haraggan

The last two summers we've had beautiful weather, but this summer has been mostly rainy, so far. A few days recently have been really wet and some very sad looking little pigeons have been taking refuge on our window ledge, peering in at the warm, dry flat and looking kind of hopeful. I open the window for them but so far they'll only come in as far as the window frame and eat food off the inner window ledge. I have this urge to wrap them up in towels - nothing is cuter than a pigeon wrapped in a towel! Most pigeons, even street pigeons, go all docile when held, and they like having their heads and necks rubbed, like cats. A while ago we had a young jackdaw visiting us, which was lovely - what gorgeous birds they are! But it seems to have moved on. Once or twice seagulls have landed on the window ledge (to the surprise of the pigeons), but they're too big to stay - and are generally disappointed to find that we're only giving out birdseed, not substantial meals like fish and chips.

Meanwhile, among our official pets... Oakley gets no mice this week because he's about to shed. I checked on him the other day and the scales covering his eyes have gone opaque and blue, a sure sign of an upcoming shed. So at the moment he's vision-impaired, and was a little surprised when I collected him for some snuggling... but as soon as he was stably in my hands he settled down into a very comfortable tangle around my arms and rested.

And Mojo Jojo is yelling, as usual. He is the world's neediest cat. I like to think we take after each other. He gets anxious if left alone; he likes to play games; he loves to burrow under the covers for naps with his people. He's quite a large cat but clearly thinks he's still a kitten. Mojo has decided that he's a Scottish cat and loves all the required foods - fish suppers, haggis, black pudding. Then again, so far the only thing Mojo won't eat seems to be bananas. He likes yogurt, pasta (especially with pesto), potatoes in any form, rice, curry, various types of bread, gnochi, and pretty much everything else I can think of. Strangely, he never throws up after eating our food, only his own.

So, it's up to the pets to keep us company, as a couple of friends of ours from the U.S. were going to visit next week, but had to cancel their trip at the last minute. I'm not sure what to do with the days I took off. Try to domesticate the neighborhood pigeons further? Or check and see if I can cancel the days off? I really ought to do some game designing but I'm not feeling very inspired. Still job hunting, of course, although my energy is waning. The lovely Sparrow (not someone from this site) just kicked my ass with a recent "De Profundis" letter and I need to figure out a response. And we still have plenty of DVDs to work our way through...