There’s A Large Mammal in the....

...pantry. OK, how come in a house that is only 15 years old there are as many mice as there were in the old house? It’s turned cold and the dirty little runners are messing up my pantry shelves. We took several cups of dog food out of a kitchen drawer this week!

...compost Pile. What on earth does Maggie think is so great about rooting around in old apple peels and broccoli stems? I don’t put any meat products in there, but she still thinks it’s great fun to stick her nose in and sample the decomposition.

...kitchen. Behind the stove to be exact. Our dear little kitty, V-8, is seventeen years old. Where does a seventeen-year-old cat sleep? Anywhere she wants. She’s losing her mind we think; acting very odd. Instead of being a seldom seen cat who had two favorite spots in the entire house, she is now trying out various locations to see which she likes best. For a while she insisted on sleeping in the kitchen sink. That was interesting, since she was a sink-sleeper as a kitten (second childhood?).

face to face with V-8

Then she took to climbing on top of a high "chimney cupboard" (a large old-fashioned dresser) and sleeping there. The only problem was that I had a large pile of mailing supplies there, and she had to climb up and down over the spare computer. She made quite a mess, but we just kept padding things and waiting for her to change her mind again. She did.

Three days ago I was in the kitchen and thought I heard a mouse behind the stove. Later I heard it again, but decided it was way too big to be a mouse. So I crawled under the microwave table and tried to paste the side of my head to the wall so I could aim an eyeball behind the stove. Guess who? I found myself starting at a little gray butt with a long tail. It’s V-8's new hidey-hole. A little disconcerting to hear something that large behind the kitchen appliances, but I’m sure she’ll change spots again soon.

...living Room. Omer is happily stringing lights on the Christmas tree.

What's better than turkey on Thanksgiving? Turkey again four days later says Josh Schuyler!

Om's new tree and Christmas PJs

Omer is happy. We got the Christmas tree yesterday. He's modeling his new Christmas PJs too. Got a tip from a friend where to buy blue spruce for $10. The shape is rather eclectic... it might win "most asymmetrical" as an award, but who will care when it's all decorated?

Fluffy snow falling on the wheels by the driveway

I just had to try the skis! I thought the snow might be too sticky, but thanks to 25 degree weather it was fine. The trails haven't had their final fall mowing yet, so it wasn't always smooth going, but what fun! I'm as awkward as ever on skis, but I enjoy it. And part of this post's raison d'etre is to learn how to put a caption on a picture. So I got that to work, but the pix is too big and the text doesn't wrap around it. Maybe next time!

Huge, fluffy snowflakes falling on what's left from yesterday that didn't quite all melt. I might even be able to put on the skis today! I mended my falling apart ski boots with Shoe Goo, and want to see how that holds up. Must work before play though, must...

We had Thanksgiving dinner with Joan and Dan Woodhead. I make the pie and Joan cooks all the rest. Who can beat that? Josh went with us and their youngest son, Matt, was home from college too. Dan plays the piano very well, and I talked him into a private concert of some Scott Joplin tunes, and a Chopin waltz. Real pianists don't like to play unless they can be perfect, but he was gracious and humored me!

When we got home I checked the T-day sale flyers and some storage boxes that I wanted, but thought were too expensive, were on sale at 40% off. That's more like it!

A quiet day... and we ARE thankful!

noon

Just took Maggie for her morning walk. She was excited about the new snow too! "Play" was the key word. I want to try posting a picture to this blog structure, so you get to see Maggie too. She can be a clown! We didn't see a rabbit, but she almost looks like one herself. And I'm happy to finally have a picture that caught her ears flying in happy dog ecstasy.

10 am The kitchen is filled with the sweet and spicy aroma of the baking apple pie. Today was also the first snowfall of the season. A quiet blanket covers the browning grass, making everything still- silvery and shining. The sun is beginning to burn through now, so I suppose the snow will be gone in a couple of hours, but it has been a beautiful entrance for this day of Thanks.

I'm really just checking this out as an option to do the news on Get Off the Couch as a blog. I want people to be able to comment on the news, and I wouldn't mind getting some Ad revenue from it too. Meanwhile, it's Thanksgiving today, and I have an apple pie to bake, and some other web site work to do before I can play around with this. This blog is really a continuation of my Xanga site. So if you want the prequel go to Sharkbytes on Xanga