First snow of the season

The first snow of the season is falling as I write this. We have had to build a fire the last three evenings because the temps have been below freezing. I love the first fires of the season, they add such a warm glow to the room, even the smell makes me feel cozy. I am ready for winter...well... almost ready. We still have a lot of wood to split and stack.

I'll have to put away all my outdoor flower pots now.

It won't be long before my garden will look like this
and my parking lot will look like this!

Let it Snow...Let it Snow... Let it snow

Don't feed the wildlife

I am a firm believer in not feeding the wildlife but we all slip up sometimes...

Yesterday when we finished working and went to leave, this masked bandit crept out of our van. We had left one of the doors open, to easily access our tools and this little guy stole what was left of our lunch. He is enjoying a potato chip in these shots but he had already finished up a turkey sandwich... he tossed the tomatoes on the ground I guess he didn't like them.
We have regular visits from bears around here. I know that sounds scary to some people but we have grown quite used to it. The real problem with bears is people. People leave food out where they can get it and that's what bears live for... eating!

I have been the culprit at times... once I left the metal can I store bird seed in out all night and the next morning a big bear was sitting in the yard shoveling sunflower seeds into his mouth with a massive paw. Kevin shooed him off, it is never a problem they just leave. Last summer I had a bear that would sit and bathe in my tiny pond! On a few occasions I found my pond half empty and reddish brown fur floating in the water. I wished I had a motion sensor camera... that must have been a funny sight.

This Black Bear visited our neighbors house one winter. Our town has a pretty large bear population so we have very tricky dumpsters. That type of dumpster in the photo above is currently being replaced by even trickier ones because the bears have learned they can just lean on the latches till they bend. Here is a photo of this little guy trying to get onto my neighbors deck.He tried hard but couldn't make it.

We have had some recent incidents with people in our bear loving town. A couple of weeks ago a man picnicing at one of our beautiful lakes left food out and a bear strolled on down to have herself a snack. This happens a lot so there are bear proof boxes to store your food in at all of the campsites. This tourist decided the best thing to do was walk to his car and get his handgun. He shot the bear in the head and killed her in front of many other people enjoying the wilderness. He is claiming self defense but the witnesses say he was never threatened and he did go to his car and then back to where the bear was, he could have drove away if he was scared. He may be brought up on charges as he fired a gun within town limits. There was another similar incident last summer with a bow hunter. This summer the police found out that a woman from Southern California was paying a local person to leave 40 pound bags of dog food out to attract bears to her vacation home! So very stupid. These bears don't hurt anyone and all we need to do is keep our distance and stop the food source.
Isn't he sweet? He's just hungry.

We didn't feed these little guys anything, but I thought you might like this shot. Kevin went out one morning and he found these two baby squirrels squeaking and blindly creeping across the parking lot. Two of their siblings were killed by a cat and their mother was nowhere to be seen. We made them a cozy bed and called the rescue shelter. They were so soft and they had amazing "fingers" so long and nimble. Just adorable.

I didn't mean for this post to be so depressing... I guess the bear killings have really been bothering me. There have been more that I didn't mention. So sad.

Let's just keep our picnic baskets from Yogi and BooBoo...OK?

Pet Parade

We did it!
We were able to raise $2000 for abandoned pets at The Northland Pet Pantry150 "Play Strong" scarves were decorated in many clever ways and our sweet pets modeled them so well. Kelee Katillac and her handsome pup Oliver are an inspiration. Here is a photo of the scarf Cosmo and I made.

But we are not done! Head on over to the Katillac Shack and watch the Pet Parade Video ... its fantastic. Leave a comment on Kelee's post and another dollar will be donated. This project has been so much fun, thanks to all of you who helped.

5 years old

Today I want to write a little post about my super talented blue eyed nephew, Jesse.

He is 5 years old today, a very important year indeed.
The brave boy started school this month and it only took him a couple days to get the hang of it. He is on his way to great things.

This picture below is my favorite, so sweet.

Jesse is a music lover and the ultimate fan of Spiderman.
I am so proud of you, Jesse!

I just know you'll have a wonderful time at Disneyland... after all it is the Happiest Place on Earth. I wish I could be there, it is my favorite place to be. Make sure you ride the Peter Pan ride for me... and if you're brave enough you gotta go on Pirates of the Carribean... Yo Ho, Yo Ho a Pirates life for me.

Happy Birthday Jesse!!!!

Wood Pile

We went out yesterday to get some firewood. I took this one while we searched for felled trees to cut. The pickings were slim but I still found some interesting things.

I have always loved this type of tree bark... doesn't it look like puzzle pieces? It comes apart just like layers of thin wooden puzzles and it smells like vanilla.

This tree was struck by lightning.

Then we found out that the Forest Service was dumping logs right in town for us to take. I guess they were clearing out old burned areas and just thinning out the forest and this time they decided to bring it to us! It was much easier than the way we usually do it... traipsing all over looking for logs and then dragging them back to the van, but I love the adventure of the woods... this is the best shot I got while at the wood pile.

oh and the NOISE! There must have been a dozen chainsaws buzzing.

Lucky Girl

I feel like such a lucky girl today. I have scored at the thrift store like I never have before and I never left the house!

My Aunt Shush has sent me bags and bags of fantastic reuseable items.

The orange vase and the chicken shakers already have a perfect home in house.

Some incredible yarn, crochet needles and patterns.

Look at all this fabric!

This gorgeous fabric below made my heart go pitter patter. I am thinking a blouse for me is in order.
I still have this bag to go through.

Thank you so much Auntie Shush you are truely a creative master and a generous heart.

Places with Character

I want to recommend to you a blog I have been following named Places with Character. I find it to be very thought provoking, sensitive and insightful. This blog is truely a place with character.
The blogging world is somewhat new to me and I am continually amazed at the amount of great writing there is out there in Blogland.
I think I will occasionally post about some of the best ones I've found.


P.S- Duta!- I am having a terrible time leaving comments on your blog. Please don't think I am not wanting to comment, I am... but when I click on post comment nothing happens. :O(

Super Chargers

Look what I made yesterday!
This little dress and the pair of pants below are for my favorite little Charger fans. I wish I could just zap them right on over to them so they would have them for the big game today but I will just have to do it the old snail mail way :O)

I am going to sell these two sweet dresses just as soon as I figure out what to charge!

The photos didn't turn out very well due to an impending storm.

Fall is here I'm afraid.

Grown up tie dyes

Here are several of Kevin's adult tie dyes. Awesome!

Now I am going to get back to sewing, I am on a roll.

I love it when I'm "in the zone", it's like no one can stop the creative flow!

Teeny Tie Dye Tanks

Here are a few little girls tanks Kevin and I dyed, aren't they sweet?

I really need to get a child sized mannequin, don't you think?