Kate Brainerd's Wild Kingdom

I have been missing my blog for the past two months!  The trip down the Grand Canyon was such a bitch to get ready for; and a long trip in itself.  I am a pretty good camper, but I think 17 nights are the most I have slept out in the open in a row, ever.

I planned the food for the trip:  20 days for 16 people with no outside food sources available, plus one lady who is gluten-, soy- and lactose intolerant.  I'm still suffering a little PTSD when I walk into he supermarket.
Chuck is still down in the Grand Canyon.  I had to leave the trip at Whitmore Wash, because of work.  The others will be back on Saturday.  Photos in abundance when he returns. 

When I made it to the airport in Las Vegas, I got myself a burger and fries and ate them very slowly, savoring meat, fat, abundance.  Upon arriving at home, I looked upon my bed with lust and passion surpassed only by the adoration I felt for my shower, after at least a week without washing.

Sleep has been a problem, though.  The house has been overrun by wildlife.  Chuck and I love animals and it's hard to be mean to a cute little bat, for example.  They swoop in and out of our bedroom all summer long.  One guy, though, seems to have taken up long-term residence inside and is roosted high  in the beams above the head of the bed.  In the wee hours he wakes me up as he stirs, makes his little static-y noises and poops onto the bed by my head.  It's a little gross and it's just.... startling.  He is getting on my nerves.
Not as much as the fucking bushy-tailed wood rat, though. 

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Look how adorable!  Not!  He's a hassle and he's going to find himself in a lot of trouble.  We have tried many times to capture him in our live trap, but he's a crafty one. While we were gone, he ate all of my home-grown garlic.  I'll bet his breath is lousy now, and I don't give a shit.  He roams the house as if he owns it.  He paid me a very noisy visit in the wee hours - I actually thought he was a  human intruder.  Since he has jumped up onto Chuck in the bed in the past, I hollered at him and scared him off.  I discovered the attraction of my room this morning when I tried to put on my black boots and found them filled with cached birdseed he's been pilfering.
 
After dealing with him, my sleep was gone for the rest of the early morning hours, so I turned my attention to my pet finches that Chuck bought me for our anniversary.  I started to say hi and saw that one of them has laid an egg!  That's cool, but instead of laying it in the little nesting basket, it was smack in the middle of their food bowl.  They seem to be ignoring it.  Poor parenting skills.  I have no idea how I'm supposed to handle it.  Any advice on what to do when the finches lay an egg in the food bowl? 

Falling asleep as I edit.  Good night!