Dog and cat peace!

Hi all! Happy holidays and Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Tuesday!

I'm working from home today because I've been sick, and I just had the AMAZING privilege of being able to watch a sleepy Shasta go up to a sleepy Gemini, give her a kiss, and curl up with her in front of the woodstove!! I wish I had a picture to show you. There is hope, after all!

Of course, Shasta did roll onto Gemmy's tail, which led to yowling, and so it was a very short time of interspecies peace, but still!

Christmas tree!

We got our Christmas tree today! Tait Farm in State College has lots to choose from, and they're a well-established local farm (for food as well as trees)- despite the (freezing) cold, the perfect tree was found. And Shasta even behaved herself for at least 30 seconds.

Hikin' with the dog

Walking with the dog's definitely been a lot of fun-here's some pictures from a hike we took last week...

A nice hemlock glen-I love this kind of forest.

Some tracks we found in the snow. I think they're from a shrew, but if anybody knows any differently, let me know.

The view from a ridge top. It was a gorgeous day; not too cold and the sun was beautiful on the snow.

Shasta enjoyed her trip too. She gets such a classic "hunting dog" posture when there's something she's interested in.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

It's done (and handed in!)

So as of Wednesday this week I'm officially a Ph.D.! My dissertation was approved by the graduate school without any problems, so all I have to do now is pick up my robe rental and show up for graduation! Woohoo!

I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again, but thank you to everyone who helped over the years-it really wouldn't have been possible without the help!

Fall memories...

My opinion of "Cherry Apples"...I think the expression says it all...

Summer memories

A far cry from the snow flurries today, but here's a nice pic of the ocean from our summer trip the beach.

Shasta's favorite spot

The first day we decided that the "dog off the couch" battle was one we weren't willing to fight...so now she's got her favorite spot.

10 mile aftermath

So we love hiking near our new house, even if a "quick afternoon hike" turns into 10 miles and 4+ hours! Fortunately, there's the added perks of the comfy couch and the fireplace when we get back. They definitely help take the edge off of sore legs...(even for the puppy!)

Another sketch

I've slowly been re-growing my brain following my defense, which means I can actually think of things to post about!

I wanted to share the cartoon I did as a closing slide for my thesis presentation...it makes more sense if you're familiar with American campfire stories (i.e. the hook-handed hitchhiker) and the fact that for my research I've collected blood (via snips with scissors) from untold hordes of gypsy moth caterpillars. I particularly liked the expression of the two poor little bugs in the foreground.

This picture was a cool experiment for me too-I did a very rough sketch, scanned it in, and then went over it using Adobe Illustrator to clean up the lines. The background was completely created in Illustrator. It's been a lot of fun learning to use that program better, though good color skills are still eluding me...oh well, something to work on!

Vote!

Just a civic reminder to everyone who's able to: Get out there and vote today! The pictures from the lines here in Central PA are pretty impressive already. It's kind of exciting to be participating in an election day with so much interest! (and it also means the political ads on TV stop today! ;)

Puppy pictures

Shasta was sleeping on the couch and looking very cute after a particularly bratty day today, so I finally remembered to take some pictures.

Awww.... sleeping puppies are cute. She was snoring during this picture.
She's got such a pretty face.

News and pictures from this summer

New doggie! (again) We got her from the Huntingdon SPCA, and we had a surprisingly good experience with them. The approval process took only as long as it took to get our landlord's approval, and they spayed her, microchipped her, played with her and gave us a bag of dog treats, toys and food to start out with. How nice!

She's a little black lab mix- maybe with hound of some kind, or collie? I don't know. She's little, though, only forty pounds (soaking wet) and she has a little white strip on her chest, with a very narrow face. Very cute. She's maybe 8 months old, and bounces and chases her tail and LOVES to play. She seems to be housebroken, by some miracle, but that's about the extent of her training. Her name's Shasta (like the daisy).

She really wants to play with Gemmy. It's a shame that the two of them speak completely different languages- when Gemmy says "Go away and leave me alone", Shasta hears "Play with me!" and when Gemmy smacks her upside the head, Shasta gets frustrated and very confused. She leaves the bunny mostly alone though, which is great.

There are lots of things going on- we thought we'd share some images from this crazy summer, and we'll post some of the new house/doggie soon.

We took this in May after visiting our friends T. and M... I love the way that you can see how good Jim is at skipping stones!

We went to Delaware this summer- to Cape Henlopen, to be exact- for 2 blissful days at the beach. Wonderful. The other two pics are from birding with my dad, and it was a beautiful morning in Central Pennsylvania.

After our lease ended, we housesat for a little more than a week at a house with 8 dogs and 2 cats. One of the cats (not pictured) is beautiful. The other, well, he's very sweet.

After housesitting, we moved to our friends' E and A's house for 2 months- which was a blast. (Thanks again!) We did some canning, some chicken-coop building, and ate leeks.

Here's the finished chicken coop. Of course we couldn't leave well enough alone, so we added ears and a tail when E and A were out of town...

,

Then I went out to sea to do some field work for my lab for a few weeks in September - so here's a couple pics... the Gulf of Mexico is beautiful, when there aren't hurricanes.

Our new house- it doesn't look a lot like this anymore- the shutters came off, and the ivy's down now (as per our landlord's request). Moving in was... fun... we had to take a zillion boxes out of the basement and unpack them. It exhausted poor little kitty, who was a big help. Really. We also spent some time cleaning up outside, starting some planting, rebuilding a stone wall, and getting ready for winter. That's when Jim ran across his new (not so) Little Friend, who is a long horned beetle larvae, and is now living in an enclosure in the basement, where he's busy pupating.

We also managed to get up to Ithaca a couple of weekends ago, and go apple picking! I love apple picking! And there's lots of milkweed around, which is one of the most beautiful plants...

Anyway, more later...

No more dog :-(

Unfortunately we had to bring our new dog back.... he had some aggression issues that we didn't feel we had the experience necessary to help him without taking some risks. He's a good dog in general, though, sweet and loving, great with other pets and not a barker at all. Hopefully he'll find a good home, with other dogs, and an owner who's had some experience with troubled dogs.

We're still keeping our eyes open, though, and maybe soon we'll be able to get a dog again. If anyone hears of a dog between 6 months and 6 years, good with cats, between 30-80 lbs, who doesn't bark much or bite people, let us know!

Dr. Jim!

Let's all congratulate Jim on his successful defense of his PhD and his acquisition of a new prefix on his name!

Yaaaaay!

He gave a great talk that was extremely well received and used lots of very big words like "constitutive" and "punctate" and "Lymantria dispar multiple nucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus". Ouch.

Jim wants to say thanks to everyone. He's a little dazed still, and likes flowers and puppies.

Jim's dissertation defense (oooh)

Jim's dissertation defense is tomorrow! Wish him luck (although I don't think he needs it- he has preparation instead).

We'll of course post an update once he has successfully passed :-)

Finally moved! And finally got a dog!

We've moved into our new house! It's wonderful- spacious and uncluttered and in the middle of the woods by a beautiful trailhead. It's really a special place, plus it has all the extras that we don't need but we love, like hardwood floors throughout, except in the kitchen and bathroom, which have tile, solid construction, screen doors, and lots of storage space.

In other news, we got a dog! He's a big 1 1/2 year old Rottweiler, with a big goofy smile and an inordinate love of belly rubs. His name's Buddy, which I know is boring, but he answers to it, so I guess it'll stick.

We'll start posting pictures of our new house and the fuzzies soon- still waiting on internet at our new house.

Moving! (For real this time)

Our lease is ending a month earlier than we expected, so the moving extravaganza has begun!  We've emptied our attic and bookshelves into the new house, currently occupied by our friends Kevin and Linda and their two remarkably cute children :-)  The lag time will be spent with our other friends Audrey and Ezra, which should be fun!  

Except work is really busy for both of us, as I work on a paper for my committee, a paper to submit and other assorted projects, and Jim's got a conference in two weeks and a defense in two months and this little thesis thing to write...

Plus, during the transition time, we're supposed to be house-sitting for 8 dogs and 2 cats, while Jim will be off gallivanting in England- plus hopefully the day after he returns, we're getting a dog of our own!

 

As Jim said, "I feel like we're in one of those life-comes-at-you-fast commercials..."

Classic quote

Overheard over dinner today, talking about pets...

Jim: Let's keep the pets to under 20.

Steph: Well, I think I'm up to 10- 7 hermit crabs, a cat, the bunny and the gecko.

Jim: I've had some attrition this year, I've lost the rat, 2 tarantulas, 2 scorpions, but I've still got the black widow, the vinegaroon, and Rodney (another tarantula), not to mention the colony of bedbugs.

Sigh.

long time no blog

It's been a very long time since we blogged, and in that time we've moved back to our old apartment from the farm (bummer!), but it's probably for the best in terms of workload...

Jim's trying to finish his PhD this summer, and I'm studying for my comprehensives, as well as writing and doing some image work... busy busy.

I did see something I wanted to share,- it's important to do everything we can to
decrease our impact on the earth, and how better but to walk or bike! Especially during this time of year, when it's beginning to be warm and beautiful outdoors, why not take a few minutes, enjoy your surroundings, and use non-motorized transport to get places, run your errands, and get some exercise! In many areas (including our current location) it's easier and quicker to take a bike to the store than it is to drive- I know it's not an option for everyone's location, but I think that once you start, it becomes more attractive to bike or walk instead of driving (not to mention horrible gas prices...)

Anyway, here you can see what locations are within just 2 miles of your home/office/wherever- and a 2 mile bike ride just takes a few minutes! Enjoy :-)

http://2milechallenge.com/home.html

Tuesday Sketch

So the sketch is a little late this week, but here's the conclusion of "A Cautionary Tale..." (presented with the earlier installments as a recap).

Bonus Sketch

It's a Two for Wednesday-Here's page 3 of "A Cautionary Tale..."

Christmas mold!

One of my big Christmas presents this year was a box of mold! Although any mold would be interesting (fungi rank a close second behind insects in terms of my scientific fascination), this particular mold went above and beyond because I can eat it! That's right-I got a mushroom growing kit! And in the past week it's finally started to yield!

The pictures below are of the portabellas we had last week, but just last night we had our first round of white button mushrooms. We sauteed both types in garlic and butter and added a dash of white wine to the button mushrooms. They were absolutely delicious! I think the fact that they were eaten minutes from being harvested had a lot to do with their tastiness. If you ever get the opportunity to eat very fresh mushrooms, I highly recommend it.

A pile of perfect portobellos
Mushrooms are delicious...CRAZY delicious!

Sunday Sketch (on Wednesday again)

Once again due to photoshop wrangling and a lack of time, the sketch is on Wednesday. Here's page 2 of "A Cautionary Tale..."

Happy Valentine's Day!

NOT moving

I'm a little frustrated by people who put up houses for rent, let you come see them, pressure you to accept quickly so that they don't have to show it anymore, and then give it to someone else.

We just saw this great house in Pine Grove Mills. The woman who showed it to us said that her friend had been interested in taking over their lease, but hadn't been able to get someone to rent her own place, so had given it up, leaving them with only a few weeks to find a new tenant. We agreed to take it that night. The house was perfect for us.

We got in touch with the real estate people who own it, they knew we were taking it, and said we could drop off the security deposit today along with the application. Today, we got a call from the woman currently renting, plus the real estate people, saying that they had changed their mind and were renting it to their friend after all. The friend also dropped off a security deposit yesterday.

I know that legally, verbal agreements don't count as contracts. However, if you don't intend to actually rent your property, don't advertise it. And don't say to prospective tenants that the apartment is theirs and that it won't be shown anymore. I feel as though we were just used as an excuse to pressure her friend to rent the house. I don't think they ever intended to rent it to us. We just provided leverage at the right time.

This happened to us earlier this year, too. We found a house in Lemont that we really liked. We kept in close touch with the owner, who was for some reason slow on committing the property to us. We eventually found out that she was also trying to sell it, and had found a buyer for the property that she was trying to woo. Again, if you don't intend to actually rent the property, don't advertise it. Don't lead on people who are looking for a place to live.

Now, we're still stuck in an apartment that creeps me out when the floor squishes beneath my feet and, much worse, makes Jim sick with all of mold that doesn't exist (according to the landlord). Unfortunately, except for the mold, it's a great place, and really hard to live up to.

I'm sure we'll find a house eventually. Hopefully sooner rather than later.


Rant over.

Moving?

We finally found a house! It's a cute little house in Pine Grove Mills, and so far it looks like it'll work out perfectly for us. Anyone know anyone who needs a duplex in State College?

It's even got heat vents. We've got ceiling cable heat at our duplex, and I've found it to be inefficient and ineffective. The Land of Giant Spoons has heat vents, too, and Gemini's turned them into one of her favorite hangouts, along with the cushion by the fireplace and the patches of sunlight shining through the window.

Escapee critters and the Big Tractor!

Busy day today. When we woke up this morning, we realized that the horses had decided that the world outside their paddock was much more interesting, and were grazing in the front yard. We went out to put them back in the barn, and found one of the kittens (Miss Adventure) following us to the barn- a kitten that had most definitely been locked into the woodshop the night before. Apparently last night the critters staged a mass escape. The horses got out because of the high winds we've been experiencing recently- the electric fence was working fine, but had blown down. Not so useful, really. We fixed it, and then took the kitten back to the woodshop, where she was more than happy to be put back inside.

Then we tried to figure out out how she'd gotten out in the first place. It was confusing, because Racu was still inside, but she's definitely the more agile cat. We checked for footprints in the snow, and found some tracks near one of the windows. We looked up, and realized that the gutter's hanging low on that part of the house. It looks as though she jumped from the gutter. We went back inside, and sure enough, there's a gap in the wall that'll let her get between the inside and outside walls. We're still not exactly sure how she managed it, but we think she climbed between the walls and got out that way. It's got to be something somewhat complicated, or she would have been able to get back in, right? Plus, the other kitten didn't (couldn't?) follow her.

In other news...

Today it finally snowed! We got at least 8 inches and more is still falling, although now it's more in the way of freezing rain/sleet. Jim's been hoping that he'd have a chance to use the big tractor to plow the driveway since we got here, and he finally got the chance today. Plus, I got to try driving the bigger tractor! The little tractor's been great to help us clean out the horses' stalls, but the big one was a lot more intimidating.

Here's a short video of me plowing a very short section of the driveway! I didn't really realize how fun tractors can be.




Another pic that shows that I actually did plow...A video of Jim on the tractor. He looks so happy.

Flying Cats!

Racu and Miss Adventure surprised us both by playing in the snow on Saturday without any hesitation whatsoever. We were especially impressed with their aerial acrobatics in the pursuit of snowballs...

Sunday Sketch

Here's the sketch for today. I've decided to do a mini-comic story that popped into my head during a hike this afternoon. This is just the first page, but stay tuned for the continuation of "A Cautionary Tale..."

Candy fried eggs!

This is hands down the best novelty candy item I've seen in a long time: gummy fried eggs! They look like eggs but (fortunately) just taste like gummy worms. The prank possibilities are nearly endless.

This was one of several great discoveries made today at a local country store. In addition to an entire aisle of homemade candy items, they had one of the most complete selections of grains/sugar/spices/random baking and canning goods of any place I've ever seen. They had several things I couldn't even figure out what you'd use it for, such as saltpetre! I thought it was just for blackpowder, but it was next to the baking supplies, so I'm hoping it has some culinary uses too (although, maybe if you're doing flambe....hmmmm, more possibilities). The best part was all of the supplies were really affordable! We'll definitely be going back even after our time in the Land of Giant Spoons is done.

After careful thought...

and consideration, we finally have agreed on names for our two secret agents that defend us from those who would impinge on our territory (i.e. mallards and buffleheads). Meet Quack and Jack!

Winter pics

Spring teased us a little a few days ago- a reminder of how nice warm weather is. I think I'd have a hard time living where there aren't any seasons though.... I'd miss scenes like these below. We had an ice storm this week, too, with a solid day and night of freezing rain. The path to the barn was at least an inch thick, and very slippery... a bit scary to walk on. Fortunately it melted quickly!