I was quite delighted when I lay down last night and found that I was able to stare out over the valley while lying in bed. It was beautiful, a play of little lights in a variety of colors, sparkling against the black, velvety backdrop of the night. The last thing I remember before dropping off, was watching the glitters in the distance, as a matter of fact.
Apparently the monsters think that rude awakening, four friggin’ hours before it’s time to get up, is a proper birthday greeting. It is not, I assure you. Nor are the hourly waking calls (a paw in my face) from Trin Trin, who wants to get up on the bed and then proceeds to jump off again, less than ten minutes after I wake and drag her up, time and again.
The ritual goes on and on, until, by the time the alarm goes, the monster Boxer and Knight II are both hanging in the foot end of my quilt, doing their very best to pull the blankets from me.
I toss a pillow in their direction, sending them scattering only momentarily and take my time stretching and yawning before I roll out of bed to let the noisy pack out into the open.
The sun is wonderfully warm when I step out onto the porch for a minute, the chilly wind is blocked by my cabin and allows me to soak up some heat before I start the morning rituals of making the bed, cleaning up any messes the dogs might have made and getting dressed.
Obviously thrilled by the sun as well, the pack has gathered on the porch and surrounding sunlit patches, their furs rapidly warming and feeling actually hot to the touch.
I’m still thrilled with the changes in my bedroom, and am already looking forward to starting on the living room later today, when I shoo the dogs away, and lock the door behind me.
It is not because of burglars or anything that I do this. Considering that the key just stays in the lock on the outside during the course of the day, it would really be a moot point. What with our pack of ninety something walking around all day, it really isn’t necessary for worry about human intruders. No, such an action is only to protect the inside of the cabin against the dogs, as a matter of fact.
There are several dogs that have long since mastered the art of using a handle, and will gleefully open any door that is closed to them. Thus came the safety measure, after some trial and error in the past.
It is no fun whatsoever to arrive at one’s quarters to find half a dozen books shredded on the floor, cushions torn to bits and scattered into every niche and crevice and clothes dragged from the wardrobe. You learn real fast how to keep unsupervised pets out through such events.
By the time I get to the house, the dogs rushing inside ahead of me, I start on laundry as soon as I’ve turned on the radio and inform big brother of the fact that he needs to get a new gasket for the heater.
Only two batches to hang and a similar amount to fold, so it is done in record time before I have a quick breakfast and put the coffee on. Next I set up my computer and get ready to reread and edit some for the full-length vampire flick big brother and I are working on, before settling in to write.
It goes well enough, I guess. I manage a page, but time is short again today, so after that one page I’m forced to shut down and start on dinner. Well, not forced, perhaps, but I feel like veggies today, and since no one else feels like cooking, it will be up to me.
No matter, soon water is boiling for pasta, and a fresh tomato sauce is bubbling with herbs, onions and canned red bell peppers, before I add cream for a softer taste. On the side I’ve nice eclectic mix of veggies to satisfy my palate today, and half an hour later we’re all having dinner and loving it.
That done, I precede big brother up to my room and start throwing out cushions and the likes so we can commence the remodeling immediately.
By the time he arrives, along with grandpa, who curiously comes along to see what’s up.
I’m just about to start on the cabinet I want removed, open the door of a couple of shelves that I haven’t used in a year…and slowly, carefully and quietly push it shut again at the sight of several rats huddling in the corner.
Gawd that startled me, but I’ve managed to keep quiet enough not to startle them into fleeing when I turn towards grandpa and big brother and inform them of my find.
After some debate big brother heads for the courtyard, where my dogs are whining pitifully as they stare up at where we’re working. We’re going to need Sitabah for this little adventure, and though the others would love a little hunting party, too, they would really just get in the way of such things.
Both Sitabah and Dax come dashing up the mountain, eagerly looking around when I call them towards the cabinet, of which I’m keeping the door firmly shut until the time has arrived. I take a minute to get Sitabah really excited, grab the handle and jump back when the two dogs face the opening. They stare straight at the stirring rat bodies inside for a full second before they pounce.
I jump out the door when the vermin scatter rapidly. The rats and I similarly impressed with Sitabah’s prowess…admittedly for vastly different reason, hah…when she snatches the first, shakes it around a bit and tosses the spasmodic body aside to chase the second.
They’re going every which way, crawling over electrical wires, furniture and paintings alike in their frantic flight with Sitabah snapping at their heels.
There are six of them, I’m shocked to see, dodging Daxie, who’s going in hot pursuit of one of the furry little buggers. He bravely faces the critter, half his size, shaking the squealing baggage like mad but failing to finish it off.
Sitabah, momentarily distracted from her attempt to crawl underneath the couch, speeds after him, easily snapping the wriggly rat from his grasp and killing it expediently.
Two down, three vanished without a trace through the open window, and one hiding somewhere in the mess that used to be my living room.
Since we can neither see, nor hear it, big brother and I start removing the cabinet in its entirety. As it turns out, the critters have pretty much decimated the back cover, and since a most disturbing smell drifts up from it, we carry the thing out of the cabin and immediately toss it on the truck-bed.
Next we remove my books…there are hundreds of them, or so I realize when slowly my bed gets completely covered by them, until at last all the bookcases are empty and we can start on removing them, taking off a section and then placing the remainder against the opposite wall.
Halfway through, Sitabah pounces on my shoe cabinet, digs in and jubilantly reappears with a wriggly gray body clenched between her teeth. Victoriously she prances around the room a bit, preening in our vocal praises, before she hops onto the couch and cracks the critter’s skull, and drops it with what appears to be disappointment.
She has this proud look in her eyes, coming over for a quick pat on her head before she goes back to check if the rat is really dead, and then resumes her vigil of every nook and cranny in the room.
Three successful hunts, and she wants more. Hah. Good dog!
Once the corpse is removed, big brother and I resume our project.
It is terrifyingly cold tonight. The heater certainly can’t compete as our extremities slowly drop in temperature, urging me to more speed, lest it gets too bad.
Not wanting to waste the removed part of the bookcase, we attach it to another section, which takes up most of the northern wall.
Once everything is properly attached, the out-of-season chest moved to a corner, and small drawers shoved out of the way, the couch is pushed against the west wall, creating a wonderful amount of space. As an added bonus, I now have a blank wall on which I can hang one of my paintings. Yay! I missed my paintings.
The drawers are piled together, and big brother and I spend the next hour or so carrying back the books to the shelves.
What with brother only wearing slippers over socks, he is forced to leave me alone with the remainder of the task. But I don’t mind. I can be fussy about where which book needs to go, and I spend the remainder of the evening organizing the books until they’re all lined up to my satisfaction, and then continue with cleaning the floors.
At long last I’m done. It is close to midnight when I return to the main house and soak up the heat now that I’ve noticed that the chill was really bad enough to make my insides shiver and my teeth chatter…almost.
Little sister has a surprise when I settle in the chair that faces the heater. While we were working on my room, she’s made another cake–this time for my real birthday– and I enjoy the treat while watching a recorded episode of “Life”.
With my insides still shaky, and my skin painfully warm now that I’m getting back to my usual temperature, I am actually dreading going up to my room. I know I’ll be cold again, even though I left the heater on, and this proves to be correct when I open the door and let the dogs dash inside.
Sitabah leads the way, hopeful of some more hunting only to be left disappointed.
I do some more organizing…there’s still some that needs to be done, but in the end I settle behind my computer and start on the night’s chats, leaving cleaning to tomorrow.
I’m tired, a little achy, but on the overall it was a good birthday.
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