Escape!

What happens when the window is wide open so the paint on the window sill can dry?  Is this a trick question?!  Of course the cats try to escape.

Yes, Mama Catt climbed head first down the entire ladder... three different times.  She became pretty quick at it, too.

Pipes really wanted to follow, but she was too timid.  Robin tells her to "Get off."

Elliot brings Mama back,

 but even this couldn't keep her in:

Since she lived on the street by herself for a year, I often wonder if she would leave for her freedom and never come back.  I don't really want to find out.

Mulch to Think About

Some weeks ago, a friend of ours sent us this link to a film featuring the woodchip-mulching technique that a man uses to sustain his garden in the rain shadow of a mountain--without ever watering it.

Ever since, we've been praying for a wood chipper to borrow.  After all, God seems to have provided us with plenty of raw material to work with:

The tree we cut down to allow more light to shine on the patch where we'll transplant our strawberries:

The part of a clump of trees that fell down when the boys were climbing on it (no worries; no one was hurt):

And the vines that grow so obnoxiously on, over, and around the southeast fence:

A man in town told Paul he thought he might have a chipper we could borrow, but we're still trying to get connected on that.  So we're still praying.

Pray with us?

Undo, Redo

If only it were as easy as ctrl-Z and ctrl-Y; we would be able to get all six windows done before winter strikes.  But by now we'll be pleased if we can strip and then repaint the frames and trim around just two of our windows.

Undo.

Redo.

Undo.

Redo.

If it looks like I don't know what I'm doing, it's because I don't.  However, I've glazed a few panes since then, and I'm much handier at it now.

And while I'm dreaming about ctrl-z, I sure wish I could tap my fingers and undo the breaking panes of glass. For one, those old panes reflected back little wavy distortions characteristic of old glass.  For another, replacing them will cost us more money than we'd like.  Finally, missing panes of glass delays the whole project from being completely finished.

But we're still making progress.  Undoing.  Redoing.

Radish Tops

The radishes looked like this before we left at midday on Wednesday. Can't wait to see what awaits us in the 3-H when we get there!

Cats' Eyes

Given our absence for the past few days, do you think they'll be looking for us?

Or hiding from us?

Getting the Stains off the Glass

Water and a wet rag took the window from this:

to this:

The principle at work is to start mild and then use increasingly heavier cleaners only as needed.  I really wanted to see what wonders the #0000 steel wool would do to it, but we don't have time for me to be picky.  It does look better than it did, anyway, and that's good enough for now.

The Last Pear

They look like a cross between apples and pears, and Asian pears taste and crunch that way, too. So sweet. Mmmm....

Paul found this pear on the other side of our back fence after we thought we'd seen the last pear on the tree. It's a perfect specimen, completely unmarred by epicurean insects. What a fitting way to signify the close of a fruitful season.