Power nap

Mulchfest

This year (yesterday), Stella got a trip to the Metro Mulch Facility to celebrate "Gotcha Day." She was a big hit there, probably because she didn't mind all of the heavy machinery and dump trucks. She's a big fan of mulch too although usually she doesn't lie in it so much as she waters it.  She's been spending a lot of time prancing around in our soon-to-be-new yard with her giant tree-limb-type stick. We don't officially have a fence on the east side yet but she hasn't noticed.

Summer Vacation

 

 

The rabbit family that was living in our new yard seems to have gone undercover for the last couple of weeks. I hope they didn't turn into a buffet dinner for some passing hawk or fox but I wouldn't be surprised. They have to eat too I suppose. Part of the big Hackberry tree in the meadow fell down last week which was a terrible shame. On the upside, I got four more windows unstuck. Stella is no help at all. She can't even make coffee. It's bunny patrol or nothing as far as she's concerned.

Chigger Patrol

Also known as "bunny patrol" for Stella. This is a little corner of our new meadow in which I am dutifully working on a non-toxic solution for chiggers and mosquitoes. Seriously, if I'm to keep on blogging I'm afraid it'll be all gardening all the time. Regular readers say post it here but I'm not sure how a blog about carnival dogs and/or my own canine relates. Anyway, according to Google University, the organic answer (for the bugs) lies in two other critters: beneficial nematodes (250 million of them to be exact) and bats. Who knew right? Some of you may think (as I did) that Purple Martins might play a role in mosquito consumption but apparently that is a myth created by people who sell Purple Martin bird houses.

So bats it is. This leads me to wonder if my new next door neighbors wouldn't be frightfully concerned were I to show up one weekend and erect a twenty foot tall bat house in the yard. I suppose it would address their mosquito problem as well (bats eat a thousand mosquitoes an hour) but I'm just not positive they'll think of it in the same environmentally sound terms I do so for now, the plan is still in the early stages. They have big dogs too and Stella already sees it as her job to tease the three of them relentlessly through the fence whenever possible. Imagine.

Squatter

And if that weren't enough.. there's always an unlimited supply of foster kittens, right? We got one on the fly last Thursday and I took him to the vet Friday. It turned out he was old enough to get "tutored" along with all of his tests and shots. It was a long two days for him but now he's spent the entire weekend learning all about dogs and rattan furniture and what happens when you work your claws out on the priceless antique rugs of your foster mom's friends and he's doing great. 

His (temporary) name is Joey and his awesome-ness is off the charts so I suspect he won't be with us very long. He can be reached at Nashville Cat Rescue if anyone is interested.

New territory

Gosh, how long has it been? It seems like an entire summer's passed by us since we posted about I heart Guts! Thanks for the funny comments on that btw. Things have been happening here that prevented all recent posting. Big things. I no sooner promised you all a new adventure than the adventure turned on its heels and tried to hijack me into a whole new blog. I'm trying so hard to resist it too because as you all are aware - I have a few too many in the wings already. The original story was this: Stella and Gigi (the tail-free cat) and I went house sitting this summer. In the middle of May we moved into a house in east Nashville that was built in the late 1800's. It is a grand place and we love having all of this extra room not to mention the amenities of a top-notch bed and breakfast. I'm doing the cooking and cleaning of course but it far exceeds our former crib. When we moved here I put all of my things in storage and the plan was that I would look for a house to buy over the summer and move out when my friends return at the end of October. Thanks to my dear mom, who decided I should inherit something of hers without her having to die for it (brilliant) I'd been looking online at houses for almost a year. At the beginning of June she gave me the go ahead to look seriously and not realizing what was about to happen I called a super smart real estate guy named Roger and gave him a short list of things I wanted. It went something like this: screened-in porch, fence, lots of light and maybe a little garden I could reinvent or tend to. No knotty pine. Then I said a little prayer that made reference both to an "oasis" and the "Garden of Eden."

And you know what happened after that, right?

I bought a garden. It came with a house. 

It's a cool house but the garden is mind boggling. In fact, if I had a couple of hens and a little goat I might never have to leave there again. In the photo just above -  those are raspberries. There's an herb garden, fruit trees, a family of state-fair-sized bunnies and a Wisteria draped carport that may actually have me for dinner some dusky evening. What a way to go though. I'd die a happy woman, especially if that broad was in full bloom. 

We haven't actually moved in yet but Stella seems to love it over there. I promise we'll return shortly with some more relevant d.o.g. type stuff. Hope you all have some wild excitement in your life as well.

Happy daze

Stella had  her fourth birthday last Friday. What with moving and all, we didn't make it to a carnival this year to take her picture. A friend had given me this crazy stuffed heart though (shaped like a beating heart eek- not our typical romanticized version) so that, and a whole can of wet dog food was her present. I figured she'd chew the thing to smithereens but so far she's just been toting it around the house with the occasional blindside attack. I am planning on getting her a new leather collar too as I think her latest nylon version may sacrifice comfort for design. She's pretty funky all on her own and really shouldn't have to be bothered with itchy fashion accessories. That goes for all of us I suppose.