Spykie ("That's his name," say the girls!)

We've seen this little critter skulking around lately. It was snooping in our boxes and loose things that were still waiting to be unpacked or put away on the front porch.

Apparently, this little guy is HUNGRY!

Oh, don't you wink at me you furry feline! You don't even know I am here taking your picture from inside the window.

In your great big hurry to consume as much of that fat-laden suet, yes, you are dropping big pieces to the ground.

You know, I didn't fill that feeder for you. So, I don' t much care that you don't like the roof of the bird house feeder.

It's seed... For THE BIRDS.

I filled it in order to watch those pretty little songbirds while I rocked a sleepy child for nap time.

Hmmm. You must not understand. That suet is FOR THE BIRDS! If you are so hungry, I think there are some varmints you can chase over in the shed. Go on, take your leave from the tree and go find a critter to keep out of my house!!

Oh, no? The lard in the suet is fine enough? Well, we'll see about that!

If I were nice like my mother-in-law, I would bring you a big bowl of table scraps instead of sneaking up behind you while you are perched precariously in a tree.

Alas, I am not so nice to kitties. I don't like your sneaky ways. You are stuck-up and don't act like you need me. So, you will not get anything from me. If you'd just sit there and stare at me through the window with some pathetic droopy eyes and a little wagging tip of your tail... I would feel sorry for you and give you an old hunk o' something out of the fridge.

So, you run and don't even try to find out what I have to offer or not. You just turn tail and RUN. Hide. There's even CREAM in my refrigerator you silly kitty. Blossom would bring it to you by the bowl full. But, you don't even get cozy to her. You skulk around the yard and hide. Just today, you find the suet. I hope you have a belly ache and leave it alone for the birds, now. And take a few notes from your friendly four-legged counter-parts, the canine (they don't sink to eating the bird seed due to their prideful ways).

Love, ELM - the tree by which you crouch.