His own personal quest to end world hunger

On Sunday Liam and I headed over to Mud Creek (what a picturesque name, eh?) to do Christmas card photos for Cory and Megan and the girls. (They didn't go so well - Evelyn and Audrey were perfectly behaved, but I am feeling rusty. Sorry guys - I hope there will be at least one keeper!) After we wrapped the session we went to see the huge numbers of ducks and geese that were hanging around, and we came across some woman who really seemed to know what she was doing feeding them. She didn't just bring some day-old bread with her, which is what we normally do; she brought an entire sack full of seed corn still on the cob, and a pair of leather gloves with which to remove the kernels. She was willing to share with us and Liam really got into it - here he is throwing a kernel of corn at a gaggle of geese with all his might.

Unfortunately, the geese are not the only ones Liam has taken to feeding. On Saturday morning we had Captain's yearly checkup at the vet, and the little bugger has gained half a pound. Not so much gain in my scheme of things (which is currently hovering around a pound a week), but on a (formerly) 10-pound cat, it's huge. I sheepishly explained to the vet that in the year since we have last seen her, Liam has graduated to table food, and there's nothing he likes better than to share it with Captain. And with Liam to keep our eyes on, we aren't exactly diligent about making sure Captain doesn't sneak away with the leftovers now and then. Well, I hope Liam had fun feeding the ducks and geese, because the cat is now strictly off-limits. I am hoping Captain drops some weight easily from the lack of table food alone, because if this doesn't work, we will also have to start rationing his kibble; and we will never get to sleep again, as we'll be kept up all night by a howling cat if that's what it comes to.