up before dawn- day two
I got out of my reinstated lj habit during our comcast blackout, but being up before dawn for the second day running has given me the kick-start I needed.
Yesterday I awoke at 4:00 am to the sounds of "something" eating the cat food. Steve got up and reassured me that the house was locked up and no raccoons were inside. I had a look around as well and thus reassured we went back to bed only to hear something again 40 minutes later. This time S thought maybe the neighbor's cat had slipped in through the small gap under the garage door since he routinely makes himself at home in our house. Or it could have been any other number of small critters but we really didn't see anything. It all made for an amusing story and S carefully explained to me the correct way to wake him up in emergency situations. Who knew there were strict guidelines?
This morning I awoke again at 4:30 am and this time I was certain something was in the house! Steve got up and found nothing but then we both heard the trademark snorting, hissing & growing sounds on the back porch and sure enough a raccoon had been in! This time because I didn't shut the door we leave open for the cats in the garage during the day. It had been in the kitchen, eaten all the cat food in the dish, used the cat's water dish to wet the food and even opened the big decorative glass jar that stores the cat food. There were classic paw prints all over and lots of water to clean-up. I followed the paw print trail around wiping it up and the little rascal had even been in our bedroom. Nice! I spent about 30 minutes clearing everything up and am know listening to the amazing birdsong and watching all the cat negotiations. Steve decided to capitalize on being up and went into the office early. None of that nonsense for me!
Steve's cat is slowly integrating with my cats. She's still facing stiff opposition from my monsters but she's a tough girl so I know they will all find common ground eventually. She took the raccoon business in stride and remained calmed throughout, however Turbo was rattled and took a while to settle down.
I can see the sunrise through the redwoods; a soft pink smudge coming up over the lip of the mountain. We were socked in with fog from Friday through Monday morning. It was wet, cold and blustery but thankfully it cleared in time for our small party on Memorial Day. The fog really is beautiful. It's a nice relief to escape the heat of the valley as I drive back up the mountain at the end of the day and slowly enter the fog. Although, I hear that in the summer, the inversion layer makes it hotter up hear than in the valley whenever the fog doesn't come in.
The fog also made it easy to concentrate of getting all the final boxes emptied and the clobber cleared away. This weekend we'll tackle the garage and then I'll really start to feel settled.
I'm off to wallow in guilty-pleasure reading for a little while and then go for a short hike before work. During the move I unearthed my collection of Rosemunde Pilcher novels and I've been reading through them all. I'm excusing it as relaxation therapy following the stresses of moving and co-habitating.
Yesterday I awoke at 4:00 am to the sounds of "something" eating the cat food. Steve got up and reassured me that the house was locked up and no raccoons were inside. I had a look around as well and thus reassured we went back to bed only to hear something again 40 minutes later. This time S thought maybe the neighbor's cat had slipped in through the small gap under the garage door since he routinely makes himself at home in our house. Or it could have been any other number of small critters but we really didn't see anything. It all made for an amusing story and S carefully explained to me the correct way to wake him up in emergency situations. Who knew there were strict guidelines?
This morning I awoke again at 4:30 am and this time I was certain something was in the house! Steve got up and found nothing but then we both heard the trademark snorting, hissing & growing sounds on the back porch and sure enough a raccoon had been in! This time because I didn't shut the door we leave open for the cats in the garage during the day. It had been in the kitchen, eaten all the cat food in the dish, used the cat's water dish to wet the food and even opened the big decorative glass jar that stores the cat food. There were classic paw prints all over and lots of water to clean-up. I followed the paw print trail around wiping it up and the little rascal had even been in our bedroom. Nice! I spent about 30 minutes clearing everything up and am know listening to the amazing birdsong and watching all the cat negotiations. Steve decided to capitalize on being up and went into the office early. None of that nonsense for me!
Steve's cat is slowly integrating with my cats. She's still facing stiff opposition from my monsters but she's a tough girl so I know they will all find common ground eventually. She took the raccoon business in stride and remained calmed throughout, however Turbo was rattled and took a while to settle down.
I can see the sunrise through the redwoods; a soft pink smudge coming up over the lip of the mountain. We were socked in with fog from Friday through Monday morning. It was wet, cold and blustery but thankfully it cleared in time for our small party on Memorial Day. The fog really is beautiful. It's a nice relief to escape the heat of the valley as I drive back up the mountain at the end of the day and slowly enter the fog. Although, I hear that in the summer, the inversion layer makes it hotter up hear than in the valley whenever the fog doesn't come in.
The fog also made it easy to concentrate of getting all the final boxes emptied and the clobber cleared away. This weekend we'll tackle the garage and then I'll really start to feel settled.
I'm off to wallow in guilty-pleasure reading for a little while and then go for a short hike before work. During the move I unearthed my collection of Rosemunde Pilcher novels and I've been reading through them all. I'm excusing it as relaxation therapy following the stresses of moving and co-habitating.