I found my keys this morning! They’ve been missing for more than a week. They must have fallen out of my pocket at some point while I was feeding the birds, as I found them sticking up out of the snow under the bird feeder. We had snow between when I lost them and when I found them, so I figure they fell out and were then covered. It’s finally melted enough that I was able to find them. YAY!

I have an old lamp upstairs in the tiny house, next to my reading chair. It is the perfect size and hight, and I didn’t want to replace it. However, it had stopped working. So I took it apart, intent on replacing the guts of it with a new light socket and wiring.

I hadn’t realized just how old that lamp was, not until I took it apart. Not only was the light socket made of porcelain, the wire nuts were also porcelain. So there’s a chance that it’s close to a century old. The plastic wire nuts didn’t come to be widely used until the 30s.

We seem to have solved the mouse problem that I’ve been having at the tiny house. Because the foundation that the house rests on wasn’t 100% flat, the corners of the tiny house are propped up with thin concrete bricks so that its floor is flat. That leaves gaps along some of the edges of the house. Gaps that rodents like to crawl into, as it’s nice and protected and dry under the tiny house.

I filled in those gap with pebbles. The mice just dug through what I had down. Then we added more pebbles. And more. And finally, we’ve added enough that they are no getting through. For the last two nights, when I come out in the morning, I can see where the mice were trying to get in and were unable to. So yay! I feel good about this.

Started a new short story yesterday. I was having stomach issues so I wasn’t able to write a lot – only 1800 words. But I love the story. “The Challenges of Raising Urban Chickens.” It is, as you might guess, kinda silly. About someone who lives in Seattle and has chickens, as well as an encounter with a magical beastie. Hijinks ensue.

This morning I’m packing and getting ready to go to Vegas. I’m nervous, as I always am before I fly. But I’m not too worried.

I have almost finished the reading. I just have a few stories left. 1.3 million words. Four short stories a night, every night, since December.

Yeah, I’m crazy. But I’m having so much fun.

Hope that you’re having a lovely week! Not sure how much I’ll be posting until I get back.