, but now it is an old goat."

 

It was a fun spot to pop in for a bit and look around. Well, and maybe find a thing or two to take home with me.

Day 3 (aka Sunday)

Day 2 (aka Saturday)

Day 1

A few pictures from last weekend.

So far, in the last forty-five minutes to an hour,

Sadie has had her bone in some sewing stuff, in Hubband's closet, in a knitting bag, between her bed and the wall, some different sewing stuff, and now she has carried it off upstairs again. Those are just the places that I know of for certain. Seriously, no one here wants her bone! (Not that Simon ever did either, for that matter.) I am sure it will be in the couch and/or big green chair before the evening is over.

She is so weird.

It is a well established fact that everything belongs to Oribel, even stuff that she has clearly shown she doesn't want anymore. Suddenly its Oribel's again, and no one else can have it, just because they showed some interest in it.
Last night I was just about to pick up a large fluff of cat hair that she had pulled out and left on the floor (she tends to shed mostly in fluff blobs and pulls them out when they are loose) at least a good hour before I went to pick it up. (This timing part is pretty accurate as it hadn't been on the floor when I started watching the DVD of Castle from Netflix but it was after two episodes, and I had seen her pull it out and toss it on the floor.) So just as I am about to pick it up, she dashes over, grabs it with her teeth and starts to eat it. I try to get it from her, but she backs up out of my reach, still looking at me, and manages to get more of it into her mouth. I try again, she backs up again, and the last bit of fluff disappears. Somehow, I have a feeling she'll give it back to me at some point in the future. For the record, she has been known to do the exact same thing with tufts of Sadie's hair.
See, told ya she is weird.
(No, I did not get a picture of her eating fluffy bits of fur, I was busy trying to get it away from her, but I did get a picture of her a few weeks back, kicking the dishtowels out of her cabinet to make room to watch stuff happening in the kitchen. She doesn't need opposable thumbs to open the cabinet door by herself.)