Operator, What's That Number?

Today I didn't have to work, and Gregg was home for a "staycation," so we decided to just bum around a bit. He took Ray for an early morning run and I started knitting another bowl out of leftover yarn. (I like the element of surprise - it's impossible to know what it's going to look like until it's all felted.) While Gregg and Ray were gone, Hugo came downstairs to sit on my lap and get a bellyrub. The first time in two months (Ray's two month anniversary is today!). When Ray got back, Hugo hung around just long enough to hiss at him. Ray cringed and crept into the dining room. Hugo took off for catland upstairs and I found Ray laying in the dining room looking sad. I think he really wants to make friends but Hugo is just NOT INTERESTED. 
I coaxed Ray out of the dining room and back into the living room. He rebounded quickly and wanted to play a game of keepaway with his bone. 

Gregg took off for the wine store, and Ray and I sat around and knit some more. It's nice to have someone around that shares my enthusiasm for wool. Ray may be a bit overenthusiastic at times (the possum fur yarn took me about four hours to untangle and is in six separate pieces), but I still appreciate the fact that he is the only other member of the family that 'gets' the obsession. 

When Gregg got home, we put Ray in the backyard and took off in search of a farmer's market and fresh tomatoes. We were gone for a couple of hours. When we returned, I let Ray in the house and went into the backyard to see what he'd been up to. 

Apparently, Ray was looking up phone numbers while we were gone. A couple of new telephone books had been delivered, and I had picked up the plastic bag they were in, slung them onto the patio table, and left them there. Ray, being interested in all things plastic (HOW DOES HE KNOW IT'S THERE???? HE'S BLIND!!!!) grabbed the bag, ripped it into a few pieces then started leafing through the books searching for his foster mother's phone number.  I'm sure he wanted to tell her to come on over for a swim in his new pool. I didn't have the heart to tell Ray that these phone books only cover Northern Virginia not South Carolina. He also had ripped a coupon off the front cover of the phone book. I'm not sure what it was for, because it was gone. I think he ate it - maybe it was for dog food. 

The rest of the day was uneventful. I have noticed though that every time I try to let Ray in the sliding glass door he just stands there, waiting. I think I made a serious error in judgement when Gregg and I were stripping the pork off the bone the other night when he made S.C. pork BBQ. Ray was outside the sliding glass door and every so often I would slide it open an inch and slip him a little piece. Now when the door opens he expects the pork dispenser to work again.