THINGS

When the kids left home our water bill dropped dramatically, and it stayed a pittance for a long time. Then Nigel went down in the rear.
The other day John pointed to the water bill, his mouth working soundlessly, eyeballs red and bulging.
I in turn pointed to Nigel, enscounced on my bed, which is covered with thick, waterproof padding, and to his pen which is likewise covered with padding and to the bottles of enzymatic cleaner, odor killers, dry shampoos and towels.
Every morning I get up and the very first thing I do is to start the dog laundry.
Today I have at least three loads because I am also washing the comforter and blanket and sheet from my bed, all of which are covered with the waterproof stuff and a comforter and pads to prevent urine leakage.
Also all the pads from the living room (couch and John's chair) need to be washed and later, all the pads from Nigel's pen need to be washed. Ok, four loads.

And someday I will get to my clothes, and John's clothes one of these days... maybe next week.

Meanwhile, the robins are back. This has nothing to do with laundry. The robins build a nest in a faux nest-box hung on the eaves of the building in back of the house which is falling down. (The other building, not the back of the house.) The squirrels also nested in that building for awhile, driving the birds out but the floor to the squirrel playground fell last winter and now they are gone and the robins back, which I much prefer.

The above photo shows what it looks like now, with the paranoid robin on the nest, but soon there will be eggs-- maybe already, and then a nest of hideously ugly baby birds which grow into cute baby birds of which, inevitably, one will fall to the ground at the feet of an otherwise oblivious Basset who suddenly finds himself confronted with Manna from Heaven-- not only a snack, but a LIVE SNACK.

Baby birds are harder to rescue from the dogs than baby squirrels, which were also always falling out of the damn nest. Plus, the baby robins do not bite as hard as a baby squirrel, altho the parents are usually more difficult. I have never had a Mother squirrel attack, altho they raise holy hell, but I have been dive-bombed by robins.

This adds a note of nature to our little corner of the world, not counting the Coyote I have seen trotting down our street three times now, early in the morning, always alone, always going the same direction, once carrying a rabbit. (The rabbit was not a voluntary passenger, I do not think.)

This means i go out with the dogs the first thing, or the first couple of times if it is still dark or dawnish the second time. Usually they sleep until around 8 or 9 after they have gotten me up to feed them at between 5 and 6 in the morning.
Life goes on, Basset-style.

(Photo from Google)