CAT BELLS

I've lived Southeast of Little Rock proper for the past 14+ years. It's a quiet, rural area, where everyone seems to have more land than you find in "subdivisions". Neighbors are not too close.

The "growth" for Little Rock has mostly gone West. That's where the money is. Fancy homes, nice restaurants, entertainment & all kinds of places to go shopping.

When I first moved here, I often would travel to the town of Lonoke, Arkansas to shop. It was about the same distance to go to Lonoke -- 15 miles -- as it was to go into North Little Rock. West Little Rock is still five-10 miles further than that from me.

Even as the retail options in North Little Rock had advanced & grown, I would still find it convient -- & much less of a hassel -- to travel over to Lonoke to shop.

Lonoke had a small WalMart store I would often shop at. It was probably the size store once considered "big", before WalMart started building "Super Centers", which offer things like groceries, optical centers & fast food places. Nothing like that in Lonoke.

The Lonoke store was so small, I often felt I would see Sam Walton -- the company founder -- walking the narrow isles. Even after he died, I kept my eyes open for him.

They finally did build a newer, bigger WalMart in Lonoke. Still not a giant store, but it has all the basics & it now has a nice grocery section. I wrote a post about the new store last year. I still shop there once or twice(t) a month.

The old store/building stayed closed & unoccupied for almost a year. The grocery store which was located next to it also shut their doors & moved out.

I was pleasantly surprised this past summer that a new business had taken over the space for the old WalMart location.

Atwoods Farm & Home is huge. It's well stocked with all sorts of "goodies". I've been in the store now several times -- always slapping down my Visa card -- & yet I still don't feel I have seen all it has to offer. It's like a toy store for grown-ups.

The new WalMart is just across Interstate-40; about two miles away. It's convenient to shop at both stores when I make the trip over to Lonoke.

This past week I was at the Atwoods store & bought three kinds of birdseed. They have a variety of seeds, all of good quality. I bought black-oil sunflower seeds (40lbs.), mixed seeds (50lbs.) & a 10 lb. bag of a mix called "Nut N' Berry". [The Cardinals have been hitting that pretty good.]

I'm fussy about my birdseed. I don't want dust, dirt & "fillers" in the bag. I stopped buying the seed offered at one "big box" store because of the lack of quality. I have been buying seeds at Tractor Supply, but it now looks like Lonoke is the place to go.

One of the other -- of several -- items I purchased, was a cat collar. Atwoods sells the "Safe Cat" brand, which I like & prefer. I guess The Girls do too. I've got several "back up" collars in a drawer, but I liked the one below because of the Tiger stripes.

All cat collars come with little bells on them. I take the bell off before I put a new collar on any of my cats. Like I really need to hear that noise going on all night long, especially when most nights two or more cats are right in the bed with me.

I don't think the bell on the collar is going to save many birds either.

I see lots of cute "calender type" photos of cats & kittens wearing a bell collar, but in real life, does anyone put a bell on their pets ?? Nobody I know & none that I've seen ... or heard.

I think a bell on their collar would cause any of my three Girls to react the same way the cat in the above cartoon is doing. I wouldn't/couldn't do that to them.

As for the birds in my yard, they can come for all the bird seed they want, but they need to be warned: My Cats Don't Wear Bells !!