Another of My Favorite Things

How ADOORable is this?

The Bat Relocation Program

Gentle Reader,

I realize I may have been a little harsh in my description of the treatment of the bats that had taken up residence in our home. I know the place was vacant for such a long time, the bats assumed it was abandoned and thus, available for occupancy. Bats actually eat their weight in insects every night and that includes a whole lotta mosquitos...which of course is a great service to all of us because it keeps the nasty West Nile virus in check.

I really didn't mind the bats per se except for that one time when I was snuggled into my bed, just dozing off to sleep, and one flew into my face. I will admit to a little panicked flailing and maybe even some exclamations of surprise and dismay. But other than that I reacted with complete decorum and dignity.

We wanted to work with the bats--find a way for all of us to get along. You know "you catch my mosquitos, I'll let you live"... a "win-win" for everyone. So, we called in a mediator. A professional in this field. A "Wildlife Specialist" if you will...that's what his business card said anyway. This Condoleeza Rice of the animal kingdom came to our home and assessed the situation. Of course he came at DUSK, because that was the only time that worked for the bats. (They keep some crazy hours those bats.) The bats were happy to move to the new home we provided for them (see above picture). And we have all been living HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

Hidden Treasure

Come with me on a journey of mystery and intrigue. To a world of hidden cupboards and trapdoors. Come with me to a place we call: THE PANTRY!





You see here an ordinary looking cabin pantry. Some cupboards, some canned corn, some Campbell's soup. But what lurks beneath?
AH HA! A trapdoor!








Hmmm....what is this? The proverbial "rats nest"! The cabin's resident vermin found a cozy spot for their home--hidden away in the secret cupboard.

Here they kept their secret stash of peanuts.











Apparently, the mice were guarding the hidden safe! (The mouse you see died of natural causes--I think.) I vacuumed everything with the shop vac and I could see something back there and it made a loud clunking sound as it went up the hose but I didn't realize it was a dead mouse until I looked at the pictures later--ick. Let's assume he died in the line of duty: working the night shift on guard duty.

So, there ends our story-- BUT WAIT! you exclaim...what is in the safe? Diamonds? Gold? Old Pokemon cards? Alas--that will remain a mystery because Dad threw away the bulliten board that held the key to the treasure: the combination to the safe was on a ratty-looking old card that was pinned to the board that was behind the door in the laundry room. It went to the dump and along with it our means of opening the safe. If this were The Boxcar Children or Trixie Belden, it would have ended with the children finding a fortune in treasure which they would donate to the local a. Old Folks Home, b. Homeless Shelter or c. Orphanage but all we got was a bunch of peanuts. I guess we'll donate them to the garbage.

DISCLAIMER: No animals were harmed in the making of this blog. The mouse that got sucked up in the vacuum was already dead (sucks to be him!).

Dinner Conversation

Last night we were having a "School Has Started Family Dinner"-- wherein we gather 'round the table at a reasonable hour and share a hearty repast seasoned with plenty of witty banter (and in the interest of full disclosure: plenty of brother/sister mockery and even some rude behavior--which I promise I try to keep to a minimum!)
Shayla: In Jessica's science class they have to memorize the WHOLE Periodic Table!
All: {Exclamations of shock}
Mom: Oh, I had to memorize the Periodic Table when I was in school. I can't believe how many elements have been discovered since then! Of course back in my day we only had the three: water, earth and fire.
All: {Lots of laughing}
Shane: What about the wind?
Mom: We didn't believe in wind because we couldn't see it. And of course FIRE was a recent discovery at the time.

One of My Favorite Things

Dad found this piano on craigslist. Then he loaded it on a trailer and unloaded it again at our old house. Then moved it into the cabin--smashing his hand in the process. Somewhere along the way, I'm sure he wished he'd never shown it to me. But now it has a special place in the corner of our cabin and I think the nearest thing to Heaven is listening to our children play the piano.






(I love this piano because it was made in 1905--it is SOLID and weighs a TON-- and was in the same family for 40 years. The guy we bought it from said it was in the same spot in his house for the whole 40 years. I also LOVE the piano stool--it has claw feet with glass balls in all four legs.)

PS We have dial-up so the pictures look blurry to me-- is that how they are showing up on the blog?

This is a Ladder

This is YOUR DAD on a ladder. My acrophobia dictates that I hold the ladder and he does the climbing.

Swim! Said the Mama Fish, Swim if You Can!

As if living in a cabin down by the river weren't awesome enough-- now we have the amazing salmon run. It's happening right in our front yard! The salmon are coming back from the ocean and swimming UP the river to spawn and then die. It's so Romeo and Juliet! (Except the fish don't kiss...or even hold hands... in fact salmon don't have any idea who their parents are--but that's a biology lesson for another day). So guess what?! Dad went and got himself a FISHING LICENSE! Can you believe it? Miracles never cease! Everyone had a great time today trying to catch a fish-- to no avail. It turns out the salmon are not interested in any tasty bits of fishbait or shiny lures. They are single-minded in their quest to reach the place of their birth and begin the circle of life all over again. But luckily Nick Weis came over and brought us a delicious salmon that he caught back in the ocean--where the fish are sensible.

(Does the title bring back any memories? "Down in the meadow in a little, bitty pool. Swam three little fishies and the mama fishie too! Swim! Said the mama fish, swim if you can! And they swam and they swam all over the dam. Boop, boop, dittum dattum wattum choo! Boop, boop, dittum dattum wattum choo! And they swam and they swam all over the dam!" A favorite bathtime song because you got to splash the water with every "Boop, boop" and "Choo"-- awww the sweet, simple pleasures of childhood.)