Doppelganger

The weekend was pretty mellow around here. No major plans, just putzing around the house and a quick trip over the border for a day at the zoo with SIL. iPastor worked Saturday overnight, so we cleared out of the house to let him sleep in peace. We came home, and I let the kids monkey pile in the living room and watch movies. iPastor woke at about 4am and wandered down to discover they had left the outer porch door open. He went to close it, and spooked a cat, who ran into the now-closed door, not once but twice, before escaping to the basement. He was perturbed enough to come wake me.
"We may have a problem. Fuzznut is acting really strange. I wonder if she's not hurt or sick..."
She has been known to squirrel off and go live down by the river for a couple weeks at a time, and as much as I try to keep her inside, she loves to go out and tussle with other cats and come home a little banged up.
He described the cat mayhem in enough detail to completely screw up my sleep for the remainder of the night. We all kept watch for Fuzz. On a couple occasions, I'd hear the cats in the hallway growling at each other, a bit unusual but not unheard of in this house. I'd go investigate to check on Fuzznut's mental state, just to see the tip of a tail disappear into the basement and a grey body slink under the stairs. The next afternoon, however, Fuzznut sauntered up and demanded her spot on my lap, all love and sunshine. Apparently, whatever was bugging her had passed. Later that evening, I heard the cats having a showdown in the hallway again, and witnessed the same aforementioned ditch and slink. The next time I saw Fuzznut she was all love and cuddles again, a bit perturbing. This morning, I wandered into the creepy old basement laundry room, not bothering with lights. I saw Fuzz on the laundry table, but she bolted when I came close. By now her bipolar behavior was becoming worrisome. After school, the Things noticed the other two cats gathered with interest on the basement steps, heard the vocalization of feline disagreement, and also noticed the distinct odor of a male cat...in our house full of spayed females. A little grey face peeked out from under the oil barrel, very familiar, but just a little bit...off. Then Thing 3 reported that Fuzznut had just come in from outside. Our Jeckyll/Hyde cat mystery was now solved, but we had another problem: a feral cat darting from nook to cranny to junkpile in our basement. We shifted piles of lumber and household junk, and general hilarity ensued.




















We discovered that a fish net is strong enough to hold a struggling cat, but a frightened cat is agile enough to escape from the top. Eventually we subdued the cat with sheer numbers: Three Things, my Looziana daughter and myself. We calmed the raging tempest, and released the poor wretch to the wild.







The Imposter:

























Fuzznut:




















That's about enough excitement for this week.

My commute

Poking my head in here so you all know I'm alive and kicking. Although I do write lovely things in my head to post here, they're usually gone by the time I get to a keyboard. I'm much more active, albeit quite short and pithy, on facebook and twitter. Such is life, I guess. Feel free to "friend" or follow me (that was fun to write) there for more frequent updates, but I do plan to keep this joint open for when I get the hankerin' to crank out some text.
A couple weeks ago, iPastor gave in to the techno bug and got us fancy, newfangled phones with cameras, internet, and the whole nine yards. It was a twofer deal, so I know have a phone I thought I'd never need, yet to which I am hopelessly addicted. Our spring has been cold and dreary. One of the first days after we got the phones, we finally had some nice weather, so I took some pictures of my drive to/from work. I drive 18-20 miles to work one way, depending on which variation of back roads I decide to use that particular day. It takes me, ironically, about 18-20 minutes to drive to work. I know folks in the cities who drive 45 minutes to go 6 miles every day. Be that as it may, although I sometimes deal with blowing and drifting, or deer on the roads, I really do enjoy my drive. I have the radio, cd or ipod to myself, and 20 minutes all my own, twice a day. We do get all four seasons, even though it seems like winter stays the longest, and every one is beautiful around the lake.

Mother's Day!

Most folks would think that doing yard work on Mother's Day is some sort of heresy. I, however, was glad to be home for the day with no plans and no agenda. Once the lawn finally started greening in, we had plans or commitments every afternoon and evening, so I didn't have a chance to mow until today, and it was plenty thick and green. I opted to bag, and the darn thing needed to be emptied after every two passes or so. The more I mowed, the more crap I found in the yard, even though I thought we'd gotten it picked up. I also stopped for an hour or so to tackle the jungle on the SW corner of our lot. We are the proud owners of a concrete outhouse pit, dug by the WPA for part of their economic stimulus projects back in the thirties. The outhouse finally came out a couple years ago. We filled the pit part way with sand, and have been dumping compost in as we go The plan is to get some good dirt for a bulb bed. We also took down a tree a couple years ago, but the noxious vines that grow back there have not let go. I finally managed to kill them off last fall, but now comes the task of digging, hacking and yanking all the dead vines and volunteer trees.


















I decided to set a goal to finish one side of the pit, otherwise the prospect was overwhelming. We got it done, and dragged the brush to the compost site (too big to throw in). Then the neighbor kids came and buried an unfortunate kitten behind their shed, leaving the tulip there.















As we went along, I also had the kids pile up brush. We had several stacks going after the big storm last summer, but it was time to cull. We stacked it all in one spot, which now stands taller than me, and we are all set for summer bonfire season. Bring a cooler and a lawn chair.

Still kickin'

Been busy with life-n-stuff around here. Not much excitement, just keepin' on.
Last night, however, the Flip Flop Momma, of my sidebar fame, and I did what we've been threatening to do for two years, and met up for karaoke. We found a place roughly between our two towns and got together. Had a nice time. Of course, we were the best ones there and everyone else sucked, but that's what happens when you're fabulous like us.
So, happy birthday to the Rockinist' Bossy Flip Flopper I know:







(I know you hate this picture, and so do I, but It's gonna stay up until we can get together again and take a better one!)