Yet Another One

It seems to be time for another exciting
Mystery Pix!And, Whilst The Fuzz was out and about the other day, he came upon this one. And so here we go again.

More on the Floor

As you may be aware, moving out here to the woods is an on-going project. While a most of the floor had been finished before the cold weather, the bathrooms remained. We already had the tile for this, having been ready to start it early on. But in the process, we had discovered a leak, and that took priority. So the tile was pushed to the back of the closet.Well, since it was raining again, and we had plenty of firewood, the time had finally come to give it a shot. We had opted to use this stuff with the stickum already on it. It seemed simple enough, just cut it to fit, peal off the paper backing and stick it on the floor. It was (mostly) simple. The only difficulty was getting the cuts just right. The Fuzz got off to a late start on this project due to a rather late night the day before, so it wasn't all finished till the next day. But here is a look at this latest project out here in our new home in the woods. We'll add a bit of wood strip here on the edge to finish it off. But for now, Another job, well done.

R 2

In a reply to one of our recent posts, maria asks..."What are the other R's?" Well, the 2nd is of course, 'riting.
In this The Fuzz has been somewhat less successful. Back in the days, there was a class called Penmanship. As can be seen from the example here, The Fuzz was not what one would consider an Honor Student. In fact, by the time he reached the 7th grade, he was ordered to abandon cursive writing altogether. This was not too big a sacrifice since he couldn't read it himself.
Now it seems to be possible to read his writin' if he draws the letters rather than attempts to write them, as can be seen here.
But there are other aspects to this writin' stuff besides neatness, stuff like grammar and spelling. Now that grammar stuff can get confusing, so well not get into that here. But that spelling business deserves a word or two. It has been said that the English language is 80% phonetic. The obvious problem here is that 20% is not! If this wasn't enough, how does one know if a mystery word is in the 80% or the 20%? I mean, is this fair? And just who decided what's what here?
The fact is, if not for "spell check" you probably couldn't even read this.
So now we've dealt with two of these "R's". One of these days we may get to the next.

A Pre-Blowout Post

Seems hard to make it on here lately. I don't really know why. Perhaps it's just that time of year- post holidays.
But for us it's not post-holiday any more. That's because this week is our Annual Movie Blowout!
In the past we have done stuff like the Star Wars Trilogy and Lord of the Rings. One year we got a bunch from the local Real to Reel Film Festival.
This year we plan to go with this BBC edition of Pride and Prejudice. It says on the box something about 300 minuets.
Let's see, 300 ÷ 60 = 5.
That's 5 hours of DVD glory.
This should keep us busy for a while.

The Fuzz wants to apologize for neglecting all his loyal readers the last few days. And just so we have something to look at, here's this slightly modified pix of some of the woods around here.

Test Flight

It was time for a test flight of some Christmas Loot. The Fuzz's Sweetie got out her brand new frying thing. After carfully reading the important instructions that came with it, she added the proper amount of oil, and cut it on. The little red light came on, which was a good sign.
But we were waiting for that little green light with the encouraging "Ready To Cook" above. And as you can see, even that one eventually cut on.
And just what was the point in all this?
Well, how about some tasty home made french fries.
And they were tasty. But french fries, as good as they are, are a pretty common sort of thing. The Fuzz's Sweetie is not one to confine herself to only something that you could get at Micky D's.
So, how about Egg Rolls. The Fuzz is quite fond of Egg Rolls. And so, a few days latter, it was time for the Egg Rolls.
You can probably see by now that The Fuzz didn't marry this talented girl merely for her good looks. (As good looking as she is, but this is another subject which we won't get into at this time)
And here's the Yummy Egg Rolls, too bad you can't taste 'em.

Cold

Ice on the bathroom window.
The Fuzz is beginning to wonder about this "Global Warming" stuff.

One Out Of Three

While The Fuzz could never be considered a fanatic regarding "higher education", he does see the necessity for the basics (like those 3 R's). In his long career as a garbageman he has worked with a number of folks who were unable to read. Since The Fuzz, himself, did somehow manage to pick up this useful skill, it has not always been easy to empathize. Perhaps it was a bit like trying to read a foreign language like Français or Español. But no, in these cases one can actually read the words, he just has no idea what they mean. But knowing a few people involved with Chinese Calligraphy makes it easier to understand.
But, as has been mentioned, The Fuzz can, and does on occasion, read books. And here is an artist's rendition* of just one such occasion.

*By a little know local artist

Candle Power

After Christmas we pretty much had the place to ourselves. This was one of those quiet candle lit dinners.
Whilst at the "Sandy's Country Christmas" store, shortly before the big day, we were picking up a few last minute supplies. When the proprietors learned that we actually burn the candles, they thew in a few damaged ones for freebies.
But what, The Fuzz has to ask, use are candles that never get burned? This is the time of year for candles on the table, even when the power's not out. The Fuzz's Sweetie knows how to make things nice.
Here's some of our cool candle holders made out of transmission parts. The semi-carved rock on the right is a souvenir of a special place on the west coast.
Well, for now, it's back to the "old grind". I guess we'll see how this 2010 thing turns out. But, so far, so good.

Then The Rain Came

The Fuzz hopes everyone enjoyed all those wonderful Snow Pix. But it must be noted that he was running a bit behind on these posts. All that snow actually came a few days before Christmas. Hence the title "White Pre-Christmas". Although there was still a bit of snow still around, Christmas Eve was rainy, very rainy.
You may remember this snow covered foot bridge (actually a couple of logs) from that snow post. Well, here is another look* at it Christmas morning.There is quite a difference. Amazingly, the logs are still there after all this.
The Fuzz would like to wish every one a Happy New Year. This year, we actually stayed up for it. We had a few White Russians, and got out the Pride and Prejudice tapes. The Fuzz even got the old muzzle loader out at midnight for the traditional salute.
And now, here it is, the year 2010. It has been a big year for us here. We moved from the old home place out here to the woods. There's still a whole lot of work to do, but we are pretty much settled in now.



*As usual, click on pix for a closer look!

Wood Pile

Whilst that Scholarly Son was home for the holidays, he Helped The Old Fuzz out on the wood pile.This is all that is left of those trees we cut the other day.
Young Daughter also helped out with this, and moved a bunch of it around to the wood pile on the other side of the trailer, where it's closer to the wood stove.
This cleared out the yard some in preparation for our Christmas guests.
They arrived before all the snow was gone, so I guess one could say we had a Kinda White Christmas.

Winter Home

Our Winter Home in the Woods.

A White Pre-Christmas

We have had a pretty good Christmas, but have been kinda busy.You may remember as The Fuzz and His Sweetie were bringing home their Christmas Tree, it was beginning to snow. Well, we actually got some, and in the morning The Fuzz got out with his camera and enjoyed himself here in the woods.Here's a look at where one of our trails crosses the creek.A look up the creek.Another foot bridge near the trailer.One of the cats getting a drink.
(This is only about 30ft from the door)Another look at the creek. This is actually where two of them join, but it's kinda hard to see in the pix.And lastly, a look out the "driveway" toward the "road".

And amazingly, there was still some of this around for Christmas Day.

Christmas Tree '09

We do insist on having a "real" Christmas Tree. We haven't quite sunk to the plastic level yet. But we did economize a little and got one from the Food Lion instead of the high-dollar Christmas-Tree-Guys. We had left it at the old house, in some water, until it was time to put it up.
The Fuzz used to be old school about this, and insist on waiting 'till Christmas Eve. But they finally wore him down, and it goes up a few days early.
The Fuzz and His Sweetie were headed out to the new place in the woods with it stuffed in the trunk, when the blizzard hit. Here you can see it waiting out in the snow while the higher priority firewood was being brought inside. It finally got it's turn, and then we went though the straightening up process as the ice melted off onto The Fuzz and the floor.
All the decorating would have to wait 'till the next day though.
The next day, after running around in the snow for a bit, The fuzz got around to stringing some lights on it. And then everyone got in on the job and hung the ornaments. We did downsize a bit this year, moving a smaller tree into a smaller place. And so we also did a bit of culling out the various decorations, for the tree and the rest of it too. But there is still plenty of stuff left.
And here's a look* at this year's Christmas Tree.




*As usual "click" on any pix for a better look!

Snow

We are happy to say that The Fuzz and His Sweetie made it home to the woods just before the worst of the snow hit. It started just as they left town and got heavier along the way. Right as they hit the dirt road in, it cut loose. First it was nice big flakes. Then the wind began to pick up as well. It was a "Dark and Stormy Night" as snoopy used to say.
By morning the snow and wind had stopped, and the sun was even trying to break though. The Fuzz couldn't resist and stomped around with his camera and boots for a bit. He promises he'll try and get some more pix up soon. But sorry, no time now.

An Afternoon's Work

We had been having a good bit of rain lately. But it finally stopped and it seemed like a good time to take care of some things outside. These 2 trees were a little too close to the trailer, and we were planning to set something smaller there. It didn't seem to be a real complicated affair, but The Fuzz does not like to take chances in situations like this. So he tied 100' of stout rope to the tree, and the other end to a come-along and another tree.
Here you can see him using this framing square in the notch* in an attempt to "aim" at the little box (x). He was taking these precautions in the hope of not dropping the thing on top of the trailer. It kinda looks like we got old Gandalf here to help out, but you can't believe everything you see.
Well, whoever that guy was, he got busy with the chainsaw and soon the tree was notched and ready to go down. Before the final cut, we took up some tension on the line, just to make sure things got started in the right direction. And then, down she goes.
I'm sorry to report that The Fuzz missed that target by a couple of feet. But since it also missed everything else, we can consider it a relative success.
This whole process was repeated with the 2nd tree with equal success.
Here you can see both trees together. You might notice the ground crew in the background.
All that remained now was cutting them up and cleaning up the mess.

And here's some of that firewood waiting to be split.

*A Kinda Fuzzy Techno-Tip!

One More Thing, Gone

Back at the old place we didn't have a lot of those modern conveniences like here. Our shower facilities were outdoors. This did limit their usefulness to relatively warm weather. For the rest of the year it was the old tin tub. The entrance to the shower can be seen on the right.
Well, there was not much use for this any more, and it seemed that the materials (tin & treated lumber) could be put to better use as roofing for a porch at the new place.
This outdoor shower was not without it's charm. Here you can see a bit of the interior with the bench for sitting, for what ever reason one might wish to sit. Many summer evenings The Fuzz and His Sweetie would shower there by candle light. It was one of life's little pleasures. But of course now it was time to move on.
And so, the other day, The Fuzz loaded up a few appropriate tools and headed over to the house bent on destruction. He hoped, by the use of hammers and pry bars, to dismantle it with a minimum of damage, and bring the lumber and tin out to the woods to be reused on the porch roof.Here is a look at things with the tin gone. Really, it went pretty well. And here is a look at everything loaded up for the trip to the woods.

Happy Hanukkah

The Fuzz sends Happy Hanukkah greetings to everyone.

Latest Flooring Project

It may seem that all The Fuzz does these days is chase kitty cats and write questionable poetry. But we want to assure you that when he is not stuffing himself with turkey and other yummy things, he is in fact, a hard hard worker.
This is a shot of the floor at the kitchen/washroom door. (This is our main entrance.) One reason we got this trailer so reasonably is that it needed a bit of work.
You will note at A & B the water damage to the floor. In fact this whole area is pretty bad. The 1/4" plywood (C) is all that keeps one from stepping though the floor when one steps in.
The Fuzz had been putting this off for a while, but it wasn't going to get any better.
He had dealt with a similar, less extensive, situation already, now it was time to face this one. 1st was the removal of the rotten plywood. This also involved trying to dig out what was under the walls with a chisel. Then he added some more support. (at red arrows) Next, he cut some new plywood to fit. It was a bit "snug", but The Fuzz and His Sweetie got it in place with the aid of a rather large hammer. And here below is a *shot of the finished floor.*Note- For a closer look at any of the pix, simply click on it.

New Cat Poetry Contributions

This fella, who totters on the edge of feline sanity, lives back at the old place. He and most of his direct blood kin are really on the edge. We realized that he wouldn't survive re-location with what little mind he has intact, so he remains back there. We make almost daily trips to town for work, schoolin' and what not, so he gets fed on a fairly regular basis.So whilst we are on the subject of our feline Friends, it seems appropriate to revive our popular Cat Poetry feature. This, especially, since some recent posts have inspired contributions from some of The Fuzz's many loyal readers.

And so, here we go.....

When I ponder beasts feline
I sometimes pause to write a line
And ofttimes strive the lines to rhyme

And though the day I maybe pause
And think about those deadly claws
That grace those little kitty paws

The end of many a bird has come
As kitty strives to fill the tum
And so I think this rhyme is done.

And from that Lazy Iguana ....

Orange cat on the bricks
Missing his dinner and snacks,
Happy now your home.

And......

Kitty sneaking through the woods,
Might even be some in your neighborhood.
They will take a squat,
In your flower pot;
And you will never even know they were there.

And from Woodie......

cats are sneaky.
cat are mean.
cats blend in
with any scene.

So folks, if you have any for us, feel free to contribute! And you can see some of the old stuff by clicking on the label "Cat Poetry Collection" below.

Exciting Kitty Cat Pix

Amazing how they blend in with their surroundings.

At The Tooth Dentist

Yes, it was an exciting day at the Tooth Dentist for The Fuzz. Here is an artist's rendition of him, bleeding in the dentist chair. It must be said that the artist was not actually present in the treatment room, so this rendition is somewhat a product of the imagination in the waiting room. But be assured, The Fuzz was not enjoying himself.
The tooth in question was successfully surgically removed, or as they say, "extracted". This was a rather traumatic experience for The Old Fuzz, but necessary under the circumstances, and he reports that he is feeling much better today.
And check back later for another exciting Kitty Cat Pix.