Hints of fall...and we are under attack here.

My view from my kitchen window as I enjoyed my breakfast this morning.

The smatterings of fall color: Simply lovely.

Our neighbor's apples are riping to a rich dark red....

Our autumn sedum is blooming brightly in white...

And in deep pink beneath the fall color tinged Japanese maple.
I sipped my coffee and felt quite content with my peaceful world.

Others in the household had a totally different take on the state of things.
Tate was on the attack.
Apparently there was serious issues about the Henries dry cleaner's bag.

The bag had seemed perfectly normal to me when I placed it next to the bagful of things needing to be place in recycling.

Just goes to show what I know.

Tate knew something inside the bag needed killing.

He quickly sussed out an evil collar stay.
Collar stays are well known around here for being very wily.

They must be dealt with swiftly.
Tate studied the stay intently...

Tried to decide the best way to dispatch the offending intruder...

Made the swift decision that it would be best attacked from outside the bag...

Much better angle for killing...

Tate launched a full on assault. 

Lethal claws were employed...

He was drug back into the collar stay's bag during the battle.

I warned him that the bag was gonna flip....

Which of course it did.
Most unsettling...

Somehow the collar stay made an escape during the transition.
Tate sniffed a spot on the bag's cardboard base lining.
Very interesting....

He wisely took a moment to consider what his next move should be.

Those sneaky collar stays...you just can't trust them for a single second. 

Apparently... 

The stay had sought to hide beneath the cardboard!
Can you believe that?

Time to put the bite on that collar stay.

Slap it around until it begs for mercy...

Oh no!  It escaped AGAIN!

It slithered beneath the kitchen door mat.

Tate kept pulling the mat back as the stay retreated deeper and deeper under the mat.

Then Tate heard something back at the bag!
He turned and LEAPED on it in a wink of an eye.

Using his paws, he swatted whatever it was back and forth.

(Tate: Did you see that thing??? It was just awful...)

He went back and killed it again...

Took a short breather while recovering from the heated battle.

Bitsy:  What are you doing?
Tate: The bag...it was full of angry collar stays and invisible things that needed killing.

Bitsy: This bag?  I don't smelling anything.  It smells like a plain old dry cleaning bag to me.

Bitsy: Are you sure you saw something in there?

Tate: Girl cats.  What do they know...

The tag...now the tag was acting up.
Tag must be killed.

Inside the bag must be patrolled...

Every inch of the inside must be carefully examined...

Tate: THERE! There it IS!

Bitsy: There WHAT is?

Tate: You don't see it? It is right THERE.

Bitsy: What is right there?

Tate: Look out! It is escaping!
Bitsy:  OH!  I see it! Let me get it!

Bitsy: HEY! Watch it...

Tate: Dumb girl cat...

Tate: Oops...there it is again!

Tate: I could of sworn I had already killed that thing dead.
There. Now it really really is dead.

(Me: I don't see anything there Tate...)

Tate: That's because you don't have special glow in the dark eyes like I do.

Me: Oh. I hadn't thought about that.

Bitsy came over to take a look too...

Bitsy decides Tate is looking crazed.
Decides to give Tate some space.

Tate is locked on something..

What ever it is...Bitsy decides to give both Tate and it wide berth.

Bitsy: I think I will be moving along now...if you need me I will be under the chair in the living room.

Tate: I am dug in for the duration of this battle.

Nothing is going to get in or out of this bag without me knowing about it.

(Tate glaring at absolutely nothing....)

Something is moving under the bag. Tate is on it in a flash.

The bag has been pushed all over the kitchen by now.

Looks like all is secure.  Tate is walking away from the area, going to take a break or something.

Looks like the battle just plain tuckered him out.
In a bit he got up again...

And went to find where Bitsy had gone.
She was under the chair, just like she had said she would be.

She wasn't quite sure what to do.
Tate still had a mad look in his eyes.

Oh...there was a mouse near Tate.
No wonder his eyes were glowing like that.

Must kill mouse...

Bitsy: Sometimes I think he is just plain old nuts.

Tate:  I am the KING of the Kitty Kingdom!
My eyes glow...and cross...as I consider my mad killing skills.

(Must let blood settle into the top of my head before the next battle).

Oh NO!  The bag...the bag invisibles are attacking again!

They have run under our refrigerator!
Tate!  Help!  Get the invisibles out from under my refrigerator!

Actually Tate did pull a small leather catnip mouse out from under there.  I had no idea it was even under there.

Another check inside the bag...

A good sniff over of the bag's edges...

Then it was time to settle in for the duration.

Good cat Tate.
Good boy!