Friday, August 11, 2017

Celebrate the Small Things



It's Friday Fun Time! Do you have a little something to celebrate? Then please join us. Our super host, Lexa Cain, and her cohosts L.G. Keltner and Tonja Drecker would love to have you.

Today, I'm celebrating homecomings. We got home yesterday after a six-day trip to Toronto and the Niagara Falls areas. In Toronto, we celebrated my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary and then continued with a family reunion of their three sons plus families (14 in all) on a whirlwind adventure through all the crazy and gorgeous attractions in Niagara Falls. I'll be sharing more details and photos next week. 

For now, 'cause I'm still wiped out, I'll just share a happy little homecoming tale of Barney the house cat. Barney is our neighbor's cat. I've never met the fellow, but apparently he is large, grey, and extremely shy. He's also an escape artist. Three months ago, he snuck out the his door and into the wilds of our suburban neighborhood. 

I'm an animal lover. I feed birds, squirrels, chipmunks, possums, raccoons, and deer on our deck and in our backyard. I fed one stray cat so much, that he adopted us. (That would be Mr. Mistofellees.) I also feed this stray cat we've named Pretty Kitty:






In fact, I'm thinking we need a sign like this for our deck:



Image: Jasperdo



So Barney started coming over to chow with the rest of the crew. Whenever we spotted him, we would call his dad, who would rush over only to find Barney had left. After a couple of weeks of near misses, Barney's owner brought over a raccoon kitty trap.



The first day of the trap--no luck. The second, Barney came by, sniffed the food, and then lay down on the deck, looking me straight in the eye and I swear, he was telling me he was hungry. I couldn't stand it, so I put another plate of wet food about six inches into the trap.

He approached and started eating! I tried not to jump up and down with glee. Then he left. Darn it! Then he came back and started sniffing at the second bowl, down at the business end of the trap. Ever so slowly, he crept toward that second bowl as I held my breath. 

Then BAM! The trap door shut behind him. Five minutes later, he went home with his owner and was reunited with his other cat friends. I was so thrilled for both him and my neighbor. Success was reward enough, but the next day, Barney's dad came back and surprised me with these:





Good luck, Barney! I hope you stay inside, because we all know ... winter is coming.

Do you have indoor or outdoor pets? Ever have to capture an escaped critter?





9 comments:

  1. That was nice of him! Some cats, they get out, you never see them again.
    Glad it was a fun trip but it does sound exhausting. Home always feels good after that, doesn't it?

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  2. A high school friend posted that her dog got out and was hit by a car. My dog used to try to run away but after a while with us, she realized it doesn't get better than this. A few times my husband has accidentally left the gate open and she doesn't even try to leave. I still try to check to make sure he hasn't left it open after he's mowed, though, just to be on the safe side.

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  3. Sounds like a fun trip.
    That was nice of Barney's family to give you a gift for helping get him home.

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  4. Glad you were able to get Barney back.

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  5. Oh, I'm so glad you were able to help Barney and his family! That must have been such a great feeling. I have a dog and cat and lots of neighbor pets I love. I tend to like animals better than I like most people LOL.

    I visited Toronto back in the 90s and loved the city. Have always wanted to go back - maybe one of these days.

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  6. Yay to getting Barney back! Sounds like quite the excitement, but all's good in the end.

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  7. If he's competing with other felines, he may be on the hunt for only-cat status. That happened with my neighbor's cat. He came to my house the day my old cat died and never left. The neighbor had three, so she wished me well and I was with cat again!

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