All Creatures Great and Small

Sunday, September 14, 2008

The last few weeks have been busy. I told the kid’s school here that we were moving and they wouldn’t be attending. When we discovered our move would be delayed, I called the school to see if they could still come. They told me their classes were all full and they would have to go to a different school… hmmmm… so we are doing home school for a few weeks. Most of my time this week has been spent trying to find materials at the library we can use. Even though I have gotten some good lessons in, sometimes it feels like trying to eat Jell-o with chopsticks.

We had a scare with Kina a few weeks ago. In the middle of the night she was barking ferociously like someone was in our yard, but I was too tired to wake up and go check. The next morning she was nowhere to be found. We called and called and searched the neighborhood but found nothing. I was sure someone had come into our yard and taken her in the middle of the night, and my imagination started to get the best of me (like it tends to do). We had an open house the day before and I realized how anyone could have come through our house. What if they decided to get rid of the dog so they could return later with no obstacles… Chris was gone and now I had no protection… Anyways, I was about to pack everyone up and head to a hotel when Sierra came running in and said they found her. She was hiding under our deck the whole time and refused to come out. I had a flash of inspiration and took off her shock collar and then she finally came out. I checked the collar and sure enough it was shocking me where the deck ended but not under the deck… poor dog!

We never did know for sure what she was barking at that night, but a few nights ago we discovered one possible answer… It was bedtime and she was barking again like someone was in our yard so I turned on the light and opened the door… we did have a visitor, but not of the human kind… There was a HUGE raccoon standing on the railing, it was as tall as Ella but fatter. I didn’t know they could get so big!

Then a few days ago there was a thud on the back door and Sierra cried, “A bird just ran into our window!” I ran out because I knew Kina would eat it if I didn’t save it, and I could tell it was injured. When I tried to pick it up it flew onto the lawn and I decided to let it go. Poor thing was probably scared to death though.

We had an unusual spider make it’s home in front of the garage door where Chris used to park (he finally sold his car and now just drives the company car). It was big and ferocious looking with bright yellow spots. A quick surf of the web revealed that it was an Argiope aurantia, more commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider or Writing Spider. I didn’t get a personal photo of it but this is what it looked like before Chris did it in…




Well, enough discussion of all creatures great and small…

Our house hunting hasn’t been too productive lately, we are hoping to have something nailed down this week though. It is not a good buyers market in Duluth right now.

I finally went to some garage sales this week, the season is almost over so I thought I better go while I can. I found some really cute clothes for the kids and even a few things for me. I splurged a little when I came across a new serger for $10, it is just a small one but perfect for what I need. I also found the game “Compatability” which we played years ago with Brendan and Leslie and I have wanted to get ever since. You can’t buy it anywhere in the stores because they don’t make it anymore but I got it for 50 cents!

Chris offered Solei $50 to potty train Ella, and Solei is thrilled for the opportunity (so far). Chris is notorious in this home for being generous when there is a job he despises doing himself. J I am so busy with school and moving issues that potty training has been on my back burner for a while now. Ella hasn’t had an accident yet, although it has only been 4 hours… we will see how enthusiastic Solei is by the end of the night…