Sniffing Around the Place

     (This is a column written by Sunny Beagle and Copper Caynine, a weekly highlight of local news in the fictional Fenceville Weekly Times.)

     "It's summertime again! (It's way too hot to do anything.)
     "Courtney got back from her camp last week, she seemed to have a really good time. Shot a bunch of people with water guns, and climbed a tall power tree. (C says this should be "electric pole". I'm not sure.)
     "Dad's been working a lot lately.
     "Cherry Kitten moved across town a few weeks ago, he seems to be settling in well.
     "A bunch of meat chickens will be slaughtered soon, I'm hoping I can help. The egg-laying chicken who got attacked last week is on the mend.
     "Merriment Alpine and Sarsaparilla and Little Ann Nubian had their pen scooted over to include fresh weeds to munch on, the people are busy taking lots of pictures of them. Skeet doesn't like them very much.
    "Dad and Caleb have been mowing often, the area around the backyard is very well-cut.
     "Ticks are HORRIBLE this year. They are NO FUN. At all. And inside, there's an infestation of flies, everyone is complaining about them.
     "Wesley's been trying to teach everybody else how to play baseball, Trevor has been hitting the ball well. Reminds me of when we were little and he'd play ball in the backyard with Katie while Mr. Rae would watch and us Dog Club would bark encouragement.
     "Everybody's been very busy recently. It can get kinda lonely, guarding the house without anybody to talk to. They went to Westville Tuesday, I think they had a good visit.
     "Wesley has about two months left before he has to go back to that College place. He doesn't like it much. Hope he can get good and rested before then.
     "Buttercup Alpine is kinda lost without Inigo around, sort of feel sorry for her. The big goats pick on her too much.
     "Frolic Alpine is as jumpy and friendly as ever, exploring every little inch of The Place. The people and cats say her milk is very good, and I(Copper) agree.
     "Mom's garden is growing really well, and she's started an inside garden for such funny-sounding stuff as bacteria, kabucha and sourdough.
     "It would be Eclipse's birthday next Wednesday, doesn't seem like that long ago that she was born. That Ronald Reagan man had just died, his funeral was all over TV, he seemed like a good person. Must have been pretty important, too. Anyway, it was scary; and Wesley was freaking out too, which didn't help much. She wasn't too smart, but she was sweet, and a good babysitter.
     "I don't really understand basketball all that well, but Sunny says the NBA Finals are going on right now, she wants the Spurs(whoever they are) to beat the Heat(who are supposed to be something between dogcatchers and Monstars). The Spurs won last night, I think, Wesley was amazed by this spectacular play late in the game.
     "The barn is supposed to be cleaned out today, I think I'll check how that's going, then take a nap. Have a good week, everybody!"