Little Mouse - barn guest- Stewart Little makes a reservation

This past weekend I had the dubious pleasure of being visited by my very own barn guest. Out in the studio which is a converted barn - there are my cracks and crevices that will allow a mouse to come on in and stay awhile.. No matter how much you plug the leaks in an old barn it's never enough so you have to expect the occasional visitor.

And so it was that Stewart Littlest arrived on Friday and stayed through Sunday evening.

He ( I am not sure,  but for the sake of politeness let us just say it's a he).

He emerged from behind a layer of old barn wood and decided that the top of the control box for the TV was a fabulous (not to mention warm) resting napping cleaning spot.

He would climb atop instantly and I 'd feel his presence - I'd turn and there he was blinking at me with his tiny mouse eyes. He was, despite most people's aversion to mice, a very cute little animal. Tiny whiskers, little pink rimmed ears and  little brown eyes.

He would come and sit and look at me and then curl up nicely to sleep. When he awoke he'd clean his face - dart into the wall and disappear only to return several hours later to resume his place on the TV remote box.

I clapped my hands at him and talked to him and he didn't care, he continued to sit very unimpressed. If I walked really close he would eye me but not move. He KNEW he was faster than me and he had a quick escape route anyway so no worries.

This went on all day Saturday, alternately napping and resting on the remote. I turned the TV on loud he looked around but was unphased.

Finally I had had enough of the visitation and set a trap - humane trap- meant to trap and release.  He outsmarted the trap and decided instead that it made a very cool house... much like the little hamster houses you see at Pet Stores for all sorts of acceptable rodents, this little country mouse had decided to make this trap is home. He became a squatter...

At last Sunday night we decided to play him at his own game sliding rulers against the two opening holes on the trap blocking his exit. Keep in mind there was peanut butter AND cheese in the trap for him to enjoy which he had rejected. I think he might have been waiting for a nice glass of Merlot... or Zinfandel?  He refused the cheese and the peanut butter.

So now, trapped with no place to escape he had to run up the ramp into the enclosure part of the trap and was stuck....

We ceremoniously brought Stewart out into the woods a good way away from the house and he scampered away very quickly..  he apparently can move quickly when HE wants to...

So, today, I continue to gaze in the corner waiting to see him back on top of his warm space but so far he has not found his way back... One little victory for the humans... He did enjoy a nice warm weekend in doors and for that I was happy to offer him a bed and breakfast as long as he checked out when his reservation ran out :)

cate

Hiding next to a grey lamp?  maybe he thinks I cannot see him. You can see his little pink ears tucked back. 

A little blurry I did not want to scare him to death with a flash, but there he is hiding in his new "home/trap."

Goodbye Stewart!

Cate 

Why should I be content to crawl when I have the impulse to soar? Helen Keller - SCREAMING TO BE HEARD

I love that quote and I love what it means - allowing and freeing a person's spirit to soar no matter their physical disabilities or their mental or intellectual ones... we all matter...we all count...we all have a voice.

I find myself frequently saying out loud and alone - WHO MAKES THESE RULES - ???  Who decides who is at the top of the pyramid  and who is at the bottom. And what makes someone "worth" something, salvageable, important, and worthy... what are those ingredients that make one person more important and worthy than another? Money...looks..intelligence...talent? all of the above or none of the above.

Money surely buys power.. intelligence - well sometimes - many highly intelligent people scream into the wind, against the insanity that seems to be so incredibly pervasive these days.... looks - surely one simply has to look at a Victoria's Secret model's bank account to agree - looks count - Talent? that's variable for me - one person's version of talent is not necessarily  agreed to by all.  But sure talent certainly can bring in the big money...

Where does that leave the rest of us? Not sure. I am assuming there is no formal caste system in the United States - but being the parent and friend of individuals with disabilities - I would tend to tell anyone who would listen that the caste system is alive-well- and fully functional.

If you cannot speak/communicate and make your needs/wants known there are a whole host of agencies and entities that will speak for you in the name of humanity - but their voices are prejudiced to their own viewpoints of  how someone with a disability should live, and not how the individuals themselves WANT to live.

NO ONE is listening - they are speaking FOR them but not to THEM and not with the voice of the voiceless but their own agenda  - as to what is available and what THEY think not the disabled individual is telling them by virtue of their actions or nonverbal communication.  Their "listening" is biased.

My frustration as a long term advocate for my son only grows by leaps and bounds as he turns into a young adult. It does not abate it crescendos and erupts.  The more I am exposed to the more frustrated I become....

IF you look, if you listen and if you BE STILL  you will hear the voices of the voiceless and they are SCREAMING to be heard.

cate

Los chickies with momma

I have been awful at taking pictures of these crazy chicks. They are three weeks old this weekend... and are beginning to look like gangly teens all legs and feathers sticking out in different directions as they loose their baby fluff and down to real feathers. Just in time for winter.

They are crazy and skittish and all over the place like a crazy bunch of bugs running helter skelter.

I gave them the opportunity to go outside yesterday in the sunshine and they all were too "chicken" to go out the door...

heirloom tomatoes from our garden

3 of the 4 crazy chicks giving me a wary eye

mother Penny giving me a very wary eye

Thank you Hoboken

Had a wonderful time in Hoboken on Sunday. Great little city and wonderful people.

I trek up there a few times per year to just hang out... I don't even care if I sell anything, (well maybe I care  if NO ONE liked my stuff), but honestly the vibe is so positive and the people so nice, it's worth the trip just to be there.

I am not a city person by nature, so it's a good healthy dose of city and I enjoy it every time.

The ONLY thing I don't like is the sweep up crew. They bring out their street cleaning machines BEFORE they allow the vendors to pack up.... but it's a small price to pay for the vibe of the great people I meet.

I love to hear stories and often there are stories behind the purchase to match my own story of hope and compassion and courage. I am so encouraged and buoyed by the idea of hope springing eternal...

And so the fall season has been busy for this little shop. I have the aching shoulders to prove that hunching over production of materials is a sure fire sign that we have been busy and it has been a labor of love.

I have some pictures to get out from the show - need to get them off my phone first!

Some of our recent orders include  a wedding in Montana! Happy to help a lovely bride have a special day.