There must be a way.

Saturday was so delightfully sunny.  Bernie pulled out the lawn mower and got to work.  The lawn was almost ankle high; we had not had a day without rain for weeks so mowing had been out of the question for quite awhile.
All over the neighborhood the roaring sound of lawn mowers filled the air, and the sweet scent of fresh cut grass was intoxicating.
Tate was allowed outside to enjoy a bit of sunshine on the deck.  When our backs were turned for a moment, he surprised us by leaping over the railings and directly into the tree.
It was so funny to watch him looking at the bird feeder, trying to figure out how he could possibly catch a bird from that vantage point.


Then he hopped back over to the deck railing and considered the question from another angle.
Poor guy.   Unless he can figure out a way to fly like a bird himself, I think the birds are quite safe from his schemes.
Sunday morning it was back to rain, rain and more rain.  Tate wanted out again; he had decided to try out Frenchie's trick of sauntering along the second story window ledge outside from our breakfast table.
Bernie and I both held our breath as he attempted to negotiate the tricky U turn on the wet three inch wide ledge.
He failed.
We raced to get him from the lower walk way even as he fell, then skittered away under the deck stair case.   He was obviously OK if he could run like he did after the fall, but we tucked him inside where it was warm and dry anyway.
I gave him a small cat nip mouse to ease his slight tremor and gave him some long smooth pets to make sure all was as it should be in his bone. 
Moments later he was swatting the mouse wildly around the room. 
Talk about a quick recovery!
Whew.

So for now the chickadees have nothing to worry about cat wise.


They are such nervous little birds anyway.  They hardly stay put long enough to focus on them and I have never seen one on the ground.
And check out that haughty glare!  NO one better be messing with this tiny bird!
 

Lazuli buntings, like this little female, never seem to visit the ground either.


The downy woodpecker might swoop down to give a cat's head a sharp rap, but I have yet to see them do so.  They do tend to hang on the feeders inches away from the focused gaze of a deck dwelling cat, and occasionally they give the cats a sharp look just to let the cat know the bird sees him hunkered down there. 
This chow hound is a female downy.  No red cap...poor thing.

See the raindrops falling around the little bunting?  It just poured and lightening/thundered almost all the day Sunday.  That didn't slow down visits to our feeders though.  Nor did it stop me from being outside rearranging our deck flowering planters and taking pictures now and then.

The male Downy not only has a red cap, but apparently also has a soul patch/flavor saver on his chin.

Now I will always think about wood peckers at our feeders whenever I see a middle aged guy who has gone to the trouble of sprouting one. 

 Inside joke.  Hi Barbara! ;-) 


Shy Bitsy peeked out at the garden from the deck staircase.  No chance she was going to try to fly like Tate did.

My Icelandic Poppies are blooming nicely in the sunshine, and then getting knocked down by the heavy rains. 

My neighbor came over on Sunday afternoon with her little girls and I showed the two and  half year old daughter the pretty poppies. 
The girl's mother drew her daughter closer to see the "California" poppies.
The mom had spent her growing up years in that particular state.  Why she thought this poppy was that poppy mystifies me. 
She asked me to explain the difference. That was quite challenging.  From now on all poppies will be simply referred to a just "poppies" to the non-gardening types that visit.

Between the volcano opening up in Iceland, (which never seems to have such flowers blooming in their news story pictures) and the horrific EF 5 tornado in Joplin MO, the news out there is far too serious for my taste.

 
(When it wasn't raining here, the sky was raining down petals and dandelion wisps instead.  Drove the kitties bonkers trying to visually track those tiny bits as they fell.)


We pray for those affected, and peer out at our own rainy weather thankful for all that we have at the moment, thankful for now and hoping we will be spared flooding in a week or so. 

(PS: No flooding for us personally; the seasonal creek behind our house could never rise enough to damage more than a bit of our garden, but with 150% snow pack up in the mountains, and snow still falling, a really warm day could cause serious melt with consequences to many low ground neighborhoods in the area.  With the damage being done with the Mississippi flooding, tornado damage, and volcanic eruptions skewing weather patterns, we are mindful that situations are all about us that do require our prayer.)