Mosa update - Packages under the tree

Good news on the family critter front.  Back in November we (the vet and I) thought her infected eye ulceration was so bad that her right eye needed to be removed.  After a couple of weeks of antibiotics it had healed up so amazingly well that the surgery was not needed.  She is blind in that eye, but it is completely healed and the whitish haze is getting smaller and fainter.  She had also been scheduled to be spayed, but when she was opened up on the operating table the vet discovered she had already been spayed!  She has a great personality and is very sweet.

Christmas Lights

Several neighbors have commented on how nice it has been to see the house with some lights on it, saying that it is the first time EVER that lights have been put up.  Well - that sure convinces me to put up even more next year!  Definitely candles in the windows, more bushes draped with lights,  maybe the columns wrapped and maybe even icicle lights along the roof..... mmmm......35 feet up - maybe not.

It doesn't look all that big, but the rooms are so big and the ceilings so high, it's hard to tell that this tree is 10 feet tall !!  The 600 lights and many ornaments and candy canes aren't enough - more next year !

Playing King-of-the-Hill

There is an old brick barbecue in the yard.  Cracked and broken as it is, it really needs to be demolished..... but what would the neighbor's goat play on when they all come over to visit, mow the lawn and munch on the wild shrubbery growing on the unkempt fence lines?  Actually because we moved into the house, my neighbor has now fenced in the goats on his property.  They don't have a barbecue to play on in their pen.  Too bad.

Interior pictures

My friend Michelle (not cousin Michelle) asked to see some pictures of the interior of the house.  So lets start with the floor plan.

The original 2 story 4 room house was built in 1859.  The 'family room - dining room - screen porch' was added in 1905, and the 'Kitchen - Laundry Room - Bathroom' was added in 1940.

Dining area & Kitchen

Family room - "World's ugliest paneling & linoleum"

"Parlor" facing the front of the house

"Parlor" opposite side

Foyer - front door

Foyer - stairs

1st floor Guest room - southern yellow pine floor

Guest room - east wall fireplace

2nd floor east bedroom - stove pipe thimble in the wall

Winter Storm

Yesterday our first winter storm arrived.  It was right at the freezing mark all day and last night and  continuing today.  We had rain and freezing rain off and on all day, all night, and today.

Fortunately it was mostly rain and not so much freezing rain so ice did not accumulate too thickly on the trees and power lines.  The lights have stayed on....... so far.

I wish all the seed catalogs that come out at this time of year had already arrived.  Today is a good day to sit by the fireplace or stove, and plan the garden for the spring.

Adopted by a cat

'Mosa' by Brent Brokeshoulder - Hopi

This is Mosa - one of the hundreds of Hopi Indian spirits represented in full costume during certain religious dances and represented in hand carved Katsina dolls made by exceptional artisans.
Mosa is the Hopi word for 'house cat' and they are important and respected in the Hopi culture, well -any culture that grows and stores grain for food.  House cats do what house cats do - keeping the mouse population in check protecting the grain.

'Mosa' the one eyed mouser

This also is Mosa - a 7-12 month old wild female feline who has adopted us (cats adopt you - you don't adopt cats).  She has been around people before - probably before being abandoned, and wants to be affectionate, but has been wild long enough to be very wary and skittish.  She was so skinny and scrawny and had a badly infected eye when she showed up.  A little food on the porch kept her around on and off for a couple of days until she made up her mind to stay.  She was meowing insistently at the back door and marched right in when I opened it.  In and out, back and forth, here and gone for several more days until she would let us scratch her behind the ears and purr like mad - but not touch her otherwise.  I managed to corral her - not without a few scratches - and got her to the vet.  I knew she was already blind in the infected eye, which the vet confirmed.  It needs to be removed.  We have had her on antibiotics to clear up the infections, had her wormed, and are scheduled for the eye surgery and spaying next week.  She is eating, gaining weight and becoming less skittish every day.  Now she sleeps on the blanket on the couch right next to you instead of off in a protected corner somewhere.  She is a welcome addition to the household despite the fact that this 'free' cat will cost about $400.00 by the time all is said and done.

Halloween Pumpkins

Here are this year's pumpkins I carved.  I haven't done this for awhile I warmed up on the not so difficult witch before tackling the more advanced skull.  Carving out all the teeth without breaking through the small ribs in between was a challenge.  I could not have done that one without the assortment of specialty knives I have for doing decorative Thai style fruit carving for fancy arrangements.