~ Inspector Skippy Strikes Again...~

I had a bright Idea!

Yep, thought I was real smart....

A couple of weeks ago our furnace went on the fritz...

It took Mr.Fix-It two days to get the part and get it fixed....

A very cold Two Days!

So, In comes the bright Idea.....

I have a wood stove that we haven't used in about 12 years,

Yes ,I did say 12 years..

Mr Fix-It had a house burn about 20 years ago and since then he's been reluctant to use a fireplace or a wood stove

But me on the other hand, having used this kind of heat most of my life, am not reluctant to use it at all.

I made the appointment to have someone come and clean and inspect the chimney and verify that everything was in good working order.

I called and had it added to our home owners insurance policy.

Then, I told Mr. Fix-It what I had done :o]....

He took it better than I expected and so, I set forth, planning my wonderful new adventure.

I am going to have a wood stove!

I'm going to be warm the next time the furnace quits or the power goes out!

I cleaned off the stove and  removed all my Prims that had been displayed around it.

I even made cookie dough the night before, so that I would have something to do while the man did his job!

I even took pictures of the process so that I could share this recipe with y'all...

See..

The big day arrives,

I'm ready!

It's cold and snowy,

I've got cookies baking in the oven,

The Man cleans out the stove and pulls it out from the wall,

goes out and gets a big vacuum hose and proceeds to tell me that everything is in great shape it just needs to be cleaned... Very Bad!

DUH...... Really? after only 12 years....

(Okay, I'll be nice :O}.... That was my resolution!)

As he's telling me this, he changes the subject to.....

Him: No Kitty! No Kitty, Don't!

Ma mm? Your kitty is......

Kitty please don't, come out!

Ma mm, Your kitty is crawling up the flew pipe!.... 

Please Stop, Sweetie....

Me:  That's Skippy, my pest..

He'll come back out in a minute... 

Him: (panic in his voice) Ma mm, he's not coming out....

Me: (taking cookies out of the oven) I'll get him in second..

Him: Could you hurry, he's all the way in there!

Me: (come around corner to see nothing but a pipe)

Where is he?

Him: In the pipe....

Me: puzzled?

I look, sure enough, he's up there....

(Dummas)

I tap on the pipe and with the sweetest voice I ask,

Skippy Sweetheart?

Could you please come outta there,

Mamma's gotta finish baking and this nice man needs to finish his job....

Skippy: NO! 

Hey Mom, I smell dead birds!

Me: Skippy, NOW!

Skippy:  NO! Not yet,

I'm not done...

Him: If he gets past this junction he's headed up the chimney and you want be able to reach him...

Me: Could you hold these for me? (my pot holders)

Skippy, last chance..... No, okay then...

I reached in, my arm was in that pipe past my elbow and scratched his little bum, then I promptly grabbed him by his two back legs and drug his scrawny little behind out.

Now mind you he wasn't so willing to come out, so he arches his little back and dug his little claws in and tugged with all his little might!

But I won!

All I could hear was this poor man saying,

I'm Sorry over and over...

He was telling me that in 36 years of doing this kind of work that had never happened...

I quit laughing just long enough to tell him that was because,

he had never taken.....

Inspector Skippy.... to work with him!

I promptly stuck Skippy in the Grooming sink and scrubbed him for twenty minutes...

Surprisingly he took it really well... He's watched enough dogs be bathed I guess he understood.

He was solid black and couldn't quit sneezing so therefor I didn't get any pictures. No way was I letting go and having him get soot everywhere. That poor man laughed so hard he couldn't go up the ladder for ten minutes and he was really tickled watching Skippy get a bath... Skippy wasn't so tickled!

I finished up the cookies and Skippy napped by the stove.... It was warm and he was a little chilly!

All's well that ends well!

I just wish that I could have gotten some pictures...

I start my community classes tonight!

Photo shop classes on Tuesdays and Photography on Thursdays!

They only last for five weeks but if I like them I can take the next level...

It's all part of my resolution remember?

To refine my self taught skills..

Plus it's time out of the house. I find, ex specially in the winter, that I holed up here for days on end. If I don't have to leave I won't. I'm trying to be less like a hermit and more like a normal person. I do enjoy staying home, all my things are here, all my critters are here, my sewing room is here, my wood shop is here, my Skippy is here...

I better quit, I'll talk myself into staying home!

I'll get that cookie recipe listed for you, plus I'll tell you why they're called Menopause Cookies!

I told the stove guy what I called them that right after he ate some :o}..... He asked!

That was fun too!

Y'all have a great day now!

Tisha