Rather than try to make a bin that can protect against animals, how about not worrying about the bin, and composting so that you attract a min. of animals? My dog shows no interest in any of my seven open style compost mesh bins, even when fish are placed in the core. I start my piles with shredded leaves and the optimal mix of coffee grounds and fresh cut grass. When the mix heats up in two or three days, the more problematic ingredients like fish and fruit and veggie wastes are added in the center of the pile. At a core temp. of 130F to 165F, the fish dissolve in less than ten days. The composter does have to understand the basics of composting, i.e. Pile size Material size C:N ratio, or at least right mix of materials being used Moisture and turning

I'm glad people are happy with their seeds. We had thunderstorms in our neck of the woods yesterday. The storms didn't knock out my internet & phone, but my doggie doesn't handle storms well. She got up onto the table and knocked everything off of it including our server & wireless network. DH determined we now have a bad cable that needs to be replaced. On a positive note, last night DH & I picked up 2 shih tzu puppies! A boy & a girl. We still have to name them! We have them at work with us today.

Well this was an eventful weekend! Yesterday (Saturday) I found another loose Husky running around my fence. This one was a female and much more people-friendly. She kind of ran off when I first came out, but after a treat and a water bowl was put outside she came right up. I leashed her, she had a collar but no tags. She immediately rolled over and made the "I'm a good dog" face at me, then walked fine on the leash. No aggression whatsoever. She looked VERY similar to the male Husky seen previously. I took her through my backyard and put her in my laundry room with a bowl of water. On the way she lunged for my dogs, I wasn't sure if it was to play or to eat them, but either way I had planned on keeping her separated from them. I called AC and they came and picked her up. During this time I watched for anyone to walk by who might be looking for her. I let the AC officer know she looked like the Husky that was out before and they should check with that family. I never did find out where they lived - I'm regretting that now. The AC officer also mentioned that the dog matched reports of a Husky that was attacking local livestock. I'm in a neighborhood, but there is farmland 1-2 miles away. Again I feel bad about calling AC, but it is far outweighed by knowledge that she won't get hit by a car, go hungry and she has a real chance of finding either her owners, or better ones! I left for visiting friends that evening and was out until about midnight. When I came home there was a note on my door saying that my dogs were keeping the entire neighborhood awake all night and had been since I moved in. AC and the police had been called multiple times and they were considering legal action. And my dusk to dawn light was too bright and keeping people awake. It was signed "Residents of X lane". This greatly upset me as I try to be a good neighbor and considerate of people around. Any time I hear my dogs bark I bring them in or do the "hush" command. Since the note was pretty anonymous I went around to each house on my street this afternoon to talk with everyone - apologizing profusely for bothering anyone and letting them know that I would fix the problems by not letting my dogs out at all after dark (even though they are never out past 10pm and even then are supervised) and turning off the light. Not a single one said they had a problem with my dog barking or the light or admitted to writing any note or discussing it with other neighbors. One did admit the light came in through the edge of her bedroom window and I immediately agreed to unplug it/put it on a timer for early night hours only. She also said she had heard my dogs sometimes, but it didn't bother her, and denied writing any note. The pit bull in a pen in the house behind me was the only real problem anyone had - it barks constantly and I've only seen it out of the pen once in the 7 months I've lived here. There was only one person that wasn't home, but she had a dog herself so I can't imagine she'd complain about mine. I plan to follow up with her later. The thing that really bothered me was the note mentioned AC and the police had been called but I haven't heard anything from either them and I just had AC at my house the day before for the Husky! My mother suspects that it's retaliation from calling AC on the Husky. I'm scared to leave my dogs outside anymore (they have a dog door so they can come in at any time, but they have access to the outside while I'm at work too) and I'm scared to call AC if anything else happens again. I guess I just can't wait to get out of this neighborhood - which won't happen for several years. My plan is to lay low for a while and hope it blows over. I just can't believe that some people could be so petty, stupid, and just plain liers.

We flew to Texas to visit my in laws and thought we'd take our cat. The vet gave us tranquilizers to use to make it less stressful for the cat. We flew TWA and they gave us a cardboard cat carrier to use and we sat by the bulkhead for the extra legroom. About 2/3 of the way through the trip the tranquilizer wore off and we started to hear hissing sounds from the box and then that awful cry a cat makes when it's mad. The box had the TWA letters cut out of the sides and before long we noticed the cat was gnawing through the letters. Then he stood up and arched his back and broke the cardboard binding strips on the top. We spent the last 30 minutes of the flight holding the top of the box shut and hoping the cat wouldn't gnaw an escape hole on the side. I don't know if all cats do this when they're scared but our cat seemed to lose hair - so we sat there and watched as his hair seemed to float around the cabin. My DH was positive someone with an allergy to cats would break out in hives. We didn't dare open the box to give him another pill - you know how difficult it is to do it under normal circumstances. So for the trip home we bought a real carrier - at least we knew he wouldn't escape. Never again. Maire