Lest you, dear reader (if you exist), think I have forgotten about this blog, fear not! I've been going through some sort of creative slump and, considering that my life is much tamer-- no satyr-esque neighbours, no clans of mice, no crashing ceilings-- it would seem that my usual sources of creativity have disappeared.
Well, it looks like the mice drama hasn't completely disappeared. I was laying in bed last night when my ceiling-- just right above my head, oh the irony!-- started rustling and scratching and even
squeaking! Of all the mice that I shared my last place with, I never once heard them squeaking. These mice woke me up several times with their scrambling and scratching and squeaking. My bedroom is directly below the landlady's kitchen and I know she keeps her foodstuff in glass jars and such and has four (yet-to-be-disturbed) mice traps in her kitchen. So my theory is that the mice are using the ceiling as a warm and toasty nursery even though there's no food there for them. Now I will either place traps in my ceiling (it's one of those drop ceilings) or figure out a way to let Muggs get into the ceiling. The later would be ideal: more interesting for all of us and more natural.
School has been keeping me very busy and between my studies and working two jobs, I have zero energy to get into any sort of trouble. If I'm not at one of those three activities, I am huddled under my feather duvets and electric blanket (provided by my kind and loving mother) warming my aching bones, sandpaper joints, pinchy nerves and muscles. Muggs is quite happy, as she still likes to store her fleas in my bed on occassion. In fact, I'm not sure which of us enjoys the electric blanket more!
There is a new and interesting saga at this new place. Shortly after I moved in, the landlady's water bill skyrocketed. I was rather alarmed, as I couldn't understand how I could be using that much water. So I took very careful stock and did what little was left to me to do to trim back my water usage. She, ever the conservationist, did likewise. But the bill doubled! I felt awful, fearing that it was my fault because the problem had started after I moved in. Although I began to wonder if there was some sort of mix-up at the water meter people. Turns out that water meters are somehow electronically wired so that numbers are recorded magically. On their advice, we have now started recording the water each day. This duty falls to me, since the water meter is in the furnace room which is in the basement, which is where I live.... Anyway, to make a long story short, so far we are not using even a fraction of the water they claim we are. Whew.
It's exciting seeing how Brother is making the farm his. And a little sad to see the old silo had been taken down. But that's all a part of progress and change and, even though my sentimental side is sad to see the beautiful silhouette gone, it's good to know that the farm is not a static place. I wonder what other exciting changes are in the works?
