Cookin' with Gas

Literally! We're now cooking with gas! After about 3 years of shopping, waiting, saving, debating and waiting some more, we finally have a new range. I loved the look of my 1949 Westinghouse stove, but cooking on two burners was a pain and parts are scarcer than hens teeth.

Eli was both disturbed and excited about the new range. He loved helping us install the rest of the backsplash tile prior to the installation. Please note that no tempers were lost during this project! Miracles!

But, Eli was really worried about what would happen to the old stove. We're keeping it and hopefully one day in the not too terribly distant future it will be installed in the refurbished house at the farm. More waiting and saving and debating will ensue before that time though I'm sure.

So, drum-roll please.....Fresh from Italy, making its first U.S. appearance, please meet the newest member of our household.... the Bertazzoni
As Eli says: "Ta-Da!"

Farewell Loyal Friend

Seamus had another stroke Tuesday night. It was a shock to lose him, since he'd regained the ability to walk over the last week and we had begun to be hopeful about his recovery.
We got Seamus from the Humane Society only a couple of months after we moved here from Winston-Salem. Shortly before we moved, our cat Milo had died, leaving Thomas without his closest friend. I'm pretty sure Thomas thought the spunky, into-everything kitten we brought home as a new friend was a poor substitute, at least at first.
Yet, how could we not bring Seamus home. We opened one of the cages to get out a cute little orange tabby kitten that reminded us of Thomas, when out of the blue Seamus leaped out of the cage and climbed up Chris to snuggle into his beard. There was no turning back after that, but it really should have given us a clue about his personality.
Seamus was, as my father says, "a go-getter." Into constant trouble as a kitten (he jumped off the top of the staircase almost immediately), he grew into a great big cuddly mama's boy. While he was still very young he had an unfortunate run-in with our nephew (who was also very young at the time). We don't know just what happened, but our nephew ended up with a nasty scratch on his face and Seamus decided from that day forward that it was his duty to protect the house. The development of this Rottweiler personality was a real pain - he once trapped the electrician and his helper in the attic with his vicious snarling. When I was pregnant with Eli, we worried a lot about what he would do with a baby, but he accepted Eli and Ezra as part of the family. He was a one-family cat and was particularly devoted to me. As ridiculous as it may seem to be so attached to the ornery-est cat in the world, we will miss him terribly.

Fun and Games

For the most part, I would not describe parenting as being "fun and games." But every once in awhile it is...

Swinging and enjoying the new ditch digger from Grandma and Grandpa and the new cement mixer Eli purchased with his some of his Christmas money from Papaw and Vicki. If anybody needs any ditchin' and buildin' done let us know.

This game is called attack of the mole...

And this one is attack of the baby monster! (Check out those toofers - there are a whole mess more coming in on top that aren't photo-worthy quite yet)

In the bad news department, our cat Seamus had a stroke as a result of the anaesthesia when he had his teeth cleaned Friday. He is blind and does not have the use of his front limbs. We have him at home hoping that a lot of TLC will bring about a recovery, but we do not know at this point.