Category: Around the House

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Around the House

Christmas Cat

Soon after our cat adopted us we decided she was going to be an outside pet. We’ve managed to keep her out there, and she has a nice warm and cozy bed in the shed (when she’s not sleeping in the childs seat on the back of the bicycle). She does manage to sneak in at times, usually when we’re trying to come inside.

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Christmas Cat

She got a new colar this Christmas, but promptly licked it and caused the top to fray some. But even if it’s not as pretty as when we first put it on, the little bell still helps us find her now.

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Around the House

An Old Bridge

Over the Christmas holiday, MD and I were exploring the wood behind our house and clean out some of the brush to make paths. We worked our way all the way back to the ditch on the other side of the wood from our yard (not quite sure if our property extends to the ditch or not) where we made a discovery. I was going along the ditch, which is deeper than the one that runs along the side of our property, and noticed an old, leaf-covered bridge going across the ditch to someone else’s yard. In addition to leaves, some old vines had grown across it (probably honeysuckle or wisteria) and it looked like it hadn’t been used in a number of years.

I started cutting back some of the vines so we could get to the bridge. It was still in good condition, no signs of rotten wood. So we walked across and found it connected us to a house on Walker Street.

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Bridge in the Woods

MD and I cleaned off most of the leaves and cut back more of the vines that covered it. While we did that, the cat crossed over and poked around in the neighbors yard to see what she could find.

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MD Exploring the Bridge

More recently we were in the woods again and saw a couple of boys who live in the house directly behind ours on the next street. They came and crossed the bridge to join us in our exploration, but they didn’t know anything about the bridge either. So for now it’s builder and purpose remain an mystery.

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Around the House

Leaf Pile

Today we were raking leaves in the front yard. The girls were working on the leaves under the Oak trees and came up with the plan to make a big pile of leaves to jump in. It took them the whole time to get something together (though they did have help at the end). Once it was ready, the fun started.

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Jumping in the Leaf Pile

That cat wanted to get in on the fun too, but her idea of fun was to burrow under the leaves. I don’t know how she managed to avoid being jumped on.

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Cat in the Leaves
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Around the House

Cat Pictures

Pictures of our new cat. The first after she was awake from a short nap.

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Cali

Then she decided nothing interesting was going on and went back to sleep.

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Napping In the Living Room
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Around the House

Cali the Calico

From CDF:

Well last night a kitten wandered into our backyard and Dixie found her — she ran back on the other side of the fence. We saw no sight of a mom, so we bathed her and brought her in the house with us. Here are some pictures of the kitten. She likes Dixie — though Dixie is not too sure about her! When Cali comes to be beside Dixie, she normally gets up and leaves the kitten — who then follows after Dixie. Kinda funny.

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Dixie and Cali
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Playing with MD
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Worn Out
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Get the String Again
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Around the House Daughters

Bennett for a Day

Thursday evening of last week we went for a walk like we often do around past the hospital and back up to Hayes street. As we got to the intersection of Bennett and Hayes we saw a little kitten coming toward us. He was mewing and toddling along. There were a bunch of flies on his back and I had a sinking feeling that he was in bad shape. Still he had pluck and tried following us up the next street. We took pity on him and I ran ahead to get a box to carry him in.

On closer inspection we could see that the flies had laid masses of eggs on his back. References on the Internet suggested that these flies are the first to spot rotting meat. I could only imagine what sort of sores were on this poor animals back. Still we took him home to see what we could do. While CDF talked to someone on the phone about getting him to an animal shelter I looked closer. His eyes were infected and couldn’t open (he must of been following us by the sound of our footsteps). and while his fur was matted with eggs, I couldn’t see any wounds or blood or anything that might suggest an injury. I put on rubber gloves and started to clean the eggs off.

It turned out that the cat was uninjured. Once we cleaned the eggs out of his fur he looked okay on the outside. We gave him water and a little to eat.

Asleep after a bath

The next morning CDF and the girls took him to the vet. He was very week, dehydrated, and had a viral infection that was common to kittens. They gave him fluids and we got medicine to give him. CDF took him home and gave him a bath to get rid of the fleas. The vet said if he could survive long enough to get back his strength he would be okay. We decided to name him Bennett for the street where we found him (or he found us).

Unfortunately the next morning he had gotten so weak he was having trouble holding his head up. He no longer wanted to eat or drink. By the time we got him to the vet it was apparent he was fading away. The vet took him back, but soon returned and said he had died.

We were all sad and Mo cried some. But we were still happy that we were able to help the little guy have a comfortable last few days.

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Around the House Daughters

Friend Cat

At the house across the street lives a friendly cat. Clo calls her “our friend cat,” and both girls like to go visit her. We normally do that by walking down the side street beside the house. The cat is usually in the back yard or by the garage and she nows comes out as soon as she sees us. She has gotten to where she will lie down and let the girls rub her tummy.

Our Friend Cat

Every once in a while she’ll follow us home, but she knows about our dog and doesn’t come further into our yard than the end of the drive way.

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Around the House

Pumpkins and Blackberies

This year we planted pumpkin seeds in the garden. I put two in a single 4-foot square plot, along with two watermelon seeds. At this point the pumpkin plants are taking over the plot and trying to move into the next one!

Pumpkins in the Garden

Meanwhile the blackberries have been abundant this spring. The patch next door has finally ripened and this morning we picked a bunch to eat. I suspect that all the rain we’ve had is what has made them big and juicy.

Blackberries Nearby

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Around the House Daughters

Blackberries

Yesterday the girls and I picked blackberries from a patch a couple blocks away near the creek. We had found it the day before, but could only get a handful. But they were the biggest, juciest wild blackberries we’ve seen around here, so we decided right then to come back with a bucket.

I’m sure the girls ate more than they picked, but we had enough to eat them with ice cream tonight and still have more left over for tomorrow. We mixed them with vanilla ice cream and put some whipped topping over it all.

Eating Ice Cream

Mo was enjoying her’s and paused barely long enough for me to snap this close up of the dessert.

Ice Cream and Blackberries
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Around the House

Snow Day



Snow Day

Originally uploaded by jmodule

Another snow storm has passed our way, the second one this year after six years of no snow. It’s not as cold as last month, so we probably won’t get two inches again.