Odds and Ends…

We’re not crazy about winter!  We spent 27 years in Chicago and another year in Massachusetts and that was enough for us.  Typically, we get about 6.5 inches of snow every winter.  This winter we’ve only had 2 inches so far and it’s been in the 50’s and 60’s for the past 2 and a half weeks.  But even down here in East Tennessee winter can be very dreary if not really cold or snowy.  Plus the days are too darn short!

J.D., our master who allows us to live here and attend to his needs, hates cold or even cool weather because that means he can’t laze around on the screened in porch.  He really wants his daily dose of sunshine and if he doesn’t get it, he’s restless and crabby.

His latest solution to his personal dilemma is to make himself at home on top of our computer printer directly under the 3-way light bulb at full brightness… I’m forced to use the copier when he’s out and about bothering Laurie or at night when he’s sleeping in his own room… In this photo he appears to have an eye on me, suspecting that I might disturb him if I print something from my computer file.

This is a view from my bonus room window.  We’d never noticed it before because we don’t get much snow…but if you look carefully, you can see a track or trail through the snow in the wooded area between our house and our neighbors.

A week or so after the snow melted, our deer trail theory was proven as a group of 5 deer (3 in the photo) moved on down the path looking for something to eat.  In this case, the group consisted of 2 does and 3 of their offspring.

This “Key Bottle” was one of Laurie’s birthday gifts.  She’d forgotten that she’d put it on her ‘Esty’ and ‘Pinterest’ wish lists some time ago.  Our son David II and his better half Amy didn’t forget though so this was a total surprise!  This key bottle was made in Australia by an artisan who must have formed it around a bottle, subsequently breaking out the core glass base… 

Laurie captured this very classy photo of the moon over nearby Tellico Lake.  The clouds, tree branches and the reflection off the lake provide sort of an other-worldly image…

As I mentioned in a previous blog, the woods around our house are slowly being devoured by ‘progress’ as new homes are built.  This house is only 2 lots down from our home and this builder told us that he will be building a house right next door to us starting in the next month or so… This is a bummer, especially for our deer and our huge local flock of turkey.

Ahhh… J.D. is finally unconscious!   I wish that I could zonk out and be as flexible as this old cat is… Note the fur missing on his legs.  Every fall, contrary to nature’s plans, he loses much of the hair on his legs and belly.  Then, when the weather warms up, the hair grows back.  Our veterinarian tells us that since he’s otherwise healthy, this weird condition must be genetic!

That’s about it for now!  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave