“Come on Flo”, I called as I stacked wood on the cart to bring to our wood stoves. We’re lucky to have a woodshed attached to the house. There are still chunks of shiny black coal laying around in the corners from when the last owners of the house switched from wood to coal heat.
When we first moved into the house we thought about making the woodshed into a bedroom or sitting room with big windows looking out on the backyard. But that never happened. It was too expensive and we really don’t need another room in the house.
But we do need a woodshed.
It’s in the woodshed that Flo first appeared to me the winter I started feeding her and she became ours. Before that, she was just a blur running through the yard. I guess she was hungry enough to trust me at that point.
Flo still sleeps in the woodshed in the spring, summer and fall. And on some winter days, like yesterday when I lured her and Minnie out of the basement to spend some time in the sun.
She appeared soon after hearing me calling her but didn’t come back in the house till that night.
65 years ago when I was much younger, we used to make Crystal Gardens with chunks of coal. I can remember using drops of ammonia and food coloring to make beautiful colored crystal growths that grew on the chunks of coal.
What! Bobbie, I never heard of such a wonderous thing. Now I have to try that. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thank you!