Whooo-who-who wakes you up in the morning?

Can you guess who000 woke me up?   During the cooler months, Great Horned Owls hang out around here. They seem to like the tall Eucalyptus trees that grow nearby, and the way their voices sound when they sit on the chimney caps and use the flue a resonator.  I've gotten used to it, and I like having them around. I fantasize that they help deter the gophers and rabbits from eating my landscaping.

So this early morning,  in the still quiet darkness, I was listening to the owls hoot to each other from somewhere nearby. I heard one land on the metal chimney cap, their talons make a racket on the metal. More hooting, and then it sounded like the second owl decided to join the first on the chimney. Except maybe there wasn't enough room or something, because then it sounded like something big hit the roof and rolled down. Well, that's never happened before! I grabbed a flashlight and went outside to see if anything landed on the ground, but found nothing and so crawled back under the covers.

Soon enough the hooting started again, and I could hear 3 distinct voices, normally there are only 2 and I think of them, the owls, as a couple. So maybe there was an interloper? After a bit I heard an owl on the chimney, and again a second owl arriving. Except this time they jumped down to the roof and hooted for a bit and I could hear them moving around up there.  They seemed to be singing a duet, blending their voices together.  And then the hooting changed to a chirping/twittering sound. At first I thought a song bird was getting an early start on the day, or disturbed by the owl couple. But the sound was coming from the same area as the earlier hooting. (egad! are they getting ready to eat something, and those noises are it's struggle to escape?)  I got curious and grabbed the flashlight and again went outside to see if I could see them. And see them I did, not on the roof, but on the ground right outside one of of my bedroom windows.  Sadly, it was still dark enough that I had to turn the flashlight on to see them, and at that they flew away. Before they flew off they were very close together, but I couldn't tell if the little chirping noises I'd heard earlier were due to delightful companionship, or teaching an interloper a lesson. I wish I could see better in the dark.

That skill would've been handy last night too, when the old Whippet went missing in the yard.  She doesn't like being cold or wet, and normally is very prompt about returning to the door after her final evening turn out. After a few minutes I started to worry, and feel annoyed. She has occasional seizures and a bad heart, and at 14 years old probably doesn't see in the dark any better than I do. ( And she'd already been out just a few minutes before and I was looking forward to an early turn in and why does she always ask to go out after she sees me get into bed, even if I let her out just before I got into my jammies?)

  (Evil voice in my head, "well, that'll teach her to be such a pain." kind voice, "Well, I can't just leave her out there, what if she had a seizure or a heart attack or something?" ) Result? Walk around the yard in slippers and jammies looking for old Whippet. Its drizzling out. Go back inside, get flashlight, repeat. Return to house, take off jammies, put on jeans and jacket, take flashlight and Shae and go look for Whippet. Mind you, its a rather large yard with lots of terrain and no moon and dark where I live. Even a mostly white dog is hard to spot at night with no moon. Now, Shae the awesome Aussie should be able to find the Whippet just like that. But she acts like she has no idea what I'm talking about, and that we must be hunting mice. Fine. I hope I don't slip on the muddy slopes. Still can't find that darn dog after making a circuit of the lower yard so I head for the main yard to see if she's waiting at the door for someone to let her in. Oh good, there she is. Except she ignores me and heads for the part of the yard I just left. I finally get the Whippet's attention and lead her back to the house, and put her to bed in the kitchen. Hopefully we'll both sleep better.

I'm not making fast progress on the top down raglan, still maybe 2 more inches to go before splitting the sleeves from the body. I really want to get to the part where I split off the sleeves, because then its pretty much just flat knitting back and forth, knit the front side and purl the wrong side. Something that doesn't need much thinking.  Here is a sort of picture, its stripy-er looking than the first time around, I added in another skein of yarn.