Kitten TV

Last year when we moved I felt bad for Allan because I knew he would miss spending hours laying on the back of the couch and staring out the picture window in our living room for many hours each day.  There was a lot to see out that window between the traffic, birds, and pedestrians and dogs walking by.  We have a good staring window here and the couch is under it but there isn't as much action in the back yard compared to his old staring window. 

 

Allan is a spoiled kitten who lives a life of leisure so of course we bought him a bird feeder so he would have something to look at in addition to the pheasants that hang around behind our house. 

 

It's just a basic tube but it has been attracting birds and when Allan catches one he launches himself over to the couch like a mountain lion.  And yes, that is Ben in the background and yes, he is playing with a pair of garden clippers that are taller than he is.  More about that later!  Justin started working on the landscaping around the house this week with the help of his reliable assistant. 

 

I hate to admit that I kind of like the bird feeder even though I spent my youth on the farm loathing birds (I'm talking about you, barn swallows!) and wanting them to stay the h3ll away from us.  There was this bridge about 1/2 mile from the house that the swallows like build their gross mud nests under and when we rode our bikes over it they would swarm up and dive at our heads.  Those birds are the worst.  It was inevitable that if you left your bike parked in the yard a bird would poop on the seat.  We had a trampoline and a bird poop cleaning was required almost weekly.  A big challenge was keeping them away from the house.  There is a front porch and balcony with pillars and where the pillars meet the ceiling on both levels there is a small flat spot.  Birds were constantly building mud nests on those spots and we would spray them with the hose which resulted in lots of bird diving an swooping.  I know they were just following their instincts but seriously birds, why would your instincts tell you to build a nest five feet from a person's door instead of in...I don't know...a tree?

 

 

He's such a privileged kitten.   He's sleeping by the window right now and probably dreaming that he is a wild predator stalking birds.