And then there were three...

Last year at this time we only had three cats.  Three is a good number, maybe.  This spring Felix had her second litter somewhere else and then disappeared with them.  Her first cats Spooky and Buttermilk had their first litters this spring, and we found ourselves with eight cats - four girls and four boys.

In August after my trip to Portland, we were down to six cats.  The two mommas disappeared, likely killed/eaten, as they were both still nursing.  And Smokey, the older female kitten, disappeared a week later and then was found dead in the dirt.

So neither of us were terribly surprised to come home Monday to zero cats.  The bowl of food was full, though, and the neighbors had seen the cats on Sunday, at our house - not at his, where they had gone in August.  None of the family had made off with them, either.  So when Andres told Thomas on Tuesday night that another neighbor up the road from us was trying to give away six week kittens, grey with a few with tiger stripes, Thomas and I both wondered if they were Not Peanut, Tiger, Crusty, Pete, and Roger.  After calling ahead, Thomas went to check it out and came home with five kittens in the bed.  We don't know where or why a different neighbor picked them up and why or when they were passed on to another neighbor, but there was a little bounce in Thomas's step to have them back again.

Then last night Daniel called to say they made up their minds and would like a couple kittens (to eat - he said on the phone - but I know better).  Julie and Daniel came over and just barely managed to get Pete and Roger in a box to take home.  It's been less than 24 hours, so I don't know how they've fared.  I can't tell whether the other three (tiger-striped) cats miss the little boys that made so much noise, or are grateful for a little peace and quiet.  One things for sure - they won't have to share their food with so many.  We don't have any long trips planned for a long while, so hopefully these ones will stick around.

Surprise!!

I am a liar (it's alright now, as I've already confessed this).  I sent our flight arrangements to Portland, but doctored the dates.  I led my dear dad to believe that Thomas and I would see him mid-October, and he went so far as to plan our family dinner and game night for the trip.  Really, I was able to pull off a fourth surprise birthday-visit. 

Tom and I hit the road early, early Thursday to catch a flight to Oregon.  Greeted by Marty, we headed over to hang out with Ollie before dinner with Pat, Amy, and the kids.  Fifteen minutes of quiet in between was all Thomas got.  Dinner turned into a dance party, but wound down to story-time before we headed to see Mom and the pair of pillows waiting for our heads.

 Pat and Ben after some tasty ice cream

Friday we headed out to the zoo with Teddy and Ollie.  Teddy evidently didn't like my fashion statement, as he "spit up" not once but twice before we even left the house.  Tia's pants were a bit damp from sour milk - yum!  Ollie was excited to see his friends Eddie, the sea otter, and Lily, the baby elephant.

 Tio and Ollie

Baby Lily

The boys checking out the giraffes

After zoo and some lunch, it was time for the big surprise.  Tom and I hung out at the airport briefly, waiting for the call from Mom that Dad called her.  She was who he was expecting.  Instead we fell in line behind him as he headed for his bags.  "Sir, excuse me; sir."  He didn't recognize my voice, but when he turned around to see if it was his attention being sought, he dropped his carry-on and gave me a big hug.  He was really surprised, though he then wanted to know if we weren't really coming in October.  Alas...

Saturday would be a full day, not only preparing and hosting Dad's birthday party, but we started with a celebration of Hannah's baptism.  She was delightful as ever and didn't fuss at the water or oil.

 showing off her pre-baptism spiky hair

Hannah with her godparents, Father, and parents - with her new 'do

The day was fun and full.  The party was a great chance to see family and friends, enjoy tasty treats, and even dance a little with my handsome man.  There weren't many brave souls willing to roast Dad, but there was some teasing about his years as a "cheerleader" in college when Mom met him.  After a late night, it was good to sleep late before mass.  It was really a sight to see all the family together at mass and quite a feat.  After family pictures everyone scattered for a little quiet time before meeting out for Dad's birthday dinner.

What a way to end a great weekend with the Ford-side of our family!  An early, early morning flight didn't get us home as early as we would have liked, but we made it back with a truck full of groceries.  Now we're ready to get down and dirty and get some more work done on the house.

The Weekend

This could also be called "Why Thomas Is Tired and Tori Wants to Go Back".  We flew to Oregon.  I'm sure that's enough said, but I'll say more anyway.

This is why Thomas is tired...

Our first night in town was spent with Pat, Amy, and the kids.  Thomas quickly became a jungle gym.  After a solid night's rest, we pounded the pavement at the Oregon Zoo with these nephews.  Full days - little quiet time - travel to and fro. Yes, he had good reason to be tired.

Why I want to go back...

Yes, the busy days meant lots of great memories with the kiddos.  I didn't get the camera out enough for the rest of the trip, but captured the first 24 hours well.  We did get to hang out with all the nephews, our niece, and a bunch of cousins, though there aren't pictures of all.  I can honestly say that I feed on all the family time, or at least I can fill up for a weekend.  And having been back two months in a row, I will have to bide my time for the next trip.

Grease Monkey Day

I thank Thomas for teaching me how to change the oil in a car every time I have the opportunity to do it.  I'm a dork for enjoying Grease Monkey Day, and I know it. 

Yesterday was a lovely blue-sky kind of day, a kind we haven't had in a week, as we've been enjoying rain.  (Yes - "enjoying" - we haven't been hit like neighbors to the north and south with flooding rains.)  The kind of dry-ground day when you don't mind laying under your car. It's been a long time coming, so when Tom got home from work, I asked if he would help.  And like the gem he is, he said, "Yes."  Not only did I get to change to oil, he also helped me rotate my tires. 

It is mind-blowing to the version of myself from ten years ago how a car can accumulate miles so fast.  The days of biking, busing, and walking to work or the store or church or the library or (insert almost anywhere in town a person might go) are only a memory.  At least we're getting more mileage out of these tires than the pair I had. Thanks, Thomas!  I appreciate your strength and knowledge and guidance.

Thomas Was Right!

Last weekend we began hanging the tongue and groove pine boards that will be our ceiling throughout the house.  Thomas was right - it was very satisfying to see it go up.  We had hoped to get that far the weekend before, but with all the plumbing, roof vents, and rain, it wasn't meant to be.  We also needed to get the section of secondary insulation over the stairs finished, which I realized really meant I needed to.  Thomas can do so many things that I can't yet, so I knew I needed to "man-up" and get it done.  I got brave last Tuesday and stretched out over the ladder and stapled away.  It was gratifying to see it finished and ready for the wood!

I also put up the secondary insulation over the bathroom and a bit of the edges.  The mud kept me from re-supplying and getting any further.

Saturday, we loaded the back of the truck with the boards and, after a brief foray in the mud, unloaded them into the house.  We brought up the chop saw from the basement, and we were ready.  Suffice it to say, our first attempt wasn't our best.  As we negotiated the nuances of the boards, we assembled thirty-two feet of three rows on the floor and then hung them.  The rest of those rows and the next three went up beautifully.

Sunday we had less time, as I had youth group after mass, but we were able to put up another 6 rows.   It's good to see it get faster, though it is no less taxing on my sore, sore shoulders and arms.  Looks like my upper body will get a good work out over the next several weekends.

 The first twelve rows - they'll look so good with a little lemon oil.

Looking out to the mesa - the ceiling will add so much warmth in the feeling of the room.  So purty!

Lots of House Work Done!

People keep asking if we've moved in yet, but it actually will take more than a door and a roof, windows and walls to move in.  We were hoping for October, but "by the end of fall" would be more realistic.  We've been working hard, though.

 By the middle of August we finished most of the insulation of the roof...

and the gable ends...and the half of our south facing, framed wall.

Over Labor Day we hung lots of sheet rock and this fancy storm door on the front of the house (the screen is on the top, which means the kittens can't climb on it.

This past weekend Tom climbed up on the roof and put in all the plumbing vents.

I was on the scaffolding all weekend hanging a second insulation barrier and got a little more than half the ceiling done, as well as insulating the spots where the roof had been left open for the plumbing vents.

There was also the fun of identifying where our toilets and other fixtures will go.  This involved pulling out a toilet to sit on and testing out our plans.  Pop traced a cardboard tub to make sure our plumbing didn't interfere with floor joists.  With all the combined plumbing materials, we've returned and repurchased different sizes enough times that we may have been okay with what we originally started with, but luckily it only took one more trip in on Saturday to get a few more missing pieces.  We are so grateful for Pop and his expertise!

Fancy plumbing by the boys in the cellar...sadly their combined expertise fell just short of opening the cellar door for some ventilation from the fumes.  Plus, the natural light helped.

 The pooper sits in the corner of our bathroom.

 The tub fills the end of the guest bathroom back wall, and after a few test sits, we off-centered the toilet just a bit between the counter and tub.

More to do, of course, but it is coming together nicely.  With school in session, my Sundays and Mondays are not my own, but we're trying to get a little more work done on our weeknights.

Who Loves to Get Wood?!?!?

I'm finally getting more pictures up.  These first are from our firewood getting day on the last day of August.  It was fun and exhausting.  Maya informed me last night that she still thinks about Thomas brewing coffee in the french press, as I shared he was doing that morning, as all the trucks but ours lined the highway.  Poor boy needed something stronger than Gatorade to get going!

Our first stop in the morning was in an area near Clark's Fork.  Marie tried to instill the value of parking in the shade, as we loaders appreciate that hint of coolness stacking wood in truck after truck.

 Pop found the last tree of our morning load!

Daniel is good and generous to let us all go get firewood.  It is a perk of his job that he gets to go, and a perk of being related to him that we get to go.

After the trucks were loaded, we headed on home to unload and lunch before making a second trek to the Ponderosas.  There were lots of smaller trees that didn't over-winter well like ours at home that died.  It took a little more work to fill a truck, but we managed to get four more beds full without getting rained on too much.

 Thomas practically pushed over this tree.

But Andres made it look even easier to push them over.

 Our young helpers mostly helped entertain each other.

Sara's teepee was more like an old-timey pak-n-play for her sister, who was happy as could be to scoop dirt up on top of her not-so-bright-anymore yellow shirt.

A rainbow on our drive home - it was elusive as it appeared here and there and kept changing.

August Progresses into September!

I still need to capture pictures of the progress, but here are the words.

This weekend was a bluster of activity.  We were go-go-go, save for a few moments for meals.  Those were tough work - getting back up after sitting down is a whole shift in inertia.

Saturday marked the beginning of firewood season.  It's not been cold enough to build a fire, but the scouts have all gone home, so Daniel took us into the woods to forage for firewood.  We packed our coolers and chainsaws and caravan-ed to the trees.  Our first loads - four trucks in all - were big trees, used our big muscles.  Our second loads - another for all four trucks - were smaller trees from a different area.  As Marie pointed out, it is plenty tough for one reason or another to stack fewer heavier pieces and to stack lots of lighter pieces.  Plus the kids were pretty checked out by the afternoon.  All in all, I had a lot of fun and look forward to the next trip we make it out on, though given our supply of firewood and current lack of fireplace in the new house, it may not be right away.

When I got home from church on Sunday, I was relieved to see Thomas ready for action.  He'd loaded sheet rock into the back of the truck, thereby announcing the afternoon's work.  And it wasn't going to be so easy for me - these were 4' x 12' sheets, not the 4' x 8's.  We got the whole truckload hung and loaded up ten more sheets.  Not more than a few minutes after catching our breath from unloading them into the house, the rain started.  It was a relief to see the rain barrel fill back up again, but it was a muddy trek back to the house after an hour of rest.  We hung more and more sheets on into Monday afternoon.  After all the sheets were hung, we switched gears and hung our storm door on the front of the house.  As easy as it should have been, five kittens with a hankering to get inside made the work a lot trickier. 

So for Labor Day we labored long and hard and have much to show for it.  I'll show you sometime...