Steel Wool Sheep and Secret Cats
I pulled a rookie mistake many months ago and am only now realizing its consequences. I’ve started spinning some sheep roving I got at a local farm. They had beautiful, dark, rich colors so of course, being a newbie with no idea about fiber content and spin-ability, I bought a BUNCH of the stuff. I started spinning my first ball of it last weekend and I swear it must have come from the breed Bovinus Steelwoolicus. The stuff is beautiful to behold, but NASTY to spin. Guard hairs, shrubbery and the fact that it wasn’t carded near enough is making something that is so enjoyable a real drag. Valuable lesson learned. Rats!
Yesterday I was on my patio when I heard a scritchity scitching in the gutter pipe that run down the outside of the building to the right of my door. Thinking a squirrel had gotten caught in there, I unhooked the flexi pipe at the bottom that diverts the water away from the foundation and out in the lawn somewhere thinking that the critter could get out now. Even if it was Sheldon/Sheldona, I still wouldn’t wish that kind of an end to anyone! Then at 2ish this morning, I was awakened by “Meow (two three four) Meow (two three four) Meow…..for 20 minutes. Finally I got up and took a flashlight outside to see if I could find the cat. I sourced the noise up towards the eaves and then remembered the scritching and thought, ‘Crap, it’s a CAT in the drainpipe!’ When you put your ear up to it, you could hear it plain as day and there was still some rustling going on. I decided that there was nothing I could do ‘til morning’ so I went back to bed. The cat continued his constant cadence of meowing until 6AM so needless to say, no sleep was had after 2AM. At around 4:00 I called the management maintenance line and left a message. At 6:00 I got up and took a shower and took care of Ben etc. and noticed that I no longer heard the cat. I, of course, feared the worst ‘cause that’s how I roll.
Bob the maintenance guy, came at 8:00 and I explained the situation. Bob said that he heard it yesterday but didn’t know where it was coming from. Another neighbor happened by and said that he had heard the cat all night too. Bob pounded on the pipe a few times and said he hoped it wasn’t in there because he didn’t know what to do about it and had a busy day so he couldn’t tear it all apart. That hopefully the cat would come out on its own and if I heard any more tonight, I should call him. So I went to work, ticked at Bob and worried about the cat cooking in the close quarters of the gutter pipe in the 85° heat that was predicted for today.
At lunch, I ran into the upstairs neighbor, Brian. I asked him if we woke him up early this morning by banging on the pipe that ran by his window. He said that he hadn’t heard anything so I proceeded to tell him the whole sad tale. He said, ‘Oh that was MY cat. I accidentally locked it out on the patio last night’. Sheesh! That’s right! He and his fiancé have been hiding two smoochable cats right over my head for almost a year now and I never knew they were there. I felt like a monumental idiot. I called Bob and told him that there wasn’t a cat and went to put the downspout back together. I gave it a shake for good measure before I hooked it back up and a squirrel fell out so that was my little noise maker. Thank goodness it wasn't a kitty and the squirrel seemed none the worse for wear. It's always something....
Yesterday I was on my patio when I heard a scritchity scitching in the gutter pipe that run down the outside of the building to the right of my door. Thinking a squirrel had gotten caught in there, I unhooked the flexi pipe at the bottom that diverts the water away from the foundation and out in the lawn somewhere thinking that the critter could get out now. Even if it was Sheldon/Sheldona, I still wouldn’t wish that kind of an end to anyone! Then at 2ish this morning, I was awakened by “Meow (two three four) Meow (two three four) Meow…..for 20 minutes. Finally I got up and took a flashlight outside to see if I could find the cat. I sourced the noise up towards the eaves and then remembered the scritching and thought, ‘Crap, it’s a CAT in the drainpipe!’ When you put your ear up to it, you could hear it plain as day and there was still some rustling going on. I decided that there was nothing I could do ‘til morning’ so I went back to bed. The cat continued his constant cadence of meowing until 6AM so needless to say, no sleep was had after 2AM. At around 4:00 I called the management maintenance line and left a message. At 6:00 I got up and took a shower and took care of Ben etc. and noticed that I no longer heard the cat. I, of course, feared the worst ‘cause that’s how I roll.
Bob the maintenance guy, came at 8:00 and I explained the situation. Bob said that he heard it yesterday but didn’t know where it was coming from. Another neighbor happened by and said that he had heard the cat all night too. Bob pounded on the pipe a few times and said he hoped it wasn’t in there because he didn’t know what to do about it and had a busy day so he couldn’t tear it all apart. That hopefully the cat would come out on its own and if I heard any more tonight, I should call him. So I went to work, ticked at Bob and worried about the cat cooking in the close quarters of the gutter pipe in the 85° heat that was predicted for today.
At lunch, I ran into the upstairs neighbor, Brian. I asked him if we woke him up early this morning by banging on the pipe that ran by his window. He said that he hadn’t heard anything so I proceeded to tell him the whole sad tale. He said, ‘Oh that was MY cat. I accidentally locked it out on the patio last night’. Sheesh! That’s right! He and his fiancé have been hiding two smoochable cats right over my head for almost a year now and I never knew they were there. I felt like a monumental idiot. I called Bob and told him that there wasn’t a cat and went to put the downspout back together. I gave it a shake for good measure before I hooked it back up and a squirrel fell out so that was my little noise maker. Thank goodness it wasn't a kitty and the squirrel seemed none the worse for wear. It's always something....
Comments
I think that one's right up there with the classic Late Night overheard lines.
Anyway, it made me grin mightily.