Nearing the end

Anybody else have any of these left from this year's garden?

This is one of seven that I have left. This year, I think because it was so HOT, my tomatoes didn't set blossoms very fast, and then when they finally did, they ripened very slowly. We were able to keep up with the tomatoes produced on my two plants just by eating them. I didn't have any to preserve, but that's okay, because I really didn't need any. When the threat of a hard freeze came, there were lots of tomatoes on, but they were still very green. I picked a bunch, and this is one of the last of those. They sure aren't as tasty, though, as the ones that ripen on the vine.

Yeah, I'm getting hard up for photos. :)  And when Courtney was here on Tuesday, we worked on a cool project, but we were so busy with it that I forgot to take pictures! Boo! I'll try to do better next week.

Foggy sunrise

Yesterday morning:

Almost a little spooky, huh?

Goodbye, Wispy

Here are the last pics I took of Wispy, the day before Thanksgiving.

Well, that wasn't Wispy. That was a peeping tom.

Not Wispy there, either. That was Josie peeping at the peeping tom!

Ahhh... here she is! Peeping at the peeping tom herself!

A party of peepers peeping:

Wispy's hangin' out in one of her favorite spots:

And peeping at a different non-peeping tom:

That was a lot of peeping!

Goodbye, Wispy girl. It was a good 7 years (even though you were scared to death of Courtney and growled at her and scared her a lot). I'll always remember your special little gifts.

Nap time

This is where Josie usually takes her nap. Er... 'one' of her naps. Her late-afternoon nap. It's on top of a storage box on top of the washer. And this is her usual position:

Always with the paw over her face. Uh oh... I think I disturbed her... there's an eye peeking out in the next pic!

Aww, poor kitty. Just can't get any good rest around here.

Might as well get up for a while. No rest for the weary.

Josie's been a bit sad lately. She lost her partner (in crime) on Friday. Wispy had been having some health issues recently, which led to other issues (I'll spare you the messy details), so I made the decision to have her put down. She was an odd little cat, but loving in her own way. She always, always, ALWAYS warmed my lap when I took a nap in my recliner. So I miss her the most at my nap time. However, Josie decided today that maybe she could take her place. :)

REALLY hard water!

We went from 70° on Wednesday to 10° overnight on Thursday night. Yikes! That's a bit drastic, if you ask me. But, it's Minnesota... what do we expect? Land of infinite variety... and variety's the spice of life, right? (Some spices I could do without, actually!) 

The birdbath, of course, froze solid. You can't really see it on this photo, but there are lots of little chips in the ice. 

Here's why:

Not the greatest clip, but I didn't dare get any closer, lest I scare them away. (At least the windows are now clean!) After shooting that, I did try to sneak closer, but they saw me and were immediately gone.

But the poor things! After they left, I went out and put some hot water on top of the ice, but I don't know if they ever came back and got a drink before that froze, too.

The branch

I took the camera outside with me this morning, hoping to find something photo-worthy to blog about, but things are pretty brown and dreary around here now, and I just couldn't make myself snap any pics. Then I remembered the sawed-off branch I wondered about in yesterday's post, so I checked it out. I took some pics to show you what the deal was. However, as I was looking at them on the computer, I didn't know if you'd be able to see very well, so I started playing, and here you have the results. You can also click on the pics to see them much bigger.

Conclusion: Yep, a sawed-off branch that just never got removed. If I could've jumped high enough, maybe I could've gotten it down, but I guess it'll just have to stay there for now.

Okay, enough tree branches. Didn't know you were gonna get a bonus, did you, Gwen? ;)  Now I'm just going to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I plan to take a few days off from blogging and be back here on Monday, unless something momentous happens that I MUST share with you, which is doubtful. You'll be busy stuffing your turkeys and your faces, anyway, and hopefully enjoying time with families and friends for the long weekend, so maybe we won't miss each other much. Enjoy! And don't forget to take note of all those things you have to be thankful for! (I, for one, am thankful for the 63° we're supposed to get today! Woohoo!!)

For Gwen

It was such a pretty morning yesterday (and is again today) that I just had to get these shots for you, Gwen, while the gettin' was good.

Tree bark, yes. But these trees have special significance. This first one is an ash that Courtney's daddy brought home from elementary school on Arbor Day one year. It was tiny... but look at it now!

Ah, yes... we've been here a lot of years! We must be gettin' old!! Gettin', mind you... not there yet!! :)

The rest of the photos are all from the same tree. It's a maple that we dug out of Grandpa's parents' yard and replanted here. It, too, was very tiny. But it sure isn't anymore!

As I was taking these pics, I found it kind of fascinating how many different directions the branches grew... some even curved!

Oops! What's that sawed off branch doing there? Is the other end attached or not? I'll have to try to remember to go and check it out sometime! I didn't notice that as I was snapping away.

The next pic was taken during the same photo shoot, just in the shade. Sure makes things look different, though, doesn't it?

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

There you have it, Gwen. Enough bark and branches for you?

Ya can't say I don't aim to please! ;-)

Feeding time

Cat feeding time seems to be a good time to see beautiful sunsets, of which we've had quite a few lately. Here's one from Saturday evening:

I don't know what's being watched here... I don't think it was the sunset:

Patiently waiting for food while I snap pictures....

Waiting....

Not so patiently waiting....

Last night was another pretty evening, same time, same place:

See what I'm doing for you?!

I want you to know I was up early, doing my best to please my blog readers by taking more photos. I stepped out into the frigid 20° in my bathrobe to snap the sunrise just for you. 

(I was going to take pics of some tree bark for you while I was out feeding the cats, Gwen, but I forgot. ;) )

Yesterday I received some fabric in the mail, so I have another project to work on! Yay!

Oh, and do you want to see something cool? Look here to see Jess's fabric gracing the cover of a new book that's just coming out! It was a fun surprise for her, too!

Is sad better than nothing?

This isn't pretty. It's sad, but still makes me glad.

We've had some quite cold temperatures at night recently, and they pretty much took care of all the remaining flowers. Coming back from the mailbox yesterday, I noticed my gazanias were looking like they'd gotten hit awfully hard. However, coming back from the mailbox once again this morning, I noticed there was a patch of color there again!

Even though they look pretty sad, I still love 'em. They're definitely giving it all they've got, welcoming the sunshine!

If they don't make it through the winter, I'm sure going to plant some more next spring! In fact, I think I'll fill that whole area with them, because they've done better than anything else I've ever put in that hot, dry spot on the south side of the house. Way to go, little flowers!

One o' those times....

I seem to be running out of blog fodder, folks! Not much left in the coffers to show you. That's not good, is it? Any suggestions? Anything you want to see or hear about?

I snapped this pic recently when I was in the very beginnings of a new sewing project. Betcha can't guess what it is - ha! Of course my helper was right there, quite pleased with herself that I hadn't chased her off the table. She was reading the paper while I was working. I was only cutting out and assembling the pattern pieces. When I get the fabric out is when she becomes no longer appreciated.

She got bored, though, and decided to hop off the table onto Wispy. Can you tell which cat is the dominant one? Yep.

Well, don't be surprised (or worried) if you don't see me quite as often in the near future, at least. It's only because there's nothing to take pics of or write about! I do have this sewing project, and another one on the way which may take precedence over this one, so I'll be back to show you them, at least. Bye for now! ;)

Shooting deer

Deer hunting (firearm) season ended here yesterday. I shot mine! Of course I only shoot them with the camera. 

There seemed to be plenty of deer around our yard this year. I saw a couple of them out my kitchen window on Friday afternoon. Here's a "screen shot" (i.e. taken through a window screen, thus poor quality) of one of them.

Not too clear, huh? There were actually two of them. They seemed to be quite calm, just having a little lunch. I decided to see if I could sneak out and get a better shot at them. Since they were in back of the house, I went out the front to avoid any squeak from the back door, and then I walked very quietly to the end of the lilac bushes, camera at the ready.

I shot them! LOOK!

They stared at me like that for about two seconds, then headed off down the hill. Below is the only other shot I got at them. It is, as they say, the 'tail end'.

Then yesterday morning I happened to glance out the living room windows and saw another deer across the driveway on the edge of the field. This isn't a "screen shot"... just a dirty-window shot. She was a bit too hidden by the trees, though.

She stood there grazing for a bit. I had the camera focused on a clearer spot, hoping she'd soon move on. She obliged!

As it happened, I wasn't the only one watching her.

That pickup had been sitting across the field the whole time. You can see the "hunter orange" through the windshield. I don't think they were hoping for camera shots!

The deer, however, was quite wise (or lucky). She slowly moved on, and suddenly I couldn't see her anymore. I think she lay down in the grass for a nap. The pickup then left, too.

The end.     (Click any photo to enlarge.)

Peeping tom

Yep, Rusty's a peeper.

And he's getting peeped right back at!

I think they want to be friends.

Yeah, right!

Easy Zippy Pouch

This little sewing project was a failure, of sorts. I made it following another little tutorial by Erin Erickson. It's "easy" because the raw edges on the inside are finished with a serger or zigzag stitch, rather than tucked invisibly inside a lining. It was simple. It was fast. But when I finished it and turned it right side out, it didn't look like I thought it was going to!

The zipper pull and tab were on the right instead of the left side, plus the design was not how I'd planned it to look! I'd wanted the yellow flower (below) to be partly on the front and partly on the back of the pouch. That way the brown of the zipper would've had something to coordinate with.

Oops! It didn't take too long to figure out what I did wrong (besides doing it in too much of a hurry, right before Courtney arrived), when I sat and thought about it a bit. I sewed it together right, but because it was inside out, I didn't see that I'd moved the zipper down from the top on the wrong side before sewing the side seams. That might not make sense to you unless you've sewed one, but take my word for it. ;)

Looking at it now, though, I still like how it turned out. I think Courtney liked it, too, as it contained her tiny dolly apron, plus she can use it for lots of other things.

Did you notice her red knuckles? She has pretty sensitive skin, it seems, and since school started, she's had very chapped skin from all the hand washing. She now even has her own soap and cloth towel at school, which has helped, but her hands are still somewhat dry and chapped. Mommy's tried a lot of lotions, etc., but so far nothing's cleared them up completely. If anybody has any great remedies or suggestions for something to use on them, shout it out, please!