Renewed Vigor and Dedication

This is a neglected blog.  There are reasons and excuses, but none-the-less, this is a neglected blog.  As time passed and things changed ... at Butternut Hill and beyond ... the blog was nearly forgotten.  Switching browsers from explorer to chrome meant that the favorite button didn't stick, and blogspot seemed to just fade away...

Until today.  That's right - February 7 is a new day in a new year, and with renewed vigor and dedication, I return to this project. The months since my last posting have not been the best for us, and suffice to say that time was spent doing things aside from the restoration and development of the Butternut Hill Homestead.  (Don't you hate it when life intervenes in your careful plans?)

Winter 2011

A few things have changed at Butternut Hill.  Most significantly, Maggie Dog passed away on April 8, 2011 here at home.  I  now realize that having to type these words was the biggest reason I avoided updating this blog, but now that I am doing it, I am glad to have the opportunity to memorialize her.  She was a "free to a good home" dog directed my way by my dear friend Emily, when we both lived in Albuquerque.  That was August 1995, and Maggie and I went on to live in Pittsburgh and a few towns in Indiana before we moved here.  She was a constant and energetic companion for more than 15 years, and she is completely irreplaceable as a friend.  People and canines at Butternut Hill mourn her passing.


That difficult moment passed, I can report on the positive changes since my past post, too.  Elsie, Frank and Dora continue to be healthy, vibrant dogs.  Elsie remains untrained on the electric fence, and laughs in the face of restraint.  Fortunately, she always returns home.  Frank continues to look forward to the eventual arrival of chicks, and Dora has vowed to continue Maggie's constant battle against squirrels.  Several months ago, we discovered a litter of tiny kittens in the window well of the other, still-unsold house!  Mom-cat was a tiny little kitten herself, less than a year old, and she had a litter of 3 kittens.  Of course, all were removed to our larger estate, where mom and babies were set up in an empty room in the back of the house.  When they are a little older, they will brave the wilds of the untamed homestead acreage.  Moles ... watch out.

Herb & Iris ... future mole terrorists?

Next:  Growing monster hybrids (outdoor update) and Tricks for Stripping Wallpaper (indoor update)