EngelFish.Net

Last weekend we had a bit of a get together for the Flickr Raleigh Social Group. These are the people with whom I spend my leisure time. It’s no wonder I am the way I am…

It is quite busy around our house these days. We’re in the middle of moving Mom out to live with my sister, and that means packing a house with 7 years of accumulated stuff. The garage, which we worked on this weekend, is just about the last thing left to do outside of clothes, her computer, and the furniture (which movers are coming for this week). Happily, Mom will be staying with us until after closing on the house, and then she’ll fly out west while T & I drive a truck filled with her belongings out to her. Can you say, “Cross Country Road Trip in a UHaul?”…. Ugh. Needless to mention, Molly the Hyperactive Pooch, will be riding with us. Happy Happy Joy Joy.

Alex has had his fifteen minutes of fame, or more like 20 seconds.

Alex, one of our two puppies, has won a minor local photo contest.  It’s not much, and the prize is a personalized collar, but it’s kinda neat! Here’s the main page for the contest.

Last night we enjoyed grilling steaks and sitting by the fire in our backyard.  The dogs and cats joined us, and Taryn wrote her blogpost on the laptop.  The day had been incredibly windy, with trees falling all over town, but the air was almost dead still on our cove-like patio. 

This morning I had a Keystone Kops moment with our animals.  When Oscar, our smallest cat, came barrelling around the corner with his nose to the ground, I was curious what he was doing.  When the dogs ran over to join him in the investigation I was worried.   When I lifted the backpack they were gathered around and saw the mouse dart out from under it, I was in hot pursuit.  At one point Oscar caught the mouse under a paw.  The mouse promptly collapsed, apparently dead.  Oscar lifted his paw to lean in and sniff.  The mouse sprang back to life and bolted under the ottoman.  The next fifteen minutes were spent tripping over dogs and cats, lifting pieces of furniture, and trying to catch him in a plastic bucket when the animals flushed him out.  Eventually the mouse prevailed by pulling a David Copperfield and vanishing into thin air.  Taryn seemed wholly unperturbed by the whole thing when she came downstairs and I told her.  She even took a flashlight to hunt around in the coat closet I thought he might have ducked into.  “It’s alright.  The critters will get him.” was all she had to say.  Since letting our cats become indoor-outdoor (backyard only) cats, we’ve had two “gifts” left for us.  I guess we’ll be getting a third sometime soon.

IMAGE: Shot in the cold, early morning light, this plumbing fixture is in the front office of a closed-down cotton processing mill in Franklinton, NC.