The warmer weather means planting -- potting up some rosemary to replace one done in by the winter, sowing seeds and planting collards, kale, cauliflower, and broccoli starts . . . and hoping that the rain predicted for tomorrow materializes. It's also time to put up the screens and hang the screen doors. The dogs love the screen doors as they can push them open and go out at will. Yes, Willa too - she's been staying around pretty well so she's been released from her grounded state.
The kittehs aren't so sure about the screen doors. And thereby hangs a tale . . . Yesterday I noticed that the two kittehs were staring fixedly at something on the living room floor -- the living room is dark and at first I couldn't see what it was. So I switched on a light. Aha! A fair sized black snake was coiled up by the chest of drawers. He'd probably come in from the greenhouse -- its door is open in this mild weather. Of course I thought about my camera but the snake immediately slid under the chest of drawers. No time for pictures -- the problem with a snake in the house is that there are so many places for them to hide, the better to startle you later on. So if you see one, the time to act is at once. I called John and together, with the use of a grabber stick left over from my knee surgery, we herded the snake out a nearby door -- all five feet of him -- and he was glad to go. The kittehs have remained on high alert, creeping around like jungle cats and paying especial attention to the chest where the snake was. And they were somewhat appalled by the flimsy screen doors -- "John, don't you know there are snakes out there?" they seem to be saying.