Another old friend leaves us

I brought Sebastian (Bubba) home as a very young kitten when I was 18.  I was still living at home with my parents.  He was very ill.  He had a huge hernia that required 3 surgeries to repair it.  He had a heart murmur that made anesthetic difficult.  But he was a fighter, and his personality broke through and he quickly became my best friend.  He was the best cat.  He was friendly, tolerant and affectionate.  He befriended my parents' dog Willie, and then Chris's dog Tai.  After we moved in with Chris he would cuddle with Tai for hours, grooming him.  In between his toes, inside his ears, under his lips. 

When we had children we found out how truly amazing our Bubba was.  He became protective of the babies, and more tolerant than I could hope for.  He would let any baby do anything to him without fear of repercussion.  Babies could tug his ears and tail, poke his eyes, sit on him, all while he purred and rubbed against them for more attention.  As the children grew older he started setting limits with a nip or swat of his paw, never using claws or drawing blood.  And yet when a new baby was born, he became tolerant of their rough play once again. 

Zander and Phoenix playing dress-up with Bubba

I guess Bubba was cold and needed some blankets and diapers to keep warm

Fat Bubba keeping baby Finnlee company

What a tolerant boy!

The kids were always dressing him up in doll clothes

Here Bubba, have an apple

Baby Solstice giving bubba a hug

At 17 years old I guess Sebastian just couldn't hold on without his long time friend Zeppelin.  After she died he spent several weeks roaming the house calling out for her. He started showing signs of his age.  He was walking more slowly, sleeping more, eating less.  We witnessed him having a few small seizures, and signs that he had had more.  I also believe he had a stroke.  Several days ago, he stopped eating all together.  His left front leg was dragging behind him, useless.  I knew he would leave us soon.  We made him as comfortable as we could.  He slept on my bed with the electric blanket turned on to warm him.  We brought him water and gave him lots of cuddles and love.  He hung on for days, weak but responsive.  He would lift his head and rub against my hand long after he lost the strength to raise his body to walk.  His rumbling purr the response whenever we touched him.   On Easter Sunday we left him on the warm bed to go for a walk.  When we came home, he was gone.  I wasn't holding him, I wasn't whispering my love to him, but I believe he knew how very much he was loved.  His presence will be missed here for a long, long time.

Young Zander with his best buddy

Zander reading to Sebastian in a laundry basket

Bubba keeping a sick Zander company

Best friends

He loved sitting in boxes

Baskets

And bags

It there was a box, he would find it

We will bury Sebastian next to Zeppelin in our expanding pet cemetery.  He will be remembered most for his very loud demanding meow, his rumbling purr, his soft smooth fur, and his sweet nature.  Goodbye my dear friend.

Spring

Spring means puddles

Splashing, wet, mud.  No jackets

Walks with Gramma

Swinging

Picnics

Warm sunshine

Happy chickens

Happy enough to lay eggs twice as big as usual!  Ouch!

It was our first double yolk.  Orange yolks come from happy healthy hens!

The long and short of it

 Finnlee has never had a haircut.  She's 4 now, and her hair comes down past her waist.  I love her long hair!  However, I do not love the daily struggle to get it brushed.  Neither does Finnlee!  Ever since Phoenix cut her hair short 2 years ago, Finn has talked about cutting hers.  I've always managed to put her off.  Untill now.  She wore me down.   

I brushed it out one last time, tears in my eyes

Isn't it lovely?

One more braid

Goodbye long hair

As you can see, this is harder for me than it is for her!

I have to admit, its pretty cute on her

A short bob

2 ponytails to donate to Angel Hair For Kids

It suits her after all

Saying Goodbye

We recently had to say goodbye to an old friend.  Zeppelin was 18 years old when she died.  She had started to lose weight quickly, she went blind and deaf, and a few weeks later she passed away in my arms.  The children were petting her and letting her know how loved she was.  Sebastian was even curled up next to her as he had been much of her last few hours.  We all miss her.  We remember how her fur shone in the sunlight.  How she cried her special meow as she hunted socks in the hallway.  How she would come running to groom Sebastian if he called out to her.  She was a sweet cat and we loved her dearly.

A much belated December

Winter, nothing much going on here.  Trying to stay warm, active, and not go crazy being stuck in this tiny house with 4 kids and nowhere to go.  With Chris working full time with our only vehicle, and living so far from anything, we don't have many options.  We do crafts, play in the snow when its not too cold, do schoolwork, cook, bake, and read.  There are plenty of chores to do still.  Chickens to be fed and cleaned.  Pets to care for.  Cleaning to be done.  Wood to be chopped.

Chris has installed a wood stove in the storage/mudroom he built on the North side of the house.  Its not an insulated room, but it takes the chill off that side of the house and when we really turn up the stove we get enough heat off of it to open up the window to vent the heat indoors.  It warms up the mudroom enough that wet and snowy winter clothes can be dried out there instead of taking up precious space in the house too.

Chris and I have been developing our house plans.  Chris has done all the drawings and most of the conceptualizing.  I do more of the trubleshooting and fine tuning.  A new friend who Chris has done work for is a carpenter who has built several of his own houses.  He has very kindly offered to do up our final house plans for us!  He has our plans and is working on them now.  We're very excited to see the pictures in our heads being formed on paper, one step closer to attaining our dream.

Trailer park Christmas lights

Cute kids!

Solstice wasn't so sure about sitting so close to "Ho Ho"

 Every year we make a gingerbread house.  Something different every time.  In fact, its rarely a house at all.  We've done a gingerbread lighthouse, a train, a bird house, a carousel, a Christmas tree, a barn, and a few others.  This year it seemed fitting that the children chose to make a gingerbread chicken coop!  It turns out it was a great homeschool math lesson.  We made measurements and scaled it down smaller so that our gingerbread coop was a miniature version of our real coop!  And of course we had to make a gingerbread doppelganger for each hen!

 

Happy December! (Do you know how many tries it takes before you finally get one where everyone is looking at the camera and not making some kind of silly face or blinking?!)

Winter's beauty

The pine beside the chicken coop, so heavy with ice and snow its boughs reach the ground

Raspberry canes after freezing rain

Maples tower above Chris as he repairs some damage to the roof sustained in the ice storm

The ice coated branches ring like chimes in the wind

Chris's attempt at making a skating rink out of pallets

Our view towards the road

Plenty of snow for fort building