Things that one does not expect

Beam and metal rod

(1)  Never know what one will find when open up a wall.   This house was built in the 1930s.   The slanted beam may indicate that this side of the house was originally a shed, which was enclosed to expand the house.    Several vertical metal rods appear to be there for structural reasons, but exactly why they were added isn't clear.


(2)  Every so often, I find a mouse in one of the water buckets in the barn.  A mouse falls in during the night, can't get out, and usually drowns before the next morning when the buckets are checked.   It is sad, but I've kind of gotten used to it over the years.

This morning, there was something bigger in a bucket.   A large rat fell in sometime during the night and drowned.   He was floating with his face up and tail down, under a thin, clear layer of ice.    I don't like rats generally, but this was a handsome rat.  

We don't live near a stream or pond.   I sometimes wonder what the wild creatures do for water around here.   There were night-frozen puddles just outside, because of all the rain lately.   But, I guess the open water in the bucket was tempting.   He was trapped in that icy water in the dark.   Sad.