New Year

I still haven't taken the tree down yet though I can't keep Lola penned up much longer. I had gathered the balls of yarn from yesterday and put them in a plastic bucket, but she had found enough balls of yarn to have another macrame surprise for me this morning. I recalled that Newt actually had kicked a couple of the yarn balls out of the crochet box but she only displaced what she needed to make a space to sleep. Newt had much more of a sense of decorum than Lola has--and more than any other cat, Newt seemed to strive to understand what it meant to be a "good kitty", what it was we wanted from her. Lola probably doesn't willfully try to misbehave--she is just too much energy in too small a package. Punkin, on the other hand, has never had *any* interest in being a good kitty. Any attention is better than no attention at all.

Anyway, I emptied the crochet box and sealed its contents in plastic litter pails so Lola will have to find another way to get into deviltry.

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The redpolls have shown up en masse over the past week. I thought they were pine siskins until I got a closer look and spotted the distinctive red cap. One news story says they are showing up in town in great numbers because much of their usual wintering area burned this summer. I am keeping plenty of sunflower seed outside. The cats find this most entertaining.