8:17 p.m. If you look very closely at the picture (opposite), you will notice that Catherine has the same exact pose as the gargoyle on top of the monitor. The gargoyle that was *in* the package from yesterday. And her headline, which is on the other side of the picture, is: "Ya know what's weird?"

It's been like this all day. A strange, wonderful day, at least for the humans among us.

Yes, I tore into the box last night. It was getting on towards our family tea time and Igor wanted to see the kettle. He'd already looked at the pictures and so I shook the box a bit for good measure, took a photo of it for yesterday's entry, and opened 'er up.

It's a Catherine box -- if you've been to her site, you know what I mean. Full of the unexpected, the unusual, the practical, the fun, the fabulous. We'll start, of course, with the fabulous.

The tea kettle, itself.

Don't you agree that this is a wonderful, wonderful ob-jay? You must follow the button at the bottom of the page and read Catherine's story of how she came to own not one, but two of these beauties. Who could resist grabbing it? What a great coil!

And here's the really cool part. I opened the box, put the kettle on, and Igor toddled off to finish falling asleep and wait for his tea. He didn't know about the ... ahem ...

... long low whooooooooooo ... coming in from very far away. A Bradbury train bearing down from 1954, right past your old country-uncle's small place outside the city. Scared him half out of his wits.

Then ... then the sound changed into an exhalation of bagpipes. Needless to say, this is not a tea kettle to be ignored. This is not a tea kettle that will burn. Oh, and don't touch the coil once it starts to play its highland tunes, no matter how curious you are.

Now, remember when I said I was shaking the box? I assumed that the coiled handle was going back and forth, making the noise. Well, turns out that the handle is rigid. The noise, wouldn't you know it, was from the cup and saucer that I didn't know was in the box. The lovely, delicate ladylike cup and saucer ... and in true Catherine form, the cup is delicate, yet strong. Dainty, yet sturdy. Shiny, too.

Oh, the box was just full of goodies. The gargoyle that now sits on top of my computer. A wee candy cane. Two books: one by Mr. Blackwell, whom I've had the pleasure to spend some time with in his Hancock Park home, and another by a writer I don't know ... yet. Carol Shields. She is Canadian.

There is a theme building here.

A CD and a video: Over Canada. How can this be? You mean there's really a country up there? And actual people? I thought it was nothing but tundra and moose. I kid. I will make some tea and watch. And listen. And learn.

And the tea I am currently enjoying -- none other than Red Rose. I remember this fine brew from my childhood. We must have had some kind of reciprocal trade agreement between Pennsylvania and Canada back in the old days. It is a great tea. I just hope I don't get hooked and then have to slip across the border for my fix. I'd have to wear a watchcap, right? And snowshoes. Unless all that talk of cold weather is just another Canadian ruse to keep us out.

All in all, a most wonderful box of goodies from a most wonderful friend. Thank you Catherine. You are quite a coil!

Sad mouse news.

Who would have guessed that sweet little Brittly knew such a deadly trick? And for future reference, heyoka swears that they prefer chocolate, or more specifically maltesers. Or how about this: Bonnie says she's heard that if you put a bowl of Coke out for them they will drink it all up and then die because they can't burp.

Now that would just be wrong.