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!