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A Game of Cat and Mouse, Part 2

by Aurora Gilbertson

(read Part 1 here)

Leila stretched and stood up, she wandered off her fluffy pillow and down the stairs to the kitchen, she wasn’t keen on being woken up from her slumber, but she heard a faint scuttling on the tiled floor, and she was in the mood to play.

“I suppose Jack has let his pet tarantula out again,” she sighed, “What was his name again? Larry? Gary? Oh whatever.” She continued a few more steps then paused, “Oh, then again maybe that mouse came out of her little hole I can’t get into…” 

Leila quickened her pace now more excited, when she got to the kitchen she saw the mouse being chased by the tarantula. She sauntered to Squeaks, standing over the poor mouse. 

“I wasn’t expecting another meal until dinner,” Leila licked her lips and stretched out her claws to their full length. Crouching down, Leila prepared to pounce.Squeaks just stood there frozen with fear thinking, I’m gonna die with an empty belly. Leila leaped into the air, but before she landed on the mouse, Squeaks snapped out of her trance and dogged Leila. Squeaks scurried over to the cracker cabinet and grabbed three saltines- 2 weeks worth of food- and sprinted toward her cozy mouse hole. Leila was still on her tail- and getting closer. Squeak’s feet flew with fear. Leila braced herself and used all her might to lunge higher and further than ever. But the mouse needed to be faster, and she slid into her cozy home in the wall of the Xeider’s house just as two front paws clicked to the floor. Now safe, Squeaks let out a sigh of relief.

THE END

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Member Happenings: Winter on the way… or here?

Cohousers prepare the barn for the arrival of Zeus the billy goat! 

Our agriculture club decided that three of our does will become mamas this spring: Apple, Sunday, and Trouble. Working on a farm is often a fantasy of kids and our goats allow us all to live this dream with shared responsibility. This new venture in animal husbandry is ripe for all-age learning.

  • Preparing “The Love Shack”
  • Mark works, kids jump around
  • Kids are especially helpful because they love to climb and can fit in small spaces.
  • Searching through the snow for the fence post. We love our snow, but ahhgh!
  • I’ve also found they enjoy doing this helpful work waaaayyy more than room cleaning.
Of course the weekend we needed to prepare the barn for Zeus, we had just received a dump of snow and frigid temps. Ahh, Montana life!

HALLOWEEN pumpkins

The witch cat surveys the possibilities
We carved pumpkins and the kids each named theirs.  Lochlan chose the name “Pumpkin Leif” after our youngest cohousing member.
Mask up!

Firewood Stacking

Every year we get a load of firewood delivered to feed our woodstove for the winter.  The kids love helping to stack the wood.  With young kids, this is the most we can do right now, but I hope that once we live in cohousing, we can have firewood cutting parties.  Imagine a group of friends heading out into the national forest in the winter to harvest firewood to heat out homes for the winter.  Chores like this are made festive by sharing them with a community.  Many of the home types in Bozeman Cohousing have the option for a woodstove.
— Kathleen

❆❅❆SNOW!❆❅❆

Yep. Sometimes we get snow in October — but we make the best of it!

Anna demonstrates proper snow-angel technique
Aurora likes sliding down hills, and so does her Dad.

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Member Happenings: What we’ve been up to

Anna and Marci making a shoebox float.

MSU Homecoming had a virtual parade instead of a real one due to COVID. Anna had a total blast getting glitter all over Marci’s office. 😂😂 

Look who came to see the Bozeman Cohousing property! A mama black bear and her cub use the riparian corridor along Matthew Bird Spring Creek as they look for ripening fall fruits before the snow comes.

The Bozeman Cohousing official site plan modeled by Lochlan and Denali with Magnatiles and Playmobil.

Notice how the parking is clustered at the front of the property to make a safe place for children to play. The interior pathways allow neighbors to interact face-to-face instead of car-to-car. The small clusters of homes face each other to create smaller pods within the larger community. If you look closely you can see the goats, chickens, bunnies, dogs, and some wildlife.
🏆 💯

The Gallatin River!

Bozeman Cohousing members enjoy the many outdoor activities that southwest Montana has to offer including world class fly fishing, white water rafting, and rock throwing.

The Potato Harvest

When you live in community, the simple chore of harvesting becomes a festive event. Young and old gather to work, share a drink, and maybe make some music. Digging potatoes becomes a treasure hunt for children and a social event for the adults. Even if you’re not that passionate about gardening, your children can still participate in these types of community events. Perhaps you’re days of kneeling in the dirt are past, you can pull up a chair and enjoy the next generation’s delight. Potato, carrot, and onion harvesting, apple cider pressing, cherry pitting, or pea shelling. All these chores become festive when shared by the whole neighborhood.

Aurora had the chance to conquer the low ropes course at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp since the campers were gone. Online school does have some benefits…
🙌 💪

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A Game of Cat and Mouse

by Aurora Gilbertson

Squeaks crept out of her mouse hole. She didn’t want to leave her comfy pin-cushion-bed or spool-of-thread table, but she was hungry. She scampered along the floor trying not to make a sound because cats can hear anything. The Xeiders (zee-ders) had two cats, a kitten and its mom, Squeaks didn’t have to worry about the mom, Zeta, but she had a problem with the kitten, Leila. Squeaks almost made it to the cracker cabinet when she let out a squeak and skidded to a stop. She clapped a paw over her mouth, there standing on eight legs right in front of her was the Xeider’s kid’s pet tarantula, Harry. She tried to go around him but he started to chase her around and around the tiled floor in the kitchen. Apparently they were making a lot of  noise because there was a faint click click, when squeaks turned around there was Leila. 

…to be continued…

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Mini Member Spotlight: Denali

Denali, age 6
by Aurora, age 11

Do you have any pets?

Denali has one pet, a dog named Pickles.

What games do you like to play? 

Denali likes to play a game called “Splendor.” Basically you have different gem tokens and you use those to buy “Noble Tiles.”

Do you play an instrument?

Denali likes to play piano and her favorite song to play is “Short Story.”  She has been playing for 2-3 years. Denali likes that you don’t have to bring it anywhere ;P

Do you like to do art?

She has recently done a watercolor of a pumpkin getting into the fall spirit. Her method was to begin with the outline in pencil, then the green paint of the grass, and then the pumpkin ridges in oranges.

What is your favorite food?

Her favorite food is tacos and sushi. She would have sushi for her birthday, but it’s a special treat because she only eats it once or twice a month.

Do you do a sport?

Denali doesn’t do a sport currently but she used to take dance lessons.

What are you most excited about Cohousing?

Denali is most excited to always have a friend right out her door to play with.