Shaved: Grass & Cat

First thing this morning I took Ollie in to get shaved of her knotted and felted fur. I would have done it last year so it wouldn't have been so bad this year, but as you probably know circumstances just didn't allow it to happen.

Anyhow, then I went home and we waited for a delivery from the Kubota dealership in Redmond. Just before noon the driveway alarm went off and it was our delivery. Hubby had talked to the owner of the dealership yesterday inquiring about renting a mower. They have been thinking of renting implements but still haven't gotten to that point. Instead he showed Hubby a used brush hog and said we could use it and if we liked it he would sell it to us, otherwise just let him know and he would pick it up.

Kind of hard to pass up a deal like that.

The delivery guy (also one of their mechanics) showed us how to hook it up and how to operate it. Then it was time to go to work. Today he mowed the section north of the house.

The finished area. I love it! Next we will grade it smooth with the scraper and probably throw some sort of grass seed out.

I have an area in mind for an arena and that will be next.

Here is poor Ollie with her new 'do. She was done a little later in the day so she is still quite groggy even as I'm typing now. She may be unhappy about the manhandling and going to the vet but she has got to be more comfortable without the knots pulling at her skin now.

And finally today Hubby saw a new bird at the feeder. This is a Brown-Headed Cowbird.

It got a little drizzly this afternoon but I'm still resisting starting to paint the purple wall. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

First Kill And A Blankie

We have an abundance of these little gopher-like creatures around here that are sometimes called sage rats by the natives. They look like a cross between a gopher and a giant chipmunk and they are just as pesky with all their hole digging. We think their real name is "belding ground squirrel".

Today one of them had the misfortune to poke around above ground for a while. It was just long enough for Hubby to grab his .22 rifle and plug it.

Here's one of the holes they make. The holes are everywhere.

"Planting" the little bugger back in his hole. Maybe this will send a message to the others to clear out.

And in other exciting news...

I had wanted to make a fleece blanket for my son and finally got the material. Then my rotary cutter needed a new blade so I got one today. Amazing how nice it is to have equipment that works properly!

Once I got started it only took about an hour to get everything cut out and then tied together. I set it on the back of the sofa and Ollie decided she had to test it. She likes it.

Now to find a box and ship it off.

Cat & A Cheesecake

Just to let you know, the cat and the cheesecake don't have anything to do with each other.

I took this picture of Ollie totally relaxed in front of the fire last night.

She was flat on her back and when I took this picture she glared at me like she wanted me to go away and let her bask in the warmth from the fire.

Yesterday I also made this mini cheesecake that we ate tonight.

It turned out better than I expected because I took a recipe and kind of divided it by four to have a small portion. We had one package of cream cheese, just a bit of sour cream, and some oranges and blueberries that had been in the fridge for a while. I wanted to do something with them before they went bad and I'm happy to say it was a success.

I will attempt to recreate this recipe (it made two mini cheesecakes) at a later time which I will record and if it turns out good again I will post it.

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming!

I suppose it's a good thing we didn't do the kitchen update after all.

My husband took his truck in yesterday to get some work done on the front end and now they are saying it will be more than the original $500 estimate. Aarrrrgh. He also decided (rightly) that the truck needs a couple of new tires... to the tune of about $260 apiece. More aarrrrgh!!!!

The fence guy came out and gave us some advice about the electric fence. The bad news: We are in a bad area for electric fences. It has to do with the dryness of the area, the rockiness, the climate, etc. It's not impossible but it's not the news I had hoped for. Meanwhile he took the measurements for the area we wanted cyclone fenced and he will be calling us with that estimate.

Tonight we went out to #1: feed, and #2: chop wood for this evening's fire. Hubby went out first to cut the wood and a minute later came back in to let me know the bull was not in his pen.

CRAP!

We both went out to find him. I opened his gate wide and threw a flake of hay in his pen. We found him to the far south west (not far from his pen) and managed to herd him back. I think it helped that it was the normal dinner time.

I found the spot where he escaped from his pen and fixed it. I did see some blood on the ground and after examining him I found a small scrape on Dakota's shoulder. *HUGE SIGH*

So hopefully now things will calm down a bit and the $ bleed will slow down.

I took some comfort tonight in a picture of our old cat, Kneadermeier (about 13?)...

...and our goof ball dog, Clyde.

One day at a time...

Cat Naps

What is it about cats that they like to get into boxes and bags?

We decided to work a little on the inside of the house today and try to empty a few more boxes and put some things away in a more permanent place.

Ollie decided to climb into this bedding bag while we were clearing away the rest of the Christmas decorations and rearranging the other boxes.

She had actually been napping before I woke her up with the flashing camera.
Then when it was time for me to take a cat nap she decided to join me.

Got Our Tree

Today we got our Christmas tree. We drove around our town but it seemed like the trees here were all too small and they were too thick, like a sheared Douglas. I don't like those because the ornaments stick out and in my opinion it looks stupid.

I've always preferred the medium thick trees so I can put lights and ornaments inside and all around the tree. Plus I wanted something a little taller than we normally got because we have a vaulted ceiling for the first time ever.

So we ended up driving through Redmond and eventually heading toward Bend. We stopped at one place that had taller trees but the guy must have thought I was a sucker. When I asked about a particular tree he said it was "a lot". He said "a tree like that is going for $100. Twenty. Nine." I swear he kept adding the numbers. I hemmed and hawed and told him I would be back if I couldn't find anything elsewhere.

We drove around a bit, then stopped at a Home Depot for a pottie break and while we were there we looked at the kitchen countertops. I grabbed a few samples and we decided to cut our losses and head for home. On the way home my husband happened to see a tree lot down a side road and we swung in there.

There was a tree right at the gate and we asked the guy how much for something like that. "Oh, I'd take forty for that one." My husband and I looked at each other and we said, "We'll take it!"

So we got it home and it is up though I still have to decorate it. Ollie is enjoying it too. I had to watch her to make sure she didn't try to climb it. I only had to yell at her once.

Ollie isn't the only one enjoying the tree.
Hopefully I can find all my lights and ornaments now!

Cat In The Box

Clyde occasionally gets fixated on Ollie for some reason. Earlier today I cleared out a box that had a bunch of older bills and miscellaneous papers and I left the box on the floor. Ollie thought it would be a good place to park her big behind in.

Maybe Clyde can't figure out what she is doing in the box.

She seems to be aware of his presence and is mildly annoyed.
Now she is just pretending he isn't there at all.
Silly creatures!

In other news we had a big storm come through here last week. It knocked out the power in a bunch of areas, including ours. We weren't as lucky as some, and were luckier than others. Our power was out from about 3:30 in the afternoon until 8:15 the next morning.

The bad news for us is that our big tv appears to be fried now. It just won't turn on. We've managed to attach the cable to our little 16" tv and that's what we're watching now. How I miss our big tv. :-(

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We got a cost estimate from the bank for the property and construction loan.

Yikes! If the construction costs are as high as they are estimating (and she did say they are estimating on the high side), then we will NOT be able to move forward.

As it is written now it will take every single bit of cash we have. That wouldn't be so bad except then they want an additional four months worth of "reserves" in the bank. That basically means four months worth of mortgage payments. Which will not be there after the 20% down payment and closing costs.

We met with the transport guy yesterday. We figured it would cost a little bit extra to get the house parts up to the property because of the bit of hill they would have to travel. Fortunately it was not as much as we had anticipated.

Today we met the contractor at the site. Though specific costs were not discussed I felt a little better about everything. I had the impression that the construction cost estimates that the bank had were very much on the high side.

I am praying every day that if this was meant to be then God will provide the means for us to make it happen. I also ask that if it's not to be then we will know and it will just fall apart. So far it seems to be happening.

Though it is hard to let go of control I am leaving it in His hands; like the Carrie Underwood song says, "Jesus, take the wheel!"

Do You See What I See?

Do you see what I see?

A cat. A cat!
She is hiding in the shelf.
Is she waiting, waiting for an elf?
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Shaving

Even though we've had unseasonably cool weather so far it was time to get the cats shaved. I had Ollie done last year but not Kneadermeier. But now Kneadermeier is a little older and doesn't take care of herself so well anymore and I had both of the cats done.

When I picked them up from the vet, I think they were both hatin' on me a little. Ollie pp'd in her crate, which I had borrowed from the neighbor because I couldn't find our second crate. The bad thing about that is, it's a soft-sided, collapsible type and it even leaked outside the crate. Fortunately we had newspaper underneath the crate so I was able to just roll the paper up and toss it when I got home. I got some animal odor neutralizer so I hope that works.

What's really funny now is how similar the cats look. They both have white feet, a white spot on their chest and white whiskers. The way I can tell who is who is Kneadermeier is thinner than Ollie, and her face is pointier than Ollie's, and Ollie's whiskers look thicker than Kneadermeier's. Before the shave it was easier to tell because everything about Ollie was bigger and puffier. Even though Kneadermeier is a medium-long haired cat, her hair was sleeker and finer than Ollie's, who is definately a long-haired cat.

Here's the girls with their new do's:

Kneadermeier

Ollie
It'll all grow back in about four months or so, just in time for winter.

I think they've already forgiven me too. ☺

Tolerant Kitty

One of the baby's favorite things to do is carry poor Kneadermeier around. The baby loves it--I'm not too sure of how the cat feels about it. At least she's a good sport about it though.

It's pretty funny to watch the baby carrying the cat around because the whole time she's complaining, "heavy!", yet she doesn't want to let the cat go.

We let her go on for a few minutes before we make her put the cat down.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

One Hot Kitty

Total Relaxation

See these cat paws? They're hanging off the edge of the sofa.

I think Ollie is totally relaxed, without a care in the world.
How nice!

On Display

Here we go again. Clyde is so intrigued with one of the new displays in the entertainment center cabinet.

He sat there staring at it for the longest time. In fact, from the moment it jumped up there.

It was Ollie, the silly fluff ball cat.

Cat & Dog

I can't figure out if Clyde thinks the cat is so fascinating or he wants to lay in the spot Ollie is in. Silly dog!

Laundry Basket Full of Towels

And a cat.

Ollie just knows how to stay cozy and comfy!

Happy Friday!

Smile!

Things that make me smile:

Tomatoes finally turning red!
Actual canteloupes on the vine!

Ollie checking out the new fixtures.

Baby petting sheep.

Hope there are some little things to make you smile too! ☺