Walk About

Don't don't faint dead away. 2 posts in less than a week. What is the blogging world coming to?

There will not be much about knitting today. Not that I haven't been knitting, I have. On the indigo socks, which if you could see my fingers, you would know I am telling the truth. The blue does not lie. And I got a sample of my new sweater yarn into the black walnut pot. What I got out was a nice warm brown with none of the harshness I got with the sock yarn and walnut. So I guess that I will go ahead and start the process of dyeing up 1600 yards of sport weight in a nice yummy brown here as soon as our funky weather gets it's act together. I do not consider 36 degrees and dense fog to be condusive to any kind of outdoor activity.

So on to the real subject of my post. In the few short weeks I have lived here I have enjoyed a number of very nice walks. Some upwards of 5 miles round trip. And I have been amazed at how beautiful the area surrounding us is. So I am taking this opportunity to introduce you to our new neighborhood-with the hopes that some of my dear friends will find it a lovely enough place to come visit some day.

First up will be our closest neighbors. They live directly across the street. And all that separates us from them is an almost invisible electric fence. So some days I look out and it appears they are standing right in our yard. They aren't!! They are so lovely it makes me feel a bit embarressed to not be a vegetarian.

Next house is one we should have bought. It was sold at absolute auction just about 3 weeks before we bought our house. It is a bit smaller house but with about 10 more acres and a killer view. But unfortunately we did not hear about the house while we were searching and missed out on that opportunity. We keep reminding ourselves that it would have meant a lot more mowing and not nearly enough space in the house. We would have had to build on. Still.......

Now these neighbors are the quietest ones we have. No kidding. Never cause a bit of stir. Of course, we weren't around on Halloween. That might have been another story altogether!!

The graveyard shares a nice spot atop a hill with this house. An older gentleman lives there, hopefully not all alone. Cause this house is huge. And again, with what must be a jaw dropping view.

Now, don't start thinking that all our neighbors live quite up to the standards of the last few houses. There are plenty of these around.

There are only a few more houses on our road. They are obviously small working farms with decent houses but really really nice land. They have small herds of cattle, lots of wheat fields and large gardens.

I have always loved old barns with roofs caving in, just barely standing. But enough to protect the hay they need for the winter months.

All around us are old twisted, garled trees, covered with lichen and moss. I love the way they look against a bright blue winter sky.

Even in the depth of winter, I still find intersting bits of color to attract my eye, and camera.

Again, it is not all without its down side. First of all-the interstate runs about a mile behind our house. Of course, it does make it easy access to travel anywhere. Or to come to see us!! This is interstate 65. Runs south from Nashville, thru Birmingham and right down to the coast of Alabama.

And then there is the interesting bit of adult intertainment at exit 6 of said interstate(our exit, of course). I haven't been able to get pics yet. But we have a famous attraction called Big Jim's Boobie Bungalow!! You can Google it, cause it causes quite a stir when traveller's down the highway see all the billboards for miles. Also there is at least 1 adult bookstore and probably one other "club". But honestly except at night, the parking lots are empty. Even then it doesn't bother us. We are just far enough away no one would get lost and come down our road. And it does give us a landmark to tell people to look for. Just get off the interstate at the Boobie Bungalow!!

And so that concludes my tour of the area. Hope you enjoyed the walk along with me. This picture is one of our house taken on my walk back down the hill. I think this summer it will be much harder to see when the line of trees leaf out.

And this my friends-is for you. Just to remind you that I love you all!!

Back to the Business of Pictures!

I used the excuse of not having the transfer cable to my camera for not blogging. Who wants to read about my boring life, unless I at least throw in a few decent pictures. But out of the blue, the other day, I remembered that my fancy dancy laptop has a card reader! I had never used it, but remember reading about it when I first got the computer. So I located the said device on the front of the laptop. I found it a bit hard to slide the tiny card into this miniscule slot and it made me a bit nervous to try and force it. But lo and behold, it did work and now at least I can attempt to entertain you, both visually and verbally. Whether or not I succeed is up to interpretation!!

First up is an attempt at taking a night time photo. I finally found my tripod and we were about to have one of the 2 biggest full moons of the year(these occur at the full moon closest to the winter and summer solstices). So I refreshed my memory on how to use the shutter delay and shot away. This was the best attempt, although it was not just what I had envisioned.

Then this is the very next morning. We had so much rain in the last few days. Some parts of Tennessee set a record for the most rain in 24 hrs. So the ground was very saturated and with the cold mornings it set up the perfect scenerio for the formation of hoarfrost. When I woke and saw what beauty had been laid out before me, I just had to grab the camera and go outside. Cold hands, be damned.

What I failed to get in a picture are the 2 deer that visit the back of our land each morning. That morning they were standing right next to a stand of trees that were sparkling with all the crystals. Just an amazing sight. Of course, those same said deer, will probably be the bane of our existence come spring planting time!!

My knitting is still progressing slowly. Not that I don't work on it every day. But my right arm has really been bothering me. And I can't blame it on my computer use because I just don't get a lot of time to sit here and use it anymore. I am doing all kinds of stretching and range of motion exercises but nothing seems to be helping right now. So at least I get a little done each day, knowing that things will still get done. Just not prolifically, like in my wildest dreams.

I am now at the heel of the 2nd Indigo Firestarter. Of course, I was already there once. A few days ago. But in turning the heel, I just did not have enough stitches. I counted and recounted until I finally realized, my stitch count had been off from the beginning. Or almost the beginning. Since I started at the toe, the first thing I do is a bunch of increase rounds. So I just stopped with those a little early. And it makes me mad, cause I should have known. At one point, I had put the finished first sock up against the one in progress. And they did not match up quite right. Did I stop then and try to figure it out? Well of course not. I just kept on going another couple of days. So then I had to just frog the whole thing and I am just now back where I was. But hopefully it will just be a few more days to finish up. And in that time I can get my next project started by dyeing the yarn. I have a huge bucket full of black walnuts soaking on the back porch. I will strain that off in a couple of days, throw in the yarn, let it sit for a couple of days. Then rinse, dry and wind into balls. I did decide for sure to make the Gathered Pullover from IK. I have the pattern somewhere in the sewing room stuff, still packed. So I will probably just rebuy the pattern from the IK on line store. In fact I may never buy their magazine again. But just wait until a pattern I like shows up there. Some show up in a matter of months. And I will always be that far behind in my knitting projects anyway!!

So now I will close with a cute couple of pics of my monster kitty Lexi. She has had to become a completely indoor kitty now. And thus, has been a bit bored and restless. She is climbing on everything(she did not used to) and getting into everything. I am trying to be better about giving her some one on one play time each day to tire her out. So far that is working-NOT!! But I will stop in and buy her a few new toys next time we get to town. She loves a laser pointer and we don't seem to have one right now in our possession. But she is a good girl and she let me put her in a dog sweater while we were still in Chattanooga. She didn't even act to horrible about it all. I think she looked quite like a little fashionista!!

And now of one of Lexi helping us unpack.

Just a few Words(and only words)

I have to admit, I have gotten quite addicted to using a blog reader. I happen to be using Google's Blog reader, but there are many others. I can go every day to Google Reader and there are all the new entries made since I last checked in. And on the home page there are always 3 new blog suggestions for me. They home in on the content of the blogs I read and then find others that I may also enjoy. So far I have added a number of new knitting and fiber related blogs to my list and very much enjoy reading about all the projects that they are pumping out. And this brings me to today. I bring up my page and there are 16 new entries for me to read. And then I start to feel guilty. Very very guilty, knowing how long it has been since I posted to my own personal page. So here I am, for what it is worth. Maybe I will show up tomorrow on someone else's blog reader. And that someone will say, Gee I thought maybe she fell off the face of the earth.

I guess the best thing to happen since my last post is that the move to the new house has been made. Everything is here, except my camera cable. So there will not be any new pictures for awhile. Til either I find the wayward cable hiding somewhere, go to Chattanooga and find it there, or if all else fails, buy a new one.

We have done a fair bit of unpacking. The kitchen is up and running, although I am still missing a few pots, pans, utensils and dishes. I went and made a grocery run to Walmart which costs the better part of $400.00!! That's right, it now costs a small fortune to restock a pantry and eat for a week.

The rest of the house is partially together. At least the best we can do til we decide to buy more furniture. I have a few pictures up but have already run out of the picture hooks that I use. Both computers are operational. In fact we are quite pleased to say that our internet access is much better than what we expected. We are using a company that provides signal thru cell phone towers. As far as we can tell it is the only company that is not rationing signal by using a FAP, or Fair Access Policy. All other non land based providers ration signal so that if you download much of anything you can not use any more signal that day. Or you can pay an horrendously huge amount of money each month to use a business level account. And even then you probably could only download 2 or 3 songs a day before they cut you off. But for now, with this company we can surf and download just as freely as we did with our cable internet access we had in Oklahoma. Yes, it is a bit more expensive than cable. But until the phone company decides to provide DSL(neighbors on each side of us have it) this is what we have. And darned happy to have it.

The kitties are adjusting quite well. Lexi has regained her bad habits of jumping on tables and counters. I keep putting her down and telling her no but I think she just has to "own" everything first then she will stop. Jack took a bit longer to come out and relax but as we speak now, he is lounging on my knitting on the couch, waiting for me to come back and sit with him.

On the knitting front: I totally have the February Ladies sweater done and it has even been worn. But I do not have a good finished picture yet. I started the Firestarter sock in my hand dyed indigo. I have one sock done and just cast on for #2. The yarn turns my fingers slightly blue every time I knit but it gets less with each session. The yarn, with it's subtle variations in color are gorgeous, soft and cozy. I love the Firestarter pattern and this is the 2nd time I have used it. This time I was knitting with finer yarn than called for so I had to add stitches. But it has all worked out perfectly in the pattern and the socks fit me to a T.

I am starting to think ahead at my next project. I have some yarn here I could go ahead and knit up a shawl. But I am not in the shawl kind of mood. I am in an anther sweater mood. Maybe it is cause the house is cold and propane is so very expensive. But for whatever reason, I think I will go and order enough worsted weight undyed, and dye and knit something fast. I am thinking maybe Gathered Pullover from IK. That is such a nice, easy sweater that I think will flatter my figure and look good with jeans. I have lots of natural dyeing options that wouldn't be too hard to dye up in a large enough amount for an entire sweater. More on my decision next time.

Ken is in his office working with Abba playing. It really makes me want to see Mama Mia. To bad we can't find the DVD player!! We know it is out there, just have to work thru the boxes a bit more!! Meanwhile I think I will go dance a bit in the livingroom(out of DH's sight) and use it as exercise and to warm up just a bit!!

A house, Hopefully

First a few last pics of beautiful fall color here in the great state of Tennessee.. Maybe it has been a typical fall here in our new home state, maybe it has been a spectacular one, who knows. I choose to beleive the state knew we were coming and put on an extra special show just for us. But either way it is coming slowly to an end as fall approaches winter around us here in Chattanooga. On our last trip over to our new stomping grounds, we noticed way less color in the trees and way more leaves on the ground. But here at the Dube ranch I was still able to find some glorious displays of autumn beauty to document. So here goes for all you westerners who only get that burnt gold/brown colorway this time of year!!

Jack is healing up just fine. He got his stitches out on Saturday without batting an eye. Now he seems a bit more adventureous, coming all the way out of the bedroom, into the living room. I need to get a new pic taken of him but I think I will wait til his fur and whiskers come back in so he looks a bit better. The area around where his eye was will always be just a bit sunken but he can live with that. After all, he never said he was running for a beauty contest!!

The Feb Ladies sweater is coming along fine. I have the body done and am almost done with one sleeve. Possibly today I will finish up with that and move onto the other. I have tried it on and it fits nicely. I even think I can live with the fuzziness of the darn yarn. But I do know this is a sweater to make again, soon. And it will be with a smoother yarn. And a little longer in the body. I am thinking a nice black walnut dyed yarn, maybe a Cascade 220? Or a wool silk blend??

OK-now news on the house. We have had our offer accepted, the appraisal came in higher than the bid, the inspection is done. Our inspector was amazing, thorough and tough. I am glad we had him as the buyer instead of seller. He found the house to be pretty well built but not perfect. Almost everything can be fixed at some point but a few things need fixed now. And so now we wait to see if the seller will agree to fix the most important things. There is a small leak under the master shower area that absolutely has to be fixed. The floor under it is only OSB(oriented strand board) which is not all that strong if it gets wet. So with the leak it is in danger of becoming to soft to support the weight of the shower. So we are asking them to find the leak, fix it and then to add some support in the crawl space under the shower area. There are a few other things but if they refuse to fix we will go ahead and take it on ourselves. So now for the fun part-a few pictures of the property. I took these on a grey rainy day so they are not as vibrant as they could be. But hey-then I can post more photos later on when the colors brighten up. So enjoy..

The rest of the Story

I decided to leave the knitting out of my last post. So you get treated to 2 posts today!! Yeah-I bet you are excited.

The Duck Soup sweater is completely knit. But the closures are still an issue so it is a bit in hibernation-still. And the little one I was going to give it to's birthday has come and gone. So it may be given to the goodwill or some other organization who can put it to good use.

New on the needles is the February Ladies Sweater. It is one of the most active projects now on Ravelry. It is knit neck down in worsted. I chose Nashua Creative Focus in a soft lilac color. Right now I am finished with the garter stitch yoke and well into the lace section of the body. The yarn, although nice, is not that great in this project. The loosely plied wool and alpaca is just too soft for the design. But the further I get into the sweater, the more I know it will still be a nice garment and will gets lots of wear.

I do have to start thinking a bit about my next project. I probably should start a new pair of socks out of the indigo dyed wool I already have on hand. Trouble is, the other day I found a pair of hand knit socks that I made 2 short years ago are wearing out at the heels. This is my first pair ever to show that kind of wear. And it is the only pair I ever made that did not have the 25% nylon in the mix. And the indigo dyed yarn falls under the 100% wool catagory. I guess I should just go ahead and knit it up and treat them as my really good wool socks that only get worn on special occasions so they will last longer. I will certainly rethink my choice of base yarns from now on and probably always go with a blend.

Gone to the Dogs

Fall is still in it's glory around here. This is a distant picture of the wildlife preserve that I get to walk in Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The other days are open to hunters so if you want to walk back there those days-be my guest!! But I am not taking my chances. This amazing place is adjacent to the property my DSIL & BIL own so it is a constant source of beauty, seen every day out their big dining room windows. This last week they re-cut some more trails thru the meadow section making the forested area more accessible. Now I can walk thru open meadow, shady forest and down to a crystal clear creek. Each and every walk affords me something new to wonder over. Yesterday I was wandering down this shady path and looked up to see this display of bracket fungi hanging on a tree above my reach. These puppies were huge!!

I am fortunate to get to share my walks with a wonderful dog by the name of Daisy. Daisy Duke I call her. And now I get to call her "My Dog"!! I had seriously told my DSIL/BIL that I would take Daisy off their hands at any opportunity. She is perfect for me. Medium sized, used to spending her days outside, fairly well behaved, smart as all get out and loves to walk!! And I believe if she needed to she would defend me with her life but still gentle and loving if she feels no threat. After making this comment several times I was surprised to have DBIL say I could have her. Thinking it was a joke, I said "no-really". And he came back and said-REALLY!! You have more time for her and she is lonely. So as soon as we get a house and make sure there is a safe outdoor place for her she will come to live with us. So now you get to see some pics of my new pup. The first few are how I usually get to see her-in motion!! And then finally after a very long walk-a few of her somewhat still. And for those of you who are very observant, Daisies eyes are 2 different sizes. But the vets say it is completely normal for her and it is made a bit more obvious by the difference in her eye spots. The larger eye is completely surrounded by a big black eye spot and the smaller eye has no eye spot at all.

On to my other baby with eye issues. Ever since our kitty Jack showed up 5 years ago he had an eye that was way to large. No one could give us a reason, and it seemed to stay stable until just recently when it became obvious that it was increasing in size even more and causing constant irritation. It was also endangering the vision in his other eye so it had to come out. What a struggle for me to accept this and decide to put him thru it. But after a few weeks for Jack to adjust to his new surroundings I made a vet appointment and got a second opinion. Of course it was the same so we trusted them to do the surgery. Jack made it thru and is now back at home. He looks pretty awful at this point. He had to be shaved and have some whiskers clipped. Then of course there is swelling and big ole stitches. The collar he has to wear is too large cause he has a big thick neck. We got brave last night and took it off, trimmed it and put it back on so now he can better get to his food and water. He is still on pain meds but we may quit that today since he seems comfortable and calm. The stitches come out in another week and once the fur grows back in I think he will look beautiful. Beautiful to me and that is all that matters.

Our Time so Far

We have been here now 2 whole weeks. And still no house. Oh well-our time will come. At least we have a comfortable roof over our heads, thanks to Ken's sister and husband. And our kitties are adjusting to life on the somewhat confined side. Now that DSIL & BIL have gone back to work we can let our babies out of the bedroom during the day to roam and stretch their legs. Lexi has gotten confident enough to do that a bit, but Jack still won't come any further than the hall door. We have managed to make friends with most of their animals. We walked Daisy the outdoor dog almost everyday and she looks forward to her time with us. The kitties, both upstairs and down, want pets from us at every opportunity. CoCo the large Cockatoo will walk up our arm and sit on our shoulder at dinner but we still aren't brave enough to try and feed her. Most of the little white mop dogs(Maltese, for those who want to think of them as something other than mops) think we are a poor substitute for their masters but put up with us. Except for Rosebud who I think would love to take my arm off if I get it too close!!

Arriving here in Tennessee smack dab in the middle of a beautiful fall has been truely a gift to us. We have only gotten out on the roads a few times since we have been here but what we are seeing locally has been amazing. The colors of the foliage and the semi-mountainous scenery has been breathtaking at every turn. Even here on their acreage, and adjoining nature preserve has been a showstopper. Many of my walks so far have been out into the preserve, although I do have to watch for hunters who can only be out there on certain days. There is quite a bit of open grass land, some dense forrest and even a nice sized creek with beaver dams every so often. And of course there is plenty of opportunity for gathering materials for natural dyeing purposes. So far I have gathered a basket full of green walnut hulls, a ton of lichen, some mushrooms both ground and bracket, and a good deal of goldenrod. All these will be dried and saved for when I have the time, space and materials to dye with.

There is no shortage of manmade local attractions and we have only begun to see some of those. Here is a picture of the Chattanooga Museum of Art. The building is a combo of an old Mansion and a large, very modern addition. Each section features items appropriate for the building. The mansion side has art and artifacts representative of the age when it housed some of Chatty's founding family. And the modern side houses much more recent artistic endeavors. We enjoyed an exhibit where they gave artists, whose style tended to be realistic, 5 unrelated items to incorporate into peices of art. Most artists submitted more than 1 peice. It was amazing to see the diversity of their work and how they envisioned these items and incorporated them into the work. Reminded me of some of the quilting challenges our guild had done, in none of them were remotely alike except for the 5 items they had to use.

On the needles-The Duck Soup jacket I was working on is done for the most part. Still no pictures. The I-cord frogs that I was supposed to make for the closures are not working out. The pattern suggests using any yarn to make them, from fingering on up to worsted. I used worsted first and the frogs were way to large in scale and hard to work with. I used a heavy fingering and they were way to small. I have no Sport or DK right now so I will have to rethink the closure area. It is too late to add buttonholes but it is possible to use buttons and maybe do I cord loops for the buttonholes. I shelved the project for a day or 2 to think about it. I still like the pattern and just need to work out the kinks.

I just today started my February Ladies Sweater from Ravelry. I am using Nashua Creative Focus yarn and I hope that I like the slight fuzzyness that comes with it. It should prove to be a fast knit and a useful wardrobe staple. I love that it is knit from the top down. The underarm join seems to work out much better for me when I knit top down, rather than bottom up. I promise in progress pictures on this one folks. And don't say-Yeah Right!!

Tomorrow we travel back to middle Tennessee to meet with a new realtor and to see some more promising houses that have come up in the last week. So cross your fingers. We sure would like a house before we wear out our welcome here. Although I think the fact that I cook dinner every night and the animals love us so much may make the honeymoon last a bit longer!!

The Great Escape

Or-The Tale of Briar Rabbit and how she rescued the 2 Hairy Houdini's!!

We had planned this move for months. And especially any details that were involving our kitties, Jack and Lexi. I researched on-line and found the best harnesses and made them start wearing them months in advance. I got tags made to put on them with our cell phone #, just in case. I even took them out in the yard with the leashes on to get them acclimated to being on a lead. Right before we were due to leave I took them to the vet to have a healthy check up and get sedatives to give them for the road.

So on the morning we were leaving we got up very early and right away gave them their "sleepy" pills. A bit later we stuck them in their kennels and secured them into the car. I was not impressed at how well the sleepy medicine had worked but I figured maybe it just needed more time to kick in.

They seemed to settle in fairly well for the first 45 minutes or so. But a bit of rowdyness kicked in right about Oklahoma City. I thought it was doubtful that they had used the litter box since the night before, so I wondered if they just needed to be able to "potty" before they finally quieted down.

So I let Ken know we needed to stop for the cats. He picked the only rest stop in Oklahoma with bathrooms-Thank Goodness. It was about 15 miles east of Shawnee on Interstate 40.

We stopped and since Lexi was closest to the car door she was chosen to be let out first. I reached into her carrier, snapped on the leash and put her out on the ground next to her travelling box. She freaked, ignored the box and headed for the grass. But even then she wild and showed no interest in her bladder at all. So I handed her to Ken and went back for Jack. This is where things start to go down hill........

First of all I could not get the lease snapped on Jack's harness easily like I had for Lexi. But finally I got it on and tried to pull him out of his carrier. He absolutely spazzed and on the way out managing to scratch me across the outer eyebrow on the left and also my left thumb. But as soon as we got him out he laid on the ground and seemed fairly calm. Meanwhile I am pouring blood out of the eyebrow wound. So Ken tells me to go wash up and he will hold the cats. So I hand over the leash and head up to the restrooms. I didn't take long but when I got back to Ken, he was in possession of fairly calm Jack and just a harness and lead that used to be worn by Lexi. The little Houdini had slipped out and had headed for the woods at the back of the rest area. Ken throws Jack back in his carrier in the car and runs to help me catch Lexi. At first she acts like she will come to us easily but at the last second she runs again into the wooded area. Now at this point it is barely light outside and we could not see the chainlink fence separating the woods from the rest stop. When we realized it was there we thought-wonderful-she would have to be somewhere along the fence. But the little skinny thing slipped right thru into the thicket. Meanwhile Ken sees a streak out the corner of his eye and yells-There she is!! I look way to my right and the streak I see does not seem black enough. It takes about a second for it to click that it is not Lexi-but JACK!! Ken had not zipped up Jack's soft sided carrier nearly well enough. AND left the car door open!! So now Jack is also on the loose and has slipped thru the fence as well. The fence that is 7 foot high, with barbed wire along the top and many NO Tresspassing signs along the top.

Well-For about 45 minutes we walk up and down the fence line calling for our missing furbabies. We took their jar of evening treats and shook them which normally would have brought them running. We started talking about how long we could keep this up before we would have to give up and go on. Our hearts were breaking and it was all we both could do to keep from breaking down and bawling. But we kept up the fence vigil hoping they would both finally give up and come back to us.

We both kept thinking, if we could just get thru the fence we might have more success. I finally spyed a place where the barbed wire didn't stick up above the chain link. And the fence post seemed good and strong. So in flip-flops I climbed the fence. Remember I told you it was a good 6-7 feet high. I got to the top and swung my first leg over. I quickly got stabbed in the thigh by the barbed wire. I dug the barb out of my thigh and put that leg back. Then tried going the other way with the other leg. Same thing-stuck. I ripped a big hole in my brand new pants. But eventually I got both legs over and had to just jump to the ground. My 54 year old body didn't care for that much at all. But I was over, better get to the search and not focus on my booboos.

I was at the Jack end of the fence so I called and called for him to no avail. He was the one still wearing his lease and harness so I looked for flashes of red in the underbrush. Nothing. I kept carefully working my way back, futher and further from the fence. Then I ended up crossing a dry stream bed, then another, then another. I kept calling and then listening for anything that sounded like kitty. It seemed like forever and by this time I was more at the Lexi end of the woods. I called out and miraculously I heard her crying. She was above me on a rock outcropping and with just a little bit of coaxing, she ran to me. I stuffed her into my hoodie jacket and ran back to the fence. She never budged or tried to jump free. At this point Ken does not know I am behind the fence. He is still out front calling for the kitties. With the kennels. So I called for him to quick bring me a cage. He follows my voice, throws the cage over, I scoop her up and throw her in. I hand her back over the fence and Ken takes her to the car and this time makes sure the car door is shut. He comes back to the fence and tells me that he found a place to get thru, under the fence.

So now we both are in the woods, calling for Jack. It was a long while before I finally think I hear a tiny kitty voice. But a darned noisy crow kept making a similar sound so I had my doubts that I had really heard Jack. Ken headed my way and I told him to keep quiet cause I might have heard our boy. Again we did hear him and between the 2 of us we triangulated and closed in on our little houdini. Ken found him first and kept him til I could get there and scoop him up. But just when I was trying to put him in the kennel he got away again. But by then he must have been getting tired out and I was able to get ahold of him by stepping on his trailing leash. We just stuffed him in the kennel and headed for the place in the fence where we could get back out. Now my husband spent 20 years in the army and had to negotiate many obstacle courses, and simulated battles. So this place he found didn't seem skinny to him but beleive me he had to suck in his breath to skim under this fence. I just held my breath, closed my eyes and went under. It was then and only then that I looked down at my legs and saw all the damage I had suffered from the briars, osage orange trees and prickly underbrush. Plus I was covered with mud and sweat. I could only clean up a bit in the restroom before we hit the road. We of course had no antiseptic with us so hopefully my strong immune system will help me heal up in no time. It is a bit painful and my clothes keep sticking to some of the worst scratches. The gouges on my upper thighs are pretty deep and those came from the fence, so I am glad my tetenus shot is up to date.

The rest of the trip the kitties stayed pretty quiet. Until about 30 miles outside of Chattanooga when Lexi came back to life big time. As long as she was in her kennel I could live with the noise. Since arriving they have been closed into our bedroom and have mostly stayed under the bed. They did get up and sleep with us last night. I know they are still spooked by the smell of all the other animals in the house, the dogs barking, the birds talking and there many kitties moving about. But slowly they are coming back to life and I am sure they will be fine. Well until the other relatives show up on Tuesday!!

Movin' On

Finally-A real Sold Sign!!

This the truck once we got there

Sister & Brother-in-law's House where we will be staying awhile

Gorgeous Morning Sky!!