Holidays, Cats, Fireworks, and a Blood Moon

Christmas passed quietly, but then things picked up as we approached New Year's Eve. Bill and Lisa Turner arrived on the island for Bill to do a fireworks show at the Tryall golf resort. Then a couple of days later Jesse and Hannah - the Passfire production team - moved into our guest room for a week-long stay while they shot footage for a Passfire Season 3 episode. We all got together at The Horizon West for our friend Jeane Pearce's annual pre-New Year's Eve seafood festival.

Bootsie - one of our stray cats - has decided to become domesticated!

Our other stray - Stripey - is shyer but is very pregnant. We're expecting her to have the kittens soon and we're watching closely to make sure she does not sneak in to have them on our bed! Bootsie really wants to become a house cat - not going to happen - and has been exploring possible ways to sneak into the house. She has managed several times to find her way to between the window grates and the screen.

Watching the flat cat try to get out again can be pretty amusing!

Binghi and Tom have been on a tiling binge, adding more sections to the porch floor.

And then it was New Year's Eve and we were all off to our shows - Bill and Lisa to Tryall, Bob to Round Hill, and Tom, Barbara, and the Passfire crew off to Grand Palladium.

The shows all went very well, and we returned to the hill for some badly needed rest. We got out the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle that Janet Mara had sent down with us, and our neighbor Oliver dropped by to help out.

Towards the end of the puzzle, everybody had to get in the act!

Barbara's girls - no longer so little - came by and experimented with tye dyeing T-shirts.

As the time approached for the lunar eclipse we were a little concerned, as the sky was totally overcast. But at the last minute, the skies cleared and we had great viewing conditions.

Well, that brings us up to date, so I'll close with the requisite sunset...