No, Make that IN

I was wrong. The cat could get back up in the chimney. And she did. I don't know how - I was SURE she was blocked out because I:Closed the flueBlocked off the fireplace opening with a baby gateCovered the baby gate with a card tableSecured it all with two heavy boxes of booksYet, after searching the whole house for her, wondering where in the world she could possibly be now, I pulled away all the barriers and looked up to find her little furry face looking down at me.

*I* think someone is playing a joke on me and came into the house and let her back up and then put everything back. My husband of course thinks I'm crazy. I think maybe I am.

And She's Out

The cat is OUT of the chimney. And can't get back up it. We are all (including the cat) just thrilled.

Amber in the Chimney

This tops it all... and you may not even believe this one... and honestly, I wish I were lying... Amber, the cat we pulled in from the cold, the cat we took to the vets and got updated on shots and her ears cleaned out, who then got relocated to the Edmonds house... IS UP THE CHIMNEY. Yes, she really is. Up the chimney. And won't come down.

Feng Shui, Cairns, Etc.

Had my feng shui friend come to the new house yesterday to clear out past-owner energy, detect and redirect geopathic stress streams and do what she could to set up energetic barriers to discourage the rats from living in our house. It was great - the house feels so much better already.

She said 65% of the problems in the house, and what was attracting the rats, was past-owner energy. She removed that. She found 3 little stress streams and redirected them, and then there is a BIG - as in 16-18 foot - magnetic field/band running through our yard and a corner of the house. I'm still learning, but apparently the Earth has many of these bands running around it on the surface, above, etc... and this one just happens to pass through my property. It was the largest one she'd ever seen - they can be physically draining, they can mess with electronics (explains why my cell phone shuts itself off every time I go into Luke's room and why it barely works in parts of the house) and there isn't much you can do about re-directing it... but you can do some things to set an intention that the energy from it on your property and in your house be supportive to human life and not interfere with health and happiness.

So what I have to do is bury a crystal (yes, woo-woo to the max) and then build a granite cairn over it - we went around the yard picking out the granite stones that would be most beneficial for this and there were 4 of them. Now to just find the right crystal and I'll start building my cairn. I would love to build one of these balancing ones... but I doubt that's a good idea with kids and dogs...

The architect visit was fun too - he liked our house a lot - loved the "Old Edmonds" charm and the wood paneled walls and all the windows. He kept comparing it to a house he's working on in Carmel, CA. Now I have to get a book about those old artist homes to see what he's talking about. We should have plans for our new bathroom early next week.

The Cottage's First Holiday with Us

Reposted from 12-12-05 bluebetween blog:
Spent the weekend working at the house - got to do some fun things there for a change - lights! Absolutely nothing in my livingroom, but the mantle is festive. I'm happy.



My magic garden lights are up (but I'm going to re-string them when I get a chance).



Here is a shot of the moon through our tree:

Painting the Studio

The first thing I did, to distract myself from the demo going on above, and the rodent issues that took several days of work cleaning and repairing and re-insulating, was to paint the room that was going to be my studio.

Here is a progress shot:



Here is a view from the studio - with my 70+ year-old magnolia tree. Plans are to someday build a brick patio outside the french doors.