Surprises and Squirrels

Whew, there's be a lot going on lately at the house. Let's see, HJ and I did some work on the bathroom, we secured the shower door track to the tub so no more little puddles after showers, and we re-caulked (it's beautiful). Then HJ regrouted lots of tile sections and she did such an awesome job you can't even tell where she worked! We did some major clean ups, putting boxes in their places, finding rugs to cover old rugs that need to come up, fancying up the crazy 3rd floor bathroom a little bit, clearing out the dining room, oh the projects! All in preparation...
Little did my sweetie know what was in store for her... A big huge thanks to everyone who helped out, whether it was getting her out of the house so I could get to work, coming over early to help decorate, shopping with me, prep the snacks, keep me calm, pick up the cakes, bring the music, everything--you guys are great. I couldn't have pulled this off without all the help I got, and you'll be happy to hear this is the first and last surprise party I'm doing. Man, I really thought I'd have a heart attack at some point, talk about the stress. Geez! It was all totally worth it though--she deserved it so much and it was so awesome to see her face!
I'm really glad you all came out and made it, it really meant so much to her to be surrounded by her friends, you can actually read all about that on her blog ;)

Another surprise we had recently at the house was the scampering of little feet and it ain't no babies! UGH yes, there are squirrels in the attic....if only it were just flowers....
Anyways, yesterday I was doing some paperwork in the tv room and Stormey was really intent on the window, which was odd as it's chillier over there and he likes to be warm and snuggly. So I turn off the t.v. and go over to him, why yes, I heard that too, but there was nothing to see so of course my first fear is "Please God don't let it be termites!" we got rid of those and they're not allowed back. It was such a faint sound, like a bird working on a nest or something, but no matter what window I hung out of, I couldn't see anything--so I went to the third floor and noticed a little squirrel running down the gutter--aha! HJ had heard squirrels before above her studio and Deirdre had totally freaked out about that--chased the sounds all over meowing "Intruders! Intruders!" When we first heard them about a week or so ago, I had called around to see about having them caught and released in some squirrel relocation program and I learned a valuable piece of information--typically there's a mama and 3 pups so they'll catch 4 of them for you for about $500 (yikes!). I watched them in the magnolia tree next to the house from the studio window and sure enough, I saw 3 little ones--and can only assume that mama was out foraging while the 3 pups where testing their skills in the tree. They're really fascinating to watch, how they communicate with the clicks they do and the way they move their tails around, it was a tender moment of sorts until they crossed the line and went into the house. I had to hold my ground, so I banged on the wall and that worked but then they started to team up and stare at me, so I stared back--hard. And when they tried to come closer--I barked at them. It worked, really it did, although now I'm pretty certain that if any of the neighbors heard (which, I mean really how could they not?) they'll for sure think we're pretty crazy. Lucky for me I was in HJ's room so maybe they'll think SHE'S the crazy barking one.... At least now I've found their point of entry into the house, which should make it easier to fill up and block them out.

Added to the excitement yesterday was that I noticed our back roof (which is to be replaced sometime this week or next depending on the weather) has an active leak that while small, is still there and made me nervous for the rain they've been predicting for this week. This is out of HJ's other window and it's too steep to climb out of so putting a tarp down just didn't seem feasible....hhhmmm what else can I use? GREAT STUFF! it's that foaming stuff that's water resistant/proof and expands to fill gaps and holes, plus it's got this long nozzle that makes it easier to stretch and direct so that's what I did. I hung out of her other window (sans squirrels) and sprayed the hell out of the roof. I'm hoping it works, and I'm glad it's all getting taken off and replaced because now it looks like a graffiti incident gone bad out there....almost like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man sort of exploded himself on our roof...I can't wait to hear the roofers comment on this one...