The past week was a busy one for us, not in major projects but many small ones. Christmas Day was celebrated at Heart House with Pam’s sister Becky. A new kitten showed up in the catio. Follow along as I review the past week.
The high point of the week was Christmas Day. Becky came over from Greene to help us celebrate. In addition to opening presents, Pam made an excellent meal and we all enjoyed the afternoon. Here are a few photos of the event.
A few other Christmas photos were taken during the week. These represent gifts we ordered for ourselves. (Brother Craigie will no doubt appreciate the Crocs. The kittens enjoy the snowflake jibbits.)
All in all, a good Christmas day for us. I hope yours was equally good!
Normally we leave the holiday decorations up until after the new year begins, but we decided to take advantage of the mild weather, with temps in the mid-30s, to take them down. One never knows when the next polar vortex will arrive.
The last decoration to come down will be the tree in the Media Room. That will happen in the next few days and the holidays will be over for this year.
Tasks completed this week: Monday was a snow shoveling day, having received about 3 inches overnight. Tuesday was grocery shopping day. Wednesday I installed the new lockset in the back door. This went easier than I had expected, as we decided not to modify the door jamb to accept the lockset’s deadbolt. (There is a separate deadbolt installed on the door that we have been using when we lock up.) Only a small modification to the door was needed to accomodate the slightly longer face plate.
Other small jobs included servicing the humidifier that is part of the furnace. The overflow drain hose was plugged and had to be replaced. A trip to the local hardware store yielded a new hose. An “evaporative pad” is on order. The furnace filter was changed out as well.
The John Deere had developed a tire that kept going flat so a trip to the tire shop was in order. While the tire was being repaired I rebuilt the tire chain on that side. It had caught on something and had torn two of the cross links. The tractor is now ready to work the next snowfall.
I’m going to take a minute and talk about the cats that roam our Elma neighborhood. We have Cloudy Day, an old cat brought with us from Colorado, who keeps to the catio when the weather is bad. We consider Cloudy “our cat.” However, other cats come and go and they consume a fair bit of food. These include black cat Nat (named after Nat King Cole), King (a siamese mix named after the King of Siam), Autumn (full name: Autumn Calico, named after her coloring), Punky (full name: Pumpkin Pie, named after his coloring), and Melly (short for Melody.) This week a new kitten showed up. More on that in Pam’s Penny.
The upcoming week looks to be pretty quiet on the weather front. No major storms are in the forecast. Thursday an appliance repairman from Cresco will be in-house to look at the Kenmore stove, because just after holiday cookie baking the oven element stopped working. The trip fee and hourly fee for the repairman is substantial, then add parts; hopefully the remedy involves appliance repair and not replacement.
Photo Archive
I am including a few miscellaneous photos taken over the years.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
Do we need another outdoor cat? Nope. However, when providing food and water for roaming cats, it’s just a matter of time before the odd kitten (and occasional pregnant cat) will show up. I named this little tabby female Solstice in honor of her seasonal arrival. Her general coloration suggests Solstice might be from the same genetic pool as Elmo. (Elmo showed up at Heart House one summer evening several years ago at much the same age – approx. 5 months. )
What is Solstice’s back story? She’s tame, friendly. A Christmas present someone didn’t want? Nobody ever comes looking for these strays. Guess she’s ours. I’m hoping Solstice and Cloudy come to some arrangement re: sharing the catio, cause I’m not currently interested in another indoor kitten.
Happy Trails.