A Mystery Solved

I will try to keep this short and sweet as there are no photos to go with the telling.

For a few days I had noticed what looked like mouse droppings around the house.  Now, this is a mystery because we have 3 cats...in the house....and a big dog, but she never has caught a mouse.  So, I couldn't figure it out.  Maybe it wasn't what it looked like.  Maybe the cats or Mercy were bringing something in on their fur...seed pod things????

About 3 days ago I came home to find many of the things from the mantle no longer where they belonged.  Some knocked off and others merely relocated.  This wasn't as big a mystery because the cats have been known to perch up there from time to time.  I gave Skippy Jo Lohr some grief and cleaned up the mess.

Today, each time I went into the kitchen, Skippy Jo Lohr was sitting on the chair and staring at the microwave.  Probably a moth or something, right?

Finally, my brain begins to make some connections and I tell my husband 2 things:
1.  I think the mystery mouse is behind the microwave.
2.  I'm going to the bathroom now.

He says not so fast and begins to move things.  The first clue is a half nibble dog treat.  As he moves the microwave a bit more I see a bigish furry body and think, RAT!  I run and put Skippy Jo Lohr in the bathroom and Mercy outside.  I open the screen in the kitchen window and he opens the kitchen door.  I come with a towel.   He moves the microwave a bit more and the big scary rat turns into a cute tiny squirrel.  One of the squirrels that run back and forth in front of the house on the telephone/electric wires.  I get into position with my towel and almost get him when he jumps into the dog treat jar, but I wasn't fast enough.  He runs into the living room with me trailing him like a goofy squirrel fighting matador!  You don't realize how many places there are to get behind until a tiny squirrel tries them all.  Finally, he turns around and dashes back to the kitchen and out the open door!

Mystery solved.  But, ummmm, how did this most agile of creatures get into the house to begin with?

New mystery.

And Skippy Jo Lohr has quit staring at the microwave.

Friends and Flowers

Here are some seriously cute mice with a seriously helpful tutorial at

http://motherrhythm.blogspot.com/2010/07/seriously-cute-mouse-tutorial.html
(why didn't this turn blue?)

Hers are even cuter, but mine are getting better.

Three kind mice.  But, then two went traveling.

Packaged safe and sound to celebrate a birthday a little bit late...not TOO late, just a little bit.  And as my theory goes anyway, your birthday isn't over until the last gift or greeting arrives!

Tiny confession....they look so cute to me that I almost had to punch some air holes in the packaging for them....

I made the necklace (as in made the flowers from Fima clay and strung them all together with little felt leaves) a while ago, but couldn't find the right thing to wear it with.  All those pretty colors don't go with just everything.  But, they do go with my colorful tie dye dress pretty perfectly, don't they?  Happy match.

So, that's my crafty contribution for the day....gotta go mow.  Got rained out yesterday when I was only 1/2 done.

Garden Posies

There is nothing like fresh picked posies in a pretty purple Fiesta vase to make it almost seem like you cleaned your house....almost....well, if you take the pictures outside....

This is the bamboo forest in our backyard...hoping to find a panda there one day.  Otherwise it is a bit of a bother.

And remember how this blog is called HomeBuilding Countdown?  We are about to make some more progress finally.  My latest 'hunt' has been for window trim.  I have been driving around and looking and looking and taking pictures.  Stevie even took pictures in San Francisco for me.
While waiting for her in Bruceton a week ago, I found these and they are almost exactly what I want and after asking the lady on the porch very nicely, I was able to get up close to take the pictures.

Hopefully, mine will feel old and weathered like this, only mine will have scallops to match the scallopy trim that will be in the gable ends of the house.  The first guy I asked about the scallops wanted to know what seafood had to do with finishing the house....he was kidding, right?  He works at Lowes.

We are getting a quote for the rest of the supplies to finish the outside tall parts and we have a contractor lined up to start on Monday.  Hiring a contractor seemed to be a necessary evil for now.  We just don't have a way to get up over the roof to put the 2nd floor siding on.  Grrrr.

Might be a little bit excited again, but need to get the siding and the trim all painted between now and then....back on task!

Who wants to paint?

Mother's Day

This is without a doubt my least favorite holiday of the year.  Always I wanted to be a mother and it just wasn't to be.  Most of the time I can convince myself that I have 'mothered' many over the years in my teaching career....but, this day, all I feel is the empty places.

But, I have a wonderful mother in law who always sends me a Mother's Day card...the only ones I have ever gotten.   She reminds me that I have mothered...

I know what this is even before I open it.

She knows that I love cute animals.

Pretty flowers.

She loves me....and I love her.

...And the empty is a bit filled up.

Another Mother's Day.  Hope yours was full.

Woody Woodpecker...or a close relative

Another rainy day.
I look out the kitchen window and see the big red headed wood pecker across the street sitting on a stump of a tree gone for several years.

Turning the head this way and that.

Hearing what he was listening for, the excavating began.

Since still photos don't really do him justice, I have braved up enough to try a video.  I took it with my camera and am now going to attempt to load it on here for you...cross your fingers and toes!

So, there is something and there absolutely has to be a better way to do this because it took more than 1/2 hour for this to get here and I am afraid to see if it actually does anything.

One last picture and then I will check.  This shows what the stump looked like after he was done doing what he did....flinging things about and gobbling things up.  Amazing.

He had a great and successful hunt!  

Sort of like those places where you can go and eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor.

If it works, and you listen carefully, he says something a couple of different times on the video.

Rainy Days and Tuesdays....

...always make me want to snuggle in with a good read and a crafting project by my side.

The sound of it dripping, dropping, sliding.  The smell of the green-ness and the wet dirt.  The odd greenish yellowish light....

It really is a wonderful gentle rain that is a blessing for the gardens and the grasses.
I hope that God's grace rains down on you in wonderful and gentle ways today.

Yes, snuggling in, perchance to nap!
 
Looks like Skippy Jo Lohr has the same idea....

....well, if I would quit bothering him to take pictures!
That's what he gets for hiding so cutely in my basket!

Ah, Vintage...What? Wait Just a Minute!

The teacher's lounge is the depository for things you don't want anymore.  On any given day you might find old candy, old magazines, old clothes, old teacher treasures....
Today was a treasure day!

You know I love felt and making things out of felt, so when I walked in and saw this laying on the table (which means it is up for grabs, so don't ever lay anything down and go to the bathroom, because it probably won't be there when you get back) and knew it was meant to be mine....

Sweet, right?  A couple of the pages were falling out and they all have that nice vintage yellow and slightly crisp thing going on....you know, where if you bend a page it might break.

Several cool projects and a section on tips and how-to...

For example, one of the tips is:  Knot the end of the thread, unless the directions tell you knot to...oh, I mean Not.  :-)

Now I wanted to know just how special and vintage my book was.  You know that sometimes you find very valuable treasures in most unlikely places.  So, I check the copyright date...

What?  Wait....since when is 1982 vintage?

What comes after vintage?  I am so past vintage!!!!!  Wonder what I am worth????

This whole thing just gave me the giggles.

Are you vintage?