Alien Spouse

Focus.

Another picture from Saturday morning which, again, illustrates the magic of human eyeballs.

This is a photo taken through the Mini's glass sunroof of the ice crystals that had formed rather charmingly on it. My eyes were easily able to focus on them, and see them as white - but I could not get the camera's auto-focus to understand what I wanted it to look at; so it sensibly decided it must be the tree branches overhead. The ice crystals that are the most in focus also look dark grey against the blue sky, instead of the frosty mix of white and clear that they looked like to me.

That's ok Little Camera, it's still a pretty picture!

Flame Coloured Leaves.

This tree is right next to the main entrance to my building and it's easy not to notice for most of the day, because it's not until the sun moves around behind it in the laste afternoon that you really get the effect of the whole tree being aflame. Then you notice.

The Mouse Returns.

sigh.

So in the early hours of the morning I was woken up by Doc C getting up to go and see what was going on downstairs, because he'd been woken up by the loud squeaks and the sound of thundering paws.

Pinky the mouse was back.

This time we left them to it, because if a mouse really has that little instinct for self-preservation there is really not much you can do for it. We didn't get much sleep though, because it was a pretty lively mouse and they were running around for hours. Anyone who uses the phrase "cat-like" to mean quiet has clearly never lived with a cat.

At one point the noise suddenly stopped, and I came down to see if the mouse was dead so I could stop them eating it. It wasn't dead, it had merely wedged itself under the heater, so Edith was just sitting there playing wack-a-mole with it. It did sneak past her though and then I got to see both of the cats working as a team to corner it; which was pretty impressive, if you managed to ignore the fact that they were toying with a live creature.

By the time we got up (which was something like two hours late because we overslept), the mouse was lying on it's back but still breathing. I scooped it up into a vase, and we detoured on our way to work to drop it off in a wooded area near the river. I don't know if it's going to live, but at least if it does it won't get back into the house and go through all this again.

Making Halloween, Making Halloween - La, la, la It's almost here!

Last week I bought some very elegant willow branches to arrange in a vase with a few whisps of cobweb, but it really didn't have much of a visual impact. Yesterday it occured to me that I wanted to make it a much bigger, and wilder.

 So I went outside to collect small fallen branches from the maple tree at the front of our house, and added those to my arrangement. It looks as though I have a winter tree growing out of my bookcase now.

That's much more what I was hoping for!

Birds and Other Animals.

This is the bird feeder (that's what it was labelled anyway - but I think it makes a better bird bath than a bird feeder, because surely it's just going to fill up with water when it rains?) I bought in Old Salem yesterday, the shell is about the size of a hand and the little metal bird is probably a little bit smaller than life size.  It was only ten bucks! Score!

So far the birds have totally ignored it, but that's hardly surprising as it has nothing in it.

This is right next to our now empty seed holder, which Doc filled up on Thursday and which was then systematically emptied by the cheeky chipmunk that lives under our house. This morning I saw a squirrel hanging on the empty feeder - Sorry Nutkin, too slow! The chipmunk is quick and efficient!

Being animal-loving softies we are secretly rooting for the chipmunk, and so we didn't chase it away or remove the feeder when we saw what it was up to. Of course that doesn't mean we are going to refill that feeder any time soon, the chipmunk has more than enough to last it for quite some time and the birds won't really need our help until it snows.

 

Sadly, there is a down-side to being animal loving softies.  Apparently when you rescue a mouse from certain death at the jaws of your cat and release it from the front door, what the ungrateful wretch then does is run round to the back of the house and climb back in through the tumble dryer duct. I know this because I saw a mouse sitting in the middle of the downstairs bathroom when I got up this morning, and I am pretty damn certain it was the same mouse from last night.

I called Edith, who naturally ignored me completely, but when I got her and carried her into the bathroom she pretty soon figured out what I was trying, in my moronic human way, to tell her. The mouse slipped away under the washing machine, and Edith so has been on high alert ever since. She has been patrolling downstairs and checking all the likely places a mouse might hide, including a very close examination of under the sofa. She is very thorough.
If I were this mouse I would get the hell out of here, but, seeing as it came right back to where it was caught last night and then just sat in the open where even a dopey human could see it, I'm assuming it's Pinky and not The Brain.

Chocolate Frogs and Fat Little Chipmunks.

It's Fall Break, and my Department Chair said I could close the office! So I did and I have had a really fun day!

First of all I woke up really late because I'd turned off my alarm, then Doc C made pancakes. After that I had a shower and got dressed, before spending what was left of the morning making chocolate frogs and spiders. I am very pleased with how they look, I hand-painted the molds with different colours of candy melt to get the markings; the problem is that we only had chocolate chips in the house, so the texture is wrong. As everything I read about molding chocolate had predicted, the chocolates are just too soft and melt to easily. Well, I've bought some different chocolate to experiment with, so suppose that means I'll have to taste test chocolate all over again. Deep sigh.

After that I practised applying my new mineral make-up, watched the first episode in the new "Psych" season and finished making the party invitations.

We also spent a fair amount of time today watching the chipmunk that lives under our house. It discovered the bird seed that Doc C had left on the porch for it (the man is such a softy, but don't tell him I said that), the chipmunk had to make two trips and ludicrously overstuff it's cheeks to transport all the food back to it's nest, but that is a very determined little rodent. Edith was fascinated, and very excited.
Later I looked out if the kitchen window to see (probably the same) chipmunk swinging from the bird feeder. Again it did this a few times, so I got to watch it shimmy up the feeder's metal stand and then leap across to the feeder. It was pretty impressive.

Now I'm watching "Alien" (1979), eating smoked salmon pizza and drinking pumpkin beer.

It's been a bloody nice day.

Autumn Morning.

There are some mornings when both of your precious darling cats have thrown up in various places, and, whilst you clean that up, the kitchen fills with smoke because your breakfast bagel has burnt in the toaster.

It is particularly important on those mornings to take a deep breath, and also to appreciate a moment of unexpected beauty when you walk around a corner to see misty sunlight shining on autumn leaves.

Trees Within Trees.

Over the weekend we went for a walk, and Doc C spotted a large tree which has two fir tree saplings growing out of the fork. It's a beautiful adoptive tree family!

Turning Colours.

Autumn! Woot! Woot!

Red and Black.

You have got to appreciate working in an office where people bring you flowers.

One of our faculty has a side line in floristry, so these were originally bridesmaid's bouquets from a wedding this weekend. I do think this arrangement is lovely, but I will admit that the minute I saw the red and black colour scheme I knew that I would be using them after they had wilted as part of my Halloween decoration scheme.

Yay for multi-tasking flowers!

Nero Greenback Visits Appalachia.

When we were walking yesterday I was taking photos of tree roots, and I notices a fuzzy white caterpillar. I think this is a picture of it's head, but I'm not really positive of that.

Anyway, I think it's Baron Greenback's evil pet, Nero, or at least a close relative. Could someone in London pop a note in Danger Mouse's letter box please, or perhaps e-mail Penfold?

(By the way I made none of these jokes at the time because Doc C has never seen "Danger Mouse". I know! Can you imagine?)

Action Day!

With the internet being down all weekend, you have missed out on my blogging about some truly epic napping, but after a very restful couple of days I did actually do something on Monday. It being the 4th of July I had the day off, and I woke up with the urge to do something new and exciting, like go to the climbing tower in town, and climb to the top of it.

So I did.

I did quite well on the sloped wall, and scrambled up the green route (on the left) and the blue route (that I'm at the top of on the right!), but the straight wall was a lot more challenging.

I got quite close to the top of the straight wall when a grasshopper-type insect jumped out of the hand-hold I was reaching for and landed on my face. I had no idea that a jumping insect without wings could get so high, so frankly it freaked me out a bit and I decided to come down. Well, it was a combination of the insect, not being able to work where next to put my hands or feet, and this being my third climb of the day which meant my arms were getting tired; all of which which left me feeling suddenly not very confident up there. So I came down before I got too over-whelmed, but I fully intend to go back and get to the top next time!

After that I suggested to Doc C that we go for a nice gentle hike around our favourite local lake, and that was very pleasant too.

All in all it was an action packed day, and that was well before the major thunderstorm or any of the various fireworks displays.

Bright Eye, Dumb Bunny.

Before dinner yesterday Doc C and I went for a stroll around a local lake. There were many geese, a few ducks and a couple of rabbits.

I particularly love that rabbits can sometimes be convinced that they are completely hidden by the bright green grass around them; so much so that they will happily sit there and eat dandlion leaves whilst I take photos of them. Bunnies may be disapproving and suspicious of everything, but they are not the brainiest of creatures (actually we have a theory that Nancy is part rabbit).

Soft-Shells.

OH MY GOD!

The neighbours across the pond from us, the people who are only here for a couple of months over the summer, were just shooting air rifles and fireworks at the ducks and geese. Apparently they've been doing this every summer for several years, to try and scare the birds away permanently but it just hasn't worked.

Why would anyone do that?

I mean quite apart from the fact that it's really noisy, scares the hell out of our cats and our next-door-neighbour's dog, AND they were aiming the fireworks in the general direction of our house; why do they get to evict the wildlife from a perfectly nice pond? Why live next to a bloody pond if you don't like wild fowl being on it? What is the point? And who the hell made them king of the world?

Aaaahhhh! People are just horrible sometimes.

Naturally, being British, I just went outside and stared at them with my hands on my hips until they went back into their house again, but I'm sure that being given a disapproving look won't do much long term difference to their attitude.

Does anyone know of a good goose or duck translation of "The Foxbusters"? I think we could do with some of the Ransome, Simms and Jeffries spirit around here.

Violent Blossoms.

Doc C asked me to take some photos of the exterior of his department's building. Whilst art directing for the shoot, Doc was particularly insistent I get some of this tree which has such gorgeously vibrant blossom.

I have tweaked the photo in Picnik, so this is actually a toned down version of the visual assault this cascade of colours is when you really look at it for long enough.

Painfully gorgeous.

Repetitively Beautiful.

I'm aware that I've been taking fewer pictures than usual, but it's that age old complaint: It's been snowing since the dawn of time & everything looks the same every bloody day.

With that in mind, please forgive a second photo of the Stick Cockerel in the snow. This one is different though, because there is a bit less snow so Mr Stick himself isn't frosted and you can see bird tracks around him. Plus there is a pinkish tinge from the setting sun.

Did I mention the snow?

Tree Buds and Video Games.

We went out for brunch this morning, and then went for a walk to work it off again.

I noticed there were several trees in bud, which is really shortsighted on the part of the trees because we are expecting another bad cold snap next week. I was taking photos of the buds when Doc C pointed out a really tiny nest. We couldn't work out if it was a bird nest or an insect nest, but it's pretty impressive that it's so well built that it has survived the whole winter so far.

Then we came home and I had a lovely nap with Edith in the loft.  Then Doc C napped with both cats whilst I played "Little Big Planet 2", and it is SO cool. There is an whole level made of cake, Batternburg Cake, where you can grab and throw blobs of jam. Plus there is another great soundtrack, which includes the disco classic "A Fifth of Beethoven" which is so damn funky.

It has been a fun Saturday.

Winter Sunset.

On the way home some enormous fluffy snowflakes landed on the windscreen and you could see the pattern of the ice crystals really clearly.  I tried to take a photo, but it was really difficult to focus on it so the white spec that I actually captured in the shot turned out to be the moon.

I still had my camera out when we hit the stretch of road that faces the sunset in the evening.  So I snapped some pictures of the gorgeous orangey pink horizon instead.  It's definitely one thing that North Carolina does really very well, and I particularly like the colours against the monotones of the telegraph wires, the mountains and the snow.

Yes, if it wasn't for that bloody Hot Tub sign on the right I'd be really quite chuffed with this photo.

Golf Course in a Bowl.

This is the terrarium that Amy and I gave to the department chair.  We commissioned the terrarium from a small business in Asheville and then added in the mini golf accoutrements because, well, he's a golfer.

The best part is that it only needs 1/8 of a cup of water once a year, and only needs indirect light.

In fact, upon reflection, it's the perfect house plant for me too.  How could I possibly kill something which comes cocooned in it's own micro-climate?

Little House in the Snow.

We did walk around the pond today, so technically I have actually left the house.  The house in this photo is our house, and that little red dot to the left is the Mini.

The pond has, as you can see, frozen over and I really hope the fish are ok.  They must be used to this though, right?

 

 

The Cat in Winter.

Doc C took Edith outside for a few minutes yesterday morning, naturally he got bored well before she did. For one thing because she's admirably prepared for such weather with a luxurious fur coat which keeps her toasty warm, and for another she's very vain and knows how gorgeous she looks against white.  

I suspect this is how she was given the distinctly snowy name of Mrs Zhivago, because if any cat would look good snuggled up to Julie Christie in a horse drawn sleigh it would be our Edith.

Gorilla and Leaves.

Today has just been damn weird.

For example I was updating some contracts when I saw in my peripheral vision that someone walking out of the building had stopped in my office doorway.  I looked up to see a person dressed in a gorilla suit, with a red baseball cap and a shoulder bag.  The gorilla huffed at me, and then walked off.

Which was odd.

Anyway...

Aren't these leaves pretty?  The photo doesn't really give you the full impact of the bright red foliage and black branches against the blue sky.

Countdown to Halloween: Twenty Three Days

We happen to live in a place that's famously beautiful at this time of year, so much so that we actually get tourists who are referred to as "Leaf Lookers".  This being a particularly nice day I was taking some photos of the late afternoon sun shining through the autumn leaves.

Then I spotted the newly spun spiders web catching the light, and looking very much like my beaded cardigan from yesterday.  When you see a new web they look so delicate and pretty it seems ironic they are so intrinsically linked with haunted houses.

However, when I moved to try and get a better shot, I then saw the main web.

 
Oh right, well now that you mention it, that is really creepy.

Cat in the Rain.

Taking the cats out for a walk is definitely more fun for them then it is for me, because they don't really do very much apart from eat grass and sniff things; but they move just fast enough and just far enough away to stop me from reading a book or something.

Last night I tried walking both cats at the same time, and, of course, they each wanted to go in the opposite direction to the other.  It was not fun for any of us, so I brought them back in and Edith threw a tantrum.  I'm not kidding!  She miaowed, she clawed at the door, she threw herself on the floor, she tried to push the screen off the window and finally tried to climb up the window frame.  It was quite a display.  Doc asked if I really thought taking her outside was such a good idea after all.

But I still do, because for one thing I know that Doc wants to be able to let the cats out by themselves when we live somewhere suitable with a private garden or something.  When that does eventually become a possibility I will just feel a lot more comfortable if I've been able to see them outside on the lead first, and be 100% certain they know how to get home before I'll trust them out there by themselves.

Anyway, this evening it was raining and had been all day - So I thought Edith wouldn't want to be out there for very long, because she hates water.  And that assumption would be wrong.  Apparently Edith hates water unless it's rain, and that's a very important distinction clearly.  Good thing I'd put on my new raincoat and wellies, because we were out there for a while.  The thing's I'll do for these cats.

By the way, I edited this picture in Picnik and added in the watery texture that way, which is a new effect that I love.  That's pretty much what it looked like for me anyway, I'm just pleased none got on the camera lens itself.

Disposable Beauty.

If you have the breakfast buffet at the Hilton Garden Inn's restaurant, then you get a fresh orchid on your plate.  I suppose that's a nice touch, but it just seemed sad to me to me to see all of these beautiful flowers being treated as so disposable.

I did consider wearing this one behind my ear for the rest of the day, but the stem was far too short and the colours would have clashed horribly with my red t-shirt.

So I took a picture, because it lasts longer.

Stupid Spiders.

I didn't go running this morning, but I did get up early to do some yoga and after breakfast Doc C and I went for a walk; so I feel like I've had some exercise.

We then went shopping for a few things; mainly I wanted an extension cable and a clip lamp for the loft, but we also had to get some sort of bug spray.  I've currently got three large bites on my right leg and they are itchy as hell, Doc C suspects spiders.  I am most annoyed by this, because I am nice to spiders damn it!  I try not to damage their webs (unless they are in really stupid places that I can't avoid) and I regularly rescue them from the bath.  Why would they turn on me like this?  Actually I wouldn't really care if the bites didn't itch for days, that's the bit the I hate.

Anyway, Doc won't have me being snacked on and the cats are showing no aptitude for spider hunting, so bug spray it is.  sigh.

We Just Need a Title To Create Some Buzz.

Over the summer the University campus plays host to a number of different associations and camps.

This week we have both Cheerleader Camp and the Eastern Apicultural Society Conference (a helpful e-mail explained that this would involve beekeepers, and several swarms of their charges, congregating on a lawn close to my office).  This means we have both overly excitable teenage girls and hives of bees within fairly close proximity to each other.

I don't know who is in charge of scheduling these things, but clearly they have never seen a low budget horror movie.

Double Duck Tail.

Aren't ducks just the most ridiculous of creatures?  I love it when they decide to trade being somewhat graceful for the indignity of sticking their tail feathers up in the air whilst they scrabble for weed. 

Where are you pigeon? I am looking for you

It was ridiculously warm and humid, and it was just too stuffy in our bedroom for us to be able to sleep there.  So we slept on the futon in the study-slash-spare bedroom, actually Edith sleeps down there quite often because it's the coolest room in the house.

We had the windows open, and Nancy hauled herself onto the window frame to have a nice stare out.  Just after we turned off the light and were settling down, I caught the unmistakable whiff of skunk.  It was really strong, so it must have been just outside the house.

I think that the Pepe Le Peu cartoons were in actual fact wildlife documentaries, and that last night Monsieur Skunk, besotted with Nancy, was trying to woo her with his distinctive aftershave.  Nancy was having none of it, and ran away from the horrible stench as fast as her stubby little legs would carry her.  Poor skunk.

And poor us.  It was not at all easy to fall asleep in the circumstances.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird - Profile Shot.

The problem with getting a decent photo of a Hummingbird is that they don't stay still long enough for me to be able to focus the camera properly.

Bird v. Butterfly

The summer's Hummingbird action is really picking up, we have two or three regulars now at our nectar stations; including one very tiny but territorial Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)who thinks the hanging feeder is his exclusive nectar supply. It’s not unusual to see miniature mid-air dog-fights between the birds, and we were actually wondering if it might be part of their courtship routine because there is one particular female who he keeps a particularly close eye on.

This evening our feisty Red-Throated Baron got annoyed at a big orange Butterfly and kept zooming around the poor thing to get it off the feeder.  The Butterfly was having none of it.  Not only did it twitch it’s wings to try and keep the bird away, but once forced to fly off it started dive-bombing the bird instead!

It was amazing to watch!  Particularly as neither combatant was much bigger than my thumb.  Which reminds me, after seeing the “courtship” rumble, I looked up some info on the Ruby-Throats and their eggs are pea-sized.  PEA-SIZED!  The eggs are laid in a nest the size of a walnut.  A WALNUT!

That is so adorable I may need to have a nap.

Announcement.

Dear Humming Birds of North Carolina,

Both of the nectar feeding stations on our balcony have been washed and re-filled with fresh delicious nectar. Please feel free to join us for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Perhaps even a quick snack!  We would love to see you!

Kind Regards,

Jen Alien-Spouse and Doc C

Cat and Flowers.

Anyway. 

Here is Nancy looking at some pretty yellow flowers.

Frozen Custard.

After my haircut we walked two or three doors down to the Custard Depot, which opened this weekend.  We've been waiting for it to open for a few months, so this was a very exciting afternoon. 

At the moment they only have three flavours; chocolate, vanilla or butter pecan.  Doc got vanilla with Oreo crumbled on top and I had chocolate with a chopped up peppermint patty.  We sat on the bench outside the shop to eat our custard, and it was so delicious.

I also noticed that the cup the custard was served in was made from biodegradable corn plastic, and so was the spoon.  The owner came out to chat to us, and he was telling us that all of the businesses on that street are working together to be greener.

This may well be our new go to place for emergency desert.

Strawberry Flower.

Doc C's plants are doing really well, and we've already been able to eat one of the strawberries from this plant.  

As you can see we are now waiting for a couple more of the berries to ripen, whilst some other have yet to ditch their petals and get fruity. 

Nancy Squirms.

Nancy is clearly delighted that it's summer again, because she adores sunshine and she particularly loves being allowed out onto the porch to sniff everything. Here Nancy is doing her squirm of joy to celebrate, not only her being outside, but Edith not being.  Yay!  Nancy is the only cat on the porch!

At the moment every time any of us go onto the porch there are a pair of Cardinals that go crazy cheeping their disapproval at us, but, hey, they are the ones who chose to build their nest right next to our house.  The really funny thing is that I'm certain the cats wouldn't even notice them if it wasn't for all the noise they make warning us off.  

Proto-Blossom and Blue Skies.

She's Got It.

My Venus Flytrap is still very small, so it can't quite take on hornets or cave crickets yet; but it has caught something.  That little black dot in the middle of the picture is a small beetle type thing, at least I think it is.

Saturday Night.

When last we spoke I mentioned having bought plants, and the saga continues with Doc C carefully re-potted all three of my Peace Lillies for me.  We'd bought them nice new matching pots and Doc lovingly added some manure to make them feel at home, and then we packed them all in the back of the car to drop off at my office on the way to bowling.  At the first sharp corner the largest lily took a dive, knocked over the medium lily and spilled wet manure all over the back of the car.  The Doc was not what you might call pleased about this.  There may have been some swearing.  We carried on, I was sort of reaching around the driver's seat to hold the plant up for the rest of the journey and we surveyed the situation once we got to the office.  Fortunately only the large lily had really lost any soil, but it was still an impressive amount.  We scooped up as much as we could and packed it back into the pot, so hopefully when I go into work on Wednesday all the plants will be none the worse for their little adventure.

After this skirmish with inanimate flora, we went bowling and I won the first round!  It was extremely satisfying, but I lost whatever luck/skill/knack by the next round and came last with a score of less than half of my first one.  Ah well, that's how these things happen with me, I find.  It would probably help if the bowling alley served alcohol, because I find that after two beers my snooker/pool playing improves tremendously, and I'm pretty sure my bowling would as well.

Then we moved onto watch "The Big Lebowski" which was really fun, the cinema has been bought out by new management and they are really trying to encourage people to eat by putting out tables and chairs instead of rows of seats, and having waitresses come to take orders and get you re-fills whilst you are enjoying the film.  One waitress was on rollerskates, which was particularly cool.  Somehow I'd never previously seen the whole of "The Big Lebowski", and it was really fun seeing it on a big screen surrounded by fans who were quoting their favourite parts of the script as they came up.  Usually I hate talking in cinemas, but that's usually because it indicated the people chatting aren't really watching and that lack of respect for the film itself and for other audience members really bugs me; however, when it's fans clearly loving every moment of a film they love, well, how can you be cross about that?  I find it very endearing actually!  Or that good will towards all fellow audience members might have been because the cinema was also serving White Russians, and I find those to be a tasty and enjoyable cocktail.

Peace Lily

Today Doc C was on a mission to get some plants for the balcony, and whilst we were there I chose three Peace Lillies in different size for my office. 

Peace Lillies are supposed to be very resilient and easy to care for; but I killed the one I had in Brighton by using it as an integral component of the Feng Shui re-design of my bedroom.  Yes, I killed a Peace Lilly by putting it in my relationship corner.  On balance it was probably because that corner of the room never got any light, and I was bad at remembering to water the poor thing; but still!  I briefly nurtured a superstitious conviction that this meant I was doomed to a life as a crazy cat lady!

This was, of course, before I met Doc C.  I had a much more resilient bamboo growing there quite happily by the time we met.

Spring is in the air and...

..The Tree-Car is starting to bud!

I am not even joking.

Tie a Yellow Ribbon.

The storms this winter have wreaked havoc on the trees around here, and we have quite a lot on campus.

Over the past few days the landscaping crew have been assessing the trees and putting yellow caution tape on any tree that looked particularly badly damaged with dodgy branches still hanging on.

Which gives the appearance of an active crime scene after a tree-hating psychopath has done their worst.

Well, it does if you've been watching far too many cop shows recently.

Tree Car - Month Three.

The tree car art installation is still evolving, it's now a tree car snow drift.

And here is the artistic process in gif form:

Make your own animation

Soppy Valentine's Day!

As tasty as bread can be, I think we do need a bit more of a traditionally romantic photo as well; so here is a pretty flower, with Picnik's bokeh heart-shaped filter over it.

Blooms in Winter.

There are more snow storms predicted for the next couple of days, and we've still got a couple of feet from the weekend.

Fortunately Doc C planned ahead, and his window boxes are inside.  These flowers are gorgeous little bursts of colour against the monochrome winter landscape.

A Splash of Colour.

I am back in the office after my Christmas break, and I must admit to having that Monday morning feeling when I woke up today.

So, here is a photo I took in Boston of a gorgeous bunch of balloons in a wintery tree.

It just seemed apt somehow.

Snowed In (Not Really, But What The Hell!)

So, did you hear that it snowed?   

It really did!  A lot!  In fact we got snowed into our house; well, ok some spoilsport did actually snowplough our road, so technically I think we could get out with a bit of effort.  However, I studiously avoided noticing that; and did my best to distract Doc from noticing either, so we stayed inside all day today.  Yay!

We slept late, Skyped my lovely Mum, ate very well, watched Hulu ("Dollhouse" is so rocking, I still cannot believe that Fox cancelled it.  Damn you Fox! *shakes fist at sky*) and allowed the cats to spend the entire day alternating between our laps.  I also did a lot of knitting, whilst Doc C did a lot of reading.

I did take photos, of course, and I particularly loved the shots I got of the birdfeeder in use.  We're weren't 100% sure what this bird was, but our best guess is a woodpecker; what say you?

A Very Quiet Halloween.

Halloween was really quiet around here.  Doc left the front door open (The screen door kept the cats in and the bugs out), and set up a bowl of sweets on our wooden footstool with the small pumpkin.  He put his wig on whilst he was in the front room working on lectures and kept telling me to keep an ear out for trick-or-treaters.

But nobody came.  sigh.

The Doc was visibly disappointed.  I don't think there are that many families with kids of the right age around here.  Actually that's probably not a bad thing anyway, because Doc had taken the massive bowl of sweets into one of his lessons and the gannets had eaten everything except the tootsie rolls and the candy corn; so if there had been trick-or-treaters we wouldn't have had much to offer them. Instead we turned off all the lights to watch a couple of the cheesy movies I bought in Walgreen's.  I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed them both, but Doc felt they were lacking in actual horror.  Which is probably why they suited me down to the ground.

The spookiest thing that happened was that neither of us realised that today was daylight savings, so some of our clocks changed automatically and some didn't and that is always somewhat disconcerting. Well that, and two different birds have flown against the living room window today.  What is that about?  Birds flying into stuff is never a good omen, but atleast both of them survived the collision and the cats are having a lovely time waiting for one to actually make it through the glass into the room.

And Now The Weather.

Look a picture!  And I even edited it and put in those fun cloud graphics!

So when I was last in the office it was in the 70s, and the sky was blue.

Today it has been misty.

This weekend there is snow predicted.

Exactly how long have I been asleep?

Squirrel Frenzy.

Doc got a new bird feeder, which the birds love, but they are messy little whatsits and spill sunflower seeds everywhere.

When I got up to feed the cats this morning, I noticed that there was a squirrel having breakfast on our balcony tidying up all the seeds the birds had thrown around.

The cats were totally oblivious.

I sat down to watch Nutkin, and Edith came over to me to get some attention.  As she was prancing around me, she happened to look out of the window and suddenly froze.  Edith had seen the squirrel.

Edith waited until the squirrel turned it's back and then commando crawled across the floor to the window.  Nutkin saw her, but pretty soon worked out Edith couldn't reach him and carried on eating.  By this time Nancy had noticed Edith's rapt attention and had joined her by the window. Both cats were chattering in frustration, and pressed up against the glass in the hope that this time they would find a way through.  Edith was even scanning the walls, I think just in case she'd missed a hole or something over the past year of living here. 

It was easily the most entertaining half hour I've had this week.