What's Up Wednesday

Our dog, Charley is usually a very sound sleeper in his crate. However, last night, Charley cried and fussed throughout the night like a brand new puppy. My husband and I both went down to alternatively check, then yell at him to "Be Quiet!" My cat, Abigail was also on high alert last night, sitting on her perch by the window, instead of asleep as is her usual routine for 22 out of 24 hours. There was a disturbance in the animal kingdom.

I found out the cause of the pets' upset when I went outside this morning to walk Charley and found literally gobs and gobs of cat hair. It looks like the fur of possibly two of my neighbors' cats and luckily no blood. So hopefully that means it was just a cat fight and not an owl or coyote attack.

I live adjacent to the Santa Clara River which is a desert river which sounds like an oxymoron. A desert river's flows are seasonal based on rain. It also flows underground during the dry season, approximately 9 months out of the year. (Gee, aren't you glad you stopped by for this little geography lesson?) Anyway the riverbed is a direct "wildlife highway" for the coyotes, possums, bears, (Yes, we had a bear cub in our neighborhood almost twelve years ago!) and other creatures to come down from the surrounding Santa Monica Mountains to hunt, drink, and reclaim this territory from suburbia. It is not a place to have outdoor pets and another neighbor has lost several cats to coyotes. (They are slow learners I think. The humans, not the coyotes who learned really quickly that pets = reliable food source.) Our bunny, Copper got killed by an owl several years ago when she refused to go into her hutch one night. Pets are definitely not on the top of the food chain in my neighborhood.

I am relieved I don't have to deal with any injured (or worse) animals in my garden, as I plan to spend some time out there planning my garden and lawn "rehabilitation". First on the list is reseeding the lawn which looks like a mud pit. Of course, serious weeding, trimming, and debris clean up is needed. Then, onto the fun stuff, composting and mulching the flowerbeds, replenishing the bark under the tree swing, and then putting in flowers and seeds for lots of Spring, Summer, and Fall color. I was looking at Pacific Giant Primroses at the garden store yesterday and the flowers were so brilliant and happy. I also can't wait to go to the "Rock" Store and pick up a couple bags of river rocks to use in the front flower beds. I enjoy seeing the boulders, slabs of slate, and rocks of all sizes and colors. A couple years ago I put in a slate pathway in front of my husband's shop in the backyard. That was fun, and not as hard as I expected. I do like rocks, especially in a garden. I like yard work too, I enjoy getting my hands dirty and feel at peace working with Nature. Plus, nobody bothers you when you are pushing a lawnmower.

What's up with you this Wednesday?