MOUSE: vanquished!

Soooo. Pickles has been on mouse hunting duty for the last several days. She found it in the kitchen and stood like this for five whole minutes:

and then there was this hot pursuit:

But no dice. So Christine went out and got a tippy-toppy trap or something like that (neither of us really wanted to carry a mouse snapped in half to the trash can) and....one hour to victory! Christine headed out to release the mouse to the wilds of Bernal Hill (note awesome trap in her hand). Pickles seriously wanted to help:

Hopefully, there was just the one mouse. We can only hope...

Mouse House

There is a mouse hiding under the couch right now.

How on earth are we going to get him out of there? And how is it that Pickles -- recently promoted to Sergeant in the Rodent Roundup -- can't smell him? She's risking demotion, this one.

Guest Blogger Surprise for Todos Santos!

Hi, it's AJ here. SOME people are always telling me that I, too, have access to the House from Mars blog page if I would ever like to post something myself. I'm doing it! No stopping me now! Really I wanted you to see how yummy the chicken soup looks with slices of roast pumpkin in it. An excellent pairing.

Also, I wanted to share our Dia de los Muertos/Todos Santos altar with you. We took some time last night here on Mars to sit around the altar and share some nice thoughts about loved ones who have passed. For me, those memories and those touchstones on the altar are a bit like bringing them into the room with us.

And I made this beautiful pan de muerto. It was very exciting. And it is delicious.