..."déja-vu", Piglet style

the moon has been full...
creating a primal surge in the Piglet...



she is always desirous of being, "out"...
and is NOT in the least bit shy...
when informing me of her "needs"...

LOUDLY... obnoxiously... continuously...



she considers it her right, as a feline, to prowl & inspect...

but especially, to "hunt"...



hiding the weeds & grass, in the guise of napping...
until prey comes into her "hunting area"...
the fact that she is, "toothless" & can't "dispatch" her prey...
is of NO concern to her & probably would not occur to her...

my backyard, has much in the way of prey...
numerous rodents, birdies, grasshoppers & praying mantis...
any number of which, have been prey at one time or another...

captured, brought inside, chirruping her,"look what I did" call...
to be presented & displayed on my bed...
in various states of injury or decomposition...

so she could be fêted by me for her prowess & cunning...
and to flaunt them before Fluff who doesn't hunt anymore...



mice, even rats are nothing new on her prey list...
but since she had her teeth pulled about 2 years ago...
to heal the lesions in her mouth...
she'd only caught a grasshopper...
bringing it into my bed room, loosing interest...
& leaving me to catch & return it to the backyard...

yesterday afternoon, she bounced back in...

I should have known something was "up"...
because she was making noises...
but I was laying on the bed, reading, so I didn't look...

suddenly I was aware of something bumping into my leg...

it was a rather large mouse, quite alive & active...
with Piglet pouncing on it while Fluff watched...
Piglet "tossed it in the air"...then grabbed it...

as it squeaked, Fluff chirped, Pigs pounced...

& I reached for my camera...

then she tossed it on the floor...
and in a flash both she & Fluff were under the bed...

silence...

no rustling, squeaking or growling...
and since between both Piglet & Fluff...
they have a grand total of 1 tooth...
no crunching either...



I could only assume that the mouse had escaped under the bed...
as there is furniture to hide behind...
I only hope that a few days doesn't find me tearing apart my bedroom...
looking for a wee small corpse with a HUGE, nasty smell...

if things go well, the mouse will find its way back outside...

if it's stupid, it will find its way into the rest of the house...
where ALL the kitties have teeth & know how to use them...

after all, how smart can the mouse be...
if it allows a toothless cat to catch it...?

and more than once, I might add...

I just hope that the backyard mice have been put on alert...
that a toothless Piglet is NOT a harmless Piglet...



and if they don't want to take a "P" ticket ride...
[sorry, showing my age...]
they need to give the Piglet the deference she is due...
as "Queen of the Backyard"...

...the return of the ring

I realize that this title is a bit theatrical...
but I'm very happy with this result...
so I'm feeling expansive...



on Dec.27,2008, I was wearing my favorite ring...
a silver Celtic knot band...
that I bought in Reno, probably 20 years ago...
when my finger suffered the double dislocation & ligament damage, ...

at the ER, they had to cut the ring off...
making a pressure diamond cut in the spot...
where there were only 2 thin loops to cut through...
just as the swelling was causing a discoloration to set in...
& just before it cut off all circulation...

so even though I thought that I might someday have it mended...
I knew, as the repaired joint was now larger...
that I'd probably never be able to wear that ring...
on that finger again...

and since it had not fit any other fingers...
& was too small for my left thumb...
I just let it sit, broken, in a tray...
and resigned myself to wearing other things...

a couple of months ago, I had gone into a watch repair shop...
for a new watch battery & seeing the sign for jewelry repairs...
asked the woman who worked there if she could repair my ring...
when she said she could, I placed it in my car's change tray...

after going there several times when they were closed...
I finally found them, "open"...
and dropped it off last week while running errands...

yesterday, after a call that it was ready, I picked it up...



you can see where she soldered it...
then she rounded it out & polished it...
$25... & it's as good as new...



it even fits back on the repaired finger...
even though the joint has a lump on the side...
it still fits easily...

what a nice surprise !

definitely, a good thing...

...maybe I should be wearing garlic

ah Spring...

the fragrances waft through the soft sunny air...
blooming citrus blossoms, warm in the sunshine...
freshly cut grass, also warmed by the sun...
and just a hint, then the stench of sulphur from you-know-who...



yesterday, while watering the plants on my front porch...



I discovered this...

apparently, while my car was parked somewhere...
someone plowed or backed into my car...
I had been to the lumber yard, more on why, later...
and to WallyWorld, [I needed kitty litter & dog food]...
but as much as I'd like to blame them...
it couldn't have happened there...
because I parked with the front right corner next to a tree planter...
no one could have reached it, even if they tried...

so it must have happened at the lumber yard...
they claim their security cameras don't "review"...
sounds fishy to me, but, OK...
one of their company trucks, a large pick-up...
had a slightly damaged bumper & it's white...
but I can't prove anything & they, "heard nothing"...



the damage would have set off my alarm...
& I was at the far end of the store for at least 5 minutes...
where I wouldn't have heard anything...
the damage is high enough that it had to have been a big pick-up or SUV...



as you can see, there is white paint transfer...
the headlight unit is damaged...
and the fender & bumper are torqued & disconnected...
not to mention the lovely dent...

the insurance estimate is $2237.73...
it will take 4 days to repair, after the parts arrive...
that means 4 days of a rental car, which the insurance does pay for...
the problem ? I have a $500 deductible...

*sigh*

I considered NOT repairing it, but that's a lot of damage...

a loose bumper & fender...
broken headlight well...
possible frame damage...

I guess I'll just have to use a credit card for the deductible...

but, WHY, you ask was I AT the lumber yard ?



see the "ripple" in the bricks below the half-timbering ?



yes, the brick facing has come loose...
between ground movement & the corner, settling...
pressure is causing the bricks to bow out...

now look above the top of the window...



sigh...

I had figured that if I got a piece of pressure-treated wood...
27 7/8"x 5" x 1",with a 1" x 27 7/8" piece glued to it...
[to fill the gap between the board and the bricks...]
and then painted the "Tudor green" like the rest of the trim...

that I could screw into the underside of the top of the window frame...
and it would support the most "at-risk of falling off" bricks...
while I re mortared the cracks & gaps...
with the mortar replacement stuff & "Alex"...

& since it would blend in with the rest of the trim...
I could leave it there to improve the structural integrity of the bricks...
because I can't afford to have a foundation jack installed...
which is what the corner needs to be stabilized...

or even to have a mason redo this entire area...
so I'll try to prop-up & caulk the gaps...
hoping that we don't have "a seismic event" anytime soon...
'cause even a little one would be disastrous at this point...

of course, the roses have to be cut WAY back first...
& I have to dig my drill out of the garage[no small undertaking]...
THEN carry around & climb up on a ladder...
probably torquing my back, BIG TIME...
while getting stabbed by the remaining rose bushes for my trouble...

then, after pre-drilling holes...
install the support shelf & re mortar the bricks that are loose...

sounds like such fun...

and that's why I was at the lumber yard...

...fireplace exteriors as an art form

on a recent excursion through the neighborhood...
absorbing all the design delights of the many bungalows...
cottages & houses of the Craftsman era...
I began to take notice of the fireplace exteriors...

Craftsman era designs tended to feature the artisans' touch...
in the most basic parts of home design...
and as these few examples show...
they brought the fireplace box exterior to a new position...
as a part of the home that could express the builders' creativity...



stucco covered brick often sported "deco" design elements...
as seen here...



and here...



as well as in this example that needs some tlc...



Mission style elements tend towards straighter elements...
more like a free standing oven...
than a European squared off box...
some I've seen are more rounded than this one...



more simple might include painted brick...
with a bit of interest in set...
and sloped shoulders to carry water away from the wood...



but the simple cottage would have a plain brick box...
again, with the sloped shoulders to angle water away from the siding...



then there are ones like mine...

fancy bricks... & stacked shoulders on both sides of the chimney...
it is a pseudo-Tudor after all...and brick...
no siding to protect...

isn't it amazing what is just sitting there...
just waiting for us to notice & appreciate it...

...bungalows & cottages abound

my house is an expanded version of a "Pendleton" kit home...
sold by Sears only in 1930, though I've seen earlier dates for my house...
it follows the floor plan & exterior design of the Pendleton...
except for the nook, galley kitchen, utility porch corridor...
on the south end, which would be a fairly common sort of "add-on"...



if you take everything to the left of the tree away...
the exterior is almost identical to a one story version of the Pendleton...
the floor plan is not the same, due to the kitchen being in the add-on...
but the dining room/living room/fireplace orientation are there...

my neighborhood is full of these kinds of "kit homes"...
quite different from the "cookie cutter" tract homes of the last 50 years...

come along with me for a walk around the 2 blocks to either side...
of where I live and you see a plethora of design styles...
and more than one "re-muddle" mistake...
along with some accurate restorations...



there are a number of "Mission"[Spanish] style homes...
the "accurate ones" will have be stucco...
have some wrought iron trim & clay tile roofs...



the ones that have been "re-muddled"...
had all the trim & design elements removed...
just look "wrong"....



a bungalow with Mission style elements...
often has odd shaped windows and fireplaces...
as well as the wrought iron trim & tile vents & roof...



this is an example of a Mission style stucco fireplace...



this Mission bungalow has the round tile vents...
as well as the odd shaped window...
the paint job may be an attempt at either a Tuscan color scheme... [?]
and who knows where the matching ladders came from...
[they are intentional, they've been there for a long time...]



I'm not sure why these folks put a tile roof...
on such an obviously English style brick house...
but they did... destroying what little style it had...



this house is owned by a contractor...
it's behind me & I hear the construction noises all the time...
this gate is very Craftsman & fits the cottage style...



but unable to control himself...
he went too far with the fence & gate...



not too mention the UGLY pergola he put in the front...
west facing windows would have had a simple canvas awning...
similar to the one they have in the previous picture...
or at the most, something a lot less massively invasive as this...

this one gets one of my "thumbs down" awards...



this is a simple cottage with a pergola done well...
it seems to fit and is part of the flow of the structure...



this is not a kit, but a 50's style "ranch"...
complete with ugly palm trees...
[have I mentioned that I detest palm trees ?]



the elaborate porch covering structure...
meant to house some sort of vine...
is very Craftsman...



and a covered porch area is not uncommon either...



here's one covered with climbing roses...



this neatly kept brick bungalow has aluminum awnings...
but in the correct period shape & color...
so it looks like part of the whole...



this bungalow has "eyebrow" windows...



this one has the same shape in the porch roof...



this is only one example of the "fairy tale" style of cottage...
there are numerous ones in the surrounding blocks...



this 2 story has a bit of the fantasy style...



this Craftsman has a vine covered pergola...



this one used to...



and this covered porch has the decorative pillars so common to the period...

most of the houses in my area were built...
anywhere from the 1920's...
through the 1930's & 40's...
into the 50's...

though there are a couple of exceptions...



the oldest house, by far, in this immediate neighborhood...
is UnklePhil's...

I once met an old man who stopped to look at it...
he said that he'd been born & grew-up there...
in the late 1800's...

of course Mudville was established in 1850...
and this area was one of the first "suburban tracts"developed...
though only 2 miles from downtown...
it was once the end of the trolly line...
the "car turn around" being only blocks from my house...

now to reach the city limits to the north...
I'd have to drive about 10 miles...
through tract homes that all look alike...

I think I prefer all the quaintness of the past...
it's more interesting and more pleasing to the eye...

next... a "fireplaces as art" post...

...keeping the faith alive

not much happening...
just continuing to trust God...
and believing in His Goodness...
irregardless of how things may appear to me...

...my house

this photo was taken a couple of years ago from across the street...
it must have been in late May or June since the silk oak is blooming...
and I'm flying the flag...
not to mention that all is neat & tidy...



at this point, the roses are overgrown with Burmuda grass...
and the "weed 'n feed" I bought didn't kill foxtails...
[I knew it was, "too cheap to be comprehensive"...]
so things aren't as tidy as I'd like...

but my back has limited me & I can't afford "help"...



this is the southern facing side with the creeper...
there is a purgola over the kitchen windows...
too bad I can't let the city pay to trim this oak in my back yard...
it really needs cutting back, but I can't afford it...



on the north eastern corner[front], behind this rose bush...
you can spot a problem at the top of the window...
the brick facing has come loose from the sheathing...
and needs to be re-secured before something falls off...

just what I need... another expense...

to paraphrase Roseanna Roseanna Danna...

"owning a house...it's always something more...
& it's always expensive..."