Renovations

I haven't really disappeared. I have been busy lately with home renovations. We are painting the entire upstairs and putting down new floors and installing new blinds. The selection process of colours, flooring and blinds has been very time consuming. I finally have coordinated everything, and some of the rooms are painted and a few are completed. I will post pictures when we are done. And, no, we didn't hire anyone to do the work for us - that would take all the fun and satisfaction out of enjoying a job well done! I will post pics when all is complete.

What is in your home?

Adrienne and Angela inspired me to run a contest where the participants count the number of sacramentals and Catholic images they have on display in their home. Adrienne's rules are simple: the items have to be Catholic (don't count books) and they have to be on display at all times. I was surprised at the number of Catholic items I have in my home. When they are spread out in different rooms, it seems like less.

Ready, set go! Count up your items while I search for an appropriate prize to award to the person who actually owns the fewest sacramentals. You didn't think I would give it to the one who has plenty, did you?

Here is a count & photo display of my favourite items: (Click on any picture to enlarge it)
Pictures 30 (it seems high because I have the stations of the cross)
Crucifixes 7
Statues 10 plus 1 in my garden for 11 total
Holy water/font 2
Rosaries on display 2 plus a rosary ring for 3
Scapulars on display 5

Total 57 items


This crucifix hangs in my kitchen, one of seven throughout the house.


This is my oldest statue, that of the Holy Family. It sits on my 1920's antique piano, which I don't have time to play anymore.


This picture is in the entrance way to our home, a gift from my last priest, one for each family who was present for the consecration to the Sacred Heart.


This beautiful crucifix is the first thing anyone will see when they enter our house - a gift from my blogging buddy, Dr. Bombay. It's so beautiful, yet he still was able to part with it.


These little statues sit on my Catholic bookshelf in my prayer/reading room. My sister Marilena gave me the statue of St Therese, and the other two were given to me by Dr. Bombay.


These are three of the fourteen stations of the cross I have in my prayer room, also given to me by Dr. B. He sent me a whole box of stuff when he sold his house!


My Catholic bookshelf; there are lots more books elsewhere, too!


Our Lady of Fatima, holding a very special pearl and silver rosary that I gave to my daughter on her Confirmation day this year.

The Last Supper, which I purchased at a Catholic bookstore in downtown Seattle last year when I went with my sister Shirley to Father Corapi's Lenten Retreat. The statue of the Sacred Heart I purchased in Quebec City a few years ago. It has its own interesting little story.

So come on, join in the contest! I will post the prize in a few days.

The Raccoon

Raccoons sure are cute little animals. As long as they don't take up residence in your house, that is. My neighbour investigated strange noises in his attic a few days ago, and discovered a mother raccoon had moved in. She crawled up a hollow post that supports the roof over his entrance and made herself right at home, and proceeded to give birth to three little raccoons.

He chased her out with noise; first a loud radio, and then an air compressor. Until this morning, she lived in the neighbour's honeysuckle jungle that overhangs our mutual fence.

Today, when my little dog wouldn't stop barking, I went outside to investigate. There she was, standing on the fence, threatening to attack my dog. I'm pretty sure she would rip him to pieces, as he is just fourteen pounds. I threw pebbles at the metal ladder below her, and the noise scared her away. I watched as she reappeared with a baby in her mouth. She climbed along the fence and I tossed more pebbles at the ladder. She dropped the baby into the honeysuckle, and dared me to approach her. There's nothing like a wild animal guarding its babies, so I just made enough noise to scare her.


I decided to stay back, camera in hand and observe her. It wasn't long until she had that baby by the scruff of its neck once again, and she climbed up the fence with it and down the other side into our front yard. I ran around the house to catch the tail end of her disappearing into our boat! We have a tarp over the boat that is snapped tightly in place, and she squeezed in through the outboard motor.



The challenge was how to get rid of her in a humane way. First, we frightened her out of the boat by shaking it and making noise. She was on the attack, ready to defend her babies, but a quick spray of water with the garden hose made her run away. Not far, though; she stayed about twenty feet away, hiding behind a flower pot, waiting to see what our plans were for her babies.

Using the fishing net, we scooped each baby out of the bow of the boat where she had concealed them, and set the little raccoon down where mama could see it. I directed them away from our yard by spraying the hose underneath the boat, and each time a baby was freed, the mother ran over to it and shielded it with her body, while anxiously waiting for the next one.


Who says raccoons can't count? She knows she has three babies and she's not budging until the last one comes out!


It only took about fifteen minutes before the raccoon family was trotting down the street looking for new digs. I hope she finds a secure place to raise her family.

The doggie taste-test

I have the cutest little dog, a Bijon-Shitsu. It's fun to play the doggie taste-test with him. Beggin' Strips always wins hands down, so maybe there is something to that commercial after all. I just get him to sniff a couple of different treats, and then pull them back so he can't gobble them up. Then I let him choose by holding all of them right next to his nose. He always go for the Beggin' Strip, even when I make it the smallest of the treats.

Hmmm...I wonder if he could do a doggie commercial?

More than just a decoration

Do you have a crucifix in your front entrance so that all who enter your home know it is a Catholic home? The crucifix in this photo was given to me by my blogging buddy, Dr. Bombay (yes, he still exists, he just doesn't have internet right now) The crucifix sits right inside the foyer, so that the first thing people will see when they enter our home is their Saviour crucified for their salvation. Beside that is a picture of Jesus blessing a home with a poem that reads:

Bless this home, dear Lord above
With happiness and with thy love
Bless the door that opens wide
To the warmth that waits inside
Touch its windows with thy light
Be its comfort in the night
Grant it peace and sweet accord
Make this home Thy home, dear Lord.

Settling in

I finally got the internet connected at my new house! The move went well, and the mover-guys turned out to be pretty nice convicts after all. Just kidding - they said they've never been to jail for anything. (Just kidding again!) Nothing got broken and the last few days have been spent getting the new place organized, hence the lack of blogging.

I start work at my new station tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to the high call volume. There is a Novus Ordo Church a short drive away with 24 hour adoration, so I'm going to go make a holy hour there later today. Sunday Mass will be at the FSSP Church about a 40 minute drive from here. I am so looking forward to attending the TLM on a regular basis.

My House

When I was a kid, we used to have fun with the children of American tourists, telling them we lived in igloos in the winter and went to school on dog sleds. Oh, they were so gullible! We would stretch the story as far as they would let us. Afterwards, when they told their parents how rough we had it, they were probably told to stay away from those wacky Canadian children! At any rate, this is my house, a fully insulated Canadian igloo, and if I don't get off the internet and get busy, I'll never be able to keep as clean as it is here.