The light show is back.

If you missed a previous post about the chandelier light show, let me recap. About ten weeks ago we were astonished to find that our living room had turned into a shower of tiny prisms of refracted light bouncing off the crystals on our chandelier. It happened again the next day, but it was not as spectacular, and then…nada. We thought that it was probably just some kind of cosmic magic that happened once and then went away. But Noooooo! Yesterday at around 4:30 we both  happened to be in the kitchen and were shocked to see that it had returned! Yay!

Stayin’ Alive, Stayin’ Alive

I was thrilled, but the look on Jim’s face was very familiar. He wanted to figure this out. So after a bit of geeking out on the computer, he came to the conclusion that this exhibit had something to do with the Winter Solstice and that we would probably see it once more in about five weeks and then it would disappear until next winter. By his calculations, it should show up again on March 30thth. He tried to explain about the trajectory of the sun’s ray thru the stair landing window and how the effect was not unlike the Stonehenge phenomenon, blah blah blah. I nodded my head and made “agreement” noises. (This happens a lot in our house). Living with Jim can sometimes be exhausting. Good thing he’s cute.

So, come on over to the disco party at the end of March. We’ll be out of town that day and I want photos!

Next subject…Bobbi, the foster kitten.

She’s embarrassed about her shaved tummy.

I’m not embarrassed of MY tummy!

Yes, Rowdy. We know you have a cute tummy.

Bobbi recently had her “surgery” and she’s recovering nicely. We’ve had a little success taming her this week. If we walk up to her verrrrry slowwwwwly we are able to pet her without her jumping up and running under the bed. She’s especially “pet-able” When she’s next to her best friend.

I love dis guy.

She’s still way too shy to be adopted, so we’ll continue to work with her until I can find her forever home. Helloooooo! Any takers???

Here are some more photos of the completed house. This is the sitting room. It’s just off the master bedroom. We watch TV at night and make coffee in the morning here. Plus the futon turns into a double bed for extra house guests.

Actually quite comfy.

Jim bagged this moose on a hunting trip in Canada. Bwwwaaaaaaa!

Coffee anyone?

So that’s all the exciting stuff going on at Chez Burlingame. I leave you with one last plug.

Hi. My name is Bobbi. I have a janky tail, a shaved tummy, and very pretty eyes. I’m soft and I smell like cookies. I am potty trained too and I will let you pet me if you’re very calm and gentle. I’ve had all my shots and surgeries. Please help me find a forever home? Please?

Good job Bobbi.

Put on your sunglasses. Our bedroom is BRIGHT! One of my dearest friends called this room “gaudy”. I know you meant it with love, right Susna? The burgundy velvet headboard would look right at home in Miss Kitty’s bedroom at the Longbranch Saloon.

I feel certain that she would approve of these prissy valences with the dangly doodles as well.

Set a spell Marshall Dillon!

I know I’m still stuck in the 90s with these burgundy/gold/green colors, but hey what’s so bad about the 90s?

Room to stretch out.

Jim “teleports” every Friday from this nook. Believe me, you are getting your tax dollar’s worth out of this guy.

So that’s our crazy bedroom. It may be a little “loud” for some, but I find it fun and peaceful.

A couple of other critters like it too.

Bobbi spends most of her waking hours (and sleeping ones) under the bed. She’s sharing a rare brave moment with her best friend Mulder here. She really loves him and seeks him out whenever she can. The only time we ever hear her meow is when she’s talking to him. She’s getting big and we’re still unable to tame her. Some miracle has to happen soon because the longer she stays wild, the less likely that she’ll ever warm to humans.

We do have evidence that she ventures into other rooms when no one is looking.

Here’s a final picture of one of the finishing touches to the Burlingame casa.

Thaaaaaat’s what I’m talking about!

Bobbi is the most challenging foster kitten we’ve had since we started ten years ago. I guess her first eight weeks were so stressful and scary that she’s taking a very long time to recover. When Jim can catch her, she enjoys being in his lap and getting petted and scratched. She has a very loud motor and she purrs like crazy with him. But as soon as he lets go, she zips off the bed and hides.

See her little paw touching Mulder’s face?

We have an ottoman at the foot of our bed and sometimes she’ll watch us for a long time before she gets the courage to jump up.

Don’t see me!

Jim is making a kitty door in our bedroom wall so the cats can go in there to use their box and get some food. Bobby loves going in and out of it getting foam insulation all over her head.

I love this playhouse!

She recently had her first visit to the vet and she got some fun worm medicine and shots. She was a very good girl, mostly because she was terrified. I was happy to learn that her tail was not injured. Bobbi was born with her weird little tail that looks like a thumb hitch hiking.  Mulder makes fun of it, but she doesn’t seem to notice that she’s different in anyway.

When can I go home?

We will continue to socialize this baby and make a proper pet out of her as best we can. Finding a forever home will be challenging since she’s shyer than most Burlingame kittens. Someone will have to love her for her beauty and sweetness since her personality is a little slow to shine. I know someone out there is the right parent for Bobbi.

I’ll close with some photos of our completed fence. We are so pleased with it. Joel Jackson built it and it was the first project he’d ever done like ours. He and Jim figured out a system to put the privacy fence on top of the stone wall with some funky brackets and cement mortar. We have to wait a couple of months to paint it, but for now it still looks great and gives us a very nice little private yard.

Front right. The pickets will be painted white and the privacy part will be stained the porch color.

View from the street corner. I love how the stone wall looks with the fence.

Nice sized enclosed yard despite our small lot. Tony is the only cat who can scale this fence to escape. Our other cats are too fat and lazy.

Left side. Shortly after the fence was completed our neighbor added some fencing on his side to create a little enclosure for his dog.

Not much room on this side of the house for anything but AC units and our composters, but it’s nice that the fence hides this stuff.

The gate is in front of my car and when I’m carrying groceries I just push on the gate and it opens easily with one finger.

This gate will be red like all the other doors on the house. The rest will be stained the color of the porches.

And once in the gate, it’s just one step up to the porch and back door. We wanted the house as low to the ground as permitted just for this reason. Easy access will come in handy as we age and get crotchety.

My favorite part of all is how cozy and private the back porch is now.

So that’s it for this week. I’m almost finished with doing “house” posts. I think I just have a couple of things left to share with you on this topic. Meanwhile we’ll keep bombarding Bobbi with mandatory love and hope for the best. Thanks for reading.