New Old House

Here's a picture of the house I'm living in most of the time now.  My parents moved into it about 30 years ago.  I had already left home, so even though I've stayed here a lot over the years, this is the first time I have actually lived here.

It's not fancy, but comfortable, with three bedrooms, two baths, living room, kitchen, den, an enclosed back porch and a sun porch.  It has a "little house" in back with a bedroom, bath and large storage area.  There's also another storage building and my Dad's wood shop.  

Dad installed solar panels on the back roof and we also have a gas powered generator that will kick off if the electricity goes out.  

After the busy life I had in Austin, I'm enjoying a slower pace here.  Mom and I take it easy, puttering around the house most days, or spending time on our laptops.  We have been doing some gardening and we also put up a bird feeder and hummingbird feeders.  We just love to watch birds eat.  

When we arrived, Mom had fixed up the sun porch with litter pan, food bowls and cat beds.  So now, it's officially the cats' room. Here they are lounging on the first day as Davis inspects the premises. 

They had lived in the same place most of their 9 years of life, so I was a little concerned that they would freak out and try to go back there.  But I kept them shut up in their room for 3 days and then let them out a bit to explore.  Now they stay outside most of the time and seem content.

Koko and Pancake venture out into their new yard for the first time.

The downside to this house is that the back yard is like a bog.  It rains at least once a week, and there's nowhere for the water to run off, so it's extremely muddy.  I wear rubber boots when I go out, but Davis' feet stay muddy.  I've planted tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and cucumbers, but had to plant them in containers because otherwise, they'd drown.  Mom says that in the summer we'll be wishing for rain.

Before we left Bastrop, I took Davis to the vet because I though he needed his anal glands expressed (sorry if that's TMI).  The young vet there told me that he had a malignant carcinoma "back there" and that it was untreatable.  

I'm happy to report, however, that a more experienced vet here in Louisiana removed two tumors last week, and thinks that Davis will be okay.  He said that there was some signs that the tumors would have become malignant, but he believes he was able to remove them completely.  Davis came through like a champ, and by the time we got home, you'd never guess that he had just had surgery.

Though it does rain here often, it doesn't all the time.  Here's a picture of Davis enjoying the sunshine on one of the lovely days.

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