...a quiet afternoon

I used to come home on Sunday after church...
and collapse for most of the afternoon...
now that rehearsals for Lessons & Carols are in full swing...
we practice until after 1:30 each Sunday...
and considering the energy I expend between 9 AM & 2 PM...
I should be crashing even more...

but there's a good reason why I can't just crash after church...



from the moment I put the key in the door...
it's a crescendo of whining, squealing, yipping, barking...
and dancing, jumping, licking, running in circles...
scattering felines in every direction...

sometimes, I almost can't get inside the door...
she's SO glad I'm back...

BTW... on Sunday...I'm gone 5-6 hours...
the reception is the same if I've been gone 15 minutes...

the kitties were always much more subtle...
a cool,"oh, were you gone?"
or if I missed feeding them...
"WHERE have you been ?...
Do you KNOW how long WE'VE been without food ?"

and perhaps a companionable leg rub...
a sly stretch toward the grocery bags by the door...
a long look out the door...
a meow or two...

boy... are those days gone...

although I'm sure that Molly will calm down...

sometime... when she's too old to move that fast...

but I digress...

if I don't make ALL haste to grab the poop scoop bag...
hook up her leash... and go right back out with her...
she gets louder and more desperate by the moment...
too bad for me if I need to bring in something...
change my clothes...or go to the bathroom...

so out we go... at a brisk canter...



past my neighbor...whose new kitten is watching...
down to the circle...



and through the neighborhood...
with it's changing trees...
until her "business" is completed...
other dogs warned off...
and local cats aware of her beneficent presence...

she slows down ONLY when she has found her "spots"...
often quite close to home....
but in the opposite direction...
if I go that way...
she still waits until we're almost home to "go"...

so when we finally get home...



she gets fed... just crunchies until she gets past this upset...
she also likes,"Lammy Whammys"[I don't name 'em...]
and Milkbone "marrow bones"...



but she gets really happy...



when she can crunch a pigs ear on her newly mended bed...
[thanks to Miz Minka's trusty needle & yarn...]

I wish I could have gotten video...[& audio...]
of the playing and tossing of the pigs ear...
and the rolling and "reclaiming" of the red bed...
that preceded this shot...
as well as the "canine coloratura aria"...
that accompanied it...

by the time I got the camera out...
all the "fun" sounds were over & most of the playing...
and it was serious "chewing" only...
[NOT compelling video...]

the kitties...
still enjoy their "sun" perch...
Molly can't get there...hasn't yet, anyway...
so the felines loll about anywhere "high up" with impunity...



eventually falling asleep again...
as will the dog...
leaving me to cook my green beans...
and with some chores to do...
but not much energy...

maybe I'll let them go until tomorrow...
the chores, that is...



after all...it is Sunday...