Bill and I went to Ikea for dinner last night and to do some shopping. Does the idea of dinner at Ikea seem strange? Yes, if you are used to going to the one in Toronto, which is where Bill was used to going to. They don't have a restaurant in that one. Well, they could by now, though. We haven't been there for a long time. I don't know if all the new Ikea's have a restaurant in them now or not but the one in West Chester, Ohio does.  I've mentioned the breakfasts there before--eggs, hash browns and bacon for 99 cents. They do lunch and dinner there, too, and it features--what else--Swedish meatballs. That's what I had last night. Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and ligonberries. I had to buy a small side salad to get any vegetables with it. I think the price could have been a little lower. It was $4.99 just for the meatballs and mashed potatoes. Bill had chicken marsala and it had steamed vegetables with it. Then we shopped for a bit picking up some more silverware, an Ikea umbrella, a pillow for me, and some more double chocolate cookies (yum).
When we pulled into our driveway, I saw one little raccoon run away from the overladen peach tree out in front. Another little one stayed under the low-hanging branch to see what we might be doing. At first, I thought they were rabbits and I told Bill to look at the rabbits. We stayed in the car to watch them. The critter under the branches stood up to try to reach a peach and I realized that a rabbit wouldn't be doing that. Bill got out of the car and the critter ran away and then we could see distinctly that it was a racoon. I had wondered if they had found my peach tree yet. That was proof that they had. I saw a squirrel sitting on one of its branches a couple of days ago eating a still not ripe peach. I guess the deer will be out there next. See how burgeoning the little tree is? The branches have all gone, "Whoomp." I saw in someone else's yard on the way to Ikea a small peach tree like mine and all of its branches were being supported by 2x4 boards. I had that thought a few days ago but we didn't get them out there soon enough. We came in the house. Bill brought our newly acquired purchases in while I sat with my sore hip at the dining room table and looked out the window. There were already three raccoons on the deck scrounging for food. It was Roscoe and two little ones. We knew there were at least two little ones around. Then, lo and behold, two more little ones came bounding up the steps to see if there was any food for them. Evidently, several of them have a problem with Roscoe because they saw him up there and they cowered. One of them ran down the steps again. The other one tentatively hopped up and tried to skirt the edges of the deck but Roscoe growled at him so he ran down the steps again. The other two little ones were still up on the deck and Roscoe wasn't paying any mind to them. I told Bill and he quickly got some dry dog food in a bowl and tossed them out on the deck. We lost another one of the little ones because when Bill opened the Zinn Center door he got scared and scampered down the steps but he soon came back once he figured the coast was clear. After a few minutes, the other two little ones came up the steps again. The third one made it up on the deck and managed to gather a few chunks of kibble but the fourth one still wouldn't go up there while Roscoe was around. He darted back downstairs and ran under the fence gate, I presume to tackle a few more peaches. You're probably pretty confused by now anyway with all the comings and goings I tried to describe.
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Still I sat and watched their antics and efforts at finding food the food scattered around the deck. I decided to stand up and peer out the sliding door onto the deck. That's when I realized that all five of them were on the deck and vying for the last pieces of food. Roscoe had gone over to the fountain to get a drink so the last little one had found his courage to enter the foray. I only managed to get three in a picture at a time. I'm not positive but I would even swear there was a fifth little one up there. But that was hard to verify in the semi-darkness. Man, now we got five mouths to feed. Well, six if the momma is coming around, too. Or seven if I was right about there being five babies. Oh, eight, if you count Roscoe.